"Hero? Savior?" Inquisitor Katavonus's face, twisted with fanaticism, appeared on everyone's tactical display. "He's deceived you all! He's a fraud! A thief who stole the Emperor's glory! Today, I'll expose him for what he truly is!"
On the bridge, everyone's attention was drawn to the sudden infighting.
No one noticed what lurked at the very edge of the battlefield, in an unremarkable patch of shadow amid drifting warship wreckage.
A figure had been waiting there for a long time.
He wore pitch-black Power Armour without a single insignia, seeming to merge with the darkness of space. An ancient, mysterious technology concealed his presence perfectly. Even an Aeldari Farseer's divination could not detect him.
In his hand, he held a short spear.
The spear looked unremarkable. Its shaft was made from some unknown black wood, but its head was a piece of translucent crystal. A field of stars seemed to be sealed within that crystal, which emanated a haunting, deadly aura belonging to another ancient race.
An Aeldari artifact. A cursed weapon made specifically to slay gods.
He was an assassin of the Cabal.
An ancient, mysterious organization of human perpetuals that had existed as early as 20K. Their purpose was to ensure humanity's continued survival. Any being they deemed too powerful, capable of upsetting the balance, was a target for elimination, whether the Emperor or the Chaos Gods.
This newly emerged "Horus," an unpredictable factor, had undoubtedly risen to the top of their kill list.
He waited patiently. He waited for Katavonus's foolish, ostentatious "feint" to create that one fleeting opportunity.
Now, the opportunity had come.
Every eye was fixed on the four subdued Officio Assassinorum assassins and the Inquisitor barking on the screens.
Even Horus himself had let his guard slip a little after his comrades' timely rescue. He