Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Leviathan's vanguard fleet devoured three agricultural worlds in four days.

Biomass was drained, the atmosphere was stripped away, and the planet's surface was gnawed into bare rock.

When the Imperial Navy's rapid reaction fleet arrived, all they saw were three Death Stars and a Zerg fleet moving toward its next target.

The western route of the Holy Front collapsed within two weeks.

Guilliman was forced to draw three Space Marine chapters and two Titan legions from the main force of the Unyielding Expedition to fill the gap.

These forces were originally intended to retake the northern sector of the Imperial Frontier, which had been occupied by Chaos.

The plan was disrupted, and the offensive on the northern front stalled.

Then there's the space necromancer.

The Necromancer Dynasty of the Paria Starfield established a massive anti-spiritual energy field and a spirit tower array on the eastern edge of the Sanctuary.

Once mortals enter the coverage area, their souls will be gradually extracted, turning them into mindless zombies.

Space Marines entering the area will also feel their psionic energy suppressed and their fighting spirit weakened.

The navigator was completely unable to work in the vicinity, and subspace travel was cut off.

This force field covers three star systems, containing more than a dozen Imperial worlds and nearly 50 billion people.

Guilliman dispatched a joint task force of Grey Knights and Imperial Guards to deal with the situation, only to discover that the Necromancer's necromancer tower was located in orbit around a neutron star, inaccessible by conventional means.

The task force fought at the edge of the force field for a month, losing two hundred Grey Knights and forty Imperial Guards, but the tower was still operating.

Guilliman had to put this matter aside for the time being and prioritize dealing with the Zerg.

Then comes the daily routine.

On average, sixty to eighty data boards are delivered to the Regent's desk every day.

Battle damage reports, supply requests, chapter redeployment requests, planetary governors' letters of appeal, arbitration of technical disputes by the Cult of Mechanics, approval of the Imperial Navy's organizational structure, impeachment reports from the Inquisition...

Especially the courtroom.

Guilliman picked up the forty-seventh data panel, glanced at the title, and his stomach started hurting again.

Grand Inquisitor Montagu of the Inquisition submitted an impeachment report.

The target of the impeachment was General Garcia, Commander-in-Chief of the Star Guard in the 217th Sector of the Empire.

Grounds for impeachment: General Garcia used a batch of new weapons on the battlefield that had not been reviewed by the Inquisition. These weapons were developed independently by the local Foundry World without going through the approval process of the Cult of Mechanics. The Inquisition considered this to constitute technological heresy.

Three days ago, General Garcia used these weapons to repel a Chaos invasion force and save a hive world with a population of 30 billion.

The court doesn't care about that; they care about procedure.

The impeachment report demanded the immediate removal of General Garcia from office and his trial.

The reason given is the unauthorized use of technological products that may involve heresy.

Guilliman slammed the data panel on the table.

If the impeachment is approved, the Empire will lose a capable general, and the defenses of Sector 217 will be compromised. If it is rejected, the Inquisition will argue that the Regent interfered with judicial independence, leading to another three months of legal wrangling.

He chose to reject it, writing four words on the data board: "Wartime Exemption!"

Then pick up the forty-eighth piece.

This is another report from the court.

The state chaplaincy of a certain hive world accused the local Astragalus Recruiting Office of "disrespecting the Emperor Icon" because the office had moved the Emperor Icon from the center of the hall to the side wall to make room for a larger war zone map.

The chaplaincy demanded that the head of the conscription office be arrested on charges of blasphemy against the emperor.

Guilliman stared at the data panel for five seconds, then threw it into the wastebasket.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Ten thousand years ago, the emperor himself said: There are no gods in the universe.

Someone is now facing trial for moving an emperor's portrait three meters away.

Guilliman sometimes really couldn't understand whether the Empire was fighting against external enemies or against itself.

The forty-ninth data board.

This piece did not come from any department of the Imperial Holy Face.

Its label reads: Intelligence Source – The Dark Side of the Empire.

News from the dark side of the empire rarely reaches the Holy Front.

"Lotharson killed the Khorne Demon Primarch Angron. Angron's Battle Axe and the Claw of Horus were both reforged by the Imperial Goldenfire and are now Lotharson's personal weapons."

"Lossen repelled the invasion of Khorne's main force in the Battle of Agrippina, defeated Abaddon himself in the Battle of Vigilant Star and seized the Soul of Vengeance, and killed Blackheart Huron and Belaco the First Shadow in the Battle of Dragon Spirit Star."

