As the Warp Beacon on Asdenak activated, Thunderhawk's main force warped onto the battlefield in an instant.
But the moment they arrived, they saw how disastrous the situation had become. The Imperium's forces had been scattered everywhere by the might of the Warp, reduced to isolated groups fighting on their own.
And the Black Legion's numbers were beyond belief.
Across that Daemon World, countless twisted, inhuman creations writhed in nauseating contortions, while the worshippers of the Chaos Gods sang their praises in blasphemous voices.
They had slaughtered all their slaves, offered their souls to the gods of the Empyrean, and summoned the ghosts wandering the Warp to this place.
Daemons of every kind emerged from the Warp, invited here to enjoy this feast. Their forms were so hideous that a single glance could utterly break a mortal.
Phenomena that existed only within the Warp began manifesting throughout the Eidolon Sector. Sudden Psyker Storms and Warp turbulence mingled with gunfire to become the battlefield's dominant rhythm.
Mortal armies broke down in droves. Only the Sisters of Battle, sustained by their unwavering faith, and soldiers who had scrambled desperately into the shelter of the Blackstone matrix could still retain their sanity.
The other mortal soldiers who had failed to escape in time, whether Thunderhawk troops in full hazardous-environment combat suits or Astra Militarum soldiers wearing Ecclesiarchy pendants, had all become food for the Warp.
The luckier ones became prey for Warp daemons. Whether they died fighting in despair or were hunted down outright, those were still merciful endings.
But mortals who saw, heard, or smelled even a fleeting trace of a daemon inevitably succumbed to corruption, instantly becoming part of the malice-filled Empyrean.
Once again, the Astartes became the battlefield's main fighting force. These demigod superhumans held back the surging daemonic tide