The Euronia System

The Euronia system was nothing more than an unremarkable star system.

Its third planet was a blue, habitable world that had seen little development. It had no enormous Hive Cities or particularly advanced factories, and even its agriculture remained underdeveloped. To the Imperium, it was a world it could take or leave.

It was simply a colonial world settled only a few centuries ago, still far from fully developed. With the planet's resources still relatively abundant, the humans born there lived reasonably happy lives.

A warship emerging from the Warp shattered that peace. The news from the orbital station left Planetary Governor Conwater looking troubled. In the fortieth millennium, the plight of the Imperium of Man was becoming increasingly apparent.

Abaddon, the Imperium's great enemy, had sacrificed a Blackstone Fortress to destroy Cadia, the fortress world that held the Eye of Terror in check. A terrifying galactic rift had torn across the entire galaxy, dividing it into eastern and western halves.

Unfortunately, the Euronia system lay in the eastern galaxy, cut off by the Great Rift. It seemed isolated, though it was also well away from the major shipping lanes.

Conwater had thought himself reasonably lucky. The Euronia system was still young and flourishing, and its remote location kept it far from most of the galaxy's monsters and madmen.

As long as he performed his duties diligently and did not indulge too heavily in pleasure, the colony would develop steadily. With life-extension surgery, enjoying a carefree existence for a few centuries should have been no problem.

The Imperium of Man was vast, spanning the entire galaxy. However numerous its enemies and however dire its predicament, the wheels of collapse would take a long time to grind their way to him.

Perhaps he would have died of old age by then. Whatever difficulties arose, later generations would have the wisdom to solve them.

Yet fate was truly unpredictable. Warp storms had grown increasingly frequent lately, and lost ships would occasionally find their way to the Euronia system.

Most were Imperial warships or merchant vessels. The news brought by the Imperial Navy personnel aboard them was often deeply troubling. The front lines seemed to be blurring, and war could erupt in any corner of the galaxy.

"Has that Lunar-class Imperial warship still not responded?" Conwater contacted the orbital station directly through the communicator on his desk. There, a radar operator was sweating profusely as he tried to hail the Glory Knight.

Of course, they would receive no reply. Cheng Mingrui and his boyz were lost in the joyous roar of rock music.

Their persistence finally paid off when several escape craft entered the station's radar range.

"Mayday, mayday. We are personnel from the Imperial Navy's Glory Knight. We were ordered to monitor conditions in the Ork Sector and unexpectedly came under attack by Ork Pirates. The Glory Knight has now been seized by savage Orks. We are the only survivors left."

The distress signal arrived along with the escape craft.

"Have them transmit a video feed," Conwater ordered directly, frowning.

The escape craft soon transmitted a video feed. Sure enough, everyone aboard was human, most of them wounded soldiers of the Astra Militarum.

A man in an officer's uniform stepped forward. He was covered in blood and filth, as though he had been through a brutal battle. "My name is Pex, a member of the Lampaster family. I am an Imperial Navy officer and captain of the Lunar-class Cruiser Glory Knight."

"On my honor as an Imperial officer and a member of my family, I request the assistance of this world's governor. Please rest assured that everyone here is either a soldier who fought for the Imperium or a noncombatant. We pose no threat."

The Lampasters were a renowned family of great nobles. Their ranks had produced many distinguished figures, including planetary governors, army commanders, and fleet admirals. It was said that the family even held some influence on Holy Terra, the capital of the Imperium of Man.

Governor Conwater's family was far less prominent. Refusing Pex was out of the question. Anyone who managed to offend a powerful noble family, the Imperial Navy, and the Departmento Munitorum all at once could start making funeral arrangements.

"Of course, esteemed Captain Pex. As an Imperial governor, it is only natural that I should serve the Imperium," Conwater agreed at once. A polite smile appeared on his tense, sour face.

"Thank you, Lord Governor. Even the Emperor's angels would praise your mercy and loyalty," Pex said flatteringly.

After instructing the station to take good care of Pex and the people aboard the escape craft, Conwater opened a communications channel to the planetary fleet commander and ordered the fleet to surround the Ork-captured Glory Knight.

His brief conversation with Pex had also stirred a trace of greed in Conwater's heart. This was a Lunar-class Cruiser. Battered as it was, its main structure remained intact.

After a series of fierce battles, the Orks aboard were already severely weakened. If his troops could board the warship and clear out the Orks, wouldn't he get a Lunar-class Cruiser for nothing?

The entire Euronia system had only a defense fleet of one cruiser and three destroyers, a decidedly weak force. Nor did the system possess the industrial capacity to build interstellar warships. If it wanted to expand its fleet, it had to buy them.

Even purchasing the most ordinary frigate would place a considerable financial strain on the Euronia system, which had only one habitable planet.

Greed clouded judgment. The tragedy began when the planetary defense fleet advanced toward the Glory Knight in a bold encircling formation.

Rock music really did get the Orks fired up, greatly improving both their working efficiency and their fighting efficiency. While Cheng Mingrui held his concert, the Mekboys gained complete control of the warship.

"Orks are stronger than Humies. One-on-one should be no problem." Caught up in the excitement himself, Cheng Mingrui completely disregarded the three destroyers, as well as the Glory Knight's battered condition.

When he saw two human destroyers enter range, Cheng Mingrui immediately ordered, "Blast those two little Humie boats to scrap first, then floor it and ram the big Humie ship. Break it in half!"

"...Boss..." a timid voice spoke up beside Cheng Mingrui's feet. "Our boyz haven't taken the gun turrets yet. We can't fire..."

"Uh..." Cheng Mingrui, who had been all bluster a moment ago, was suddenly too embarrassed to know what to say. This was his fault. He had gotten carried away singing, and the boyz had gotten carried away listening. He had never assigned anyone to take the gun turrets beforehand.

"If we haven't taken the gun turrets, what are you still doing here? Get the boyz moving!" Cheng Mingrui sent the boy who had reported to him flying with a light kick. An Ork Warboss never admitted he was wrong.

Cleverhead was dead, making Cheng Mingrui the strongest, tallest, and biggest Ork present. None of the boyz dared get on their new boss's bad side. They all sprang into action, readying the warship for battle.

Now Cheng Mingrui could only hope the human warships would delay their attack and give him a little more time to prepare.

As it happened, none of the human warships attacked as they entered range one after another. Once they drew close enough, they launched smaller landing craft. Soon, they would regret their arrogance.