---Ten Minutes Later---

Docking our ship at one of the station’s external piers, my family, guests, and I disembarked the cityship. Accompanied by a detachment of Helldivers, we calmly walked down the walkway and into the spaceport. Stepping through the second airlock, a crowd of several thousand soldiers and workers immediately fixed their collective gaze upon me.

“Hello everyone, it is good to- “, I began.

Before I could finish my sentence, the gathered crowd burst into celebration. Releasing ear-piercing cheers and cries of joy, I got the impression my distant relative had really botched things up. Letting them get it all out of their systems, eventually two soldiers nervously stepped forward to speak for the group.

“My liege… You have no idea how grateful we are to have you back with us!”, an Arburian Pelarota said, a bit shaky on his feet. “Your descendant is destroying everything you worked so hard to build. She is trying to ‘purify’ the nation by throwing all ‘disgusting’ xeno races out of the galaxy.”

(AN: Cannonbolt species.)

“Her definition of ‘disgusting’ is any xeno race that does not look human. She wants to rip innocent people from their homes and cast them beyond the safety of our defense grid. The ministers and most noble families are slowing her efforts, but they cannot stall her forever.”, a Sonorosian said, looking up at me with genuine concern and fear. “These trying times are bringing the worst out of people. Xenos are being targeted by human supremacists, and friendly humans are being targeted by frustrated xenos. If nothing is done soon, the country will tear itself apart.”

(AN: Echo Echo species.)

Begging me to quickly return to the throne world and reclaim my throne, I raised a hand to silence everyone.

“I need to make something abundantly clear here and now. Emperor Aremus passed away several thousand years ago. He was slain in the aftermath of the Imperium of Man’s civil war.”, I spoke, not wanting to mislead them. “My name is Victor von Stark, descendant of Emperor Aremus and Isabella Fou Bartfort. I came here at Aremus’ request to claim his throne and ensure peace and prosperity continued to thrive.”

Devastated to learn the nation’s founder had passed, their excitement for my arrival did not wane. Given my heritage, they automatically believed I would be a far better ruler than the current empress. Eager to get me onto the throne as soon as possible, a group of soldiers led us up to their commander’s office.

Riding a repulsorlift to the top of the station, we stepped out into a large viewing gallery. As we looked around the space, hundreds of ambassadors and delegates stood up in shock. Flocking to us like maniacs, Lady Jenestra Omalfi'Meos and the other three representatives stepped out to run interference.

“Hold it!”, Omalfi'Meos snapped, bringing the stampede to a halt. “Before you go pestering him, we need to update you on a few things. To start with, Syriaca was nearly overrun earlier this morning…”

While they worked to apprise their peers of recent events, we continued toward the office space. Having our group and guards hang back in the waiting area, I followed the soldiers up a flight of stairs to the penthouse office. Announcing our presence, the men opened the French doors and motioned for me to head in first.

(AN: Grey Matter species.)

“Holy shit… No wonder the soldier mistook you for Emperor Aremus. You are the spitting image of him, haha!!”, the Galvan laughed, rising from his tiny desk. “My name is Praxil Riokara, Commander of Fortress Zosie YP5. And you are?”

“Victor von Stark, descendant of Emperor Aremus and Isabella Fou Bartfort.”, I answered, mildly surprised he did not mistake me for my ancestor. “If I may, how did you know I was not Aremus?”

“The Galvan people handcrafted Emperor Aremus’ armor as a gesture of friendship and goodwill. Before his arrival, our people were kept as pets by a relatively dimwitted race of xenos. He liberated our people and gave us our homeworld of Galvan Prime.”, Riokara said. “Since political marriages are not feasible for our kind, we craft specialized gifts for our allies. Aremus’ suit included vital sign monitoring, so when he fell… We were the first to know it.”

Looking at their leader with utter shock, they could not believe the Galvan’s had kept this information a secret. Voicing their complaints and feelings of betrayal, Riokara shouted at them to be silent.

“Our people were put in an impossible position. On one hand, sharing his death with the masses could have reignited the conflicts Emperor Aremus fought so hard to end. On the other, withholding this information meant lying to our allies and his family. Neither option sat well with us, but we chose to follow the path we felt Aremus would have wanted.”, Riokara insisted, looking them in the eyes. “What would you have done?”

Putting themselves in the Galvan’s place, the soldiers could not definitively say what the best option was. Based on what they could recall from their childhood history courses, most races back then were at each other’s throats. Ideological, racial, and religious differences caused friction between the natives of this galaxy. It took Aremus’ intervention to force people to look past their differences and embrace shared dreams.

To ensure lasting peace, he carefully negotiated agreements with various leaders and took many wives to tie groups to him. Had the masses learned of his demise, it is very likely his work would have unraveled at the seams.

