Empress Caiatl strolled between rows of Legionaries standing at attention.

"I commend you, Valus Saladin." The empress projected her voice for the benefit of the soldiers. "Your training has made the Iron War Beasts the very tusks of the empire."

Caiatl returned to the head of the formation and gave a nod. Saladin's gravelly voice boomed. "Armor and weapons will be stripped and stowed. Hand-to-hand training begins in two cycles. Fall out."

Once the soldiers had dispersed, the empress's tone softened. "Your soldiers are exemplary. Yet you seem… unsatisfied."

"Many years ago," Saladin replied, "at Twilight Gap, I gave an order that was disobeyed."

"A rash attack?" The empress inquired.

Saladin shook his head. "The opposite. A retreat."

"In retrospect, it was a mistake," he continued. "If not for my soldiers' insubordination, we would have lost."

"I drilled the Iron War Beasts on Darkness-based tactics from the Hive to Clovis Bray and back again," Saladin concluded. "I just hope that when their time comes, they have the strength of conviction to defy the Light with equal ferocity."