CHAPTER 11: "The Solar Pacification."

"What are you?"-Warmaster Mortarion to Gah'Vinh'Rad, after seeing the aftermath of the attack by a Sons of Horus force on the Neptune Shipyards.

The Raid on Neptune marked all those who were stationed on Terra

It signified that even the Throneworld was within Magnus' reach.

It began when the Aubenall, an Emperor-class Battleship, exited the Warp near Terra. Named after a valiant Admiral of the Navy who had perished in combat against an Ork Battleship, it was a ship made for war. Ten kilometres long, it was bristling with weaponry and command pods, marking it as a command ship. The event in itself was unremarkable. Thousands of ships had entered and exited the Solar System in the same days, stragglers of the Heresy which had sundered entire Expeditionary Fleets and Secondary Compliance Groups, extending even to the fleets of the Rogue Traders.

Except for the fact that according to the official Armada reports, the Aubenall had been lost in the Warp ten years before.

We attempted to raise the ship by Vox, but it did not respond. It ploughed onwards, finally crashing in the Neptune Shipyards, launching its Shark Assault Boats and Salvation Pods across the main stations.

From the Assault Boats exited the 25th Company of the Sons of Horus. Their chainswords whirred, butchering all in their path. They were soon reinforced by a horde of frothing madmen swarming from the Salvation Pods and the crashed Battleship, all wielding melee weapons, impaling and killing.

The Salvation Pods carried human soldiers, even more crazed then the Legionaries, always seeking new victims for their crudely-made iron sabres and hammers, and bellowing howls of praise to an unknown deity.

Yet it was their mindless war-cry which would remain etched forever in the minds of those who lived to tell the tale

"KILL! MAIM! BURN!"

-Three hours later-

The Death Guard arrived at the Shipyards in force, expecting a massed Traitor fleet, backing up the first wave. But there was none. Only the mad cultists and the Sixteenth Legion Astartes, who had arrived aboard the Aubenall. No other ships arrived at Terra.

This was not the beginning of the Siege. It was a raid, meant to damage the industry of the Sol System, Mortarion realized.

The Fourteenth Legion teleported to the Shipyards, led by the Warmaster in person. They arrived in Cargo Bay 2 of the main yards.

When they arrived, they felt something sticky under their feet. As the Techmarines reactivated a local power generator and switched the electrical lighting back on, they realized what they had stepped on.

The entire cargo hold, wide enough to land a Sword-class Frigate, was completely covered in blood and intestines, coming from both Loyalist and Traitors.

Soon however, they were faced by the authors of the massacre, as the Chaos Cultists rushed them, iron swords in hand, shouting "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

The Terminators activated their Storm Bolters, gunning them down by the thousands. Yet still they came on.

Then the true horror came, as the Sons of Horus showed themselves …or, rather, what they had become.

For they were no longer mere Astartes. The 25th Company of the Sons of Horus, 160-Astartes strong, had given itself over totally to the daemonic entities of the Lord of War, allowing themselves to be possessed by a daemonic cohort of the Khorneate Daemonkin. Hands had become claws, wings had sprouted from the armored backs of the Astartes, and only the remaining parts of their Mark II armor pointed to their origins as valiant Astartes. And even those parts were dangerous, for they were inscribed with unholy sigils, which were painful to even look at.

The Possessed charged the Death Guard force, all the while shouting praise to the Dark God of Battle.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SLAY THE UNBELIEVERS! OFFER THEIR SKULLS TO THE BLOOD GOD!"

Their voices had a double tone, one belonging to the Astartes and the other…so alien…so wrong…. it nearly froze the blood in the bodies of the members of the Fourteenth Legion.

Almost. The sons of Mortarion near-instantly opened fire against the horde, with a delay of 1.5 seconds over the normal Astartes reaction time. To an Astartes, it was like years.

To a Possessed, it was nearly enough. The leader of the horde charged Mortarion and attempted to cleave him apart with his claws, only to be decapitated by the Lantern, Mortarion's ancient Plasma Pistol and then bisected by Unyielding Will.

The Possessed's body began to fall apart and disintegrate with an inhuman shriek which signified the utter destruction of the Astartes' soul and the banishment of the daemon bonded to it. It was a sound which signified and marked the utter wrongness of the act which had brought these powerful amalgams of Astartes and Neverborn into existence.

The other Possessed charged Mortarion, hoping to be the one to kill the Second Warmaster and receive the final blessing from Khorne.

