The ship was in dimensional space, positioned at the coordinates corresponding to the primary dimension of the Real Universe where the forbidden zone lay.
The device that had just been installed aboard the ship was activated. Its effects permeated dimensional space and interfered with the primary dimension of the Real Universe—the forbidden zone that had previously been completely inaccessible.
In a star system designated as the primary reconnaissance area, Twentieth Legion warriors left dimensional space to carry out their respective missions.
Aboard one pitch-dark ship after another.
Within one utterly dark world after another.
The Twentieth Legion conducted silent operations.
A patrol squad aboard a ship carried out its routine patrol when an Astartes suddenly leaped from a burst of blue light and swiftly drove a dagger through one soldier's throat before anyone could react.
When the other soldiers noticed what had happened, they too were killed by Astartes who suddenly appeared behind them.
In the darkness, the Astartes threw the enemy corpses into dimensional space.
One of those bodies was transported back to the ship in dimensional space. The rest were expelled by dimensional space, becoming refuse drifting through the void and rapidly freezing over.
The Astartes who had eliminated the patrol retreated, their bodies gradually swallowed by blue light. The last person to enter dimensional space released gas from the integrated device on his arm, and the gas erased the blood and every other trace from the scene.
Meanwhile, on other worlds within the star system, the Astartes operated across different regions, killing enemies and collecting bodies to ensure that the Primarchs in dimensional space could examine every type of individual among the unknown enemy, including those with biological traits that varied by region.
In utter silence, the Astartes completed the first step of their reconnaissance.
Inside a