With his loyal lackey Ross in tow, Hogg left the laboratory. As for the legion's future development, he left it entirely in the hands of Jeanne, its leader.
With the stockpile of experimental daemons aboard the Blacklight, Jeanne would soon be able to put together the legion's basic forces, as long as she worked hard enough. Its further development would depend on whether Saiban could talk more hapless daemons into joining.
The first step of the Icarus Project was complete. With Jeanne as their empress, it wouldn't be long before they could be deployed to take some of the Empire's utterly shitty administrative burden off its hands.
Hogg hadn't forgotten the promises he'd made to Old Man Yellow and Magnus. The Emperor wanted to take hostages as a way to weaken the Four Ruinous Powers, and Hogg would certainly give him his full support. After all, the Angel of Bliss Legion couldn't consist of grunts alone. It needed at least a few high-ranking officers who could hold the field.
Creating Jeanne had used up all the advanced daemon essence Hogg had stored, including that of four Greater Daemons of different varieties. Though they couldn't compare to heroes like Shalaxi and Ku'gath in reputation or strength, Jeanne's potential was limitless, thanks to the sheer quantity of essence piled into her.
Individual combat strength wasn't Jeanne's greatest asset. Her real strength was her ability to raise an army as quickly as a Primarch, feeding on daemons to expand her forces. As their numbers grew, she could achieve a kind of artificial intelligence.
What was the most important part of artificial intelligence? The "artificial," of course. If Hogg made a conventional AI, he couldn't guarantee that the Men of Iron Rebellion wouldn't happen all over again someday.
Better not to do it than