They were killed by the Deathshroud all the same, but one of the Terminators was felled by a Possessed Astartes, his claw punching through his Cataphractii Pattern Armor and grasping the spine of the valiant warrior, ripping it out of the body with a fluid motion, then raising it above his head offer it to his god. Then he attacked another one, but Mortarion killed him with a Psyk-Out grenade, which threw the daemon within in a catatonic state and then banished it, allowing the rescued Terminator to gun down the creature, who was revealed as being Grael Noctua, Sergeant of the 25th Company of the Sixteenth Legion.

The shock of the daemon banishing left Noctua in a dying state, but as he saw Mortarion he could still say some words.

"Glory and skulls ….to the Blood God."—Last words of Grael Noctua, the Butcher of Neptune.

Then, the true horror began.

The Death Lord could feel in his bones that something was wrong. He could not place it at first…then he realized.

The blood which littered the area…was flowing upwards.

It then fell down, sliding towards a near-dead shipyard worker, who also happened to be a psyker. The body of the worker rose in the air, then began to bulge enormously outwards….

Mortarion and the Deathshroud silently witnessed the first daemonic incursion in realspace of the Cyclopean Heresy, their minds unable to comprehend what they were witnessing.

Finally the body of the human shipyard worker exploded in a flash of blood and gore and light, revealing the hideous entity that had used the mind as a gateway into realspace. It was taller than Mortarion, and wielded a massive sword wreathed in fire which radiated power. It looked dressed in an armor similar to those of the ancient knights of Europa, with a different style. Two blood-red orbs replaced his eyes.

It then spoke.

"Face me, Lord of Death. I, Gah'Vinh'Rad the Maimer, Daemon Prince of Khorne, challenge you to a duel! I look forward to wearing my skull upon my armor!"

"We will see about that." Retorted Mortarion.

The two beings, one demigod, the other daemonic, charged towards each other.

The duel was not easy for Mortarion. His Plasma Pistol was useless against the daemonic lord, so he was forced to rely upon Unyielding Will against the Daemon's blade, which contained the essences of eight Bloodletters of Khorne caged within by the Prince.

In the end, the Deathshroud joined in, buying more than enough time for the Sisters of Silence to arrive in the area and defeat the Daemon, even if at a heavy cost for the Legionaries.

But before being banished, the Daemon assaulted Mortarion with a stream of memories, delivered by a cut by the cursed blade…

He saw a lush world, which had been settled by humans, arrived aboard a ship built by long-dead engineers …

He saw the settlers build new cities out of stone, crete and iron, restarting civilization anew from the beginning….

He then saw…others, aliens, who had arrived there, on the world, which had been originally built by their empire, seeking to escape the decadence of their core worlds.

The humans fought valiantly, but the aliens….the Exodites, as they called themselves, had on their side power way beyond the humans' imagination….

He saw a warrior, lying on a battlefield strewn with human bodies, close to death after killing eight Exodites. In his feverish state, which was actually shock, he felt…a voice, imperiously calling to him

You are mine, Gah'Vinh'Rad.

You are dying. Your family, your people will soon be extinguished, at the hands of these wielders of sorcery. I offer you …the power to turn the war around, to save your people…

All I want…is skulls and souls. And you shall give them to me….

The dying warrior, feverishly accepting the offer of the God of War and Battle, and returning from the dead, empowered by his new patron. He single-handedly attacked and slew the leaders of the Exodites, whose psychic powers were now useless against him. Thus, the other humans attacked and triumphed over the xenos.

He saw the other humans see what their champion had become, through the unholy bargain he had struck. Horrified by the force he had dared to invoke to help himself in war, they rejected him as a monster.

It was then, the warrior gave himself up totally to Khorne, and slaughtered every living being on the planet, from the humans to the predators which dwelled in the abysses of the ocean. The world was then pulled into the Warp, the champion raised as its eternal Prince and Master….

It was however, the last stream of memories which threatened to shatter the mind of the Lord of Death.

He saw another world, similar yet different to the world of Gah'Vinh'Rad. A world where oceans of blood flowed and gangs of humans fought over the scraps of their overlords, which Mortarion recognized in horror as Astartes. Which in turn fought, using armies of slaves or dueling each other for the favor of their distant overlord…a creature which made Gah'Vinh'Rad look like an ant…

One creature which Mortarion recognized instantly. His once-closest brother…even if with blood-red wings.

Horus Lupercal. The First Warmaster.

The voice of Gah'Vinh'Rad echoed in his mind.

"He will follow the Eightfold Path to Glory…the same one I followed a long time ago…And you are hopeless to stop it."


