'Guilliman's Legion is largely intact,' said Sanguinius. 'And he can call upon the full might of the Five Hundred Worlds. Lorgar and Angron wrought havoc there but Guilliman's realm is large and well organised. His is the largest Legion. Horus' forces have all suffered losses, many of them self-inflicted. Do not overestimate their strength. Horus will move against us soon, when he does not wish to.'

'I do not doubt it,' said Russ. 'Still, we have no opportunity to replenish our fleets. We are not ready to bear the brunt of an assault on Terra. Alpharius' incursion should have taught us that.'

A muscle twinge at the line of Dorn's silver hair betrayed his annoyance at Russ' statement 'You are also correct. We do need to strike back,' said Dorn. 'Now we have provoked him, we have to slow the Warmaster. If fortune is with us, we might even stop him before he gets to Terra. We can decide this strategy. It is now the Warmaster who must react and not us.'

'Facing him before our forces are gathered will cost a lot of blood,' said Russ.

'Where do you propose we make this stand?' said the Khan.

'We have so many Titans here,' said Dorn. 'We cannot unleash them upon Terra. Their kind of war would be the undoing of the Throneworld. My intention is to hold Horus at Beta-Garmon.' The system in question blinked. The hololith zoomed into it at a gesture from Dorn. He pointed at it with his calloused, craftsman's hand. 'Seven major warp routes cross here. It has been contested since the beginning of the war. If we commit the majority of our forces to Beta-Garmon, we can hold Horus and our traitorous brothers there.'

'And grind them out like cinders,' said Sanguinius. 'I do not see a better proposition.'

Russ shook his head. 'It brings us back to attrition. They have the numbers. If we cannot best Horus quickly there, he will overcome us. Once Beta-Garmon is lost, the way to Terra is open. What will we defend ourselves with then?'

'This kind of defensive war is your preference, Rogal,' said the Khan, 'but it is not to my liking. We risk becoming ensnared there. There are other routes to Terra. He could hold our forces in place at Beta-Garmon and outflank us.'

'Our hunting brother is right,' said Russ. 'Beta-Garmon is a hell trap, and one that will too easily divide our forces, for must we not retain a portion of our strength here to fortify Terra? Fight him there, we are divided, fight him here, he has time to gather his strength. Horus has us outmanoeuvred.'