The war, at last, came to a close.
Needless to say, the Gardinerian resistance forces were crushed.
Before Arcur could destroy the shield generator and detonate Gardiner's command and control center, Ferris and her Iron Hands had already swept away all remaining resistance outside the city.
At the same time, because the orbital ring's command center was detonated, the unguided ring was torn apart by the combined fleet's artillery and ramming prows, unable to pose any threat to the surface.
And in the end, with Kasjia's ever-growing psionic flame, the Sapphire King that had been entwined around Ferris had no choice but to flee into the Warp, and was never heard from again.
Even the Sword Saint Arcur was saved from the brink of death by the gradually awakening psionic power of Kasjia.
Everything had gone smoothly.
Except—
"Cicero and his honor guard... they didn't make it back alive."
Kasjia received the report from the Ultramarines.
When he had been hesitating, it was Cicero who had persuaded him and had taken the initiative to take on the task of breaking through the enemy's remaining defensive line.
Unfortunately, by the time Kasjia had broken through the Gardinerian's defensive line and charged into the enemy's formation, he and his Ultramarines, who had embraced a death wish, had fallen at the last moment of the war.
Perhaps it would not have been difficult for him to survive.
Even with Guilliman's help, as a Chapter Master, he could have lived to rebuild the 413th Expeditionary Fleet.
Failure was a common occurrence in the crusade.
In the struggles against various xenos and human interstellar empires, no commander could boast of being victorious in every battle.
But his honor as an Ultramarine had made him choose to give up everything and go to his death willingly.
The Ultramarine who had delivered the report to him, after lightly tapping his chest twice with his hand, silently walked away into the distance.
"Warriors of the Iron Hands, I am unharmed."
Seeing that Ferris had eliminated the influence of the evil sorcery with the joint efforts of Amal and Kasjia, the Iron Hands once again burst into a strong cheer.
In their understanding, the Iron Mother had just been controlled by the damned Gardinerians with evil sorcery.
But fortunately, with the help of the Thousand Sons Librarian, and with the assistance of the commander of the Emperor's Children, they had successfully repelled the last counterattack of the Gardinerians.
Now, it was time to cleanse this bunch of scum.
An excited war cry once again erupted from the Iron Hands.
In the Tenth Legion, the weak did not even have the qualification to live a wretched life!
Not to mention this bunch of fools from Gardiner who had no self-awareness!
In the past, if this group of weaklings had dared to provoke Ferris's authority time and time again, she would absolutely not have allowed them to have a chance to live.
Ferris looked at the terrified eyes of the Gardinerian civilians and fell silent.
"The dust has settled."
She felt that Arcur's "death" had affected her to a certain extent.
If only the weak would die, then what was Arcur, who had sacrificed her life for them?
"The war is over. Use the broadcast system to notify them to get ready."
The war was over!
Ferris had spared them!
Panic instantly turned into a crazy, tsunami-like celebration and carnival, boiling and surging in the crowd.
"What? You're saying Arcur didn't die?!"
"She didn't die?!"
The Fist of Iron, The Forge.
Ferris, sitting alone on the iron throne, asked Kasjia in an incredulous tone.
But how was this possible!?
How could a human possibly survive the impact of a psionic reactor explosion?
"Yes, I saved her."
Kasjia nodded.
"After my psionic awakening, I increasingly feel that the flame in my hand can offset the threat of psionic power."
"And then, with the help of the Ultramarines, after I had broken through the heavy siege, I successfully offset the impact from the psionic power."
"It's that simple...?"
Ferris still maintained a skeptical attitude towards Kasjia's statement.
After all, to be able to survive the explosion of a reactor that countless heavy firepower weapons of the Iron Hands could not overload, with just the psionic flame in his hand...
...Kasjia's own strength might be more terrifying than anyone had imagined.
But it was no big deal.
It's just magic immunity!
Titus did it too.
He even did it twice.
As a Son of the Emperor, it was no big deal for Kasjia to be able to withstand a reactor.
"In that case, then let's talk about something more crucial."
