Geth refilled her glass. "So, do you want to go back?"
Stella looked at him, her gaze a complex swirl of emotions. "Back where?"
"The battlefield."
Stella fell silent for a long time. "I do... but I can't go back."
"Why not?"
"Because no one needs me," she sighed, her voice heavy with resignation. "Everyone thinks women belong at home, and nobles belong to a life of luxury. Even I've started to believe it. I suppose I've truly grown old. I've accepted my fate."
She began to cry. Geth didn't say a word; he simply pushed the wine bottle toward her. At this point, he knew he was halfway to success. Geth had a universal formula for pursuing women, provided they didn't already hate you: if you couldn't win them over, it just meant you hadn't talked enough about their childhood trauma and family burdens.
He waited until she had cried her fill before speaking. "I think you can still fight."
Stella looked up.
"I've seen photos of you when you were young," Geth continued. "That look in your eyes... it's not the look of someone who accepts their fate."
Stella stared at him, a spark of light flickering in her eyes. Just then, the vox-caster at Geth's waist chirped. He answered it, listened for a few moments, and his expression turned grave.
"What happened?" Stella asked.
"Near the Forbidden Wall. A band of Greenskins bypassed the lines and appeared in the rear. We need to send troops to purge them." He stood up and straightened his uniform. "I have to go."
He reached the door, then stopped and glanced back. Stella sat there, still clutching her wine glass, tear tracks staining her face, but her eyes held a raw, unmistakable yearning.
"Perhaps... Lady Stella would like to give it a try?"
The next day, Stella appeared at an outpost behind the Forbidden Wall. She was clad in her power armor—a suit she hadn't worn in years. Standing in the temporary command center before a simple map, she looked every bit the commander she once was. Geth stood beside her, several PDF officers gathered behind them.
"The Greenskin numbers are around a thousand. They're hiding in the valley, constructing a base."
"A thousand? That's it?" Stella frowned.
An officer glanced at Geth, who nodded. "Yes, my Lady, but the terrain is complex—easy to defend, hard to attack."
Stella studied the map for a full three minutes. Then, she began barking orders.
"First Company: feint from the east. Fire only, do not charge; draw them out. Second Company: ambush the west side; hit them the moment they exit the valley. Third Company: circle to the north and cut off their retreat. Heavy weapons teams: take the high ground and wait for my signal."
The officers exchanged bewildered looks before looking at Geth. Geth nodded. "Do exactly as she says."
The battle lasted less than two hours. A thousand Greenskins were wiped out; their own casualties were zero.
Stella stood in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by green corpses, gasping for breath. Her power armor was drenched in xenos filth, and her chainsword was still humming. But on her face was a smile she hadn't worn in decades—a smile as bright as the morning sun rising over the ice plains.
"How was it?" Geth walked over, handing her a canteen.
Stella grabbed it, took a massive gulp, and looked up at him. "It was incredible. Truly incredible."
Geth smiled.
Over the next few days, Geth didn't seek out Stella. Yet, news reached her ears every single day: Geth had led a purge of Greenskins; Geth had won another victory at the front; Geth had been commended by the Governor. She sat in her empty hall, restless and agitated. On the fifth day, unable to take it any longer, she took the initiative to find him.
Geth arranged one battle after another for her. Each was meticulously designed: the Greenskin numbers were neither too many nor too few—just enough for her to handle. The terrain was treacherous but always provided an escape route. The enemies were savage, but her own fire support was always "perfectly" timed to suppress them.
After every battle, there was a grand victory banquet. Geth would stand at the front, raising a toast in her honor, attributing all the glory to her.
"Lady Stella is the true hero!" "Without her command, we couldn't have won!" "The Brevis Cross? That's nothing! Lady Stella is worth an entire legion on her own!"
Stella's face flushed red repeatedly. In her thirty-odd years of life, she had never heard so much praise.
Finally, on a night after a victory banquet, Geth escorted her back to her temporary quarters. The corridor was silent, save for the sound of their footsteps. Stella stopped and turned to look at him.
"Geth."
"Hmm?"
She opened her mouth but found herself speechless. Geth smiled, took a step forward, and leaned down to kiss her. She did not refuse.
