The command ship was deathly silent.
Captain Vilen Ashurhaddon calmly watched as the points of light representing Sons of Horus warships vanished one by one from the holographic display before him. Apart from a few points marked as Iron Warriors and World Eaters fleeing the battlefield, the rest had been annihilated.
"We deployed more than twenty thousand elite Sons of Horus veterans at Zeta Garmon, and now they have given their lives for Father's great cause."
"Should I be pleased or enraged, fellow brothers?"
Besides the other Sons of Horus commanders, the command deck also held representatives from the Iron Warriors, World Eaters, Emperor's Children, and Death Guard.
"The enemy was the White Scars. We had already dealt them a grievous blow. Even their flagship, the Blade Storm, was destroyed. Where did they get such powerful military strength?"
A Death Guard warrior clad in dark green power armor said this, a chain-scythe gripped in his hand.
He wore a gas mask shaped like a pig's snout, leaving only his eyes exposed. A strong stench of poisonous gas wafted from his body, making even the other traitor Astartes reluctant to approach him too closely.
Like their primarch, these sons of Mortarion from Barbarus enjoyed wearing gas perfumes from their homeworld. Those toxic fumes gave the Death Guard a sense of home.
Ashurhaddon glanced at the Death Guard commander. He understood what the other man meant: a covert mockery of the frailty of the other Legions.
When it came to endurance, only the people of Barbarus could stand above all others.
"Gentlemen, the False Emperor's forces are no longer what they once were. Intelligence from multiple fronts has shown that they have completed a refit and equipment upgrade, including their void warships."
As he spoke, the enormous hologram displayed the massive form