The enormous Cross, together with the traitor bound to it, was carefully transported deep into the vast, forbidding hull of the Law of Faith.
This was no ordinary prison, but a special containment chamber secured by multiple layers of encryption, reinforced with multiple layers of Force Field, and sealed against psychic power by the joint efforts of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Word Bearers.
The Cross was fixed upright upon a specially constructed base. Around it, several powerful stasis Force Field generators activated, emitting a low, steady hum.
Ghostly blue light shone from the crystals atop the generators, converging before the Cross to form a faintly rippling spherical Force Field that enveloped Saladin completely.
Within the Force Field, light seemed to refract strangely. The movement of air slowed enough to be visible to the naked eye, and dust hung suspended as though sealed within the purest amber.
Saladin, bound in chains and suspended before the Cross, froze utterly at the center of the Force Field.
His bowed head, the last twisted expression on his face, mingling pain, anger, and bewilderment, the final unextinguished glimmer of psychic energy upon his ruined armour, even the beads of blood seeping from his wounds that had yet to fall.
Everything was absolutely, eternally "paused" at the instant the Force Field activated.
Time had lost all meaning for him.
He would remain in that posture, imprisoned on an island outside time, until he was brought before the final tribunal.
The duty of guarding him fell to Angron and Curze.
Once Lion El'Jonson had confirmed that Lorgar's vital signs were stable and Saladin had been successfully confined, he had no reason to linger.
The First Legion under his command was already ready to depart.
Without any further farewells or words, Lion El'Jonson led his vast, grim