Kenthelion glanced toward Carmen, who still looked visibly annoyed. His voice was calm, but carried absolute confidence as he spoke quickly:
Kenthelion:
"I'll take control of your John A. Warden. Give me ten minutes... maybe less."
Carmen scoffed but didn't look away. Her face was still flushed-part rage, part from that lewd whisper of his still echoing in her ears. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew the bastard was her only shot right now.
Kenthelion let out a short sigh. He paid no attention to the soldiers milling around the command corridors. In his mind, they were little more than temporary noise. With a single command, he would order them evacuated back to Earth-after he reclaimed the John A. Warden from enemy hands. At this point, he had more than enough firepower and loyal subordinates to get it done.
"Handling mobile infantry? Leave that to the Sky Marshal," he thought coldly. "Once Terra falls under my control, they'll either pledge loyalty... or disappear."
Troops without loyalty weren't assets. They were liabilities. And Kenthelion never tolerated weakness.
Major Henry Vallow and Lieutenant Tony Daugherty observed from a distance. They watched the quiet exchange between Kenthelion and Carmen, but couldn't make out a single word. Still, the look on Carmen's face said enough-something had been agreed upon, albeit reluctantly.
Kenthelion had just promised to take back the John A. Warden and return it to Carmen. She was its rightful captain-and more importantly, the only one capable of piloting it with pinpoint precision.
Major Henry started to step forward, ready to ask what the next move was. But he stopped cold when he saw Kenthelion turn and walk toward Tia Durer. The two of them began speaking in hushed tones, just the two of them-and for some reason, Henry decided it wasn't his business.
"I'm here fighting Arachnids, and he's busy gathering women," Henry muttered inwardly with a cynical smirk.
For the next few minutes, only Kenthelion and Tia's quiet voices filled the command center. The atmosphere turned heavy, the air tense with anticipation. Everyone stole glances at the pair, but no one dared interrupt.
Then suddenly, the entire structure of the John A. Warden gave a subtle tremble. The main engines roared to life. The massive warship began to move-slowly at first, but unmistakably.
Carmen snapped into motion, dropping into the command chair, her fingers flying across the control panel. Her eyes narrowed, fixed on the main screen.
Major Henry and Lieutenant Daugherty stepped closer, stopping just behind her. They saw how focused she was-and knew better than to speak.
Carmen:
"We're moving. The John A. Warden is online... But this is strange-it's moving on its own," she muttered sharply, eyes locked on the streaming navigation data across the screen.
Major Henry Vallow
"Where are we going?" he asked, standing beside Carmen. His gaze followed the movement on the navigation screen, his expression darkening as he realized the ship was banking steadily at increasing speed.
Carmen
"I don't know... But we need to stop this ship right now. I can't override it from here." Her voice was tight with tension.
Major Henry
"Then how do we stop it?"
Carmen
"You'll have to go to the engine room. Shut the core down manually."
She hesitated, then turned toward Kenthelion with a sharp, worried glance.
"Kenthelion, why haven't you taken control of the ship yet? That was part of our deal, wasn't it?"
Kenthelion
"Red Queen, what's going on? Can you take control now?"
Red Queen
"Big brother, system upgrade will be complete in two more minutes. Be patient. We can take over all their ships easily after this."
Her voice had that smug tone-like a child showing off a new toy.
Kenthelion
"Red Queen... sounds like you're getting cheeky again. What if I hand you back over to the Adeptus Mechanicus?"
Red Queen
"No! Please, big brother! I promise I'll behave! I'd rather stay with Dr. Halsey..."
Her voice suddenly shifted-frightened and fragile, like a child afraid of losing her safe space.
Kenthelion
"Relax, Carmen. Just two more minutes."
He turned to her, calm but firm, trying to ease the growing panic on her face as her warship seemed to slip out of her grasp.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
"Captain Ibanez, look ahead!" he shouted, pointing out the main view window.
Carmen
"Oh my God... no!"
Her eyes went wide.
"The John A. Warden is heading straight into a wormhole... and it's aimed directly at Earth!"
Right before them, a massive wormhole had formed-dark, swirling, and ominous. Its strange gravity was already pulling the dreadnought in, slow but sure.
