"Very well, I understand. I'll send someone to follow up on the remaining matters."
In the hall aboard the Law of Faith overlooking the Sea of Stars, Lorgar terminated the encrypted communications link from the Department of Faith.
The starlight streaming past the viewport reflected in his golden eyes, which remained calm and undisturbed.
The Department of Faith reported that they had assisted a Night Lords warrior in a purge on a hive world involving unknown "xenos" creatures and widespread corruption among the nobility.
The targets had been purged, the survivors taken into their care, and preliminary decontamination completed. The wounded Night Lords warrior was receiving treatment under observation.
The report's vague descriptions of those "xenos" creatures' forms and abilities, along with the uncanny properties they had displayed—their ability to directly affect minds and senses—left a deeper impression on Lorgar than the words of the report alone.
This was not the first time he had received intelligence of this kind.
As the Great Crusade's fronts stretched ever farther, humanity seemed to be encountering more and more "anomalies" that could not be classified using existing xenos catalogs.
Some possessed a disturbing "quality" that went beyond mere biological mutation.
A thought resurfaced in the depths of his consciousness, like fungal threads quietly spreading through the dark.
Perhaps it was time to start planning ahead and preparing to establish a force dedicated to dealing with these "anomalous" threats.
A special unit unlike conventional Space Marines, focused more on countering contamination beyond the Warp alone, mental corrosion, and enemies with distinctly "blasphemous" and "Chaotic" characteristics.
Something like a precursor to the "Grey Knights" that would emerge in the future, in those fragmented images he remembered.
The shadow of Chaos seemed to be infiltrating and manifesting with increasing frequency.
This was no coincidence. It felt