(Thanks to Yin Mojie for the generous "Great God Certification" gift. The bonus chapter is ready.)
On the surface, all the remaining Loyalist Faction commanders had reached Perturabo's fortress.
Buried dozens of kilometers underground, this fortress had become the last corner of Olympia where order still prevailed.
Officers from different Legions filed into the conference room through winding passages. Exhaustion marked every face, and dust and blood stained every suit of armor, yet an unyielding light still shone in their eyes.
Vespasian, Lucius, and Tarvitz of the Emperor's Children walked together.
Vespasian and Tarvitz supported Lucius between them.
Ding Xiu of the White Scars strode in, his cloak still stained with fresh blood from the battle he had just fought.
His gaze swept across the conference room, and he gave Pei Min and Chelast a slight nod in greeting.
Then he found a spot by the wall and leaned against it with his arms folded.
Chelast and Pei Min of the Word Bearers also entered one after the other.
Hundreds of officers filed into the conference room, soon packing the modest space to capacity.
They came from different Legions, with different skin tones and accents, wearing armor of different styles and colors. But now their fates were tightly bound together.
They had all been betrayed. They had all been abandoned. They were all survivors struggling to stay alive in this land of death.
After the last officer entered the conference room, the doors slowly closed with a dull metallic clang.
Perturabo entered from the other side of the room.
His gaze swept over everyone present before he walked to the front and raised a hand, tapping lightly on the screen before him.
An enormous three-dimensional schematic unfolded from the screen, hovering in midair and slowly rotating.
It showed the underground