After the Raid, the Neptune Shipyards had ground to a halt, delaying completion and construction of the ships within for months or years, until the butchered workers could be replaced.

The Aubenall was towed out of the yards and destroyed by the Death Guard under orders from Malcador: a ship lost in the Warp for so long and used as a chariot by a cult of Khorne could not have possibly remained untouched by the madness beyond.

Warmaster Mortarion was deeply shaken by what he had seen there: Astartes of the Sixteenth Legion, the Sons of Horus Lupercal, the First Warmaster, had given themselves over completely to the entities of the Warp, accepting to share their own bodies with entities which had no place in a sane universe….And also, seeing for himself a human who had willingly become a Daemon …and that Horus…

Mortarion's blood ran cold at the thought of Horus. His once-closest friend apart from Perturabo. The mere idea that Horus could betray the Emperor once seemed inconceivable. The thought that he would give himself to the entity of the Immaterium that called itself the Lord of War…in exchange for a world to rule as his own…was simply impossible.

Yet, the Sixteenth fought for the Traitors. Horus had joined the rebellion. How could have Magnus swayed him to his side? Horus was not ambitious, he was already Warmaster. Moreover, he did not have a strong psychic talent like Lorgar, Magnus' closest friend. So how…

The mind of Mortarion came to the most logical (to him, at least) conclusion. Sorcery.

"Magnus must have corrupted Horus through sorcerous rituals which he learned in his searches for forbidden knowledge and in Prospero's libraries. There could be no other explanation.

One day, Horus, you shall be free from this sorcery-induced madness. One way…or the other."

This I, Mortarion, Lord of Death, Second Warmaster of the Imperium, swear."

But now, he had to keep the Loyalist war machine running. A difficult task in and of itself. Segmentum Solar was besieged on three sides,

The Prosperine Dominion to the east, reinforced by the Ultramarines and the White Scars.

To the west, the Colchisian Dominate of Lorgar, which was barely kept static by the Emperor's Children, the local Iron Warrior Shield Worlds, and the Iron Hands stationed on Medusa.

To the south, the Inwit Cluster of Rogal Dorn, threatening Kiavahr and all lines of resupply to the south, held in check by Ferrus Manus and Corax with the bulk of their respective Legions.

And north, the Lion was advancing, taking world after world in Segmentum Obscurus.

The loyalist Forge Worlds in Segmentum Solar were running at full capacity to replenish the frontline, but soon they would be depleted. The war on Mars was still raging, depriving the Loyalists its massive manufactoria.

The Death Guard was forced to remain on Terra until Perturabo arrived to restructure the defenses. The daemonic portal deep in the Palace was defended by the Emperor, the Custodes, the Sisters of Silence and some Mechanicum elements.

They were holding the line…but for how long could they resist, besieged by the daemonic hordes in the Impossible City of Calastar?

Thus Mortarion chose to stabilize his frontline by launching the Pacification of Segmentum Solar. While the Fourteenth Legion could not fight on the frontlines, it could secure the systems behind them, and ensure critical supplies reached them.

Leaving the Fourth Company behind on Terra to aid the Custodes in keeping order, to train the new Albian recruits and as a reserve against any daemonic incursion, he led the First and the Fifth in the Pacification.

While Segmentum Solar was largely in Loyalist hands, and the cults based in the Solar System had been purged in the Dusk Coup, some systems were in the throes of insurrection. Most of them were not of Chaotic nature, however: Magnus knew that so many cults too close to Terra would have alerted the Emperor that something was going on.

So he instead armed local rebellions aimed at regaining independence from the Imperial rule and reassert local sovereignty. Just like the one on Ancalimon Prime, which had become the pretext for the purge of the Loyalists…without Chaos. Only misguided humans, who seemed to believe that strength came not in joining with others, but in remaining alone.

These worlds also held resources critical to the Loyalist war effort. Resources which could not be destroyed in the fires of Exterminatus.

Those worlds needed to be brought back into the Loyalist fold without undue bloodshed.

Luckily, Mortarion had the perfect allies he could count upon for that.

The 809th Expeditionary Fleet of the Night Lords.

It was true the bulk of the Eighth was engaged against Craftworld Ila'Manesh' s genocidal armies. But the 809th had been sent to the Throneworld to refuel and restock on supplies after a successful Compliance Campaign in Segmentum Tempestus. They had been caught still at Terra by the Heresy's beginning and the Dusk Coup and swore allegiance to the Emperor and to Warmaster Mortarion as loyal servants of the Throne.

