Atreus fixed his gaze on the Space Marine.
Barnaby was a former tactical squad captain who had joined his group after the near-total destruction of his unit.
A tragic fate, but commonplace in this merciless universe.
Toward the end of the Iron Cage campaign, he had ended up serving under Atreus. This act of humility spoke volumes about the man's cold and logical nature.
He had accepted to set aside his pride to serve another Space Marine of similar rank.
This man clearly did not let his ego blind him when it came to survival.
A quality Atreus appreciated.
After all, the former 21st-century Terran was mature enough to accept that another individual might voice disagreement through pure logic.
Beyond his sharp mind, Barnaby possessed raw martial talent superior to Atreus's own.
The only reason Atreus won their sparring sessions was his unconventional tactics and his "Trust."
In short, Barnaby was the second person Atreus did not want to lose from his warband to another faction of traitors.
"The planets located 'inside' the Eye of Terror are all more or less corrupted, and their inhabitants have suffered severe mutations," he began in a calm and concise tone.
"This situation makes those planets unsuitable as fresh blood for our future Astartes legion, and also unreliable in the long term."
Atreus's voice did not hide his frustration, nor his ambition to form his own legion.
A Space Marine legion is very different from a simple chapter, the kind Guilliman imposed on the Imperium.
The former has no real numerical limit, while the latter is restricted to one thousand battle-brothers according to the Codex Astartes.
"Roboute Guilliman has surely already prepared the Second Founding since Rogal Dorn survived Perturabo's trap during the Iron Cage war…" the Iron Warrior analyzed, clenching his fists in excitement on the table.
He did not find the use of the Codex Astartes repulsive.
On the contrary, this tool was not incompatible with Atreus's future vision.
He even considered it necessary to prevent future internal rebellions within his legion, since he could not yet guarantee the absence of Chaos contamination of the mind.
A single officer corrupted by the Warp could cause the fall of a Primarch.
Mortarion was proof of that.
Atreus did not want to expose his battle-brothers to Chaos or corruption.
He was indeed willing to weaken his own authority for that purpose.
"Yes… I must be careful. Anyone could fall because of a case like Typhon and Erebus," he thought, bringing his mind back to reality.
Despite all his thoughts being turned toward the future, the Iron Lord did not lose track of the conversation.
"There is also the fact that warbands are far too numerous inside the Eye of Terror; the best positions simply do not fall to us," he said honestly, ending with a sigh.
He felt a little ashamed to admit his weakness, and that of his group.
Nevertheless, Atreus judged it necessary to avoid any illusion of grandeur in their minds.
In their situation, the worst thing to do was to make a misjudgment.
"Our forces are not large enough to secure a good position that we could hold permanently. More importantly… the Imperium probably doesn't even know Limnos III exists."
The last sentence was spoken in an almost confident tone.
Atreus casually tossed a damaged parchment onto the table, then continued after a short pause:
"Here is what I found in the archives of Perturabo's Iron Warriors Legion. This document is what led me to consider this option. During the Great Crusade, this world was conquered by our Legion under the orders of our predecessors. At that time, the Primarch had not yet returned to them."
He paused to let his subordinates absorb the information.
The world of Limnos had been discovered by Terran veterans and not by Perturabo's Olympian Space Marines.
Simply put, it was a world potentially unknown to their Primarch.
Atreus continued without missing a beat:
"A squad of Astartes landed, met the local king… and the matter was settled in a few minutes.
A few dozen Space Marines against natives armed with wooden sticks: the fight was far too one-sided.
The king immediately declared allegiance to the Imperium, and our brothers left behind a small administrative contingent before departing."
Atreus shrugged, as if to emphasize how banal this forgotten conquest was in the Legion's archives.
"The Imperium later considered collecting a tithe because of that damned Departmento Munitorum created by Malcador. Unfortunately, this world had nothing to offer them.
No food, no weapons, no industrial goods. They thought about taking the population, but the place was not populous enough to become a hive world," he explained in a serious voice.
As a transmigrator, Atreus understood the urgency weighing on the Emperor's mind during the Great Crusade.
The man with divine powers had to unify humanity while the Warp was still cooling after the energy surge caused by Slaanesh's birth.
He did not have time to play "Age of Empires" on a distant world when there were planets rich enough to immediately generate Imperial tithes.
Especially since, beyond unification, the Master of Mankind was looking for a way to permanently sever the link between the Warp and humanity.
The Webway of the Ancients, which the Eldar had damaged during Slaanesh's birth, was the centerpiece of the Emperor's ultimate plan.
Unfortunately, the Emperor had failed to take control of that dimensional highway.
"Horus and Lorgar…" he thought, frowning slightly with bitterness.
Atreus despised his predecessor for blindly following his Primarch all the way to the Iron Cage campaign.
However, he also understood that the damage was already done.
It was up to him to make the most of the current situation this world offered.
Yes, he was a traitor.
Indeed, he was far from a Primarch's inner circle.
Once again, he was just a Space Marine destined to perish in some unknown campaign.
… And so what?
In this infernal world, Atreus intended to play on the chessboard instead of being a mere pawn.
After all, the Imperium was not known for its mercy.
Freedom wasn't so bad.
"So the Imperium preferred to recruit labor from the nearest hive cities rather than venture all the way to a world lost in the Maelstrom sector. And since this world could neither serve as a resupply point nor offer any strategic value, the Departmento simply adjusted the tithe to fourth-grade… before slowly forgetting about it," he said with a shrug.
"The archives concerning the location of this world are probably buried under mountains of parchment, or simply burned during the Battle of Terra," he added to conclude his answer to Barnaby.
Atreus's contemptuous tone when mentioning the Departmento Munitorum did not go unnoticed.
That institution was horrifically slow and bureaucratic, but even Malcador could not have done much better to manage such a colossal empire.
The Imperium possessed billions of worlds.
It was almost impossible to control everything without powerful artificial intelligence.
The old Sigillite had already accomplished an incredible feat through the Departmento Munitorum, even if its efficiency remained debatable.
Perturabo and the previous owner of this body had paid the price for it, through war supplies that arrived after the campaign itself.
"If I had not found this document in the archives of our former Legion, this world would probably have remained in the shadows.
As for the administrative personnel left behind at the time by our brothers of old… they will no longer be a problem. Centuries have passed, and their descendants are now part of the local nobility," he added to dispel any doubt in the minds of the Astartes present.
Atreus even suspected that the notion of "Imperium" was now considered on Limnos III as nothing more than a legend told in a few history books.
"I understand better now, Captain. Although Warp storms are frequent in this sector, the region remains more stable than the Eye of Terror. And we are still in a sector far from the influence of the Imperium of Man, where resources are abundant. Whether through raiding or self-exploitation, it will be much simpler," declared a veteran Space Marine after listening to all the explanations.
"Indeed, it would be preferable to fight here than for corrupted and doomed planets inside the Eye of Terror. The opportunities are far more numerous, aren't they?" added Filon, another battle-brother.
He turned his red eyes toward Atreus, seeking confirmation of his deduction.
"Exactly," Atreus replied to the Astartes in the singular armor.
Filon was not an ordinary Space Marine.
He was an experienced chain-smith, or simply a senior Techmarine.
But what distinguished him most from the others were his blood-red eyes that glowed in the shadows.
"Well… does anyone else have anything to add?"
Atreus waited ten seconds to check that there was no opposition to his vision of their group's future.
Fortunately, the silence confirmed general approval.
Thus, the fate of a world was decided.