Starting from the Planetary Governor

In the 230th year of the tenth millennium after the establishment of the Empire, the grand rebellion of the Princess was the biggest news throughout the Empire.

At first, it was only sensational, just something that many of the high-ranking people thought was bound to happen eventually, and it did happen. Although it came a bit earlier and more suddenly than expected, since it was somewhat anticipated, it didn't really catch anyone completely off-guard.

The general attitude of most Imperial citizens was that the suppression of this rebellion would be somewhat difficult, the Empire would need to mobilize a lot of forces, maybe it would take a year? Two years?

Anyway, it should be about that, right?

However, what happened next left many people dumbfounded.

The outbreak of the rebellion took place in February;

In March, Melandri switched sides, the whole Empire burst into curses, and the Heretic Tribunal clamored for the Iron Armor Battle Group to pay the price;

In August, the Tianyuan VI incident occurred. A Grand Judge, overseeing 400 judges of various grades, over ten thousand Blood Rose Combat Nuns, and a Loyalist Warband...such elite troops were annihilated, causing the Heretic Tribunal to shut up and silently lick their wounds.

In October, the entire Northern Front of the Spiderweb Domain was breached, and the war reached the Star Devouring Cosmos. On Holy Terra, the representative of the Star Devouring Cosmos Domain Chair, who holds a seat in the Supreme Council, fiercely criticized Ou Juren, Galaraldo who had no right to attend the meeting, and Gu Hang who stayed in the remote Eastern Cosmos Domain. The representative from the Star Devouring Cosmos believed that their overly aggressive actions a year and a half ago led to a forced battle with the Iron Armor Battle Group under completely unprepared conditions. Now, they in the Star Devouring Cosmos are suffering as they had feared from the beginning.

The following year, in January 10231, the capital world of the Spiderweb Domain fell.

Although, this does not mean that the Spiderweb Domain was entirely conquered. The Spiderweb Domain is a region much larger than the Eastern Cosmos Domain, with nearly ten thousand worlds, so it's not possible to be completely taken over or surrendered in just one year. Especially since the Iron Armor Battle Group was actually still accumulating power, having fought several key battles, not thinning their forces to sweep through rapidly.

But, after the fall of the capital, it's fair to say that the entire Spiderweb Domain was like fish on a chopping board. Wherever the Iron Armor Battle Group wanted to strike, they could just cut off a piece for themselves.

That just happened.

The Holy Terra Government at this stage, especially after facing direct pressure from the Star Devouring Cosmos representative in the Supreme Council, and the neighboring Cosmos Domains governments also sending their concerns, Holy Terra was truly bothered.

Fortunately, there were interstellar soldier representatives in this session of the Supreme Council.

The Interstellar Warrior from the Death Angel Battle Group, who had already received a call for help from the Supreme Council, they hoped that the Death Angel Battle Group could play their part and come in support of this war.

Being reorganized from the First Corps, the Death Angel Battle Group was not only an inaugural battle group but also the first interstellar soldier corps established during the corps period. During the phase of the Empire's establishment and in the years that followed, they've been absolutely renowned for their war merits. The entire Battle Group had considerable strength and possessed many secret weapons that even the Holy Terra Government did not control—oh, they themselves never admit it.

However, the Death Angel Battle Group refused the call for help.

Their Mother Planet was located in the Western Empire Border, across an entire expanse of the Empire's frontier, they couldn't make it.

They also had other tasks to tend to.

What specific tasks, the representative from the Death Angel Battle Group was unwilling to disclose, and no one could force him.

However, he still acted a bit like a High Lord, who was also the leader of the Death Angel Battle Group. He said he would help make contact, inviting other Battle Groups, especially those active in the Eastern Frontier, Northern Border of the Empire, to see who had some availability to come and offer substantial help.

Indeed, several Battle Groups did respond to the call and had already started to gather.

But first, their numbers were still insufficient.

Now, the Battle Groups standing with the Iron Armor were not just the original three from 'Iron Fury Stone'; within the Spiderweb Domain, another seven battle Groups saw three destroyed, one that fled, and the other three all stood with the Iron Armor.

That made six Battle Groups alone, not to mention, one Iron Armor equaled ten others.

Now the responding Battle Groups totaled only six, and gathering them completely would still take a few months, as they need time to arrive from various places.

And some Battle Groups, such as those active in the Star Devouring Cosmos and the military forces of this domain, were also hard to assemble entirely. Although, the threat brought by the Iron Fury Stone was directly relevant to them, a problem lay within, as every Cosmos Domain had its internal issues.

Green Skins piece by piece; a small Void Worm Nest needing extermination; widespread Cult activities on some worlds; Rebel Army, pirates...

With hundreds of worlds in a Star Domain, thousands to tens of thousands in a Cosmos Domain, the original military forces were usually stretched thin just dealing with internal problems.

At such a time, suddenly facing a massive external crisis was truly difficult to deal with.

The forces currently assembled to oppose the Iron Fury Stone were extremely insufficient, at least not enough to provide peace of mind to the old masters on Holy Terra.