After Lucifer Black Captain Theon leaped onto the city wall, he turned and pressed himself against a cannon.
His Necromunda-forged chainsword roared, its motor-driven blade tearing through several lunging guards.
Unlike the outpost guards, the wall's defenders were hardened soldiers, honed by decades of civil war.
They didn't panic and fire the unstable, unmaintained cannons wildly. Without hesitation, they charged the black-armored warrior through the splattering blood and flying limbs.
Theon advanced, his blade swinging. Blades struck from all sides.
He parried, cut, dodged, and thrusted. Over a dozen enemies fell, their bodies pierced by the deadly blade.
The enemy surged like a tide. Theon plunged into their midst, cutting a swath through them, leaving corpses strewn in his wake.
Outside the wall, Sasebo Tezuka fired a bolt round at a smoking, roaring cannon, far from the black-armored warrior.
As a green rune lit up, he shifted his gaze to Lucifer Black.
He was advancing rapidly, his speed matching a Shadows of Order charging into enemy ranks.
Suddenly, Sasebo saw a grey-armored Zosian officer dive and roll. His curved blade, like a serpent, snaked along the ground, lunging at the Lucifer Black's calf.
Without gene-enhancent, the black-armored warrior, with a reaction speed not even combat stimulants could grant, sidestepped.
He reversed his blade, striking from an angle he had never practiced.
A flicker of surprise crossed Sasebo's eyes. The grey-armored warrior rolled, narrowly evading the swift strike.
Chayne instinctively rolled to evade the swift attack. Shockwaves from the danger behind him pounded his body, forcing him to roll with all his might.
He didn't want to die.
He wanted to return to his warm ho, to embrace his wife and child.
He slamd his fist on the ground, propelling himself up.
Agony unlocked his potential. He twisted, sidestepping the chainsword, and delivered a fierce horizontal slash.
He was confident his charged blow would cut through the armor. He was the finest swordsman.
His confidence dissolved in an instant. The black-armored warrior, like a feline from the legends of Terra, humanity's howorld, evaded with elegant, silent grace.
With a crack, his curved blade shattered.
He slamd to the ground, stars bursting before his eyes.
He felt every bone in his body broken. He struggled to open his eyes, to see the black-armored warrior who had killed him.
"Your wall is breached! Surrender!" A synthesized voice. He turned.
He saw the black-armored warrior, sword in hand, looking down at him.
He felt a tremor. He turned. A taller black-armored giant leaped onto the wall.
"I... surrender..." Chayne said with difficulty. He knew his nation could not resist these beings from the sky.
He felt the sha of defeat, but also relief.
He could hold little Dionas again.
He had last held his son when he was only four.
Now, his little Dionas was eight.
Four weeks later, beside the new Planetary Governor's residence, the foundations were laid for the Lucifer Blacks' training castle.
Theon left the supervision to his deputy, Shield-Captain Laurent, and walked into his residence.
It was the estate of a great noble who had resisted integration.
He walked through the withered garden, yet to be replanted.
He entered his office, sat, and unrolled parchnt.
He picked up a quill and began to write.
He began: Honorable General Barton.
By ordinary standards, Theon should have addressed him by his surna, Drake. House Drake was now a major power in the Solar Auxilia.
But before following Lord Nareth, he and Barton had saved each other's lives countless tis on the battlefield, sharing a close brotherhood.
He wrote rapidly: [I am saddened to hear you missed becoming the new Lord Marshal of the Solar Auxilia. I have no doubt your achievents fully qualified you for the position.]
[I firmly believe that you and your House will one day lead the Solar Auxilia.]
He paused, frowning.
Barton's achievents were enough for him to succeed as Lord Marshal. Since swearing fealty to Lord Nareth, he had received strong support from the Shadows of Order and its allies.
The Necromunda armories had supplied fifteen regints of Barton's faction with superior weapons.
Navigator Houses Visscher and others, and over a hundred other families, provided support in many areas.
But this was also why Barton had not attained the Solar Auxilia's highest position.
Theon had grown his squad to over four hundred n, becoming the core of the Lucifer Blacks' revival. He was now the undisputed leader of this ancient Hundred Company.
He thus possessed a small but high-level intelligence network.
Lucifer Blacks, serving as personal guards to Terran nobles and Solar Auxilia generals, passed him their observations, encrypted in ancient codes.
He was certain the Sigillite did not want any general close to a Primarch to beco Lord Marshal.
