Warhammer: Empire Reboot

……

This was the first order that Lawson changed after arriving.

A few days ago, at the Taiping Starfield Front Command Post.

Upon his arrival, Lawson gave no one time for pleasantries.

After meeting, both sides went directly to the command post.

The heavy armored doors closed, shutting out the sounds of engines, ranks, and the communications officer's shouts.

On the dome of the hall, the giant star map of the Pacific region was still slowly rotating.

Inside the command post, six people stood below the star map.

On one side are Lawson, Leon Al Johnsen, and Dante.

On the other side were Robert Guilliman, Lord Leontus the Sun, and Trajan Valloris, the Grand General of the Imperial Guard.

For the first time, the supreme war powers of the Empire's dark side and its holy side truly stood in the same room.

The war outside has no patience to wait for them to finish their ceremony.

Lawson glanced at the star map and asked directly, "Who is the highest commander of the Pacific Starfield Theater right now?"

Guilliman replied quickly: "I am in overall strategic responsibility, Leontus will be in charge of frontline military operations. Trajan will be responsible for the Jajang's assault forces and support at key points."

Lawson nodded: "That makes things simple. The Regent will be in charge of the Imperial Holy Side, the Sun Lords will be in charge of the Astral Army, and Trajan will be in charge of the Custodian Army. I'll bring the Imperial Dark Side's chapters, Bear Guards, Keystone Strategists, drone swarms, and fleet support. You assign tasks, and I'll deploy troops according to those tasks. All information—Ogram mainline, the flanking agricultural worlds, the Sanctuary defenses, the Scorched Earth list—will be shared, and the Imperial Dark Side will fully cooperate."

After listening, Guilliman sighed softly to himself.

The one who holds the seal is still testing him!

He knew better than anyone that the most dangerous thing in war is having two command centers.

Especially in the current situation, the Pacific Sector has been pushed to the brink by the Tyranid swarm, and every order involves the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

If the Holy Side and the Dark Side of the Empire each retain a set of supreme authority, and fight over fleet deployment today, the scorched earth list tomorrow, and the Custodian and Astartes operational rights the day after, then the Ogram Front will break apart from the chain of command without the Tyranids even needing to fight it.

Guilliman understands this problem all too well.

He personally wrote the Astartes Codex, dismantled legions, and witnessed firsthand how an empire could burn after power spiraled out of control.

"Losen".

Guilliman's voice was so clear that it was picked up by every officer and servo recorder in the hall.

"In my capacity as Regent of the Empire, Commander-in-Chief of the Empire, Primarch of the Thirteenth Legion, and Lord of Altramar, I formally request that you assume the role of the Seal of the Empire."

Lawson looked at Guilliman and asked, "What are the powers of the Sealholder of the Empire?"

Upon hearing this, everyone understood that the real key point had arrived.

Titles are worthless; the empire has no shortage of titles.

The Astral Army has countless marshals, the Navy has countless admirals, the State Church can bestow dozens of holy titles upon a dead person, and the Inquisition can hang a bunch of long Latin names all over a parchment.

Guilliman did not shy away from the question: "The scepter of the empire has authority second only to the emperor himself."

Trajan turned and glanced at him.

Guilliman continued, “You can command the forces, supplies, fleets, and industrial resources across the entire Empire. All Imperial war zones, all Imperial military systems, and all those who serve the Emperor will be subject to the command of the Sealholder during the Terran War. This includes the Astartes Chapter, the Astral Army, the Imperial Navy, the Forge World's collaborative production capacity, the State Church combat forces, and myself, including the Primarch.”

Lawson smiled; this was the greatest sincerity Guilliman could offer.

"What I hate most is that people are still dying on the front lines while a bunch of people in the rear are fighting each other for power. If you ask me to fight Terran while also dealing with Terra's nobles, high lords, state church, inquisition, and Mechanicus, I'll turn around and go back to the dark side of the Empire right now."

Guilliman offered no explanation.

Because that's precisely the most disgusting aspect of the empire.

Lawson continued, "Since the Regent has asked me to assume the role of the Empire's ruler, I will not refuse at this critical juncture. I have no interest in the power distribution system of the Terran court, nor in who sits in which chair. After defeating Terran, I will return to the dark side of the Empire, where a mess awaits my cleanup."

"But let me make this clear from the start. From this moment on, everything on the battlefield of the Pacific Starfield is under my command. How the army is deployed, how the defenses are repaired, which worlds to rescue, which fleets to withdraw, which tactics to discard, and which orders to rewrite—all of these are ultimately decided by me. Whoever disobeys orders, whoever delays, whoever uses so-called tradition, honor, authority, or review procedures to obstruct battlefield orders—I don't care if they are governors, representatives of high lords, chapter commanders, forging sages, or even the Imperial Guard."

"Absolutely no leniency! Court-martial!"

Guilliman was the first to speak out.

"The Ultramarines, the armies of Alteramar, and I myself will fully cooperate with the Sealholder of the Empire."

Leontus followed suit: "All Astral Army, obey orders. I will carry out any command that can change the course of the war."

Some of the naval officers, staff officers, and theater officials in the hall also expressed their views one after another.

But Trajan still did not speak.

Lawson looked at him: "Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, what is your opinion?"

Trajan raised his head: "The Custodian Army is loyal only to the Emperor. We respect the Regent's wartime decisions and acknowledge that the Pacific Region needs your strength. However, the Custodian Army is not the Astral Army. We will fight for the Empire and will cooperate with the Sealholder's strategic arrangements when necessary. But if your orders conflict with the Emperor's safety, the Emperor's will, or the highest defense of Terra, the Custodian Army will prioritize the Emperor."

That's true.

At least from the perspective of the Imperial Guard, they were not wrong.

