(Thanks to Jin'an, who loves bear-shaped bread, for the generous tip. There will be an extra update tomorrow.)
Abaddon slowly sat up in the recovery pod. Viscous restorative fluid slid down his skin, glimmering in the chamber's dim light.
His body felt as heavy as if it had been filled with lead, every muscle protesting this sudden awakening.
His dazed gaze swept over everything around him: the familiar chamber walls, the blinking instrument panels, the warriors in Power Armour.
But something was wrong. Very wrong.
"The Luna Wolves... what happened?" Abaddon's voice was hoarse and dry, as though his throat were stuffed with sandpaper.
He struggled to focus his eyes, trying to make out the figures standing beside the recovery pod.
His gaze lingered on their dark green Power Armour, his brow tightly furrowed as unease spread through him.
"Why... have you changed your colours to dark green? Aren't we the Luna Wolves? Where's our grey? Where's our white?" He paused, then asked the most important question, a faint tremor in his voice.
"And... Father? Where is Horus?"
"Abaddon."
A familiar voice came from beside him.
Abaddon turned his head with difficulty and saw Loken—his old comrade, his brother.
Loken's face was as steady and resolute as he remembered, but there was far more determination in his eyes, along with complex emotions Abaddon could not understand.
Loken approached Abaddon, reached out, and took a firm hold of his arm, helping him out of the recovery pod.
Abaddon's legs buckled when his feet touched the floor, leaving him barely able to stand. Loken tightened his grip in time and held him steady.
"You've been unconscious for over a decade, Abaddon." Loken's voice was low and grave, as though he were recounting a weighty chapter of history. "A lot has happened in