Crimson Drake Gate, F-17 Commercial Plaza Lounge.
[Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] slouched in a steel chair, his fingers swiping rapidly across his system interface to pull up a 3D structural hologram.
"Alright boys, pay attention."
His voice rang out over the [Wings of Freedom] voice channel, carrying that heavy, serious tone he only used when plotting something massive.
"This is the layout for the orbital elevators connecting the Crimson Drake Gate down to Aurelian."
"Berths D-1 through D-89 are exclusively for naval warships."
"Right now, they're completely jammed up by the Ultramarines and Blood Angels fleets."
"Every single orbital elevator in that sector is military-grade. Security is tighter than a drum."
He highlighted a few spots on the map with red circles. "As for the remaining public elevators, every single entrance is locked down by the Crimson Dawn PDF."
"See these?"
"Right here."
As he zoomed in on the hologram, the automated turrets flanking the elevator doors came into crisp focus. They weren't your standard, clunky Imperial stationary defenses. These were sleek, streamlined models with barrels capable of a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree rotation.
[Four-Armed Emperor I Gotta Wreck You] leaned in for a closer look, his mouth twitching.
"What the hell? We're inside a starport, why did they pack in so much artillery? Who are they trying to keep out?"
"Us, obviously."
[Inherit Sevatar's Will to Slay the False Emperor] leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He wore a look of calm resignation, like he'd seen this coming from a mile away.
"If the first-wave players didn't at least have this level of security, they would've been turned into Swiss cheese by Chaos and xeno infiltration by now."
"So what's the play?"
[Did the Emperor Lift His Ass Today?] threw his hands up in frustration. "Wandering around the Crimson Drake Gate aimlessly isn't getting us anywhere. If we want to cause some real chaos, we have to get down to the planet's surface."
A brief silence settled over the plaza lounge.
Dozens of eyes shifted in unison to [Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus].
The core figure of the Chaos faction within the Blood Angels fleet was currently staring out the viewport at the blue-green planet below. A slow, creeping smirk spread across his face.
It was a subtle smile, but it gave everyone in the room an incredibly sketchy vibe.
"Looks like we have to do that, then," [Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] murmured softly.
"Do what?" [Inherit Sevatar's Will to Slay the False Emperor] furrowed his brow.
He knew this guy too well. Whenever Horus made that face, it meant things were about to go horribly sideways.
[Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] turned back to the crowd, his grin widening.
"Have you guys ever heard of..."
He paused, slowly raising his hands before bringing them down in a plunging motion.
"...the palm strike that falls from the heavens?" (TL/N: Reference to the buddha trapping the monkey king, I think?)
The lounge was dead silent for two seconds.
Then, [Inherit Sevatar's Will to Slay the False Emperor] deadpanned:
"Bro."
"The hell do you mean, 'palm strike from the heavens'?"
"You just mean orbital free-fall." He rolled his eyes. "Speak English, man."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the rest of the Chaos players processed the idea, and the lounge erupted in an uproar.
"Holy shit?! You want us to jump off the Crimson Drake Gate?!"
[Four-Armed Emperor I Gotta Wreck You] bugged his eyes out, rushing over to the viewport to stare down at the looming planet. From this altitude, Aurelian IV was nothing more than a blue-green marble the size of a basketball.
"That's gotta be a few hundred miles down, at a bare minimum!"
"We're going to burn to ash on re-entry!"
"Yeah, no kidding!"
[Did the Emperor Lift His Ass Today?] chimed in. "Even if we don't burn to a crisp, we'll turn into human salsa when we hit the ground! Respawning costs Imperial Coins, you know!"
"I've already upgraded my character a bunch of times! A respawn is going to cost me thousands of Imperial Coins, and I'm hauling around tens of thousands worth of gear!"
[Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] completely ignored their panic.
He calmly opened the cash shop, pulled up an item's data sheet, and linked it directly into the chat channel.
[High-Density Protective Spacesuit (Basic Model)]
Type: Protective Gear
Function: Contains highly compressed oxygen; provides complete protection against vacuum and sub-zero temperatures. Built-in gravity anchor system. Allows the user to break free from orbital pull by increasing mass, enabling directional control during freefall.
Duration: 5 hours (Oxygen) / Single-use (Protective Ablative Layer)
Price: 8,000 Imperial Coins
Note 1: For greater mass, additional high-density materials can be purchased with Imperial Coins.
