"Cadian."
Through their battles with Chaos, the Iron Hands had obtained critically important intelligence.
They learned that one force of Chaos was actually heading toward Cadia.
Under normal circumstances, in a war against Chaos,
although Chaos targeted the material universe, they would not directly set their sights on Cadia.
Cadia was indeed a node connected to the material universe, and a stable passage into it, but Chaos clearly had better targets to choose from.
After all, the Eye of Terror was vast.
They had many more options. Chaos could choose the Iron Hands' homeworld as a breakthrough point, or launch attacks through other star systems. Medusa, the homeworld of the Iron Hands, would be an even more devastating loss to the Imperium if it fell.
Moreover, the Iron Hands had recently suffered a crushing defeat on Is III.
A large number of Iron Hands Chapter members had been purged for being influenced by Chaos. The purges had even driven some Iron Hands to defect. Meanwhile, the clans that had followed the Iron Father into battle had also been purged, pushing the conflicts between the various clans to another peak. Distrust toward the Iron Father had reached its limit as well, and the Iron Council had gradually become nothing more than an empty shell.
Under such circumstances, the Iron Father chose to work hard to mediate between all factions and balance their grievances.
That intense resentment would only grow over time.
Chaos could exploit the opening, incite the clans into rebellion, and ignite a civil war among the Iron Clans.
That would create an opportunity for them to emerge from the Warp.
Clearly, that approach would have been more advantageous for them.
Yet instead of acting against the Iron Hands Chapter, they had moved against Cadia, on the edge of the