0000886.M30

It's an epoch.

A standard chronology accurate enough to the heavens is also a day that is somewhat special, but not so special, for the entire galaxy and the entire human empire.

At the moment when the sun is rising in the east and setting in the west, hundreds of billions of worlds are celebrating the arrival of the new year in peace and prosperity on the map of the human empire that spans the entire galaxy, and they are toasting to the flag of the double-headed eagle flying in the sky.

But on this very day, on all sides of the same galaxy, there are also hundreds of billions of worlds, burning in the endless flames of war, annihilated in the waves that sweep the galaxy, and experiencing fatalistic despair, pain and death in the face of the endless and tireless expedition of the Lord of Mankind.

From Caliban to Avalon, from Fenris to Invit, from Holy Terra to Macurag, civilization and destruction, prosperity and chaos are like twin sons who hate each other but can never be separated, and together they stage a paradoxical opera of destruction on the stage of the Great Expedition set off by the Lord of Mankind.

These hateful twins, with an entire Terra standard year as the curtain, treat countless war zones and fleets as squires at their fingertips, wholeheartedly sing the never-ending grand narrative of the Lord of Mankind, and make every human world feverishly immersed in the so-called glory and revival.

And now, in the darkest corners of this great opera, in the places that every mesmerizing audience never cared about, a cruel massacre destined to be unknown has also begun with the arrival of the New Year.

At this time, a full eighty-eight standard years of Terra had passed since the Lord of Humanity began his great expedition on the sacred Terra and pointed his sword at the Thousands of Cosmos.

And a full twelve Terra standard years have passed since the Second Randan War, which once swept through most of the galaxy and scorched thousands of vast star regions, but has now been forgotten by almost the entire Empire.

It seemed too late: but everything seemed to be just right.

That's it.

On the New Year of the eighty-eighth Terra Standard Year after the Great Expedition began, the Human Empire burned the flames of war to the last land of Randan, and the vanguard fleet commanded by Arachos, Coswayne and Lana was only one step away from the most important home system of the Randan Empire at the moment of New Year's Eve.

Faith in the fire.

The war began.

——————

It's dead.

Right in front of him, in his pitch-black pupils: it was dead.

It's really just right to die.

Lana couldn't help but think so.

As the Spider Queen's Praetorian Guard, the Chief Old Guard has learned to look at anything that threatens Morgan with cold pupils that resemble the original genotypes, whether they are friend or foe in appearance.

The job is not as easy as it seems: as his eyes sink into the cold for the safety of the Progenitor, he often has to face many unimaginable opponents: it could be a good-looking Governor of the planet, a highly decorated mortal auxiliary officer, or even another great Protogen.

It is not uncommon for none of these visitors with great energy to show kindness to the Praetorian Guard, but as the last line of defense of the Mother of Genes, Rana knows exactly what kind of attitude he should maintain: no matter how sincere the kindness that floats in front of him, it will always be Ranner's cold gaze that responds to them.

Aside from his fellow Battle Brothers, who were also Morgan's sons, the Praetorian Guard didn't really trust anyone: this made his duties almost never go wrong, and made his name a symbol of arrogance and impudence among mortals.

Such a bad reputation was rare among the Legion of the Dawnbreakers, who had always been friendly to mortals, though Rana didn't care at all: he was even proud.

So, compared to the above-mentioned existences, the constantly burning, alien wreckage of the alien warships that were floating in front of the Chief Old Guard at the moment could not have been more friendly: at the very least, Rana didn't need to worry about things like accidental injuries.

After yet another bloody, mad, and arduous victory, only joy like this could quickly flash through the Praetorian Guard's heart, giving his nearly depleted heart a little motivation to keep it going.

In this way, the Chief Old Guard, who had been commanding the chief old guard from the command platform for forty-six hours without sleep, closed his eyes and, with an almost obsessive attitude, ordered his brain to rest deeply for two minutes.

When he opened his eyes, he could just see how the last of the Jandans warship guarding in front of Mandeville Point had completely died and rolled over his field of vision.

The guardian guarding the curtain between the real universe and the subspace was the last casualty of the battle, and by the time the flames of war burned in front of it, most of its blasphemous brethren had been reduced to the burning ruins of the void scattered throughout the galaxy.

While this desperate situation did not weaken its resistance, it did also lead its fate into an inevitable abyss: at least twelve warships loyal to the Human Empire surrounded it at the first moment, and the reinforced plasma gas that forged the world's specialty of Raza summoned the pale flames of death and poured into its bow and deck from all directions, followed by a large cannon shell that raged like a scalpel that had been burned hot on the festering wounds of the metal. Turrets and spires were brutally torn off, and the iconic towers, adorned with flails, were the target of fire from the start, meeting death faster than the ships themselves.

