The Emperor speaks of enlightenment and the end to superstition, and He sets this coterie of priests over us.


Shock marked the face of Gahlan Surlak as Angron emerged into the corridor.


He could steal a few seconds from the march forwards to hear what the captain of the Destroyers had to say.


He’d meant to ask Chancellor Corynth about it, but hadn’t as yet had the opportunity.


So far as the vast majority knew – even those who had insight into the Astartes project – the XX Legion had not yet progressed to full uptake, let alone reached readiness to have a presence in the field.


Imperial warships were designed to function as parts of a greater whole, particularly smaller escort vessels like the Edge.


Much further out was a dispersed cluster of tags denoting the location of Corax’s fleet.


‘I am aware of this – as aware of it, in fact, as you were aware that others have tested Perturabo’s strength in a similar way.’


The Ultramarine blinked up at Ferrus’ throne, but appeared to have lost the power of speech.


The ten captains of the Nemesis Chapter formed an honour line before the bay doors.


‘Keep running,’ Duriel shouted to them as they approached, waving them on towards his forces still battling around the bridge-fort.


Surlak took a step closer to Mago, their feathered breath mingling in the chill air.


If we do not aid them, we will give the Sodality time to better coordinate their efforts at resistance, and the war here will drag on for months.


His hope, in observing the war, was to find the opportunity to prove to Guilliman the need for the Destroyers.


I cannot refuse Chondax, but someone must represent us at the conclave.


I will destroy it so Kardis is aware of our intentions.’


I shall alter the training regimen of the Forty-fifth Company to suit, don’t you worry.’


The vehicle slowed, the drill turning fruitlessly in the air as T’kell struggled to reach the next wall.


Never in Lochos’ history had so drastic an action been undertaken.


If Bucepholos wasn’t involved, then this truly was a waste of time.


He used the bandages to bind Lorgar’s arms, while around them the battle continued to rage.


Scores of captains and Chaplains, the banners of their companies with them, watched from afar by the golden-armoured Custodians sent to enforce the will of the Emperor.


Not once, in all his years at the Lord of Iron’s side, had he ever seen Perturabo express doubt.


All the blood, the death, the torture… Those things I can understand, but one act I performed, though righteous, haunts me yet.


Like the allied chieftains of a war council of ancient times, they assembled in an isolated corner of Mago’s ship, where the leader of the Unbroken waited with Astakos and Hanno at his side.


So I – and, it must be said, Malcador – nudged the direction of events so my brothers would be discovered sooner, rather than later.


‘How could those Sons of Shaitan fanatics build such a thing, let alone keep its construction secret from Imperial command?’


Some other Legions might shun the use of psykana powers, but I saw no reason not to adopt them.


But Hasik was right – the one in gold was just a little further along the arc towards perfection.


The organisation of the evacuation was under the aegis of Konrad Vargha’s Gubernatorial Guard, but their breathtaking inefficiency had jammed every highway and transit route for tens of kilometres.


I have not met him, though – I have no insight into his ways.’


Admiral So-Lung Fenc faced the ornate doors of his flagship stateroom, his captains arrayed in full dress uniform at his side.


Civilians slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands, simply because their masters refused to join this “Imperium” of yours.’


‘The Navigators refer to it as the Sea of Souls,’ I put in, and my twin nodded.


Then flood-lumens suddenly blazed into life, illuminating an arched nave, covered in the dragon emblems of the Tyrant, its walls as crimson as the outer scarps of the fortress.


A wealth of scarce minerals was Perturabo’s from that moment, and he had such plans for them.


On some level, Duriel must have intuited this, that the workings of such a weapon derive as much from the man as from the machine.


It felt similar to how I’d felt my father’s voice when He’d found me, but Malcador did not speak aloud.


The archdeacon could not be allowed to dictate the thoughts of Lorgar in this matter.


We will destroy them there, and open the way for Banzor.’


Without the minimal oversight of Overton’s crew, things were beginning to go wrong.


‘As we transition from day to night, heat to chill, action to contemplation, I shall consult the oracles of the skies and seek the Truth.’


The lesser Dulanian troops were not so fortunate, burned alive within their carapace suits, shrieking as the liquid fire pulled flesh from bone.


A seventh, also a member of the Two Hundred, stood somewhat apart and behind the others, watching in silence.


If there were true justice in the universe, they would fall back before the glory of the Imperium and be shamed into extinction.


The Angel affected nonchalance then, for the first time, and not altogether convincingly.


It is, in my estimation, one of the most perceptive depictions of war I have ever seen.


The Gardinaal war machine would have been an incalculable asset to the Great Crusade.


Kor Phaeron turned from the slaves having pronounced his judgement, focusing his scorn upon Lorgar.


Now Iasus stood in the centre of the pyramid’s enormous ground-floor chamber, his armour drenched in ork blood.


Before the moon Lycaeus had been opened up for exploitation, the planet had been picked clean of everything useful.


Whoever I am, I was made for more than such a petty realm as Olympia.’


Tethys does not know how much time has passed since Angron’s axe fell.


The routes to the Imperial Palace grow fewer and fewer the closer you get, so – having memorised them – it was easy for me to work out which road we had taken.


‘We shall see how much blood your father is willing to expend in taking our homes from us,’ said Agarth.


‘I never met a wall I couldn’t tear down,’ Helmschrot muttered.


Half-supported, the catwalk sagged under the combined weight of Corax and his attackers.


We left Captain Lanesra with instructions to proceed as usual with their cargo, but to be ready to return us to the Argolisa as required.


‘We have decided we will not strike one who has been chosen by the Powers.


A Space Marine couldn’t be seen to disrespect his primarch, even in jest.


The Dulanian vessel spun away to port, jetting plasma, but Othgar kept in close, piling on the power to shut down the remaining distance between them.


The Night Haunter’s differences to the human creatures he dwelled among were manifold, and not limited to his rapid regenerative powers, but they were among the most remarkable of his abilities.


The Lion drank in every detail, memorising every star cluster and visual anomaly.


‘What can we tell Malcador that he does not already know?


‘If your victory here was hastened, it could re-establish your pre-eminence amongst the Emperor’s sons.


Moments later, the deep rumble of an entire cliff face collapsing rolled back to Cassian.


‘The expeditionary fleet is struggling to contain the united forces of the Sodality.


‘The Carinaeans have the advantage of knowing each other well,’ said Corax.


Five legionaries hurtling towards a vortex of destruction, and Numeon’s grin was back.


The landing bays of the Klostzatz opened to receive the gunships.


‘This sector of the Ultima Segmentum is riddled with the remnants of failed human civilisations.


‘He will change you, though,’ he called out, and his accented voice sounded strange on the skirling Terran wind.


Only the dark red walls of the township were visible – though the stream of heavy wagons that moved along the road between the mine and Vharadesh some one hundred and forty kilometres away betrayed its presence long before the defences came into view.


‘Because my Father could trust us to perform the task as it needed to be done.


‘No, I am one of the few remaining Iron Warriors to have been born on Terra,’ said Forrix.


‘It is possible that the Imperium of my father will one day falter as you insist it must,’ said the Lion.


The Librarian looked slowly down, as if his gaze were a precious implement with the power to drill unhindered through cloth, flesh and bone.


And though you will never experience it, the Legion, all of our brothers, will.’


For him, Fenris was the only world worth the name, and the galaxy too small to contain its magnificence.


‘My counsellor told me you wished to speak to me,’ the Khan said, standing before Malcador and folding his arms.


They inflicted almost as much damage as the Land Raider guns.


‘It was a great honour you bestowed,’ said Ferrus, ‘allowing DuCaine to speak for Akurduana.’


‘Then never ask me questions like that again, Sev,’ said Curze.


‘You really believe there is some ancient knowledge buried in Zharrukin that will explain why Morningstar survived Old Night unscathed?’


I am Fulgrim, and I come bearing tidings of peace and prosperity.’


Hasik, Giyahun – you will come with me and the Legion keshig.


Even poor Pandion, so frightened for his future, seeks to do what is best for Byzas.’


Though Nairo was no expert in war he had seen enough of Axata and his ilk to recognise that Lorgar fought without training or thought.


Thank you, Malcador, for teaching me how to hold multiple thoughts in my head at once, so I could present whichever I chose to the outside world, and bury the others within.


It is no small endeavour – close to five per cent of the entire output of Sacred Mars may be consumed by the creation of a Gloriana war vessel for the duration of its construction.’


He gestured towards Magos Bernt, whose defining feature was a mass of writhing mechadendrites lashing about over his stooped back.


The V Legion delegation was small: Yesugei himself, four warriors of the ordu, a menial staff of thirty, some servitors and the crew of the starship Naman.


‘In response to the Gardinaal’s offensive, you led a combined force of Ultramarines, Thousand Sons and a demi-legio of the Legio Atarus to drive them back to their walls.’


And after I have wiped your blood from my hands, I will bend all my efforts to tearing this city down, stone by stone, until nothing remains and all its people are gone into slavery.’


The Ecclesiarch had proven himself more than capable and now as archdeacon, Kor Phaeron ruled a world.


At the fall, as Lorgar had promised, the Epiceans were given the choice of submission or death.


‘Why do you laugh?’ slurred the Lion, staggering towards him, his fists still balled.


When the Lion calls on me again, I will join you in this battle.’


His father had taken a seat by the great celestial occullum and the impossibly complex maps detailing His plans for galactic conquest.


It was a delicate moment and Kor Phaeron judged that Lorgar did not need instruction as much as guidance, to be returned to the path he sought.


‘Did you know, he learned the entirety of Hrastor of Epherium’s Dialectica by heart in a week, all fifty volumes?


‘Good,’ said Kor Phaeron, feeling a stab of pride at the boy’s forthright pronouncement.


The hall of the tyrant was very different to that of Lochos in appearance, its architectural flourishes determined by the local geology and the quirks of the Kardikron national character.


They have the same stiff neck, but they know how to run a Legion.’


‘The primarch has ordered it, so let it be done,’ said Zhalsk.


We had been on an intelligence-gathering mission into an Imperial city; there had been no need to complicate matters by bringing weapons, or so I had believed.


On Vaughn’s instructions, the command module of the Cauldron had been made his permanent residence.


‘No, we do not do that, for we do not answer to the Covenant but to the Powers.


‘By the oaths you have sworn to me and to this order I have drawn you from your duties to the Legion.


Even though he would not know what we had attempted, I could at least try to reach him.


‘I hear some of the Emperor’s cattle are worshipping my father as a god,’ said a hissing, growling voice behind the throne.


Ahead of them, in the void beyond, the sleek grey profile of a VI Legion destroyer slid across the abyss.


