The lone wolf stood next to Sejanus, taking it all in. A sudden, unexplainable wave of awe washed over him. So this is the Luna Wolves.This is the Sixteenth Legion.This is...The very pack that swept across the galaxy alongside Horus...The wolf pack.
He took a deep breath and pulled something else out of his inventory. It was a dozen or so balloons. Just ordinary, transparent balloons. Filled with... Red liquid.
Sejanus looked at the balloons, his mouth twitching slightly. "What is that?"
"Ketchup." The lone wolf's answer was blunt and straight to the point.
Sejanus froze for a second. "Ketchup?"
"Yes." The lone wolf held one of the balloons up so Sejanus could get a better look at the contents. "Super ketchup. High concentration, ultra-viscous, max staining power. Once it gets on you, it's not washing off."
He paused, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "It's tailor-made for dealing with ...idiots who think being invisible makes them invincible."
Sejanus was dead silent for two seconds. Then, he laughed. It was a laugh mixed with a touch of exasperation, and a heavy dose of... genuine appreciation.
"How the hell is your brain wired, kid?"
The lone wolf didn't answer.
He just turned around and looked at the nineteen personal guards standing behind him.
"Boys!"
His voice crackled over the comms.
"I'm gonna lob these up in the air. Shoot 'em out of the sky!"
"Copy that!"
Nineteen voices barked out in unison.
The lone wolf took a deep breath and chucked the heavy, ketchup-filled balloons high into the air.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!
Nineteen rifles opened up.
All nineteen balloons were obliterated in under three seconds.
Red ketchup exploded in mid-air, turning into a massive shower of tiny droplets that splattered in every direction.
The moment those red drops hung in the air...
A miracle happened.
In spaces that were supposedly completely empty, countless red silhouettes suddenly materialized.
The outlines of the invisible warriors.
Their silver-grey combat suits were completely splattered with thick red ketchup.
They popped into view, one after another, packed tightly together in the hall...
There were still at least over a hundred of them.
Sejanus's eyes swept over the red outlines, a cold, predatory smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.
He raised his hand and chopped it forward.
"Luna Wolves..."
"Open fire!"
The bolters of all ten elite honor guards roared to life in unison.
Dripping with ketchup, the invisible warriors were now nothing but sitting ducks against the mass-reactive rounds.
They were still desperately trying to aim their energy rifles, but the bolters tore through them first.
Their silver-grey combat suits exploded under the sheer kinetic force of the shells, mixing actual blood with the ketchup to paint the floor red.
Screams echoed back and forth.
In less than thirty seconds, all hundred and fifty-plus invisible warriors were reduced to mangled corpses on the floor.
Sejanus didn't stick around to gloat.
He led the delegation and rapidly hauled ass toward the palace doors.
They moved like lightning, blasting out of the great hall before the regular mortal soldiers could even process what just happened.
"Move! Move! Move!"
Sejanus's voice thundered over the vox.
"Fall back to the shuttle!"
"Maintain formation! Bounding overwatch!"
The delegation moved as one.
The Luna Wolf honor guard spearheaded the breakout, their bolters surgically executing any enemy dumb enough to get in their way.
The mortal bodyguards covered the flanks, laying down suppressive fire against the soldiers rushing in from the sides.
And the lone wolf...
The lone wolf took up the rear.
His seemingly ordinary tactical goggles were currently glowing with a faint, ghostly blue light across the lenses.
[Thermal Imaging Goggles (Military Grade)]
Type: Support Gear
Function: Detects heat signatures within a 500-meter radius; penetrates the vast majority of optical camouflage and cloaking devices.
Price: 137,000 Imperial Coins
Note: Invisible? Yeah, right.
Through those goggles, the lone wolf could clearly see it...
Mixed in with the regular grunts swarming them from all sides were at least a few hundred more invisible warriors.
They thought they were still hidden.
They thought their little ambush tactics were still going to work.
But they had no idea that to the lone wolf, they looked like a bunch of streakers running buck naked across a football field...
They couldn't have been more painfully obvious if they tried.
The lone wolf pulled a bolter worth over a hundred thousand coins out of his inventory, aimed it dead at a silhouette trying to sneak up on Sejanus's blind spot, and squeezed the trigger.
BLAM!
The shape dropped instantly.
Sejanus didn't even turn his head, but his smirk deepened.
He was used to it by now.
Used to this kid bailing him out at the most crucial moments and neutralizing threats before he even noticed them.
--
Aboard the Vengeful Spirit, inside the main bridge's strategic command deck.
Tarik Torgaddon was leaning against a control console, staring at a holographic star map out of sheer boredom.