He knew the Sigillite always wanted to establish a governnt independent of the Astartes, including military forces.
He shook his head. Having followed Lord Nareth for nearly a century, he had seen Shadows of Orders develop shattered territories, returned to humanity's embrace, into prosperous domains.
They were clearly better developed than the Imperium's directly administered worlds, those brutally exploited, inefficient, and bloated.
As he thought, he continued.
[I must express my sincere gratitude!]
[I admit, when I followed you to et Lord Nareth, I never imagined this day.]
[At that ti, I only hoped we would not be...]
He paused, not writing the nas of the Emperor and the Sigillite.
[...forgotten, relegated to guarding, away from the front lines, and fade away.]
[I only hoped we could fight together, as during the Unification Wars, and win victory.]
[Lord Nareth has provided with more help than I ever dread. I owe it all to you for bringing to Lord Nareth that day.]
He wrote rapidly of the past decades. His flowing High Gothic filled the page.
As a Lucifer Black, his training included not only swordsmanship. As guards to the powerful, they had to master High Gothic, military command, and other fields to serve as guards to Imperial high commanders.
After three pages, he wrote.
[Recently, Lord Nareth has granted the Lucifer Blacks a recruiting world.]
[Zos!]
[It is not like Necromunda, with its countless billions. But its people, forged by a desperate civil war, are hardened, ruthless warriors.]
He thought of the eight hundred forty-one candidates he had selected from Zos's youth corps, especially Chayne, whom he had fought.
He had talent for swordsmanship. Unfortunately, he was too old.
He had been appointed military commander of Zos's defense forces.
Fortunately, he had found Chayne's eight-year-old son, Dionas Chayne. A promising youth.
He had never seen such talent.
His future swordsmanship might even surpass his own, becoming the best in the Lucifer Blacks.
Reining in his thoughts, he wrote his final words.
[I believe the Lucifer Blacks will be reborn on Zos. I owe it all to you, Barton.]
[It is for this reason that I must use this ancient thod, a letter, to fully express my gratitude.]
[May you be victorious!]
He signed with a flourish: [Your most loyal comrade-in-arms, Theon.]
He rolled the parchnt, placed it in a gilded tube, set a password, and sealed it with his mark, a black blade.
It would travel through Shadows of Order's supply network, through multiple transports, finally reaching Barton.
917.M30.
Barton's chanical left hand rapidly input fourteen digits.
CLICK.
Three pages of parchnt ejected.
He unrolled the letter. He saw Theon's words of comfort.
He raised his glass and downed the Black Vosvoth vodka.
As his stomach burned, he laughed. "Theon, I'm not that fragile."
He was indeed disappointed at losing the Lord Marshalcy, but he did not regret it.
Lord Nareth had always supported him. House Drake mbers, guarded by the quasi-Shadows of Orders, had lost only forty-nine mbers in nearly a century.
Before, during the Unification Wars, that number had been one hundred eighty-five.
Each quasi-Shadows of Order was a powerful warrior who had undergone at least thirteen augntation surgeries, nearly becoming a true Shadows of Order.
They had been tempered into resilient, powerful warriors. They had saved many Drake commanders in countless battles.
He had witnessed how the once-powerful Lucifer Blacks had fallen, and how many military families had perished in brutal wars.
He believed that with the protection of the quasi-Shadows of Orders, House Drake would endure forever, like Lord Nareth.
'I lost the Lord Marshalcy due to the Sigillite's interference. But Lord Nareth will surely support my descendants in reclaiming it.'
He clenched his chanical fist. He quickly read the letter.
Seeing that Theon and the Lucifer Blacks had been reborn on Zos, the old general laughed.
"Good! Excellent!"
He swung his arm. The four n, over two ters tall, looked at him.
"No assassins!" He shouted, pleased with their vigilance.
"Indeed, following Lord Nareth was a wise decision. For both and Theon." His words made the four guards' eyes light up, then dim.
They had once had a chance to beco Lord Nareth's sons, to be Shadows of Orders, but had failed at the final stage.
They were grateful, though, that unlike most Legion candidates, they hadn't been turned into servitors.
As guards to generals and nobles, they had good incos and could still serve Lord Nareth.
As they felt both regret and gratitude, Barton thought of the criminal he had used his influence to save, and whispered.
"He should still follow Lord Nareth."
"Staying in the Auxilia won't let him reach his full potential."
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu
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