The situation in the Beta-Garmon Cluster had entered a treacherous standoff with the arrival of the Imperial expeditionary force and the gradual gathering of Horus's rebels.
The fog of war obscured all eyes. Though neither side had yet begun full-scale hostilities, preparations for war had long since commenced across every dimension and domain.
Lion Johnson had established Planet Pullman IV as his forward base. War factories and planetary fortresses sprang up across its surface, and from this planet as the center of expansion, the expeditionary force would liberate the surrounding worlds, turning every planet and every star system into a front-line bastion.
The mortals here, even the local dignitaries and ancient nobles whose bloodlines stretched back thousands of years, had been given a new identity after Lion Johnson's arrival—wartime conscripts.
All superfluous professions and identities had been abolished. Under the wartime mobilization system, there were only two choices left: soldier or worker.
People either took up the weapons and equipment distributed by the expeditionary force, underwent full training, and became warriors loyal to the Emperor, or became foundry workers and entered the newly built factories to serve in another way.
The Lion's orders had undoubtedly shattered this world's entire system of operation. Even when the rebels had besieged the planet, Pullman IV had maintained a state not much different from its former peacetime existence.
If not for a hardline planetary governor keeping these people under control, they would likely have opened the void shields long ago and welcomed Horus's army into the city.
When the Emperor had launched the Great Crusade to reclaim the Beta-Garmon Cluster, the local humans had not fiercely resisted the Imperium. Once the armies of the Lord of Humanity descended, the people of Beta-Garmon had wisely offered up their loyalty.
Yet loyalty that had never been