This was a universe torn apart by war, a universe struggling in the depths of despair.
The dying light of a star, reminiscent of a setting sun, pierced through the thick smoke of gunpowder, casting a mottled, blood-red glow across the shattered Ring System. The Imperium and its Space Marines were like rusting gears, grinding agonizingly onward under the constant threat of extinction, crushing countless traces of humanity beneath the weight of cold, calculated decisions.
Most Space Marines viewed civilians as expendable resources. So would calculate casualty figures on their tactical displays, indifferently weighing the gains and losses. An even smaller faction of Space Marines often leaned toward wiping out the civilians along with the heretics and Xenos.
Only a vanishingly rare few Space Marines still clung to the sacred duty entrusted to them when the Emperor walked among mortal n—
To protect and save humanity.
The Lanters Chapter consisted precisely of those rare Space Marines who valued the lives of civilians even more than their own.
Yet, just as a frayed rope always snaps at its thinnest point, misfortune always seed to seek out the most wretched souls.
They were born in a cursed founding, bearing the moniker of the cursed from the very mont of their inception.
While other Chapters sang triumphantly in victory celebrations, the Lanters could only sit in dimly lit cabins, bearing witness to their grim destiny through tal bulkheads carved with endless lists of the fallen.
In 301.M39, during the Eleventh Black Crusade, the Mortifactors Chapter abandoned the Lanters, believing them to be tainted simply because they were born of the Cursed Founding.
As a direct result, the Lanters found themselves facing the main force of the Black Legion head-on. The sudden departure of the Mortifactors left them completely surrounded and besieged by the enemy.
After the war ended, the entire Chapter suffered a catastrophic Warp travel accident. Swept into a massive Warp Storm, they were forced to fight alone against the forces of Chaos within the Warp for over a century.
In 578.M41, after proving their unwavering loyalty through nurous crusades, the Lanters, who had been absent from the Galaxy for so long, were assigned to guard the Great Rift.
During this period, they suffered massive casualties on multiple occasions, though the specific campaigns remained unrecorded.
In 698.M41, the Lanters participated in the Corinthian Crusade within the Ultima Segntum. Three hundred Space Marines and the Battle Barge Daughter of Tempests were committed to the operation.
While liberating the planet Slaughterhouse III, their efforts to rescue civilians delayed their withdrawal. This drew a concentrated assault from Ork reinforcent troops, resulting in the loss of two-thirds of their deployed forces. It was during this battle that the Chapter experienced its first recorded outbreak of the Black Rage.
In 812.M41, the Lanters joined the Achilus Crusade, but the elegy system aboard the Falon suffered a catastrophic drive failure, leaving only a handful of survivors from the four squads stationed on the ship.
So of these survivors were drafted into the Deathwatch, serving in a Kill Team led by Captain Mordred, while the rest returned to the Chapter to continue serving alongside their Battle-Brothers.
In 904.M41, approximately 870 Lanters were unwillingly dragged into the Badab War. They subsequently faced a targeted, brutal assault by the Minotaurs Chapter. By the ti they surrendered to an Imperial Inquisitor in 908.M41, they had lost their Battle Barge, and the entire Chapter was reduced to a re 311 Lanters.
Following the conclusion of the Badab War, the High Lords of Terra branded the Lanters as traitors, sentencing them to a century-long Crusade of Penance.
During this Crusade of Penance, the Lanters collided head-on with the main vanguard of the Kraken Hive Fleet. To protect Imperial worlds like Mavorion and Devlan from the Tyranid Hive Fleet invasion, the Lanters chose to hold the line. They fought an utterly hopeless battle that brought the Chapter to the very brink of total annihilation.
It was not until the Imperial Regent, Guilliman, awakened and the Primaris Space Marines arrived alongside his fleet that the Lanters, who had hovered on the precipice of extinction for so long, finally had a chance to catch their breath.
It was far too tragic.
Romulus flipped through the archives concerning the Lanters in his mind.
Even so of the First Founding Chapters—like the Ultramarines, who often stayed huddled within Ultramar—might not have endured as much hardship as the Lanters did before the outbreak of the Tyranid wars.
Yet, what was most incredibly precious was that even after enduring this endless series of tragic events, the Lanters remained fiercely loyal to the Imperium, still doing everything in their power to protect its people.
