The odd uncle Annie had nicknamed "a big bad wolf in sheep's clothing"—the commander of the second expeditionary fleet of the Terran Imperium, and the Primarch of the XVI Legion, the "Shadowmoon Wolves," Horus—still had no idea what Abaddon, the captain of his First Company, had done on his own during the retreat. He knew even less about the troublesome little girl who was having the time of her life playing with the Orks. He was simply discussing something with one of his subordinates in the command office aboard the Vengeful Spirit, flagship of the XVI Legion, the "Shadowmoon Wolves."
There were only two people there: Horus and his trusted subordinate. What's more, both were speaking in hushed voices. It was hard to say what sort of unsavory or highly confidential matter they were discussing.
If there had been a third person present, they would have seen that Horus's subordinate was none other than the Fourth Company captain of the XVI Legion, recently released from the mining-base prison. He shared the same surname as that troublesome little girl, but was in no way related to her: Sejanus—Hastur Sejanus.
Of course, none of that mattered. What mattered was what the two of them were discussing.
"..."
"Primarch."
"We've completed our withdrawal, and Abaddon should be back soon. If... I mean, if the people of the Star Sector still refuse to hand her over, what should we do?"
"Hmm..."
"Why don't you tell me what you think we should do?"
"Should we send the fleet in directly?"
"Or..."
"Have you lead a team into Canopy Star and take her by force?"
"What do you think?"
"Ah?"
"Well..."
"Primarch, I'm afraid that won't work!"
"They're not weak. You know that my company has already fought them once."
"Setting aside their elite units, even