By the time Alumi Hostein escaped from prison, it was the twelfth day since his arrest. Everyone thought he was dead, but he had merely been imprisoned. For some reason, the Governor's men hadn't killed him. Even he didn't know how he had escaped; he only knew the guards had suddenly grown lax, and a side door usually locked tight was left open. He walked out of that cage one step at a time.
Upon his release, his first priority was to find news of his family. After learning about his wife's location, Alumi immediately rushed to where Stella was likely to be. He ran for an entire day and night before finally catching up with her unit.
When he arrived, he witnessed a scene that would haunt him forever.
Stella stood on a battlefield where combat had just ended, clad in power armor, chainsword in hand. Before her were piles of slain Greenskins; behind her were cheering soldiers. Geth stood beside her, pointing toward the distance as if offering guidance. Stella listened intently, then nodded and said something with a laugh. That smile was as radiant as the sun.
Alumi hadn't seen that smile in years. Ever since they moved to the Upper Hive, ever since he decided to "spend his remaining years in peace," her smiles had grown rarer and fainter until they vanished entirely. Now, that smile was back. But it was directed at another man.
His tears began to fall.
As the soldiers began clearing the battlefield, Stella sheathed her chainsword and turned toward Geth. Geth reached out and wiped a smear of blood from her face. She didn't flinch; instead, she leaned in, resting her head against his shoulder for a brief moment.
Alumi stumbled forward, wanting to get closer, wanting to call her name. But two soldiers lunged forward and pinned him to the ground.
"We caught a fugitive!" "Send him to the outpost!"
As he was dragged away, he turned his head desperately, but Stella never saw him.
In the detention cell, Alumi sat on the floor, his face ashen with despair. The door opened, and Stella rushed in.
"Alumi! How are you here?! How did you escape?!"
Alumi looked up at her. Those eyes that once made his heart skip a beat were now red with guilt and panic.
"It's not what you think. Lord Geth and I are just friends, just..."
"Friends?" Alumi's voice trembled with mockery. During his imprisonment, he had been shown "broadcasts" of Geth and Stella—not just on the battlefield.
Stella opened her mouth, but no words came. "I'm sorry," she whispered finally.
Alumi looked at her and laughed bitterly. "You know, I don't hate you at all. It was I who trapped you in that cage. It was I who made you lose yourself." His tears had run dry. "If he can make you feel alive again, then go with him."
Stella knelt before him, sobbing uncontrollably. Just then, the door opened again. Geth stood at the threshold.
"Stella, come out."
Stella stood up, gave Alumi one last look, then turned and followed Geth out. The door slammed shut behind them. Alumi sat alone in the darkness and laughed. As he laughed, the tears began to flow again. He stood up and walked to a corner where an exposed metal pipe had a jagged, razor-sharp edge. He pressed his throat against it.
"He committed suicide."
When Geth told Stella the news, she froze. Then, she collapsed into Geth's arms, wailing in grief. Geth held her, soothingly patting her back.
"It's alright. You still have me."
Stella looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes. His handsome face was full of tenderness, and the light in his eyes gave her a sense of peace. She hugged him even tighter.
And then, she felt something pierce through her.
She looked down. An exquisite master-crafted dagger had been driven through her heart. Stella stumbled back, nearly falling. She looked up and saw the tender expression on Geth's face vanish, replaced by pure disgust.
"Your own husband is dead, yet you're still clinging to his enemy."
Stella's eyes widened, unable to believe what she was hearing. "You... what did you say?"
Geth walked toward her, each step feeling like it was treading on her heart. "I was the one who captured your husband. I was the one who seized your family's assets. You were crying for his death a moment ago, and now you're leaning on me."
He laughed, a sound dripping with loathing. "Tell me... a woman like you, aren't you disgusting?"
Stella opened her mouth to speak, but blood surged from her throat. Geth raised his pistol and aimed it at her forehead.
"Goodbye, bitch."
BANG.
When Stella Farrell fell, her eyes remained open, staring at the ceiling—as if looking toward some distant place she could never return to. Geth sheathed his gun, glanced at the corpse on the floor, and turned to walk out of the cell.
In the corridor, a soldier was waiting. "My Lord, the Hostein family..."
"Kill them all," Geth said without looking back. "Leave no one alive."
House Winter: Extinguished. House Hostein: Extinguished.