"Lian Leilo."
"Yes, Chapter Master."
"Do you think general is a little too low a rank?"
"Uh... Chapter Master, it's just a way to rally the troops... no need to get hung up on it." Lian Leilo instinctively shrank back.
"I'm serious. What should the governors of the five great regions be called? Think bigger."
Lian Leilo was a little frightened. Was Evan testing him? But... the Chapter Master had never done that before.
"Marshal? Like the Black Templars? You'd be High Marshal, and William and the others would be marshals?"
Lian Leilo's suggestion made Evan laugh.
"Where did you hear about the Black Templars' command structure?"
"We ran into them."
"Huh? You encountered Black Templars troops? Where are they? Those people aren't easy to fool. They're even more fanatical than I am."
Lian Leilo rolled his eyes at Evan. As if I don't know what the Black Templars are like. Don't you know how our Chapter operates?
"In a Dreadnought, sleeping. We'll let him out when we run into a big enemy force."
(Doverlit: Seems familiar. Not sure. I'll sleep a little longer.)
"Wait, where did you get another Dreadnought?"
"They brought it themselves. The veteran inside burned to death, so we stuffed one of the survivors into it."
Evan found that rather dubious. That doesn't sound like preserving a Dreadnought. It sounds like raising a Helbrute.
"All right, we've wandered off topic. Marshal is still too military a title. You're also the economic, political, cultural... leader."
"Chapter Master... Chapter Master~~" Lian Leilo's voice suddenly filled with yearning, giving Evan goosebumps.
"Spit it out!"
"How about we establish a successor Chapter? Or do what the Space Wolves do, with an undisclosed number of Great Companies?"
"Absolutely no successor Chapters." Those words shattered Lian Leilo's dream of becoming a