In the World of Sword and Magic as Space Marine

Chapter 96: Grey, Gold, and Red Dots

"It's been almost a month since we embarked on our Peacekeeping. Glad to see everyone is safe and sound to meet once again." William welcomed all of his company commanders, senior Astra Militarum officers, and representatives of the Sisters of Battle with a cup of wine in his hand. Everyone cheers and raises their cups and drinks with a sense of brotherhood and accomplishment as now, there is only one city before claiming victory.

"Chapter Master, aren't you forgetting the Baneblade in the room?" Captain Sariel of the 3rd company spoke gently and immediately everyone's heads turn on opposite sides of the table, giving full attention to the 6'5 feet tall, platinum-haired woman equipped with the golden armor of the Living Saint.

"I knew something was off about Lady Beckett," Former Wolf Seer, Captain Vaskell of the 5th company spoke astoundingly as if he just realized who the Living Saint was.

"I didn't expect to see the Living Sain once more. It is truly a blessing from the Emperor and that he is watching over us even who are stranded from his light." Lord Creed spoke after pouring another glass of wine into his cup.

Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed of Cadia and supreme commander of the Cadia might be the only man to survive after saving the Living Saint's life from Abaddon the Despoiler's daemon sword. His price for saving Saint Celestine was the loss of his one arm but thanks to his sacrifice, Celestinian Crusade was later embarked resulting in the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman.

"And I thought Sisters of Battle got new hair color added to their doctrine." Captain of the 2nd company (Former Imperial Fists) said to himself after seeing one of the senior Sisters of Battle with different hair colors.

'Did Lady Beckett add some muscle and get a little taller?' Lord Commissar Ciaphas Cain thought to himself. He didn't expect to see Emperor's miracle tonight but considering who they are up against the next day, he is just glad that Living Saint is with them.

William made a loud cough to get everyone's attention. Because Rana's army was the last group to arrive, William didn't have time to brief everyone but considering the mood in the room, everyone is accepting it rather well.

"Lady Rana Bassilo Beckett, it looks like everyone is more interested in your transition to Sainthood than tomorrow's campaign," William said to Rana and winked to signal to her that she need to explain the whole thing in front of everyone including himself. Realizing that Rana has to go through this she places her wine cup down and clears her throat before speaking. Seeing the empty cup, one of the sisters grab the wine bottle and pour it while Rana began her explanation.

"Well, to explain simply put. I died in the battle against the 8th Legion, met the Emperor, and was reborn as his messenger of death." The Living Saint ends her story in less than 10 seconds before the sister could finish refilling the wine cup.

"Well, that was… very immediate answer even for a codex standard." Captain Dioricus of the 4th company and former Ultramarine spoke as he didn't know how to respond. Besides Sisters, everyone's expectation of an epic tale and interaction with the Emperor collapsed due to Rana's rapid words. With a big smile on her face, Rana laughed and explain the whole situation best as she can without giving too much information from the Star Child.

When Rana finish her tale, everyone in the room felt humbled and inspired to the level where William was sure they would go for another 'Peacekeeping' after tomorrow's battle. In the end, the meeting ended with everyone leaving the meeting room with inspiration and motivation to kill the Emeny of the Emperor.

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William's Personal Room,

"That was a dirty move. I swear, I thought I was having another flashback when Sisters found out I turned to Saint." Rana lightly punches William's shoulder while holding a bottle of wine in the other hand.

William accepts the punch with a big smile but inside, he felt Rana's punch as if he just got hit lightly by one of the Astartes in the power armor. William doesn't fully know the power of the Living Saint but one thing he knows is that the current Living Saint from 40k went toe to toe against Warmaster Abbadon and lived.

'Damn, I need to watch what I say in front of her now.' Realizing that Star Child did more than bring Rana back to life, William decided to be more gentle with jokes in front of Rana. He may be a pinnacle of the genetic creation between the Emperor and STC but a woman's wrath and supernatural power are bad combinations to fight against.

"I'm guessing you are going to tell me Star Child's message since it was him who brought you back to life, not the one from Golden Throne." William accurately made his guess as Rana sat next to him at the table. The mood of the room went silent as the sound of the wind can be heard outside and light began to flicker.

"You are right and you might not like the message," Rana said to William and told him everything including Star Child's reason behind why Rna and William should be together. The truth infuriated William by the time Rana was done with her story. The real reason why Star Child wanted William to be with Rana was his selfishness and felt personally betrayed by the man who watch over him from the beginning.

'Of course, he has a plan for me and her. It was to obtain a physical body! Wasn't he suppose to hijack Fyodor Karamazov's body or something? Wait, that was fan-made lore, not an actual event in 40k. Shit, I'm mixing up the events.' William close his eyes and shake his head to clear his clouded mind. Second, later, he opens his eyes to Rana in front of him. Sitting in front of him was a tall and beautiful woman with who he fell in love after going through so much pain and suffering together.

"I had my suspicions and idea what he would be demanded from you. I'm sorry you had to be involved." William apologized to Rana but she immediately stopped him.

"I was given choice between ascending to the afterlife to join my ancestors or being reborn in a different life, but I chose to be with you because I know you are going to miss me." Rana places her hand on William's shoulder and hugs him. William's anger subside and eventually died out like candlelight blown away by the silent wind.

The revelation of the Star Child's plan didn't stop William and Rana from bonding stronger as the two eventually comfort each other and spend a night together. The final battle for Peacekeeping is tomorrow and for two chosen people of the Emperor, they decided to spend more time with each other than contemplating what to expect from the Great Game between gods.

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Meanwhile in the Divine Realm,

'Well, about time. I swear, kids grow so fast now these days.' Star Child removes his sight from the mortal realm and turns his full attention to the other deities in the room. Many of the deities left after listening to his crazy plan but few stayed, enough to move big pieces on the board.

"Ok, my guy is going to demolish the last taint tomorrow. I assume you have your people doing their parts?" Star Child joins the rest of the group and casts a projection of the mortal realm to show a world map. A grey dot and gold dot appear on the Legellan side near the northern region, indicating the location of William and Living Saint.

"You have nothing to worry about. We are doing our parts and no one particularly likes the individual we are going to summon. After all, this person was the one who caused so much headache and the only reason she was allowed to live is because of her brother." The male god with full plate armor and sword with a balanced scale spoke with irritation in his voice. Mentioning the individual just left him bad taste in his mouth and it wasn't just him as few other deities felt the same.

"Even some of the lower pantheons are willing to help us out with your plan. Let's just hope the old man above the divine realm doesn't get curious." The Goddess of Magic, a lady with a star dress spoke softly and carefully as if her very voice could dismantle magic itself.

"That is good news, but just in case I place a few more pawns to handle small details. We don't want small problems to grow into big problem do we?" Star Child smiled but before anyone could interject into what he just said about a few more pawns, a large red dot appeared on the other side of the world map and began to cause problems.

"What the hell is that?" One of the deities said with horror on her face. The red dot is expanding very slowly but it is causing problems, starting with massive genocides.

"That red dot my dear is a problem I wasn't expecting. Looks like those three idiots decided to send the most problematic one before the fourth follow their example. I recommend sending additional pawns to stop or at least slowing them down." With that, Star Child began moving additional resources of his to stop the new threat and protect his most valuable asset in the Great Game.