Inside the command hall of the Rangdan landing base, the Silent Overseer levitated in the empty air, its gaze sweeping across the projection walls as it watched the entire installation turn to ash.
Immense psychic force flowed through its sensors to issue directives, keeping the base barely functional.
The Rangdan elite forces abandoned the base, pivoting to launch an assault on the human fortress.
The situation was far from optimistic: deprived of planetary shields, the army melted away like snow beneath a scorching sun—silent and swift.
The tactical picture was crystal clear. Following the catastrophic explosion of Planet V, control of Planet VIII had been lost, and Planet IX now hung precariously on the brink.
Now, the final reckoning on Planet VII was at hand!
The Silent Overseer exerted its utmost effort to command the army's charge against the humans.
The void fleet was of no help. As other fronts collapsed, the human fleet had regrouped to launch a massive counter-offensive. Under the human siege, High Commander Moribas Solas was beset on all sides, unable to spare a single unit for reinforcement.
The Rangdan Empire's defeat was sealed!
Seeing the reality with stark clarity, the Silent Overseer made its final deployments. Directives surged from its mind through the psychic sensor in milliseconds—thousands per second—executed with ruthless efficiency and precision.
Cold and calculated, the Silent Overseer lacked its former frenzy and rage, its blood-red eyes devoid of emotional fluctuation. Over a decade of war had transformed this once young, arrogant Overlord. It was no longer as impulsive as before; the protracted war against humanity had shattered the pride it was born with.
"Adjutant."
The Rangdan Overlord called its deputy, its cold voice lacking any inflection.
A bio-armored warrior stepped forward, bowing its head to await the throne's command.
"Take your direct command, activate the gravity well, and leave the planet. Board the warships and flee the Conquest Corridor."
The Silent Overseer did not lower its gaze, speaking in an icy tone about an event that seemed to have nothing to do with itself: "I will grant you authority to return to the tribal domain."
"You are now the next leader of our tribe!"
Its tentacle pointed at the adjutant, its distorted tone absolute, sparking a massive uproar throughout the command hall. The senior commanders present understood that the Overlord was delivering its last will.
"My Lord!" The adjutant raised its head, its biological eyes locked on the high-seated Overlord as it asked in a voice filled with desperation: "Are we defeated?"
"We have already failed," the Silent Overseer replied calmly. "The Rangdan race has lost to humanity!"
The deputy tried to plead further, but the Overlord raised a tentacle to stop it: "Our time is short. That 'ghost' will be here shortly."
"Return to our home domain. Abandon the old, weak, women, and children; take the able-bodied youth and high-tier specialists. Flee into the void fringes, far beyond the reach of the Imperium of Man."
"Find a hidden refuge among the galaxy's hundreds of billions of stars, so that the Rangdan bloodline may survive and multiply."
"One day!" A sudden surge of hatred broke through the Silent Overseer's flat voice, its tentacles twitching with violent rage: "The Rangdan shall return to wreak vengeance upon humanity!"
Its sinister eyes burned with venomous malice, consumed by hatred for mankind and helplessness before reality.
The Rangdan's current defeat was inevitable; planning for the future was far more rational than trying to reverse the present tide.
"Can you not come with us, Sire?" The adjutant's voice choked with emotion, its armor trembling slightly.
"Only if the other Overlords and I die will our race truly be safe."
"Time runs short." The Silent Overseer waved a tentacle, signaling a Rangdan warlord to step forward and hold back the hesitant adjutant: "My brothers and I must die on the battlefield."
"Humanity has never hidden its fear and wariness of us. Only when we perish will the threat of the Rangdan recede in their minds, fading from their vision over time."
"The future—" The Rangdan Overlord sighed, its words heavy with sheer exhaustion as its tentacles waved for its guards and deputy to leave together: "—is in your hands."
Many Rangdan departed the command hall, following in the deputy's footsteps toward the gravity well to board the evacuation ships.
Watching them hurry away, a profound sadness welled up within the Silent Overseer, even though it had arranged the retreat itself. Floating in the air, its brain-like body was overwhelmed with emotion as its life flashed before its eyes.
It had been born during the golden age of the Rangdan Empire, enduring countless great wars until entering this existential race-war with humanity. Now, as it faced ultimate decline, who could truly know the sorrow in its heart?
"Open the command room's dome."
The machine intelligence dutifully executed the order. The dome of the hall parted slowly, revealing another world through the gap.
Looking up, the Silent Overseer saw the headquarters on Planet VI. Hanging upside down in the void, the supreme command center stood tall as the highest structure on Planet VI, clearly reflected in its view. It symbolized the authority of the Supreme Overlord and the majesty of the High Commander.
