With Ky'ei slain, the Legionforces finished wiping out the last remnants of enemy resistance within the fortress.
The two Knight pilots had proven invaluable in this battle.
Without them, the siege would have taken far longer.
As the battle concluded, the Knights were transported back to the orbital shipyard, where their retinues and Sacristans imdiately began maintenance and repairs.
anwhile, the two pilots, one a young woman with piercing eyes and ash-blonde hair, the other a seasoned warrior with a proud bearing, walked through the corridors of the station, helts in hand, following a servo-drone that guided them toward Qin Mo.
When they arrived, both knelt, the clang of ceramite boots echoing softly against the tal decking.
"We salute you, Lord Governor."
Qin Mo did not imdiately respond. Instead, he studied them, warriors bound in steel, heirs of a feudal order that had endured since theAge of Strife.
"Take a seat."
He gestured for them to rise.
The two pilots obeyed, sitting with straight backs and quiet dignity before him.
"Tell sothing, who is the official governor of Talon II?"
The question caught them off guard.
"I am rely the governor of the neighboring hive world. Technically, I don't rule Talon II... at least not yet. There's no need for you to address as Governor."
The older Knight spoke first, his voice gravelled yet resolute.
"The official governor was slain by Archon. My daughter is correct. You will soon win this war and claim this world. It is only right that we swear loyalty to you now."
Qin Mo understood the ways of the Knightly Houses well enough.
They were modern echoes of ancient Terran chivalry, obsessed with honor, duty, and fealty.
But their "armor" was not plate mail, it was walking war machines.
Their words of loyalty weren't necessarily from reverence, but from pragmatism.
These two, father and daughter had already sided with the resistance.
But they did not represent their entire noble house.
If they wanted their house to survive, they needed the backing of the new Lord Governor.
And more than that, they needed to prove their worth.
"I encountered another Knight on my world."
Qin Mo said suddenly, recalling a distant battlefield.
"A Knight who wielded only ranged weapons. He fought for the enemy."
The young woman's lip curled in disgust.
"Aelann. Pilot ofRoaring Tempest."
A sneer tainted her words.
"A disgrace to House Lannis. Like the rest of the traitors we put down."
Her father sighed, nodding.
"House Lannis fractured when the war began. So of us sided with the Archon. Others remained with the old governor. A few, like us, held fast to our oaths to the Emperor."
He paused, then added.
"When your fleet arrived, we had already been fighting in the underhive for months. We slew our kin. They had chosen treason. They had chosen damnation."
Qin Mo said nothing. He did not need to.
There was no remorse in the old Knight's voice.
Only finality.
"So tell , Lord Governor…" The young pilot, Donna leaned forward, her sharp eyes gleaming.
"Who do you believe is the rightful heir to House Lannis?"
Qin Mo blinked, montarily thrown off balance.
"What? It's obviously you two. Why is this even a question?"
Donna smirked, a knowing, almost predatory gleam in her gaze.
"Because lineage, succession, and inheritance laws matter."
Then, she laid bare the intricate politics of the Knight Houses.
The Knight Houses were ancient, tracing their origins back to the Age of Technology, when humanity first seeded the stars. Before the Imperium, they were warrior-kings, ruling over feudal domains on distant, resource-rich worlds.
But when the Imperium ca, they swore their oaths to the Emperor or to the Adeptus chanicus, depending on the nature of their fealty.
So becaQuestor Imperialis, directly bound to the Imperium, their duty tied to the High Lords of Terra, Imperial Commanders, and Lord Governors like Qin Mo himself.
Others beca Questor chanicus, tied to the Adeptus chanicus, their fiefdoms supported by the forges of Mars, their pilots more akin to tech-priests than nobles. A rare few were Freeblades, rogue Knights without a House, wandering warriors with only their own honor to guide them.
But fealty alone did not define a House, lineage did.
"Bloodlines matter, Lord Governor," Donna continued. "An unbroken chain of ancestry is as vital as the sanctity of the Throne. A Knight House without clear succession is a castle built on shifting sand."
Every House had a High Monarch, a ruling lord or lady, often called a High Scion, whose word was law within the House's domain. Beneath them were the Barons, each governing a stronghold or a section of the House's territory, fielding their own Knights and vassals.
Then there were the cadet branches, lesser nobility, distant cousins of the main line, often seen as second-class citizens unless they could prove their worth in war.
A rigid feudal order, where birth was as much a weapon as a power lance, and lineage mattered more than loyalty.
Their titles, Knight Baron and Knight Baroness marked them as lesser nobility, below the ruling lords of their House.
And despite being the only loyalists in House Lannis, they had to prove their legitimacy.
"Most of House Lannis sided with the traitors," Donna admitted, her tone colder now. "We are the last of the faithful. The minority."
Her fingers curled into a fist.
"Yet we are the only ones who still fight for the Emperor. Should we not inherit everything?"
Qin Mo felt the dull throb of an oncoming headache.
I'm not a noble. I'm not from a Knight House.How in the Emperor's na am I supposed to untangle all this?
This was more complicated than studying complexities of dinsional technology.
Politics.
"This may seem trivial to you—"
Donna was preparing to launch into the next stage of her impassioned argunt, but Qin Mo silenced her with a raised hand.
"Enough."
She stopped, caught off guard by the finality in his tone.
"You want my endorsent? Fine."
Qin Mo exhaled, already composing the decree in his mind.
"I will draft an official docunt recognizing you both as the rightful heirs of House Lannis. I will have the Ecclesiarchy and the chanicus validate it. That should settle it, right?"
Donna's eyes glead with fierce triumph.
She elbowed her father, grinning.
The older Knight sighed, his smile polite but relieved.
To them, this was enough.
After all, Qin Mo would soon be recognized as the official governor of two worlds.
His word would carry weight.
His decree would shape the future of House Lannis.
And if he won the war, then the Imperium itself would stand behind his authority.
"We are ready for battle," Donna declared as she stood, saluting. "Send us to the most dangerous battlefield. The most glorious battlefield."
Qin Mo didn't answer imdiately.
Instead, he turned to the holographic display.
With a wave of his hand, the projection shifted.
A new world erged from the swirling void of data-ghosts and tactical overlays.
Talon III.
Donna's eyes shone with excitent.
This was it.
The invasion of Talon III.
The next great campaign in the na of the Emperor.
Her first planetary assault.
The bloodiest, most glorious battle where only the worthy would prevail.
She readied herself for his orders.
"Talon III is already lost."
Qin Mo's voice was calm.
"If you knew what was happening on that planet, you'd be sick."
Donna's expression flickered. Her battle-lust did not wane. If anything, it burned brighter.
"Talon II will fall soon. But I have no intention of wasting ti. I will deploy twenty regints and your two Knights. Your mission is not to invade. It is to defend."
The hologram changed again.
Two towers appeared.
Massive spires, rising like obsidian obelisks from the shattered ground.
A strange, unknown structure.
Donna frowned.
"What… is that?"
"You'll find out once they're operational," Qin Mo replied, histone offered no further explanation.
"These two installations will be placed at the north and south poles of Talon III. You will defend them. At all costs."
Donna hesitated.
Not because she was afraid. Not because she doubted the mission.
But because she did not understand the significance of this mission.
Yet, she did not question orders.
Instead, she knelt.
"For the Emperor. For the Imperium's glory. We will stand. We will fight. We will triumph, or we will die with honor."
Qin Mo nodded.
"Good."
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