He was the joker of the Mournival.
He normally loved cracking dry jokes, always managing to leave the rigidly serious Luna Wolf officers completely exasperated.
But right now, the smile had entirely vanished from his face.
Because of the message that had just come over the vox...
"Lord Torgaddon!"
"Emergency transmission from Lord Sejanus!"
A communications officer's voice rang out across the command deck.
"They are under heavy attack on the planetary surface! Requesting immediate support!"
Torgaddon's expression instantly darkened.
He strode quickly over to the comms station and intercepted the data feed.
Three seconds later...
His face completely changed.
He spun around and power-walked toward the throne sitting atop the raised command dais.
Abaddon and Aximand were up there debating something, but the moment they saw the look on Torgaddon's face, their brows immediately furrowed.
"Tarik?"
"What's going on?"
Torgaddon ignored them.
He just marched straight up to the throne, slammed his right fist against his chest plate, and spoke in an urgent, grim voice:
"Father!"
"We have a situation!"
Horus leaned back in his throne, his amber eyes narrowing slightly.
"Report."
Torgaddon took a deep breath.
"Sejanus is under attack on the surface!"
"That imposter calling himself the Emperor is rallying a massive army to wipe them out!"
"Sejanus is requesting immediate reinforcements!"
A deathly silence instantly fell over the command deck.
The Imperial officers manning their stations froze in their tracks.
Astropaths snapped their heads up, their faces plastered with sheer disbelief.
The bridge operators exchanged horrified glances, absolute shock swirling in their eyes.
Abaddon's fists slowly clenched tightly at his sides.
Flames of unbridled rage flared to life in Aximand's eyes.
And atop the throne...
The towering, massive figure slowly stood up.
Horus Lupercal.
The Imperial Warmaster.
Primarch of the XVI Legion.
Father of the Luna Wolves.
Right now, his face was completely devoid of emotion.
But his eyes...
Those amber eyes were burning with a rage hot enough to incinerate the entire star system.
He slowly opened his mouth.
His voice was a low, terrifying rumble that carried a suffocating pressure, echoing out across the bridge:
"Torgaddon."
"Muster the First, Second, Fifth, and Tenth Companies."
"Prepare for planetary assault."
Torgaddon smashed his fist against his chest, his voice ringing like striking iron:
"Understood, Father!"
He turned and left instantly.
Abaddon and Aximand exchanged a glance and stepped forward simultaneously.
"Father! We should also—"
"No."
Horus's voice cut them off.
Those amber eyes swept over his two most trusted sons.
"You two will remain with the fleet."
"Bring all ships to full combat readiness."
"If even a single hair on Sejanus's head is harmed..."
He paused, his gaze piercing through the bridge's viewport, locking onto the blue-green planet below.
His voice was as cold as the void itself:
"I want this planet... and every piece of it, utterly destroyed."
--
Planetary Surface, the High City.
Sejanus and his delegation were fighting a frantic retreat back toward their shuttle.
The deafening roar of bolters was non-stop, with lethal energy beams whizzing past their heads.
Human soldiers were pouring in from all directions, their numbers multiplying by the second.
They charged fearlessly, throwing wave after wave of bodies at the Imperial envoys.
But up against ten elite Luna Wolf honor guards, these mortal grunts...
Were nothing but moving target practice.
Sejanus squeezed off rounds while mentally keeping a running clock.
Two minutes left.
In two minutes, they would be safely off this godforsaken rock.
"Brother Sejanus!"
The lone wolf's voice cut through the noise.
"Ambush on your left!"
Sejanus acted purely on instinct, diving into a hard barrel roll to his left.
A split second later, three energy beams shrieked right through the exact spot he had just been standing, blasting three scorched craters into the wall behind him.
Sejanus popped back up to his feet, his bolter already snapping onto the target zone.
Thanks to the ketchup the lone wolf had scattered earlier, he could clearly see it...
Three invisible warriors were huddled there, frantically trying to reload.
"Gotcha."
A lethal, icy smirk tugged at Sejanus's lips.
He squeezed the trigger.
Three mass-reactive rounds, three pink mists.
Clean, efficient, with zero wasted motion.
The lone wolf watched him, silently giving the guy a massive mental thumbs-up.
Big bro is a total badass.
Those reflexes, that accuracy...
He's definitely earned his spot on the Mournival.
In the distance, the outline of their shuttle was already clearly visible.
Sejanus took a deep breath and barked into the vox:
"Everyone! Push it to maximum speed!"
"The second we breach that shuttle..."
"...we are safely off this planet!"
--
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