Chapter 26: Monk Seyed

After receiving the warning from Company Sergeant Lysander, Soshyan immediately decided to return to the Chapter's homeworld, the Obsidian Fortress on Obostria.

Other Chapters expressed their support for his decision and informed Soshyan that, upon his departure, each Chapter would select twelve warriors to serve as guardians of the monument. This ritual would continue until their respective Chapters had no more guardians to send.

Soshyan expressed his gratitude for their gesture, and subsequently, in his capacity as the new Chapter Master, he received the power armor and gene-seed recovered from the battlefield by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Although he received only one hundred sets of partially assembled power armor, twenty-seven viable gene-seed samples, and a few damaged suits of Terminator armor, he could only console himself with the thought that something was better than nothing.

Because the Chapter's warships had been completely annihilated during the assault, Soshyan chose to travel back to the homeworld aboard the *Shield of Courage*.

It was not an excessively long journey, and the transit through the Warp was smooth. During the voyage, Soshyan spent most of his time seeking guidance and learning from Lysander.

He was still too young and had received no formal training or cultivation for the role of Chapter Master; he knew almost nothing about how to manage and organize a Chapter.

As the longest-serving Company Sergeant of the Imperial Fists since the Horus Heresy, Lysander possessed immense experience in both combat and leadership.

Facing Soshyan's confusion, Lysander worked tirelessly to instill in him the duties and responsibilities of an officer. The Imperial Fists were a Legion that placed great emphasis on obedience and execution, and they possessed a very stubborn streak in their leadership style.

Soshyan absorbed the knowledge and philosophies Lysander taught him as much as possible, but he often felt that certain concepts were fundamentally at odds with his own thoughts. Though he tried his hardest to accept them, doubts and skepticism would inevitably arise.

Overall, he constantly felt a sense of being out of place within the Imperial Fists—a very strange sensation.

After a week of Warp travel, the *Shield of Courage* exited realspace and arrived in the orbit of the Star Knight Chapter's homeworld.

One could imagine the expressions of astonishment on the faces of the guards and neophytes inside when Soshyan appeared alone before the gates of the Monastery Fortress.

During this operation, the Chapter had deployed in its entirety, leaving only thirty-three newly augmented neophytes and the veteran Losa, who was responsible for managing them, within the Monastery Fortress.

Since the Chapter had only recently paid its tithe and had not yet recruited new neophytes, there were only these few souls remaining.

When Soshyan entered the fortress and informed everyone of the outcome of that brutal campaign, the reaction was initially shock, followed by disbelief; some even thought Soshyan was a lying deserter. It was not until Lysander appeared that everyone realized Soshyan was telling the truth.

The Star Knight Chapter had, in effect, been destroyed.

The emotions of the neophytes shifted instantly from shock to grief, then to confusion, and finally to despair. Everything they had once known had been shattered.

When Soshyan hinted that the Monastery Fortress might be taken over by another Chapter, they lost even the capacity for despair—for despair itself is a manifestation of hope.

As the new Chapter Master, Soshyan immediately delivered a brief speech to the neophytes present.

"I participated in that war personally. Perhaps some of you think I am a coward, a deserter who should have died alongside my battle brothers. Yes, I did think so myself."

Soshyan pointed to the deep scar on his forehead.

"Death is not difficult, but is that not merely another form of escape? Chapter Master Amurad entrusted this Chapter to me. As long as I draw breath, I will not let this Chapter perish. That is my oath."

Lysander watched Soshyan, observing that these young men possessed a very peculiar temperament. In truth, he was not optimistic about the reconstruction of the Star Knights, for their numbers were simply too low.

Barring a miracle, the Chapter would likely vanish entirely within a century.

Yet, Soshyan's appearance gave him a glimmer of hope. This man... might actually be able to do it.

"Yes, we will likely be left with nothing, but we will not bury ourselves in past failures! If staying here only serves to drown us in sorrow, then I would rather leave! The Star Knights were born in the void, and to the void they shall return! Though we are all neophytes, we are by no means flowers in a greenhouse! We can just as well achieve the great deeds of our predecessors! As long as breath remains, the Chapter endures!"

"As long as breath remains, the Chapter endures!"

"Excellent! That is the spirit of Dorn's progeny!"

Lysander clapped his hands forcefully and spoke loudly

"To support your reconstruction, I shall, in the name of my Chapter Master, gift your Chapter two Land Raiders and a supply of weapons and ammunition."

"Thank you deeply!"

Soshyan gripped Lysander's hand tightly and spoke from the heart.

"No matter what circumstances we face, we will remember our oaths of loyalty. Should the need arise, we will answer the call."

"I will remember your oath. I have duties to attend to, so our business ends here. If fate allows, we shall meet again, Chapter Master Soshyan."

