At the gates of the 10th Company encampment.
A few Imperial Auxilia soldiers with golden usernames hovering over their heads were standing guard.
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]
[I Wanna Marry the Emperor's Bride]
[Slacking Off Today Too]
[When Do My Imperial Coins Arrive]
The auxiliary regiment they belonged to fell under the direct command of the Emperor's Children 10th Company, and today happened to be their rotation for gate duty.
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty] leaned against the gatepost, staring blankly at the hazy grey sky in the distance, completely bored out of his mind.
Everything about this game was incredible. The graphics were photorealistic, the combat was a massive adrenaline rush, and the freedom of choice was off the charts.
But the quest system was just way too freaking realistic.
The system handed out daily quests based on your background and current rank, rewarding Imperial Coins, Merit Points, and Reputation.
The payouts weren't huge, but they were incredibly safe.
The catch was, he actually had to stand here for an entire day to complete the quest.
An entire day!
Just standing there doing absolutely nothing!
It was complete and utter bullshit!
But he had no choice. That was the life of a grunt.
A while back, there were players who refused to do their quests or follow orders. They were summarily executed on the spot that very same day for "insubordination and failure to follow commands."
The system hit them with a prompt reading, [You have died. Respawn requires 100 Imperial Coins], and those players were absolutely dumbfounded.
So now, everyone had wised up.
If they had to stand guard, they'd stand guard. They could just slack off and shoot the breeze in the regional chat anyway.
Just as [Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty] was about to get back to slacking off, he caught sight of a group of people marching toward the camp out of the corner of his eye.
Leading the pack was the 10th Company Captain, Saul Tarvitz, decked out in purple and silver power armor.
He instantly snapped up straight, ready to salute.
And then he saw the guy walking right next to Tarvitz.
Silver-grey Gorgon Terminator armor, the Iron Hands crest on the left pauldron, the Roman numeral 'I' on the right, a hulking seven-and-a-half-foot frame...
And hovering right above his head...
A crimson username.
[Paul Dawn]
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]'s pupils instantly blew wide open.
What the hell?
What the actual hell?!
Why does that Iron Hands guy have a crimson username floating over his head?!
He violently jerked his gaze to the crowd behind them...
Five hundred Astartes wearing Iron Hands power armor, marching in perfect lockstep, a literal tide of silver-grey...
And five hundred crimson usernames.
[Have You Been Loyal Today?]
[Shine My Shoes Abaddon]
[I Planetary Governor Refuse to Pay the Tithe]
[Uloveme Loves Burgers]
[Selling Flatbread at the Terra Palace Gates]
[Lemon-Eating Shinnosuke]
...
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]'s mouth slowly drifted open, his jaw practically hitting the dirt.
"Holy... shit..."
His voice was as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, but the other Imperial Auxilia players standing guard next to him were staring at the exact same scene. Their expressions perfectly mirrored his...
Utterly paralyzed, shell-shocked, and aggressively questioning reality.
Crimson Dawn.
Those were all players from the Crimson Dawn faction.
The guy sitting at rank one on the global Reputation board, [Paul Dawn].
The guy at rank one on the global Imperial Coin board, [Paul Dawn].
The guy at rank one on the global Merit board, [Paul Dawn].
And right now, he was marching straight into the Emperor's Children 10th Company's camp, dressed in Iron Hands power armor, acting as the Iron Hands' First Captain.
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]'s brain completely blue-screened.
--
Saul Tarvitz reached the camp entrance, his brow furrowing as he noticed the guards standing there completely dumbfounded.
"Ahem!"
He cleared his throat loudly.
The sharp grunt snapped the players out of their trance. They instinctively pulled the camp gates open and snapped to attention, their salutes actually looking pretty textbook after days of grinding military drills.
Paul strode right past them.
His dark gold eyes swept over the soldiers with the golden usernames, not a single muscle twitching on his face.
He had to maintain the cold, unfeeling persona of the Iron Hands Legion.
But he could clearly see the sheer panic and confusion swirling in the players' eyes.
The tide of silver-grey smoothly poured into the 10th Company's camp.
The gates slowly shut behind them.
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty] held his salute until the very last Iron Hands soldier vanished deep into the camp.
Then he violently wrenched open the Loyalist regional chat, his fingers flying frantically across his virtual keyboard.
