Cheers rang out in the battle command chamber of the Indomitus Fleet flagship, Macragge's Honour.
Through the Skull Probe's transmission, Guilliman could not contain his astonishment at the tremendous feat accomplished by a single Guardsman.
With a single shot, more than several hundred thousand Orks and hundreds of Ork vehicles had been annihilated.
But that was not what mattered.
"Lord Commander, reports are coming in that the Orks have begun slaughtering one another across the entire planet."
It had been an Ork horde with the potential to grow so vast that the Indomitus Crusade Fleet itself would need to intervene.
But the Guardsman's shot had happened to catch the Ork Warlord in its blast, wiping him from existence without a trace.
And now his subordinate Warbosses had begun fighting savagely to claim the Warlord's position for themselves.
"An extraordinary achievement."
He was neither an elite such as an Astartes or a Custodian, nor a special-operations soldier like a Tempestus Scion.
The man responsible for such a feat was merely an ordinary veteran Guardsman.
Even Guilliman, who had endured countless wars, had never seen a Guardsman achieve such results.
After having his aides verify the information on that Guardsman, Guilliman decided to personally reward him.
He was the man who had, with a single shot, effectively ended the war on this planet.
"Bring him to me."
"Yes, Lord Commander!"
A Thunderhawk launched from Macragge's Honour to collect Radian, while troops assigned to escort him were urgently dispatched in drop pods as a precaution.
Watching the forces being deployed, Fabian, Captain of the Third Company, thought that if Black Templars or Iron Hands had been present, they would have kidnapped the man on the spot and forcibly made him an Aspirant.
If he had only been a little younger, they undoubtedly would have done the same.
"A pity."
If a man who had accomplished such great deeds while still mortal became a Space Marine, how much greater might his accomplishments become?
Fabian could only regret it.
Once more, a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth rang out from the sky.
I had heard that sound before.
Blue-painted drop pods fell from the sky, and Ultramarines descended alongside Marines in green armor—where were they from again? The Aurora Chapter? In any case, Marines clad in green armor descended as well.
More than fifty Marines.
One of them, a Marine adorned with elaborate decorations, approached me and removed his helmet.
I bowed my head and went down on one knee.
"Rise, Guardsman Radian. You have performed a great deed. It is worthy even of the respect of us Astartes."
"No, my lord. It was solely through the protection of His Majesty the Emperor."
"Excessive humility can become a poison. His Majesty the Emperor Himself would commend your achievement. Guardsman Radian, a transport will arrive shortly. Prepare yourself."
"What is happening, my lord?"
"The Primarch, master of the Ultramarines and Lord Commander of the Imperium, has said that he will personally commend your achievement."
I thought I was going to faint on the spot.
A Primarch.
And the only Primarch still active in this age, at that!
My legs trembled violently, and I barely managed to stop my bladder and bowels from letting go right then and there.
[Thunderhawk 6. ETA: 3 minutes.]
All these Space Marines had descended solely to escort me.
Overwhelmed by the honor, I dropped to both knees without meaning to.
"For so many of Your Excellencies, these glorious angels, to come for the sake of a mere man like me... I am more honored than I can say...."
The helmetless Marine grinned.
"Because your achievement is worth it."
A massive, blue-painted Thunderhawk arrived, and clutching my trembling legs together with all my strength, I managed to board it.
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