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I found myself back on Draconis III after the slightly successful campaign. Successful because the Adeptus Mechanicus got what they wanted. Archmagos Styrimidon and his subordinates had gotten their hands on some incredibly advanced Tau technology and they were busy dismantling, analyzing and find ways to replicate it.

After all, the Imperium would benefit tremendously from plasma weapons that did not get hot.

The living had to continue living. After attending the late Lieutenant Suzuki's military funeral and watching his wife cry, I had to return to the office to file a report. The higher-ups were very interested in what happened, particularly the Daimyos of House Yato.

No rest for the weary, huh.

Suzuki's destroyed Knight Paladin was salvaged and brought back to Draconis III for repairs. As I said, the Knights were more valuable than the pilots. Suzuki could be replaced, but the Knights were harder to build. We actually had a STC for our Knights in Draconis III, which the Tech-priests of the forge world Draconis IV unearthed during the early days of our partnership, and brought to their world. I think they also discovered a STC for Titans, specifically a Warlord Titan, and both STCs were zealously guarded by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Tech-priests of Draconis III however were a greedy and selfish bunch. Despite discovering such precious STCs, they hoarded it for themselves and refused to share the templates with other forge worlds.

It was understandable. The other forge worlds also hoarded their secrets and STCs jealously, refusing to share them with Draconis III or with each other. So to maintain our advantage and not fall behind, we had secrets of our own. This led to the Tech-priests of Draconis IV to monopolize the STC for Knight and allowed House Yato, their affiliated knightly house to flourish as one of the largest knight houses in the Imperium, second only to the revered House Raven. With the STC, the Adeptus Mechanicus could continue producing knights for House Yato. Understandably, it was difficult to manufacture knights and easier to construct tanks so the slow process meant we would take decades to surpass House Raven in terms of numbers.

Well, we already had hundreds of Knights in our house. I sometimes wondered if the Imperium would benefit a lot more if the Tech-priests of Draconis IV shared the STC. The thousands of knights produced from that could turn the tide of war against Chaos and xenos in our favor considerably.

Besides, the STC for House Yato's knights produced vastly different knights from other houses. As it was an ancient STC, the knights manufactured were closer to the knights of the venerated House Taranis on Mars, with the pilots of House Yato not requiring to plug in neural sockets and other painful-sounding procedures that I heard. I doubted the other knightly houses would accept such technology so different from theirs.

"Taihei."

I had just left the office after presenting the report to my superiors when a gentle voice called out to me. Turning around, I saw Kanda Kyoko, the wife of Daimyo Kanda, a respectable officer-daimyo who led a division of Knights on his own. As always, she was surrounded by the other consorts of other daimyos and knight pilots, dressed in the silky, exquisitely decorated kimono that was the traditional clothing of Draconis III. The myriad of colors, designs, decorations and hairstyles made the group of ladies resemble a garden of beautiful flowers.

I bowed my head respectfully to Lady Kanda, conscious of the difference between our ranks. Within knightly houses, the women wielded tremendous power and influence, and that was true the higher the ranks of the woman's husband. For the wife of a daimyo, she was basically his second-in-command.

Lady Kanda graced me with a kind smile, raising her hand to dismiss my deference.

"I hear you have just returned from a difficult campaign. I am very sorry for Sir Suzuki's loss. If I recall, he was a good friend of yours."

Not really, he was merely a subordinate I hardly knew as this was our first mission together. Still, I understood Lady Kanda's attempt to be polite. Holding conversations was like a game, with each party treading cautiously not to offend each other as they sought to achieve their goals and hide their motives. I knew Lady Kanda didn't just call me for casual talk. She had an objective.

I wondered what that was.

Shaking my head, I offered a carefully constructed response.

"Death is common in war, Lady Kanda. I'm sure Lieutenant Suzuki was proud to give his life for the Emperor. He died with honor."

"I see. I am glad to hear that."

Lady Kanda nodded thoughtfully for a moment before looking sad.

"Shizuka, Sir Suzuki's wife, is in a lot of pain now. We will do what we can to comfort her, but I do hope you will be more careful on the battlefield."

"Yes, ma'am."

