He glanced at his concilia psykana, several Space Marine and Primaris Librarians stationed close at hand. The mortal humans looked pained by the nearby Sisters of Silence.

‘It is so,’ confirmed their leader, Codicier Donas Maxim of the Aurora Chapter. ‘There is a weakening in the veil. The warp is unquiet.’

‘Then they are attempting to bring in warp-spawned aid. It will not help them.’ Guilliman put from his mind the unspeakable things the sorcerers would be doing; the creatures of the gods would only come to offerings of blood, souls and pain.

‘My lord,’ said the Master Augurum. ‘Primary target will be within range in ten minutes, nine seconds.’

‘He’s fifty seconds off in his estimation,’ said Colquan.

‘If you prefer, you can take his place, tribune.’

Colquan made a dismissive noise.

The main body of the Chaos fleet was coming into range of the Imperial battlegroups. The various signifiers for each enemy vessel acquired screeds of tagged data as the augurs of the fleet gathered more information on them. Five ancient battleships formed the core of the chief grouping. Three were of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, as Guilliman had expected; the remaining two belonged to the Iron Warriors. Ancient beacons in their corrupted hulls broadcast codes dating back to the Great Crusade. Guilliman recognised the names of two of the ships. The fleets of Chaos often differed to those of the Imperium, incorporating many classes of ship no longer produced. Their battleships were spear-headed things, sleek and deadly – superior patterns from a more enlightened time.

The remaining three subgroups of Chaos vessels were speeding past the outstretched fingers of the claw to get behind the Imperial fleet and engage their vulnerable rear. One flotilla bore the markings of the Lords of Pain, a once-loyal Chapter whose full strength had turned to Chaos during the Noctis Aeterna; the rest were motley collections of pirate vessels and mixed ships from Traitor Legions and other renegades.

The three lesser battlegroups could be ignored, for now. Space Marine ships were line breakers, intended to crash through enemy lines and deliver their warriors to the surface before disengaging. They were less effective in void combat.

The battleships were a bigger problem. They had arrayed themselves into an arrowhead that stepped up as it went back. A formation like that could do serious damage to the wall as the two formations passed through each other.

As one, the enemy opened fire with their prow weapons. Lance beams slashed across the void, splashing to blinding displays of displacement energies on the void shields. A glancing blow off the Macragge’s Honour’s forward shield lit up the deck with lilac energy discharge. Energy waves from an off-target nova cannon shot sent ripples of sparks over the shields of the six ships nearest the flagship.

‘They are targeting our position,’ said the Master Augurum.

‘Any fool can see that,’ muttered Colquan.

The tribune’s contempt for baseline humanity troubled Guilliman.