Chapter 190: My Brother's Got a Land Raider
The TRANSMIT rune went down. A long moment passed.
Then Major Rudolphson's voice crackled through the vox.
"This is Major Rudolphson. State your business."
Kian exhaled. Around him, every soldier in the room did the same.
Egghead practically shouted into the handset: "Sir! It's us!"
On the other end, Rudolphson's voice jumped an octave. "Egghead?! Where in the Throne's name have you lot been? I had you all written up as dead!"
Kian passed the handset to Egghead, who launched into the full account with barely contained enthusiasm — getting press-ganged up to the Spire, fighting alongside the Ministorum priest against the Rogue Psyker, saving the Hive, getting decorated by the brass.
A pause from the other end.
"…Hold on. You're telling me you're all Spire-registered now?"
Egghead nodded so hard he nearly strained something. "Yes sir! All of us — full Spire clearance, and every one of us bumped up a rank! But the Lieutenant — Throne, sir, he's something else entirely. Promoted three grades, given a Baron's title, a full estate, and a sword that crackles with blue light!"
Silence on the other end. A long, stunned silence. Then:
"Put Lieutenant Voss on."
Egghead held out the handset. Kian took it with a grin.
"Hello, hello, hello — little Rudolphson. How does one properly greet a Baron, do you think~?"
Another silence. The kind so loud you could almost reach through the vox and trace the expression on the other man's face.
Kian waited. Rudolphson said nothing. So Kian filled the void with great solemnity:
"Ah, Rudolphson. My friend. It seems we have… grown apart. We were close, once. Happy, even. But now — now we are incompatible. Different worlds, you and I. This is simply the nature of life, you understand?
One must face reality. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday. Please — don't forget me. Mister Rudolphson."
That broke him.
"Say one more word like that and I will kiss your backside with my boot."
A few minutes later, once the theatrics had settled, Rudolphson asked in a flat, serious tone:
"So you've genuinely been given a barony. And bumped to Lieutenant."
"Correct," Kian said. "Speculation paid off. MVP settlement for saving the world."
A sound came through the vox that was identifiably teeth grinding.
"…Throne take it. I need a moment."
Kian understood completely. It's one thing to worry about a brother. It's another thing entirely to find out he's riding a Land Raider.
He moved on to business.
"Right — so now that I'm a Lieutenant and a peer of the Realm, what happens to my position in the regiment? Does my rank carry through?"
Rudolphson shot back: "Did the high command not brief you on your posting when they gave you the honours?"
Kian said no — the senior officers had been busy carving up the credit among themselves. The moment the decorations were handed out, they'd gone straight into a closed-door session and left the honoured parties to work things out for themselves.
"Right. In that case, they probably haven't decided yet. But it'll be one of two arrangements."
Kian asked which two.
"First option: staff posting. Adjutant, regimental scribe, that sort of role. No real command authority, minimal exposure, essentially a title attached to a desk. Easy life.
Second option: field command. A battalion, same as me. Real authority, real responsibility — and a much cleaner path to earning further commendations through operational assignments."
Kian didn't hesitate. "Second one, obviously. You know what I'm like — I've always lived on the edge of a blade—"
"Spare me. You've charged across half a dozen battlefronts. You are not a man who lives carefully.
Getting a field command isn't complicated — you're a titled peer now, requesting a battalion posting is a single conversation. The regiment will accommodate. Only issue is, our regiment is currently at full establishment. If you want a battalion, you'll almost certainly be posted to a different unit."
Kian made a noise of displeasure.
"I'd rather stay in our regiment. I don't know anyone in another unit."
And it wasn't just familiarity. Rudolphson was an ally. Colonel Leo was an ally. More importantly — both of them were on the same chain of mutually beneficial arrangements. Kian had, at various points, ensured both men's cooperation through means that didn't appear in any official record.
Which meant that if Kian ever needed to, say, quietly redirect a portion of the regiment's weapons and materiel toward his own purposes, or run a company of Imperial soldiers on an off-book operation — as long as he didn't push things to the point of scandal, both men would look the other way.
That kind of latitude didn't transfer to a new regiment with new officers who had no particular reason to trust him.
Kian keyed the handset: "Ask the Colonel if there's a way to keep me in our regiment. I mean it — the people in this regiment are genuinely exceptional. Talented, agreeable, excellent company. I'd really hate to leave."
Rudolphson said flatly, "Fine. He's nearby. I'll get him."
A short wait. Then Colonel Leo's voice burst through the vox with the energy of a man who had never once in his life done anything at half-volume:
"BY THE GOLDEN THRONE — Lord Voss~! Remarkable, truly remarkable! A few days out of sight and you've gone and become a Baron! Your lordship's health and fortune~!"
The Colonel was an old hand at this sort of thing. He pivoted to deference like a man born to it.
The Colonel held no title. Kian did. Whatever informal hierarchy had existed between them before had just reorganised itself around that fact, and Leo understood this with the instincts of a natural survivor.
Kian laid out his request. Colonel Leo responded smoothly:
"Straightforward, my lord — you'll have heard, I'm sure, that several PDF regiments were recently… ah… stood down under rather unfortunate circumstances. That's opened up considerable gaps in the order of battle, and replacements will need to be slotted in shortly.
If your lordship wishes to take the First Battalion, I can recommend my current First Battalion Commander for a Deputy Regimental Commander posting in one of the newly-formed units. That vacates the slot nicely."
Kian raised an eyebrow. "That simple? I'm not putting you in a difficult position?"
"Not at all, not at all~ I would only ask — when the opportunity arises — that your lordship might see fit to make an introduction or two among the other noble houses~"
Kian said that was no problem. He lowered the handset and looked around at the assembled soldiers.
"Right, lads. Here's where we are. You can muster out — honourable discharge, Spire residency, clean papers. Good life. If that's what you want, I'll square it with the Colonel tonight. Down the line, when I've got business operations running up here, there'll be positions available.
Or — you stay in uniform, come into my battalion, earn your ranks properly. There's risk in that. Real risk. But the rewards follow the danger."
The soldiers exchanged glances. Egghead spoke first:
"Boss — any chance our families could get positions at your operation? We'd like to stay in and serve under you."
Kian said that worked fine. He keyed the handset again and spoke to Colonel Leo:
"Colonel — when that outgoing commander takes his new posting, have him take his officers with him. I need the billets cleared for my own people."
The Colonel confirmed without hesitation, and threw in one month's furlough for all of them — time to sort personal affairs. By the time they reported back, the battalion command would be properly vacated and ready.
Leo exchanged a few more pleasantries, then signed off.
Kian looked at the handset and addressed the vox:
"Rudolphson. Anything else to add?"
A sharp click. Channel closed. Done.
Throne take it. Too envious. Too miserable. Nothing left to say.
☆☆☆
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