Not in any objective sense, for Perturabo was superior to all men, but Andos was balanced in a way that he could never be.


Either my father did not know of it, or He thought it unnecessary.


The admirals were refusing to lend their lances to the surface fight and run the risk of killing their Legion Masters in the crossfire again.


I freely admit that I am not immune to such things, for you see… I know fear as well.’


Heartened by these words, he left Kor Phaeron, who was also invigorated by the exchange.


People saw Perturabo’s physicality and prodigious intellect as his chief strengths.


As you see, I am an old man, and time is pressing.’


‘They’re mobile and fluid, it’s not like we’ll be trying to mimic the Iron Warriors.’


Many of the assembled wise men glanced at him distractedly, then turned their attention back to Perturabo’s drawing.


Why didn’t you explain that I was doing what I was supposed to do?


‘The tidings reach me now, but I do not believe them.


‘Does it rankle,’ I replied, ‘to see your brothers from other Legions amassing victories, and being hailed as heroes?’


Korit’s hand grew still as each of the connectors arrived at its destination, fully embedded within Iocare’s brain.


Since the day of the War Hounds’ founding, whether the foe before them was xenos, machine, or even the Emperor’s own Thunder Warriors, the XII commenced hostilities according to their own fashion.


The knight of the Ironwing had been outfitted with a psychically baffled helmet of the Santales order, and was flanked by a pair of towering six-limbed cyber automata.


I have seen it with my own eyes and I have heard it from Gahlan’s own lips,’ said Mago.


His visit to Bucepholos and the reports on the other members of the patricians had convinced him that the only way forward was to simplify things.


Such a declaration was unheard of – it went against the very founding of the Covenant and the beliefs of Kor Phaeron.


In practice, Pandion was forced to lean to the side and squint to see anything.


Listening to the exchange, Adophus leaned in to Dammekos and softly whispered, ‘How old did you say he was?’


The losses across the companies were high, and these legionaries hardly looked on him as a brother, even those who had been born on Macragge.


He found his thoughts being steered towards his last memories of his brother, Horus.


Behind her was a warren of poky offices where hundreds of Terran bureaucrats worked, monitoring Kiavahr and Deliverance for the Imperium.


A grainy image of Polar-3 flickered on over the dull, black surface.


‘I shall do as you ask, and the outcome of the mission will forever be at the forefront of my mind while I work, but I must insist that my collection of examples be allowed.’


The Palace kitchens had endeavoured to produce something approximating Chogorian food, but it wasn’t easy to match the remorseless diet of flesh and fermented dairy products that fuelled the warrior clans of the Altak.


‘Named for the santales, a plant native to the forests of Caliban.


For all his might and intellect, Perturabo behaved with the same casual disdain for his elders that all young men had.


The doors opened onto the finely appointed corridors of the Melanchromatic Palace.


Lightning flares of pain exploded down the entire length of his left flank, but he kept his focus and fired a quick shot with Anvil’s Light.


What remained of Giyahun’s body was consumed in that hurricane, burned away, rendered down to atoms.


I will tell you now, because it is important to mark that we begin a new chapter in the Legion’s history but not a new book.


‘My lord?’ said a voice, and Magnus looked up to see Ahzek Ahriman staring at him.


‘I am not sure of what the Powers intend,’ confessed Lorgar.


The texts tell us that one will come, raised above the others in the eyes of the Powers, to bring sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the Word to the mute.’


The whine of a fusil shot broke the scene, hitting Lorgar in the shoulder.


Cicerus angled his spear towards the two Iron Hands, his sword to Akurduana.


His heart still thumped and the surrounding tissue was wet with life, thanks to Fabius’ skill.


The Lion had brought the greater numbers with him – the Second, Sixth and Ninth Orders of his Legion – and outnumbered the Wolves by roughly a third.


Blind, that man would nevertheless have sensed Curze as a darkness in the dark.


‘What I am asking you to face is no different, in essence, from what I demanded today of Iasus and the Twenty-second.


‘This is why I appreciate your company, brother,’ Ferrus whispered in Fulgrim’s ear, eyeing the statuesque form of Roboute Guilliman at the far side of the dais.


Did you think Olympia is special somehow because I was found here?


He did not protest, and that was all Guilliman asked of him.


‘The culture of the Ultramarines must be as much a living thing as the Imperium,’ Guilliman said.


Personally he felt he did not deserve to suffer for his ancestors’ wrongs, but that was what the Lycaeans had endured before the coming of the primarch.


He had returned as quickly as he could, hoping to reach Nova-Basilos before the worst happened.


Word around the palace was that his replacement, a keen young officer named Fayle, was impatiently waiting for Frazer to hurry up and retire, or die.


This far west of the cordillera, Thoas was dark with eternal night, cold with eternal winter.


The depleted armies of Olympia tried everything against their estranged sons, from outright assault to full surrender.


Alkenex would kill them too quickly, and Quin didn’t understand the meaning of the word.


The Mechanicum representatives he’d allowed to accompany him had already written extensive reports on the pseudo-archaic nature of the weaponry on display, as well as their effects on the surrounding landscape.


He was not using an auspex, but I did not doubt him.


Curze giggled, and Elver thought it the most abhorrent noise he had ever heard.


The last man was taking careful aim at Pyke and the governor.


Covering his eyes with his hand, Ferrus dug fingers into his temples and growled.


The sound of a foot upon the steps drew Nairo’s eye back to the open grate.


Still, she had been inordinately lucky: only she and Tessza Rom had made it out alive.


The corridor was long, but not so long that Curze’s preternatural senses could not hear everything that occurred within.


When Captain Thesuger’s fleet arrived to collect the recruits, there was no central authority to communicate with, and our demands for supplies were denied.


They watched, surrounded by their staff, as Perturabo’s tanks growled their way towards the first wall.


I wonder how much it is the result of my Father’s design, or if it surprised Him too.


‘This is rather the opposite of that for which I am best known.’


The official from the Palace, now revealed as Ert Ech Slavomar, Major-General of the First Division, Corps Logisticae, was clearly proud of what had been accomplished.


I see the gunships and shuttles ferrying more troops and equipment from the fleet to Lament.’


Secondly, it tells us that Rogal was aware of the potential for forcing compliance by means of non-military intervention as well as his own successes in the field, but had made no efforts to bring this about himself.


Terran scribes and techwrights were imported, as well as specialists from a hundred other worlds, all of them made to swear oaths of allegiance to the Khagan and put to work turning the bastion, by then named Quan Zhou, into one of the mightiest citadels in the growing Imperium.


The long-limbed equoids were only distantly reminiscent of Terran equines, being more related to ungulates.


For much of the Imperial force, that is indeed what happened.


With the instinct of a hunter, the Lion pointed down the corridor.


He spent much time with Lorgar, reading from the texts and instilling his own thoughts into the boy.


In time, either or both of them might well have ventured further than they already had, perhaps creating little Imperiums of their own.


The squalor Corax had witnessed elsewhere seemed a thousand light years away.


If we had been like our father, there is no doubt in my mind that the Legion would have achieved victory.


Months stretched ahead, months of waiting for Curze to strike, or to come speak with him; equally terrifying experiences.


It makes you look like a peasant, Griffayn of the Firewing had once said.


Or was this merely an echo of the vision he had seen of the monstrous destiny ahead of Forrix?


For now, though, the bulk of Hasik’s army made its way north in a long-strung cavalcade of transports and grav-lifters.


The Eye of Horus, etched in platinum into the cheek guard of his tall helm, glinted from under the crook of his arm.


He tries to turn and flee, but I seize his head and break his neck with a twist of my wrist.


There was only one route to Gahevarla and it lay directly though the Scourstorm.


A Terran would have been hesitant about describing such experiences as dreams.


‘What can you tell me about Patrician Bucepholos?’ he asked, when Corynth had rejoined him.


On every one of the artificial worlds, the Ravenlord’s visage was broadcast in massive form, and his black eyes looked deep into the beings of a thousand recalcitrant lords.


What he did was terrible, worse than what I see in the visions.


The orbit of Colchis around its star takes nearly five years – four point eight to be more precise.


He did not begrudge them their chance to see Him and take comfort from His presence, for He understood the power of symbolism – He would hardly have armoured Himself and His Custodians in gold, otherwise – even while He strove to ensure that He was never misrepresented as a deity.


‘Look, forgive my suspicion, this just isn’t the sort of thing the Legion gets involved with.


But do not be seduced by the scale of His power – He has sacrificed more than any of us, and He does not use it for Himself.


‘No,’ said Vulkan, his voice reverberating above the diminished clamour of the battle.


The bitter irony was that Phalaris had not been killed in the field.


‘We came here to forge a beginning,’ Rhy’tan declared, ‘and we shall!’


However, my agents’ greatest successes came where I was in the theatre of war myself, and could utilise their placement to the greatest effect.


– Eighth Captain Khârn, from his unpublished treatise The Eighteen Legions


The greatest warrior of a Legion cannot shoot if his bolter is without ammunition.


Now Gukul and his wounds were no longer clogging my senses, I could smell the faintest hint of Ani’s blood.


‘I know you’re in there – I can see your carapace lights from here.’


‘There will be twenty Legions – one in each of your images.


The Covenant would bury our world with ceremony and holy cant, but we will die of it as a man in the desert dies of lack of water, for there is no faith in blind devotion, no Truth in the word spoken out of thought.


For a time, the sky over the fortress had remained clear and still, even as Calaena burned and localised magna-tempests sent lightning ripping along its streets.


This is not the wisdom I would have expected from the great Dammekos.


‘Bitter experience has taught my Legion to bear moments like this.


Your past as a teacher, the things you taught me… I think I understand now what Kor Phaeron meant when he punished me for learning the words but not the meanings.


‘The future of the Legion stands upon a precipice,’ said Mago.


The force of the blast knocked Rhy’tan down, and his armour sealed itself tightly against the first heat of the explosions.


‘Which is, I gather, exactly what the Khan told the Emperor.


We are puppets of time, you and I. For the moment you live.’


This kind of void assault war is unsuited to your troops, as I am sure you realise, else you would already be masters of this place.’


Why stage the attack on the convoy, and ‘Uzra’s’ subsequent death?


‘I can’t decide if I’m that memorable or you’re that obsequious.’


The temporal wave continued onwards through the Space Marine fleet, crippling ships and ageing crews to dust in seconds.


However, the one thing my father could not bring wholly under His dominion was time.


‘They are political creatures here – their first captain, Raldoron, spoke to me often.


Looking up through his canopy screen, he saw the colossal black delta-wing shape of the Skylance gunship Oden Spear swoop towards the planet.


