Chapter 93 93 - The First Legion Arrives
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"Gentlemen, we can table the discussion of Curze's personal hygiene for the next two hours."
Guilliman raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. He straightened up, forced down the bone-deep exhaustion from too many consecutive nights buried in documents, and let his bearing settle back into something that looked like a ruler.
The pleasantries ended there. What came next concerned the entire galaxy.
He walked to the wide metal table at the center of the VIP room, unhooked a palm-sized silver device from his belt, and set it on the surface.
He pressed the switch. A beam of cold blue light shot upward and spread into a massive holographic star map, filling the air above the table.
The current state of the Imperium laid itself bare before them all.
At the center of the map, a dark-red fissure cut across the entire galactic plane like a wound that refused to close.
"What comes next will not be easy." Guilliman braced both hands on the table's edge and pointed at the fissure. "The Great Rift has torn the Imperium cleanly in two. Communications are completely severed. The Astronomican's light cannot penetrate the Warp storms."
He swiped twice on the control panel.
A bright yellow advance route appeared, cutting straight through the wall of crimson chaos.
"One small mercy in all of this. There is still a narrow corridor connecting the Imperium Sanctus to the Dark Imperium." Guilliman turned to look at his two primarch brothers.
Leaning against the table, Kai picked up the thread without missing a beat. "The Nachmund Gauntlet."
Horus and Sanguinius fixed their eyes on that yellow line.
"The only physical gap in the entire galaxy." Horus extended a finger and tapped a node on the star map. "The Black Legion and every Chaos warband worth mentioning will flood in to contest it. They will fight us every step of the way."
Guilliman nodded sharply. "Correct. Which is why our main expeditionary fleet needs to push through by force, all the way to these coordinates." He circled the rally point. "Once the corridor is cleared, Horus, you take Sanguinius and pass through the Gauntlet into the Dark Imperium."
Sanguinius stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the vast reach of the Dark Imperium on the map.
"What is the actual situation over there?" the Great Angel asked.
Kai crossed his arms. "Rotten. The Chaos incursions are almost a footnote compared to the real catastrophe — and it's coming from beyond the galaxy's edge. A monster swarm called the Tyranids."
Sanguinius raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name.
Guilliman reached out and pulled up the location data for the Baal System.
The projection zoomed in.
The planet representing Baal sat at the center of an ocean of red dots, packed so densely that just looking at it made the scalp crawl.
The composure on the Great Angel's face vanished entirely.
"The hive fleet is going to attack Baal soon?" Sanguinius's voice went tight. That was his homeworld. His sons and his people were on it.
Guilliman shook his head. "Not yet. There is still time." A definitive answer. "This is part of why I have been pushing to accelerate the Indomitus Crusade. If we move fast enough, if we depart early enough, we can reach Baal ahead of the swarm and help your sons fortify the defenses."
Sanguinius exhaled slowly.
Guilliman pulled up another set of data: a structural diagram of a Space Marine fully clad in a completely new pattern of power armor.
"To prepare for what's coming, I had Archmagos Cawl develop an entirely new gene-forging process. The Primaris Space Marine." He ran through the advantages quickly. "Taller. Stronger than the sons of our old Legions. Equipped with new, modular weapons and armor systems."
He looked directly at Sanguinius.
"I will give the Blood Angels and all their successor chapters full access to Primaris technology and equipment. Enough to hold the line against the initial wave of the swarm."
The Great Angel nodded once. His tone was genuine.
"That is a tremendous help, Roboute."
With the Baal arrangements settled, Guilliman dragged the star map sharply to the right and stopped on a coordinate at the far edge of the galaxy.
"Once Baal is fully stable, there is one more destination you both must reach." He circled the coordinate. "The Khamas System."
He stopped there and looked directly at Kai.
This was intel territory, and Kai had been the one to bring it. He was better placed to explain the context.
Three sets of primarch eyes landed on Kai. He didn't hesitate.
