Warhammer: Empire Reboot

When the words "Fuck you all" exploded in the bridge of the Blood Call, the entire command structure felt as if someone had grabbed their throat.

Dante looked at the nautical chart.

The Word Bearer warships that were originally preparing to launch an orbital bombardment of St. Caspar, and the demon engine ships that were waiting to harvest souls at the edge of the channel, all stopped.

Then, nine-tenths of the Chaos Fleet, like sharks smelling blood, made a violent turn in space.

They abandoned their prey, which was almost within their grasp.

They abandoned their poorly defended nest cities and agricultural satellites.

One by one, the subspace engines lit up.

The target: Agrippina.

Lawson did not send a single soldier to the rescue.

But with just a few words, he resolved the deadlock for hundreds of billions of people.

"He's playing with fire."

Dante stood up abruptly.

The voice behind the mask was very soft, but everyone on the bridge could hear it.

As a commander who had lived for 1,500 years, he understood Lawson's intentions in an instant.

Lawson did not set up the battlefield in San Caspar.

He dragged all the pressure onto Agrippina.

He used himself to shield Saint Caspar from a knife.

"The Lawson brothers..."

Dante stopped halfway through his sentence.

He meant to say "too intense".

But this word seems too insignificant when placed on the star map before us.

Gabriel Seth, the leader of the Flesh-Tearers chapter next to him, was almost unable to restrain himself.

He slammed his fist on the control panel, and the screen shattered instantly.

The tech servant was about to look up when he met Seth's gaze, then immediately lowered his head again.

"That's a real man!"

Seth stared in Agrippina's direction, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement.

"Instead of hiding behind the fortress and plotting, he shoved the knife straight into the demon's nostril! Lord Palmprint is more like the leader of the Flesh-Tearer Chapter than I am!"

He turned to look at Dante.

"Your Excellency, give the order! The Blood Angels and the Flesh Tearers, set sail immediately and carve a bloody path through Agrippina for him!"

"No."

Dante refused quickly.

Seth's face darkened: "Why?"

"The main force of Chaos has been lured away, but there are still cultists and stragglers within St. Caspar. We must now purge the remaining enemies and stabilize the sector."

Dante looked at the star map.

"Moreover, the fact that Lawson dared to call the enemy over means that he has his own arrangements in Agrippina. Sending a large force directly there may not be helping him; it might disrupt his killing plan."

Seth clicked his tongue in annoyance.

But he didn't continue pushing.

Because Dante was right.

This made him even more unhappy.

Dante turned toward the corner of the bridge.

"Astolia".

The logistics officer immediately stepped forward, carrying a data board.

"grown ups."

"How's the batch of damaged power armor I asked you to prepare for the Lawson Chapter in Baal?"

Astoria quickly flipped through the pages.

"Sir, all three thousand four hundred severely damaged power armor wrecks, which the Mechanics Church deemed irreparable, have been sealed up."

"Okay. Send it to him right away."

Dante paused for a moment.

Astoria, who was already preparing to leave, felt a jolt of fear upon hearing the pause.

Dante said, "Also bring up the batch of Mark X power armor that are intended to be equipped for the next generation of the original cast army."

Astoria's hand trembled.

The data panel almost fell off.

"grown ups?"

"A thousand new armors."

Dante looked at him.

“Send them, along with the three thousand damaged suits of armor, to Agrippina.”

The logistics adjutant's face turned deathly pale.

"Sir, are you referring to the batch of brand-new Mark X tactical armor directly issued by the Martian Great Sage?"

"Was I not clear enough?"

"I understand, but—"

Astoria hugged the data pad even tighter, as if holding a plasma core about to explode.

“My lord, this is absolutely not in accordance with the regulations for the distribution of military equipment. Lord Guilliman’s Code of Astartes has clear restrictions: each Astartes Legion must not exceed one thousand men at full strength. This is the bottom line to prevent a great rebellion from happening again.”

He became more and more anxious as he spoke.

“We recently allocated over six hundred brand-new power armors to Lawson in the name of the newly formed Avengers Chapter. If we send another thousand new armors now, along with the ones he repaired himself, the number of power armors he has will exceed four thousand.”

Seth, who was listening nearby, grew impatient and his hand was already on the chainsaw sword.

Astoria gritted her teeth and continued.

“This is far beyond the size of a warband. The Ministry of the Interior will consider this a reconstruction of the Legion. The Inquisition will certainly hold Baal accountable, and may even send the Inquisition to investigate you.”

No one spoke on the bridge.

Dante listened.

In the past, he would have weighed the pros and cons.

He would calculate the reactions of all parties, taking into account the attitudes of the High Lords, the Ministry of the Interior, the Cult of Mechanics, and the Inquisition.

The empire's dark side is already fragile enough; any transgression could trigger internal strife.

But today, Lawson's words snapped a string in Dante's heart that had been taut for 1,500 years.

For the sake of hundreds of billions of strangers, Lawson could drag the dirtiest and craziest hatred in the entire galaxy onto himself.

This regent in the shadows, is he afraid of an accountability report?

I said I'd send it over.

Astoria immediately shut up.

"Send it over immediately."

Dante points to the red dots on the star chart that are rushing toward Agrippina.

"The Lawson brothers are risking their lives, using that planet, to buy time for the dark side of the entire empire. They are taking the fall for the billions of civilians in San Caspar."

He turned his head.

"The law is dead. The defense is alive."

Astoria's lips moved.

Dante didn't give him a chance to speak.

"So what if there are a thousand power armors?"

Saint Gilles' mask exuded an almost mocking coldness under the light.

"If it can stop the advance of chaos, I will give away ten thousand bodies."

He looked at the logistics adjutant.

"As for the court. If they feel I have violated the code, if they have objections to my allocation of resources."

Dante paused for a moment.

"Have them bring the combined fleet to me."

"Remove me from my position as regent in secret."

“I have fought for this empire for 1,500 years, and I am exhausted. It is time to retire, go back to Baal, and be with my father in his tomb.”

Astoria opened her mouth, but no sound came out for a long time.

He had never seen the regent, who always put the big picture first and always shouldered responsibility, say such things that sounded like he was giving up.

He wanted to offer one more word of advice.

A huge dark shadow blocked his way.

Seth walked over and shoved him, causing him to stumble.

"The accountant."

Seth looked down at him.