More, I have proven my ability to any who might doubt it.’


It was immense, titanic, a tidal wave of mindless force that dwarfed anything the Stormseers could summon or contest.


We tell you of Old Night and you barely believe us, but that is not how most places were.


At the end of them were the Gates, crowned with stone and barred with weather-blackened iron.


The vastness of the Fist of Iron owned the void behind him, filling in for the occluded stars with a constellation of guidelights, communications lasers and coherence fields.


It has been widely recorded, both in the recounting of remembrancers during the Great Crusade and within each Legion’s own archival histories, how Space Marines made battle.


He had no time for Orontes’ rage, or to ponder their father’s.


Your vision is too narrow to see the breadth of what the Emperor wants to achieve.’


‘I wonder sometimes what you would do if I asked you to follow a course of action you regarded as unjust.’


Hierax could imagine the situation must have been extreme to push Sirras to make that mistake, but it could not have been the result of applied reason.


‘Your defiance will be noted in the history books,’ said Corax.


Orasus was the eldest of the four, cut from the same rough material as Numeon.


The Angel is eager to meet you, having heard so much of your accomplishments from a distance.’


The Children of Deliverance provided everything she needed to do so.


‘By then, the Phoenician will have come up with a suitable plan of action.’


He wished the captain to know, also, that the contribution of his Chapter had value.


Two World Eaters were in the pit, their bare flesh bleeding and sheened with sweat.


The Haukr did not have the guns to penetrate the Faash ship’s shields.


‘Do you know the legend of how I got these hands?’


Have them bring the Emperor’s judgement on those who show the merest sign of disobedience.


The lines of grief and despair, etched into the faces of the Two Hundred.


I have already run simulations of action against a better disposed Sodality.


Massed columns of tanks and mechanised infantry rolled across the Nigris Bridge.


Then the Wolf King was gone, leaving the cathedral to the corpses.


‘I am Baron Selus Hohngerron Marsepian, lord-general in perpetuity of the Forty-Seventh Lotharingian Grenadiers, and governor-marshal of Muspel.


His followers looked to him, ready and willing to do his bidding, eyes bright and hungry for his Lore and his Law.


‘What I do not know is when we will have it.’


There was a reason the Emperor had all but banned such weapons.


I could have engaged in a more direct manner of war, and taken the fight directly to whatever enemy my Legion and I faced.


‘You remember Dulan, then,’ he said, and his voice was as bitter as gall.


Evacuation crews debarked the refugees from the Lux Ferem as swiftly as possible, leading thousands of weeping civilians back to the camps beyond the city walls.


‘I was telling you how I came to be here, on Tsagualsa.


In that, only you can be the arbiter of the Truth.’


A few Wolves lay among the heaps of the slain, but the vast majority of the dead were Dulanian.


Justice will prevail, but at this time, vengeance would not suit here,’ said Corax.


‘It’s a mystery to me how they get anything done,’ Abdemon said from behind Fulgrim.


If he admitted the truth of what Iasus said, then he needed to think carefully about the deeper implications of what Guilliman had chosen to do with the Nemesis Chapter.


As Castora continued her speech, lauding the benefits of the Truth and the righteousness of the Bearer of the Word, the master emerged.


‘I am a Librarian of the Firewing, and a knight of the Order of Santales.


The orks were going to have to cut through their dead to reach the Space Marines.


‘This is what we have died for,’ he said to Numeon.


It closed with the Ultramarines, its thousands of voices united in a single, shattering roar.


‘We have the onslaught on the bridge checked for now, brothers, and for the most part our defences are holding,’ said Duriel, breathlessly.


They arrived over the next weeks in their hundreds of thousands, and the people of Calaena opened their doors to every one.


While you’ve been enjoying the comforts of Doctor Jaskolic, I’ve been up half the night filling out your invalid papers.’


‘I will be there to see it unveiled,’ promised Magnus, and his enthusiasm for his brother’s works was genuine and contagious.


‘I have ruled among the High Lords for over thirty-six hundred years.’


It makes it hard to get an accurate picture of exactly what’s going on down–’ She paused, and when she spoke again her voice held a tremor of excitement.


Over the command channel he voxed, ‘Gunships and artillery, you have your data.


The sword chopped through the wood, and Perturabo cast it away.


The perception of the orks as a single, solid mass dissolved as Guilliman drew closer.


‘But then I myself saw something else, and it stayed with me for a long time.


In moments, the entire fleet was consumed in a firestorm, and Fulgrim turned his attention back to the matter of his descent.


His scrying powers were weak in comparison to his new-found potency in biomancy, but Hathor Maat needed no seersight to know that the volcano would soon obliterate every living thing within hundreds of kilometres.


He was aware of Akurduana’s reputation, but this contest was skewed against him.


After three hours and sixteen minutes of relentless bombardment, as the Imperial onslaught drove the numerically superior Gardinaal force from their perimeter defences, there was barely a wall left.


‘This is a poor spectacle of victory,’ Vaughn admitted to Numeon.


We shall be that change, Axata, you and I and the others of the true passion.


It was as though a geoformer with primitive materials and grand visions had constructed a divine sphere, set it in the orbit of a star at the edge of Imperial space and named it Gardinaal Prime.


Eiryk was on his left, his face flushed, Valgarn on his right.


It had become necessary to physically destroy virtually everything the Wolves came across lest it revive, which had a punishing effect on ammunition levels and survival rates, and deprived the strategos of much-needed intelligence.


While Cyrius was not his tutor’s equal, he fancied that he was the greatest swordsman on this planet, barring the Phoenician himself.


‘Why are the worst villains always the most talkative?’ said Gun, loosing off a four burst shot from his weaponry.


‘I had a little difficulty getting through the cordon,’ Tensat grumbled.


‘There can be no heresy where the truth is concerned,’ said Perturabo.


That Phosis T’kar was right made him only more reluctant to admit to his ignorance.


Each and every one of us, Hanno, you and even I myself, we are like an incomplete puzzle.


Ahriman nodded, already well aware that Forrix was something supremely dangerous, even if he could not yet understand how.


His lord’s refusal to answer was an answer in itself, and truer in what it said than that which the Ironbringer sought.


There are reports of ongoing fighting throughout the rest of the Sheitansvar.’


But compared to the firepower of a combat squad of Dark Angels, the contribution of a few armed serfs was insignificant at best.


Just as importantly, he knew he could trust Rhy’tan to speak with him honestly.


‘Go on then, Perturabo, my boy, show our guest your work – don’t keep him waiting,’ said Dammekos.


The sky was green, more green than anything Haldor had ever seen on Fenris.


Everyone knew the Custodes were in command of the Imperial Palace’s security.


And then the Night Haunter gave a low moan, staggered upright, tottered a few feet and collapsed in a drift of ragged black cloth.


They would think they knew how the intruder was garbed, and I could easily change that fact.


The weapon is light in Angron’s hands, like it was always meant to be there.


Tethys sees the arena, the hot dust, once more through Angron’s eyes.


The gate was almost a metre thick, and made in one piece in the mills of the Kontoros.


The dust of it sticks in my throat, and I am glad that our battles here are over.’


Within twenty seconds, Aphelion-2 was in the hands of the Imperium.


Also, I was reluctant to let my Legion’s very first interaction with another be handled by someone else: not because I did not trust the ability of my subordinates, but simply because I wanted that opportunity to be mine.


Cold, dark dread rose through the choked channels of Sevatar’s mind at those words.


Magnus cried out as Ahriman was tossed through the air to land limply across one of the slabs.


It was hard to converse in Gothic all the time, to recall the endless tide of details and absorb what they meant.


‘Kept in bondage to the Covenant, I might have lived out my days on one of these plantations.’


The deeper into the ship they went, the more it reeked of abandonment, and the more wary Magnus became.


Turning the rope was one of the only traditions that Angron had allowed the Legion to adopt from his home world.


‘I swear it, on my honour, as commander of the 28th Expedition, and son of the Emperor, I will save Byzas from itself.’


Only when the last cannon had fired and the last piece of burning wreckage had twisted towards re-entry did the respective Legion fleets take up their orbital vantages again, each pulling back together into overwatch formation and facing one another across a wide expanse of debris-littered space.


He was garbed in a mass-printed green jacket and trousers, exactly the same as a billion others like him from Central Processing.


Though my knowledge of the Theologitek’s secrets is but a fraction of Master Duriel’s.’


I enjoyed what I could do with it, for you, for the ordu.


She and her wife were now serfs of the Legion, and their daughter would grow up to be the same.


A smaller troop of Imperials marched towards them, down the corridor made by the two blocs of warriors.


The image looked impressive if impractical, but Dammekos suspected Perturabo could make it work.


As he climbed, Fulgrim calculated probable speeds and angles of ascent.


My sources say that Bucepholos and his allies are acting out of desperation.


‘Your sacrifices to save the people of the Taras Division will be remembered forever.


The edges of the memory blur, distorted to Tethys’ sight by his father’s pain.


I did not even have to explain twice the methods I had learned to hide my thoughts.


The tanks held back, and Guilliman charged forwards with the legionaries of the First Chapter.


‘I don’t remember the last time I had a meal I had to cut up!


He knew this was his father and the father of every battle-brother of the XVIII Legion.


Again, the commands were relayed by the powerful voices of the Therion sergeants.


‘You believe you were made by those monsters?’ said Dammekos in shock.


‘You must accept my apologies,’ the Angel said, gesturing towards two immense thrones carved from mahogany and capped with ivory.


‘We’ve analysed the sonic aegis generated by the xenos,’ Jereth said.


In the oculus, Resalt saw the distant blooms of cannon and torpedo impacts on the surface of the attack moon.


For their counterparts within the knighthood of Caliban it was the maze that dominated.


‘Rumours of him came to Lochos two years ago,’ replied Dammekos as Perturabo carried on speaking.


My sons are dying and I am helpless to save them!’


‘We will succeed,’ said Venn, with the supreme confidence of a child.


Every node of the Imperium’s stellar communications network serving in the choirs throughout the armada had experienced the same rapid vision.


The Angel placed his hands together, and his wings rustled softly.


Every other Olympian youth looked forward to his naming day with great anticipation.


Axata and Nairo came to a quick arrangement that the guards would not administer any punishments whilst the slaves would make no attempt to harm either the converts or Kor Phaeron.


With a heavy heart, Perturabo knew only one logical course of action was open to him.


The Khan raised an eyebrow, turning to Yesugei, who stood beside the command throne.


This much, Guilliman could see or extrapolate from the wall of flames rising in the near distance.


