Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor

Boom—

The ancient brass gates rose.

The armies of Khorne, harnessing the vast energies of wars raging between the stars, appeared on the fringes of Ultramar, heading toward the Plague Stars occupied by Nurgle.

As for the Supreme Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha, he led another force to hunt for the Dark Prince.

At the same time—

The forces within Ultramar and the Plague Stars grew ever more active, as the followers and warriors of Nurgle, Khorne, and Tzeentch moved out on all fronts.

Tyranids, Orks, Aeldari, Necrons, T'au, and Chaos Space Marines each selected their targets, launching ever fiercer offensives.

These star systems were engulfed in war, with battles raging everywhere, fires of conflict burning ceaselessly.

One civilization after another, withering under plague, was illuminated in the darkness…

——

Temporary Savior's Sanctum.

In midair, a giant star map projection flickered, dotted with dense red markers and symbols, updating every moment.

But the torrent of data and constant updates overloaded the system slightly.

It flickered nonstop.

"Looks like Father Nurgle is reinforcing again…"

Eden looked at the star map covered in red dots and sighed softly.

"That being's strength is immense… to fight so many armies alone."

According to the latest intelligence—

More than 600 civilized worlds and over 2,000 planets in these star systems had erupted into brutal wars recently, with tens of thousands of armies involved, if not more.

Almost every faction and species was engaged.

The Plague Lord had deployed even more forces, accelerating his invasion here, fighting all enemies simultaneously.

How terrifying was that?!

Fortunately, this was only the beginning.

Eden had reason to believe that Khorne and Tzeentch had not yet committed their full might, waiting for the moment to deliver a killing blow.

"…That's not right."

A frown creased his brow as he thought.

"The three Chaos Gods are all fighting now, aiming to cripple one another… except Slaanesh, that bastard, who's just sitting back to reap the spoils."

That wasn't good news. While the other three fought ferociously and the Imperium waged desperate war, Slaanesh was lying low, preserving power.

In the end, it could let Slaanesh seize victory and grow stronger.

That would be bad for everyone.

Such an obvious truth—surely Tzeentch wouldn't miss it?

Eden pondered. Slaanesh had indeed been keeping a low profile lately, working hard to remain hidden.

They hadn't even sent him any decadent illusions or alluring temptations recently.

"Tch… this can't go on."

He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

He'd need to plant agents to remind Khorne and Tzeentch not to leave that slippery bastard Slaanesh out of the slaughter.

If there was going to be a fight, everyone had to join in.

But before he could act, he received intel from a cunning Slaaneshi daemon-spy:

"During Nurgle's invasion of Slaanesh's realm, both Khorne and Tzeentch simultaneously sent more armies to attack, causing massive losses for Slaanesh!"

Eden read this and laughed aloud.

"So they beat up the sixth player before the real game even began, huh?"

The timing of Khorne and Tzeentch's attacks was cunning indeed—striking while Nurgle invaded, ensuring Slaanesh wouldn't dare ally with Nurgle later.

When they eventually turned on Nurgle, the thoroughly beaten Slaanesh would probably sit back to watch the show.

Double losses were always better than a single win.

After checking on the Warp's situation, Eden no longer concerned himself with it.

His current focus was Ultramar. He needed to finish matters here first.

He watched the star map for a while longer before giving up.

The countless appearing and disappearing red dots were dizzying to follow. It was chaos incarnate. Best leave this to the command staff.

He just needed a general overview.

Boom—

A violent tremor shook the chamber.

Eden looked out the observation window.

In the distance, a grotesque corruption engine collapsed under heavy cannon fire and blessed bone-ash rounds.

The polluted skies reflecting Nurgle's garden shattered like fragile foam.

This meant he and the Regent's forces had destroyed one of the corruption engines, ending its plague contamination.

This was why he had preemptively modified Axx's environment—to stop corruption engines from drawing any foul Warp energy from the planet.

Hummm~

As the corruption engine fell, whispers seemed to echo across the world.

He sensed traces of a foul network growing thicker in its stench.

The Nurgle daemons swiftly reacted to the threat against their corruption web.

At the same time—

In regions across Axx, the skies flickered with reflections of Nurgle's Garden. All corruption engines went into full activation.

The sights were so vile that any ordinary human glimpsing them risked instant corruption.

