Just as the assembled crusade fleet was about to depart, another Dictator-class Heavy Cruiser, three Mars-class Battlecruisers, and eight Scimitar-class Frigates emerged from the Mandeville Point.
Rear Admiral Kratos, who was commanding the operation, saw that the suddenly appearing warships all bore the emblem of the Adeptus Mechanicus. He immediately ordered someone to contact the opposing fleet, and within minutes, they had established communications.
A holographic projection emerged from Kratos's servo-skull, showing a tall figure made entirely of machinery and draped in a red cloak. A cold, emotionless mechanical voice sounded in Kratos's ear.
"General Kratos, we come from Mars. I am Archimonde, a Dominus. After the Fabricator-General of Mars reviewed the psychic information transmitted back by Bishop Zakli, he was enraged by those heretics who violated the Crimson Protocol.
"Therefore, he dispatched me with the Skitarii forces and a large number of combat servitors to support you. Those heretics who violated the Crimson Protocol must be purged."
Dominus Archimonde introduced himself to Kratos. Ever since the Fabricator-General of Mars had seen the fragments of psychic information sent back by Bishop Zakli, he had been incomparably covetous of the technology possessed by those heretics who had betrayed the Imperium.
Those people actually possessed the technology to mass-produce Terminator Armour, as well as Void Shields that could be miniaturized. Every one of those technologies was something the Forge World of Mars desperately desired, prompting the usually reluctant Forge World of Mars to dispatch a fleet.
That was why the Forge World of Mars had sent Dominus Archimonde to lead a fleet to the Provence System and assist the Imperium's forces in dealing with those who had betrayed the Emperor.
Dominus Archimonde had set out from Mars with his fleet five years ago and had spent more than five years before finally