Would it have made a difference? Would it make a difference now? To an enemy not expecting a fresh and undamaged force waiting for it as it leaped deeper into the system… It might. It had to.

‘Send the codes,’ he said, raising his head. ‘Bring us on course to meet the rest of the fleet.’

Thirteen

Calculations and errors
Come with me
Dreams

Bhab Bastion, The Imperial Palace, Terra

‘They have failed,’ said Jaghatai Khan. ‘Horus has failed.’

The annex of the Grand Borealis Strategium was quiet. Four humans, three primarchs and one near-human stood in silence, looking at the Praetorian of Terra through the veil of holo-light. A single tactical projection turned at the centre of the room, its surface flashing as the data cycled across its sphere. Malcador the Regent stood between Sanguinius and the Khan; beside them were Magos-Emissary Kazzim-Aleph-1 and High Primary Solar General Niborran. Su-Kassen stood to Dorn’s right, and the ghost-like presence of Senior Astropath Armina Fel filled the space to his left.

None of them spoke after the Khan’s pronouncement. It was undoubtedly correct, but…

Su-Kassen watched as Kazzim-Aleph-1 extended a chromed digit and stopped the projection, as though halting the spin of a child’s top.

‘The outer reaches are the enemy’s,’ said the magos-emissary. ‘They advance into the inner system. Mars, sacred cradle of the machine, will be next. If disciples of the false Mechanicum rise from their pit, the Fourth Sphere fleet will be unable to drive them back. I estimate its primary strength will erode in main force effectiveness at a rate of three-point-six-one-two per cent per hour. That cannot be sustained. The Lost Forges will fall to the invaders.’

‘But they will be left with almost no forces that can be brought to bear here on the Throneworld or in orbit,’ said Niborran. The old general’s silver augmetic eyes did not seem to flinch from the display. The death rubies bonded to his right socket gleamed against the darkness of his skin as he gave a single nod. ‘Even if they do, it will not be in time. My lord Jaghatai is correct, the position is clear – they have failed. Their forces are too few, arriving too late and in parts. We can meet them, hold them and break them one after another. They will still be clawing at the walls when Lord Guilliman arrives.’

‘But what of sacred Mars?’ hissed Kazzim-Aleph-1. Su-Kassen thought he had never sounded so human. ‘Liberation was promised. Promised and encoded with oaths. This…’

‘Liberation requires victory,’ snarled Niborran. ‘And that requires a price to be paid now, by Mars too, just as it was by Pluto, by Uranus.’