What followed shortly after our conquest was a mass execution of the humans on the planet. Everyone was killed, down to the last hiding soul. A few of said humans were infected by chaos, but their souls will be given to the galaxy no matter what.

Milky appears on my shoulder with a meow and rubs itself on my face. I smile and scratch under its chin,

“Was that a good meal, buddy?”

Milky nods its head and disappears suddenly. It seems that, though that was a filling meal, it wasn’t nearly enough to make up for the millennia of starvation. I stand on the colossus hovering above the planet we recently destroyed. I wave my hand, enveloping the entire planet in black mist, converting every human corpse, and reviving our fallen soldiers. I turn to the captain and say,

“Get all the vessels battleship size and smaller to land planetside and pick up our resurrected, as well as the new soldiers. We’ll be moving on Accatran next. We should expect heavy resistance from the mechanicum, much heavier than anything we’ve faced.”

Accatran, home forge of the Legio Destructor, one of the largest titan legions of the entire imperium. Also known as the Beasts of Steel, they could pose a significant threat to the ground forces. I suspect they’ll need orbital support for this one. After all, a measly little knight cannot hope to compare to a titan. I’ll probably fight one myself as well.

It takes a few days for everyone to be gathered up, but following the recruitment of converted humans, we gained another 30 billion troops. They begin filling up the ship nicely, but with a maximum capacity of around 500 quadrillion, we could most likely fit the entirety of the Imperium of man on this one colossus. As the engines spool up, I look out at the cosmos, flying by like specs of dust. Within a split second, we arrive at Accatran. A mighty imperium fleet is ready to greet us, but it seems rather paltry considering the ship in front of them

The hangars open up as vessels begin to spew out of the ship like ants from a hill.

—----------------------------------------------

[Guardsmen Dietrich - Accatron]

I look up at the mighty fleet of the Imperial navy, standing still in the sky like a shepherd protecting their flock. We were suddenly told by command to prepare for an invasion, likely another paltry attempt by the ork menace to get their hands on the titans. It’s no matter, though. They’ll fall like the rest. I take a swig from my flask, and look down at the ground with a chuckle. People like me, the ones that are constantly placed on the back line, will most likely never seen serious combat. I once shot at an ork. Missed, but I took the shot. As I chuckle to myself, I notice the other soldiers beside me begin gasping.

I see them looking into the sky with eyes filled with fear. I raise my eyebrow and look up as well…

Oh… How I wish I had more whiskey…

…

“O-our navy… Is gone…”

—-----------------------------------------------

The battle with their navy was relatively uneventful. A single volley was all it took to completely dismantle them. I speak to the captain from my seat,

“Before sending the ground troops, we’ll soften them up with a few orbital volleys. During the last attack, quite a few soldiers were shot out of the air, at least a hundred thousand. We’ll target their anti-air, and their orbital weaponry.”

I stand up and walk towards the large glass viewing port in front of me, looking over the disgusting thing that is Accatran. Oh, how I wish I had some whiskey. They scarred the poor planet beyond recognition. As I look to the planet, I focus on the ground and notice a titan getting ready for action. I point my finger at it and send a beam of magic energy hurtling towards the titan. Of course, it passes through the glass without causing any damage.

It slams into the titan and explodes from the inside with the same payload as a low-yield nuclear warhead. The steel skin of the titan curls outwards and liquifies, spraying the mechanics around it with scalding liquid before they are ultimately reduced to ash by the bomb. I speak without facing the captain and say,

“And if you see any titans, take them out as well. We’ll attack after a week of constant bombardment.”

The captain speaks to me,

“And what should we do about population centers?”

I turn around and walk back to my chair and say,

“They’ll be dead either way, I’d rather deal with those who can fight against us first.”

The captain nods his head and relays my orders, sending a rain of lasers that turn the defenses of Accatran to ash.

For three weeks, I sit at my chair, watching the light show destroy the surface of the planet. As I stand, the captain gives the order to halt the attack. I look at him and say,

“Well, I believe it may be time to test the metal of their titans now. And their mettle.”

AN: and now it's a ghost planet