The 809th had in its roster 5032 Astartes, led by Captain Kadara "the Bloodless".

More than enough to do what Mortarion had asked of them.

-Perva System-

The local assembly of the Industrial World of Perva II had just convened. The Local Sovereignty Movement had overthrown the Imperial-aligned government through the critical support of the Militia, and had just declared secession from the Imperium of Man. The next debate was on: joining Magnus the Red's New Kingdom or remaining independent?

The debate was interrupted by a Thunderhawk dropship, bearing the insignia of the Sigillite. An I with three bars traversing

A lone Astartes, his Mark II Power Armor painted in gray, came down from the ramp. Nothing indicated his former Legion. The only clue was a Terran accent from the Xeric Tribes Autonomous Regions.

"Good morning, leaders of Perva. I am here on behalf of Malcador the Sigillite, bearer of the Emperor's authority. I ask you to reconsider your decision to secede from the Imperium."

Simple and to the point. The secessionist leader rose and arrogantly faced the Astartes.

"You can go frak yourself. You and your Terran "leaders". Your Imperium brought us into compliance at gunpoint, through the Luna Wolves. Now your Imperium is falling apart due to Magnus' rebellion. We must put the interests of Perva before the others'. Free Perva!"

The other secessionists cheered their leader, and the crowd closed in around the Terran Legionary, who was unfazed by the human's proclamation. He simply said: "Very well. I will leave and return your answer to the Eighth Legion vessel in orbit."

The cheers died off immediately. A young woman in the crowd, twenty-twenty-five years old, rose up and faced the Astartes. "Wait, Astartes warrior. Did you just say Eighth Legion?"

"Of course, young lady. The sons of Konrad Curze have remained loyal to the Emperor of Mankind and accompanied me in my journey to this system. They are waiting for the new government's answer to my question, which was very clear. I will now go back and deliver your answer…."

-One hour later-

"To the Eighth Legion vessel in orbit. Disregard previous report. Perva II suffered a sudden change in government. The new political party in charge is requesting the exact number of soldiers to send to the Imperial Army. I am requesting also a second dropship for delivery of secessionist elements hidden inside Perva II's society for trial by the Imperial Military Tribunals."

Malcador's agent ended the Vox report to the sons of Curze. A Sokar Pattern Stormbird landed at Perva II spaceport to pick up the secessionist prisoners, most of which had been beaten into submission during one of the most rapid revolutions recorded in this part of the Segmentum Solar. The mere sight of the Tactical Squad assigned to it terrified the planetary population.

The young woman who had questioned the Astartes was now the recognized leader of Perva II, debating the planetary tithe with the representative of the Munitorum.

A swift job.

-Naduz System-

The Naduz System authorities had just declared their system's secession from the Imperium, hoping to gain mercy from Magnus' armies…or a higher fee for their support. The system was rich in minerals, and held a rare gem. The second planet in the system was a Plasma World.

The result of an ancient cataclysm wrought by the Men of Iron, during their titanic rebellion against their creators, the second planet of the world, once an inhabited world, had become a world where a self-sustaining plasma ocean existed. This world was a near-unique sight in the Segmentum Solar. Only a few such worlds still existed in the galaxy. The Mechanicum had tried to study the world in the hopes of recreating the process, until the Emperor had forbidden such research. They hoped that whoever would come for their world would give them the right price for their support.

Their fine political calculations were thrown totally in disarray by the arrival of an ancient Cruiser bearing the markings of the Night Lords.

From it came out 720 Night Lords, landing by Drop Pods upon the outermost moon of the first planet, which served as the System Seat for the local government.

The government officials were butchered to the last by claws and skinned alive , while a Terran Solar Auxilia Captain who had served during the Compliance action of Naduz decades prior was called out of retirement to serve as Acting System Governor. The output of the mines doubled in the weeks after the departure of the Night Lords, who had even been given a cache of Volkite Weapons which the precedent administration had stockpiled in direct contravention of Imperial Law.

Even ten thousand years later, the skin of the secessionist officers adorned the throne of the System Governor, who would always be handpicked from Terra.

-Belfyor System, Western Part of Segmentum Solar-

The secessionists were now in charge of the local institutions, and had just proclaimed their secession from the Imperium of Man.

An hour later, the Imperial answer came…through the reborn Dusk Raiders.

The forces of the Death Guard landed on the planet and took up position beyond range of the artillery guns under traitor control.

And then they waited.

The Secessionist leaders assembled an army to meet them, which took up positions around the capital city of Belfyor, expecting the Astartes to attack soon.