Lawson snorted coldly: "Coincidentally, I represent the Emperor's will."

Tula's eyes instantly turned cold.

But the next moment, golden light poured out from behind Lawson.

The imperial golden flames rose from behind Lawson like a sun, instantly engulfing the entire command hall.

The star map was covered in gold, and flame patterns were reflected on the metal ground.

The communication array on the wall emitted a short, sharp screech, and dozens of servo skulls fell simultaneously, as if their levitation field had been broken by some unbearable majesty.

Golden light pierced through the armored walls, the outer layer of the command post, and the gaps in the shield dome, pouring out across the entire frontline fortress.

On the outer plaza, the Astronaut soldiers who were distributing ammunition suddenly stopped and smashed the ammunition boxes in their hands on the ground.

The Ultramariner turned to look in the direction of the command post, where a golden tide of fire was reflected in the goggles of the Red-Armored Blood Angel.

Soon, the mortal soldiers knelt down.

Star Guardians, Marines, combat nuns, transport workers, communications officers, and wounded medics knelt in droves on the deck of the front-line fortress.

Those who had only heard of the Emperor's Light in church murals and pre-war prayers all their lives finally saw the real golden fire at this moment.

Inside the command hall, Guilliman's eyes churned with something indescribable. He had felt this power before him on Terra, before the Golden Throne, during his brief reunion with his father.

Trajan stood in the center of the golden fire.

A significant portion of Lawson's golden light pressed directly onto him.

The Royal Guard Commander guarded the Terra Palace and the Golden Throne day and night, so he knew better than anyone that this golden flame could not be faked.

Along with the golden light came a terrifying spiritual energy, which was imperceptible to others but only targeted him.

Tula really wanted to resist.

But his nerves, soul, sense of time, and fighting instincts were simultaneously locked by some higher level of will.

In an instant, the shackles lit up at the edge of his consciousness.

That relic from the Golden Age once allowed him to manipulate the flow of time in extremely short periods during battles, enabling him to reverse a deadly situation even when facing a Chaos Demon.

This time, however, the artifact's response was like hitting an unnamed golden wall.

Just as that force was about to force Trajan to his knees, it quietly dissipated, as if it had never existed.

Tula truly understood that this was Rosen giving him face.

He bowed his head and declared, "All Imperial Guards pay homage to the Emperor's will."

"From this moment on, the Imperial Guard frontline troops will unconditionally obey the command of the Emperor of the Empire."

…………

After Lawson officially took over command of the Pacific Starfield front, his first task was to revise the operational plan.

Leontus looked at the recalculated war zone data without showing any displeasure at its rejection.

If scorched earth is the only option, he will personally sentence trillions of civilians to death; if Lawson can demonstrate even stronger execution than scorched earth, he will also overturn the original model without hesitation.

Guilliman visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

For some time now, he has had to simultaneously handle the war situation in the Pacific region, logistics for the Holy Face Empire, political affairs on Terra, the deployment of various chapters, pressure from the State Religion, inquiries from the Inquisition, losses of the naval fleet, replenishment of the Astragalus Army, and whether each world about to be devoured by the Zerg is still worth evacuating.

Now that Lawson has taken over the front lines, he can finally catch his breath.

Looking at the star map, Lawson said to Guilliman, "This is the Imperial Holy Land. My main fleet won't be able to get here anytime soon. Theater space warfare will mainly rely on your Imperial Navy, and star system-level interception will still depend on the Navy."

Guilliman stated: "No problem. Space warfare is difficult, but at least there is a structure to follow. What really brought down the Pacific Sector was ground warfare. The number of Zerg was too large, their landing was too fast, and their spores spread too widely. Many worlds were not broken through by a single decisive battle, but gradually lost control through countless small landing points, underground burrowing, flying swarms, and the spread of synaptic nodes."

Lawson commented, "Your previous decapitation strategy was correct. The Sunblade Task Force actively hunted down synaptic nodes, which was the right direction. The Tyranid swarm may seem boundless, but it still relies on the stable operation of synaptic chains. If you break the synapses, the little bugs are just a bunch of meat that acts on instinct."

Leontus said, "The problem is that the swarm has adapted to our decapitation tactics. False synapses, redundant links, decoy nodes, flanking maneuvers—they are treating our elite strike teams as prey."

Lawson chuckled: "It wasn't that the decapitation was wrong, it was that the blade wasn't fast enough."

The swarm intelligence approach quickly identified the first testing point.

At the edge of the star map, a hybrid world of industry and agriculture, shimmering with red light, is magnified.

【Karrian-17.】

A secondary supply ship on Ogram's flank.

The planet is garrisoned by the remnants of the 5th Ultramarines, two Astral Army armored regiments, more than twenty native defense legions, and four combat sequence nodes previously deployed by Lawson to various Ultramarines.

Karian-17 has lost one-third of the surface of the Northern Hemisphere.

The surface defenses haven't completely collapsed yet, but several large synaptic nodes are spreading. If they aren't cut off in time, the entire planet's main defenses will be torn apart by the swarm within 24 hours.

"This is where the first battle of the Empire's dark side against the Holy Side begins."

In the distance, a Karian-17.

The third grain belt in the Northern Hemisphere has been burning for two days, with large swaths of genetically modified wheat fields contaminated with Tylenol spores, turning them blackish-purple, and the ground looking like it has grown breathing flesh.

The remaining positions of the Seventh Star Realm Armored Regiment were pinned behind a broken high-speed transport line.

Of the thirty-seven Leman Russ tanks, only eleven were still operational.

Four of the tanks had their turrets jammed, three had their tracks broken, and most of the remaining tanks had their side armor burned through by acid.

The crew did not evacuate. Since the tank could not move, they used the vehicle as a fortress, lowered the gun barrel, and fired wave after wave at the swarm of insects.