Thankfully, the Savior's forces had completed evacuation drills long beforehand, moving all civilians into underground shelters.

They would see nothing.

Only when the war was won would they emerge—

Or, if the defense of Axx's hospital world failed, they would perish with it.

Eden turned away, stepping into a sealed chamber.

"Savior!"

Carter and his Thunderguard Champions saluted sharply.

Eden nodded, stepping into an enormous armoring frame.

A maid respectfully took his ornate robe as he shed it.

Underneath, his body was clad in a dark-gold skintight underlayer covered with inactive silver circuitry.

The circuits formed complex spiral patterns, linking to metallic ports along his limbs.

"Arm me."

He spread his arms and gave the command.

Under the direction of the chief armorsmith, the armoring team began fitting pieces of his armor onto his body.

This dark-gold power armor was immense, each part requiring servo-assisted lifters to move.

Yet they worked swiftly, completing the process in minutes.

The armor sealed with a hiss, its power core igniting, thin flames flickering from the joins.

"Lord," Carter reported, "the Heretic Abominations have begun attacking corruption engine nodes across the warzone. The Regent has moved to the core node.

The Holy Wall is also ready to deploy at any moment—"

Nurgle's daemons attacked relentlessly, and the Holy Wall could only be used once. It had to be timed perfectly.

"We're going to the core node as well," Eden said.

"That's where this battle will be decided."

He flexed his armored hands, then reached for the weapons rack, taking up Glory, a cobalt-blue power sword, and Arbiter, a bolt pistol.

Both were legendary relics—spoils he had claimed from the Regent.

Then he and Carter's team boarded a shuttle bound for the front.

——

Aboard the shuttle—

Eden sat at the open hatch, feeling the wind whip past, gazing down at the battlefields below.

Axx was now blanketed in smoke and plague corruption, though all such incursions remained contained within defensive lines.

Over a hundred thousand elite warriors manned those lines, holding back the tide.

ROAR—

A monstrous Great Unclean One bellowed in midair, only for blue lightning circles to flare up instantly.

The Grey Knights formed a tight phalanx, their wards conjuring chains of lightning to bind the daemon temporarily.

"Corruption…!"

The beast spat vile bile in rage, corroding everything it touched. Several Grey Knights had half their bodies dissolved, yet still stood tall with their spears braced.

Their faith was unbreakable as they chanted:

"We are the Grey Knights. Faith is our armor. Sacrifice is our shield. Purity is our blade. We are the wall that shall not break!"

Suddenly, a healing light washed over them, driving out the daemon's corruption.

Strength renewed, they reinforced their binding circles, dragging the Great Unclean One to its knees.

The Grey Knights Grand Master roared, driving his radiant halberd into the daemon's chest:

"By the Emperor's light, BE PURGED!"

With a scream of agony, the daemon's body disintegrated into cinders, banished back to the Warp.

The Grand Master tore off his ragged cloak, standing with his brothers as they watched the skies where the shuttle vanished into the horizon.

They bowed their heads in respect.

They knew it was the Hope Primarch Savior who had just reached out to aid them.

Suddenly, the Grand Master's eyes narrowed. He raised his storm bolter and fired a burst of psychic-infused rounds—

Shattering a Plaguebearer that had tried to sneak up on them.

Before anyone could catch their breath, a larger Warp rift tore open, disgorging countless Nurgle daemons.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

Two Great Unclean Ones, nearly identical, stomped forth, followed by five more massive Nurgle daemons.

Seven powerful Plague Lords appeared at once!

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

The two Unclean Ones leered with evil intelligence in their rotting eyes, speaking in unison:

"Pathetic lapdogs of the Corpse-Emperor… your pitiful strength is spent. You cannot halt the plague's advance. This battlefield will become a wasteland of rot and despair…"

The earlier attack had only been a probe. Now came the true assault!

They laughed so hard that their guts and pus spilled from gaping wounds, forcing them to scoop it all back in.

Black plague marshes spread outward with every step they took.

"Hurry up… let me hook out your intestines,"

Both daemons rasped, raising rusted scythe-hooks coated with Father Nurgle's most virulent viruses.

Their sheer aura of horror pressed down on the Grey Knights, suffocating them, black fungal growth blooming across their armor.