But that was to mistake circumspection for obduracy, aloofness for indifference, and Lion El’Jonson displayed neither.


My Father showed me one of the fragments of his works that have survived.


There were any number of secrets down there, and any amount of damage an intruder could be doing, certainly one capable of killing a Custodian.


Gendor Skraivok found the racket profoundly irritating, but was bareheaded nonetheless, standing in the shadows for there was nowhere else to stand.


It was no easy task: even for the vigilant machine-spirits within our Mark IV plate, there were a plethora of potential danger points to be aware of in this ruined landscape.


That, somewhat counter-intuitively, suggested that even though these containers might be destined for sensitive areas of the Imperial Palace, the contents would be inspected by fewer people, which made them a better candidate in which to stow away.


The very fact that the Emperor had not predisposed him with the ability was all the reason Akurduana needed to pursue it.


My lord thought the old Legion relied over much on terror and slaughter to ensure compliance.


A worthy death, although a futile one: a craft the size of the Vengeful Spirit has many sensor towers, and built-in redundancy.


If you did, you are a far worse monster than I.’


Each of its individual cobbles was patterned with a celestial arrangement visible from one of Morningstar’s many observatories.


I especially suspected that he would not react well to discovering there was a battle-strength Legion of which he’d known nothing.


Though dismayed by the thought of subterfuge, Lorgar seemed wary enough of his beatings that he held his tongue and shared his linguistic skills only with the slaves.


The Lion rose to his feet without speaking, returning his sword to guard.


I was intrigued as to what my intended destiny had been, but I kept my silence.


Unlike Guilliman, he was unarmoured, clad in charcoal-black from head to toe, his face smeared with the ashes of his empire.


‘But anyone who fought at my side during the deliverance of Lycaeus should be able to speak with me.


‘I do not care who rules Byzas, only that their rule is a stable one.


The Unbroken continued their march, as the Ghennan multitudes walked into range of their spears and the killing began.


‘That they thought they could get away with it is an insult to the honour of the Third.’


Without me, every mother on this planet would still be praying that the Black Judges choose not to visit during her children’s lifetimes.


He shot a glance at Gahlan, but gleaned nothing from the Apothecary’s neutral expression.


I want a workable plan to avoid a repetition of this debacle before I return.


If Corvus’ plan works, it offers the best outcome for the rapid integration of this system into the Imperium, with the lowest casualties and the least damage to its material structure.’


There is no more despicable thing than a traitor to the Powers masquerading as their guardians.’


It might seem irresponsible of me to sow distrust and resentment between my brothers, but believe me when I say such matters barely needed my encouragement.


I doubted anyone did, except perhaps my father, and I was not sure even of that.


I have no doubt that you will master our favoured weapon, Moses.’


The Klostzatz’s fire destroyed any vessel that dared to approach head-on.


The shadows cast by Malkoya’s spires stretched back across the carnage still being wrought after over twenty-four hours of unceasing combat.


‘Listen to me, son of the tyrant,’ said Agarth, his giant visage glowering at Corax.


We have blockaded Olympia, and the orbitals remain in our hands.’


‘My brother does so like to make a statement,’ said Magnus, returning to the crew compartment.


‘No!’ said Mago as he vaporised another swathe of Ghennans with his serpenta.


‘Triarch Forrix, send word to the cities of our home world.


‘You know full well that the champion Ortraxes Falk is my personal guardian.


The permanent heaps of garbage that choked Nostramo Quintus’ lesser thoroughfares made it difficult to move quietly.


As Iasus plunged his power sword into the nearest ork, he wondered how long he and his Chapter would continue to move forwards.


Batto, captain of the Devourers, was the first to come forward to his father’s side to try to placate him.


Legionaries appeared from both directions of the drainage pipe, Belthann at their head.


As I boy I was Perturabo, and as a man I shall remain him.


Every dead child, every society burned, every species I chased from life into history to please you… What are these crimes compared to the truth you kept from us?’


Mago made to respond, but Khârn raised a hand and closed the distance between them.


Such things had even been discussed, back in the very first days, but the Khan had ruled against it soon after the first substantive discussions with his Father.


The man next to Angron dies before his eyes have adjusted to the light.


Despite the similar livery, they were not of the V Legion, but the 21st Company of the XVI Legion: the Luna Wolves, led into battle by their captain Galkusa Rheor.


He wondered if the orks were seeking the same kind of destructive sacrifice they had done on Corcyra.


‘For a long time, I thought you a fool to follow the Emperor.


DuCaine selected a practice sword from one of the wire baskets at the foot of the cage and tossed it into the cleared ring.


The third blow shattered his skull, and Gillaneish dropped to the ground.


Tens of thousands of vital elements needed to go right for the Lux Ferem to get off the ground, and only one had to go wrong for the launch to fail.


‘Yes, I suppose he might eventually, Khârn, as all mortal things must.


You brood in the shadows when all you want to do is scream, “Look at me!”


‘The Lux Ferem needs at least five hundred metres of clear air before she can safely engage her ventral repulsors,’ said Magos Rom.


‘I could learn the words more quickly if I did not have to wait for Kor Phaeron to read them.’


He gestured to where the governor sat, chatting gaily with Pyke.


‘The scale of the interior battles are something more than infiltration,’ Guilliman corrected.


The Powers move him in strange ways and can you tell me what he is thinking now, after everything that has just happened?’


Yesugei had been stationed on the home world for some months by then, but for Hasik and the Khan it was still both always familiar and half-forgotten.


‘Times are changing, Tul, back to the way they were in my great-great-grandfather’s time.’


‘Wait here,’ said Khârn, gesturing for his brothers to remain outside the cave.


Bel Ashared raised his bolter in acceptance of the challenge and then signalled for his squad to make ready for the attack.


Dammekos thinks I will do all this for Lochos, but I am not doing it for this city.


Not an hour after Fulgrim’s capture of the airship, she’d already had the names of those involved in the poisoning attempt.


‘Your anger is a clear sign of your guilt,’ said Krukesh.


He had tried calling to the other Chapters and heard nothing.


‘A youth will never leave a home he is happy in, Dammekos.


‘Ulan Cicerus was a passionate rhetorician, and he described the Gardinaal to me in a rhetorician’s terms – they were “big fish in a shrinking pond”.


‘Now comes the hour,’ Jorin intoned, just as he did on the eve of every conflict, though this time with more than the usual venom.


‘There is but one city left to bow to the Will of Lorgar.’


They say it was to be him or Santar to be Clan Captain.


Fulgrim wondered what Fabius would do if he drew his sword.


Blessed are we that the Powers turn their gaze upon us.’


‘One of his sons would seem the logical conclusion,’ I replied.


Lord Protectors Sho’mar and Kal’ma, I want you and eight companies to join me in the attack on the ork base.


If He would not share that information with me, I would find it out myself.


It helped to remember that despite his size and intellect, Lorgar was still a child, and whatever abilities the Powers had instilled into him he remained ignorant and innocent in many ways.


The grand hololith was dominated by a true-pict representation of Olympia and her attendant satellites.


A moment later I heard an explosion as one grenade detonated at the top of the ladder, then another more muffled one a couple of seconds later, as he expertly lobbed the second into the confined space below.


I have noticed that, over time, I have become more able to hold my own thoughts against the tidal wave that is my father’s will.


To cement this agreement the two factions prayed together, asking the Powers for guidance and protection and strength in the trying times.


The five legionaries made for Vulkan, intending to fight at his side, but they moved through the orks slowly.


If the mutineers come back and not us… Well, either we’ll already be dead or I promise I’ll do my best to avenge you and the master.


It took eight days to implant the Butcher’s Nails into the rest of the Legion within the fleet above Ghenna.


Remark 73.42.xv: It is the duty of the soldier to accept an order without a rationale being provided, but the absence of a rationale should never be the default condition.


His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and he absorbed all that was passed to him as the sands of the White Plains soak up every drop of rain that falls upon their barren expanse.


‘There is no cause to speak of war and fighting,’ said Lorgar.


An irradiated planet was a useless planet, save to the drones of the Mechanicum.


No one there was going to raise their hand against an Astartes, no matter what beliefs they held in their hearts.


For the first time, Targutai, I have no idea at all.’


‘Had we waited a minute longer before abandoning Zharrukin, they would have been right,’ said Magnus.


Only Horus saw the galaxy for what it was, and understood what the Great Crusade really meant.


He does not see slaves and masters, for there is only the One above to serve, and all beneath are the servants.


Rather, they take this fact as an unquestioned truth, as self-evident as the truth of the Imperium itself.


All doubt was forgotten as the Illuminator receded, and the Phoenician readied himself.


‘There are more – there are always more,’ replied Harkor dismissively.


His hard green eyes turned to the far rock of the Vaniskray.


Without a convincing wound, it would have been difficult to get close enough to the Imperial medicae station to use his powers.


Perhaps they see peace coming in our time, and gather here to enjoy the stability that the Imperium shall bring to the galaxy.’


‘It is in the hands of the Powers now,’ he declared before descending below deck.


‘Legionaries of the Eighteenth,’ he said, ‘you are sons of Nocturne, you are my sons and, through me, you are the sons of the Emperor.


The Emperor led us to Prospero, where we were reunited with our primarch, but in truth I remember little of that meeting or much of what happened in its aftermath.’


Despite such a prospect, Atharva could not shake the notion they were doing something deceitful by being here, something that might have grave consequences.


So it was that, slowly, the Imperial Army units were withdrawn from combat, consolidated, then lifted back into the waiting orbital haulers.


Pray and know that your actions take you closer to the Truth.


Rogal has made the Throneworld his, in a manner no other primarch has done.


The Covenant must endure, but to do so it must also be changed.


I can’t say I was surprised… My brother was rash, a fool.


Morning will come, and bring the hot dust, but until then, Angron suffers so that he might give his family some measure of peace.


He found himself, by accident or design, looking directly at Ferrus Manus.


The first had come on Terra, when he was a child on the cusp of becoming a man.


‘Not quite what I had in mind, but it will have to do.’


‘There are rumours that the government of Lord Balthius has fallen.


He looked expectantly over his sons, and then finally to Akurduana.


After compliance, they were tasked with raising fortifications to act as nexuses for future colonies and waypoints for the Legion’s supply fleets.


‘I do not think the landing is very likely,’ said Saluran.


I am castellan of the Vaniskray and I will see that it is done.’


Your writings have taught me how to do so, and for that I thank you.


‘I have chosen you six to represent the whole of our Legion.


Standing right next to Axata, it was obvious how large he had become – half a head taller than the chieftain, and still showing no signs of his extraordinary growth abating.