"Until we meet again, Company Sergeant Lysander. By the Primarch, for his glory and the glory of the Emperor!"

"By the Primarch, for his glory and the glory of the Emperor!"

After seeing off the Imperial Fists, Soshyan had the Chapter serfs quickly pack up their belongings, including everything in the stores that could be crated. He also had the thirty-three neophytes select their own power armor—under normal circumstances, they should have entered the neophyte training program first, but given the lack of manpower, they had to be thrown into the deep end.

Once the basic arrangements were made, Soshyan asked Losa to awaken the Dreadnought Mentor, Brother Caed, who was stationed in the fortress. However, Losa informed him that Brother Caed had awakened automatically several days ago and had remained in the subterranean chamber accessible only to the Chapter Master.

After dismissing Losa, Soshyan walked along a long corridor that descended into the deeper reaches beneath the Monastery Fortress.

There were no battle brothers standing guard along the way, as this area was restricted to the Chapter Master alone. As he walked, Soshyan noticed that the walls, ceilings, and marble floors of the corridor were covered in litanies.

It was like a funerary path.

But the Chapter's crypt was not here.

When Soshyan reached the end, he found a closed gate. He removed his iron circlet and pressed it into a recess in the gate, and the long-sealed doors slowly creaked open.

Upon entering, Soshyan found that the circular room resembled an archive, with a massive block of granite in the center, though its shape did not particularly resemble an altar.

The room was pitch black. Without his helmet, Soshyan could only vaguely discern that the rest of the walls surrounding the room were composed of rows of shrines reaching up to a ceiling over ten meters high, with many parchment scrolls tucked inside the shrines.

He suddenly thought that this might be the Chapter's archive, containing the long history of the Chapter.

With this thought, he walked toward one of the side walls, intending to retrieve a scroll to investigate.

"Who is there!?"

Just as he reached out, a piercing screech of metal scraping against marble echoed through the darkness, followed by a loud boom as the doors slammed shut.

Soshyan spun around instantly, drawing his bolt pistol and aiming it into the black void.

"Come out."

Before his words had even faded, there was the heavy sound of mechanical locomotion. As a rush of air hit Soshyan's face, he finally realized that a massive entity was approaching him.

Thick legs, an angular torso, and a pair of massive iron fists mounted on mechanical arms—the Sacred Dreadnought, Brother Caed, appeared in his vision with heavy, thudding steps. Before this moment, Soshyan had not even sensed his presence.

When an Astartes suffers irreversible injury, he has two choices: to accept death peacefully, or to continue serving the Emperor in another form.

The Dreadnought armor is that second choice.

Inside the massive metal shell was a warrior with mangled limbs and atrophied muscles, living within the amniotic fluid of an iron sarcophagus. Yet, aided by powerful mechanical drives, he remained a lethal killer on the battlefield.

Generally, Dreadnoughts were the veterans who had served the longest in the Chapter. Therefore, aside from participating in combat at critical moments, their other duty was to guide the younger generations with their experience and recount the Chapter's history.

Brother Caed was the most respected mentor of the Star Knight Chapter; it was said he was among the first generation of Star Knights to serve, with an age exceeding three thousand years.

Soshyan had received much guidance from him during his neophyte stage, and the two were not strangers.

"Brother Caed?"

Soshyan let out a surprised exclamation and lowered his weapon.

"Why did you not say anything? I thought—"

"I have already learned everything."

Brother Caed's words caused Soshyan to hang his head in shame.

"Everyone—"

"Amurad succeeded after all."

Brother Caed walked up to Soshyan and extended an arm.

"He found that thing, didn't he?"

Soshyan froze for a few seconds, then reached into his pack and pulled out the xenos artifact known as the Red Amulet, placing it into Brother Caed's hand.

"As I thought..."

The Dreadnought's chassis trembled for a moment before he handed the Red Amulet back to Soshyan.

"With this, the most critical step has been achieved."

"What critical step? Why would the Chapter Master risk his life for this thing, and also—"

Soshyan, already brimming with questions, threw out a dozen inquiries in rapid succession, but Brother Caed did not answer him immediately. Instead, he walked to the granite block in the center, inserted an arm into it, and rotated it once.

"Your arrival was predestined."

Brother Caed's raspy voice projected through the vox-grille.

"Embrace your destiny!"

The granite split open like a blooming flower, and the surrounding braziers ignited one after another. From the center of the rock, something began to rise slowly.

Looking at the object, Soshyan's expression shifted from confusion to shock, and finally to terror.

Pale-faced and mouth agape, he stumbled backward several steps, even knocking over a burning brazier. Fuel spilled onto the floor, instantly bathing the entire chamber in a crimson glow.

Under the light of the flames, a dark teal banner stood before Soshyan. On the banner, an ancient Terran numeral, appearing as if branded by fire, glowed brilliantly—

【Ⅺ】