Malice in the Shadows

Lin Fan walked out of the Inquisition's towering building, silently fingering the two pendants around his neck. One was an unremarkable wooden Aquila given to him by the Adeptus Custodes; the other was a round, thin golden disc. He placed both items on the same cord, then headed toward Colonel Mark's headquarters.

"I really don't know what those Inquisition bastards are thinking."

Walking through Keton's streets, which were the complete opposite of their usual bustle, Lin Fan watched the constantly patrolling Inquisition soldiers and the Ecclesiarchy priests preaching with fanatical devotion. He felt deeply saddened by the destruction of Karmaklan's peaceful life.

What a wonderful place. And now it too would become a bloody, tear-soaked stew in this cruel universe.

"Those damned Chaos bastards really won't let anyone live in peace."

Lin Fan cursed the dark gods of the Warp and those Chaos traitors as he passed squad after squad of impassive soldiers.

In a hidden dark corner, Ronald watched Lin Fan's figure and carved his appearance into his soul. The failure of their plan and the deaths of his comrades had all been caused by this lowly Astra Militarum soldier. Abaddon would not spare failures, and Ronald would not spare Lin Fan, the man who had caused their failure.

But it was not yet time.

When Lin Fan arrived at headquarters, he received an enthusiastic welcome from the entire regiment. With Colonel Mark and Commissar Aude deliberately spreading the word, Lin Fan had practically become Karmaklan's great savior. As far as the outcome was concerned, that was indeed true.

The regiment had suffered severe losses after the battle, but those losses meant that standard-issue Lasguns were no longer in short supply. The remaining troops of the 4th Company and 5th Company were directly absorbed into the 1st Company and 2nd Company. The 3rd Company had become a small company once more, so Colonel Mark made a sweeping decision and reorganized it as a reconnaissance company. Lin Fan became its captain, while the bald-headed Old Jock became his NCO. Though Lin Fan felt somewhat as if he had usurped the host's role, Old Jock did not care about such things. In the military, the strong rose to the top. He was more than willing to serve The Emperor under a great hero like Lin Fan.

Damian became a replacement NCO. The 37th Regiment was desperately short of men, and nearly every survivor with even a little seniority had been promoted. Thus, the entire regiment was reorganized into a light infantry regiment of just over 2,300 men. Its few heavy weapons had all been destroyed during the Chaos Space Marines' attack.

They had originally planned to continue recruiting locally for training and reinforcement, but the Kasare Legion garrison received orders from the Departmento Munitorum to depart for the Ultima Segmentum and fight the increasingly rampant Ork tide. Reinforcing the 37th Regiment would have to be put aside for now, while the planet's administration and judgment were handed entirely to the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy.

After the unrest, Probationary Priest Delia had originally been meant to return to Kasare I Forge World to study under her teacher. However, she submitted an application to the Adeptus Mechanicus to serve as the 37th Regiment's tech-priest. Perhaps her teacher considered an apprentice priest insignificant, because he readily approved Delia's request and allowed her to become a low-status tech-priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus, though they preferred to call such people Enginseers.

But Delia did not care about any of that. She could not forget the miraculous feeling Lin Fan had given her. She often came to the 3rd Company's quarters, using instruction as an excuse to get close to him.

Damian, who had always loved making lewd jokes, also changed drastically. Under normal circumstances, he would have teased Lin Fan, asking when he planned to trick that pretty Mechanicus girl into bed. After experiencing life and death, however, he became like a devout Ecclesiarchy believer. Every word from his mouth was a sacred quotation of The Emperor, and the first thing he did upon waking each day was pray to The Emperor.

Three days later, a transport barge from the Kasare Legion picked up the 37th Regiment's soldiers and carried them toward an even more distant and dangerous future.

General Westad rapidly processed documents and reports from every regiment in his luxurious command chamber. Even with the assistance of a large number of logistics personnel and Department of the Interior staff, mobilizing the entire legion for its next battlefield was no easy task. Though General Westad had undergone expensive biological augmentation, he still felt deeply exhausted after days of administrative bombardment.

Many of the legion's units had not even completed their training, and their equipment was severely lacking. They were supposed to receive supplies and train during the journey, but who knew what kind of trouble Warp travel would bring?

Yet the cries for help from the Armageddon System were far too urgent and numerous. Amid the Ork tide, that vital shipping node and industrial center was under enormous pressure. Several nearby Space Marine Chapters had gone to reinforce it, and every Astra Militarum legion in the surrounding systems that could be deployed had answered the call, including the distant and severely inexperienced Kasare Legion.

Standard Terran Calendar 941.M41

A massive Ork fleet suddenly appeared before Armageddon. Before it could even react, the fleet hurled countless junk asteroids, along with hordes of bloodthirsty Orks, violently onto Armageddon's soil. The Planetary Defense Force struggled desperately. No one could say how long they could hold, but Armageddon absolutely could not be lost.

Space Orks

This planet's vast industrial zones supplied armaments to numerous Astartes Legions and even produced Salamander vehicles for the Astra Militarum. The Imperium had to save this world at any cost. Otherwise, once the Orks occupied it, they would swiftly refit its industrial zones and use them to produce all manner of strange yet devastating scrap-metal weapons.

The Kasare Legion, where Lin Fan served, also hurriedly boarded the joint fleet bound for the Armageddon System. This massive mixed fleet of Astra Militarum, Space Marines, Battle Sisters, and Adeptus Mechanicus forces was preparing to enter the Warp.

Lin Fan stood on the deck of the Flame, admiring the fleet beyond the reinforced glass. The spacefaring vessels, like enormous Gorgons, filled his entire field of vision. Even when he pressed against the glass and looked from side to side, he could not see either their prows or sterns. Towering Gothic cathedrals rose from the ships, surrounded by immense statues of angels and The Emperor that gleamed beneath the starlight.

As the alarms sounded, Lin Fan immediately began running, following the countless Astra Militarum soldiers and sailors into their assigned compartments to await the impact of Warp travel.

"Activate the sublight engines. Enter the Mandeville Point."

"Seal the compartments. Deploy the Gellar Field shields."

"Activate the Warp engines. Prepare to enter the Warp. The Emperor protect us."

As countless servitors, tech-priests, and Adeptus Mechanicus priests worked, sacred mechanical hymns echoed across the entire fleet through the broadcast system. Ahead of the fleet, a rift utterly unlike the real universe abruptly tore open. Strange purple lightning danced within it, constantly striking the Gellar Field shields like countless claws filled with hunger and greed, determined to seize everything within reach.

The fleet sailed into the rift as though it had been seized by the lightning. As if sated, the broken, chaotic maw of the Warp gradually began to close.