Warhammer, I promise I am loyal!!

A clean, precise elbow strike was as artistic as the laser gun in her hand that seemed to have eyes of its own, hitting its mark with perfect accuracy.

Leon glanced at the laser gun in his own hand, now out of energy after failing to even graze the enemy, and couldn't help but sink into deep contemplation.

Clearly, the marksmanship and combat skills of this female warrior from thousands of years ago were at a level he could never hope to reach in his lifetime.

"It's time to leave, Mireille."

The Aurellian family estate had naturally become a focal point for both sides in this struggle.

Precisely because of this, the elders had deployed the largest number of forces here after securing Angiro.

Looking at the land before them, nearly flattened by artillery fire, with the broken Gothic walls around them and the withered yellow weeds underfoot, the air carried a faint, bittersweet melancholy.

Leon turned to the pale-faced young girl clutching an exquisite nobleman's pistol and said, "Can you find the keys to the vehicle?"

Noticing Mireille's trembling hands as she searched her coat for the keys, Leon sighed and asked the nearby Ecclesiarchy nun, "Do you know how to drive?"

The nun, Brino, was staring at a luxurious airship in the courtyard, her gaze fixated especially on the prominent Ecclesiarchy symbol at its front, which filled her with awe and excitement.

As she imagined herself soaring through the skies in the airship once more, spreading the Emperor's blessings after millennia, Leon's voice brought her back to reality.

Although puzzled, Brino, driven by her faith in the Emperor, refrained from asking too many questions.

Of course, Leon didn't want to explain to this nun—who had lived during one of the rare prosperous periods of the Imperium after the Horus Heresy—what the Imperium had endured over the past few millennia.

Events had led to an Imperium where even mobilizing the navy to quell a rebellion required generations of deliberation and the assessment of whether the tithe would be paid.

With the Imperium so weakened, most planetary governors naturally ruled like petty warlords.

A fully functional industrial system was a rarity. On Joachim, countless small, black-market workshops ran rampant under noble lords, meaning few truly held air superiority.

If Leon wanted to try becoming the new "indestructible champion," he could always attempt to pilot an airship across thousands of kilometers of rebel-controlled territory to reach his nominal fiefdom.

He might even create another legend.

"Well, I did serve the Imperium as a soldier for over a century. A mere vehicle should be…"

But when she saw the olive-green Taurox APC, heavily modified beyond recognition, even Brino took a moment to figure out how to operate this apparently illegal contraption, unfit by both Imperial and Astra Militarum standards.

To bypass the Aurellian family's prohibitions, the original rapid-fire cannons on either side of the vehicle had been removed and replaced with smaller, more importantly legal, automatic machine guns.

In addition to its four tracks granting powerful off-road capability, two jet-powered turbines, connected to an enhanced engine, had been added beneath it.

The vehicle's interior was outfitted with a life-support system salvaged from a decommissioned landing craft, ensuring its passengers could survive even in the vacuum of space.

"Interesting. This is much more thrilling than the vehicles we used back when I followed the Black Templar warriors to hunt down the remnants of rebellious governors!"

Yes, thrilling indeed—but costly.

After all, the goods sold by rogue traders didn't come cheap.

For these traders, no one knew when they might be swallowed by the Warp. These "last entrepreneurial spirits of the Imperium" had no qualms about scamming their clients before vanishing with a heap of debt.

Of course, this applied only to those who lacked honor and stumbled into the rogue trader position by chance.

Most rogue trader dynasties took great care of their reputations and credibility—at least, as long as they didn't feel death breathing down their necks.

Watching the nun, her eyes glowing as she pushed the engine's power to its limit, racing down the fast lane built by the Aurellian family, Leon busied himself calming Mireille beside him.

He urged her to quickly contact her uncles to send reinforcements from the north, all while internally grumbling.

"Where on Terra did Brino learn to drive?"

Mireille finally dealt with the signals emitted by the mobile cities launched by the northern barbarians.

With that done, she had a moment to glance at the nun, who was humming a tune, her expression joyful as she drove.

Her long, smooth white hair flowed down her shoulders, tied simply with a red ribbon like snow.

Her oversized white robes, adorned with dense golden script praising the Emperor, resembled a massive prayer scroll.

Her profile was exquisite and angelic, as if straight out of legend, and her forehead bore a martyr's vow inscribed in golden lacquer made from skull bone, giving her an air of unapproachable sanctity.

What a beautiful person!

Mireille silently admired her but dared not underestimate this nun. Her gaze toward Brino was full of respect.

During their journey through the capital's defensive perimeter, Mireille had witnessed firsthand how the nun had used her superior combat skills to eliminate hundreds without taking a single hit, leading the two of them out of the city.

She was the very embodiment of Mireille's dream of an ideal woman.

Mireille chose to ignore the nun's unrestrained habits, such as slamming her foot repeatedly on the accelerator as though trying to break through its limits or the unusual excitement in her glowing eyes as the scenery sped by.

Tentatively, Mireille asked, "Brino, where are you from?"

Brino didn't immediately answer.

She glanced at Leon, who nodded in approval, before appearing lost in thought.

"Home? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure—"

Brino strained to recall something she had never truly considered in her life of battles, hopes, and salvation.

Where did she come from?

As part of the first—and perhaps last—resurgence after the Horus Heresy,

The freshly recovered Imperium of Terra had exerted an unprecedented level of control over its territories, its influence reaching unimaginable distances compared to the present Imperium.

Countless fleets and billions of soldiers had been stationed in the most remote frontier regions.

This had sown the seeds for the Beast Wars, a conflict that nearly destroyed Terra.

On the other hand, however,

The prolonged guarding and conquering made it difficult for Brino, who had started her life just trying to make ends meet, to remember her mother world.

The homeland she had forgotten for so many years.

For the first fifty years of her life, she had drifted like a ship without a navigator, carried by the Warp storms.

But in the end, she saw the light of salvation.

The Emperor reached out His hand to her.

He guided her step by step into the sacred land.

"San Leor—"

She pushed a titanium-alloy lever on her left, slowing the massive vehicle to a halt before a mountain road clearly blocked by a man-made stone barrier.

Her countless battles had honed her senses. She could feel the malice emanating from the surrounding ambush.

Fortunately, her loyal boltgun remained at her side, reflecting the bloodthirsty light of gold and crimson paint symbolizing honor and glory under the dashboard's flickering lights.

"That is my 'home.'"

Gripping her boltgun, she squinted, scanning every potential hiding spot outside the window, and answered.

.....

📢30 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢

For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)

12. You Really Take Any Job!

13. The Rebels Are Too Cunning!

14. The Sisters.

15. Before the Battle.

16. Foundation.