I wondered where this was leading to, and the answer came pretty quickly. Lady Kanda glanced at her ladies-in-waiting, all fellow consorts of similarly ranked knight pilots, before turning back to me.

"Speaking of which, Taihei. You still haven't picked a consort."

Ah. So this was what this conversation was about. Marriage politics and the like. As I said, the women wielded tremendous power over the knightly houses. They might not wage war and wreak destruction upon their foes with overwhelming firepower and impenetrable armor, but their battle was that of politics, of the mind, of manipulation. Their battlefield was the house itself where enemies were assessed, sidelined and alienated into obscurity, alliances and ties forged with promising allies, families and bloodlines continued - particularly those deemed honorable, high-ranking and useful, political and social objectives achieved and status quo maintained. The men may be the ones who physically fight foes in war, but the women ensured the knightly house survived.

Lady Kanda wanted me to get married, so that I could sire sons who could continue piloting future knights and daughters who would continue to wield and manipulate the house's rankings from behind the scene. No doubt she had a candidate in mind, a sharp and intelligent girl who could make use of her new social status after being married to a relatively honorable knight and set things into motion. What sort of things, I wasn't privy to. The ways of women were mysterious indeed.

However, I wasn't prepared for marriage, not mentally or socially. I had wars to participate in, which often meant I had to be separated from any family I might have had. Yes, the mother would take care of the child I leave behind, but I didn't want him to grow up in an environment without a father figure. I would have considered having a family now if I wasn't a knight, but my vocation brought with it dangers and uncertainty. Two elements that I didn't want disrupting my marriage.

As such, I deflected Lady Kanda's subtle suggestion politely.

"I'm afraid I am in no position to get married now."

"I can select a suitable candidate for you. Why, I believe there are a couple of them you will definitely like. I have already considered your preferences and character..."

Right. This wasn't so much a suggestion but pressurizing me to wed as quickly as possible. I could understand the logic. There was a high chance of me falling as a casualty in the next mission, or the one after that, and it was Lady Kanda's job to ensure I leave behind at least one heir.

However, that didn't mean I was obliged to comply with it. I had more than fulfilled my duty by fighting on the frontlines and slaying the Emperor's enemies. There were billions of other men who could raise their children without fear of dying in the battlefield and leaving them alone with their widowed wives. Even on Draconis III, the population continued to grow, with a good proportion entering the ranks of Imperial Knights or the Draconis Imperial Guard Armored Regiment. A smaller number would join the priesthood of the Adeptus Mechanicus and continue to expand the Martian empire with their arcane technologies and indomitable war machines.

"I'm afraid there is no time for a wedding ceremony or for me to get to know any of them. I'm sorry. It appears that Archmagos Styrimidon is preparing an explorator fleet and he will mobilize my detachment in less than a month. There are a few STCs he found that we must recover as quickly as possible - before the Great Enemy can obtain them."

"I see." Lady Kanda looked a little disappointed, but she didn't press the issue. I was sure she would head over to another bachelor knight and convince him instead. "I wish you luck on your next mission then. Please return safely, and we can continue discussing potential brides."

"I, uh, well, look forward to it."

In actual fact, I didn't, but with the issue so far ahead in future I figured I didn't have to worry unnecessarily. I should handle it when it came to it. For now I should be more concerned in surviving the explorator fleet's mission.

Bowing deeply to bid the ladies farewell, I hastened my steps back toward home. I had met up with my parents the moment I landed on Draconis III, but with the impending mission I felt I should accompany them a lot more before I leave again.

I quickly trotted past the corridor, passing by the countless rooms located in the massive castle the Shogun housed himself in. Apparently half of the rooms in the Shogun's castle were being used as military offices, and the other half were reserved for courtiers, the nobles who serve as knights and their families, politicians and high-ranking guests from other worlds. The Shogun ran a military government, and as with many knight worlds, military affairs were combined with politics. It was in one of these offices that I had to submit my report and testify before high-ranking daimyos who served under the Shogun directly. Right, if I remembered correctly, Daimyo Kanda Keisuke was one of the daimyos listening to my testimony. No wonder his wife was here. She was undoubtedly waiting for her husband to finish his job before they return home together.

However, before I could exit the castle, a sergeant poked his head out of one of the office rooms.

