Yuki had always been wary of the Rangdan.
Even after withdrawing from regular frontline campaigns, she continued to monitor the progress of every Legion. When reports reached Terra that Uriel had departed without Thunder Warrior support and engaged an unidentified high-threat xenos force, she had immediately mobilized.
She did not deploy a full crusade fleet.
She departed aboard the Imperial Wing, bringing only the Rising Sun Legion and her personal guard.
Speed mattered more than spectacle.
She did not yet know what the Rangdan truly were.
She only knew the name carried warnings buried in sealed archives.
And warnings buried in sealed archives were never trivial.
First Sight
Through the command viewport, Yuki studied the massive war satellite dominating the system.
It was formidable.
But not extraordinary.
The Imperium had destroyed larger.
She frowned.
"If this is all they are… why did they cost the Imperium so dearly?"
Silence filled the bridge.
Her eyes narrowed.
"No… something is missing."
The satellite was a weapon.
But it did not feel like the source.
Strategic Assessment
Uriel and Eusonis stood behind her, observing the fortress.
Four of the six occupied worlds had already been reclaimed. Only the war satellite and the primary Rangdan command world remained.
Uriel spoke first.
"Your Highness, we can strike both targets simultaneously. If the satellite is pressured, orbital defenses around the main world will weaken. I will then lead a decapitation assault."
Eusonis shook his head.
"The enemy outnumbers us. Dividing strength risks prolonging the engagement. That benefits them."
Yuki watched the silent void.
Then spoke:
"We take the satellite first."
"Break their orbital teeth."
"Then we cut out the heart."
Both warriors bowed.
"Yes."
She turned slightly.
"Eusonis. Once orbital defenses collapse, you will hold the perimeter with the Legion."
A pause.
"You will bring the Demon-Slayer Guard with me to the surface."
The air hardened.
The Demon-Slayer Guard — her personal elite.
Rarely seen.
Never deployed without purpose.
Eusonis lowered his head.
"Yes… Mother."
Void Battle
The battle opened in silence.
Then space erupted into fire.
First Legion capital ships and the Imperial Wing engaged the Rangdan satellite in brutal void combat. Lance batteries carved incandescent scars across its surface while macro-shells detonated like miniature suns.
Escort craft died in waves.
Fighter debris burned like falling stars.
The vox network dissolved into static, intrusion attempts, and falsified command bursts.
Yuki ignored them.
Enemy intrusion.
Predictable.
Only one directive mattered:
Protect the Imperial Wing.
Her eyes moved once across the tactical display.
Then she pointed.
"There."
"Full fire."
Her Primarch perception had detected a microscopic harmonic instability in the satellite's energy lattice.
Imperial batteries converged.
The flaw widened.
Then collapsed.
A catastrophic chain detonation ripped across the structure.
One-sixth of the war satellite disintegrated into incandescent debris.
Uriel did not hesitate.
"Advance. Boarding actions."
Drop pods fell like meteor storms.
Boarding craft speared the wounded fortress.
But the fleet did not slow.
Beyond the debris field lay the Rangdan command world.
Rangdan Command Node
[Intercepted Rangdan exchange]
The satellite is lost.
Acceptable. The ultimate weapon remains.
Agugar — observe the anomaly.
Learn.
A cyclopean bio-construct knelt.
I obey, War Marshal.
Planetfall
Uriel had witnessed Primarchs before.
Yet Yuki descending into battle still defied comprehension.
White flame crowned the sky.
Lightning scourged the battlefield.
She moved not like a warrior —
but like inevitability.
Where she passed, enemies ceased.
Energy shields collapsed on contact.
Heavy weapons detonated before firing.
Psychic shockwaves reduced Rangdan constructs to ash.
The Demon-Slayer Guard did not follow her charge.
They could not.
They advanced with methodical precision, sealing breaches and annihilating resistance.
Every member wore advanced tactical dreadnought plate of unfamiliar configuration — lighter, adaptive, modular. Hidden weapon systems deployed seamlessly:
plasma projectors without thermal overload
micro-missile arrays
gravitic suppressors
adaptive shielding matrices
Uriel watched in stunned silence.
We are the First Legion, he thought.
How do they possess weapons we do not?
The Cyclops
Eusonis reached Yuki's side without a single strike landing upon him.
"Fall back," she said quietly.
A towering cyclopean Rangdan construct advanced.
Its psychic scream ripped across the battlefield.
Astartes faltered.
Humans collapsed.
Even the First Legion staggered.
The Demon-Slayer Guard closed ranks instantly, stabilizing the line.
Yuki smiled.
In a blur of motion, the creature's legs vanished.
She stepped forward, seized its arms, and tore them free.
Lightning cascaded from her palms.
She lifted it by the throat.
What are you?
The creature hissed.
You will learn.
Her gaze shifted beyond it.
To the distant worm-veiled overseer observing the battle.
She crushed the construct's neck.
Black ash fell.
"Rangdan war-general," she murmured.
The distant figure inclined its head.
Collapse
With their command hierarchy shattered, Rangdan resistance collapsed rapidly.
Uriel watched from the ruins as Yuki stood atop the broken remains of the alien commander, white flame burning away its regenerative tendrils.
The Demon-Slayer Guard formed a silent perimeter.
Eusonis approached.
"Mother. Rear-line auxilia units experienced temporary behavioral collapse. Confirmed suppression."
Uriel froze.
Mutiny?
His command?
Shame surged through him.
Yuki did not respond.
She stared at the remains beneath her foot.
"How did you do that?" she asked the corpse.
Its broken mouth opened.
"You will understand… soon."
Her hands moved.
Not in anger.
In methodical disassembly.
Precision.
Extraction.
Study.
Uriel watched in silence as she dismantled the alien organism piece by piece.
Then he saw it:
The Demon-Slayer Guard raised their weapons.
Aimed at her.
Uriel roared, sword rising.
"Stand down! What are you doing?!"
Eusonis did not look at him.
"Brother," he said quietly, "today never happened."
He approached Yuki, blade drawn, until its tip hovered at her back.
"Mother," he said softly.
"He is dead."
Her hands stilled.
Silence fell.
"…withdraw," she said.
The Guard lowered their weapons.
They departed without a word.
Uriel stood motionless.
After a long time, he turned to his warriors.
"What did you see?"
A veteran answered:
"We saw nothing."
Uriel nodded.
"Good. We return to war."
Terra
In the Ministry of State Affairs, Yuki sat alone in the fading light.
Outside, Guilliman and Malcador's staged argument echoed down the hall.
The door burst open.
" Sister!"
Mordecai entered, breathless.
His face carried urgency — and dread.
"You should be working," Yuki said softly.
"I read the Morse report."
Her smile faded.
"Sister… the things I warned you about… they are…"
She raised a finger gently to his lips.
"I know."
He lowered his head.
His voice trembled with restrained fury.
"I will find them."
"I will destroy them."
"I will do it myself."
Yuki turned toward the window.
The sun was sinking beyond Terra's spires.
The sky burned red.
Night was coming.
And with it,
truth.
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