"Greetings, great Emperor's Angels, esteemed Chapter Master Evan!"
"Greetings, defenders of the Imperium, humanity's most indispensable strength..."
The prolonged exchange of pleasantries made Evan deeply uncomfortable. He had no idea what the old captain wanted. They seemed to have talked for ages without saying anything important.
"These great deeds will forever be inscribed in the annals of Imperial history. Our achievements will never be forgotten."
"You're absolutely right. My apologies, but I have other matters to attend to. Please excuse me."
"Chapter Master Evan, we... hey, don't go."
Evan simply ended the transmission and casually added him to the blacklist. Not really.
Know your place. You think you're in charge here? You think we have all the time in the world?
Despite cutting communications, the Battle Barge headed straight toward the Imperial Navy. All their Navigators had died, so they needed to get a few from Captain Sloft.
A reunion between old friends naturally stirred up plenty of emotions. Evan was genuinely surprised that the captain of the Ancient Secret had yet to retire. Judging by the Departmento Munitorum's response, the old captain would probably die of old age at his post.
"Long time no see, old friend Sloft. Looks like you've had plenty to worry about lately. You've lost quite a bit of hair."
Quite a bit was an understatement. The silver-haired old man was turning into a bald old man.
"It's wonderful to see you, Chapter Master Evan. Seeing you makes all my worries disappear. Thank you so much for bringing your Chapter to support the Segmentum Obscurus. Perhaps your arrival will allow more humans to survive this war raging across the entire galaxy."
"Old friend Sloft, much as I'd like to say we now have enough strength to come and help, unfortunately, that isn't the case.