But the Astartes did not attack. They seemed to be waiting just beyond artillery range.

The morale of the Secessionist armies began to drop dangerously. What were the Astartes waiting for? Why were they waiting? Were they readying some doomsday weapon?

Dusk came…and with it the Astartes, who caught the Secessionist unprepared. Many regiments simply threw down weapons or turned them upon their leaders, hoping for mercy.

When the next day began, Belfyor was back in the fold of the Imperium.

The rebels were sentenced to work in the Promethium mines on the planet, which more than doubled their output in a few weeks.


Some cultures, however, were fully with the Traitors, becoming tainted by the foul words of Chaos, and had to be destroyed, lest their venom spread to the neighboring worlds…

-Carpan System-

The Carpan system was a peaceful system, a mining center in the south-western part of the Segmentum Solar. The Mechanicum had built many structures in the system, all bent on extracting resources for the recently-founded Forge World of Carpan II, a colony of mighty Phaeton.

Some inhabitable moons were also found and settled by humans in colony ships sent from Terra at the orders of the Emperor, to relieve overpopulation in some areas. The moons quickly became Civilized Worlds in their own right.

After only a few years, the Magi of Carpan II struck gold.

An abandoned outpost, dating back to the Age of Strife, was found on the first moon of the fourth planet, a gas giant. Inside there were ancient weapons of mass destruction stored there by a warlord who had taken over the system in the tumultuous era which saw the human civilization scattered.

He never got the chance to use them, as he died in a war against Tarellian raiders. The weapons were then forgotten.

The discovery brought Carpan into the limelight as a major Forge World, and the weapons were, after due research, handed to the Death Guard Destroyer Squads for usage against xenos.

The Heresy gave even more strategic value to Carpan II, which remained staunchly on the side of the Emperor.

And Magnus knew it would remain so.

Thus the Arch-Traitor seeded a Chaotic cult upon the most populated moon in the system. Named the Brotherhood of Carpan, it dedicated itself to the worship of Chaos Undivided and Magnus the Red himself as the Herald of Chaos.

The cult based itself around a copy of a grimoire the Thousand Sons recovered from an ancient library on Terathalion, a world of the Prosperine Dominion. The cultists named it simply The Book.

The Brotherhood spread quickly, aided by spontaneous apparitions and dreams of daemons.

After a few years of its seeding, the cult had reached critical mass and overran the moon it was founded on, holding the entire population of Carpan V-022 in its grasp, totaling roughly 40 million people. And most importantly, it held an ancient Retribution-class Battleship, forged by the shipwrights of Jupiter, armed with batteries of Disruption macrocannons, held there for repairs after incurring damage at the hands of Dark Eldar raiders.

From there, it planned to spread to the other worlds in the system through the intra-system starship traffic, eventually invading Carpan II and forcing the Forge World to repel the attacking army, stopping all raw material shipments from it to the other worlds, dealing a blow to the Loyalist war-machine.

But the cult had failed in remaining hidden. The Alpha Legion agents in the system had discovered it, and relayed the information to the Carpan Mechanicum…who in turn relayed it to the Death Guard.

The doom of the cult arrived very soon….

The Warmaster surveyed the target: Carpan V-022. A habitable moon, 5750 km wide, officially classified as a Civilized World.

Officially, that is. If one Loyalist had lived to tell of the tortures inflicted upon those who refused to join the cult…the moon would have been reclassified as "Planet that made Orks seem highborn nobles of the Achaemenid Empire."

He then gave the order to load the Virus Bombs into the torpedo tubes of the fleet's units.

"Fire."

The order was immediately executed. The arcane weapons travelled to the moon's surface, then detonated, releasing the Life-Eater Virus contained within. The virus tore through the cultists, reducing them to a sludge…along with all other organic matter on the moon.

"Escort 2…Light it."

A Lance strike left a Sword-class frigate, igniting the massive clouds of methane, propane and other combustible gases left by the Life-Eater Virus.

The firestorm engulfed the moon, burning for hours.

When it was finished, only a ball of rock was left of Carpan V-022, exposed to the vacuum of space, which lowered the temperature drastically, to 55 K.

Nothing remained to indicate the moon's past or the fact that humans once dwelled on it.

Carpan II's mines were saved, as well as the souls of all people in the system.

Mortarion looked at the moon's corpse for a few seconds, and said. "Prepare for next target."

"Lord Mortarion….there is only one target remaining now…and you know what that is."