For instance, it has occurred to me whilst I stacked these last dozen barrels that we might consider it a metaphor for our spiritual labours.


We used a single Vagabond-class trader, the Argolisa, and drifted quietly into the system along with the regular shipping traffic.


The Imperium was sprawling and careless, as so many stellar empires before them had been on their anarchic journey towards the pinnacle of their powers.


‘The Imperium is better off without such fools,’ said Phosis T’kar.


They burst into flame an instant before impact as Ahriman surrounded himself and Forrix with a layer of superheated air.


Of them all, he and Sanguinius were the closest to me – not personally, none of them were my friends,’ Curze said sarcastically.


Even in the Imperial Palace, technological glitches were not unheard of.


The tunnels of the Fang were full of dangers, all knew that.


These Lorgar quickly assimilated, and was keen to demonstrate to Kor Phaeron but Nairo warned him not to reveal this to the master.


That is the cycle from which my Father is saving us.’


Sitting back with a rumbling sigh, Ferrus turned his face upwards.


From all around Morningstar, ever-worsening reports were being received of calamitous climate changes, continental-scale earthquakes and magna-storms of such intensity that they scoured the land back to the bedrock.


Each new day saw the Legion’s astropaths awakened from their chemically induced torpor with screams of exultation.


‘They will be as my own sons, raised high in the esteem of the Emperor, and bearing his crest.’


The company had not left the cargo bay far behind when Ven’tal said, ‘Here, captain.


‘If we are not sure what to make of this extraordinary event, then the Faithful will be even more perplexed.


Dynat had proved himself to be one of my most capable commanders, and I had left him in overall control of this operation while I executed a front-line role, although in truth there should be very little to oversee given the self-contained natures of our activities.


That was the first and last time that the Iron Warrior had made Ferrus Manus laugh.


In places, the meat had been scraped back, exposing the bone, and it was clear that Fabius had been taking marrow samples.


Though there was little enough of Taranthis to be seen on the surface, the trio of armoured portals that broke the rocky promontory above the mines were imposing enough.


He, Gage, Iasus and Hierax marched together at the head of the column.


A glance at the workings gave Agapito a fair estimate of the Sodality’s tech level.


The Faash were fanatical fighters, wont to scuttle their own ships rather than let them fall into enemy hands.


A dozen metres away, Forgemaster T’kell had stepped away from a gantry crane and was looking up at the hull with the evaluating, proprietary eye of the true artisan.


‘Kiner, Kiner, you can hear this, I know it, get yourself up here now.’


The dust swirled like a miniature vortex in Atharva’s palm, its composite elements spun by the whims of the planet’s increasingly chaotic magnetic fields.


He studied the Phoenician surreptitiously, wondering if he should speak up.


Logic dictates that I set aside all emotion and make my decisions based on what is verifiable alone.


Urien and Morn stepped aside as Strachaan marched through the portal, forced into a stoop to contend with the lintel.


‘It is blasphemy, to free slaves from bondage laid upon them by the Powers.


They were set to labour for the Covenant, as willing servants not as slaves, building roads and stations, digging canals and founding convents and monasteries upon the route to guide the Faithful back to the Holy City.


I rose to my feet, and my body obeyed me as I wished it to.


We have kept to the faith and this is our time, as was foretold in the Book of Leviathan.


‘The attempt to speak may be fatal, lord commander,’ said the Apothecary.


‘And with them I shall fashion peace so that no others must die.


The duty of controlling the flagship’s long range auspex fell to Lieutenant Vincens Karafee.


‘I was under the impression I was trying to make you understand.’


I studied the hololithic globe map of Bar’Savor, which showed the planet as it had been under Imperial rule.


I had four Headhunters with me – Eltan, Dercius, Jha-Tena, and Hymor – and one member of the Librarius, Akil Gukul.


‘Then tell them to come out here,’ said Jorin, his voice low.


‘It is still not clear to me why we require the presence of such individuals,’ Telmar said disdainfully.


Curze had torn out Elver’s right eye in a night of terror that still made him want to scream.


‘Did she not know our food and drink are poisonous to humans?’ asked Phosis T’kar.


‘Of course I did,’ said Phosis T’kar, drawing fresh power into his body.


‘And yet, when we train them, we do not know where to place them,’ said Naranbaatar.


They believed that he would expend any resource, even the lives of his own sons, to prosecute the Imperium’s wars, and they were right.


‘You have no idea what my Legion can bear,’ said Magnus.


– Fragment recovered from a treatise on Pre-Unification religious mysticism, author unknown


Or whether, since my Legion and I were perceived latecomers to the Great Crusade, he viewed that he had superiority by means of seniority?


He was of Irex, regarded as an outsider and rude in manner by his fellows, and for good reason.


Gukul didn’t move, but I knew he would have closed his eyes behind his helm’s faceplate, the better to concentrate on his mental picture of our surroundings.


In a history spoiled with exemplary leadership, Lhorke had been a Legion Master without peer, a tactical genius who was always the first to enter battle and the last to leave it.


The Lion was a monarch, a tamer of beasts, a master of cities.


He opened his eyes, feeling the strength of the Powers radiating afresh from his body, invigorated by their blessing.


Three souls sat at the table – the Angel, the Crimson King and the Warhawk.


‘Did Morningstar ever have an orbital plate like Vaalbara or Rodina?’ asked Falk, still trying to process the scale of what had been built here.


Aravain frowned, but before he could think whether it would be permissible to ask what the Terran meant, Sathariel gestured to them from beyond the darkened pane.


Truth be told, Hathor Maat was little better equipped to understand it.


Lobon, meanwhile, was at least as angry as Sirras over the elevation of Iasus.


‘Khârn…’ The name barely reaches my ears, anchoring me back in reality for a moment.


The explosion lifted Herodael from the ground and sent him skimming back up the road like a pebble.


‘The Terrans are a minority there now too, I believe, but they make up most of the officers.’


‘Too much to do,’ Jesrin repeated, staring into his screen, hypnotised by its pixelated buzz.


In another Legion’s council, this might have been cause for outrage.


I could see mountains off to my right, high and stark, their peaks lost in cloud, but I also knew the plateau on which I sat was already at a high elevation.


The seismic charge had thrown Numeon and his brothers free of the crater.


The names were known to all of them: Gamanio, Phemus, Jion, Epihelikon, Chondax.


The port facilities of Calaena were robust and extensive, but it swiftly became clear that Morningstar’s fleet assets were woefully ill-equipped and insufficient to effect a mass evacuation.


The astropathic choir has sent word, but all the other Legions are too far from Taras, their forces fully engaged in the Great Crusade.


But he was their Chapter Master, and when he called, they answered.


‘No, I do not think you understand what is happening here,’ he said.


In truth I hope they have, for that will make my mission here easier.


Another man might have drawn pride from such selfless and repeated service to the Legion, but Pilot Tercio Raylan MqGan was not such a man.


The urge to strike out on his own had been growing since the discovery of Ultramar, and what Guilliman had accomplished there.


She poured herself a glass of wine, and then one for Fulgrim.


The image amused Magnus and he smiled, though even it sent a current of agony through the muscles of his face.


Although I couldn’t see Gukul’s face, the slight inflection in his voice suggested to me that he was smiling beneath his helmet.


Their pleas will fall on deaf ears after the centuries of subjugation and disrespect the Covenant has laid upon its neighbours.’


The Imperium desired the industrial power of the Gardinaal for the Great Crusade.


The entire population was affected; two hundred thousand Carinaeans now stood against the Legion, along with eight thousand Imperial Army soldiers turned from allies to enemies.


The night was clear of cloud, lit only by a scatter of blue-white stars above the towering flanks of Krakgard.


A disproportionate amount of that time had been taken up by Tensat and Belthann exercising their mutual mistrust.


I fear that I will be forced to destroy what I desire only to save.’


The delicate looking sabre had been a gift from the armourers of the Ionic Plateau on Terra.


Men were dying there, it was true, and more than the ritualised customs of war prevalent upon Olympia would ordinarily allow, but his plan would work.


‘What good are you and your paperskin “Legion” if you need me to win all of your battles for you?’


He is not Pandion IV, the heir to a legacy stretching back to this world’s founding.’


For several decades, his dwindled Legion had fought in the shadow of another.


It was clear that he would have preferred to keep these particular thoughts locked away, but Vulkan had asked him, and he would have to respond.


The Emperor’s Children were encouraged to test themselves constantly, but the only worthwhile test of skill was against another warrior of the Legions.


He refused to meet Fulgrim’s eyes, clearly uncomfortable with the giant standing on his veranda.


Moses muttered as DuCaine began to thump his hands together and encourage the stunned legionaries to cheer.


On the far side stood Archdeacon Kor Phaeron, as malignant and destructive as the day Nairo had first met him, but safe within the shadow of his adoptive son.


‘The attack routes are planned, and you will have seen them by now,’ the Khan said.


‘There are murderers in my Legion too, I regret to admit,’ said Guilliman.


In the days since their arrival, Pyke’s iterators had fielded hundreds of missives, bearing the seals of an equal number of noble families.


They demanded respect, not love, and each of the Legion’s machines had their own character, their own favourites.


The remainder of Nova-Basilos was divided into districts of varying sizes.


And the fracturing of the Legion had weakened the command structure to a concerning degree.


My only consolation was that I had trained my Legion well: through them, my legacy would live on, and the Imperium would have its protectors.


‘Because I know what you know,’ said the unseen speaker, ‘and you know it won’t work.


Purely in terms of conquest, she ranked high among the warlords of the Great Crusade, though few would admit it.


Maybe I inherited this tendency for grandiose plans from my real father.’


The genius for exploiting any opportunity was what had made him the master of Caliban, and still marked his rapid rise through the ranks of the Great Crusade’s most renowned generals, perhaps one day even to rival Horus and Guilliman.


‘Do you think that mortals should second guess the justice of the Powers?’


The Khan drained his cup and wiped his mouth before reaching for another flask.


Greatest and most numerous of all the xenos threats ever faced by humanity, so perfectly evolved into instruments of violence that Imperial scholars had even postulated the wild conjecture that they had been purposely bred for it.


He flung out his arms, spun around to clear a space and, with a thought, spread the Korvidine Pinions, his marvellous mechanical wings.


‘I admit, they do move fast,’ said Miltiades, watching the tanks.


A chant fills the arena, a single word in the lilting tongue of the Nucerians.


‘Make contact with the rest of the Sixteenth Grand Battalion,’ commanded Anabaxis.


Knowing that they would be able to live freely under the Covenant, where before they would have faced subjugation, the Epiceans rejoiced for a whole day and wholeheartedly swore their city to the cause.


