(Thanks to Gabriel Angelos for the generous tip. Five bonus chapters.)
"Great Imperium of Man! I am this planet's governor! I beseech the great Lord of Mercy to spare us! We are willing to surrender everything we own! Wealth, resources, land... just say the word, and we will comply without question!"
The planet's governor knelt on a hastily erected platform, his forehead pressed against the cold stone slabs. His voice trembled with fear, yet he still strained to maintain some measure of clarity and respect.
Behind him, dozens of nobles and local officials in equally lavish clothing knelt on the ground. Some did not even dare raise their heads, merely burying their faces against the ground as their bodies trembled faintly.
Above their heads, in a sky filtered to pale blue by clouds and Atmosphere, countless Imperial warships hung in orbit like silent steel behemoths.
Their shadows fell across the land, blotting out the sunlight and shrouding the entire area in oppressive darkness.
Although their weapons' safeties had been engaged, the warships' guns still pointed toward various locations on the planet's surface, silently proclaiming their ability to erase this city, this plain, this planet from the star charts at any moment.
The planet had already sworn its willingness to join the Imperium and had completely disarmed.
The main guns of its Orbital Defense Platform had been shut down, power to its ground-based antiaircraft arrays had been cut, and all military aircraft had been gathered at designated airfields to await the Imperial forces' takeover.
No soldiers patrolled the streets, and no law officers stood watch. There were only residents in civilian clothes, furtively watching those enormous shadows in the sky from their doorways or behind their windows, their eyes filled with mingled fear and curiosity.
Lorgar arrived at the front.
His