"All designated personnel have been isolated and transferred according to plan, Commander. The last transport ships have cleared the planet's gravity well and are rendezvousing with the Fleet."
The mortal colonel in charge of ground operations stood on the observation platform below the Bridge, behind thick bulletproof glass, and reported to Kael Valen over the communicator.
Kael Valen merely nodded slightly, his heavy Terminator Helmet barely moving.
He stood on the Battleship's main Bridge like a statue cast in iron, gazing through the Main Observation Window at the planet wrapped in filthy clouds and a yellow-brown atmosphere.
On the planet's surface, the former battle zones were now nothing but charred scars and cooling metal wreckage, lifeless and desolate beneath the thin atmosphere.
Hundreds of thousands of survivors had been "cleansed" and transferred. As those transport ships departed, every physical trace of them was being erased. Soon, even the planet itself would cease to exist.
"Prescribed procedures confirmed complete." Kael Valen's voice was steady and emotionless, carried to every station through the Bridge communications system.
"Now, execute Exterminatus. Target designation: 'Twilight Primary.' Authorization code: 77th Grand Battalion–Kael Valen."
"Exterminatus confirmed. Weapons systems ready. Loading Cyclonic Torpedoes. Target coordinates locked: intersection of the planetary core and the major continental plates on the surface. Launch channels clear."
The only sounds on the Bridge were the Tech-Priests' chant-like binary prayers, the operators' calm confirmations, and the low hum of the massive weapons systems coming online.
Two cylinders painted a grim black and branded with the Imperial Aquila and the Iron Warriors' Insignia slid, under the precise guidance of mechanical arms, into dedicated launch tubes deep within the ship's belly, yawning like abyssal maws.
"Launch authorization confirmed. Launch countdown: three, two, one..."
Kael Valen raised an armoured hand and gave a slight forward sweep, as