Carollis Prime.
Over the past three months, this former Diasporex Alliance colony world had been formally annexed by the Imperium.
The Sector Governor's office had officially issued the paperwork appointing a new Planetary Governor, and the accompanying administrative bureaucrats and Imperial Auxilia regiments were arriving in droves.
The human crews from the captured Diasporex fleet, along with the billions of people already living on the planet, were now officially subjects of the Imperium.
Or, to put it more accurately... slaves of the Imperium.
They would spend the rest of their lives bleeding and sweating on this rock to fuel the Imperium's grand crusades.
Somewhere deep within a dense forest on Carollis Prime.
Over a thousand figures slowly materialized from the shadows of the trees. They were dressed in a hodgepodge of different colored gear, with player IDs hovering above their heads, flickering in and out of view through the canopy.
Liam stood at the very front of the formation, tilting his head back to gaze at the sky.
High up in the atmosphere, the two massive armadas were slowly breaking orbit.
Liam pulled his gaze away from the sky and turned around.
Behind him, over twelve hundred Imperial Faction players were scattered across the forest clearing.
The three months of bloody warfare, the heart-stopping boarding action on the Tear of the Diasporex, and that wildly thrilling mass evacuation at the end... all of it had finally drawn to a close.
But Liam knew this was only the beginning.
He took a deep breath and hopped onto the regional comms channel. His voice was calm, yet carrying a heavy weight of gravity.
"Alright boys, take a breather. There's something I need to say to all of you."
Over a thousand pairs of eyes zeroed in on him across the clearing. Those eyes were full of expectation. Full of trust.
Liam paused, his gaze sweeping over every familiar face in the crowd.
The past few months of grinding and fighting had shown him exactly what kind of people these guys were. They were the type of gamers who would go absolutely psycho on the battlefield regardless of the cost, and then spend the next hour shitposting and meming in the chat.
But when push came to shove and they actually needed to lay it all on the line, not a single one of them ever backed down.
"Thanks for believing in me, brothers," his voice echoed through the channel, tinged with a rare hit of genuine emotion. "Bailing on the Iron Hands' main force and being willing to join this new Chapter I'm founding... I know a lot of you are probably sweating over this decision right now."
[Two-Faced Turtle] was the first one to jump into the chat:
"Bro, come on, don't talk like that! You're treating us like outsiders!"
"It's nothing, really!"
He planted his hands on his hips, his young face wearing an expression that practically said isn't it obvious?
"We've been playing this game for months. We've all seen your command skills and what kind of guy you are, Liam. If you decided it was time to dip from the Iron Hands, you definitely had a good reason for it!"
[I am the Living Dragon] nodded along, a faint smile playing across his weathered face.
"In the Warhammer universe, sticking together is the only way to survive. If you try to lone-wolf it, you're just gonna get ganked by those Chaos faction psychos sooner or later. If us Imperial players don't group up, how the hell are we supposed to live?"
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] leaned back against a tree, chewing lazily on a blade of grass.
"Exactly. You point, Liam, we shoot. We're all just here to play a game anyway. Better to run with someone reliable than a bunch of absolute scrubs."
A wave of agreements instantly flooded the channel.
"+1!"
"+10086!"
"Don't worry, Liam, we trust you!"
Liam looked at the messages scrolling by, reading those familiar IDs. The corners of his mouth slowly curled up into a smile.
It was a smile full of profound relief.
Suddenly remembering something, [Two-Faced Turtle] fired off another message:
"Besides, Liam, we wanna stick with you and make some real Imperial Coins! Otherwise, that '30% Off Astartes Gene-Seed Bundle' we got from the quest reward..."
"Who knows how long it'll take us to save up for that!"
His tone took on a dramatic, mournful edge.
"Even with the 30% discount, it still costs over four million! Becoming an Astartes is too damn expensive! And I bet once we actually are Astartes, the respawn cost is gonna be through the roof!"
"And don't even get me started on the cruisers..."
"Those things cost literally billions of Imperial Coins!"
The channel immediately erupted into a chorus of wailing and complaints.
[I am the Living Dragon]: "Don't even mention it, bro. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry."
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl]: "I've only got 830,000 saved up right now. That's not even enough to cover the sales tax."
[Two-Faced Turtle]: "Tell me about it. I'm at 910,000. Just pocket change."
[I am the Living Dragon]: "Goddammit, why is this game so realistic? Saving money here is harder than in real life!"
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl]: "Duh. Do you see Astartes running around on the streets in real life? These are Space Marines! The absolute peak combat power of the Imperium of Man! Of course they're expensive!"
The channel descended into a mess of joking banter and playful cursing.
Listening to them complain, Liam couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He knew this feeling all too well.
Back when he was in the military, the guys in his unit would act exactly like this after a brutal op.
Cursing up a storm, but completely fired up at the same time.
He shook his head with a smile and pulled up his system interface, his eyes locking onto the glowing golden notification.
[Area Faction Quest: Fall of the Diasporex]
[Completion Progress: 100%]
[First Blood Honor: Solomon Demeter]
[Quest Rewards:]
[- 100,000 Imperial Coins (Issued)]
[- 30% Off Astartes Gene-Seed Bundle Coupon (Area Faction Players)]
[- 80% Off Lunar-Class Cruiser Coupon x1 (Chapter/Faction Use Only)]
[- 80% Off Sword-Class Frigate Coupon x5 (Chapter/Faction Use Only)]
[Note: Congratulations on successfully assisting Solomon Demeter in securing the First Blood Honor and demonstrating exceptional combat performance.]
Looking at the reward list, Liam's smile deepened.
