The plot I had planned.
In a corner of the Ghoul Stars, Sanchez, lord of the 7th Legion, and Wilshire, lord of the Second Legion, boarded the Monarch Heavy Landing Craft together.
The black starship roared up from the deck, and Sanchez looked out through the viewing window.
In the dim void, black warships were exchanging fire with the surrounding Hraf warships.
Blooms of fire rose from the twenty-kilometer-long xenos warships.
The Shadow of Order had already Teleported onto the xenos warships and begun clearing them out.
Sanchez raised his right hand and examined the bright-red liquid in his palm, where specks of black, iron-slag-like matter floated.
The potion had been bestowed by the Black Emperor before his departure.
This was the fifth time he had received such a gift, but he had not taken it immediately, because the Black Emperor had ordered him to first complete the plot he had previously been required to plan, capture the Hraf Originator, and flaunt the full conspiracy before he could drink it.
Sanchez carefully placed the potion into the Crystal Box. Amid drifting cold mist, the cylindrical storage device clicked shut.
"Lord Wilshire, Lord Sanchez, we are about to reach the designated coordinates. Countdown ten seconds." The warning from Wilshire's pilot echoed through the cabin.
Sanchez gently stroked the Brainy Cat beside him. Since Lady Hera was skilled in psychic power, he had not ridden the Thunderwolf King, but had brought the Brainy Cat, which could unleash psychic spells.
"Three, two, one..."
As the voice vanished, the Shadow of Order all shuddered as one. They felt as if they had passed through an invisible gate.
The structure of space-time around them changed in silence.
The smell of rotting insects mixed with leaf mold made it feel as though the Astartes had been