"What is your duty!?"
"To serve the Emperor's will!"
"What is the Emperor's will?
"That we fight and die!"
"What is death!?"
"It is our duty!"
The fortress-monastery Warhammer 40,000 a fan video on YouTube.
….
Flavius rode through the large stone gate that led into the Chavarian Capital as a large 10-meter-thick stone wall dominated the landscape as soldiers patrolled back and forth, their spears rising above the battlements which flew the banner of the imperial family from its ramparts.
"Your highness, I shall take my leave."
A large noble said to Prince Flavius, his belly bigger than a boulder as he dismounted his horse with the help of a servant who collapsed under the man's weight, being flattened to the cobbled ground. Only a few meters away from the large man, a luxurious carriage was waiting, ready to take him back to his mansion.
The horse this fat noble rode had a look of relief on its face when it was spared the burden of having to haul the huge noble weight, which was so big, fat and oily that even Dong Zhou, the renowned fat tyrant of ancient China could only admit defeat when faced with this bloated noble who enjoyed all the decadent pleasures life had to offer.
"Have a good night, Count Pegner. Don't worry, my lord. Tomorrow, you will get your just desserts for your heroic actions today."
Flavius said cryptically from his horse to the fat noble, his tone getting darker nearer the end of the sentence as the future Chavarian crown prince was aware of just what these just desserts would be.
Despite Flavius being slightly reluctant to purge so many of his supporters, he understood where his father was coming from, for the imperial family truly could not allow such an assassination as Victarion's to go unpunished.
This is because otherwise, such practices as the assassination of princes would become the norm in the Chavarian Empire, which would put the imperial family at risk and invite scheming from the nobility, allowing them to control who inherited the throne.
This, in turn, would create constant conflicts as various noble families battle for influence in the imperial court and would mean that there would be a fight for succession after the death of every emperor, which would eventually lead to the collapse and weakening of the Chavarian Empire due to constant civil wars for power.
By purging many of the noble families that took part in this assassination, a clear message would be sent out to nobles within the empire that killing a prince would always come with consequences, helping to dissuade them from scheming or taking such actions again. There would also be the added benefit of dealing with many of the corrupt nobles in the empire, as many of them had joined in the plot in an attempt to get themselves more wealth, power and influence, not because they believed he was a better ruler than his softer older brother whose benevolence and kindness may be abused by treacherous villains such as these.
Thanks to the evil deeds of these nobles, it was easy to find reasons to arrest, execute and confiscate their lands, but those with any political awareness would know that it was because they dared to harm an imperial prince that such a fate had befallen them. After all, the imperial family did not pursue these crimes or bring them up until they crossed this final line, despite knowing about them.
This was purely for practical reasons because they needed the loyalty of these nobles, who were part of the old Kingdom of Chavaria, to help become the imperial family's powerbase while the Plurian and Nadron kingdoms were properly integrated into the empire.
There had already been 5 rebellions in the 10 years since the empire's founding, which erupted in these areas for various reasons. 3 were from nobles loyal to their old countries rebelling in an attempt to restore their fallen kingdoms discontented by foreign rule, while the other 2 were peasant rebellions that occurred due to gross abuse of power from new lords sent to govern these regions.
In one that was based in the Kingdom of Plurus, Bardornus, the skilled Plurian general who faced Lucius, appeared leading thousands of ex-Plurian soldiers, forcing the emperor to send Lucius on a year-long campaign to put down the rebellion; however, even Lucius failed to capture the old Plurian general whose martial skill had increased to the grandmaster level, and strategic skills were at the master level.
It took all of Lucius' cunning and skill as a grandmaster strategist to take on Bardornus without the aid of Leon, his trusty friend and subordinate. The old Plurian general had timed his rebellion well, waiting until Drusus died, leading to conflict between the imperial family and the nobles behind it, and hatred for Chavaria to reach its peak before appearing and killing a count using the tyrannical nobles' fortune and territory as the base for his rebellion.
In all of these cases, it was with the help of these semi-corrupt noble families that had been under the imperial families' rule for hundreds of years that the empire managed to survive, which also happened to give these nobles a reprieve from imperial justice even if many did it to expand their own power and wealth to feed their ambitions in the future.
