Evan had always judged enemy ground forces by just two criteria: could humans live there?
If they could, attack. If they couldn't, Exterminatus.
So they didn't even bother looking at the fourth and fifth planets. They simply blew them up.
But the third was a genuinely habitable planet, which put the warriors in a difficult position.
Its shield systems were still operational. The usual approach would have been to charge in, shut down the shields, and call in Orbital Bombardment.
Yet Evan still hadn't given the order, leaving William puzzled.
"Chapter Master Evan, why aren't we attacking? We're confident we can wipe out the enemy."
"The question is, why?"
???
Why? Aren't we here to fight the T'au and reclaim lost territory?
William was baffled.
"I mean, why should we spend time occupying the enemy's planet right now?"
"Then what do we do? Just leave it?"
"Let me tell you a story, William." Evan cleared his throat and adopted the expression of an old Dreadnought settling down to tell a tale.
How nostalgic. As Evan's "chief disciple" and one of his first recruits, William hadn't seen that expression on his face in a long time.
"Long, long ago, on an ancient and primitive world, there were beautiful, vast grasslands, much like Chogoris, with plentiful water and pasture beneath an endless sky.
"The people there were divided into countless tribes and lived as nomads.
"But wherever there are people, there is war. Those tribes fought and plundered one another until a great ruler emerged.
"His name was Genghis Khan.
"He keenly realized that their current way of fighting was pointless. The warriors always prioritized stealing women and wealth, allowing the men of the enemy tribe to escape easily, regroup, and return to take them back. They, too, had no intention of