Kenthelion stared ahead as well, his expression hardening. He knew Red Queen hadn't yet completed the system takeover-and right now, he had no full control over the ship. Time was running out, and the Arachnid threat was far from over.
Suddenly, the sharp echoes of explosions and gunfire rang out beyond the bridge.
The Arachnid Queen had launched a counterattack. Waves of warrior bugs crashed against the human defensive perimeter. But Kenthelion's forces were ready.
His mobile infantry held the line with ruthless precision and unbreakable discipline. The towering bugs dropped one after another, shredded by concentrated fire and locked formation defenses.
Then-as if the universe hit pause-the John A. Warden began to slow. The engine's tremors eased. The navigation path shifted-veering away from the wormhole's maw.
Red Queen
"Big brother, I've secured control of the John A. Warden. I'm now rerouting it away from the wormhole created by the Arachnid Queen."
Her voice beamed with pride, like a child who had finally solved a difficult puzzle.
Kenthelion
"Good. Now... let's talk next steps. And make damn sure there are no more surprises waiting on the other side of that thing."
Kenthelion finally felt a wave of relief wash over him. Had the John A. Warden crossed into that wormhole and entered a direct conflict course with another fleet, space combat would've been inevitable. In the worst-case scenario, the ship could have sustained catastrophic damage-something that would be a strategic disaster. And for Kenthelion, that was the last thing he wanted.
Not just because of the John A. Warden's military value-but because of something far more personal.
To Kenthelion, this wasn't just about securing a war asset. This was about reaching into the heart of Carmen's obsession. In every iteration of Starship Troopers, Carmen Ibanez was always portrayed as a woman whose soul and body were tethered to the ship she commanded. Saving the John A. Warden-intact, uncompromised-was the only way to earn her trust and... maybe even her heart.
Carmen stood by the main control panel, her eyes locked sharply onto Kenthelion.
Carmen
"Captain Kenthelion, how did you manage to take control of the John A. Warden? I know it was you when the ship started moving away from the wormhole on its own."
Her tone was less of a question, more of an accusation.
Kenthelion
"Carmen... I'll explain later."
The answer was short, delivered with calm conviction, but enough to make Carmen narrow her eyes-not satisfied, but with no room to press further.
Carmen
"What are you going to do now?"
Her voice dropped a pitch, but the tension still clung in the air between them.
Kenthelion
"Red Queen, connect me to Selene."
Red Queen
"Yes, Brother."
A few seconds later, the main comms screen flickered to life, revealing Selene's face. She sat with graceful poise in the command chamber of Fort Cassie, wearing her signature leather attire from her Underworld universe. Dim red lighting and the gothic interior behind her confirmed it-Fort Cassie was under control.
Selene
"Kenthelion, Fort Cassie is ours. There are still some bug clusters in the inner sectors, but our forces are sweeping and clearing them."
Kenthelion
"Good. I've taken control of the John A. Warden. We're en route to Fort Cassie now. Prep your tactical units-there are still remnants of the bugs hiding somewhere inside this ship that need to be eliminated."
He knew full well that simply pulling the ship away from the wormhole wasn't enough to secure it. It needed a full sweep. And for that, Selene was his most effective ally.
Selene
"Understood. I'll have an elite team ready to receive you at the docking bay."
Kenthelion gave a firm nod, then turned back to the ship's navigation system.
Kenthelion
"Red Queen, set course for Fort Cassie. And tell Jonah to bring the Alesia to the rendezvous point."
Red Queen
"Got it! Coordinates locked in. We'll arrive at Fort Cassie shortly."
A low rumble vibrated through the ship's floor as the main thrusters engaged. Slowly, the ship began to shift course-pulling away from the menacing gravity well of the wormhole, now charting a path toward the safety of Fort Cassie-the next stronghold in Kenthelion's grand plan.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
"Captain Kenthelion... the Mobile Infantry forces and... those other strange troops at Fort Cassie-are they yours too?"
Tony's tone was cautious, deliberate. He wasn't a fool-he knew what he'd seen at Fort Cassie was no coincidence. The rescue team had arrived with impossible timing, too coordinated, and many of them clearly didn't belong to any unit ever recorded in the Federation's military structure.
He considered pressing further, asking the hard questions-but his instincts, or maybe just plain fear, told him not to. He understood that if someone like Kenthelion truly commanded a force that large, one wrong word could be fatal.
