Williameus offered a small, knowing smile. “It gets better, Master. The Kayvaan family’s holdings are far beyond the reach of direct Imperial trol. The tithes we pay are symbolic at best. pared to nobles dwelling in the Segmentum Sor, our wealth is siderable.”

  Kayvaan’s gaze darkehoughtfully. “That expins it. There’s no way anyone would willingly settle this far from Terra without some iive. How much of the family’s fortune do I trol now?”

  Williameus lowered his head and mumbled a number under his breath.

  “What?” Kayvaan froze for a moment, staring in disbelief. But he quickly snapped out of it, his face turning red with anger. He shot to his feet, shouting, “That’s all?! With just this little bit, you still think the Kayvaan family be ted as one of the wealthiest? What you even do with that amount? It’s not even enough to buy a hab on Terra!”

  Williameus sighed, realizing he had to tread carefully. He began expining in a calm and clear manner, leaving no room for misuanding.

  To put it simply, the Kayvaan family had always maintained a u pragmatic approach to wealth, a mihat persisted through geions. Unlike most noble houses, who often stockpiled their fortunes in hidden vaults, the Kayvaan dynasty believed that wealth only served a purpose whehe principle was straightforward: idle treasure is dead treasure. It ot feed armies, clothe citizens, or even power a single ship. Its role is to flow—ied and spent to build something greater.

  This doe shaped every deade by the dynasty. The previous governor, adhering to this tradition, saw gold not as a symbol of status but as a means to uplift the dynasty’s holdings. H riches in vaults full of Thrones and plundered relics was wasteful in his eyes, a barbaric relic of lesser minds. Instead, he funneled everything intress. Of course, what others called spending, he called iing.

  Kayvaan took a deep breath. He couldn’t deny his own uanding of finance was as shallow as a water basin. In his eyes, wealth was about stacks of Thrones glittering before him, the sheer joy of ting them in silence. He still saw eics as a strange mix of trickery and sophistry. But Kayvaan was no fool. With a sigh natiotered, “Fihen tell me, what exactly did my aors spend it all on?”

  Williameus answered without hesitation. “Most of it went into the recmation of Reach. The uaking spanned millennia—an immense effiven our dynasty’s stretched resources. housand years ago, Reach wasn’t much more than a death world—barely fit for a penal y. Its thin atmosphere meant aepping outside needed full void-rated suits, or they’d suffocate in seds.”

  Kayvaan narrowed his eyes, listening ily. The recmation of Reach was no legend—it was fact. Once, Reach had been a lifeless rock, devoid of even bacterial life. Its jagged terrain, wind-worn and unyielding, stretched under a sky choked in dust storms. By day, temperatures soared past 800 degrees Celsius, enough to iron. By night, they pluo minus 40, a cold capable of freezing t lines solid.

  Survival had been unthinkable. In those early years, Kayvaan’s aors must have been half-mad. Yet through stubborn defiand toil, they began to shape the impossible.

  Today, Reach is a jewel among Imperial holdings. No longer a tomb world. Skies of perfect blue stretch above green meadows and thriving cities. Rivers of pure water wind through valleys, feeding crops that sway in warm breezes. Every vista, every stone, speaks of careful craftsmanship—a visiht to life. Reach is now the kind of paradise icled in pilgrim dreams, a garden world wrenched from oblivion.

  The cost? Beyond prehension. Transf Reach devoured resources that could have raised a dozen hive worlds or built a thousand voidships. Thrones spent on its recmation would stagger even the wealthiest Fe Lords. It was a bor as vast as the Emperor’s ow Crusade.

  Kayvaan shook his head, torween awe and disbelief. “They truly spent that much? It’s hard to imagine, but... they did it. I’ll give them that. Fihe money’s gone. Now tell me, what about our defenses? What’s the state of the Ferrum sector?”

  Williameus ined his head, ready. “Reach has its pary Governuard stationed aajor cities, alongside a defense fleet in low orbit. The fleet sists of twelve warships and escort squadrons, but they are limited to void operations within the system. These are not Astartes cruisers—nor eve-grade vessels—but they’ll suffice to keep the system intact for now.”

  The Reach Fleet was no ordinary fleet. Its ships, equipped with highly coveted drives, had the ability to “jump” across vast ielr distances—a feat essential for navigating the star sea. However, such teology came at a heavy price. The Imperium maintained iron-fisted trol over -capable vessels, with every ship meticulously registered through the Adeptus Administratum. Acquiring a -capable warship was no small task, even for powerful pary governors or noble suls. Due to these limitations, most governors settled for warships restricted to void operations within a single sector or system for their pary defense forces.

  “Twelve battleships!” Kayvaan muttered, his voice ced with a mix of surprise and satisfa. That was more than he had anticipated. “Tell me about my fleet. Do they ao me?”

  “Yes, my lord. The Reach Fleet sails at your and,” replied the officer with a crisp nod.

  Kayvaan was still learning the finer details of his domain, gaining insight through these versations. It wasn’t wasted effort, though. After studying imperial protocols and his vast responsibilities, he frequently visited the fgship Ebony Shadows. But most of Kayvaan’s time ent iraining chambers, sharpening his physique. He drilled the basics relentlessly—boxing teiques and bat stances—fog on the subtle precision of his movements, awaiting the day when he would return to the battlefield.

  A month slipped by quickly. During that time, the fleet pleted three jumps and finally arrived in the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium. It was then that Elizabeth emerged from her quarters for the first time sihe voyage began. Without preamble, she strode into the study aboard the Bck Rose, where Kayvaan sat immersed in reading. “Elizabeth,” Kayvaaed, looking up from his dataste. “What brings you here?”

  “Now that we’ve reached the Eastern Fringe, I wao inform you that the fleet will disband soon,” she stated pinly.

  “Disband?” Kayvaan raised an eyebrow, surprise flickering across his face.

  Elizabeth nodded. “Yes. To ter Eldar infiltration, the Adepta Sororitas will establish three perma monastry here, along with a hidden bastion. Once we nd, the fleet will disperse. Our mission involves creating these footholds and ung an assault on Eden V. This will force the Eldar’s attention, buying time for ents to gather intelligence.”

  Kayvaan narrowed his eyes. “Shouldn’t this be cssified? Why tell me?”

  “Who said I was telling the truth?” Elizabeth replied with a smirk, leaving him unsure whether she was joking.