Outskirts of Ska Hive City
Industrial waste disposal zone
This had once been the peripheral area where Pascal Hive City's vast industrial complex processed toxic waste and metal slag.
Now, the iron hoof of war had crushed its fragile treatment systems, leaving devastation in its wake.
Towering, rust-streaked cooling towers stood like the skeletons of dead giants, silently piercing a sky stained dark red by industrial smog and Smoke.
Across the ground, enormous, cracked concrete pipes crisscrossed like the ruptured intestines of some great beast, spilling black sludge that had long since congealed and reeked of pungent chemicals.
Abandoned filtration pools had become vast pits of black water gleaming with oil, their surfaces littered with unidentified remains and rubbish.
The air carried a mixture of sulphur, heavy metal oxides, and a sickly sweet stench of decay, enough to render an unprotected mortal unconscious within minutes.
Yet more disturbing than this hostile environment were the faint, inhuman roars and a low psychic hum that weighed upon the soul, drifting from deep within the area.
Beneath the shadow of a huge, tilted section of fractured concrete pipe, some force seemed to deliberately distort and devour the light, creating a darkness deeper than its surroundings.
Within that unnatural shadow, dozens of figures blended in perfectly.
They wore black Power Armour, its surface coated in a light-absorbing matte finish that made them almost indistinguishable from the rusted metal and filthy shadows.
Their armour bore no ornate decorations, only clean lines and the silent Raven Insignia on their pauldrons that marked the Raven Guard Legion.
They were Chapter Master Korolia's most elite "Claw," joined by infiltration specialists drawn from other companies, forty-seven warriors in total.
They stood utterly motionless, like statues sculpted from shadow and silence.
Their Power Armour's servo systems had been set to