"Your eldest brother. Lion El'Jonson, master of the Dark Angels Legion. He will awaken there." Kai said it plainly. "He will pass the Emperor's trial and claim three weapons made specifically for him. And there will be quite a few Fallen Angels present — men like Cullen."
Horus rubbed his bare scalp, looking genuinely stunned, then laughed outright.
"Now that is remarkable news. The master of the First Legion is coming back too?"
Something crossed his face. Old memories from the Great Crusade, by the look of it.
He was already looking forward to seeing the Lion. Ideally with a proper brawl thrown in.
Kai raised a single finger. "Don't celebrate yet. He'll be fighting the second he wakes up. A large Chaos warband called the Ten Thousand Eyes is moving through the Khamas stellar region."
"The moment the Lion awakens, his available forces will be minimal. A handful of surviving Fallen veterans from the First Legion and a skeleton fleet going head-to-head against an entire large-scale warband, they will lose that fight." Kai laid it out plainly.
Guilliman stepped in smoothly. "Which is exactly why both of you need to go provide support. Once our brother Lion returns, the balance of the war in the Dark Imperium shifts."
He shut off the projection and summarized.
"Once Lion regains control of the overall situation, supreme command of the Dark Imperium transfers directly to him. From that point, Sanguinius and Lion hold the Dark Imperium together."
The Lord of Ultramar looked at Horus.
"Horus, my brother. At that point, you pass back through the Nachmund Gauntlet immediately and rejoin the main expeditionary fleet." He rapped his knuckles on the metal tabletop. "The mess on this side is equally staggering. The Imperium Sanctus will be cleared jointly, you, me, and Curze."
Guilliman managing logistics and operations from the rear, Horus cutting through the front lines, Curze as the black-gloved specialist for internal purges and special operations when needed. Even by Great Crusade standards, that was a perfect configuration.
Kai ran the numbers in his head. The Lord Regent alone was already an overpowered stat-stick. Add Horus on top of that, and Curze was basically free icing on the cake.
Horus was very satisfied with the division.
"A very reasonable assignment." He slapped both palms down on the table. CRACK. "We divide command of the expeditionary fleet by theater of war. Front-line combat is mine. Roboute, my brother, you stay in the rear, manage the supply lines, and keep a handle on whatever the Terran Council is doing to itself."
"I don't actually want to stay in the rear," Guilliman said. "I want to go to the front with you."
He gave a strained smile. Horus understood the exhaustion behind it and patted his shoulder with a laugh.
"Father gave you full authority over the Imperium's military and civil power. You are the Lord Regent. I, Lupercal, am just working under you."
"Want me to hand military authority over to you then?"
Guilliman said it like a joke.
"Save it for when Lion wakes up and throw it at him." Horus didn't miss a beat. "I wouldn't take that title even if you handed it to me free in another lifetime. I am a commander now, not some Warmaster. I just want to be a soldier who leads soldiers into battle. I'm done with the filth that comes with being a political general."
He laughed and dropped a hand on Kai's shoulder.
"And besides, Kai, Cullen, and I have been running together long enough it feels like breathing. Throw in my boy Loken and I would rather be cutting down enemies on the front lines with them any day than worrying about whatever mess the Terran Council has made of itself!"
Hearing Loken's name, something clicked for Kai.
He scanned the room. His brow creased.
"Wait. Speaking of Cullen — where is he?"
For an internal meeting at this level, Cullen would normally be right there with them. He was one of the few people any of them trusted without reservation.
If Horus hadn't mentioned him, Kai genuinely wouldn't have noticed someone was missing.
"He's at the landing pad." Horus released Kai's shoulder and picked up a glass from the table. "I got a docking notification from the starport a little while ago."
"Who's coming?"
"The Dark Angels sent someone to Terra."
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(Regarding the femboy matter, the author has seen the differing opinions from readers and offered a brief explanation in the previous chapter that it was just the Golden Throne guy running his mouth, and it won't actually happen. The old man can still read the room well enough to know what the Imperium needs.)
➤ Next: Azrael: Asmodai Is an Idiot!
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