‘But the strength cannot be denied,’ said Yesugei, grinning at him and slapping his hand on his shoulder.


Barely a decade out from its sabbatical on Prospero, the XV Legion fleet was yet to rebuild its full strength and would itself require additional help to ensure as much of Morningstar’s populace was saved as possible.


‘I’ll talk to the Chapter Master, see if I can scavenge some more meds from somewhere.’


His name was Felix Tephra and he was the elected spokesman for this horticultural collective on the fertile slopes of Mount Kailash.


‘Once you’ve formally agreed to compliance, this world will become the responsibility of the Imperium.


‘For you have betrayed me personally, and that I cannot forgive.


The commanders of every ship scoured their decks, abandoning all but the most necessary of duties in search of the Legion’s master.


And Pandion seemed determined to hold onto the throne, whatever the cost.


From one son, Magnus felt the barely acknowledged fear that his primarch was leading them down into a darkness from which there could be no return.


‘Once galvanised, they’ll move to take the city, and Pandion,’ Fulgrim said.


It had been Vadric, in turn, who had inducted him into the Order of Santales.


‘There will be bloodshed,’ said the First Captain, meaning both from Lorgar’s request and the demand of the Emperor.


‘The Ultramarines have amassed a long list of conquests, have carved out a great region of the galaxy, and have brought it successfully into the Imperium.


It was at Nedella that my self-imposed trance broke, and I became fully aware of myself again.


‘We of the Achaen Hexopolis petition you to join with us and put down these Penthuik dogs that we might have peace again.’


Carved from the bleak rocks of Uncus, the outermost dot of the Sheitansvar archipelago chain, the Strife-era fortress was formidable.


On the neatly sectioned decorative paving of the parade ground below, the army of Perturabo gathered.


When the fireball faded at last, the combined wreckage of the Termite, the girders and the claw formed a mound of smoking, guttering scrap that rose halfway to the ceiling.


Though they had shared a sublime moment flying the aether, Magnus knew his time here was at an end.


The conclave table was circular, three metres in diameter, carved from a single piece of Baalite black granite, faintly reflective and speckled with phaneritic points.


‘Bring us to full speed,’ ordered the interceptor’s commander, a Legion warrior named Othgar.


After the tale was told, Russ smiled and sat back on his haunches.


Gathered just outside the gates, standing in silent tranquillity, were the ones who would meet the Legion.


I have a name, and he knows it,’ he replied, staring at Lorgar.


‘Lord Vulkan has drawn the greater strength of the enemy to him.


‘And truth be told, I’ve been dreaming of doing something similar for years now.


He seemed even younger dressed in the simple pale smock of a Covenant acolyte, the golden skin of his arms exposed.


I turned to Magos Kunitax, who had been waiting patiently at the controls of the teleportarium.


‘You’d best thank whatever star you were born under that I have a sense of humour, Abdemon.


‘I am,’ replied Atharva, and despite his dislike of the legionary, he was elated like a neophyte on his first excavation.


From the orders shouted by the Chapter Master and the captains, Hierax tracked the rapid shifts in the conflict.


Chemos had its own slew of folk heroes, including Dig-Operator Jak, and Nimble Tolliver.


‘Take your units back to High Lord Strachaan as instructed,’ he told the pacifier.


Lesser iterators, Administratum bureaucrats and military officers of various ranks and privileges.


Most likely it had been Perturabo, and in that moment Vashti hated him like she had hated no other living being.


‘No, we have had no contact with Atharva since he left Calaena,’ said Magnus.


Vastopol was the 14th Grand Company’s warrior-poet, and as such excused watch duty.


In all things I am your master, Lorgar, while you are my acolyte.’


‘It is essential,’ said Hasik, wiping the blood from his brow and turning away from the dying sunset.


‘My orders send me to join the Twenty-Seventh Expeditionary Fleet at Carinae.


‘Captain Sirras made an error of judgement, one that he could have avoided had he fully applied our primarch’s philosophy.’


‘Everyone dreams of City’s Edge,’ she said, her voice small yet defiant.


The Igniax was silent for a short while, thinking through his answer.


I had already altered the Alpha’s floor plan to confuse any enemy who thought they were familiar with the layout of a Gloriana-class vessel.


‘Enemy anti-aircraft units are in position to attack the Lux Ferem.


Forrix looked up and Ahriman saw the acceptance of death in his one remaining eye.


Phased particle beams sliced into Polar-3 from all sides in such numbers there was more light than black in the void.


Do you really think my father, the Emperor, having lost His greatest creations to the wiles of His enemies, would have celebrated the rediscovery of the first so loudly, and so triumphantly?


‘I’ll not give up hope,’ Nairo argued, fighting back the sadness that had seeped into his soul.


The deep scars where the Apothecaries had cored his flesh to implant his neural plugs still ached at night.


He was never at the council when Guilliman and Dorn argued over the shape of the Imperium.


It was ironic, therefore, that Curze had found reciprocal affection for Shang in his black soul.


The Proteus was stationed at the easternmost edge of the landing zone.


‘Did I seek to subjugate all of the human species to my will?


If he said nothing regarding Lorgar the converts and slaves would simply fill the void with their own superstitious musings.


They had with them heralds who announced them in ringing voices: Ptolemaides, Damek, Krastonfor, Falk, Arestain and a score of other noble names.


As the Khan trod the embarkation ramp and emerged out into the light of a thousand torches, Yesugei was there to greet him.


Kor Phaeron pointed at the floor between the door and the cot.


The crusade is everything, but we hold back sometimes when other Legions do not, for fear of hurting the innocent.


He caught Erebus looking at him, skull helm held in his hands.


‘Do you not always say that nothing passes but for that within the design of the Powers?


She had been presented in tribute to the newly denominated Dark Angels, a gift as worthy as the Leonine Panoply or the Lion Sword.


As with anything not directly related to war, Akurduana possessed little talent for the victualler’s craft.


Their best hope comes from following my orders, and they trust I will guide them through.


The allies of Kardis will soon be on their way here.


‘Why do you think we give them a head start?’ chuckled Vertanus.


Everything else – the conquest of the Dulanian worlds, the extension of the Imperium, the long process of compliance and restoration – all of that meant nothing.


He eased the barriers within his mind, allowing the Great Ocean to seep into his flesh.


It was an interesting theoretical puzzle, but not one to which I was able to give much time.


‘Alright, alright!’ grumbled Overton, but he couldn’t quite hide his excitement.


‘You cannot see him,’ said Forrix simply, and turned his back on them.


Good: killing his elite, or his closest advisors, would not be the best way to ingratiate myself with the brightest star in the Imperium’s constellation.


And if He did, it wouldn’t be you – it would be Sanguinius, or Rogal, or Horus.


If they were able to land artillery and coordinate a concentrated bombardment, they could wipe the surface clean of the Ghennans, and march on to capture Malkoya.


Now… Now Lorgar spoke of turning the whole world against the Powers with this new religion.


The Wolf Priest’s eyes narrowed, as he drank in the tomes of data contained in every snapshot.


House Skraivok’s men – equally well uniformed, for they were an army in their own right – stood guard all around the building, ready for trouble.


Forrix was an Iron Warrior, a Legion Ahriman knew had little patience for mortal foibles.


‘A lack of food coming in will affect the stability of Nova-Basilos and the wider continental government.


Crowds of nobles, generals and the richest of Kardis’ merchants filled the hall.


While the Gardinaal had retained a number of Dark Age technologies that had been lost to the Imperium, and vice versa, its claim to exceptionalism was its incredible population, and the societal structure that allowed it to be sustained.


The council chamber on the Invincible Reason had been created to mimic those of Caliban’s ancient fortresses.


Arriving at the crystal dome, the Space Marines entered through its lone opening and came to a halt at its centre.


The death of the xenos Titan ran through the khrave’s collective psyche like a fire along a trail of promethium.


I think, and I know what this sounds like, but I think it is not human in origin.’


‘My late husband – one of them, I forget which – had a saying.


Knights of the First hold every strongpoint and critical infrastructure on the Vaniskray.’


He drew Timur from the body of the final guard and allowed the mortal to sink quietly to the ground amongst his dozen or so comrades.


His Legion had entered this conflict unprepared for millions of enemies who advanced without any thought of survival and were utterly unaffected by morale.


Destroy the foe by the most expeditious means possible, beset him as swiftly as he was able, and from every avenue of assault: if the Lion could be said to have a single overarching principle of war then it was this.


‘Did you think that you might best me, Perturabo, in combat?


Pexx did not ask the Shadowmaster his name, and the Shadowmaster did not offer it.


The remaining oceans on Chemos were all but empty of life, despite his best efforts, as was the void.


‘The Sodality see themselves in the same position, threatened by an external foe, only they regard themselves as a greater power than others we have faced.


His brothers didn’t see it yet – Horus, perhaps, had an inkling – but Fulgrim had grown to manhood among such mechanisms of influence.


The expression on Perturabo’s face would have been comical under any other circumstances.


Another Space Marine remained by the pod beside his standard bearer.


Where was their courage when the time to test the Nails had come?


Then came the events of Nikaea, and the gradual slide towards catastrophe had begun.


The situation of the Destroyers was known across the Chapter’s ships.


‘The libraries of Manraga were well conserved, brother, and its masters encourage broader study.’


It is with great joy that I see you arrive here.


Six hours was a long time to keep forty warriors of the Rout cooped up in cramped crew bays.


Duriel opened his hand and the Lion placed upon it a graven disc bearing a stylised rendition of a Calibanite lion.


‘After all I have done, where would be the justice in that?


His wolves were with him, his warriors were with him, and they spilled into the Tyrant’s sanctum like beasts of the dark wood, stinking, their hackles up and radiating distilled aggression.


If I relied on the strength of others, then how could others rely on my strength?


The farther you get from Nova-Basilos, the less they pay even lip service to the Gubernatorial Throne.


‘I was about to say we need to sort this out before the Legion gets involved.’


The Gubernatorial Triumvirate had been bloodily dissolved in the last set of planetary civil wars.


That role of standard bearer is one I could never have fulfilled, but sometimes I wonder how heavily that responsibility sits on my brother’s shoulders.


The minimal share Overton would allow the crew would be more money than they’d otherwise make in a lifetime.


Corcyra would soon add its name to the tally of lost worlds in the Anteros System.


‘The nearest Imperial holding is twenty-three light years away,’ said Perturabo, pointing at a star labelled as Haldos.


To do otherwise moulds a Legion into an inflexible, rote-learned, homogenous mass whose warriors look permanently to their superiors for inspiration.