"Ah, Captain Tanaka. There you are. Daimyo Kanda wants to have a word with you."

Oh boy. I just testified in front of him, then spoke to his wife, and now he wanted to see me again? The Kandas just wouldn't give me a break.

Unfortunately, I couldn't complain so I merely nodded to acknowledge the sergeant's message. Turning on my heels, I made the trek to Daimyo Kanda's office. Fortunately, it wasn't far from here, with his office being located separately from the meeting room where they held my testimony.

"Daimyo Kanda, Captain Tanaka reporting."

I knocked on the door before sending out a greeting.

"Ah, Tanaka. There you are. Come in, come in."

I needed no further instructions. I entered the office and bowed respectfully to the daimyo, who was reclining in his huge leather chair and staring at a holo pict-screen.

"I'm sorry to call you back so suddenly, but something's come up. I'm afraid you're the only one suitable for the job."

"Huh? Job?"

"Yes." Daimyo Kanda leaned closer, placing his elbows on the desk in front of him as he looked at me. "Apparently an inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus has arrived on Draconis IV. I need you to serve as our liason with him. You know, the usual high-ranking guest stuff. Bring him around the forge world, show him the manufactoriums, and keep him out of our hair for as long as his business takes him. I suspect he wants to accompany the explorator fleet that Archmagos Styrimidon is organzing, so he's probably here for an inspection."

"Inspection, huh."

"That's right. I assume you know what this means, right?"

I did. The forge world of Draconis IV engaged in some unorthodox method of advancing the Imperium's technology, allowing almost unrestricted freedom in research. Unfortunately, that meant the tech-priests indulged themselves in picking apart and trying to replicate or integrate xenos technology into ours with a zeal matched only by the tech-priests of Stygies VIII. That was something the Inquisition tended to be uncomfortable with.

So my job was probably to deflect his questions about our unorthodox research and production and to lead him away from the top-secret laboratories and testing sites of Draconis IV's factories.

Swallowing nervously as I felt unease speeding through my body, I bowed again.

"Yes, sir. I understand."

And so I ended up on the next space flight to Draconis IV.

Inquisitor Lector Rex was a remarkable man, a hulking behemoth who towered over me by at least thirty centimeters, making him at least two meters tall. I had seen in the data provided by pict-screens that he was usually clad in Terminator armor, wielding a Nemesis Daemon Hammer and firing a wrist-mounted storm bolter stocked with psybolt ammunition. Even without his Terminator armor, also known as Tactical Dreadnought Armor, Inquisitor Rex struck an imposing figure, his bald head and piercing blue eyes reminding me of the intimidating confessors of the Ecclesiarchy. At least he wasn't preaching.

He was accompanied by a single henchman, an acolyte armed with a hot-shot lasgun, a weapon also known as a hellgun. The acolyte was scarier than even his boss, if that was possible, his intense glare burning into me and his finger twitching near the trigger of his souped-up weapon. I noticed he was wearing carapace armor instead of the usual flak armor.

I would have thought he was an inquisitional stormtrooper, but his ballistic skill and weapon skill didn't seem all that impressive. Additionally, he seemed to serve more as an aide, except that he wouldn't have a flask of tanna tea under that armor of his or a trusty meltagun.

"You must be Captain Tanaka?"

Inquisitor Rex spoke in a deep, booming voice that somehow at the same time sounded gentle and assuring. Trying to conceal my shock, I nodded and bowed.

"Tanaka Taihei at your service."

Inquisitor Rex smiled at me and immediately I felt my nerves melt away. This guy was exuding a friendly aura quite unlike his comrades in the Ordo Malleus and his presence was making me comfortable. I did feel a slight prickle in my mind, though, which told me Inquisitor Rex was a psyker. Probably a high-level psyker.

"Inquisitor Rex, I'll be your guide in Draconis IV today. If there's anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Please, call me Lector. Ah, and this is my aide, Stanley Sturgen. We're here to help, not to inspect or probe, so let's drop the pleasantries and be more frank with each other. I think I will be joining your explorator fleet, so let's establish a good working relationship."

"Yes, sir."

"It's Lector."