Or perhaps, it was exactly as their Battle Cry proclaid—
"For those we cherish, we die in Honor."
It had nothing to do with blind loyalty. It was simply that the Imperium happened to belong to humanity, their paths fortunately intertwining.
He then shifted his focus to the offensive vectors of the third defensive line.
The newly ford Primaris Space Marine Chapters raised by Cawl had gone to support Calgar. These Chapters were inherently sensitive assets; as standard Codex Compliant Chapters, having the Ultramarines escort them was perfectly fine.
The Black Templars had departed to take on the responsibilities of the splinter fleets, while the Executioners and Crimson Fists traveled together. The earnest zeal of Polux and his brothers would excellently neutralize the harsh brutality of the Executioners, preventing any unnecessary incidents.
As for the Space Sharks, due to their extensive experience in deep-void warfare, they were dispatched to support the Mantis Warriors, who were similarly employing raiding tactics to harass the Tyranid Hive Fleet from the rear of the battlefield.
The Ultramarines, acting as the defensive core, remained stationary. The scattered Expeditionary Fleet would plunge deep into the territories ravaged by the Tyranid Hive Fleet, swallowing up ground like a massive leviathan, aiming to annihilate as much of the enemy's living forces as possible before the swarm could consolidate its armada.
The Sector-level deploynt of massive battle groups slowly unfolded across the tactical hologram, with blinking lights marking the fleet assembly coordinates. Romulus traced his fingertips through the empty air, pushing the icons of the final batch of reinforcents toward the boundaries of the warzone.
Fortunately, Calgar was an exceedingly brilliant commander; Romulus did not need to worry about the defensive end.
Crossing his arms, Romulus carefully reviewed a series of war contingencies. After confirming that he had accounted for all available data and could make real-ti adjustnts as needed, he finally shifted his attention to the slightly lightened load of the administrative systems.
The Invincible Iron Guard simply lacked the numbers. Even after poaching a few Smurfs from the Ultramarines' garrison, it was still just a drop in the bucket.
He needed to focus all his remaining energy entirely on military matters.
"Arthur,"
Romulus called out over the comms.
"I'm here."
"Have the administrative personnel been sorted out?"
The Wings of Dawn were currently in desperate need of Alphas. They could no longer allow these operatives to keep racking their brains trying to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Wings of Dawn.
Infiltrating was fine, but they still had to put in the work.
"Almost done,"
Arthur replied as he hauled up a few Chaos Alphas by the scruff of their necks and tossed them into the Warp.
"After being screened by the Space Wolves, they'll be sent over in batches."
Getting Alphas to work actually wasn't difficult. When the risks of seeking promotion far outweighed the intelligence payouts, these versatile operatives would naturally choose to bury themselves in the data-slates and piles of parchnt belonging to another unit.
After all, the administrative system's efficiency at prying into secrets had never been low, and it made it much easier for them to weave those grand, convoluted master plans of theirs.
And if they wanted to dig up even more secrets, they would need to take on a heavier workload to seize more authority. It was a guaranteed transaction.
As for security matters, those were handed over to the Dark Angels.
Whenever he thought of the Dark Angels kidnapping a few Alphariuses, only to discover they were all from the Chaos faction, Arthur could hardly hold back his laughter at their frustrated expressions as they reluctantly hurled the captives into the Warp.
Not every Alpharius wanted to handle administrative work. Even the batch that had resigned themselves to the grind didn't want to be welded to those desks for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, you couldn't deliberately block the promotion of a "loyal" Battle-Brother.
This sort of interpersonal battle of wits and courage was exactly what the Dark Angels were needed for to play along with them.
They constructed a brand-new Inner Circle system, designing a progressively layered promotion ladder, and classified all administrative docunts by their security clearance levels.
Every ti a file was decrypted, the Alphas could clearly feel brand-new privileges unlocking for them, dangling like a carrot right in front of a mule's eyes.
The process would be incredibly complex, as both sides were exceptionally cunning.
Fortunately, the Dark Angels reveled in it.
They actively avoided taking on administrative work themselves, yet they were extrely enthusiastic about supervising Alpharius. Their energetic, high-spirited deanor stood in stark contrast to their withered, sluggish appearance whenever they were hunched over office desks.
In short, they had zero energy for actual work.
But they had plenty of energy for supervising others doing the work—an endless supply of it.
"Good."
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