In the depths of the void, the Battle Barge Will of Eternity sailed in silent majesty, like a pale gem set against black velvet.
Its streamlined hull gleamed in the gold-and-silver livery unique to the Emperor's Children Legion. Every curve proclaimed a union of perfection and strength, every gun emplacement held a hint of destruction's elegance.
Within this vast vessel, a symbol of the sons of Fulgrim's absolute pursuit of victory, the surroundings stood in stark contrast to the deathly silence of the void outside. Here was a brightly lit palace of metal, resonating with a low hum.
The walls of its broad corridors were fashioned from polished marble and adamantium, carved with intricate battle reliefs and Legion maxims. The air carried the scents of machine oil, ozone, and a faint trace of the perfume favored by the Legion's members.
This was a temple built by a Legion that regarded war as art.
Amid these surroundings of order and beauty, one group of figures looked distinctly out of place.
They were Space Marines from the Seventeenth Legion, the Word Bearers: ten warriors in dark gray Power Armour, its surfaces etched with elaborate Colchisian scriptures and mysterious symbols.
Compared with the almost ostentatious cleanliness and brilliance of the Emperor's Children warriors, their armour bore slight signs of wear and dust accumulated over the years, as though they had just returned from some place of devout and arduous pilgrimage.
They walked silently through the spotless corridors of the Will of Eternity. Their heavy footsteps echoed through the empty passageways, mingling with the ceaseless rumble of the Ship's engines and the faint sounds of Servo-Skulls working in the distance.
At the direct Edict of their Primarch, Lorgar Aurelian, they had come aboard this vessel of the Emperor's Children as a full Tactical Squad,