At the inquisitor's insistence, I merely nodded and decided against pressing the issue. Despite his claims that this wasn't an inspection, I was obliged to show him around the manufactoriums of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"This is where you manufacture the Leman Russ tanks, huh?"

The first factory was the tank manufactorium that produced vast numbers of armored vehicles for the Imperial Guard, primarily for the Draconis Armored Regiment, but also for the other regiments spread throughout the Imperium. The overwhelming majority consisted of Leman Russ Executioners, but there were a substantial portion of Leman Russ Battle Tanks and a small amount of Leman Russ Vanquishers.

"So it's true that the forge world of Draconis IV has successfully replicated the technology needed for the Leman Russ Executioner."

"I'm afraid we didn't manage to replicate Ryza's Executioner plasma cannon perfectly. Our Leman Russ Executioners are a lot cheaper to build, but we lack the cooling technology that Ryza possesses, and as such our tanks are unstable and much more prone to blowing up."

"Huh. That explains the larger numbers of Leman Russ Executioners I have seen fielded recently. So they have become a lot cheaper to build, huh."

Lector looked impressed as he glanced the conveyor belts that moved parts of the plasma cannons together. He also glanced at the Leman Russ Battle Tanks before nodding in satisfaction. There was no need to comment on these tanks. The ubiquitous Leman Russ Battle Tanks were easy to make and were fielded in large numbers everywhere, so it wasn't unusual that Draconis IV manufactured so many of them. Lector's gaze finally settled on the Leman Russ Vanquishers and he frowned.

"You can build Leman Russ Vanquishers too?"

I nodded, wondering why he was surprised. Lector rubbed his bald head and pondered.

"I thought the technology for building Vanquisher cannons were lost when the forge world Tigrus was overrun by Orks many millennia ago. I did hear that Gryphonne IV and Stygies VIII succeeded in producing their own versions, but they supposedly have jealously guarded the technology to build the Vanquisher cannons. Well...Gryphonne IV got destroyed, so I think only Stygies VIII was left. Did Draconis IV manage to convince them to...?"

"Unfortunately, no," I quickly corrected Lector. There was no way in hell that forge worlds would ever share their technology with each other. Monopolizing technology was the only way to stay ahead, and no forge world would ever let such an advantage slip by being altruistic enough to share their secrets with others. "The Tech-priests of Draconis IV produced their own version of Vanquisher cannon. I believe the Vanquisher cannons of Gryphonne are much longer so they can generate much greater shell velocity. It's just too bad the forge world got eaten alive by Tyranids, um...I think it was Hive Fleet Leviathan. The Tech-priests of Stygies VIII have cannons that use gun stabilizers and recoil dampeners to guarantee an accurate first shot but subsequent shots suffer after that."

"Ho...you're pretty well versed in this."

"That's because House Yato is affiliated with the Adeptus Mechanicus so we knights are required to study a bit of the Adeptus Mechanicus's history. The priesthood of Draconis IV is of the...what the other forge worlds call the 'new way'. That is, we subscribe to the belief that the Emperor and the Omnissiah are one. The newer forge worlds believe otherwise, but we continue to venerate the God-Emperor because we believe that he is the Omnissiah."

I quickly added the explanation regarding the new way in case Lector felt uncomfortable about speaking to a knightly house affiliated with the Adeptus Mechanicus. In my experience, the Inquisition and other arms of the Imperium were wary of the servants of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the believers of the Omnissiah.

Fortunately, Lector didn't seem all that bothered about Cult Mechanicus and its beliefs, taking more interest in the rows of Leman Russ tanks being manufactured in front of him. He nodded at the half-built Leman Russ Vanquishers.

"So what is different about Draconis IV's Leman Russ Vanquishers?"

"We're much closer to the original Vanquisher cannons manufactured on Tigrus," I explained, trying to dig up the required facts in my memory. The tech-priests and adepts had it easy, they could assess whatever information they wanted through their memory banks and augmented noopshere. "Our Leman Russ Vanquishers use the normal armor penetrating round with normal shell velocity and we usually equip them with lascannons to fit their role as tank hunters. They are stable and do not have to worry about poorer accuracy with subsequent shots like the Leman Russ Vanquishers from Stygies VIII do. But we're still only able to produce very few of them so they are only given to the commanders of each tank squadrons."

