Not long ago, within the command post of the Forbidden Wall, an emergency notice was delivered to every unit stationed there. The contents of the notice hit like a thunderclap, throwing the entire Forbidden Wall into absolute pandemonium.
"Planetary Governor Kerry Von and his subordinates have been corrupted by the Great Enemy. They have forsaken the Emperor and rebelled against the Imperium. All forces loyal to the Imperium are to immediately commence a purge of his remnants. Shoot to kill!"
At the bottom of the notice was the bright red seal of the Brevis Noble Council, co-signed by hundreds of noble houses. It looked immensely authoritative.
Inside the Vanguard's command post, the situation exploded instantly. Most of the generals had risen from the Underhive; they were the ones who had fought alongside Raynor through the thick of the Forbidden Wall campaign. They had seen with their own eyes Raynor standing atop a Cold-Front tank, charging into Ork fire. They had witnessed him distributing precious rations to the starving and the wildmen of the Underhive, and dividing noble property among the front-line soldiers. How could such a leader—one who led them to victory and cared for the people—possibly betray the Imperium or be corrupted by Chaos?
"This is slander! A conspiracy!" a Vanguard Colonel slammed his fist onto the table, his eyes burning with rage. "How could the Governor rebel? This must be the work of those nobles!"
"Exactly! They couldn't stand the Governor cracking down on them, so they fabricated these lies!" another general chimed in, his knuckles cracking from the intensity of his grip.
However, those Vanguard officers who hailed from noble families seemed to have been waiting for this day. Upon receiving the notice, they didn't hesitate for a second. They immediately rallied their subordinates and launched surprise attacks on the "loyalist" units standing right next to them. Gunfire quickly filled every corner of the Forbidden Wall. Comrades-in-arms who had fought side-by-side suddenly became enemies at each other's throats.
Yet, amidst the chaos, the junior officers of the Vanguard remained exceptionally clear-headed. As Raynor's core loyalists, they were Genestealers infected by Sarah. Through the Hive Mind's consciousness network, they understood the intent behind House Saint Gallus and the Noble Council's move against Raynor. They just hadn't expected them to take such a desperate risk—attacking Raynor directly within the Saint Gallus Fortress while using the guise of Chaos to slander him and trigger a civil war at the Forbidden Wall.
They knew this wasn't a simple mutiny but a pre-planned conspiracy. The goal was to eliminate Raynor and reclaim the Noble Council's control over Brevis. In fact, the Noble Council was likely just a front; the true mastermind remained unknown. Without hesitation, these junior officers began organizing their troops. One segment of the force dug in to defend, utilizing the wall's fortifications to stubbornly resist the rebels and buy time. Another segment took advantage of the confusion to break out of the Forbidden Wall and head deep into the ice plains.
Their objective was singular: Find Leo.
Leo had lost track of how long he had been running. He had only survived this far thanks to the complex terrain of the ice plains and the constant sacrifices of his personal guards. His escort had dwindled from three hundred men to two hundred, then one hundred, and now only fifty remained. Every man who fell was someone who had followed him for at least two years.
Old Tom, the sergeant who always wore a stern face... he took a bolt shell for Leo, a massive hole blasted through his chest, shouting "Go!" as he collapsed. Little Willy, only twenty-one and married for just three months... he turned back to charge the pursuers and detonated a melta bomb, buying Leo two more seconds. There were so many more comrades. But Leo didn't dare look back. He was afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able to run another step.
After running for an unknown amount of time, a valley appeared before Leo. On either side were near-vertical walls of ice, soaring into the clouds and as smooth as mirrors. The entrance was narrow, allowing only three or four people to walk abreast; what lay deep inside was obscured. The pursuers were drawing closer. Aiden's Knight suit was temporarily lagging behind due to the terrain, but the rebels—soldiers who had once marched out of the Hive Spire alongside him—were already within five hundred meters.
Leo gritted his teeth and charged into the valley. It might be a dead end, but he could never stop.
The depths of the valley were indeed a dead end. A hundred-meter-high ice wall blocked the path, slick and unclimbable. But as Leo looked back at the entrance, he realized something. This narrow passage was a natural fortification.
"Form up!" he roared, his voice echoing in the valley. "Hold the valley!"
The remaining fifty guards dispersed immediately, finding cover at the entrance. Ice pillars, outcrops, and hollows in the ice wall—everything usable was utilized. Someone set up the last heavy bolter; others piled grenades in front of them or silently checked their bayonets. No one spoke, and no one asked, "Will we survive?" They simply prepared to die—or at least, to die before Leo did.
When the first wave of private militia charged in, they were met with precise semi-automatic fire. Fifty elite veterans locked down the narrow passage with lethal efficiency. The militia were squeezed together with nowhere to hide, and the front rank was mowed down instantly. Screams rang out in the valley as steaming blood sprayed onto the snow.
But more rebels followed. They trampled over the corpses of their comrades, using the bodies as cover to push forward inch by inch. As one fell, another immediately took their place, like driven cattle charging toward certain death.
Leo stood at the center of the line, his chainsword in hand. His hands shook uncontrollably from exhaustion, and every muscle in his body wailed in protest. But he had to stand. If he fell, the line would break.
Another wave of militia rushed in. Leo saw a familiar face—a young corporal who was among the first group to leave the Hive Spire with him. The kid was only nineteen when he arrived, timid and unable to hold a gun steady. Leo had personally taught him how to aim, how to use a bayonet, and how to survive on the battlefield. But now, that young man was leveling his rifle and firing at him.
The bullet grazed Leo's scalp, kicking up ice chips from the wall. Leo dodged, his chainsword sweeping out to sever the boy's rifle barrel before plunging through his chest. The teeth of the chainsword bit into flesh with a screeching sound. Warm, metallic-scented blood splashed onto Leo's face. As the young man fell, his eyes remained open, staring at Leo, his lips moving as if to say something. Leo didn't hear it clearly. But he knew it wasn't a curse.
During a lull in the fighting, Leo leaned against the ice wall, gasping for air. His mind was spinning. Who exactly started this rebellion? Before he fled, he had looked back at the Forbidden Wall and knew that a mutiny had broken out there as well. In all of Brevis, who hated the Governor the most? It would be the nobles who had been raided, suppressed, and terrified. They hated Raynor to the bone and dreamed of dragging him down.
But could they pull this off? The Noble Council had been suppressed by the Governor. They couldn't mobilize a Paladin like Aiden, nor could they throw the entire Forbidden Wall into civil war.
Only one family could do that. His family. House Saint Gallus.
Leo first ruled out his grandfather, Caladogong. The old man might be stubborn and their relationship was strained, but he would never do this. House Saint Gallus had protected Brevis for four hundred years; his grandfather would rather die than let the family name be stained with "treason."
That didn't leave many people. His uncle Callum handled internal affairs and was skilled in politics; he could provoke the Noble Council. But he couldn't command a Paladin—Knights generally only followed the orders of the High King or the Adeptus Mechanicus. His aunt Luna was responsible for technical management and liaison with the Mechanicus; she did have the means to influence a Knight. But her political skills... Leo shook his head; his aunt wasn't cut out for that.
Then who was it? Leo couldn't figure it out.
"Don't let me get back alive," Leo gripped his chainsword, his eyes turning bloodshot. "Don't let me get back alive!"