"So, we're attacking without the Dark Knights?" one of the Fire Hawks Captains asked.
The question hung in the air.
The tactical chamber was silent save for the soft hum of the hololithic projector at its center.
The war council had assembled aboard the Fire Hawks' battle barge. Nexus had deliberately chosen the vessel as the meeting place rather than the Grey Knights' strike cruiser. The Grey Knights remained a secretive order, and there was little reason to reveal more of their operations than necessary.
Around the hololithic table stood the leaders of the task force.
Captains from the Crimson Fists, Iron Champions, Fire Hawks, and Angels of Wrath studied the display before them. Among the assembled commanders were two Chapter Masters—the Grand masters of the Fire Hawks and the Angels of Wrath.
Standing slightly apart from the others was the Grey Knight Paladin, his silver armor gleaming beneath the chamber's lights.
Two Princeps Maximus were also present. One represented Legio Solaria, while the other spoke for Legio Argentum Fulgur and the massive Titan battlegroup assembled in orbit.
At the center of the display rotated the three worlds of the Tri-Six System.
Twenty-one red markers glowed upon their surfaces.
Twenty-one altars.
Twenty-one wounds in reality.
Nexus looked around the chamber before answering.
"Yes."
The response immediately drew several looks from around the table.
"The Dark Knights are still engaged at Voket," Nexus continued. "Even if they achieve victory tomorrow, it will still take time for them to regroup, resupply, and translate here."
He gestured toward the hololithic planets.
"Time we do not have."
The image shifted.
Warp corruption spread across the planets like a disease.
Several regions pulsed with sickly green light.
"The rituals are accelerating. Every day we wait strengthens the enemy."
The Grey Knight Paladin stepped forward.
"Our prognostications indicate that the corruption is nearing a critical threshold."
His voice was calm and emotionless.
"If the altars remain active for too long, the damage may become irreversible."
"I understand the worries," a Master from Angels of Wrath said. "but do we have the sufficient numbers to destroy the alters?"
"We do," the Grey Knight Paladin replied.
His voice remained calm and emotionless.
"We have a total of two thousand five hundred and nineteen Astartes available, excluding my own task force. In addition, we have a Titan battlegroup powerful enough to conquer an entire system."
He looked around the chamber.
"I do not believe numbers are our problem."
Indeed, even without counting the Grey Knights, the Imperial force was formidable.
The Fire Hawks and Angels of Wrath alone contributed a large number of warriors.
Having received a homeworld and having a forge world supplying them with almost everything they needed, both Chapters not only return to their full strength, but also surpass the Codex limit.
Fire Hawks have contributed total of one thousand and four hundreds Astarte and Angels of Wrath total of one thousand and two hundreds forty-two Astartes. All of these numbers are excluding the non-sergeant neophytes.
The Fire Hawks had expanded their numbers due to their preferred method of warfare. Their reliance on shock assaults, orbital strikes, and aggressive close-range attacks often resulted in higher casualties than most Chapters were willing to accept. To compensate, their Grand Master increased the number of squads within each company, ensuring the Chapter could continue fighting effectively even after suffering heavy losses.
The Angels of Wrath were different.
As successors of the Dark Angels and members of the Unforgiven, they had never strictly followed the Codex limits. Like many of their brethren, they maintained formations and organizations hidden from outsiders. Even before their alliance with the Dark Knights, their true numbers had already exceeded what the Codex allowed.
Atharion's support simply allowed them to grow even larger than before.
The Crimson Fists and Iron Champions had contributed smaller forces, though both were still significant additions to the campaign.
The Crimson Fists arrived with eighty-five battle-brothers.
The Iron Champions brought sixty-six.
Neither force was at full company strength, as both companies already suffer casualties before their arrival in Tri-Six system.
"With the information you've given us, Grey Knight," the Iron Champions Captain said, "wouldn't it be better to simply order Exterminatus rather than risk trying to save these worlds?"
For a brief moment, Nexus wanted to agree.
From a purely strategic standpoint, Exterminatus was the safest option. Destroy the worlds. Destroy the corruption. Ensure nothing remained for Chaos to claim.
But those words never left his mouth.
"Only the Warden of Camelarion, Supreme Grand Master Atharion, possesses the authority to order Exterminatus upon worlds within his realm," Nexus replied, keeping his voice neutral despite his private thoughts.
"Unless we can obtain his approval, that option is unavailable."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward the Chapter Masters of the Fire Hawks and Angels of Wrath.
Garron slowly shook his head.
Tristan remained silent.
"Unfortunately," Garron said, "the Warp disturbances surrounding the system have made long-range communication unreliable. None of us have been able to establish contact with the Supreme Grand Master."
