"Abaddon, you can do this. Abaddon, you can do this."
Abaddon paced alone in his room, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
His brow was furrowed, his lips moving faintly as he repeated those words of encouragement to himself over and over.
His gaze kept straying toward the closed door, toward the figure he was about to face, at once familiar and unfamiliar.
He stopped in the middle of the room, drew a deep breath, and closed his eyes, rehearsing the coming conversation again and again in his mind.
He would apologize to Horus for his coldness and distance of late, for his absence from the celebration banquet, and for the resentment and dissatisfaction he should never have harbored.
After all, he was a son of Horus, a warrior of the Luna Wolves. He should not have treated his father that way.
No matter how the Legion's name changed, no matter what colors they wore, Horus was still his father—the man who had brought him out of Cthonia, who had taught him how to fight, how to command, and how to become a true warrior.
Yes. That's it, Abaddon told himself.
He straightened his collar, squared his shoulders, and forced the most natural smile he could manage onto his face, ready to go out and greet his father, to say the words he should have said long ago.
Then...
BANG!!!
An immense force smashed through his door from outside.
The heavy metal door slammed inward under the impact, its hinges screeching as the metal tore. The door struck the inner wall hard enough to leave a deep dent.
Wood shards and metal fragments flew in every direction, whistling through the air like shrapnel.
Hundreds of Legion warriors in deep green Justaerin Terminator Armour poured through the doorway like