The Praetorian Guard Commander did not give any further orders, and with a solemn countenance, he quietly watched as the burning wreckage was finally completely consumed by the explosion in the darkness, and the scorched living life seemed to be able to transmit their death-facing wails to the ears of humans, and the oxygen that kept them alive in the void allowed the flames caused by the plasma to last for a short time before they reluctantly died.

By the time it was all over, the dead alien warship had rolled past Lana's field of vision, but it had not attracted half of the attention of the Praetorian Guard: Lana stood in front of the holographic screen of the command platform, engrossed in his own business, his thin lips opening and closing, as if whispering something silently.

"Enemy ships sunk."

The voice was as much like a probe technician behind him as it was the Praetorian Guard's own sloquery: but whatever it was, it was like some kind of gravitational pull pulling Rana out of his musings.

He raised his head and looked at the Mandeville dot on the holographic screen: the space that fluctuated like the surface of the water was larger than any giant ship known to the Human Empire, and the strategic value it contained was even greater than that of countless rich star regions.

Lana smiled as he silently looked at the intersection of the subspace and the real universe.

He knew that as long as he crossed this strange star gate, it would be the last and most important capital system of the entire Randan Empire, which was the key point enough to end the entire war, and it was the sword of Damocles that could never be completely avoided in his genetic mother's strategic plan.

He knew that his mission was to fight his way to the current place: to seize the point of Mandeville to the home planet of Zandan, secure the passage on one side, and then wait patiently for the main fleet behind them to arrive.

Before he led the army to set out, this was all that the Lord of the Second Legion told him, and now, he had completed his mother's order, and it was done to the letter, without the slightest flaw or regret.

Nothing made the Praetorian Guard more pleased, and he fell into a brief moment of pure joy, not even noticing at first glance that a new holographic projection was gradually emerging behind him.

When he turned around with hindsight, he saw Coswayne's head guarded by a black helmet: the Lion King's steward was dressed as a careful imitation of his genetic father, only more discreetly, wearing a void-reinforced Mark III-style power armor, his left shoulder and shin reinforced with spikes, which looked freshly painted, and some bright black to match the white hood.

"Lana."

As Coswayne spoke, even through the holographic projection and helmet communicator, the Praetorian Guard could still hear the exhaustion: it was at this time that he felt the same dryness in his throat as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Couss."

"How's the loss on your side?"

"Acceptably, Randan's resistance is not as strong as we thought, perhaps because they have transferred all their essence to their home system: this is not good news."

The Lion King laughed.

"At least for now, it's not something we need to worry about: Arachos has rushed to the rear of the battleship to gather the troops that have been scattered in the war, and he wants us to stand still and prepare for defense."

Lana raised an eyebrow: he knew the figure of Arachos, the chief of the Ninth Knights of the Dark Angel Legion, who was among the best in bravery even among the Astarte warriors of the Warriors everywhere.

He proposes to defend?

"What's wrong?"

Coswayne didn't shy away from Lana's question, he first looked to the side, quickly responded to some inquiries from outside the holographic projection, and then answered Morgan's son in a pretending relaxed tone.

"You know, Lana, the best navigators in the fleet, all concentrated on the battleship of Arachos, and they saw something amazing with their psionic eyes: behind this Mandeville point, it did lead to Randan's home planet, but it also led to a long-planned death trap."

"The glimpse of the navigators was enough to force us to be cautious: they saw a whole large empty area around Mandeville Point, where there was nothing but warships, engines, and armed satellites, and on either side of them was a line of dense weapons platforms, torpedo silos, and minefields, almost hundreds of thousands of kilometers deep, surrounding the entire galaxy, impermeable."

"Behind them, there are more than a dozen planets and hundreds of small stars: almost every one of them is armed to the teeth, and you can think of them as small fortresses capable of fighting the fire of the fleet alone."

Lana frowned.

"They've built a giant minefield around their home planet?"

The Lion King Steward nodded.

"Don't underestimate the madness brought about by the end of the road: according to the intelligence from the rear, in the Dotera standard month when we launched our attack on the home planet of Randan, the fleet of space wolves successfully dragged a considerable part of the Randan fleet in the Ranora system, and the situation of these aliens was even worse than we thought."

"But even so, a net like this is not something we can compete with for the time being: the hundreds of warships we have on hand, once they enter that Ran Dan's home galaxy, it is estimated that they will not be able to survive even ten minutes."

