A vague gloom began to coil around Roboute Guilliman's heart, tightening the lines of his face slightly. Leman Russ's voice rang out over the preset vox-channel, carried to his ear by the power of the Central Hub. "We've already engaged them, brother."
"How goes the battle?"
Leman Russ laughed loudly. Guilliman could hear the sound of blades biting into flesh from his end, and the howls of the wolves. "I don't want to boast to you in the middle of a war, but I just killed a Bloodthirster. Ah, I've forgotten what it was called..."
"Stay alert," Guilliman warned. "This will not be so simple. Even now, we still haven't seen a single daemon of Nurgle or Slaanesh appear. Do you think they'll let an opportunity like this pass?"
"Of course they won't, my brother, but—hey, Logan, how does that saying go again?"
"If you're eating from the bowl, you can't keep staring into the pot, Russ."
"Damn, boy, you're pretty cultured!" Leman Russ burst out laughing again. "Hear that, brother? We're eating from the bowl right now. As for what's in the pot..."
He suddenly roared, his voice turning utterly terrifying. "We'll talk about that later!"
The communication cut off. Guilliman lowered his head and glanced at the Vengeance's current status beside the Star Map. The entire hull was flooded with vast swathes of red, so dense they almost filled the ship completely. They were leaping out of The Void, blood aura coiling around them, appearing in great masses at the locations the Central Hub had predicted in advance.
"Connect me to Konrad Curze, Central Hub."
"Understood. Establishing communication. Rogal Dorn is estimated to awaken in seventeen minutes. Imperial Fists Chapter Master Maximus Thane extends his thanks to you."
"Tell him this was not my doing."
"Understood—communication connected."
Konrad