For the Emperor! To the very end!

A little over ten minutes later.

The Steelworks' enormous smelting pool had become a sacred brazier for incinerating Xenos remains.

Vast quantities of promethium fuel poured into it. The heat warped the air as it devoured the mountains of twisted remains, carbonizing them and finally reducing them to nothing.

An acrid stench of burning flesh and thick black smoke dominated the area as countless corpses vanished in the heat.

Imperial Army soldiers drove cumbersome engineering loaders, mechanically shoving more scattered remains of infected creatures into the inferno as though disposing of toxic waste.

Every rise and fall of a bucket came with the wet, sticky sound of flesh scraping against metal treads.

Firelight shone on the soldiers' numb, exhausted faces. Beyond the relief of having survived, something deeper lingered in their eyes: an indelible fear of the unknown.

The Supreme Commander on site, a Major with fresh burn scars on his face, strode toward Sergeant Kran, who stood like a tower of steel.

He straightened his back as much as he could, but his voice still carried an unavoidable tremor of urgency. "My lord, the lurking threats within the base appear to have been eliminated. Can we... can we begin organizing an evacuation and transfer the civilians to the transports in orbit?"

Kran slowly turned his Helmet toward him, his cold Visor lenses regarding the human officer without emotion.

"No."

That single syllable sounded impossibly heavy amid the crackling flames.

"From this moment onward," Kran continued, while the Dataslate on his arm transmitted an encrypted communications stream to the Battle Barge high in orbit.

"Rox is under the highest level of quarantine. Entry only. No departures."

He raised a massive armored finger and pointed toward the smoke-shrouded sky. "Any craft that dares leave the planet's gravity well without special authorization—regardless