Watch Master Beatriz and the Deathwatch faced oblivion on Migale. The hordes of Khorne worshipping warriors held them at the precipice of annihilation. The bravery of a few saved them from that. Like the Spartans of old Terra, it was a numberless horde against the few. But salvation, as for the heroes of the Imperium, was short lived. Aboard their battle barge, on their way to Komodious Prime, Auspex scans identified a number of Chaos shipped in orbital dock around a small, agri world.. Designation…. Draco Minus. Some ships belonged to the traitor, the Despoiler, The Black Legion. Others were more easily identified; their mechanicul, now, organic form was sickly. The God of Disease, Nurgle, had sent his Warriors to this planet.

Beatriz’s thought was interrupted by a short burst of Vox traffic hitting the command deck. Somehow penetrating the required authorisations codes for acceptance:

01010011 01110100 01110010 01101111 01101110 01100111 00100000 01010000 01101111 01101001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110011 01110100 00101110 00100000 01010001 01110101 01100101 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110010 01101001 01101111 01110101 01110011 00100000 01000001 01110011 01110011 01100101 01110100 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110010 01101001 01110011 01101011 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01100111 01110101 01100101 00100000 01110011 01110000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01100100 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001001 01101101 01101101 01100101 01100100 01101001 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100011 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100100 01100101 01101101 01100001 01101110 01100100 01100101 01100100 00101110 00100000 01010000 01110010 01100001 01101001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001111 01101101 01101101 01101110 01101001 01110011 01110011 01100001 01101000 00100000 00100000

The coded message, translated by the small mechanicus priest aboard:

Strong Point lost. Questorious Assets at risk. The plague spreads. Immediate reinforcement is demanded. Praise the Ommnissah.

The Emperor Protects, and Watch Master Beatriz serves. Knight assets would not fall to the Plague god or to The Black Legion. Not long had the Deathwatch been out of battle. The furious assault against the Eightscarred of Khorne had taken its toll. But the Watch Master would not sit idly by, he was made for War. His battle brothers were made for War. Whether it was Xenos, Chaos, or Traitors, they were an affront to the Emperor. Kill Teams were readied. Bolters cleansed and machine spirits soothed. The fury of battle awaits those who are worthy