"Unity! For humanity! Unity!!"
The deafening roar came not from outside, but erupted from the depths of his own throat, from deep within every cell nucleus of his memory, exploding through his skull like thunder.
Cassios felt an irresistible force drag him away from the ruins and dust of reality and hurl him into a time and place that was scorching, clamorous, and thick with the smell of sulfur and burning steel.
Terra.
It was Terra.
It was the homeland that haunted his dreams and filled him with loathing, the years steeped in blood and glory, betrayal and finality.
He "saw" himself, clad in that signature suit of golden Power Armour, still mottled despite countless repairs, its plates caked with mud, soot, and layer upon layer of dark-brown dried blood.
Heavy in his hand was the Legion's tattered Battle Standard, still flying defiantly. Gunsmoke had scorched holes through its fabric, and blood had stained it dark red, but the eagle emblem and symbols upon it remained distinct.
His other hand gripped an old-fashioned but devastatingly powerful Bolter, its barrel glowing red-hot from sustained fire.
The scene around him was both blurred and clear.
It was the ruins of some city, its shattered walls trembling beneath heavy artillery bombardment, its sky stained a filthy orange by thick smoke.
The air was scorching, filled with the Ozone stench of overloaded energy weapons, the stink of burning flesh, and the reek of blood.
Deafening explosions, the shriek of energy beams, clashing metal, dying wails, fanatical battle cries...
All those sounds mingled into a symphony of war he knew intimately, one that had all but become instinct.
Ahead lay the enemy's defensive line.
In his seething memories and perceptions, it was a malevolent barrier built of twisted metal, shattered concrete, flickering energy shields, and