While the Dark Angels tracked the traces of Chaos, Iax's vast Mechanicus Ship fleet finally reached this remote star system.
Although assembling the fleet had taken some time, the Men of Iron's energy-tracking technology was far superior to the Imperium's.
The Dark Angels had gone off course and taken a long detour before picking up Abaddon's trail again, but the Mechanicus Ship fleet had never lost its target.
The residual energy generated by traveling ships spread in specific directions and patterns.
By collecting the decaying energy trails and recalculating them with algorithms, they could determine when a fleet had passed through and in which direction.
Especially since no one had made any attempt to conceal their trails, the enemy's destination was abundantly clear to Iax.
Although the Men of Iron's Sub-light Engines were older than those used by the Imperium, they were considerably faster.
The vast Mechanicus Ship fleet soon discovered the Dark Angels fleet lurking on the outskirts.
But Iax had no intention of greeting these Angels of the Emperor.
He did not need help from these fragile gene-warriors.
Besides, he was responding to a request for aid from the Deathwatch Watch Fortress. These Dark Angels had not asked for his help, and even his report on the outcome of the battle would not be addressed to them.
Tracking a target and destroying it utterly was standard procedure for the Men of Iron.
If the Dark Angels could detect the Chaos forces on the planet, Iax naturally could as well.
Concerned about an ambush, Lion El'Jonson had not sent his fleet into the star system, instead assigning only two ships to enter orbit around the strange planet.
But Iax had no such concerns.
Vast numbers of ships swept into the Star System, filling the surrounding space as they began