Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

---3rd Person POV---

Sitting in front of the fortress' ancient communication equipment, Guardsman Serpedal stared at the hundreds of dials and knobs spread across the control panel. Operating the relic completely blind, as he had no guidebook and the labeling had worn away long ago, the soldier hesitantly tweaked a few things hoping to elicit a response from the machine. Turning his attention to the lone display screen to see if anything had changed, he let out an exhausted sigh when he saw everything was the same.

'Fucking damn it… why will you not fucking do something!?', Serpedal screamed inside his mind, 'You useless piece of shit!!'

Slamming his fist into the machine, its power momentarily flickered before stabilizing again. Tightly clenching his fist in frustration, he went to hit the machine again but stopped himself just before throwing the punch.

'No… It's not the machine's fault. I am the one who is useless here…', he thought, glancing over his shoulder at his wife and two children sitting across the great hall, 'I am the useless man who allowed his family to stay here when I should have forced them to leave me behind. If it were just me dying here, I could pass on with a bit of dignity, but now… now I will die with regret and shame in my heart.'

Turning back to the equipment, Serpedal took a deep breath and picked up the microphone. Looking at the pre-written message attached to the metal panel before him, he was just about to push the button when a weak hand tapped his shoulder. Nearly squealing in fright at the unexpected touch, Serpedal quickly looked back to see who it was. Half expecting to see another civilian standing there wanting an update on his progress, when his eyes fell upon the injured man standing there, his body began to move out of instinct.

"Captain Godgir!?", Serpedal gasped as he began to rise to his feet. "How may I be of— "

Completely forgetting about his broken right leg for a moment, as soon as he applied weight to the injured limb, pain began to rock his body. Collapsing to the ground, Serpedal began writhing around in ungodly pain, barely managing to keep his screams from leaving his mouth. Looking up at his superior with a pained, apologetic look, once the pain began to subside a few minutes later, he slowly dragged himself back up to his feet.

"My sincerest apologies… Captain Godgir…", Serpedal remarked, using the broken to help him stand, "How may I be of assistance, sir?"

"You have been doing a great job, Guardsman Serpedal. Even in these dire times, you have managed to keep hope alive for everyone here.", Godgir commented, feeling some of the wounds under his bandage beginning to open again, "That said… I think it is time for you to stop messing with it and go sit with your family. Take your rifle with you and enjoy a bit of time with your family."

"If I may, sir, I would like to continue fiddling with the equipment.", Serpedal said, wanting to avoid breaking the bad news to his family. "Please, sir, just a few more tries, and I might— "

"Guardsman Serpedal, I truly appreciate your dedication to keeping a small bit of hope alive, but I am afraid it will no longer be needed now. Even if you get it to work in a few minutes, anyone who hears you will not make it here in time.", Godgir stated, motioning to the large group of children who had been reloading magazines up till now. "As you can see, our last box of ammunition has been depleted. In a few minutes, our guns will begin to fall silent, and shortly after, the enemy will overrun our position. Take your lasrifle and go sit with your family. Use these last few minutes to make your peace and prepare to give the enemy hell. Do not stop firing until death takes you, Guardsman Serpedal."

Realizing that their time had truly run out, Serpedal's heart sank into his stomach as he watched the children return to their families. Acknowledging the captain's orders, he saluted Godgir, slung the lasrifle over, and, using a piece of wood to steady himself, began hobbling over to his family. Picking up was happening, as the children and injured soldiers began moving to their families; people began to silently weep knowing that the end was nigh.

Listening to the sobs of families, orphans, widows, and widowers, a heavy weight began to slowly fall onto Serpedal's shoulders. Ashamed of his inability to get the equipment working, even after two hours of tinkering with it, he felt utterly disgusted with himself for failing everyone. Noticing his slow approach, Serpedal's daughter leapt to her feet and ran over to greet him enthusiastically.

"Daddy!!", she cried out as she quickly turned around to bring him a cup of water. "Did you get the old machine to work?! Are the Emperor's Angels coming to save us!?"

Seeing his daughter look up at him like he was some sort of invincible hero, the last bit of strength in his heart finally gave out. Falling to his knees before her, Serpedal shakily grabbed her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes.

"Martha… I... I am sorry…", Serpedal choked up. "Daddy could not make the old machine work. He did his very best, but it was not good enough."

