Author: Khuzdul
{oOo}
Roboute felt the need to bash his head as hard as he can on the closest surface that can handle it.
A couple weeks ago, three of his brothers came to him and told him they arranged a series of wargames. 'To prepare our legions against the dangers of rough terrain' they had said.
He should have been suspicious. Especially when Leman Russ displayed a vebrosity much unlike him.
But he wasn't. He accepted. They took his Chapter, alongside a couple companies of theirs, to an uninhabited jungle world. They said they weren't competing against each other. They told him that he would be in overall command of the operation, and command four Chapters, a two thousand strong force of Space Marines consisting of White Scars, Space Wolves, Ultramarines and Death Guard.
He should have been suspicious. Especially when Jaghatai, normally quite stringy about who commanded his boys, gave them freely to him.
But he wasn't, he cursed himself. He went along with it. Then, Mortarion noted that the Imperial Guard regiment that would play the opposing force role was trained for this terrain, all the better simulate fighting the native population of a planet. Surely they wouldn't pose a problem for two thousand Astartes, right?
He should have been suspicious. Especially when normally sombre and pessimistic Mortarion acted that glib and sounded that slimy.
But he wasn't, he thought as he massaged his temples to ward off the monumental migraine that threatened. He nodded. No problems, right? He was commanding two thousand Space Marines, enough force to take care of several sectors, against a mere Imperial Guard regiment.
Now he rued the day he ever met that damnable colonel Greiss with that Ogryn bodyguard of his, or that bastard of a captain Straken, or ever heard about a planet named Catachan.
After the briefing, the Catachan regiment was given a week to settle and prepare to receive the Astartes force.
When the Space Marines arrived one week later, there were no fortified positions. No mock settlement set up displayed any fortification, or any sign of habitation.
There was nobody on the planet. Even worse, with the incredible crush of life produced by the jungle below, the auspexes were useless.
Roboute wasn't worried then. He had more than enough Astartes to work with. If they were hiding, and he expected that, he would just find them.
That was his first mistake.
{oOo}