Millennium 1000 Worlds
Colchis Star System
Colchis.
Anna and Rockefeller dared not waste a moment after returning to Colchis.
When their Stormbird landed in the square of the City of Holy Edict, the engines had not even cooled before the two strode down the ramp and headed toward the Command Center deep within the city.
As First Company Captain of the Word Bearers, Rockefeller was the Number One Below the Primarch in authority, responsible for overseeing all military and political affairs across the Millennium 1000 Worlds.
He was one of Lorgar's most trusted Legion Commanders, second only to the Primarch himself, and his orders carried the same weight as Lorgar's throughout the Millennium 1000 Worlds.
After learning from Lorgar that nine Legions would turn traitor, Rockefeller immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.
This was no minor rebellion, no localized war, but a catastrophe that could tear the entire Imperium apart.
He had to act immediately. Before the traitors' blades fell, he had to turn Colchis into an impregnable bastion.
He immediately invoked a law called the "Colchis Star System Defense Line Act."
Invoking this law meant that, from that moment onward, the entire Colchis Star System—and indeed the whole Millennium 1000 Worlds—came under martial law.
All civilian institutions were placed under military jurisdiction, all resource allocation came under unified military command, and all communications and information releases required military approval.
Ordinary civil liberties were temporarily set aside in the interests of national security, replaced by a strict and efficient system of wartime administration.
At the same time, recruitment requirements were substantially relaxed.
The Holy Word Army began a massive expansion, welcoming every fanatical soldier into its ranks.
Recruitment for the Colchis Imperialis Militia also shifted from "voluntary enlistment" to "mandatory service for all of eligible age," bringing every healthy