Silence followed.
Then the Crimson Fists Captain leaned forward.
"Then we proceed with the original plan."
Several commanders turned toward him.
"We conduct simultaneous assaults against all twenty-one altars."
He pointed toward the hololithic display.
"Drop pod assaults. Strike every altar at the same time."
"If we destroy only one or two, we have no idea what effect that may have on the others."
The Paladin nodded slightly.
"A valid concern."
The discussion immediately intensified.
Questions and concerns filled the chamber.
What would happen if a single altar was destroyed first?
Would the remaining altars absorb the released energy?
Would the ritual accelerate?
Would the corruption spread to the other worlds?
No one could answer with certainty.
The nature of Chaos made prediction nearly impossible.
At one point, a veteran sergeant from the Crimson Fists
proposed a simpler solution.
"Deploy the Titans," he said. "Destroy the altars with direct fire."
Several Astartes considered the idea.
Nexus immediately rejected it.
"The altars are surrounded by heavy Warp disturbances."
The hololith shifted, displaying readings gathered by the Grey Knights.
"The energies surrounding them distort reality itself."
He pointed toward several of the marked locations.
"Long-range fire may fail entirely. Some shots could be redirected. Others may simply disappear into the Warp."
The room became noticeably quieter.
"Furthermore," Nexus continued, "several altars are located deep beneath the surface. Orbital bombardment and Titan fire cannot guarantee their destruction."
One of the Princeps Senioris from Legio Argentum Fulgur spoke next.
"And there is another issue."
All eyes turned toward him.
"We will not commit the full strength of either Legio to the surface unless the presence of Legio Mortis is confirmed."
A few captains frowned, but none interrupted.
The hololith shifted to display the corrupted worlds.
"And the corruption itself presents a danger."
Images of rusted machinery and decayed structures appeared.
"The influence of Nurgle affects machines as surely as it affects flesh."
His expression darkened.
"The longer our Titans remain on those worlds, the greater the chance of machine corruption."
Even the mighty god-machines were not immune.
Rust could spread across armor plating.
Machine spirits could become unstable.
Sacred systems could slowly degrade beneath the touch of Chaos.
"The Titans can support the assault," the Princeps said. "But they cannot remain deployed indefinitely."
The chamber fell silent once more.
Before the discussion can continue, the chamber door slide open and an Astarte from the Fire Hawks enter.
Seeing the unexpected intruder, many of those within furrow their eyebrow, unhappy with this misbehavior of the Astarte.
"My lords," the Astarte said. "we have received an information from the auspex station that an allied fleet have enter the system."
Hearing what he said, many are surprised as other those currently here and those join force with the Atharion, they know that the others Astartes companies are either still fighting or already begin to exit the realm and reinforcing the other systems.
"Have they identify themselves?" Nexus ask, worry that this is a trick by the traitors as he have not encounter any of the Death Guard vessels when his strike cruiser enter the system.
"Yes they have," the Fire Hawk nodded. "they said they are Knights of Tempest, Vigilant Castellans, Sanguine Wardens and Tempest Wardens, all of them have come under the order from their Founding Chapter, the Dark Knights to reinforce the operation in Tri-Six."
"Successor Chapter?" the Captain of Crimson Fists said, confusion and suspicion thick in his voice while glancing at the others within the chamber.
Other than the Fire Hawks, Angels of Wrath and the Princeps from Argentum Fulgur, most of them have the same expression as him, confusion and suspicion.
"How many Astartes that they arrived with?" a Captain from the Fire Hawks ask.
"According to them, each of them arrived with five full strength companies," the Fire Hawk that previously deliver the news answer. "they also said the Grand Master of the Librarium from the Dark Knights also with them, to serve as proof of their identity and to also reinforce the operation."
===
At the hanger of the battle barge, all of those previously present within the tactical chamber are waiting for the self proclaimed allied to arrive.
Four Thunderhawks entered the hangar.
Their hulls bore the same black-and-silver color scheme as the Dark Knights, though each carried different heraldic markings upon their wings and armor plates.
The gunships settled onto the deck with a hiss of venting thrusters.
The ramps lowered.
From the first Thunderhawk, a squad of black-armored Space Marines stepped out in perfect formation, their pauldrons marked with a silver storm motif. At their head walked one wearing a more well ordained power armor, marking his position as their leader.
The second Thunderhawk, warriors in darker black plate trimmed with silver and white strode out. Their heraldry showed a stylized fortress tower, and several carried heavy boarding shields alongside bolters.
The third Thunderhawk brought Astartes whose armor bore crimson accents across black plate. Their Chapter Master carried a relic blade and wore a cloak stitched with silver scripture.