"…Our arts cannot hold back such abominations any longer…"

The Grey Knights Grand Master slumped slightly, his armored form seeming to collapse under its own weight.

"Perhaps… we have failed the faith of the Grey Knights, having to rely on other powers."

He paused, then nodded firmly.

"But… it is time to use them."

These were exceedingly rare strategic-level resources, to be deployed only at the most crucial moments.

The Grand Master issued a new order.

The Grey Knights glanced at each other, then formed a new defensive formation, letting the Nurgle daemons close in around them.

Immediately, the Paladins among them removed special equipment from their armor, assembling it swiftly and handing it to the Purifiers.

Those Purifiers, pure of mind and masters of psychic arts, cloaked themselves in holy flame, like walking torches.

With utmost reverence, they accepted the launcher-like weapons, revealing the warheads within.

The Grand Master himself hefted an even larger launcher onto his shoulder.

???

The two Great Unclean Ones paused, puzzled.

What were these lapdogs of the Corpse-Emperor doing?

Normally, Grey Knights faced Greater Daemons with solemn incantations, chanting litanies or inscribing wards on the ground.

Or desperately flipping through their tomes to seek the daemon's True Name.

These psychic elites usually defeated daemons through esoteric arts rather than brute firepower.

But now… they were using rockets against them?!

That was unprecedented.

"Pathetic little fools… you really think those toys can—"

They began to jeer, but then froze.

They saw the ammunition loaded in the Grand Master's massive launcher.

Their rotting eyes widened in horror, words choking in their throats.

"Father… how can they possibly have… That's a Cursed One's weapon!"

What the Grey Knights carried were the Savior Primarch's most feared creations—Holy Bone-Ash Shells.

Seven of them. Six small shells, and one medium shell.

The Great Unclean Ones and the Plague Daemons felt true terror. A chill of dread rose from their very souls.

This wasn't how they had been fighting just moments ago! Why were these fools bringing out such horrors just for them?

That couldn't be right!

The unfortunate Greater Daemon that had attacked earlier had merely been banished.

But if they died under Cursed weapons like these, there would be no return. Oblivion awaited.

The two Great Unclean Ones exchanged a glance, their thoughts in perfect sync.

They had only one instinct left:

Run.

Outside was too dangerous. The Garden of Nurgle was safer.

RUMBLE—

The Great Unclean Ones turned and fled, their vast bodies quivering, spilling pus and organs in their wake. Their swollen feet crushed countless Nurglings and Plague Zombies beneath them.

The other Great Daemons and daemonkin all followed, stampeding in chaos.

But it was too late.

Zzzzt—

A psychic barrier suddenly rose, blocking their retreat.

They tore it down swiftly, but in their panic they stumbled, crashing to the ground with earth-shaking force.

Before they could rise, they felt the dread power of the cursed weapons.

"In the Emperor's name—begone, foul abominations!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The seven Holy Bone-Ash Shells fired, streaking towards them at blistering speed.

"No—"

The two Great Unclean Ones instinctively raised their arms to block.

In that instant, the shells exploded.

One large and six small—seven spheres of sacred golden radiance enveloped the battlefield, incinerating everything in their wake.

Nurgle's daemons were reduced to ash within the holy inferno.

The Great Unclean Ones shrieked as their flesh charred away, their souls consumed until nothing remained.

They were utterly purged by the light of the Holy Sun.

When the golden radiance finally faded—

The Grey Knights stared, stunned, at the scorched remains scattered across the field.

The daemons they once needed to fight to the death with all their strength… were gone in an instant.

And all they had done was pull a trigger.

Any warrior pure of faith or bearing psychic gifts could wield such weapons.

In the distance, more golden flashes erupted.

They looked up to see an abomination-engine collapse under bombardment from a larger Bone-Ash shell, the foul sky above it clearing instantly.

Several Grey Knights moved to perform cleansing rites upon the daemon remains—only to find there was nothing left to purify.

The ground was clean. Immaculate.

Raindrops began to fall.

The Savior's Purification Corps moved quickly, spraying diluted cleansing agents from massive tanks across the battlefield. Grasses and flowers sprouted wherever the rain touched.

The Grey Knights stood silently in that gentle drizzle, complex emotions welling within them.

