Steel & Oil: Warhammer 32K

Kurande stared fixedly at the star chart, Lin's words drawing out the possibility he had least wanted to contemplate — yet feared the most.

And Lin's words continued.

"Whatever else may be said, the eternal mission of the Imperial Fists is to defend Terra. Whether it was the Siege of Terra a thousand years ago, or the greenskin invasion before us now — the High Lords will bleed under the orks' assault, yes. But that will not change the Imperial Fists' sacred duty to defend Terra, no matter how many parasites like the High Lords happen to be sitting on it."

"The greenskins are pressing on the gateway to the Sol System as we speak. To defend Terra under these circumstances, we will inevitably have to deal with the High Lords. Yet we know nothing of the current political landscape, nor of the Chapter's present order of battle. The responsibility of defending Terra is not something we — who have only just returned from the Warp — can shoulder alone."

"The only person capable of bearing that responsibility is you, Captain Kurande. You, and no one else, are the best choice for Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists right now."

Lin's words struck Kurande like a hammer blow to the chest. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, and after a long silence, slowly exhaled.

"You are right, Lin — Magos." He conceded in a low voice. "I let my rage blind me. I only wanted to restore the Imperial Fists' former glory under your guidance, and forgot that our mission to defend Terra stands above all pride and all honour."

"I thank you, Lin — Magos. It is you who helped me reclaim my reason. I begin to understand why Castellan Evander entrusted command of this Imperial Fists company to you."

"Think nothing of it," Lin said, accepting Kurande's sincere gratitude with a smile. "At this rate, you may end up understanding him better than he understands himself."

"...?"

Kurande was momentarily puzzled, but the resolve now hardening within him drove him to act quickly against the greenskin threat. He let the remark pass without pressing further, and instead announced to all present:

"I will assume the acting position of Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, until the greenskin threat to Terra has been eliminated. Until that day, I ask that all of you work alongside me, united in purpose, to face the greenskin menace!"

Admir and the rest of his contingent nodded their approval without hesitation, and the matter was finally turned over.

Watching events fall back on track, Lin allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief.

He had identified the era from the moment Kurande first spoke. As one of the few major events between the Great Heresy and the "ambitious Guilliman" Kurande had mentioned launching the Indomitus Crusade, the opening act of the War of the Beast had begun precisely with the near-annihilation of the Imperial Fists by the Battle Moon's assault.

Only, in the original timeline, the Imperial Fists should have had exactly one survivor: Kurande, and Kurande alone.

But thanks to Lin's meddling, they had actually dug up from the Imperial Fists' mass grave a small band of survivors — Kurande included.

God help him. All Lin had originally wanted was to repaint the power armour on his Space Marines yellow, pass his men off as Imperial Fists, and exploit the brief window of time before the surrounding systems learned the Imperial Fists were nearly wiped out — trading on the Chapter's name to go around the neighbourhood scrounging up some necessary supplies.

After all, after the Second Legion had vanished from history, both the Seventh Legion's Imperial Fists and the Thirteenth Legion's Ultramarines had seen suspiciously inflated numbers. By any historical reckoning, these warriors of Second Legion blood were half-blooded kin to the Imperial Fists anyway. Borrowing a few supplies in your stepfather's name — how could that not be perfectly "principled and well-reasoned"?

Who could argue it wasn't a "righteous cause"?

But "passing as Imperial Fists" had never been meant to include blundering directly into the real thing.

Especially not when the real thing wanted to hand them the Chapter Master's position on a silver platter.

That was one pot he absolutely could not take. Even if they'd now earned the complete trust of Kurande and the surviving Imperial Fists warriors, the moment they sat down aboard the Shanzheng, there was no telling who might spot the inconsistencies. He had too few people for the shifting tides of Terra's political arena to be anything but fatal.

But as long as they stayed out of the spotlight, there was plenty of room to manoeuvre.

After much persuasion, Lin had at last managed to steer Kurande into accepting the role of Chapter Master.

With Kurande standing at the front, and Lin leading Admir's company — veterans whom Kurande held in deep respect — there would surely be far greater opportunities than the original plan of "forage for supplies and then drag these old soldiers around grave-robbing."