Kenthelion
"Yes. The Mobile Infantry, and every other unit stationed at Fort Cassie... they all answer to me now."
The reply was calm, direct, and filled with quiet certainty. No denial, no evasion-just a straight admission. And somehow, that was even more terrifying.
Tony knew the soldiers had seen him walking side by side with Terran Marines, Spartans, and even stranger forces from worlds that defied every Federation doctrine. But Kenthelion didn't hide it. He didn't need to.
Now, with the John A. Warden fully under his control, he had severed all communication links with Earth. There would be no warning. No reports. Only silence... before the storm.
In his grand design, the Imperator Somnium and its support fleets would descend into Earth's orbit-not to negotiate, but to make a statement. The Federation would be forced to surrender before they could even raise a defense.
Everything would be broadcast live across the entire Starship Troopers world. In the Arachnid quarantine zone, a superweapon rivaling the Death Star was already locked and loaded, ready to deliver its final message:
Never defy the Imperium Caelestis.
And truthfully, Kenthelion almost pitied them. These Federation ships... were pathetic. No shields. No strategic-grade weapons. They were nothing compared to his fleet-a fusion of cutting-edge tech from Warhammer 40K, StarCraft, Star Wars, HALO, Stellaris, Mass Effect, and Psycho-Frame command systems straight out of Gundam.
They didn't even realize how hopelessly outmatched they were.
Carmen
"Kenthelion..." she said sharply, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You let your troops take Fort Cassie. And now... all of them answer to you?"
She clenched her jaw, gaze piercing-sharp enough to draw blood.
"Who are you really?" she demanded, her voice dropping low but losing none of its edge. "How the hell are you commanding forces like that-forces from worlds we've never even heard of?"
She stood frozen, her mind racing. Everything she knew-command structures, military protocols, Federation hierarchy-none of it could explain Kenthelion. He wasn't just another officer. Hell, he might not even be human.
The soldiers with him-from exosuit infantry to cybernetic entities and alien warriors-wielded technologies that defied explanation. Some looked like they'd been ripped straight out of war legends or tactical battle simulations. And yet, they all obeyed him.
Kenthelion
"You'll know who I truly am... when the time is right," he said, voice calm but unyielding.
"For now, what matters is our shared enemy-the Arachnid."
Kenthelion said nothing. He simply looked at Carmen, calm and composed, before offering a faint smile-a smile laced with challenge. A test. As if to see whether she still had the resolve to uphold their agreement.
Carmen met his gaze, unmoving. Her eyes searched his face, thoughts whirling behind them. After a few tense seconds, she finally gave a slow nod. Not out of certainty-far from it-but because she had no choice. She knew that even if she objected now, Kenthelion would still control the John A. Warden. He was already inside the ship. And that fact alone couldn't be ignored.
Red Queen
"Brother, I've sealed off all the hangar doors. The bugs can't reach the bridge anymore. The Arachnid Queen is trapped in the engine compartment, but she's not alone-there are a lot of them down there."
The ship's systems were now entirely under Red Queen's control-an artificial intelligence designed not just to follow protocols, but to think, to adapt. She had quarantined the Arachnid Queen, sealing her off in the engine room and cutting access to all critical pathways.
Kenthelion
"Red Queen, stay alert. Warrior Bugs are approaching. Keep me updated in real-time. We're heading to Fort Cassie for a live assessment of the Arachnid Queen. Have the Inquisition-Xenos Division and the Grey Knights-on standby and awaiting orders."
Kenthelion didn't act on impulse. His strategy went beyond ordinary battlefield tactics.
He didn't merely want to defeat the bugs-he wanted to understand them. More precisely, he wanted to understand the Arachnid Queen. This creature was different. Not just a hive leader, but something capable of reading human thoughts... even beginning to interface with the ship's systems. That was unheard of. Even among high-tier biological species like the Tyranids or the Zerg, abilities like this were exceptionally rare.
The Arachnid Queen may not exhibit the brutal aggression of the Hive Mind or the Zerg Swarm, but there was something far more dangerous in her silence-intellectual potential and technological adaptability. And Kenthelion knew: in intergalactic warfare, all potential had to be explored. Nothing could be wasted.
