Thud!
A dull impact rang out.
The silver-grey Alloy body landed firmly on the floor.
Sanguinius saw it clearly.
The Man of Iron who had leaned out of the psychic passage leaped through, then flipped in midair without anything to push off.
His body was a standard humanoid design, standing half a head taller even than Horus in his current form.
An upright Auxiliary Arm protruded over one shoulder from his back, fitted with a peculiar short-barrelled weapon.
His hands had five fingers and flickered with electrical arcs, clearly some form of Power Weapon, though they did not look sharp.
Heavy armour covered his body, rounded and almost entirely without edges. A string of characters marked his left breastplate—LOD-041.
The Machine Body had a gorget around its head, similar to those on Power Armour, but far taller than any such armour's.
Sanguinius took an immediate liking to the design.
It had a distinctive beauty.
As Sanguinius and Horus studied the interloper,
LOD-041 straightened his body and tilted his Alloy head slightly upward, looking at the psychic passage in the ceiling.
His azure electronic eyes flickered before he lowered his head again and fixed his gaze on Horus.
"Destroy."
An emotionless synthesized voice echoed through the Lupercal Hall.
A faint hum sounded.
The short-barrelled weapon on his shoulder suddenly flared with light.
At the same time, LOD-041 stepped into a lunge, lowering his body slightly.
—Flashback Mode
A blurred shimmer enveloped the muzzle.
The attack erupted in an instant.
The immense recoil stacked upon itself repeatedly, sending LOD-041 sliding backward more than ten metres across the floor.
Two furrows were ploughed through the previously smooth surface.
The shrill grinding was grating.
But neither Sanguinius nor Horus had any attention to spare for the noise.
LOD-041's attack exceeded Horus's expectations.
He had