Deep inside the palace complex, in the eastern district of the High City, Hastur Sejanus leaned against a wall, breathing heavily.
His once-white power armor had been almost completely stained red.
Some of the blood belonged to his enemies.
Some was his own.
A deep sword wound ran along his left arm, courtesy of an Invisible who had ambushed him earlier.
The bleeding had stopped, but the injury still looked horrific.
Eleven people remained beside him.
Ten elite Luna Wolves Honor Guards.
And Lone Wolf.
Fortunately, despite the brutal pursuit, they hadn't suffered any additional casualties.
Sejanus drew a deep breath.
But the enemy was still hunting them relentlessly.
As long as they remained alive, they would have to keep fighting.
He raised a hand, signaling the group to stop.
They were hiding inside a smaller side hall, while the faint sound of approaching footsteps could be heard outside.
Sejanus examined their surroundings.
After confirming they were temporarily safe, his gaze settled on the young warrior who had been following him.
Lone Wolf was crouched behind a pillar, using his tactical goggles to monitor the movements outside.
His armor was splattered with blood, but he didn't appear to be injured.
Somehow, the kid always managed to dodge attacks at exactly the right moment.
It was almost as though he could predict what his enemies would do before they did it.
Sejanus walked over and lowered his voice.
"How much ammunition do we have left?"
Lone Wolf blinked.
Then realization dawned, and a faint grin appeared on his face.
He reached inside his clothing.
Or, more accurately, he reached into his inventory.
A moment later, he pulled out an enormous magazine of bolter ammunition.
The thing was as thick as an arm and packed with .75-caliber bolt rounds.
Sejanus stared at it.
For a moment, he was genuinely speechless.
He accepted the magazine, weighed it in his hand, then looked back at Lone Wolf.
"You little..."
There was unmistakable disbelief in his voice.
"Just how much ammunition did you bring?"
Lone Wolf grinned.
There was a hint of mischief in that smile, along with a healthy dose of pride.
"Not much."
"Just a teeny-tiny bit."
He paused, glancing at the ten elite Honor Guards who had also turned to look at him.
"My lords, feel free to use as much as you need."
"We've got plenty of ammunition."
"So don't hold back against the enemy."
"We're all getting out of here alive."
Behind their helmets, the ten Luna Wolves Honor Guards couldn't help but smile.
They had absolutely no idea where this young warrior had obtained so much ammunition.
But at a desperate moment like this, having what amounted to a bottomless ammunition supply at their side gave them a real chance of survival.
Sejanus studied Lone Wolf.
That young face.
Those determined eyes.
A smile appeared on his own face, filled with approval and trust.
"Good."
His voice was calm, yet it carried a strength that reassured everyone around him.
"Then we'll survive."
"All of us."
He turned and began replacing the magazine in his bolter.
The ten Luna Wolves followed suit, checking their ammunition with crisp, practiced movements.
Not a single gesture was wasted.
Lone Wolf watched them quietly.
So this is what the Luna Wolves are really like.
Even when they're completely surrounded, even when everything seems hopeless, they can still remain calm.
They still look out for each other.
That's what makes them...
A wolfpack.
Even if there are only ten of them, they're still wolves.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.
Sejanus raised his head, his gaze sharpening.
"They're back."
His voice remained calm.
"Prepare to relocate."
Ten armored figures rose simultaneously.
Lone Wolf stood as well and pushed the enormous magazine he'd just taken out into Sejanus's hands.
Sejanus accepted it and gave him a nod.
Then he turned toward a side door at the back of the hall, leading deeper into the palace complex.
Eleven figures followed closely behind him.
Less than thirty seconds after they left, dozens of gold-armored soldiers stormed into the chamber.
At their head was a man wearing crimson priestly robes, his face twisted with fanatic devotion.
"AFTER THEM!"
His shrill voice cut through the chamber.
"His Majesty the Emperor has ordered us to capture these invaders!"
"BRING THEM BACK ALIVE OR DEAD!"
--
Several hours of relentless fighting had transformed the outskirts of the Central Province into a burning hellscape.
The false Emperor's defensive lines had collapsed one after another beneath the Luna Wolves' overwhelming advance.
The corpses of gold-armored soldiers covered the ground from Defense Sector E-7 all the way to the open plains outside the High City.
Blood mixed with mud, churned beneath tank treads and Astartes boots until the battlefield resembled a sticky, crimson swamp.
And yet the false Emperor's commanders continued forcing their soldiers forward.