"So… no one is coming to save us…", Martha asked him as the color began to drain from her face. "We... we are going to die here...?"

Upon hearing that question, Serpedal burst into tears and began repeatedly apologizing to her. Having signed up to be a guardsman to fight for his children's future, he never imagined that the people he loved most in life would end up dying alongside him. Unable to bear the thought of his wife, daughter, and infant son dying in front of him when the enemy swarmed the building, Serpedal began berating himself for being unable to protect them like he wanted to.

"I am so sorry!!", Serpedal wailed loudly. "I am such a terrible father for not forcing the three of you onto the refugee ship when I had the chance. If I had, the three of you could have lived on instead of dying here with me."

Unable to see her husband suffer so greatly, Serpedal's wife got up and walked over to him. Carrying their infant son in her arms, she knelt before him and assured him that he was not a terrible husband.

"When Sarkish VII was swallowed up by the Warp, you fought tooth and nail to come find us. You protected us around the clock when we had to move from fortress to fortress looking for safe shelter, even when your body was on the verge of collapse. When food was scarce, you forewent eating just to make sure we had enough to fill our stomachs.", she said, pulling her daughter and husband into a hug. "You are a great deal of many things, but a terrible father and husband is not one of them. The three of us know you have endured quite a lot on our behalf, and no matter what happens, we will always love you, dear."

Holding his most important people closely, the ground suddenly began to shake violently. Fearing that they were moments away from dying, everyone inside the fortress clung to their loved ones and bid them farewell. Waiting for the men outside to start screaming in agony, the survivors were startled when they began shouting about something else.

"THE ENEMY SHIPS ARE FALLING OUT OF THE SKY!!!", several soldiers outside screamed, his words echoing through the fortress, "SOMEONE HAS COME TO SAVE US!!"

"Keep firing, you blithering idiots!!", an officer shouted. "Do not stop... INCOMING!!!"

Hearing a large object closing in from above, a massive explosion suddenly rocked the fortress before a head-splitting roar echoed through the region. Unable to take the severe shaking any longer, one of the fortress' outer walls caved inward, forcing those nearby to flee for their lives. Able to see what exactly was happening outside now, everyone gasped in shock as they noticed that the massive daemon was on the ground now. Before anyone had a chance to ask what was happening, the communication equipment began to come to life.

"Fort Warden, can you hear us? Come in, Fort Warden.", a voice called out. "This is the city ship New Genesis. The Second Legion's Armada has arrived to render assistance. Do you copy?"

"Daddy!! Someone heard your call!!", Martha shouted with excitement.

Immediately letting go of his family, Serpedal sprinted across the room to reach the microphone. Collapsing to the floor in pain, he pressed the button and quickly acknowledged they could as he let out a painful scream.

"Yes!! We can… hear you!!! Loud and... CLEAR!!", Serpedal shrieked, feeling blood dripping out onto his skin.

"This is Lieutenant Caldwell of the Second Legion. We are here to evacuate all remaining survivors of Sarkish VII.", Communication Officer Caldwell spoke. "Listen closely; the Order of Divine Lamentation will arrive at your location shortly. While most will rush straight into battle, a few will hang back to begin issuing evacuation orders. Follow their commands exactly; we want to evacuate all of you as quickly and safely as humanly possible."

"We understand!", Serpedal acknowledged, looking at his family with a smile. "You said you are with the Second Legion, right? What is your Primarch's name?"

"His name is Victor von Stark; he is the Emperor of Mankind's grandson.", Caldwell told him. "He will be arriving shortly as well to lend his strength."

Before he could ask him to repeat what he said, several brilliant beams of light slammed into the ground around the fortress. Vaporizing all the enemies the light touched, thousands of Astartes and soldiers began pouring out of the beams, guns a-blazing. Caught off guard by their sudden appearance, the enemy's frontlines began to rapidly collapse under their violent assault.

"CALLING IN AN EAGLE BOYS!!", one of the ordinary soldiers shouted, lobbing a blinking ball into the crowd of enemies, "HAVE A TASTE OF FREEDOM, YOU SONS OF BITCHES!!"

Watching a large bomb fall out of the sky, it slammed into the ground directly where he threw the blinking ball and violently exploded, sending hundreds of enemies to oblivion. Laughing in response to their abrupt deaths, he and his comrades began mowing down enemies with gatling laser guns.