"Understandably so."

It seemed Lector understood the difficulty of building Leman Russ Vanquishers so he didn't push the issue and we moved on.

Next was the munitions factory where servitors assembled lasguns and plasma guns. Sturgen tensed when he caught sight of Tech-priests and adepts running up and down the manufactorium, carrying as much Tau plasma weaponry and armor as their augmented arms and mechadendrites could muster. Whipping out his hot-shot lasgun, he prepared to fire when Lector stepped in front of him and shoved the barrel of his gun down.

"B...but Lord Inquisitor!" Sturgen protested as he gaped at his boss in shock. "That is heresy! To be in possession of xenos technology in an imperial world..."

"Leave it be."

"Impossible! The imperial creed clearly forbids tampering and research of xenos..."

I wondered how Sturgen knew we were researching xenos technology when all he saw were Tech-priests and adepts ferrying them up and down. Oh. He could see what the Tech-priests of the Artisan order were doing inside vast open complexes of laboratories. The Artisans, which included a Technoarcheologist Magos, were busily dismantling Tau battle-suits and weaponry with great care, Lexico Arcanus from Logi were inputting data into pict-screens and memory banks and some cybersmiths were attempting to build and replicate Tau-Imperial hybrid weapons from the obtained data. It wasn't that the Artisans were deliberately showing off. They weren't used to visitors and so didn't bother hiding whatever they were doing. Besides, if a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus wanted to peek and steal our secrets, walls and rooms were nothing to them.

I watched Lector nervously, wondering how the inquisitor was going to react to a blatant infraction of rules, but fortunately he seemed less bothered about our attempts at fusing xenos technology with imperial weaponry than his henchman. Sturgen was livid, gesturing violently as he argued at pointed at the adepts and menials carrying Tau plasma rifles.

Lector sighed and shook his head before surprising his henchman with a question.

"Stan, have you heard of Ryza?"

"Huh? It's a forge world, isn't it?"

"Yes. It used to be the Imperium's only source of plasma weapons and even the Leman Russ Executioners you saw earlier were originally supplied only by Ryza. That was until Waaagh! Grax and Waaagh! Rarguts, that is. Now, with the Adeptus Mechanicus on that forge world mired in war, the Imperium's supply of plasma weapons have been cut off until the forge world of Draconis IV stepped in to fill the gap. In short, Draconis IV is the Imperium's main supply of plasma weapons and Leman Russ Executioners now."

Stanley was still gaping at his boss while the latter explained it to him. Was the guy really that dense? Then again, he was merely an acolyte. If he was smarter, he wouldn't be serving as a henchman. He would be a real stormtrooper with ballistic skill 4.

"Do you understand what that means?"

"We...we need this forge world...the Imperium relies heavily on Draconis IV for plasma weapons and Leman Russ Executioners..."

"That's right. And they also produce a good number of Titans and Knights. They are an absolutely critical war potential we cannot afford to lose."

So Sturgen understood after all. Phew. At least he wouldn't be shooting the poor adepts and Tech-priests in here.

We moved on, this time to a massive munifactorium several kilometers wide and a hundred meters high. The interior resembled a cavern, filled with giant mechanical parts, servitors, huge machinery that assembled, drilled, lifted and moved the giant components throughout the vast expanse of space, sparks, light and noise flooding the enclosed area.

"This...are they repairing a Titan?"

I smiled at Lector's overawed expression. Seeing him make that reaction was the sole reason why I brought him to this place in the first place. As an aside, Sturgen was also dumbstruck by the amazing spectacle in front of him.

But that wasn't the most impressive thing.

"No. They're building a Titan."

"Huh? How is that possible?"

We actually had a STC for a Warlord Titan that the Adeptus Mechanicus uncovered on Draconis III along with the STC for the knight battle-suits. The Imperial Knight battle-suits, or one-man mini-Titans, were being constructed elsewhere but I wasn't going to share that knowledge with Inquisitor Lector Rex and his henchman.

The Draconis system, House Yato in particular, needed their fair share of secrets in order to remain competitive and stay ahead of the other forge worlds in an increasingly hostile universe filled with betrayals and back-stabbing.