Note 2: This product does NOT include a parachute. The user assumes all risk for impact trauma. The Shop is not liable for any resulting splattering.
The chat channel went dead for a full second.
[Four-Armed Emperor I Gotta Wreck You]: "Bro, they actually sell this?"
He stared at the 'user assumes all risk for impact trauma' disclaimer for a long moment, his mouth twitching violently. "Even with this suit, jumping off the Crimson Drake Gate guarantees we're dead on impact!"
[Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] just smiled calmly.
It was that familiar, unabashed grin of someone who had zero chill.
"Are you kidding me, boys? Since when are we afraid of dying?"
"Who are we?"
He swept his gaze across the room, emphasizing every word.
"We are the Fourth Scourge."
"Death means absolutely nothing to us."
He paused, letting his voice rise. "We jump. If we die, we die. We just use the respawn function."
"Who gives a damn about a few Imperial Coins? Think about Crimson Dawn and the kind of bank they're sitting on."
"As long as we jump from the Crimson Drake Gate..."
"...when we respawn, we'll already be boots-on-the-ground in Aurelian."
"If the respawn function wasn't limited to a fifty-mile radius from our corpse, I'd just slit my own throat right now and teleport down."
"It's a damn shame we can't record video in-game. If we could, this would put all those Red Bull extreme sports guys to shame."
[Did the Emperor Lift His Ass Today?] stared blankly for two seconds before slapping his thigh.
"Fuck yeah!"
"You crazy son of a bitch!" His eyes lit up with maniacal glee. "Let's do it!"
"How many guys are we taking?"
"What's the actual objective?"
"You got a plan?"
[Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] held up five fingers.
"Five hundred men is all we need."
He looked around the lounge, meeting everyone's gaze. "Anyone who doesn't want to make the jump can just chip in some Imperial Coins for the cause."
"Don't forget, if we pull this off, everyone gets a cut of the loot."
"As for the plan..."
He walked up to the viewport and pointed down at the blue-green world, his voice dropping an octave.
"We're going down there to stir up some deep shit."
"This isn't about aimless PKing."
"This is about completely ruining Crimson Dawn."
"Once we hit the dirt, we scatter."
"Find the most densely populated areas you can and instantly trigger the Chaos sacrifice rituals."
"Malls, plazas, schools, hospitals..."
"Go wherever the crowds are."
"Spread out. The wider, the better."
"We are going to trigger a global crisis across all of Aurelian!"
His voice soared, filled with a burn-the-boats level of unhinged resolve.
"We're going to overwhelm Crimson Dawn's response teams!"
"We're going to make Guilliman and Sanguinius realize..."
"...that Crimson Dawn's territory is actually a festering hive of corruption!"
"If we pull that off, there's no way they pass their faction review!"
"And while all that's happening..."
He paused, a cold, wicked smirk curling on his lips.
"Those of you staying behind on the Crimson Drake Gate will start framing them."
"Smear them. Start rumors that they're colluding with Chaos, that they're corrupt, that they're oppressing the citizens..."
"Play as dirty as humanly possible."
"As long as we can plant a seed of doubt in those two Primarchs, we win!"
The lounge fell into stunned silence for a few seconds.
Then, [Inherit Sevatar's Will to Slay the False Emperor] spoke up first, unable to hide the excitement bleeding into his voice.
"Holy shit..."
"That is incredibly toxic."
He stared at [Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] with a deeply complicated expression.
It was equal parts admiration, sheer terror, and immense relief that this psycho was actually on their side.
"Classic Horus."
"But..." He broke into a massive grin. "I love it!"
"It's just a few Imperial Coins, right?!"
"I'm in!"
The chat channel instantly exploded into chaos.
"Count me in!"
"Let's fucking go!"
"It's just three grand, I'll drop the Imperial Coins on it right now!"
"For the Imperial Coin!"
"For Chaos!!"
[Kingslayer Luna Wolf Horus] looked at the fired-up crowd, the smirk on his face growing even wider.
He raised a hand, signaling for quiet.
"Then let's move out." His tone turned dead serious. "We strike before Crimson Dawn even realizes what hit them."
"Before those two Primarchs finish their little tour down below."
"While those first-wave players are still caught up in the hype of hosting their VIPs..."
He waved his hand forward.
"Move out!!"
--
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