"Alright ladies, secure the perimeter and hold the line until the evacuation is complete!", Ionica shouted as a distortion appeared behind the survivors. "Agnis, Della, Flori, Katra, and Lizzie, make sure you do a thorough sweep of the building before saying the evacuation is complete. Primarch Stark made it clear if anyone gets left behind, he is going to take it out of our asses!"

"Yes, Canoness Superior!", the five women acknowledged as their comrades blitzed out the door, "It will be done!"

"Very good.", Ionica said, turning to the exit, "FOR THE EMPEROR!!"

"FOR THE EMPEROR!!", the rest of her subordinates shouted back.

Deploying laser cannons and shielding, Victor's men quickly secured the perimeter and began pushing the enemy back. As they were not trying to clear the planet of enemies, just evacuating the people here, they dug in and kept the enemy a good distance away from the fortress. Enraged that their prey was getting away, many World Eaters blindly charged forward, hoping to break through the defensive line, only to have their bodies torn to pieces in an instant.

"Commander Lawson, the enemy fleet has been wiped out. We have complete control of the airspace.", Commander Eagleson announced over the radio. "Sending in the big guns now."

"Roger that, Eagleson!", Lawson chuckled as he used his Argent Battleaxe to cleave several dozen enemies in half. "Alright men, those Zaku units are only in the experimental stage. Do not push them too hard, and do not wander too far from our defensive line. If you break one of those two rules, the Supreme Commander is liable to yeet you into space for ruining his creations."

Teleporting above the defensive line, the Zaku units deployed their modified Nova Cannon rifles and began laying down devastating, suppressive fire. Targeting dense pockets of enemies and heavily armored units, they melted everything unfortunate enough to end up in their crosshairs. Laughing like schoolchildren with every shot, the pilots completely understood their Supreme Commander's obsession with mech units.

Watching the chaotic scene unfolding behind them, the two Primarchs looked at one another with confusion. Recognizing the Custodes, Grey Knights, and Sisters of Battle immediately, neither of them could place the emblem on the other unit's armor. Racking their brains for who they might be, their train of thought was interrupted when two groups of men began calling out to them.

"Primarch Russ!!", Warcrow roared, bisecting a World Eater with a wave of his hand. "We are here to bring you home, my Lord!"

"Lord Vulkan, the Emperor of Mankind wishes to see you back on Terra as soon as possible!", Agar proclaimed as he and his men used their hammers to steamroll a path through the enemy lines.

"The Emperor… he… he is alive!?", Vulkan shouted, his face reflecting the excitement in his heart. "How can this be?"

"The Second Legion returned to the Imperium of Man.", Agar explained. "Lord— "

Interrupting his sentence with an earthshaking roar, the Bloodthirsters began to slowly rise to his feet once again. Turning back to face their foe, a barrage of repulsor blasts began to rain down upon it from high above them. Realizing that they were nearly out of time, the two groups of Astartes seized their Primarchs and began ferrying them back to the fortress. Uncertain what they were doing, Russ began to violently protest, demanding to know why they were fleeing when they clearly had the upper hand now.

"I said, let me go, damn it!", Russ howled in annoyance. "If you do not let me go this instant, I will rip your throats out."

"ALL FORCES, BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!", Commander Dance ordered as everyone dove behind cover.

Throwing their Primarchs onto the ground, the men dove on them to shield them from what was about to happen. Bathing the area in a golden light, as he rapidly descended from the atmosphere, Victor drove Dawnbreaker straight into the behemoth at Mach 5. Slamming the enormous foe deep into the ground, the earth violently exploded as tidal waves of dirt, rock, and golden flames radiated outward from the impact zone. Turning to flee for their lives, tens of millions of enemy units were caught up in the aftermath and wiped from existence by the purifying flames.

"What… what was that…", Serpedal gasped, barely able to hear anything over the death throes of the enemy.

"That was Primarch Stark delivering the Emperor's Wrath upon our enemy.", Superior Sister Agnis proclaimed with a big grin. "Take your family and fall back to the New Genesis. We will handle the rest."

Helping her husband stand up, the four of them quickly retreated into the spatial distortion as the fighting began once again.