The Hrafnkel shuddered to a powerful impact. Alarms were blaring everywhere. Orders barked from multiple voxmitters, distorted to the point of incomprehensibility. A Thunderhawk came in hard, its tail section ablaze, landing claws tearing up fans of sparks as it crashed down onto the deck. One landing strut gave out, and it skidded on its belly into the arresting nets that sprang up to catch it. Damage control teams ran towards it shouting. Foamed fire suppressants gushed over its fuselage from long hoses.

Landing jets screamed like damned wights suffering Hel's miseries. The air was unbreathable with the amount of exhaust venting into the deck. Giant fans whipped up a storm, but did little to purify the smoggy air, instead churning it into an eye-watering brume.

Bjorn followed his gene-father in a daze. They were hurrying Russ out towards the fleshmakers' realm. Bjorn wondered if he should go with him.

A hand roughly grabbed the rim of his shoulder guard and spun him around.

'What by Hel happened?' Ogvai Ogvai Helmschrot ripped his helm off and threw it down so hard it bounced on the deck.

'Jarl,' said Bjorn. 'Russ is gravely wounded.'

'I saw that aboard Horus' cursed ship. How?' demanded the jarl of Tra. 'There was no opportunity to ask back there.'

'He faced Horus. Russ fought him. The Emperor's Spear dipped its tongue into the traitor's guts, but…' Bjorn swallowed. His mouth was dry and tasted of burning. 'Russ could not best him.'

'I never thought I would hear those words,' said Helmschrot in disbelief.

A heavy shell got through the void shields. The ship shook.

'Horus Lupercal is no more. He has given himself to the Underverse,' said Bjorn.

Helmschrot looked around. 'Someone needs to take command, or this retreat will turn into a massacre. I am going to the command deck. You can come with me, or not. I leave the choice with you.'

Helmschrot walked off, shouting for transport to the ship's nerve centre. At a loss as to what to do, Bjorn followed him.

Cawl and Friedisch's trip down from the command centre was fraught with peril. Bands of warriors from both sides roamed the halls, and since Cawl had deactivated Aspertia's control systems over the Mechanicum troops, the Warmaster's forces were killing whoever they came across. Cawl led Friedisch on a bewildering journey through the inner workings of the Septa tether. Friedisch had no idea that there were so many corridors and ducts crammed into the space between the outer ways and the great hyperway tube running down the tether centre.