[Regional Chat (Imperium of Man Faction)]
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "HOLY CRAP BROS!!!"
"You will never guess what I just saw!!!"
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "Aren't you stuck on gate duty at the 10th Company today?"
"What could you possibly see?"
"Did Tarvitz finally slap the shit out of Lucius?"
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "NO!!! It's way crazier than that!!!"
"I just saw the Crimson Dawn guys!!!"
[Dedicate My Heart to the Emperor]: "Why the hell would they be here???"
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "???"
[I Eat Tomatoes]: "???"
[For the Regent Yellow Guilliman]: "???"
[Sanguinius is My Husband]: "???"
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "[Paul Dawn]!!"
"The [Paul Dawn] sitting at number one on the global rep board!!!"
"He rolled up with five hundred Crimson Dawn players!!"
"Wearing Iron Hands power armor!!"
"He literally walked into the 10th Company acting like the Iron Hands' First Captain!!!"
The chat went completely dead for three seconds.
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "Are you out of your freaking mind?"
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "I saw it with my own two eyes!! Tarvitz personally welcomed them in!! They're sitting inside the 10th Company camp right now!!!"
[I Eat Tomatoes]: "Isn't Gabriel Santar the First Captain of the Iron Hands?"
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "Exactly!! They're literally impersonating Gabriel Santar!!!"
[I Wanna Marry the Emperor's Bride] chimed in: "Bros, we're not making this up. The look in Paul Dawn's eyes..."
"His aura was honestly way more terrifying than Tarvitz's. My legs are literally still shaking."
[For the Regent Yellow Guilliman]: "..."
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "..."
[I Eat Tomatoes]: "..."
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood]: "Are they completely insane??"
"Impersonating Astartes??"
"And the First Captain of the Iron Hands on top of that??"
"What happens if they get busted??"
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "I don't know!!"
"But they're doing it!!"
"And their power armor, their gear, their entire vibe—you literally can't tell they're faking it!!"
Another wave of heavy silence fell over the chat.
[Worthy of Sanguinius's Blood] slowly typed out a single line:
"So what are they doing here?"
[Emperor Above I Offer My Loyalty]: "I have no idea."
"But I got a feeling... something massive is about to go down."
--
The skies over Laeran were still shrouded in that faint, cyan-colored mist.
Deep inside the 10th Company's camp, within the temporary command post.
Saul Tarvitz stood before a rugged tactical table, dragging his finger across the holographic star map.
"This is the temple's final defensive perimeter."
His voice was low, his grey-blue eyes locked onto the structure radiating a pale blue glow. "The Laerans have pooled the last of their elites to hold this line."
"Over the past three days, the Emperor's Children have lost eighty-seven brothers to it."
Paul stood right next to him. His silver-grey Gorgon Terminator armor cast a cold glare under the camp's floodlights.
"How long to punch through?"
"At our current pace, two days minimum." Saul looked up, meeting Paul's gaze. "But if we throw the Iron Hands' heavy firepower into the mix..."
"One day," Paul cut him off.
Saul blinked in surprise.
Paul tapped a few coordinates on the holo-map. "Here, here, and here."
"We lock these three points down with heavy suppressive fire. Your forces run a frontal feint, and my assault teams cut in from the flanks."
"I'll have the temple doors blown wide open for you within twenty-four hours."
Saul stared at the map for a few seconds before giving a slow nod.
"It's viable."
He raised his head, his grey-blue eyes locking onto Paul's dark gold pupils.
"Captain Gabriel." His tone suddenly grew incredibly serious. "I have a question."
"Ask."
"The way you treated Lucius back there..." Saul paused, carefully weighing his words.
Paul didn't answer right away.
He just looked at the young Captain in front of him. His eyes were filled with integrity, loyalty, and courage, mixed with just a hint of genuine confusion.
"Tarvitz," his voice was dead calm. "I came here to win a war."
"I need a rock-solid, completely reliable brother-in-arms."
"Someone who actually embodies the true soul of the Emperor's Children."
He paused for a beat. "Lucius is not that man."
Saul fell silent for a few seconds.
And then he smiled. It wasn't some forced, polite smirk—it was a genuine smile rooted in profound trust.
"Thank you for your honesty."
"My dear friend, may the glory of the Emperor's Children watch over us both."
"Victory is assured."
--
Next Bonus chapter at 600 Powerstones.