Ghoul Stars, Planet Husto.
"Lord Count of the Tattooed Face, Shadow of Order's base has been located."
The Executioner Karen Dewa came before Jando Skolevok, captain of the Night Lords' Forty-Fifth Company.
Jando hailed from the Skolevok Family, one of Nostramo's nine great families. Because of the ceremonial black markings bestowed upon his face by his father and his noble birth, he was known as the Count of the Tattooed Face.
The square black lines branded on Skolevok's face extended from his forehead to his lower eyelids, enclosing his entire eye sockets.
Exquisite lightning-pattern tattoos adorned both cheeks. He raised a brow. "Where?"
"Sector B-25, four hundred meters underground."
"There are also numerous life signs inside. Judging by the vital readings, they should be Husto's natives."
"Very good."
The two black marks on his face glimmered.
"We will claim a glorious victory."
Ever since entering the Ghoul Stars, the Night Lords had scattered into countless warbands.
They had cast the Warmaster's orders aside, desiring only to establish kingdoms of their own.
Yet most ambitious lords had suffered severe losses, or even died, while building Corpse Worlds.
Shadow of Order's immense forces were spread across many worlds along their route.
Every important world had more than a thousand Shadow of Order troops stationed there. With defensive fortifications to rely on, they could not be conquered quickly, and massive support fleets would soon arrive.
Skolevok sneered at their reckless choices. They lacked the wisdom to survive in brutal environments.
His biological father had sent him and his brothers into the Lower Hive, allowing the Hive City gangs to hunt them down.
Most of his brothers had died. He had made his first kill at the age of ten.
It had been a gold-medal enforcer of a Hive City gang, but the man's