"Moribas Solas," the Silent Overseer murmured the name.
Human Primarch. The Emperor's second son.
It had always looked down upon Solas, yet it had to admit that the Rangdan in the Conquest Corridor could never have held out until now without that human traitor's contributions.
"Hmph!" The Silent Overseer let out a sneer, its inner contempt deepening.
The final battle between the Rangdan and humanity was drawing to a close, and it was deeply curious to see what fate awaited Solas.
A faint sound echoed in the command hall, leading the Silent Overseer to sigh internally: Pity I won't live to see it.
Its dark-green brain turned slowly, catching sight of a tall figure clad in animal pelts standing in a corner of the hall.
The figure locked eyes with it and activated a psyker teleportation beacon.
Selene stood where he was, psychic lightning interweaving around him, blurring his silhouette. His peripheral vision scanned the hall; it was already deserted, save for a few thralls keeping the systems running. Moving his gaze up through the open dome, he saw numerous shuttles ascending through the gravity well, evacuating toward the void fleet.
"Your xenos kin are fleeing?" Selene remarked with slight surprise. Having reviewed extensive intelligence, he knew the Rangdan had no prior record of retreating.
"Show some respect," the Silent Overseer replied coldly. "In our eyes, are not humans the xenos?"
"They are leaving to preserve the spark of the Rangdan race."
The Silent Overseer did not fear the Imperium's hunt. The galaxy was vast; as long as the Rangdan kept a low profile, they would eventually find a new world to colonize. Furthermore, the other Overlords had surely made similar arrangements, never staking the survival of their entire race on a single final battle. Where the continuation of their species was concerned, the various tribes operated independently under emergency directives to avoid being wiped out in one fell swoop.
"Vile beast!" Selene snorted, refusing to speak further with the xenos abomination, feeling only disgust.
The teleportation beacon reached critical mass, and blinding white lightning illuminated the hall.
Amidst the flashing light and shadows, the Lion descended alongside his Dark Angels, a suffocating aura of lethality flooding the room in an instant!
"Silent Overseer!"
Wearing his winged helm and black power armor, the Lion held a gold-and-crimson kite shield in his left hand and raised a blue dimensional sword in his right.
A low growl tore from the Lion's throat, his sword pointing directly at the xenos Overlord, the sheer hatred in his eyes bursting forth through his visor: "I have come for your life!"
With over half his Legion lost under the Rangdan's numerical oppression, how could the Lion not hate?
Sustaining such catastrophic losses meant that after this campaign, the First Legion would be crippled, dropping out of the tier of the absolute strongest Legions. The Silent Overseer's relentless onslaught had even shattered Lion's chances of competing for the title of Warmaster for decades to come.
How could the Lion not rage? How could he not hate?
Yet the Primarch also noticed that, apart from the thralls, the key personnel in the command hall had already evacuated. Seeing the state of the room, the Lion instantly understood what the Rangdan were trying to accomplish.
"You think they can run?" The Lion sneered with a low growl, raising his lightblade as he swore a vengeful oath: "Once this battle ends, the First Legion will sweep into Rangdan territory and erase every single trace left by your filthy empire."
"Everything you treasure, everything you wish to protect, will be crushed into dust beneath our treads."
"Not only that," the Lion pointed at the gravity well, glaring at the Silent Overseer: "My Legion will hunt them across the stars, exterminate the Rangdan, and choke out the very spark of your return with our own hands!"
The vengeful oath echoed throughout the command hall. Though the xenos thralls could not understand the words, they shuddered violently beneath the bone-chilling malice, cowering as they lost control of their bowels.
The Silent Overseer remained silent; it was no longer the hot-headed youth of its past.
After all, had the Rangdan defeated humanity, it would likewise have hunted humans across the galaxy to utterly erase the threat of a rival species.
"Now," the Lion roared, his voice carrying a tremendous force that had been suppressed to its limit, pointing his blade at the filthy brain atop the platform: "I shall reclaim a portion of the debt!"
Selene stepped forward to back up his brother.
The Lion raised his shield to stop him, shaking his head to signal that his intervention was unnecessary: "I will slay it with my own hands and use its filthy blood to appease the spirits of my fallen sons."
"I shall hold the line for you," Selene respected his brother's quest for vengeance, standing aside, ready to step in at a moment's notice.
The Dark Angels slaughtered the thralls and cleared the command hall, their black-armored Knights forming a ring around the platform. They waited in silence for their gene-father to destroy the mortal enemy of their Legion.
His combat boots struck the floor with a rhythmic clang as the Lion advanced step by step, radiating an overwhelming aura of dread as he closed in on the Rangdan Overlord.