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005.M31.
The Shadow of Order fought across the eastern galaxy, rooting out xenos strongholds on the outskirts of the Gordian League's core systems one by one.
The Isstvan system. The Vengeful Spirit's long, flat, spearhead-like hull pierced out of the Warp into realspace, its shifting, multicolored dissipating energy like brilliant fireworks bursting into bloom.
The pearl-white livery of the Luna Wolves had been replaced by the metallic gray-green of the Sons of Horus.
The Eye of Horus atop the prow watched ahead, gazing upon the three fleets that had arrived through Warp transit.
Dull dark-gray warships brutally tore into realspace.
The only decoration on their hulls was the brass skull emblem.
Every vessel of the Tenacious was likewise unpolished dark gray; the Death Guard never used unnecessary ornamentation.
On the other side stood the purple-and-gold, magnificently lavish Pride of the Emperor. Compared to a warship, it looked more like a palace in space.
Every ship of the Emperor's Children was extravagantly decorated, like ornate carriages of nobles escorting their king.
The saber-like Conqueror was the last to emerge from the Warp, its blue-and-white hull rigid and thickset.
Boom!
The Blood-Child Great Axe smashed into the floor of the Hall of the Conqueror. Angron crouched there like a beast, yet his body still stood taller than Kharn's.
Brutality showed on his scar-covered face, his eyes sunk deep between crisscrossing vicious scars.
He wore ancient-looking bronze armor, with heavy metal plates layered over chainmail.
Of the pair of chainaxes crossed over his back, only Blood Father remained.
He tilted his head and stared at Kharn before him.
"I didn't hear that clearly. Say it again."
Crack!
The deck fractured like a spiderweb, and Kharn's armored boots sank into the rubble.
"Mago's 18th Company, Khorag's 21st Company, Captera's 37th Company, and forty-six