A few weeks later, the main force of the expeditionary Fleet led by Lorgar completed the pacification of its designated sector and the handover of its defenses, then began the journey home.
He did not return directly to Colchis. Instead, he ordered the fleet to change course for Hephaestus, a Forge World on the outskirts of Colchis that belonged to the industrial network under the Word Bearers' direct control.
This was the home of the Wrath of the Fire God, a force of the Collegia Titanica loyal to Lorgar and the Word Bearers.
Chapels that towered into the clouds, immense furnaces that never ceased burning, and heavy footsteps echoing through rust-stained canyons formed the defining rhythm of this world.
Now, it had another vital mission: serving as the central production base for the first mass-production lines of Cissel-pattern Power Armour.
Escorted by several fighter craft, the Stormbird gunship pierced Hephaestus's thick, murky atmosphere like an enormous steel bird, diving toward the largest and most brightly lit industrial district on the planet's surface.
Beyond the viewport lay a sight that could only be called a marvel.
Countless massive smokestacks spewed unquenchable flames and dense smoke, staining the sky dark red and iron gray.
Factory complexes stretching thousands of kilometers formed artificial mountains and canyons, crisscrossed by pipes and tracks. Huge crane arms moved slowly among them, like toys belonging to some colossal god.
Farther away, several war machines of the Wrath of the Fire God could just be made out. Like moving mountains of metal, they stood in dedicated maintenance gantries undergoing repairs, their magnificent forms clearly distinguishable even from orbital altitude.
Upon learning that Primarch Lorgar would be visiting in person, accompanied by Lady Anna, whose mysterious nature and astonishing technical insights had become the subject of rumor, Hephaestus's de