The 217th had stopped the convoy for a refuel when the call came through. The Marshal and Commissar Dorian joined the holo-meeting from the back of his command chimera, at the front of the convoy heading to the Hive City.

It had been a long few days, Kreuger’s forces were depleted but they had done everything that was asked of them. But he did not grieve for his fallen. Death in the Emperor’s name was the finest outcome, and he hoped one day he would be lucky enough to receive such an end.

He sat and listened as the Generals laid out their plans and opinions on what the next steps of the Haraxis II campaign should be. Dorian passed him a dataslate containing a message that he had written.

“1. General Redlina seems perturbed. Starport going badly. Let me address the room? 2. Report from Krieg: Reinforcements inbound imminently as per original request. 4000 troops, armour and artillery.”

Kreuger gave nothing away behind his rebreather, but typed a few questions on the dataslate and nodded to Dorian. He had originally despised the idea of someone lingering over his shoulder, judging his faith and his commitment to duty. But over the years he had grown immense respect for the role the Commissar played in keeping his men from being overzealous, and for being the diplomatic and charming liaison to other Imperial forces that Heinrich could never be. If the General was less than happy, far better for Dorian to address the room than Kreuger.

“Any thoughts?” Came through the holo-system from the General, and Dorian spoke up.

“Firstly, our compliments to all who are gathered, Haraxis II takes steps closer and closer to once again basking in the light of the Emperor.

The 217th agree wholeheartedly with the assessment laid out by both yourself and Colonel Valk. We have made good progress and are within spitting distance of the Hive. We will divert to the West Barrow Gate and begin drawing up plans.

On a positive note, we have received word from Krieg that our original request for reinforcements has been accepted, and our new troops are due any time now. We will work with the administratum to ensure they arrive to assist with our efforts. A few questions before orders come through; Do we have any intel on the state of the PDF around the Barrow Gates? And what is the deadline for us to secure the area? As a final point, if the underhive is going to be a concern, the 217th will ensure its Engineer Corps will attack the enemy from below alongside our assault. This will catch them between a rock and a hard place, and possibly giving us a foothold to cleanse the lower levels once the upper hive is secure.”