Chapter 28 — Preparing for the Expedition
"Emperor, you arrogant bastard! You're nothing but a warlord and a psionic charlatan — what gives you the right to swagger into my domain? You want the sacred knowledge of the Gene Cult? Never! If you want my life, you'll have to dig it out of the grave — I've already died a dozen times in the pursuit of genetic perfection!"
The Moon — humanity's earliest stepping stone into space — had once housed some of the most advanced genetic laboratories of the Golden Age. In the millennia since Old Night, those facilities had become the foundation of a strange techno-biological order: the Gene Cult of Luna.
Both the Emperor and Yuki desired their knowledge. If integrated properly, their techniques might help stabilize or refine the Astartes gene-seed.
They had negotiated repeatedly.
They had offered autonomy.
They had offered protection.
They had even offered symbolic parity with the Mechanicum.
Yuki had personally sketched the double-headed aquila beside a three-headed eagle variant to signify shared authority.
The Gene Cult remained unmoved.
Why?
Because their Empress coveted the Astartes.
They had acquired tissue samples from one Legion and attempted replication.
The result:
Mindless abominations.
Monsters without will. Without coherence. Without soul.
The genetic matrices were identical.
The outcomes were not.
Unable to accept failure, the Empress reached a conclusion:
The Emperor must be using witchcraft.
Warp contamination.
Sorcery.
This violated the Cult's doctrine of genetic supremacy.
If their science could not replicate the result, then the result must be illegitimate.
Therefore, the Emperor could not be trusted.
In truth, they were partly correct — Astartes gene-seed did possess a warp-reactive component tied to the Primarch template. But secretly dissecting Imperial bio-material and then accusing its creators of heresy when replication failed was… diplomatically unfortunate.
And now they had insulted the Emperor to his face.
The Emperor's Response
The Emperor and Yuki returned to their lander in silence.
Even the Custodian Guard could not hide their anger.
"My lord," one said, voice tight with restraint, "shall we endure such humiliation?"
The Emperor gazed down at Luna's scarred surface.
"Deploy the Seventh, Thirteenth, and Sixteenth Legions," he said calmly.
"By the next full moon, the Imperial Aquila will fly over Luna."
A pause.
"Then we proceed to Mars."
First Steps into Space
The three Legions were ecstatic.
They had fought across Terra.
They had conquered continents.
But they had never fought in the void.
Now they would step beyond the cradle of humanity.
Even if it was only Luna — humanity's ancient satellite — it was still the first step into the stars.
"For the Emperor!"
Drop craft descended like meteor fire.
The Lunar War
The Gene Cult deployed their bio-engineered defenders.
They were formidable by terrestrial standards.
Against veteran Astartes fresh from Terra's unification, they were insufficient.
The gene-spawn were cut down in disciplined volleys and close-assault formations.
The Empress watched the slaughter unfold.
"Release the failed prototypes," she ordered, voice shaking.
"But they cannot be controlled—"
"Release them."
The failed Astartes clones were unleashed.
At first they caused disruption — strength without discipline is still strength.
Then the Sixteenth Legion noticed something strange.
The monsters hesitated around them.
Avoided them.
As if recognizing kin.
The Gene Cult had harvested Sixteenth Legion genetic material.
The Legion advanced.
The tide broke.
Within hours, they reached the Cult's core complex.
Six Hours to Defeat
Six hours.
That was all it took.
The Empress collapsed into her throne.
"Contact the Emperor," she whispered. "We surrender. Tell him to recall his wolves."
"We cannot contact him."
"…Where is he?"
"Mars."
At that moment, the Emperor stood with Kobo Hal amid the forges of Mars.
Yuki leaned toward him.
"Father, Luna reports surrender."
The Emperor did not look up.
"Tell them," he said, "they are too late."
In desperation, the Gene Cult attempted to sabotage Martian cooperation.
Luna: Mars, do not trust him! He intends annexation!
Mars: Irrelevant.
Luna: You will regret this!
Mars: Compliance is logical.
The Lunar resistance collapsed.
Their databanks, laboratories, and archives were seized intact.
Due to their decisive assault, the Sixteenth Legion received a new name:
The Shadowmoon Wolves.
Biological Warfare Attempt
In a final act of spite, Lunar agents attempted to deploy a tailored viral weapon against the Astartes.
Yuki had anticipated such desperation.
The pathogen was neutralized before deployment.
The agents were captured.
Luna's final resistance evaporated.
With Luna secured, the Imperium moved swiftly.
Venus submitted without resistance.
Asteroid pirate enclaves were eradicated.
Orbital defense platforms were seized or destroyed.
Within years, the entire Sol System stood under Imperial authority.
The Emperor could now prepare for the Great Crusade.
Long before unification ended, the Emperor had begun construction of a colossal psychic beacon: the Starlight.
When completed, it would serve as a navigational lighthouse in the Warp, guiding Imperial fleets across the void.
It would be powered remotely by the Emperor's own psychic radiance.
At the same time, he sought families possessing rare navigational and astropathic traits — the ancestors of future Navigator Houses and Astropathic Choirs.
They would be indispensable to humanity's expansion.
A Ship for the Rising Sun
For Yuki, however, the best news arrived in the Martian shipyards.
A Gloriana-class battleship had been completed.
She stared upward at the immense vessel stretching across the dry dock.
White armor plating gleamed beneath forge-lights.
The name burned across its prow:
Imperial Wing.
She turned to look at the two hundred Astartes she had painstakingly assembled.
Then back at the ship.
"…This feels like giving a palace to a village."
Eusonis, captain of the Rising Sun Guard, spoke gently:
"Mother, we will be an elite force."
That much was true.
Every member of the Zero Legion was exceptional.
Given equal numbers and equipment, their combat effectiveness exceeded any Legion — a result of Yuki's unconventional training philosophy.
Yuki rejected rigid specialization.
No warrior would be confined to a single battlefield role.
Every Angel must be adaptable.
Versatile.
Complete.
This philosophy created a problem:
The Legion was too small for full-scale warfare.
So she found training partners.
Thunder Warriors.
The Angels were required to break Thunder Warrior defensive formations, survive multi-vector assaults, and repel superior forces.
If they failed?
More training.
They stopped only when they succeeded.
The Thunder Warriors, veterans of a harsher age, guided them with stern patience. These were the Princess's offspring; they would not be broken carelessly.
Yuki demanded comprehensive development:
ethics
intelligence
physical conditioning
artistic appreciation
labor discipline
She even organized Legion charity missions.
Any Angel found mistreating civilians was assigned ten years of humanitarian service.
Did they resent the pressure?
No.
Outside training, Yuki shed all Primarch aloofness. She hosted barbecues, encouraged hobbies, and even supported personal relationships rather than ascetic isolation.
Other Legions watched in envy.
"We want that too."
Thus the Rising Sun Angels came to see her not only as Primarch, but as mother — strict in trials, warm in peace.
They joked with her.
She teased them in return.
The Emperor rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Your Legion will grow stronger," he said. "When your brothers return, each will command fleets of their own."
Yuki nodded — then turned with sudden curiosity.
"Father… I've wanted to ask this for a long time."
"Yes?"
"Why did you make me female?"
The Emperor paused.
"Malcador once suggested that female Primarchs might improve familial cohesion," he said. "I found the hypothesis… worth testing."
Malcador, somewhere on Terra, felt an inexplicable chill.
"What do you mean by hypothesis?"