At this time, the main planet battle of Gardiner had just ended, and Kasjia had proposed to talk with Ferris alone, not even leaving the two Terminator personal guards beside him.
Only the Thousand Sons Librarian, Amal, could participate in their discussion.
This would have been absolutely not allowed in the mama's boy-filled Iron Hands Chapter.
But given that Kasjia had just recently thwarted the Gardinerians' assassination, and had saved Ferris at a critical moment on the final main battlefield...
...with his numerous merits, and with Ferris overriding all objections, the two had arranged for this detailed discussion in the forge.
"So, what kind of monster was that?"
Ferris felt a little terrified about the situation that had just occurred.
Her memory of her own thinking in the past few days was particularly clear.
And it was precisely because her memory was clear that she felt an inexplicable fear of her subtly changing thoughts.
She clearly knew that it would not be her thoughts, but at that time, she had not felt any abnormality at all. It was only after everything was over that she became more and more afraid in her reflection.
Now, the modification of the Iron Hands had once again been forbidden by Ferris.
Although there was a wail of mourning within the Iron Hands, this could not hinder her determination.
"This is the influence of the Warp creatures you mentioned?"
"Is it the same kind of creature we encountered on the future space hulk?"
"That's right."
"The reason the Emperor doesn't want us to conduct too much research on psionics... is precisely because he is afraid that we will be influenced by it in a subtle way."
As he spoke, Kasjia glanced at the Thousand Sons Librarian at the side.
The waters of the Warp run deep.
It's not something that guys like us, with no counter-strategies, can meddle in.
"Then what should we do now? What if these things affect us again..."
Ferris's voice grew smaller and smaller.
Thinking that the legion would become the kind of half-human, half-ghost appearance on the space hulk in the future, she felt a strong sense of lingering fear.
"Apart from your flame, is there any other way to dispel these damn things?"
"That is the very problem that is giving me a headache," Kasjia replied helplessly.
He of course wanted to warn the Primarchs about the influence from the Warp.
But when it came to daemons, without a counter-strategy, the more you say, the more you're wrong.
Currently, the Imperium of Man still followed the Imperial Truth, and Ferris was the Primarch closest to the Mechanicum.
But the Omnissiah couldn't protect people.
In this universe, apart from him being able to burn daemons a little with fire, the only other way to exorcise them was really to rely on faith in Old Man Gold.
So, what should Kasjia do now?
Give her a copy of the Lectitio Divinitatus?
Going in circles, it seemed Kasjia always ended up back in Lorgar's position.
(Lorgar hasn't returned yet.)
What a headache.
"For now, it seems that apart from the psionic flame in my hand, there really is no better way to deal with these guys."
"However, to identify the influence of Warp creatures, I suggest that we can use Librarians to identify them."
As he spoke, Kasjia looked at Amal at the side, and the latter nodded at him.
"Although it may not be possible to banish them back to the Warp, once a problem is discovered, you can report to me in time."
Currently, the veil between the Warp and the real world was still very thick. Kasjia was not worried that the daemons would directly kill their way into the real world.
And without a host and with the victim not resisting, the exorcism of the flame in Kasjia's hand still had a strong special effect.
The Grey Knights were just little Kasjias.
"Alright."
"Amal, I plan to transfer a small number of Thousand Sons Librarians from the 413th Expeditionary Fleet to the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet. Are you willing to accept this arrangement?"
"It would be my honor, my lord."
"By the way, Amal, I must state one more thing: without my protection, you must never conduct any more research on Warp creatures. This is the bottom line I'm giving you."
"You are our window for monitoring Warp creatures. If something happens to you, the entire legion is done for."
To this, Amal also smiled.
"Don't worry, Commander. Even the great Primarchs can be influenced by them. I naturally hold them in awe."
"That's good."
Seeing this, Kasjia breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, with the protection of the Thousand Sons Librarians, the difficulty for the daemon to seduce Ferris again would be greatly increased.
The Gardiner campaign was over.
After Ferris had completed the conquest of the main planet's capital fortress, the remaining few planets in the system were also crushed and brought into the fold by Ferris's iron flood with overwhelming force.