The blood of dozens of men and mutants has not been enough, nor is that of two of the Cadere.


At Lorgar’s command the door hissed open to reveal Erebus, clad in the black robe of a Chaplain.


This intimate connection between Magnus and his sons allowed no secrets to be kept, no truths to be unacknowledged or desires hidden away.


‘I just don’t think we should reject Hierax’s approach out of hand.’


Time was a factor, due to a Space Marine’s rapid healing ability, and so they worked swiftly.


A great tumult in the centre of the chamber suggested Perturabo’s position.


And to them all, I give the same answer – it matters not.


The words were harsh, but Akurduana did not let them sting him.


The Sharei Maveth would suffer severe damage, yes, but it would endure.


Not long after, the flag of Lochos rose over the parapets and broken towers of Kardis.


They were all the invisible cogs of the machine that was the Great Crusade.


The Lion stirred in his throne and all about him fell silent.


‘All possible speed to the space port,’ he ordered the Legion.


A response was received from the XV Legion seventeen hours later.


Ephrenia had been with Corax since the moment he had been freed from the ice, deep inside Lycaeus.


Perhaps that was what Niasta had meant about him being the last – the last to survive proximity to that great dark star about which the fate of humanity revolved.


The Ravens should not have been able to hide so completely, but they had.


‘I believe it to be some form of navigational instrument,’ said Perturabo, lifting the device to look through one of its eyepieces.


As far as Aravain was concerned, a final act of mercy for its people was the very least the Dark Angels could offer in penance.


He moved with an easy grace that Fulgrim suspected came from some form of training.


The Emperor considered long, as He often did, before giving an answer.


Their exteriors were crowded by Imperial warships, better showing the huge size of the vessels Corax commanded.


Most people’s would not, but I was willing to bet there were others who could have managed a similar feat.


Atharva turned and walked back to the Stormbird and did the same, though he sent the order to his warriors via telepathic pulse.


Perturabo’s ingenuity had found a way around this, creating novel alloys and engineering solutions that advanced Lochos’ weaponry far beyond that of its enemies.


‘The Twenty-Seventh Expeditionary Fleet will make an immediate assault upon the Thousand Moons, as per Fenc’s plan.’


Believe what you may about the lives and rules of mortals, but the Powers exist and they will judge us today.


The Emperor looked out over the world, as if he could see the smallest detail from their lofty vantage.


‘Looks like Imperial tech,’ the limping one replied, extending one hand cautiously.


Kor Phaeron stepped down and Nairo was close enough to hear the exchange between them.


If we reduce this world to a state of war, then the people will suffer the Imperium’s reprisals.’


Whatever geological failings Morningstar had as a planet, its people were disciplined citizens of the Imperium and stalwart in the face of adversity.


The drone was Kiavahran-made, fist-sized and smooth like a bullet; it exhibited none of the mystical nonsense of the Mechanicum.


Already there were reports of anarchistic attacks on the infrastructure of the farms, as well as a more general agrarian revolt, such as Telmar and Thorn had encountered, along the outer rim of the wider agri-circle.


Centuries later they had sought then to resist the Dark Angels.


‘That is true enough, but they would change how the Imperium and the other Legions view us.


Atmospheric frost furred it in sheets that grew thick and shaggy before Elver’s eyes.


Even now, Fulgrim was making a similar assault on South Barracks, with Telmar and Thorn.


‘Calm yourself, Kasperos, or I will do it for you,’ Fabius hissed, as he grabbed the other legionary’s shoulder.


A few months prior to Carinae, Agapito had fought upon a continent plagued by violent hailstorms.


My desire to prove myself got the best of me, and I made an error in judgement.’


‘I understand you will be leading my Second Company,’ he said.


The Lion had his sword drawn, and its grey steel glinted in the cold.


We are ambassadors for the Truth, you are the Bearer of the Word.


The blow to his beliefs, to his core of being – to his soul, though the Emperor denied such a thing existed – had been catastrophic.


Didimus Diogoras, the spokesman of the Penthuik party, seized his chance.


Previous prototypes of the Nails had run the gamut of entry points for affixing the implants to the subject’s brain.


Santar roared, furious, breaking a prolonged exchange in which Akurduana’s attention had clearly been elsewhere with a cleaving stroke across the chest.


‘He has forbidden the use of sorcery within his ranks,’ Yesugei said.


‘My world was a toxic cesspit before I took it in hand.


Many Iron Warriors died, thrown from the middle of desperate combat and then back again, their concentration broken.


Perhaps the rumours are inflated, and Nostramo might be saved,’ murmured Curze.


He had no sensation of his flesh, no sight of the absurdly fragile silver thread that linked his power to his corporeal shell when soaring in the Great Ocean.


One of the plays penned by the famed dramaturge of Albia.


Russ lifted his gaze then, away from the hololith, up at the images, the architecture of Caliban.


He would look upon these people of Ninety-Three Fifteen with his own eyes.


‘The Emperor has a plan beyond either of us,’ said Corax.


The passage that Khârn would follow, though, was easy to choose.


They were giants, He was titanic: but more in aura than in stature, more in spirit than in body.


It was perhaps in that moment, as my first independently conceived plan coalesced, that I first felt truly alive.


‘The Lion wants a full inventory of our capabilities,’ I informed Dynat.


As if reading his mind, one of the Brotherhood said, ‘If you would help us, we could make this world a fitting gift for this Emperor of yours – a paradise.’


‘I know, Barban,’ said Perturabo, wrestling the controls as torsion forces tried to twist the gunship’s keel apart.


The aristocracy had long memories, and a reputation for benevolence would serve a man like Pandion better than an iron fist.


He looked over at Forrix, his flesh burned to the bone, and reconsidered that thought.


The face of the Legion was changing, but far more slowly in the Second Destroyers.


It was the site of my first victory in the unification of Olympia.


‘You think you are the better hunter, but unlike you I learned something from your battle in the Vaniskray.’


We shall show the wolves of Luna and Fenris both what true killers look like.


‘And as death follows life, so rebirth follows death,’ said Shai-Tan, kneeling beside Magnus to sweep the last of the debris from the base of the crater.


Some would later say that arrogance ruled Kor Phaeron’s heart, but only those who had not known him.


A figure stumbled out from the flickering darkness towards him, and it took Hasik a moment to recognise the outline of Borghal.


I would prefer to leave Byzas in better shape than I found it.’


I had walked through the Imperial Palace before, in disguise, or using my gift to deflect the attention of others, but I had never done so openly.


His eyes passed over us, and I saw him trying to distinguish between us.


There was some satisfaction at the fact that they had come for him rather than for DuCaine.


Rhy’tan felt a sense of purpose that was the same in spirit as the one he had always known on Nocturne, only far greater.


My brother Magnus can perform feats I suspect only our father can fully comprehend, let alone better.


Valdor handled High Lord Kandawire’s attempted rebellion well, I must admit that.


‘Why would anyone not want to leave a doomed world?’ asked Phosis T’kar.


He hadn’t been, but Fulgrim saw no reason to tell him that.


I will teach you the Truth – concern yourself only with such lessons as I deem right.


Kor Phaeron did not emerge from his prayers, studies or whatever activity kept him in his quarters, which suited both the converts and the slaves well.


But you know as well as we do who the Chapter Master is.


‘Should we open fire?’ said Vor, his voice thick with the desire to fight.


‘You do not have the answers you seek, but do the ones I have given suffice?’


I’d settled on a compromise, which was to ensure that the decisions within my Legion were taken openly, so that even I was not shielded from challenge or question.


The preacher fixed Axata with a piercing glare, daring him to confess his sins.


‘Careful, captain,’ said Khârn from the primarch’s side, lending his voice a cold edge with the warning.


‘Do not use his name against me,’ said Perturabo with quiet menace.


Violation is the ultimate expression of power, as any poor waif on the streets of Nostramo comes to learn.


‘They are better than the steam landships the other cities have,’ said Calliphone.


The pride of the Luna Wolves, those transhuman warriors whose ships lie wrecked around us.


Now he had a leader who was willing to proselytise with the same vehemence that had set Kor Phaeron onto this journey, a high priest worthy of the office.


‘We are nearly there, brothers,’ Kal’ma shouted, and he shot his way through the last of the orks before him.


There were clearly elevator entrances hidden within the city, so as to bring in the Astartes’ ordnance out of sight of those who should not know about it; that was a potential weak point which would have to be addressed.


Millions of people, every one of them the same hairless, androgynous makeup as the emissaries Ohna had been, ushered forth from behind the walls of their metropolises.


The bulk of the continental army was on its way back to Nova-Basilos, and the patricians were in an uproar, as their own careful manoeuvrings were thrown into chaos.


His eyes were rimmed in kohl, and the well-oiled rings of his beard cascaded over his bulging chest in the Selenian style.


To the Lion, the Emperor appeared as a hooded figure, armoured in emerald plate, inscrutable with gilt and filigree and shrouded in robes of gold, wreathed in obscuring light.


The final end of this ork empire was preordained, and Hierax deserved his share of the glory.


It came so close Vulkan could see the tunnels bored into it like those of an anthill.


‘It has to be this way,’ replied Magnus, placing a protective hand over the book chained at his waist.


‘If you would bring a primarch into your church, why not try Ferrus, or Vulkan?’ said Perturabo with a sour laugh.


He liked this brother, but Guilliman had an innate high-handedness he could not disguise.


But I do know this – the Emperor has a task for us.


‘Ani, I need you to answer me truly,’ I said to her.


Since its creation, the Triumphal Hall had been a place of glory for the XII Legion.


‘I am aware of the potential in what you propose,’ Iasus replied.


Rare was the occasion when the representatives of Mars would openly share their secrets and methodologies with any outside their order.


And that meant that Pandion might very well be in danger after all.


It matters not if it is the hand of the Ecclesiarch or his words that are laid upon them – men and women must be free to speak their mind.


There were ears that would heed the Word and the Truth, and while they did it was his duty to bring it to them.


The most uncompromising of the Sheitansvar chain, it was the lowest and nearest to sea level.


Constructed of black stone and glass, the primarch’s personal chambers were cold, hostile and austere, but Ferrus had always found the darkness calming.


Then Roshan turned and passed a small pouch of coin – a finder’s fee – to Winnika, and Adaram nodded to me.


Iasus said, ‘I have no wish to injure your pride further.’


The chromed adamantium cone was immense, larger at its base than a Stormbird and twice as long.


Alajos and the Lion walked forwards, to the centre of the complex.


The desire for hope appeared in Rhy’tan’s eyes, though his doubts clearly remained.


‘The warlord clans of old Albia have been perfecting this way of war on each other for hundreds of years,’ DuCaine explained.


