"The Tarankd Sector Autonomous Government was officially established yesterday."
"We shall follow the will of the great Emperor and rebuild a mighty Imperium filled with reason and dreams."
"We shall save humanity from ignorance and chaos..."
The enormous Vox system broadcast the latest news again and again in a powerful voice, spreading word of Taranckd's independence throughout the sector.
Although the broadcast did not reach the entire Eastern Fringe, the Imperium knew it had been inevitable.
The flag flying over Taranckd was no longer the Imperial Aquila, but an eagle soaring with its wings outstretched, a lightning bolt clutched in its left talon and a sword in its right.
This emblem came from the Thunder Eagle banner the Emperor had used during the distant Unification of Terra. Bona had chosen it because he wanted to recreate the glory of the Imperium during the Great Crusade.
Colonel Sakot of the Astra Militarum's Third Regiment of Norsd watched the cities rising in the distance with a grave expression.
The enormous Hive City had now been demolished by the Adeptus Mechanicus's heavy machinery. Like some species of local wild plant, it had been stripped away layer by layer from top to bottom.
In its place came Colony Ships departing with holds full of settlers, and cities springing up across Tarankd III.
With the help of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the damaged ecosystem had begun to recover. Now even the scum of the Underhive could enter the newly built factories and earn wages through their labor, rather than being driven out by the Arbites because of their origins.
Contrary to what people had imagined, the newly established Tarankd Sector Autonomous Government was not merely a plaything for the upper nobility. It had genuinely brought in large numbers of people from the Mid Hive and the