What he was after was knowledge. Travelling alongside the Imperial Fists was riskier, yes — but the returns were genuinely excellent.

Still, every step would have to be taken with care. The War of the Beast, unlike the Horus Heresy or the Indomitus Crusade, had never been written about in any detail. Historical records from this period were vague and patchy, and whatever intelligence advantage Lin held would count for very little here.

Any plan would have to rely largely on situational judgement.

But fortune favoured the bold — and just as he had nudged the Chapter Master's position back onto Kurande's shoulders moments ago, Lin had confidence in his ability to keep his grip on things.

And just as Lin was rapidly constructing a new plan in his mind, Kurande too settled swiftly into the identity of Chapter Master.

He studied the star chart with a furrowed brow, clearly calculating some form of defensive strategy, and before long turned to Lin with a question:

"Lin — Magos Biologis — I can tell you know the greenskin xenos well. In your assessment, what approach will the greenskins take to advance on Terra?"

"The greenskins? They are creatures that know nothing but war. They will smash through everything in their path until something smashes them back — which means their pace of advance will not be fast."

Lin marked the systems along the Warp transit corridor one by one. From the Hive World Nding, to Edorika — homeworld of the Exemplary Fists Chapter — and finally, he placed a prominent marker on Port Sanctus, near Terra. It was one of the most critical gateways into the Sol System, home to many of the Imperial Navy's ports and shipyards.

"Starting from Nding, not a single world will be spared from the Battle Moon's advance. I will speak plainly: if even the Imperial Fists, the guardians of Terra, were caught entirely off guard, then none of these worlds will be any better prepared to face the orks. They will be crushed directly, and without effort. If there is any hope of mounting a defence, our only chance lies at Port Sanctus."

Kurande's gaze followed Lin's indication to Port Sanctus. That Lin knew of Port Sanctus did not surprise him — it had been a major Imperial Navy fortress world since the Great Crusade. And he agreed with Lin's assessment:

"Correct. Port Sanctus. Only there could a force large enough to oppose the orks be mustered, even on short notice..."

"But we should not go directly to Port Sanctus. I don't know the precise state of affairs there, but I believe that the size of your fist is the only eternal truth that matters. With barely twenty-odd Astartes between us, we'd barely make a ripple in the chaos of the embattled Imperium. Even if we reached Port Sanctus, we would have no leverage to lead the defence against the greenskins."

"So this is my target."

Lin tapped the star chart and marked a specific world — Forge World Cath Maximus.

The planet did not lie along the Battle Moon's projected route. Kurande studied it for a moment, then looked to Lin for explanation.

"We need the resources from this Forge World to restore our combat strength. You've seen the state of our ship — we have many wounded aboard. But if we can obtain the enhanced organs cultivated on a Forge World, they will once again become exceptional warriors in short order."

"With over a hundred Astartes marching on Port Sanctus, we can at least play a far more meaningful role in its defence. A hundred Astartes is still a drop in the ocean against the full greenskin horde — but when it matters, it is also a force capable of seizing military command of Port Sanctus itself."

Kurande scrutinised Forge World Cath Maximus carefully. He found Lin's reasoning sound — but more importantly, this Forge World lay very close to the Phal System.

That was a system of great significance to all sons of Dorn. It was bound up in an ancient oath, one that had been sworn by Dorn himself and encompassed every successor Chapter of the Imperial Fists.

"Then it is decided," he declared. "But how are we to reach Cath Maximus? Aboard this ship alone, with no Navigator?"

Within the light of the Astronomican, a ship without a Navigator was not incapable of Warp travel — it simply had to follow familiar Warp routes.

Clearly no one present knew the route to Cath Maximus. Even though the Forge World was close, the Warp had a way of turning an unknown route into an infinite gulf between two points separated by inches on a map.

But Lin, who knew the Adeptus Mechanicus and their habits inside and out, was utterly unruffled.

"No need to rush. Let's continue searching the surface of Jingang for any other survivors first," he said, completely unconcerned about finding a way forward. "As for the Forge World..."

"Someone will guide us there when the time comes. I guarantee it."

____

________________________________________

If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)

👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