Although Darius had talked with that Horus of the Terran Empire for almost the entire afternoon, in the end he still hadn't managed to get him to voluntarily remove the Astartes Space Marines on the planet or the two ships in orbit, which stubbornly stayed put without taking any further hostile action.
Horus insisted on refusing to withdraw his troops and ships. Instead, he repeatedly demanded that Darius voluntarily return their captured Astartes Space Marines. Only then would he consider what to do next, such as withdrawing or something else.
Seeing the other man's insincere response, Darius had a good idea what he was thinking, so he naturally refused outright.
And so, with both sides apparently intent on dragging things out, the negotiations ended in failure, and some of Darius's plans and operations were put on hold once again.
Darius was furious, but his side was currently too weak to do much about it. He could only keep urging the shipyards to speed up production of ships and spacecraft, passing the pressure down the line and waiting for the right moment.
However!
What he never expected was that, just as he was about to have dinner and then return to take a good shower and relieve the physical and mental exhaustion of the day, someone from the research institute came to tell him that after waking up, Sejanus, the Fourth Company Captain of the Terran Empire's XVI Legion, the "Shadowmoon Wolves," had started causing trouble in the institute—and had nearly come to blows with their leader and their Ghost Operative Mulan.
The two sides were still in a standoff, and Sejanus was being extremely stubborn and making a scene. He kept saying that he wanted to see Darius and that Darius had better come over at once.
Hearing that, Darius