Thanks to the precise calculations of the Iron Hands Primarch.
Although her bombardment and ground firepower had destroyed the enemy's resistance, it had also largely preserved the ancient industrial system on Gardiner.
As for how to reconstruct and repair these industrial systems, how to let the Gardinerians who had just suffered a tragic war return to normal production and life, and at the same time, contribute to the Great Crusade...
Ferris could of course plan it with her precise calculations.
However, there was now a more skilled Primarch who was about to take over this matter for him.
"Welcome, Roboute Guilliman."
The Primarch of the Ultramarines, of the Twelfth Expeditionary Fleet, Roboute Guilliman, had rushed to the Gardiner system at full speed after receiving Cicero's distress signal.
But it was clear that he was always a step behind in arriving at the battlefield.
By the time the Macragge's Honour had completed its Warp jump, the entire Gardiner system had already been brought into the fold by Ferris.
"In the time it took you to arrive, our 52nd Expeditionary Fleet has already eliminated all the resistance forces in the Gardiner system."
As for now, Guilliman and his adjutant, Aeonid Thiel, had boarded the Iron Hands' warship, the Fist of Iron.
"Now all that's left is to complete the reconstruction work, and this planet with its ancient craftsmanship from the Dark Age of Technology can be put back into the Great Crusade."
"The policy recommendations for the reconstruction and the battle reports of both sides in the campaign have all been sent to the desk of your flagship. You can read them in your spare time."
"Alright. On behalf of the Ultramarines, I thank the Iron Hands for their assistance."
A smile curved on Guilliman's lips.
Communicating with a person like Big Sister Fei, who was dominated by rational thinking, was truly a very fast and pleasant thing.
"In that case, Iron Hand, may I ask where my Chapter Master is now? Why hasn't he come to report to me?"
"The funeral of the Ultramarines Chapter Master Cicero will be held in the future."
Guilliman was, not surprisingly, furious.
Ferris had stripped the other of his command in front of everyone and had placed him in the vanguard in the final battle, basically declaring Cicero's death.
Although this was requested by Cicero himself, and he had also died on the glorious path of a charge.
Guilliman was not willing to accept this explanation.
But in the end, he still chose to attend.
He, wearing a white robe over his exquisite blue armor, looked like a Greco-Roman hero as he attended the funeral of one of his proud sons.
The funeral was solemn and respectful.
The Tenth Legion was arranged in neat, ten-by-ten, hundred-man squares. Every warrior was dressed in the finest armor.
Their black iron power armor was polished to a mirror-like shine, reflecting a black light.
After Ferris had ordered that there would be no more unauthorized modifications within the legion, although the Iron Hands could not get their hands back, they had stopped there.
Under the compromise between the Primarch and the legionaries, it was finally stipulated that only the arms could be replaced with iron hands, like the Primarch, and everything else would remain unchanged.
They were arranged neatly and uniformly, and they all bowed their heads together to pray for the brave soldiers who had died in battle.
"Each of these warriors contains astonishing power... truly worthy of being the Iron Hands."
Thiel, following behind Guilliman, couldn't help but praise.
As one of the few Ultramarines in the legion who possessed flexible tactical thinking, Thiel, who should have been sent to a penal battalion, was highly valued by Guilliman and was kept by his side.
And his helmet was therefore painted red.
Red-helmed Thiel, that was his name.
"Wait, that is—"
Guilliman followed Thiel's confused pointing and saw a tall Space Marine in magnificent and exquisite purple-and-gold power armor, standing at the head of the Emperor's Children legion, bowing his head in prayer.
Logically, there were many such warriors in the legion, and they would not normally attract his attention.
But surprisingly, even though he was a commander of the Emperor's Children, his helmet was, like Thiel's, painted a bright red.
"He is the First Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children."
Guilliman recalled the characteristics of this Space Marine who had also been invited to the Emperor's banquet for some unknown reason.
He seemed to eat a lot.
And that's it.
"He is a commander of the Emperor's Children... but why is his helmet painted red?"
Aeonid Thiel, on this day, had discovered a guy whose helmet was even redder than his.
....
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