The thought of Lorgar doubled his grief, for he had lost not only his faith but the only one who had shown him the truest passion and understanding.


‘Take Telmar and Thorn, and head off those patricians who are advancing towards the city, but haven’t yet joined Bucepholos.’


Gage began to see the strategy behind the elevation of Iasus.


As senior captain, Hierax had overseen the elevation of new captains.


‘As Grandmaster of the Six Wings and lord of the Preceptors’ Council, I knew the nemesis that we might face here.


The internal facings of the command compartment were decorated with delicately crafted mosaics, depicting representative scenes from the history of the Legion.


His finger twitched, quicker even than Fulgrim could reach him, and the pistol bucked.


He could not understand why his relationship with Perturabo should upset him so much, but he returned to pick at the wound over and over.


The Imperial ships turned slowly, but their engines were far more powerful than the orks’, and as they accelerated once more, they put distance again between themselves and the enemy.


In this I was mistaken, for the Emperor was, by His very nature, often absent.


The Khan took his place at the high dais, flanked by his captains.


The Tower of Infinite Lords was less impressive than its name suggested.


Some said it was that fusion of devastation and aeons-long patrimony that had given the Blood Angels their intense aesthetic sense – a reverence for the past, combined with the bitter awareness of history’s callousness.


The Lycaeans – they were still called that by the guilders – were particularly abused.


Pro-Imperial sentiment mixed with hostility to the new arrivals, and the refugees became blamed for the pre-existing societal frictions.


The time would come when the Alpha Legion would demand respect from their brothers, but unlike some of their fellow Legions, my warriors could swallow their pride in the name of a greater goal.


‘Why should I not remember who I am, and where I am from?


Ocular-neural implants allowed Vashti to perceive what Rom was seeing, and she winced every time she saw how dangerously overcrowded her airspace had become.


Bulveye was guarding the throne, bolter drawn, as were most of those Jorin had placed under his command.


He offers Angron a rag, and the youth accepts it to wipe the dust and congealed blood from his face.


‘Perhaps his fondness for the eastern empires drew him onwards when he ought to have been more cautious,’ said Ahriman.


That was the future he had been promised, and it had been delivered to him by Perturabo.


Fifty of the Legion’s paladins were waiting for them, and they raised their blades in salute as their primarch emerged.


‘My brothers and I formed a Communion, a gestalt of our minds, and went to Angron in order to calm him.


Phosis T’kar was a seasoned scholar, but rarely did he ever admit to being in need of instruction.


But the rest of Vaughn was still lord commander of the XVIII Legion.


Eye-lenses still slathered in gore, Mago could feel hands grasping at his collar, trying to open the seals and pull his helmet loose.


‘Remember that what we do here, we do for the Legion.


Though I’m at a loss as to what it might be.’


As they drew near, Numeon saw the markings on their pauldrons.


‘Are you a member of the Order of Santales, brother?’ said Aravain.


They can tell something is wrong, even if they can’t define exactly what, and they bark challenges as I approach.


The main attack of the Ultramarines swept over them like a volcanic blast.


Axata said nothing as he followed Kor Phaeron along the companionway and up the steps to the main deck.


His loyalty to the Legion and the primarch’s vision did not fail.


Gases ignited, and billows of fire rolled over Vulkan as he marched towards the obelisk.


He had known in that moment what Kor Phaeron meant when he said that they dwelt beneath their immortal gaze.


‘What I saw… It was an apocalypse of man’s own devising.’


He opened his eye as the sound of roaring engines screamed past the Stormbird.


Kardis is but the first, and before I am done, all Olympia will throw itself to its knees and beg for forgiveness.’


They were not far from the Red Level, the place where in blacker times the wardens of Lycaeus had tormented their prisoners.


‘I confess some curiosity as to the nature of your preparations, Lord Fulgrim.’


Horus was the first of the primarchs to be recovered: he was found on Cthonia, merely three years after the Great Crusade commenced.


Russ erupted into a howl of fury, swept up to the Lion with a sudden surge of speed and landed a huge, clenched fist into the heart of his brother’s breastplate.


Such a fate would be denied forever to him that day, as he was taken from the world he knew, and placed within that of the Legion.


Already the Avernii Clan formations under Akurduana were catching up to their bitter rivals from Clan Vurgaan.


A flat plane of silver extended before the Space Marines for a kilometre in every direction.


In that instant, Russ had an insight into a wholly alien way of battle, one of long-gestated plans of conquest, of moderation and tactical restraint, ready to turn preserved resources back towards the service of a greater humanity.


Thus, the mood amongst his children in the Practice Hall was black.


‘The Holy Church of the Covenant extends to where its servants are, and as we are all ordained priests of the Covenant that means these are holy lands.


Fulgrim had been silent since they’d left Patrician Bucepholos’ coastal holdfast.


‘Compliance is not solely about forcing worlds to surrender the sovereignty, Belleros.


The Khan looked at his brother warily, as if cautious to avoid some kind of trap.


It was he and Thias Herzog who had first suggested cosmetically altering their appearances to mimic my own, thereby allowing me to move more freely within our Legion even if my identity was discovered.


He subtly closed the pain gates in the Iron Warrior’s spine, hearing a groan of relief escape his scorched lips.


I’m going to show you what I need, and you’re going to do it all within a standard year.’


‘I understand… There has been a…’ Again, she hesitated, mouth working slowly as she stared at the ruined corpse in front of her. ‘…a new plan.’


There was enough consensus in the fragments to gather some sense of the systems’ histories during the Age of Strife.


‘If I am to call you Fulgrim, you must call me Belleros, please.’


No sooner had the words left his lips than he felt a flare of emotion from Hathor Maat.


‘You Iron Hands claim to be so logical, so tell me, brother, is it logical to assume that a man with a few scars is a better warrior than one without?’


In Raylan’s mind, a close, black nebula cloud passed from the face of a bright, loving star.


The coastal enclaves of Chalkedon were, by and large, devoted to aquacultural pursuits.


The boy joked with the converts and slaves, and constructed elaborate fables from their histories, spinning truth into fanciful adventures through the divine realms of the Empyrean.


In the past week, Pyke’s subordinates had run themselves from one end of the planet to the other, collecting data and making themselves seen.


Guilliman took a third of his infantry below, leaving the Invictarii to command the rest and direct the final annihilation of the orks at the surface.


‘I think I have had just about enough of you, Apothecary.’


‘Then if not from the gods, where are you from?’ asked Dammekos.


These people are neither simple nor stupid, Frazer’s assumptions to the contrary.


‘I thought I had seen all there was to see in this galaxy.’


Another legionary, Reicun, replaced the removed section of wall and held it in place while Qvova took out a canister of ferrofoam and sealed around it.


You need only know that Vharadesh is both the paradise of the Powers and the hell of mortals.


This last statement was too much for the Lord of Iron.


The armed forces of Trulla had a preference for high-powered energy weapons that were devastating when they hit, but also had a tendency to set fires when they missed.


He was simply very old, and in spite of that a proud patriarch of Lochos still.


In Iasus’ few interactions with him, he had been almost completely silent.


The suite’s central room was square, cloistered around the edges but open in the centre to a high ceiling decorated with a moving cloudscape in reference to the enclosed courtyards common on Guilliman’s home world.


It turned out I could be quite convincing, when I wanted to.


‘Tailor our fighting style to best complement that of the Dark Angels, so far as possible.’


He knew that the aid of the Emperor’s Children had been invaluable, in regards to certain military efforts.


‘Hierarch-vizier Jusua and his missionary caravan were ambushed in the Valley of the Red Queen.


Now I strode through its streets wearing the armour of the man I had killed, and marvelled at how inconspicuous a giant in gold could be.


And you should understand that finding myself here was not what I expected.


His voice broken by grief, he spoke of the Unification of the Central Afrik, and the first time he had crossed paths, and swords, with a brilliant young captain by the name of Akurduana.


He nodded briefly to Vaughn and bent back down to the work of amputating the left leg of a still-conscious legionary.


The Wolf King isn’t a fool – he knows this just like we do.’


He flicked his hand away, and Khârn heard the soft patter of blood scattering across the floor.


Vulkan had achieved the perfection every warrior of Nocturne sought to embody and, by his example, inspired all to the ideals he made manifest.


‘Do you think they would poison their own civilians?’ asked Milontius.


And on the vox, all he heard from the chamber with the Spear of Fire was the shouts of more brothers, the thunder of explosions.


‘I still hear the dead of Morningstar screaming,’ said Magnus, clawing a handful of ash from the crater within the Pyramid of Photep.


Its layout was typically pre-Old Night, the buildings bespoke, the conurbations sprawling, lacking the enforced standardisation and brutalist symmetry of an Imperial colonisation.


None of us like Curze, and he appears to despise us all, along with his own Legion.


It was dark as the Night Lords preferred it, lumens dimmed so low the multitudes of serfs working there needed lamp packs to see.


His pack formed up around him as more survived the trials: Valgarn, Eiryk, Yellowtooth, Sventr and others, all young, their skin smooth and their eyes shining.


He had been thinking of the long-term transformation of the Chapter when he had spoken with Sirras.


In keeping with his role as Ferrus’ shadow, Akurduana had held his silence until now, saying or doing nothing that could contradict the primarch.


The Ultramarines formed into tighter, smaller, more mobile formations, unbreakable stones in the midst of the ork torrent.


A single Nucerian day, thirty-one of your Terran hours, was all we needed to earn our victory.


We had our own agenda; that fact would need to be concealed from one of the most perceptive beings in the galaxy, and I am one of the most talented liars ever born.


The Powers instilled in you some fate greater than that of any mortal.


Tull supposed that a little radiation posed no hazard to Ulan Cicerus.


I relaxed my guard stance, although I did not take my eyes off my opponent, even when I inclined my head in a small bow.


The Lion’s smile was a fleeting thing, far above the ability of any there present to see it for what it was or decipher its true meaning.


But I was hoping I could have a word with the primarch about it.’


The Stormbird vibrated with potential, the pilot keeping it on the ground with a light touch, ready to lift off in an instant.


The whole campaign looked, on the surface, to be pointless, though Dantioch was not a warrior to see the surface of anything – be it metal, stone or an idea – and judge it upon that merit alone.


The only thing he believed in more than the Word and the Truth was the persistence of enemies.


‘And I will see his works come to full fruition,’ Kor Phaeron assured them.


I never wanted that, but I did it, for I have grown weary of fighting with my own brothers, and there has been much to rebuild and remake.’


The Byzans kept them running more through luck and determination than any true understanding of how they worked.