Chapter 71: Hope Is a Cloud

Shaken after killing Nobuta, Hadrian learns Kharn’s implanted “children” remain comatose and begs medtechs to credit him if they wake. Valka steadies Hadrian but condemns the killing as the end of peace. The ship begins to vibrate: Cielcin nahute drills chew into Schiavona’s ventral hull.

On the bridge, Commander Sciarra confirms multiple drill sites and failed communications. Hadrian suggests using ventral floodlights to blind the Cielcin near the hangar doors. Valka proposes venting the warp drive’s helium coolant, creating a freezing cloud and obscurant that, with the lights, could cripple or slow the attackers.

Accepting the plan, Hadrian demands two hundred troops for a preemptive strike before the hull is breached. He arms himself in spare legion armor and, despite doubts, delivers a rousing speech, reframing the moment as a choice to fight rather than die cornered.

Ship lights cut to red as the “fuel containment quench” begins, transferring antilithium suspension to emergency systems. Hadrian seals his helmet, raises his shield, salutes Valka through the crowd, and leads the assembled legionaries as the ramp opens into blinding light—committing to the sortie under cover of the engineered cloud.