So I said nothing and continued smiling. Lector, who noticed my reticence, took the hint and merely nodded.

"Speaking of which, the Collegia Titan on this forge world..."

"Oh, Draconis IV has its own Titan legion. The Legio Gojira. I hear they will be landing the explorator fleet a couple of Titans, which is a relief, considering that we're heading into the Maelstrom that is bound to be filled with colossal daemon engines and maybe even Chaos Titans. The Slaneesh Hell-Knights that took out Legio Crucius were reportedly sighted there."

"I'm glad to hear that. We'll need these guys if we do run into super-heavy daemon engines and Chaos Titans."

"Why are you joining the explorator fleet, anyway?" The question came to my mind when I noticed his use of the word "we". It reinforced what I already knew. Inquisitor Rex was coming with us. From what I saw, he wasn't here to get in our way of claiming the STCs or to keep an eye on us. "Does your reason have anything to do with the daemons in the Maelstrom?"

"You do know that daemons aren't the only thing in the Maelstrom, right?" Lector looked amused. "There are Orks, Eldar pirates and even Traitor Marines like the Red Corsairs living in there. Raiders, pirates and all sort of scum along with those xenos bastards."

"I'm pretty sure the Orks and Eldar raiders would be more of an interest to the Ordo Xenos, not the Ordo Malleus."

"Yeah, well...I heard you're going to Asmodai."

I nodded, wondering what in Asmodai would an inquisitor of the Ordo Maellleus have an interest in. Maybe he was just curious about a planet that bore the same name as a certain Master Interrogator-Chaplain of the Dark Angels.

However, Lector merely smiled mysteriously as he desisted from telling me.

"You'll find out soon enough."

I was so glad when I left Lector and Sturgen to their own devices and returned to the lush, agricultural world of Draconis III. Unlike Draconis IV where the barren continents were occupied by vast, sprawling complexes of giant manufactoriums and its skies clogged up by smog and industrial pollution, the third planet in the Draconis system had been left untouched, her verdant fields and forests preserved as they were for millions of years. There were a few stretches of land where the forests had given way to urban townscapes, but they weren't as huge or contaminated as the massive cities that had sprung up on the forge world. In the middle of each city was an enormous castle where the daimyos lived in and where the knight battle-suits were stored and maintained by the Koushou, or what the other knightly houses and forge worlds termed as Sacristans.

The koushou were trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus on Draconis IV before returning to Draconis III to repair and maintain our Imperial Knight suits. They were an indispensable existence to House Yato, ensuring that we were able to continue our service to the Emperor and fight on the frontlines of the Imperium.

As for the forests, the predators that hunted there posed no threat to humans. We had long since become the apex predator of Draconis III and even learned to shepherd and rear native cattle, poultry and other farm animals that had existed on the planet, alongside our agricultural technology that saw wide paddy fields, endless rows of crops and huge orchards of fruits. According to history, the first settlers relied on the STC to build defensive exo-suits to fight off predators, the most dangerous of which was only an equivalent of a leopard or saltwater crocodile in Terra, and colonized the planet without any difficulty. After establishing human supremacy on Draconis III, however, the feudal lords, or daimyos, that sprung up as a result of colonization began waging war against each other, an event that was exacerbated by the Age of Strife where the Draconis system was completely cut off from the rest of humanity.

The space shuttle, an Aquila lander, dove into the atmosphere, bringing my appreciation of the glorious, green and refreshing scenery to an abrupt end. It descended steeply into the main continent, heading for the largest metropolis that lay across the eastern coast. My destination was the capital, Edo, a castle-town that had grown from a small settlement near a river bay. The shogun had chosen Edo to be his home and capital, and by sheer coincidence my family had lived there for generations.

Glancing at the growing castle-town, I reminisced about the history. The Warring States period, the era during the Age of Strife where the entirety of Draconis III descended into war, lasted for two hundred years before a single daimyo conquered the whole world with his cunning, intellect and brilliant tactics. Daimyo Yato, as he was known then, established a great alliance before crushing his enemies and uniting the planet under his rule. Taking the title of Shogun, he then ruled over Draconis III while delegating provinces and continents to his allied daimyos, allowing them autonomy in their governance over their respective lands.

