Aboard the Law of Faith, Legion strategic council chamber.
The council chamber lay at the heart of the warship, its heavy adamantium doors shutting out every sound from outside.
The interior was vast and solemn, its lighting deliberately dimmed. Only cold shafts of light above the immense, elongated conference table illuminated its mirror-smooth surface.
The air carried faint traces of incense, old parchment, and Power Armour maintenance oil.
This was a secret meeting with very few participants, but each carried immense weight.
Seated around the table were the figures who determined the course of these two Legions.
For the Word Bearers, Primarch Lorgar Aurelian sat at the head of the table. His towering frame radiated unquestionable authority even at rest.
Seated on either side of him were Chapter Master Rockefeller of the First Chapter, Chapter Master Seras of the Third Chapter, Chapter Master Atlas of the Fifth Chapter, and Chapter Master Klas Noda of the Thirteenth Chapter.
For the War Hounds, Primarch Angron occupied the first seat to Lorgar's right. Even seated, his massive body exuded an oppressive presence.
Standing behind him were Anglia, the War Hounds' First Company Captain, renowned for his ferocity and courage, and Khârn, Angron's most trusted personal adjutant.
There was also one unusual presence: Valkyrie, an Archmagos of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
His attendance at a meeting otherwise composed entirely of senior Legiones Astartes officers was itself an exceptional privilege, and underscored the unusual nature of the subject at hand.
He sat quietly at the far end of the long table. Mechanical appendages beneath his red robes occasionally clicked, while the glow of his augmetic eyes flickered in the shadows.
At the head of the council chamber, two immense Legion war banners hung vertically.
One bore the Word Bearers' Burning Scripture and Tearful Eye; the other