A hundred grand in Imperial Coins could buy a lot of good gear.
The 30% off Astartes coupon meant they were one massive step closer to becoming genuine Space Marines.
But that Lunar-class cruiser and the five Sword-class frigates...
That was the real capital they needed to establish a permanent foothold in this sector.
He spoke into the channel, his voice calm but carrying a reassuring absolute certainty.
"Since you all are willing to put your faith in me, I promise I'll do everything in my power. I will make sure every single one of us undergoes Astartes ascension. And we are going to get a cruiser that belongs exclusively to our very own Terran Dragon Guard!"
[Two-Faced Turtle] practically jumped out of his skin.
"Holy shit! Terran Dragon Guard! That name is badass!"
[I am the Living Dragon] was equally hyped.
"You already picked out a name, Liam?!"
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] instantly straightened up from the tree she was leaning against.
"Terran Dragon Guard... Dragons of Terra... Descendants of the Dragon! I get it! Liam, you're trying to build a Dragon-themed Chapter in Warhammer!"
Liam read the messages and shook his head with a chuckle.
His smile grew even wider.
He opened the Chapter Management tab and typed into the [Create Chapter] field...
Terran Dragon Guard.
The Chapter heraldry auto-generated on his screen.
A blazing crimson and gold serpentine dragon coiled aggressively over a silver Aquila background, its claws gripping a roaring power sword.
Chapter Motto: In the name of Terra, we bear the duty of the Dragon Guard. We defend humanity, and we shall know no retreat.
He hit confirm.
A flash of golden light illuminated his vision, and a system prompt popped up.
[Congratulations! You have successfully founded the Chapter "Terran Dragon Guard".]
[Chapter Level: Lv. 1]
[Chapter Roster: 0/1000]
[Exclusive Chapter Perks: Locked]
Liam sent a message to the channel.
"Chapter creation is complete. From today on, we're an official organization."
Hearing this, a massive wave of players instantly flooded the application queue.
About two hundred players with slower reaction times clicked apply, only to see a "Chapter Roster Full" error message. A chorus of groans immediately broke out.
Liam laughed. "Don't sweat it. The Chapter will level up soon enough, we'll get you all in."
Closing his interface, Liam turned and pointed toward the skyline of the Imperial colony city looming in the distance.
It was the seat of power for the newly appointed Planetary Governor of Carollis, an administrative center that had been hastily erected over the past three months.
The humans who used to belong to the Diasporex Alliance were currently being herded like cattle on the outskirts of that very city, forced to build the Imperium's infrastructure with their own blood and sweat.
Liam's expression turned serious.
"There are billions of humans on this planet."
"There's a freshly appointed Planetary Governor."
"There's a Governor's Palace, an administrative bureaucracy, and an entire garrison of Imperial Auxilia."
"But..."
He paused, his eyes sweeping over the crowd.
"Carollis Prime was just conquered by the Imperium. Those humans from the Diasporex Alliance? Right now, they're nothing but Imperial slaves."
"The Governor's rule here is completely unstable, and the Auxilia garrison hasn't even fully settled in yet."
"And most importantly..."
"The closest Ultima Segmentum reinforcement fleet is at least a three-month warp jump away."
His voice echoed in the channel, carrying a profound, unspoken implication.
"Starting right now..."
"We're setting up shop right here."
"We are going to build a new home for the Imperial Faction."
"A home for the Terran Dragon Guard."
The channel went dead silent for a full second.
And then, over a thousand voices erupted simultaneously, merging into a roaring tidal wave.
"Hell yeah! We're with you, Liam!!"
"Liam is literally the Paul of the Imperial Faction!!"
"Some Imperial players already visited Aurelian, the Crimson Dawn's main planet. Rumor has it that place is built incredibly well, and the citizens actually live good lives."
"If the Crimson Dawn faction can pull it off, so can we Imperial players!"
"We're gonna build a New Aurelian! A new utopian world!"
"Let's fucking go!!!"
[Two-Faced Turtle] was so hyped he was literally jumping in place.
"Holy shit! We're actually going to start building our own turf? No more taking orders from stuck-up Astartes!!"
[I am the Living Dragon] joined in on the hype.
"Exactly! We're the bosses now! We play how we want to play!!"
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] chimed in with a much cooler tone.
"Don't pop the champagne just yet. Establishing a planetary base isn't a walk in the park. That Planetary Governor was appointed by the Imperium, which means he's got at least a full regiment of Imperial Auxilia under his command. There's only a thousand of us; if we try to fight them head-on..."
"Who said anything about fighting them head-on?"
[Two-Faced Turtle] rolled his eyes.
"We can infiltrate! We can bribe people! We can divide and conquer! Have you forgotten who we are? We're players! We're the Fourth Scourge, and we literally cannot die! If we can't beat them, we'll just grind them down until they question their own existence."
[I am the Living Dragon] nodded vigorously.
"True! We have infinite respawns, they don't. We can literally just out-attrition them to death!"
[Metal Garurumon Beast Girl] slowly nodded.
"Fair point."
Liam didn't join in their scheming. He just turned back around, gazing out toward the void where the distant fleets were disappearing.
The purple armada of the Emperor's Children, and the silver-gray fleet of the Iron Hands.
They were vanishing into the edge of the stellar sea.
Liam's lips moved slightly, murmuring a promise so quietly that only he could hear it.
Demeter.
Vespasian.
Tarvitz.
I will remember your names.
Someday, we'll meet again.
And when that day comes...
I will truly save you.
I will bring you into the real Imperium.
In the name of Terra, we bear the duty of the Dragon Guard.