Lian Leilo wasted no words. Anyone unwilling to join the campaign to "purge the ruler's court" was killed and replaced with a puppet he could support. He had no time to waste here.
The Navy's mid-ranking officers soon found their objections drowned out by a sea of Astartes. The warriors themselves were largely relieved, too. At last, they no longer had to cram together.
Lian Leilo had come from the Second Temporary Segmentum Pacificus, from their old home-and, of course, from Atris.
He had also brought Ralph's Iron Warriors along. When they arrived, Ralph had not only maintained the rapid growth of his forces but was also addressing Atris's environmental problems.
By turning everything into steel.
Steel covered the scorched earth. Anti-psyker Warriors repeatedly marched across it like steamrollers, especially in the areas where they had fought Vashtorr's daemons. The Adamantium Warriors had suppressed those devastated lands, where metal blossomed into flowers, with utterly merciless force.
The surrounding areas gradually became passable, and the people of Atris could leave their hive cities again. But the endless polar ice wastes and ancient primeval forests they remembered had vanished completely.
Chains of fortresses rose above the surface. They were not merely vital defensive strongholds, but windbreaks as well. On completely flat ground, even an ordinary gust could sweep a person away, so barriers had to stand at regular intervals. Once, those barriers had been towering mountains and sprawling forests. Now, they were fortresses and bastions stretching beyond sight.
If Perturabo came here, he would be delighted for quite some time, then start thinking of ways to trick some Imperial Fists into coming over for a fight.
When Lian Leilo met Ralph, the Iron Warriors were enthusiastically studying the technology behind the enormous steel vessel provided by Big Treasure from beyond the galaxy.