But the murder of Prince Victarion was a step too far, breaking the furious emperor's bottom line as this was a prince heavily favoured by the emperor who would have become the crown prince if he had returned from his trip, making these nobles provoke the Chavarian emperor's wrath.
The other nobles accompanying the prince also said their goodbyes while Archtorius sent an ice-cold glare at the prince.
"Remember your promise! If even a hair is hurt on my son's head, ill reveal what you did to the world and lead Lucius' loyal soldiers in revolt regardless of what that old fuck of a war minister says."
"Do you understand!?"
Archtorius said with an anger-filled voice before leaving. Unlike the others who showed respect for the prince and looked forward to their lucrative rewards, the war veteran in his late thirties had nothing but contempt for the man who had irreparably hurt relations between the imperial family and their loyal subjects all so he could sit on the throne of power.
Prince Flavius became serious, calling out to the disgruntled man.
"Your son will be with you in a few days. Thank you for your help, general. We could not have pulled this off without you."
The prince said, trying to placate the obviously angry man before a group of black and red imperial guards appeared, startling the prince, who did not expect them to appear here at the gatehouse, for they never left their barracks or the palace without orders from Chavaria's supreme ruler. The ones that had accompanied him to deal with House Aurellion quickly returned to the emperor after the battle, giving him a respectful bow before riding off at breakneck speed towards the palace as Daemonus knew that it would not take long for the minister of war to find out what happened and confront the emperor about the recent events wanting to be there to ensure his lieges survival.
"Your highness, his majesty, the emperor has summoned you to the palace immediately. Please follow us!"
The leader of the guards, a vice commander, said in an authoritative but respectful tone, bowing to the prince. While they only took orders from the emperor, they still respected all members of the imperial family.
A look of worry appeared on the prince's face when he heard the guard's words as he began thinking about why he was summoned to see the emperor when he had seen him just the night before. He then reluctantly followed the imperial guards who escorted him to the palace.
….
Count Pegnar was enjoying looking at the starry night sky lying on a giant deckchair in his mansion's colossal garden, his enormous amount of blubber spilling over the recesses of the chair as it creaked, the wood that it was made from was strained from having to hold up the bulbous man's weight.
It was common for the obese count to get through multiple chairs a month as each eventually collapsed under the supernatural weight of its occupant. Though recently, the rich and cunning count had ordered a custom-made chair which he was sitting on now, which had been there for three months. The ironwood it was made of came at great expense as the rare hardwood was usually only used to create gates or shields for times of war.
Many wondered how the large count even managed to live past 40 as he stuffed his face with various delicacies, from cakes to huge hunks of meat, all were devoured within minutes when faced with this man's gaping jaw.
A small stream trickled through the garden, where I met a small lake no bigger than a pond whose water reflected the silvery light that rained down from the moon and stars.
BANG!
The doors to the count's mansion were forced flying open as black-red imperial guards streamed into the house from all directions, quickly dispatching the count's own guards, who were nothing when compared to the battle-hardened imperial guards with those who resisted falling to the cold steel which sliced through their flesh killing them.
The sound of swords clashing made the count jump up with surprising agility as he strained each fat-encased muscle in an attempt to get up. By the time he did so, he could see imperial guards approach him as he took on an arrogant tone, confident due to his illusion that he had the support of Prince Flavius, who had abandoned him and many others to soothe the emperor's anger and make way for his smooth ascension to the throne.
"How dare you break into my mansion! Do you know who I am!? I am a close confidant of Prince Flavius! I will have you all killed for this insult."
The fat man screamed at the approaching imperial guards, who didn't care for his words, not even stopping for a second, for no matter the person, whether a powerful noble or prince, all the cold imperial guards cared about was executing the emperor's will, and right now, that meant arresting the pudgy count who could flatten a man under his weight.
Seeing that the approaching armoured men were not stopping, he then called out to one of the experts who served his house, hoping to be able to use the man's prowess to escape, knowing that, for some reason, the imperial family had turned on him which in the current empire only meant one thing for him and potentially even for his family.
Death.
"Where is Rainulf!?"
He shouted in alarm only for Daemonus, the commander of the imperial guards, to enter, clutching a severed head in his hands, which the count recognised as the master-level fighter that he hoped could get him to safety while calling out in a loud voice which echoed through the mansion.
