Asthenis sat motionless in the pilot’s seat, gloved fingers drumming a slow, uneven rhythm against the worn edge of the console. The Thunderhawk’s interior was dim, running on low power to conserve reserves, and the only sounds were the soft hum of systems on standby and the occasional hiss from the environmental controls struggling against the planet’s thin, arid atmosphere.

Sixteen hours. Sixteen hours of nothing.

He’d been on extended deployments before—long waits while Astartes scoured hive cities, exterminated resistance, or vanished into catacombs for reasons serfs were never meant to understand. But this... this felt wrong. The vox had gone silent nearly a full cycle ago. No updates. No casualty reports. Not even the usual barked orders to prep for extraction or standby for redeployment. The skies outside remained dark and unnervingly still, the horizon jagged with dead mountains and abandoned manufactorums. No fire, no flashes of gunfire, no rising smoke. Just silence.

Through the cracked viewport, Asthenis squinted into the distance, frowning. His scar itched beneath the sweat gathering on his cheek, but he ignored it. He hadn’t seen movement on the auspex for hours now. No signs of battle, no signs of return. Only that creeping stillness, like the whole world was holding its breath.

He checked the systems again. Fuel was steady. Engines cold but ready. Weapon systems nominal. The Thunderhawk was primed for departure the moment someone gave the word...

If there was anyone left to give it.

The control panel broke the silence with a sudden, sharp beep. A warning. Proximity sensors detecting movement. Asthenis straightened, hands hovering over the controls. Another beep. The cargo bay door had begun to descend, slow and grinding, hydraulics groaning as they engaged without his command. His brow furrowed. He hadn’t signaled for it. No vox ping had preceded the activation.

Strapped into his seat, helmet resting unused at his side, he stared down the dimly-lit gangway through the narrow observation slit of the cockpit door. He couldn’t see who had boarded.