Lana was silent, noncommittal, he knew what Coswayne wanted to say: counting the more than a month of running, they had been fighting side by side for less than half a year, and they had already developed a lot of tacit understanding with each other.

"Don't worry, Coess, I'll take my fleet and stay here with you until the primordials arrive: I'm not crazy enough to storm the defenses of the Randan home system alone, whatever exists there."

The Lion King looked relieved.

"It's for the best."

Then, he was silent for a few seconds, as if considering whether to reveal something.

"Actually, what worries me the most is not Randan's army, Kauss, but some strange phenomena in Arachos: remember the navigators I said, I have seen them, they are all very good and powerful psionics, with countless hole cards and abilities, but they are such a group of psionic masters......"

"What's wrong?"

"Dead, they're all dead."

The Lion King's steward ruthlessly pronounced the sentence, and his voice was tinged with a hint of unease.

"According to Arachos, after spying on the situation of the Randan home galaxy, at his request, these navigators decided to go deeper and spy on the situation of the Randan home star hidden in the depths of the galaxy."

"And then they died?"

"Yes, Arachos witnessed their deaths: these navigators gathered their psychic power into one person to sustain him in this reconnaissance, but just as the will of that scout had just spied on the projection of the Randan's home planet in subspace, the accident happened suddenly."

"Before Arachou and the other warriors could react, first the navigator in charge of the reconnaissance, then all the psykers involved in the operation, all exploded and died in almost the same instant, their deaths so sudden that they didn't even realize it, and there were no similar traces on their faces."

Lana hesitated.

"Could it be because of ...... Lack of strength? ”

The Lion King shook his head.

"Each of them is a veteran navigator who has been with the First Army for decades, and I know a few of them, who can even influence an entire small fleet in their own right: there is absolutely no problem with the ability of these navigators."

"All I wonder: will the problem be with that Randan's home planet?"

"Ran Dan still has an unknown powerhouse?"

"Unlikely: if they really had other powerhouses, they wouldn't have been hiding until now."

Coswayne dismissed the idea.

"And, judging from the results of the examinations of other psionics, the cause of death of these navigators is more like the forced crushing of their souls under the impact of some kind of individuals with absolute power: so I worry that it will be Ran Dan's home planet itself that killed them?"

"You mean...... Ran Dan's home planet has a will of its own? ”

Lana's brow furrowed deeply.

"That's just my speculation, Lana, but given the undeniable power and legend of the Randans, and their daily fanaticism for subspace power, I wouldn't be surprised if their home planet does have something unsettling."

"You seem to be telling a terrible situation, Couss."

"If Randan's home planet really has some kind of self-will: we don't care what that will is, but it will certainly not be happy to see us, the invaders, destroy its civilization on its soil, which will undoubtedly make the difficulty of war extremely exaggerated."

"Yes, so I hope, it's just a conjecture on my part."

The Lion King Steward shook his head, looking like he didn't want to discuss the matter any longer, and the two Primordial Acolytes moved on to other matters, ensuring a close exchange of information between them.

But at the end of this conversation, the Chief Old Guard, who was uneasy in his heart, still asked his doubts.

"Have you informed them of this, Coss?"

"Of course."

"Your Excellency Morgan told me that she would take care of this problem."

Rana did not reply.

Instinctively inspired by the position of Praetorian Guard, the Chief Old Guard began to reason, almost subconsciously, about who would be the victor in a hostile world, and his own genetic mother.

Or whether his original body will be irreparably damaged in this unheard-of encounter: if this does happen, whether it is related to Rana or not, he will not forgive himself.

In the eyes of the Janissary, there are only three possibilities for him to leave his post: either he will die honorably while defending the Primordial Body, or he will be relieved of this duty by the Primordial himself, and the third most humiliating possibility is that his dereliction of duty has hurt the Primordial, so that he can only use self-discipline to relieve his humiliation slightly.

“……”

Lana hates that future.

So, despite his inner desire to remain mysterious in front of the Dark Angels, he had to open his mouth and reveal his concerns to the Lion King's stewardship: Lana's image was nothing compared to the safety of the protogens himself.

"The Lord Morgan and the ...... of the World"

Coswayne thought for a moment.

"Perhaps, you can choose to put yourself in their shoes, Lana."

"How?"

"Have you seen Your Excellency the Palm Sealer, or is it Magnus?"

Lana nodded.

"Do you think that if they were to be against a self-aware Divine Terra, would they be able to preserve themselves and even destroy the Divine Terra?"

“……”

“……”

"You seem to be telling some kind of very blasphemous remarks, brother."

(End of chapter)