“Now then…”, Riokara said, getting back on track. “As my men have likely already told you, we need you to ascend to the throne as quickly as possible. Empress Anethum is trying to enact policies that go against everything the first emperor stood for. Because of this, she has lost the support of most noble families, Praetorate Heliros Avirax, and his marines.”

“Yes, they apprised me of the situation.”, I confirmed. “If she holds such low favoritism, why hasn’t another heir usurped her?”

“The sizeable force of mercenaries she currently employs has made it impossible. Only a handful of people know this, but Empress Anethum should have never inherited the throne. At the time of the previous emperor’s death, she was thirty-seventh in the line of succession…”, Riokara spoke, narrowing his eyes. “Conveniently, those ahead of her perished over the span of three weeks. While she maintains her innocence, everyone aware of things knows her mercs did it. Without hard evidence, though, nothing could be done, so she became the empress.”

Surprised to hear she had contracted mercenaries, I wondered why they were still following her. Certain the alliance would have paid them double to triple their normal rate for aid, it made me curious. Were they being paid ridiculously well, or was there something else keeping them here?

“My plan was to make a few stops on our way to the capital, but that will have to wait a bit longer. Right now, removing that bitch from the throne takes priority.”, I remarked. “Can you let Praetorate Heliros Avirax know we will be there in thirty minutes?”

“Of course.”, Riokara confirmed. “Is there anything else we can do to assist you?”

“Actually, there is…”, I acknowledged. “Has the Battleship Jasant already passed through here?”

Accessing his computer, Riokara checked the logs for me.

“Yes, they passed through several weeks ago. The Jasant is currently docked in the capital’s spaceport.”, Riokara spoke, reading the information off his screen. “Any particular reason you are interested in this ship?”

“The captain and crew are in cahoots with bugs.”, I said, turning to leave. “Please notify Praetorate Avirax of this.”

Preparing to send an emergency message to him, I descended the stairs to rejoin my family.

---Thirty Minutes Later, Caspiel Empire Throne World---

Silently orbiting Brigoia, named after Aremus’ adoptive mother, we watched the chaos unfolding on the ground. Having received Riokara’s message, Praetorate Avirax and the Leviathans were hurriedly preparing for my arrival. Clearing a path directly to the palace, civilians stood on the sidewalks watching them with curiosity.

“Hehe, is that your relative, Victor?”, Tohru asked, pointing to a well-dressed woman standing atop the palace gate’s battlement with her entourage. “She looks a bit… Well, a bit chubby. Is she pregnant?”

“I believe the word you are looking for is pudgy.”, I snickered, having read Riokara’s report during the wait. “Because of her servants’ disobedience, apparently, she has been stress eating a lot to cope.”

Aware of her heinous crimes, the women began making snide remarks about her. Trying to outdo one another, their venomous words grew increasingly hostile.

‘God, I love my wives.’, I thought, zooming in on Empress Anethum and her group. “Luxion, can you please analyze their equipment and run a facial recognition scan on the mercs?”

Of course, one moment Master. (Luxion)

Within a few minutes, Luxion returned with the results.

Master… They are with the mercenary arm of Dahl. (Luxion)

Choking on our beverages, Luxion brought up the files Yoma’s field agents had taken from Dahl’s servers. Most of the mercs had rap sheets a mile long from several dozen galactic nations. Among the many crimes they were charged with, arson, blackmail, rape, tax evasion, and theft were the most common.

“Son of a bitch!”, Samus spat, slamming her fist down on her armrest. “How the hell did they get down here?”

“Forgive me, but is Dahl bad?”, Omalfi'Meos questioned, setting her goblet down.

Taking a few moments to give her some background on them, Omalfi'Meos and the other representatives shifted their collars uncomfortably. Upon learning of Dahl’s pattern of hostile takeovers, they released a long, relieved sigh.

“Dahl approached us early on with low offers on firepower and rentable mercenaries. At the time, we foolishly believed we could handle things ourselves, so we ended up rejecting them.”, Elder Elysian Varnok of the Amblyr spoke. “Thank goodness we did… It sounds like they would have conquered us before the bugs did.”

Victor, I am detecting Necron equipment on two of the mercenaries. They appear to have remote Pharos controllers. (Dair)

Shocked by this information, it explained how Dahl became active in this region. At some point, they must have gotten their hands on a Pharos and reverse engineered it. Unaware of whose technology it was, they used it to expand their reach across the universe.

“That explains how they came to know of the Necrons and knew how to find them.”, Ionica remarked, cracking her knuckles. “What are we going to do about this?”

“We give those mercs no quarters.”, I spoke, rising from my chair. “I will take a detachment of Helldivers down with me to get their attention. While I distract them, Luxion, please find and eliminate any respawn stations you find. Notify me once you have confirmation they cannot revive themselves. Ladies, when the fighting begins, you are more than welcome to join in the fun.”

Cracking their knuckles, my family scurried off to prepare for a skirmish. Leaving the foreign diplomats to sit back and watch, Slaanesh and I descend upon the hangar.