The research ship's Drop Pod landed.
Talon and the two Salamanders Shield Guards who had come with Vulkan stepped out of the Drop Pod launched by the Imperium.
The battlefield had entered the cleanup phase.
Transports roared across the sky as the soldiers aboard them cleared away the remaining Chaos on the planet. On the ground, Ceramite tanks rolled over the battlefield while infantry swept up behind them.
Chaos wreckage littered the ground, its corruption spreading across the entire planet.
At the center of the battlefield,
Talon spotted Cisrain.
A towering silhouette stood against the setting sun.
Vulkan also noticed Cisrain speaking with Brown. His silver-white Power Armor was edged with gold, and the bloodstained cape behind him was a victor's badge.
So this was the governor the Blood Ravens had mentioned.
Looking at the fragments of Chaos Space Marines scattered across the ground, he pictured the battle as it had unfolded.
One man had faced an entire Chaos Warband and countless Chaos servants, yet he remained completely unharmed.
No wonder the Space Marines and the Emperor recognized him.
Among the wreckage, a Daemon Engine was still burning.
"Replicate it in large quantities, equip them as soon as possible, and then purge every Chaos abomination hiding on this planet."
"Rest assured, Lord Governor."
Cisrain handed the Warp Distortion Detector to Brown.
As soon as it was switched on, the Warp Distortion Detector suddenly beeped.
Before anyone else could react, Cisrain stomped on a Chaos Servitor that had clearly been dead for a long time. It let out a scream, as if something had shattered within it.
"Hmm?"
"The thing in his hand can detect hidden Chaos creatures?"
"Governor." Having spotted something interesting, Talon followed Vulkan over to Brown. "Master Brown, what is that thing you're holding? Could I have a look?"
"."
"Talon, why are you back? Did your captain, Cyrus, capture those two planets?"
"Uh..."
Talon wanted to say he had come to help.
But it looked like there was no need. The governor could handle everything by himself.
"."
"Governor Cisrain, I'm Vulkan, a company commander of the Salamanders Chapter."
Cisrain headed toward the factory district, and Talon and Vulkan followed. "Hello. I've heard about the Salamanders' betrayal, but we don't have time to mourn. I recorded some things when the Warp gate opened on Ozrax. Brown, send them the footage I recorded."
"Yes, Governor."
Brown transmitted the footage Cisrain had recorded on the battlefield to the two of them.
The moment Talon saw what was inside the Warp, he was shaken by the footage.
Vulkan was just as stunned when he saw the 'Blood Host' of Slaughterfiends gathering. There were so many of them—enough to equal tens of thousands of Dreadnoughts.
And behind the one controlling the 'Blood Host' stood a man.
He seemed to be the Imperium's greatest traitor.
"So you have another hour to take care of your own business. Meet here in an hour, and someone will escort you to the conference room. We're out of time."
With that, Cisrain hurried away.
Talon, Vulkan, and the others were left where they stood.
"Captain."
The traitor Vulkan had been thinking about no longer mattered.
He had more important things to do. There was no time to dwell on the sorrow of the past.
"Captain."
"Xiuen, Bulun, go help them clear the battlefield."
"Yes, Captain."
"Talon." When Vulkan looked back toward Talon, he had already disappeared.
The post-battle cleanup was driving the logistics troops insane.
A group of logistics soldiers from Gamma World were trying to haul a tank out of a crater. The soldiers who had fought on the front lines might have had a good time, but the logistics crews were suffering. These tanks were made with Tier 2 Alloy mixed in, making them incredibly heavy. Without the tools they had back on their homeworld, the soldiers couldn't pull them out by themselves. All they could do was tie on a steel cable and use another tank to drag them free.
"Watch out!"
Someone screamed.
The cable holding the tank suddenly snapped.
If the flying cable struck someone, it could easily whip them in half.
The logistics soldier about to be hit instinctively shut his eyes. When he realized he was unharmed, he opened them—and saw Xiuen, a towering Salamander, holding the cable in one hand.
Behind the tank, another Salamander was holding on to it as well.
"Whew!"
The soldier breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, thank you."
Working together, they hauled the tank out. Salamanders Bulun and Xiuen walked past them. "Be careful, soldier."
"Yes, sir."
Vulkan watched the bodies being burned, and the industries and battlefield left in ruins.
If the Imperium had been in control, all these people would probably have died.
The Imperium dealt with Chaos in an extreme but effective manner, though it also caused the deaths of countless innocents.
After hearing the news, Talon went to investigate the site where the Warp had torn open.
There, among the heaps of bodies, he found traces of the Blood Raven Chapter's missing Fifth Company.
He destroyed the figure with the crushed head using a Gauss Ray.
Even their Blood Raven Chapter had a traitor.
He didn't know how many people could still be trusted.
"Lord Talon."
Talon came back to himself as a new courier jogged over.
"You're Lord Talon, right? Great, I have a letter for you."
"Didn't I tell them already? Why are you bringing me another one?"
"You mean the previous courier, right? I'm sorry. My brother died on the battlefield, so I took over his job."
"Never mind. Give it to me."
Talon took the crumpled letter.
Inside were just a few short lines.
"I've already heard what you said from the courier, Diego. Honestly, when I heard it, I was really, really angry. I wrote you so many letters, and you didn't read a single one. You even said I had too much free time. Whatever—you were right, so I've joined the Osrax Defense Force. This should be the last letter I write you before I leave the training camp. I know you still won't read this one, but I'll keep writing to you. And one day, I'll stand right in front of you with a higher rank than yours and make you read every letter I've ever written."
Talon looked at the courier.
"Just one?"
"Yes, sir."
"."
"."
"Lord Talon?"
"Lord Talon?"
Someone beside him quietly reminded him, "Lord Talon, Lord Vulkan and the other two lords are waiting for you on the Skyship."
Looking at the ruined battlefield, Talon released the letter in his hand. The wind swept it away, along with his thoughts. Without hesitation, he headed for the Skyship.
"Here he comes, here he comes!"
"What took you so long?"
"It's nothing." Talon boarded the Skyship and watched the hatch slowly close. "Who are we going after?"
"Chaos."
After a brief darkness inside the Skyship, the lights came on. Its engines roared, and it quickly ascended.
Inside the conference room,
the lights came on.
Cisrain was still seated at the head of the table, with Brown to his left. Important officials from the Gamma Homeworld sat around them, and a star map of the Far East Frontier filled the center.
Gamma World was struggling to survive in the narrow space between the Chaos, Orks, Tyranid Hive, and Tau Empire.
"Our population is far too small. We need to establish contact with human worlds much faster."
Cisrain continued, "The only place we can establish contact with is the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar. But first, we have to break through Chaos's blockade."
"We need to take the initiative and attack," Brown analyzed calmly.
An Imperial citizen was taking a stroll through the streets of Macragge after the battle.
He sighed. "Even the Five Hundred Worlds are like this. The Imperium really is a mess."
At that, Sicarius flew into a rage. He grabbed the man and demanded, "Which one are you talking about?"
"Sir, isn't there only one?"
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