The fleet stopped at the edge of the poisonous fog.
Lin En stood at the front of the bridge, both hands braced on the command console, and gave the battlefield display one last scan.
More dots moved slowly deep in the green fog. They might have been Landing Craft, or they might have been ship-sized signals. They were too deeply hidden for the scanners to make out clearly.
Plague warships might be lurking in the fog, anywhere at all. They might even have circled behind them already.
Lin En stared at the display for two seconds, ran through the possibilities, then went back to being himself.
Forget it. Let's fight. Why overthink it? Mortarion can't possibly wipe us all out the moment he shows up.
As for those Nurgle daemons, against us, they're nothing.
No tactics.
Just hit hard enough.
Lin En opened a comm channel and called Cassius.
Cassius's face appeared on the screen. "My lord!"
Lin En asked, "Cassius, how many troops do your three chapters have altogether?"
Cassius answered without hesitation. "Five hundred Astartes in each chapter, fifteen hundred total. I'm not sure how many mortal crew remain."
Lin En nodded.
Three Battle Barges, fifteen companies at full strength, plus their mortal support personnel. Even in the Imperium, that was no small force.
If they couldn't break out, Nurgle really had sent something formidable this time.
The mortal Auxilia were less resistant to Nurgle's corruption. There was no telling how many were left.
More of the Astartes should have survived.
The Flesh Tearers and Blood Knights had twelve or thirteen hundred between them. That would do.
Lin En closed the channel and turned to Gabriel and Sentoyor.
"Gabriel."
"Here!"
"Take the Flesh Tearers in for the first frontal assault. Board at the bow deck of the Star