Aboard the Fist of Iron, by one of the observation viewports.
[Defending the Imperium is My Sacred Duty] stared fixedly through the armaglass at the distant, purple-and-gold Pride of the Emperor.
The colossal, twelve-mile-long flagship was deploying something.
A uniquely designed Thunderhawk gunship slowly drifted out of its hangar bay. Its paint job was one of a kind—a striking fiery red, with the image of a Phoenix spreading its wings emblazoned across the hull. The dual rear thrusters trailed brilliant golden exhaust flames.
The Firebird.
The personal Thunderhawk of Primarch Fulgrim.
[Defending the Imperium is My Sacred Duty]'s pupils instantly shrank.
He immediately popped open the region chat [Light of the Emperor], his fingers flying across the virtual keyboard.
[Defending the Imperium is My Sacred Duty]: "The plot event is starting! Fulgrim is forcing a landing on the Diasporex's main command ship! He's initiating a boarding action!"
He barely finished typing the message.
A golden light flashed simultaneously before the eyes of every Imperial faction player in the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet.
A massive panel slowly materialized in front of them.
[Area Faction Quest (Transcendent Tier): Fall of the Diasporex]
[Quest Objective: Assist the Iron Hands Legion or Solomon Demeter in securing the first blood honors by capturing the Diasporex flagship, "Tears of the Diasporex"]
[Success Condition: Ensure the Iron Hands or Solomon Demeter claims the first blood honor]
[Failure Condition: Fulgrim claims the first blood honor, or the Tears of the Diasporex escapes]
[Quest Reward: High-yield payout of Imperial Coins distributed based on personal contribution points]
[Note: Transcendent Tier quest, second in difficulty only to Epic Tier]
The region chat [Light of the Emperor] completely exploded.
[Two-Faced Turtle]: "Holy shit! The quest just triggered! But what's the deal with this Transcendent Tier... I wonder how it stacks up against Epic Tier? Which one is harder? Which one is higher?"
[I am the Living Dragon] thought about it for two seconds before replying in the chat.
[I am the Living Dragon]: "Is that even a question? Epic Tier is definitely higher. It's just capturing a flagship, there's no way that's harder than stopping Fulgrim from falling to Chaos."
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] chimed in: "Agreed."
"Transcendent Tier sounds intimidating, but looking at the description, it's just a faction PvP clash within our local instance."
"Epic Tier, on the other hand, is a massive server-wide event involving all Chaos and Imperial players across the entire galaxy."
The channel was blowing up with discussion.
But [Defending the Imperium is My Sacred Duty] stared at the quest panel, his frown deepening.
He slowly typed out a line in the chat: "The problem is..."
"In the original lore, capturing the flagship was entirely the 28th Expeditionary Fleet's operation."
"The Iron Hands Legion only provided fire support; they never actually launched a boarding action."
"Even though Solomon Demeter eventually took the honor..."
He paused, typing another line: "But now we have Chaos faction players on the other side."
"It's hard to say if things will play out exactly like they did in the history books."
The moment he said that, the channel instantly went dead silent.
--
Pride of the Emperor, flank officer's cabin.
[All According to Plan] leaned against the bulkhead. His pupils shrank slightly at the sudden appearance of a black holographic screen before his eyes.
The edges of the screen burned with blood-red veins, and right in the center sat a line of twisted, ferocious text...
[Area Faction Quest (Transcendent Tier): Fall of the Diasporex]
[Quest Objective: Assist Fulgrim or the Emperor's Children in securing the first blood honors by capturing the Diasporex flagship, Tears of the Diasporex]
[Success Condition: Fulgrim claims the first blood honor]
[Failure Condition: The Iron Hands or Solomon Demeter claims the first blood honor, or the Tears of the Diasporex escapes]
[Quest Reward: High-yield payout of Imperial Coins distributed based on personal contribution points]
Before he could even read the details, the region chat [Wings of Freedom] had already exploded.
[Konnichiwa Slaanesh-chan]: "???"
"Transcendent Tier?? Why isn't it Epic Tier?"
[I Just Love Sleeping In]: "For real! The Laeran campaign gave us 95% completion on an Epic Tier quest and paid out a hundred thousand Imperial Coins plus the sacrificial ritual."
"This Transcendent Tier sounds kinda lame, the rewards will probably get slashed in half."
[Number One Handsome of the Soul Hall]: "Heh heh heh..."
"Be glad we even got one, beggars can't be choosers."
"We've been grinding in the Emperor's Children fleet for so long, and we finally landed our second big gig."
[Blue Pigeon Knows Nothing]: "The problem is this quest description is way too abstract. Help Fulgrim get the first kill honor?"
"How the hell do we help him?"
"It's not like we can charge up and chop down the xenos for him, right?"
[Let the Galaxy Burn] quietly dropped a message:
"Did you guys forget? We're currently members of Lucius's personal guard in the 13th Company of the Emperor's Children."
The channel fell silent for a second.
Then [Konnichiwa Slaanesh-chan] sent a string of ellipses, followed immediately by: "...Holy shit."
[I Just Love Sleeping In]: "Holy shit, he's right! We're Lucius's guys now!"
"That dude might be a bald clown, but he is actually the Captain of the 13th Company, and one of the core hard-hitters for this boarding action!"
[Slaanesh I'm Gonna Play You So Hard]: "Then what are we waiting for? Time to ride his coattails!"
"We charge wherever Lucius charges. We last-hit whoever he hacks up. Assists have to count for contribution points, right?"
[All According to Plan] watched this bunch of clowns discussing in the channel, his mouth twitching slightly.
He slowly spoke up, "Alright, knock it off."
"The quest dropped, so we're doing it."
"Transcendent Tier or not, it's better than nothing."
"Plus, there are Imperial faction players with the Iron Hands on the other side, so we can't get sloppy."
He paused, then added, "Also, remember to gear up properly before boarding the enemy ship."
"Boarding actions are no joke. The weapons those Diasporex xenos use can punch right through Astartes power armor. With our slightly buffed mortal bodies, one hit and we're sent straight back to the respawn screen."
"Copy that!"
"Understood!"
"Let's gooo!"
Over eight hundred black IDs spammed their replies in the chat.
--
Bonus chapter at only 200 Powerstones!
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