"By order of the emperor, arrest Count Pegnar Pelavious!"
The emperor's loyal commander said, holding an ornate decree while throwing the head in front of the count, crushing the last bit of spirit the fat noble had left. This night, the imperial secretariat, the place where all the emperor's orders are written before being given out, would not rest as decree after decree was written before being given to the imperial guards for them to execute.
The imperial prisons that before the night were mostly empty would slowly be filled as noble after noble would be thrown into one cell after another alongside their families to await the emperor's justice.
"On what charges am I being arrested?"
The fat count asked, fear present in his eyes as it took four grown men to restrain and start dragging him away as something like this had not happened since a group of powerful nobles murdered Great General Drusus.
"You will learn them soon enough, but there is enough evidence to convict you even if there was a fair trial."
The commander said darkly before motioning towards his men as the death throes of the count's guards ceased as all had died or surrendered to the imperial guards who did not lose a single man, a testament to their skill as warriors.
"Take him away!"
"What do you mean 'even if I got a fair trial'?"
"Commander, what the hell is going on!?"
"COMMANDER!"
Count Pegnar shouted while being dragged away. As he was frogmarched through his mansion, he could see other members of his family and household also being dragged away by other imperial guards, each with a look of confusion on their faces as they wondered what great crime they had committed to be treated in such a way.
After sealing the count's mansion, Daemonus went to the next noble estate on the list, which the imperial guards had already surrounded as every single one of the 50,000 imperial guards was mobilised to enforce the emperor's will. In total, 70 noble families who had assisted in one way or another with the assassination of Victarion's death were arrested that night.
After each noble was arrested, a new decree was swiftly given to him seconds after he sealed their mansions, allowing him to move seamlessly from one mansion to the other as several hundred people were arrested in one night.
A few of the more powerful noble families were left alone. These were the ones who had grandmasters serving them. While they were not public, how could the emperor and those with influence and power not keep track of the dozen-odd grandmasters that reside within the empire? Especially when they could be valuable assets or potential threats! As a result, the imperial family took great care in knowing where these people were at all times.
This is because even if Daemonus and the minister of war worked together, they were unsure if they could deal with the grandmasters of the powerful aristocrats, as the emperor was aware of at least 4 grandmasters amongst the nobles in Flavius' old faction. Most of these were from ancient noble families who had built up a power base over hundreds of years, spreading their roots throughout the empire.
Of course, not all grandmasters in the empire serve their countries or a lord, as many have great pride in their abilities while others look to use their extraordinary skills to make money and remain as mercenaries available to the highest bidder. A few grandmasters prefer to be left alone in peace, blending in with the ordinary citizens around them or, like Bardornus, who was now a grandmaster-level fighter, remained loyal to their old oaths, leading a resistance movement and protecting the last heir to the old Plurian royal family.
This is why the imperial family had 3 grandmasters with combat-related skills known by influential people loyal to them. The emperor's brother, who controls the 100,000 men that Lucius was not in control of and when Cassius was fighting for the throne, provided vital military and political support for the old emperor's rise to power much like Leon is for house Aurellion while his tactical abilities on the battlefield are lacking he makes up for it with his great marital skill and dogged determination.
While only an expert strategist due to the rarity of master-level and above military strategists, this was not much of a problem as it is known that military strategy is one of the most challenging skills to master, for if it wasn't, then grandmaster strategists wouldn't be so feared or respected throughout the world.
The others were the minister of war, who keeps a low profile, controlling the imperial court from the shadows and finally, the commander of the imperial guards, Daemonus, who is known throughout the world as one of the best fighters around though this is because he was one of the select few grandmasters that everyone even commoners knew about.
The fact that Chavaria was able to produce two grandmaster strategists within a 50-year time period made the countries around them green with envy, though none dared to attack the fledgling empire while such terrifying existences controlled its military. What was worse was that over the past 25-30 odd years, there has only been a short two years when Chavaria didn't have one in control of its armies, and this was after one had been assassinated nearly ten years ago.
So, before the emperor made his move against these powerful families, he needed to gather as many resources as he could, especially grandmasters, so that he could deal with his enemies.