"Lossen controls over 70,000 worlds on the dark side of the Empire, establishing navigation, communication, and logistics networks independent of the Empire's administrative system."

"The First Legion Primarch, Leon Al Johnsen, has been confirmed to have returned. The Lion King has joined the Supreme War Court of the Dark Side of the Empire, established by Lord Lawson, as the First Grand Marshal of the Expedition. Dante, the Regent of the Dark Side of the Empire, serves as the Regent Warmaster of the Supreme War Court. Lord Lawson serves as the Lord of the Supreme War Court."

Guilliman placed the data panel on the table.

The Primitive's brain processes this information at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Even the Primarch needs time to process such a report.

The wielder of the Imperial Flame, slaying Angron, defeating Abaddon, seventy thousand worlds, the Lion King returns and pledges allegiance...

Guilliman's first reaction was disbelief; the report's descriptions were too outrageous.

"Losen, the human leader who possesses the Imperial Golden Flame?"

Guilliman repeated the description to himself.

The Emperor's golden fire is not given away casually; Guilliman himself spoke with the Emperor about it.

He sat before the golden throne and spoke with that withered body for a long time.

He has not told anyone about the content of their conversation to this day.

He knew how powerful the emperor's will was, and he also knew how stingy the emperor was with his power.

There is only one possibility for a mortal to obtain the Emperor's Golden Fire: the Emperor gives it to him voluntarily.

But what if it's a conspiracy by the Four Chaos Gods?

A pseudo-saint fostered by Chaos, impersonating the Emperor's Golden Flame, gains the trust of the empire's dark side, and then undermines it from within...

But the Lion King joined.

This one sentence instantly dispelled all his doubts.

Guilliman knew his older brother all too well.

The Lion King has never submitted to anyone except the Emperor, not even Guilliman.

If Lawson is a fraud, the first thing the Lion King would do upon waking up is to cut off his head with a sword.

If Lawson is a heretic of Chaos, the Lion King will burn him and the entire dark side of the Empire to ashes.

But the Lion King led the entire First Legion to join the Royal Court of Lords of Lawson and personally assumed the position of "Grand Marshal of the Expedition".

What does this mean?

This indicates that Lawson represents the will of the Emperor himself.

There is no other explanation.

Guilliman slowly leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

The dark side of the empire was a heavy burden on his mind for many years.

The day the Great Rift tore the galaxy apart, Guilliman knew that half of the Empire was finished.

The light from the starlight could not reach the other side of the crevice.

The trillions upon trillions of people on the dark side have lost their navigation, their communication, and the administrative support of Terra; they are left to die in the darkness.

Dante was his most trusted Space Marine, but one man couldn't carry half the Empire.

Guilliman knew this.

His expectation was "at least to prevent the core sector from collapsing."

He always felt that he had abandoned half of his people who were on the dark side.

Every time he took a break from dealing with matters concerning the Holy Face, the thought of the human world struggling in darkness on the other side of the Great Rift would cause him stomach cramps.

The original body also reacts to persistent mental stress.

Now the stone has been moved.

Not only was it moved, but the situation on the dark side was a hundred times better than he had expected.

Seventy thousand worlds were reclaimed, and an independent navigation and communication network covered the entire dark side.

The efficiency of reclaiming 60,000 planets within a year surpassed the peak output of the Great Expedition Era.

Guilliman made a comparison in his mind that he was reluctant to make.

He is on the side of the Imperials, possessing all of Terra's resources, the High Overlords' administrative system, the industrial support of the Cult of Mechanics, hundreds of Space Marine Chapters, and tens of thousands of Astral Legions.

It took him several years to reclaim approximately 20,000 worlds.

Progress was slowed down by the Zerg, Necromancers, Chaos, administrative infighting, and the Inquisition.

Lawson, working in the shadows of the Empire, started from scratch and spent five years recovering 70,000.

Moreover, there are no courts causing trouble in the shadows, no High Lords' Council bickering, and no Church priests impeaching someone for moving an icon by three meters.

Guilliman found himself jealous.

He was jealous that Lawson didn't have to fight against the imperial bureaucracy.

Guilliman closed his eyes.

If the emperor himself were still lucid, he would see his image printed on pardons and sold for money, see people burned at the stake for refusing to kneel, see the Imperial Truth torn to shreds by his own people…

What would the emperor think?

The Emperor will choose what Lawson does.

Feed the people, clean the water, repair the defenses, and prioritize state religion over food and clean water.