The Warp, near the edge of the Astronomican.
Lucian lounged on his sofa with a bucket of popcorn, his eyes glued to the floating golden projection screen in front of him.
On the screen, Liam was frowning, staring grimly toward the bridge.
"Of course it feels weird, man," Lucian muttered, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth and crunching loudly. "With that sneaky old bastard Tzeentch pulling the strings from the shadows, it'd be a miracle if things didn't go smoothly."
His gaze drifted over to a second floating screen.
In that feed, [All According to Plan] was leading over eight hundred Chaos players in a mad dash down a corridor.
They were still at least ten minutes away from the bridge, whereas Demeter was already standing right at the front door.
"Ten minutes."
A playful smirk tugged at the corners of Lucian's mouth. "More than enough time for Demeter to slaughter everyone and strike a victory pose."
His gaze pierced through the screens, settling on the unseen depths of the Warp.
Out there, a faint, almost imperceptible blue light was slowly dissipating.
It was the power of Tzeentch.
He was guiding this.
Steering everything exactly toward the ending He desired.
"Fulgrim arrives at the bridge just a step too late, forced to watch his own son steal the glory that rightfully belonged to him."
Lucian's voice echoed through the empty Domain. "That humiliation, that bitter resentment, that jarring imperfection..."
"...will be more than enough to make that blade's whispers a hell of a lot louder."
His gaze drifted back to Liam's serious face, and he spoke softly.
"And you, Liam... you and your men are nothing but pawns on this massive chessboard."
"You want to change history?"
"You don't have enough weight to tip the scales just yet."
--
Back inside the bridge, Demeter made his move.
He raised his right hand and swept it forward.
"Breach."
The command was spoken calmly, but carried an unquestionable, crushing authority.
Ten Emperor's Children Legionaries, armed with meltas and plasma cannons, stepped forward in unison, leveling their weapons at the guards desperately trying to mount a defense.
"Fire."
Blinding white beams and searing blue-white plasma orbs screamed across the room simultaneously, detonating into a devastating wave of fire.
There were over two thousand guards.
The final line of defense for the top brass of the Diasporex Alliance.
But against the heavy firepower of the Astartes, these ordinary human soldiers and xenos warriors might as well have been made of wet tissue paper.
Melta beams punched straight through the barricades, instantly vaporizing the cover and melting the soldiers hiding behind it into a puddle of slag.
Plasma orbs erupted right in the middle of their formations, sending violent shockwaves that scattered chunks of meat and bone in every direction.
Screams, explosions, and the horrific groan of twisting metal blended into a chaotic symphony of destruction.
"Evade!"
Demeter's voice boomed over the lull in the heavy weapons fire.
Every single Emperor's Children warrior instantly dove to the flanks, rolling behind whatever cover they could find.
A split second later, the surviving guards finally snapped out of their shock and unleashed a frantic torrent of return fire.
A torrential downpour of energy blasts and solid slugs swept over the exact spot the Astartes had just occupied, leaving nothing but scorched impact craters across the metal deck.
But Demeter's order had been flawlessly timed.
Not a single Legionary was hit.
Liam was pinned behind a thick structural pillar. Listening to the lethal energy beams scorching the air right above his head, he couldn't help but say into the comms channel:
"Holy shit, this guy's commanding is cracked."
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] replied immediately. "My mom asked why I'm playing games on my knees. I told her I'm watching a literal god command an army."
[Two-Faced Turtle]: "Quit messing around and get ready to work!"
The moment the guards' suppressive fire faltered, Demeter's voice barked out again.
"Second Squad, flank left. Third Squad, pincer from the right. The rest of you, frontal assault with me."
Three hundred Emperor's Children moved on command.
Their movements were so terrifyingly synchronized, it was like they were a single living organism.
The warriors on the left flank leapfrogged forward using the remaining cover, their bolters precisely executing any guard stupid enough to poke their head out.
The warriors on the right flank moved even faster. They charged straight through the incoming fire, plunging headfirst into the enemy ranks as their power swords sent arcs of blood spraying across the deck.
And the frontal assault force led by Demeter acted as the tip of the spear.
His power sword strikes were surgical and lethal. Every single swing claimed an enemy's life.
His footwork was unhurried and elegant, allowing him to glide through the storm of bullets as casually as if he were taking a stroll.
The regular human guards were like ants to him. Before they could even aim their energy rifles, their heads were already flying through the air.
The xenos warriors were slightly tougher, but that only bought them an extra second of life.
Demeter would casually deflect their frantic energy blade strikes, instantly followed by a brutal backhand thrust that impaled them through the chest.
Liam and over three hundred Imperial players trailed closely behind Demeter. They constantly popped half-out of cover, using rocket launchers and bolters to clear out any stubborn pockets of resistance.
[I am the Living Dragon] hoisted a rocket launcher onto his shoulder, aimed it dead-center at a heavy machine gun emplacement that was still laying down suppression fire, and pulled the trigger.
The rocket found its mark, blowing the weapon platform and its operator into bloody confetti.
"That's seven!" he cheered excitedly in the channel.
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] crouched behind a pillar, using a bolter to pick off enemy snipers in the distance.
His movements were steady and calculated. Every single bolt round found a target.
"Twelve," he casually reported his kill count.
[Two-Faced Turtle] was way more unhinged. Dual-wielding bolters, he charged headfirst into a cluster of guards, screaming at the top of his lungs while holding down the triggers.
"Come on! Come on! Let's trade damage, baby!"
A second later, he took three energy blasts straight to the chest, and his player ID instantly greyed out.
Three seconds later, his voice whined over the comms channel.
"Damn it, I died way too fast. I didn't even get to enjoy it."
As for the two thousand-plus guards, despite having a massive numerical advantage...
...against hundreds of perfectly coordinated Emperor's Children, backed up by three hundred completely fearless, respawnable players...
...their defensive line was collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Just three minutes later.
There were fewer than three hundred guards left standing on the bridge of the Diasporex Tear.