‘Soon I will ask so much of them. For generations they have oiled the machines of war with their blood. They have wet the harvest ground with their tears. They have sent their children to die in the Imperial armies. This is but the least I shall be forced to ask of them in the coming centuries. What I have won here is just the beginning. To conclude this endless war will require sacrifice from everyone – man, woman and child. I need to show them we can win, that I am in control. I cannot do that if I leave now.’

‘What of Mortarion, my lord?’ asked Ventris. ‘He threatens Ultramar itself.’

‘Ultramar is not the Imperium,’ said Guilliman softly. ‘If it were, perhaps none of this would ever have happened. But it has. Ultramar is crucial to my plans, but I cannot be seen to favour my own home over the worlds of every other sector. Fear not, captain – I will return. I will drive my brother away from Ultramar, and I swear that when I leave to free the rest of the Imperium, the realm will be better organised, better fortified and better able to deal with whatever may come in the future. But that time is not yet. Tell Lord Calgar to hold the line. I trust him to ensure Macragge will still be there when I come home.’

Ventris bowed. ‘I shall have your response sent immediately–’

Guilliman held up his hand. His earpiece was buzzing.

‘Captain Felix,’ he said, ‘can you not encourage our guests to wait a little longer?’

‘It is not for their sake that I interrupt you, my lord,’ voxed Felix. ‘There is a priority request from the palace. Master-Astropath Losenti has received a message from Archmagos Cawl.’

‘I will attend immediately. Make my apologies to the architects. Have the plans of the Chapter fortress sent to my scriptorium. I will examine them tonight.’ He turned to the Fourth Captain. ‘Forgive me, Ventris, but I must leave. It appears I am in demand today.’

Roboute Guilliman sent a message to his personal shuttle, commanding the crew to make ready for flight, and departed, leaving Captain Ventris alone to watch a battleground transformed into symbol of Imperial might.

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Espandor Remembered

Varens dreamed. He was back in the trenches of Espandor, as he had been every time he had slept on his journey to Iax on the ward-ship, and every night since.

Espandor was always so real in these dreams that he thought he was there again. The ankle-deep stagnant water stank just as bad as it had at the front. The sky was just as dark. The rising and falling drone of flies was just as monotonous. The fear was just as real.