The Iron Hands Expeditionary Force was very easy to find, and very hard to find.
Wherever the Iron Hands went, they left scorched earth. Xenos corpses mingled with those of the Astra Militarum. Whatever a world had looked like before the Expeditionary Force arrived, it would be a charred black sphere by the time they left.
The Iron Hands were also hard to find because their internal divisions had grown too severe. Their ten clans had split the Expeditionary Force into ten contingents, each taking its own path.
As a result, the Iron Hands Expeditionary Force followed an extraordinarily complex battle route. Its ten smaller expeditionary forces perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be a legion born for war.
The entire campaign unfolded like a vast net. With war raging on every side, the xenos and heretics trapped within it discovered that the net had already bound them fast.
Faced with this chaotic situation, the Crimson Tide's method of finding them was simple: follow the Forge Worlds' supply and reinforcement fleets.
The Iron Hands Chapter enjoyed excellent relations with the Forge Worlds. More specifically, each clan had close ties to Forge Worlds that followed the same Adeptus Mechanicus doctrine.
Their Expeditionary Force included many Adeptus Mechanicus forces, including Titan Legions and Knight Houses.
The Light of the People quietly followed an Emperor-class Titan transport carrying the famed Emperor's Thunder. With ample escorts and supplies, this transport force had to be carrying reinforcements to an apocalypse-scale battlefield.
A transit star system soon fell behind them, and they approached the Mandeville Point.
Then...
As they sailed along, they spotted a familiar fleet.
Holy shit. The First Trade Fleet.
Nian Cijin, what the hell are you doing here? Looting a burning house?
The First Trade Fleet's swarm of Ambition-class Cruisers, numerous enough to