But time was not on his side. If he didn't intervene soon, the Inquisitors of the Xenos Division and the zealous Grey Knights would purge the creature without hesitation-in the name of "galactic cleansing," echoing their fanatical war cries.
Carmen
"This warship... is being controlled?" she asked quietly, disbelief thick in her voice after overhearing Kenthelion's exchange with Red Queen.
In a flash, Carmen pieced it together-Kenthelion hadn't just infiltrated. He had taken command of the John A. Warden through a highly advanced artificial intelligence. Red Queen wasn't just some tactical subroutine. She was a digital entity capable of reacting instantly, sealing off access points, making strategic decisions, and leading tactical operations on her own.
It explained everything. Why the ship's defense systems no longer responded to standard commands. Why sensors and comms had fallen under a foreign protocol.
This wasn't just a warship anymore. This was a high-tech fortress-with layered, autonomous defenses. And it no longer belonged to the Federation.
---
Grey knight



Grey Knights - The Emperor's Final Blade
The Grey Knights are one of the Imperium's most profound and well-guarded secrets-a Chapter of Space Marines shrouded in mystery and forged for a singular purpose: to combat the daemonic horrors of the Warp and eliminate any who would wield the corrupting powers of the Chaos Gods.
Created during the height of the Horus Heresy, the Grey Knights were the product of a clandestine project orchestrated by the Emperor Himself, with the aid of His most trusted confidant, Malcador the Sigillite. Unlike other Astartes, their gene-seed was not derived from any Primarch but was engineered directly from the Emperor's own genome, making them among the most incorruptible beings in the galaxy.
The Grey Knights serve as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Malleus, the oldest and most secretive branch of the near-omnipotent Inquisition. Their fortress-monastery, the Citadel of Titan, lies hidden on Titan, Saturn's largest moon in the Sol System, shielded from prying eyes and maintained as the Inquisition's private sanctum.
Knowledge of the Chapter's existence is suppressed to such a degree that even most members of the Adeptus Astartes and Imperial high command are unaware of them. For those who do learn the truth-whether civilian or soldier-the price is often mind-wipe or execution.
Psykers Without Equal, Warriors Without Corruption
Every Grey Knight is not only a Space Marine but also a powerful psyker, trained from youth to master both the mind and the warp-born flame. They are paragons of physical might, mental discipline, and unyielding purity.
In over 10,000 years of Imperial history, not a single Grey Knight has ever fallen to Chaos. Not one.
The Chapter does not adhere to the Codex Astartes. Its warriors are not assigned to traditional companies, but to specially organized squads that can operate independently across the galaxy. Each squad is led by a higher-ranking Knight, whose commands are obeyed without hesitation or doubt-even light-years away from Titan.
A Bastion Against Nightmare
The Grey Knights are the blade that strikes at the heart of unreality. The daemons they face are not ordinary enemies, but manifestations of collective fear, rage, and suffering-beings that twist the laws of nature and tear at the fabric of reality itself.
Unlike mortal foes, daemons cannot be fought by conventional means. They are illusions given flesh, nightmares incarnate, and if left unchecked, they would consume humanity's soul and unravel the galaxy itself.
Against such terrors, the Imperium's armies-vast as they are-struggle. The Imperial Navy spans the void, the Astra Militarum floods battlefields with unending numbers, the Adeptus Astartes stand as demi-gods of war, and the Titan Legions shake the ground with every step.
Yet all of that power means nothing against the warp-born.
History has proven that any force can be corrupted-even the mighty Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes have fallen to the temptations of Chaos. The Emperor, in His infinite foresight, knew this truth well.
The Last Hope Against Chaos
Even if He were to triumph over Horus, the Emperor foresaw that Chaos would remain a perpetual threat-a shadow forever looming over mankind. To counter this, He created a secret brotherhood: incorruptible warriors, forged to be the galaxy's final bulwark.
They are the Grey Knights- Psychic transhuman weapons, immune to the whisper of Chaos, and wielders of truth forged in silence.
They ask for no praise, leave behind no monuments, and are known to none but a select few. They are the flame that burns in the dark, the last line between order and oblivion.
So long as they still stand, the galaxy has not yet surrendered to the nightmare.
Based on official lore from the Codex: Grey Knights and novels published by Black Library (Games Workshop).