When the Savior's logistics teams first offered them these holy weapons, they had been reluctant.

They believed their psychic arts and millennia of daemon-hunting expertise were superior.

But now, having used these legendary relics, they felt the truth of their power.

For countless centuries, the Grey Knights had been the Imperium's greatest daemon hunters, without peer.

Every Grey Knight was a psyker. The standards for candidate selection rivaled even the Adeptus Custodes.

Finding stable, powerful, utterly loyal psykers was rare beyond measure.

And even after Inquisitorial approval, candidates faced initial trials, vocational training, and the Six Hundred and Sixty-Six Rites of Abomination—

Only then could they become a sacred Grey Knight.

The training grounds of Titan were littered with the bones of those who failed.

Beyond that, they endured even harsher training to master the arts needed to battle the worst horrors of the Warp.

Yet now… the Savior's Holy Weapons were so mighty that even untrained warriors could wield them against the greatest daemons.

Even those Grey Knights themselves struggled to defeat.

They felt a sour pang in their hearts.

Times were changing.

Silence fell across the battlefield.

The Brotherhood Champion sighed softly.

He, a daemon hunter with centuries of experience, was eclipsed utterly by these holy relics.

He turned to look at the Grand Master.

The ancient warrior's head was bowed, his armored shoulders slumped in silent desolation.

"Lord…" the Champion stepped forward, hoping to offer comfort.

But as he approached, he heard a strained chuckle from the Grand Master, tinged with awkward flattery.

"Savior… I am Koven, Grand Master of the Grey Knights Seventh Brotherhood…"

He began speaking eagerly over the vox-link.

"Yes, yes, our holy munitions are depleted. We require resupply. Perhaps… the Grey Knights will need your support for some time to come.

Yes… yes indeed…"

The Grand Master had fully grasped the power of the Holy Weapons.

They were the Imperium's ultimate tools against the daemonic.

If they could not beat them… they would join them.

For if another Imperial force gained access to the Savior's Bone-Ash shells, the Grey Knights' prestige would be lost.

In the future, when Chaos Greater Daemons appeared, why deploy Grey Knights to fight in brutal melee when someone else could simply bombard them into oblivion?

At that point, the Grey Knights might be relegated to dealing with minor daemon incursions—chanting litanies, performing rites, little more.

Worse still, the Imperium might reduce investment in them altogether.

Training a Grey Knight cost as much as some small warships.

That was a terrifying prospect.

In this situation, the Grey Knights had no choice but to secure the Savior's support.

The Grand Master ended the communication, then turned to the Champion, regaining his solemn bearing.

"Champion, gather the Grey Knights. We are going to the Savior's supply depot to collect more Holy Weapons!"

"We… we can obtain more of such sacred relics?!"

The Grey Knights shook off their conflicted emotions, excitement flaring in their eyes.

Compared to complex runic chants and close-quarters combat, there was something deeply satisfying in bombarding daemons from afar and watching them wail in terror.

That… was true daemon hunting.

——

The war on Axx's hospital world raged on.

Having acquired new Holy Weapons, the Grey Knights raised their voices in praise of the Emperor, charging swiftly to new battlefields.

They were the Grey Knights—version 2.0.

——

Meanwhile—

The Juggernaut Chapter's defensive zone.

"For the Savior!"

Gauss stood with his Ogryn warriors, saluting crisply as the dark-gold shuttle roared overhead, carrying their gene-father, their Savior.

Then he turned, adjusting his glasses, addressing his warriors for their pre-battle briefing:

"Brothers of the Juggernaut Chapter… this is our first great war. We must present our greatest victories to our magnificent Savior.

As the Savior once told us—'Train an army for a thousand days, use it in a single moment…'"

Nearby, Chapter Master Dovaro of the Nova Warriors, an Indomitus Primaris veteran, was polishing his power sword.

He scowled at their florid oratory.

"Why are these Ogryns giving a speech like some scribe from Terra… so damned fussy…"

He was starting to doubt these "weird Ogryns'" combat prowess.

Because of the unusual location of this corruption incursion, they would be fighting side by side with these Ogryn warriors on the defensive line.

Zzzzt—

Suddenly, unidentified slimy fluid dripped from above, corroding the grass below.

The daemons of Nurgle… had arrived.

(End of Chapter)

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