In that space of time, the great houses were brought to heel by Daimyo Yato's incredible strategies. The once-glorious House Oda was destroyed, the pilots slaughtered completely and their knight battle-suits plundered by House Yato. The cunning House Tokugawa was defeated in open combat, the survivors swearing loyalty to Daimyo Yato and renouncing their house as a result. The formidable House Kumagawa was slowly driven to despair after a prolonged siege on their fortress-castle for months, and after being starved of resources and supplies, they eventually capitulated.

The proud House of Heiji was brought to their knees when Daimyo Yato led a small force that into their fortress. The castle of Heiji was supposedly impenetrable, for they had a wall of mountains at their back to serve as a barrier. Mistakenly believing their backs to be completely immune to attack, they focused on defending the front. However, Daimyo Yato scouted the mountains for a path that was wide enough and could safely bear the weight of the colossal war-machines of his house and led a tiny contingent of knights through the trail under the cover of the night. Before dawn, his team had reached the back of Heiji's castle and he assaulted them, taking them by surprise and overwhelming the larger number of knights with speed and sheer ferocity.

The formerly dominant House Ashikaga, who had held the most amount of territory and military force then, was destroyed in the famous Battle of Senjouhara, which saw the biggest number of soldiers and knights clash on Draconis III soil in its entire history of colonization. Over a million knights and soldiers slaughtered each other in a bloody battle that tainted the brown earth crimson and once-green grass to seemingly bleed. In a moment of brilliance, Daimyo Yato led his daimyo court in an almost suicidal charge right into the ranks of the commanders and took Daimyo Ashikaga's head in a brutal duel that brought both colossal machines to their knees. The outcome of the battle saw the forces of House Ashikaga broken and defeated, and the survivors too were forced to submit and swear fealty to their new lord.

Apparently there were Titans fighting in the Battle of Senjouhara, towering god-machines that were said to be the ancestors of today's Legio Gojira. I didn't know how true that was, but given how the STCs for the Warhound Titan, Reaver Titan and Warlord Titan were unearthed on this very planet, I wouldn't be surprised if they existed. Perhaps they served House Yato once but were all transported to Draconis IV when the Adeptus Mechanicus occupied it as their forge world after the people of Draconis were reunited with the larger Imperium as they spread their conquest to the stars.

Fortunately, we were spared the worst effects of the Horus Heresy as the Imperium only found us after its aftermath. If I remembered correctly, the Imperium only reached the Draconis system in 214, M34, long after the Imperium's worst civil war ended. In any case, the Imperium contacted and negotiated with the then Shogun Yato Yoshiyuki and brought the Draconis system back into its fold. The Adeptus Mechanicus, happy about the resources and rich promethium veins they discovered on Draconis IV, enthusiastically sent Tech-priests and adepts to colonize it and also forge a close relationship with the three main knightly houses of Draconis III. Fortunately, the priesthood from Proximus that settled here subscribed to the so-called new way, which meant we worshipped the Omnissiah as the God-Emperor and so our loyalty was strongly directed to Terra and the Emperor himself rather than at Mars.

The entire line of shoguns had come from the family of Yato for over ten thousand years now, with the daimyos all united under one house. House Yato established its supremacy, subsuming all daimyos under its banner, and requesting the remaining houses to swear allegiance to it. The surviving houses, House Uesugi and House Takeda, acceded easily because they were staunch allies of House Yato, and these three houses became the major knightly houses in Draconis III. The remaining smaller clans eventually merged with the three main houses and after a few millennia there were only three huge houses in Draconis III, all loyal to the Shogun of House Yato.

As the Aquila lander set down on the spaceport, I got ready to disembark, intending to return home and talk to my parents again. I still hadn't informed them of my inclusion in the explorator fleet, but as always they would understand.

And then I would visit my suit and see how Ryuujin was doing. The battered Knight Crusader had seen better days but I was confident that my assigned koushou, Kaneda Kojiro, would see to it that Ryuujin was back to performing at peak efficiency.

Stepping on the green grass that carpeted the area outside the spaceport, I looked up at the azure sky and smiled.

Finally, I was home.