Fresh waves of gold-armored troops arrived from the rear, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades as they charged toward the advancing wall of white armor.
Only to become another layer of corpses beneath the thunder of bolters and chainswords.
"They're insane."
A Solar Auxilia sergeant crouched beside the edge of a shell crater, watching the endless waves of soldiers charging in the distance.
He couldn't help muttering to himself.
"They're not insane."
The veteran beside him replaced the power pack in his lasrifle without even looking up.
"They're scared."
"Scared of those red-robed priests."
"Scared of whatever punishment that so-called Emperor of theirs might hand down."
The sergeant fell silent for several seconds.
In the distance, another charge was torn apart by the Luna Wolves' firepower.
The gold-armored soldiers hadn't even gotten within fifty meters of the Astartes before a storm of bolt rounds riddled them with holes.
"But they've got so many men..."
"Surely, if they throw enough bodies at them, they could bring down a few Astartes?"
The veteran raised his head and gave the younger man an almost amused look.
"Bring down an Astartes?"
He shook his head.
"Kid, you're giving ordinary humans way too much credit."
"Those warriors have been engineered at the genetic level to surpass humanity itself."
"They're practically gods."
"The best thing we ordinary humans can do on a battlefield is follow behind them and clean up whatever enemies slip through."
"As for fighting an Astartes head-on..."
"Well, let's just say you'd better be in a hurry to meet the Emperor."
The sergeant said nothing more.
He simply tightened his grip on his lasrifle and looked across the mountains of corpses toward the enormous city looming ever closer.
--
Meanwhile, messages were flooding the [Regional Channel: Light of the Emperor].
[The Emperor's Will is Unstoppable] had just returned from a respawn point and was sending messages while trying to catch his breath.
"FUCK! Those Chaos faction assholes ambushed me AGAIN!"
"Three guys surrounded me and started pumping bolt rounds into me like ammo was free. I swear I gained ten pounds in bullet weight instantly."
"But hey, I managed to take one of those bastards down with me."
"Worth it."
[Loken Did Not Betray the Luna Wolves] responded.
"You got off easy."
"I had it even worse. Six Chaos players chased me through three entire streets."
"If the Luna Wolves hadn't advanced so quickly and scattered those bastards, I'd probably still be respawning right now."
[Thirty Years a Centaur Gold Ring] chimed in gloomily.
"Seriously, do you guys think those Chaos players have lost their minds?"
"They're so desperate to kill Sejanus that they don't even care about dying?"
[I Don't Eat Bear Biscuits] gave a cold laugh.
"Dying?"
"Do we even have to worry about something like that?"
"All dying costs us is a few Imperial Coins."
"They're players, just like us."
"They're part of the Fourth Scourge too."
"They're not afraid of dying, and neither are we."
"This is just a question of which side gives up first."
The channel went quiet for a moment.
Then a message from [I Want to be the Imperial Regent] appeared.
"Exactly."
"This has become a war of attrition."
"It's all about who has more Imperial Coins and who can keep paying the respawn costs the longest."
He paused before adding another message.
"But personally, I don't think the Chaos faction can keep this up for much longer."
"Why?"
[The Emperor's Will is Unstoppable] asked.
"Because we've already seized the initiative and changed history."
"We caused the war to begin ahead of schedule."
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] slowly typed out his explanation.
"And now they're stuck reacting to what we've done."
"They have one unavoidable objective."
"Assassinate Sejanus."
"It's something they absolutely HAVE to accomplish."
"But we have far more options."
"All we need to do is protect him."
"Defense gives us choices. We can hold our ground, wait, or drag things out."
"Now, I don't know exactly what's happening with Lone Wolf right now."
"But between his unlimited ammunition supply and his support, those elite Honor Guards and a captain from the Great Crusade era shouldn't be that easy to kill."
"The Chaos faction players, on the other hand, don't have the luxury of waiting."
"They have to attack."
"They have to keep pushing."
"They have to race against the clock."
"Because the moment the Luna Wolves' company captains break into the false Emperor's palace..."
"They'll lose their chance to assassinate Sejanus completely."
"Which means they're desperate right now."
"And desperate people make mistakes."
"Mistakes get you killed."
The channel fell silent again.
Everyone understood the logic.
But understanding it was one thing.
Actually keeping Sejanus alive was another.
None of them could guarantee success.
After all, those lunatics on the other side genuinely didn't care how many times they died.
--
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