The command room had been silent for hours. By now, even William felt afraid. He did not know why. He should have hated the Officio Assassinorum, should have wanted nothing more than to destroy it, wherever it was hiding. Yet the silent command room behind him completely smothered that emotion.
It pressed down on him until he could not breathe.
The command room doors slowly opened. Evan emerged with his helmet, his stride no different from usual.
"William, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the forward command room?"
"I... was waiting for you to make a decision."
Evan looked at him. The atmosphere was so oppressive that even the sound of breathing could make someone flinch.
William swallowed. "Shouldn't we... hold a meeting?"
"No need. Relay my orders. Muster all forces. Every planetary commissar and sub-subsector leader is to assemble. Select acting replacements from combat servitors and elite mortals. Place every world under our jurisdiction on emergency footing, shifting planetary operations from development to survival and development. All Astartes and elite mortal auxiliary forces are to assemble with Lian Leilo's troops."
"Chapter Master..."
"All personnel, listen up. I'm giving you five years. The Great Thousand World, farthest from the assembly point, is to muster in fleet formation and fight its way toward the designated destination. All other forces will make their own arrangements. In short, I want to see every last one of my troops in Segmentum Pacificus in five years."
William lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Evan's ribs. "Chapter Master, Evan! Calm down. We can talk Xiao Lan's situation through. Don't do anything rash. I can definitely find a Beta-level flesh psyker. We control more than half of Segmentum Pacificus. Don't panic, don't forget..."
"You blockhead!"
Evan gave William a smack, though William did