"Yes, I do." The Lord of Death replied to the human officer who had addressed him as "you"…just as he wished. He did not want to be venerated by his forces even more than they already did… and being addressed in second person was a way of limiting that veneration which he felt to be ...unnatural.

He was simply doing what he was made to do.

After these brief campaigns, only one system in the entirety of Segmentum Solar was in the Traitors' hands. The most difficult of all. A major industrial world, chosen by the Imperial Fists as a recruitment center. Defended by the entirety of the Seventh Legion's 39th Chapter, 5000-Marines strong, garrisoned by valiant Army Regiments, armed with thousands of Heavy Tanks, battalions of Baneblades and a Planetary Defense Laser Grid, it was a grave thorn in the side of the Loyalists.

Once, it was known as Araneus Prime, leader of a confederation ruled by a caste of Tech-Nobles.

The Imperium called it…Necromunda.


Meanwhile, in a system not far from Terra, a grave threat was uncovered by the Alpha Legion….

-Nalvula System-

A mining barge of the Tarask-class, recently converted to a gas extractor by the Martian Mechanicum, exited the atmosphere of Nalvula IX. A gas giant, the planet harbored many types of gases. Many of which could be used to power starships or other types of weapons.

This time, however, the captain of the vessel was searching for something else. He was looking for Gaseous Kernite. A very rare metal, mostly present in high pressure gas giants in gaseous form. If converted to the solid form, however….

The captain passed by the Loyalist Planet Control Station. At the time, the station was too busy building and retrofitting Baneblade Super Heavy Tanks for the Army to efficiently control all ships entering and leaving the system.

The captain and his crew smiled as they closed the Mandeville Point. This time, the 61st Brigade would pay him three times the usual fee for his contraband expeditions deep in Loyalist territory. With the money, he might be able to buy himself a moon or a place on a Pleasure World and live in comfortable retirement, circled….

His reverie was interrupted by weapons fire.

"Sir! We have been hit! Decks 4, 5 and 7 are leaking atmosphere! Beginning security checks…"

"Sir…we are being boarded."

"WHAT? ARE WE BLIND? HOW COULD THEY CLOSE UNSEEN?"

A new voice broke the Captain's angry tirade against his officer.

"No one sees us. They call us the Ghost Legion for a reason."

A bolter shot hit the captain in the foot, leaving him unable to fight back. As the Astartes revealed himself, along with his brothers, the mercenary captain attempted to run…only to be shot again in the other foot.

"Tell us the destination of your cargo, Traitor."

"Frak yourself, fool."

"Very well. I will ask your XO then. In the meantime, I, Autilon Skorr, the Hydra's Headsman, sentence you to death for treason. The sentence is to be executed immediately."

A Power Axe came down, bisecting the mercenary and ending his dreams of riches and pleasure.

"Anyone wants to be spared? Then tell us the destination of this vessel."

None spoke up. Then a young woman, probably in her twenties, rose up to speak "No one knows. Perhaps it is in the Captain's safe."

"What are you doing, Anette?"

"Saving my skin. Like you taught me to do."

Skorr motioned towards one of his Battle-Brothers. He went to force open the Captain's safe. The Legionnaire found a data-package key, which Skorr inserted in an empty socket in his Artificer-modified helmet of his Mark IV armor.

A stream of words appeared on the eye-lenses of Skorr's helmet.

TO THE CAPTAIN OF THE DHAJSON'S HOPE.

Deliver cargo of Gaseous Kernite to Kamela at full speed.

Payment will be delivered there. Triple the usual fee, as promised...plus a bonus for your services.

-Amdak Sirin.

Skorr then examined the cargo of the vessel. Other than the gaseous Kernite and other gases harvested from the gas giant, there were some Loyalist Army torpedoes salvaged from a Loyalist Battleship destroyed on the Western Front by the spawn of Lorgar ….

Hmmm. This crew hoped to rack up gold by trafficking weapons to the Traitors too…Double treason, then….

Skorr then turned. "Take the cargo. Leave the crew aboard…. except her." He pointed to Anette. "She goes with us."

The Alpha Legionnaires removed the cargo from the ship….which was immediately blasted into oblivion by a Frag Grenade "accidentally" left by a Legionnaire too close to the Main Fusion Reactor.

The Alpha Legion Destroyer then left, bringing the intel gathered to Terra to their Primarch. Their new passenger was left in the care of their Librarians.

As Omegon read the intel recovered by his sons, his face visibly darkened.

"Go to Malcador, Autilon. The Raven Guard must be deployed at once."