Another xenos empire collapsed under the merciless combined assault of the Imperial Legions.
Its capital world, ravaged by both orbital bombardment and surface purges, became a field of still-smoldering radioactive ruins. The symbolic banners of resistance had long since been torn down, replaced by the smoke-stained Imperial Aquila raised over the scorched earth.
News of the victory traveled through Astropaths and data links to Terra and neighboring sectors, becoming another cold string of numbers representing territorial expansion in the War Council's reports, alongside a designation soon to be archived.
But for Lorgar, who had personally commanded the campaign from aboard the Law of Faith, the victory itself stirred little in his heart.
For a Primarch, conquest and destruction had long since become routine, a duty, an inevitable part of driving the vast machine of the Imperium of Man relentlessly forward.
As the smoke cleared, his thoughts swiftly withdrew from the battle and turned toward two other coordinates on the star chart, both more complicated and more crucial.
Only two places commanded his attention now.
The first was the home territory of the Hrud xenos, where the Iron Hands Legion was fighting a bloody war.
Lorgar knew very well how troublesome these creatures were. They could easily mire conventional tactics that relied on heavy armor and frontal firepower.
Ferrus Manus and his Iron Hands were undoubtedly masters of armored warfare, but the Hrud's abilities might be precisely what countered that style.
Lorgar's fingers tapped unconsciously against the edge of the star chart table, a trace of solemn concentration between his brows as he weighed the situation.
He did not doubt the Iron Hands' resolve or resilience. He worried that their unfamiliarity with the enemy might force them to pay an unnecessary and devastating price.
After all, every loss suffered by a