"My lord, you sent for me."
The heavy office hatch slid open soundlessly, and Cassios's towering figure appeared in the doorway like a mobile fortress.
He wore heavy Power Armour, its surface still bearing traces of a hurried cleaning after a recent low-intensity skirmish. Simple Oath Runes were engraved on his pauldrons.
He strode inside, his heavy boots thudding against the polished floor, and stopped several paces from the broad desk with his head slightly bowed.
The expression on his scar-crossed face was as calm as ever.
Lorgar did not look up immediately.
He was buried in mountains of encrypted Dataslates, parchment reports, and Holographic Star Charts, the custom-made pen in his hand moving steadily across document after document.
The room was quiet, save for the scratching of his pen, the low hum of the Cogitator array, and the distant background noise of the ship's ceaseless operation.
The air held a mingled scent of data wax, old parchment, and the faintest trace of incense.
"Mm." Lorgar acknowledged him without stopping his pen. He added his ornate signature and mark to the bottom of another document, then casually gestured toward one side of the office with the end of his pen.
"From now on, you won't be returning to your old squad. You'll follow Hercules."
Cassios paused almost imperceptibly at those words. He turned his head as instructed and looked in the direction Lorgar had indicated.
In the shadows beside the office wall, Hercules stood silently, like another mountain cast from muscle and steel.
He stood more than half a head taller than Cassios, his build absurdly massive. A simple exoskeleton lined with Power Armour padding covered his rocklike body. His broad, honest face carried an astonishing sense of pressure, but little expression; he merely returned Cassios's gaze calmly.
Cassios's eyes