The final Thunderhawk disgorged warriors marked by blue lightning flashes across black armor.
Last to emerge was a Librarian in black and silver armor covered in glowing runes. Unlike the others, he wore no chapter markings of the new arrivals.
He stopped a short distance from the assembled commanders and bowed his head slightly.
"I am Grand Master Thothrax of the Dark Knights. Supreme Grand Master Atharion sends his apologies for his absence. The Battle of Voket is not yet concluded, but he judged the threat here too great to leave unsupported."
The Crimson Fists captain studied the newcomers carefully. The Fire Hawks and Angels of Wrath appeared unsurprised, while the Iron Champions remained openly cautious.
Nexus stepped forward.
"You arrive at a convenient moment, Grand Master. We were discussing whether we possess sufficient strength to strike all twenty-one altars simultaneously."
"Well..." Thothrax began, his expression shifting slightly before returning to its usual calm neutrality. "The Supreme Grand Master has issued a new directive regarding the situation—"
Before he could finish, another voice spoke from behind him.
"Lord Atharion has granted me the authority to order Exterminatus upon the worlds."
Several captains immediately reached for their weapons.
Others spun toward the source of the voice.
Standing among the shadows behind the newly arrived Astartes was Lord Inquisitor Tadig Kozh.
Nobody had noticed him disembark.
Even several Space Marines looked surprised by his sudden appearance.
"Lord Inquisitor," Nexus said, inclining his head slightly.
"Nexus," Tadig replied before turning toward the assembled commanders.
"The Supreme Grand Master has given me full authority to enact Exterminatus if necessary."
Before anyone could question him, Tadig continued.
"However, Atharion's orders are clear."
He activated a hololithic projector.
The three corrupted worlds of the Tri-Six System appeared once more.
Tri-Primus.
Tri-Secundus.
Tri-Tertius.
The Lord Inquisitor pointed toward the latter two.
"Other than Tri-Primus, these worlds may be abandoned if necessary."
Several captains frowned.
The Fire Hawks Chapter Master crossed his arms.
"Abandoned?"
Tadig nodded.
"If we cannot launch simultaneous assaults against all three worlds, then our priority becomes the capital world."
His finger moved to Tri-Primus.
"The Plaguecaster is here."
The image zoomed in on the corrupted world.
"The primary ritual nexus is here."
Another icon appeared.
"And according to the intelligence gathered by the Grey Knights and the Dark Knights Librarium, the greatest concentration of Warp energy is here."
He look up from the image and to those now standing around him.
"The world also have the largest reserves of raw materials, meaning its importance are higher than the other, not to said all those facts that I just said."
"Then our targets are clear than," Tristan said under his hood. "we will launch a full attack on Tri-Primus, destroy the alters and kill all the traitors on it. If the situation upon the other two worlds didnt change after the fact, than we will launch two other attacks to save the worlds."
"But, if the situation changed to the worse," he look at the Lord Inquisitor. "than we will exterminatus those two worlds than."
None of them said anything first.
After all, many of them already discuss with those within their own man on how the operation should go, and many already expected high casualties among their forces as they need to separate their force to fight on three worlds, instead of all focus on one world.
Now, knowing than they can all focus on one world, most of them are happy with it, even though its mean that condemning two worlds to destruction.
But, some of them felt disgraced for having to abandon two Imperial worlds to destruction due to they not having the ability to save them.
Yet none voiced opposition.
This was not a conventional war.
Daemon worlds could not be treated like ordinary battlefields. Every day the corruption spread further. Every day the risk of a Warp breach grew greater.
And more importantly, the order came from Atharion himself.
As Warden of Camelarion and ruler of the realm by the authority of Terra, the responsibility was ultimately his.
If he had chosen to sacrifice two worlds to save the third, then they would respect that decision.
At last, the commanders began making their preparations.
Orders were issued.
Assault plans were revised.
Strike forces were reorganized.
The original operation, which had called for simultaneous attacks across all three worlds, was abandoned in favor of concentrating the majority of their strength upon Tri-Primus—the capital world and the location where Pestigor himself was believed to be operating.
Meanwhile, two Strike Cruisers from the Knights of Tempest Chapter broke away from the main fleet and began moving toward Tri-Secundus and Tri-Tertius.
Both vessels carried Atmospheric Incinerator Torpedoes within their launch bays.
Their orders were clear.
If the corruption on either world worsened beyond recovery...
If a Warp Rift began to form...
If the worlds showed signs of fully crossing into the realm of Chaos...
The torpedoes would be launched without hesitation.
No further permission would be required.
No warnings would be given.
The worlds would burn.