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The laughter faded.
The group steered the conversation back to Kaelen's ability.
Horus and Guilliman didn't ask Kaelen to use it imdiately. In their view, a thod that worked like drawing a blind box carried far too much uncertainty.
He drew Horus this ti. Who would it be next? That was unknown.
And nearly everyone harbors an anxious, unsettled fear of the unknown.
"What do you think, Roboute."
Horus looked at Guilliman.
"Based on conservative logic, I don't recomnd using this ability right now." The Lord of Ultramar's tone was steady. "The variables are too great. We cannot determine whether the next return will be a primarch, an Astartes veteran, or sothing uncontrollable. Even one of our fallen daemon-brothers."
If they actually fished Angron out to Macragge, a mind filled with nothing but slaughter, the chaos would be spectacular. In the worst possible way.
"The top priority right now is bringing you to Holy Terra to et Father." Guilliman glanced at the Wolf Shepherd. "You must obtain a pardon issued directly by the Throne. My guarantee alone cannot suppress the outcry across the entire Imperium. We cannot, in seeking aid, create more variables that destroy the existing order."
Kaelen nodded.
He gave old XIII a silent thumbs-up in his head. This was the mind of the Imperium's top statesman at work, not pinning hope on the faint probability of a card draw. The "salvage opportunity" in their hands was better kept as a trump card for now.
Horus fully agreed with his brother's view. For the current Imperium, stability was everything. They could not let uncertain factors shatter this fragile order, or the hope of its people.
Listening to these three plan the Imperium's future, Kullen, standing at the back, couldn't help but step forward half a pace.
The old knight had held it in long enough. He finally threw out the question that had been sitting in his chest.
"Then Kaelen, about the Lion..."
As a son of the Lion, Kullen cared deeply about his old father El'Jonson's condition. He'd been quietly wondering: how good would it be if Kaelen used the ability to bring the Lion here?
"I forgot to ntion — El'Jonson will awaken on the Imperium Nihilus. The other side of the Great Rift, where it blocks the Astronomican. The Emperor of Mankind will be the one to wake him. But..."
Kaelen rubbed his chin and ran through the tiline carefully. Originally, the old man on the Throne had planned to wait until Guilliman was halfway through the Indomitus Crusade before rousing the Lion from his sleep to guard the dark side.
But the script was completely scrambled now. Horus had returned to the loyalist camp, and the Chaos Gods would absolutely go berserk over it. If there was no heavyweight primarch to hold the line on the Nihilus side, it simply couldn't withstand the Chaos tide that was coming.
"Trust , he'll return soon. The Emperor of Mankind might already be knocking on his door as we speak." Kaelen gave a definitive answer.
The old knight took a deep breath and nodded firmly. As long as the primarch still lived, the Dark Angels had their backbone.
With Kullen reassured, Kaelen turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
"Lord Guilliman, the 2 Aeldari emissaries from the Death God's retinue who were in the temple earlier, have they left yet?"
"They're still resting in the side hall of the Fortress of Hera." Guilliman looked mildly puzzled. "They haven't left. Why?"
"Perfect, as long as they're still here!"
Kaelen clapped his hands together and finally let out a breath.
"Since we've decided to go to Terra to et the Emperor of Mankind, we absolutely cannot take the Warp." Kaelen said it flat and final. "We need the Aeldari to lead the way. We go through the Webway directly to Luna."
Both primarchs went quiet, expressions shifting into serious contemplation.
Kaelen pressed on.
"The Great Rift has split the galaxy in two. The Chaotic energy in the Warp has long since gone berserk. And what's worse, the news of Horus and Lord Guilliman's return has definitely already reached the fallen primarchs and the Chaos Warlords.
Magnus. Abaddon. Even Mortarion. They are absolutely lurking on every necessary route through the Warp right now. If we pile onto a ship and plunge straight in, those bastards will hunt us down without rcy."
He'd experienced Warp travel once already. It had nearly made him sick. But that wasn't the real reason he wanted nothing to do with it. He knew what the original story looked like, Guilliman's journey back to Terra after his awakening had been nothing short of a near-death experience.
Kairos led forces to block the road. The Red Corsairs ambushed them midway. Magnus fired hidden arrows from behind. Enormous ti was wasted. The escort fleet took devastating losses.
They had the information advantage right now. To throw away a fast, safe Webway route and walk willingly into the Warp to get beaten, that was just stupid.
The Webway ran straight to Luna. Safe, concealed, and blindingly fast.
The Aeldari were counting on the Human Imperium to help them absorb Chaos's fury. Yvraine had absolutely no reason to refuse a favor that cost her nothing.
Guilliman used 2 seconds of superhuman processing and arrived at a perfectly clear conclusion.
"A very reasonable tactical suggestion, Mr. Kaelen." He nodded approvingly. "Borrowing a xenos passage does violate certain outdated Imperial conventions. But in the face of humanity's survival, that flexibility is necessary. It avoids the Warp storms and frees the escort fleet's resources for Macragge's post-war reconstruction."
"Agreed." Horus folded his arms. "Speed is everything. Reaching Terra before Ezekyle and his traitors can react, that is the superior play."
The route was decided.
The atmosphere in the room eased.
Guilliman turned and lifted a battle report from the damaged tabletop. He studied it for a long mont, the muscles of his face tightening slightly, as if working through so difficult internal preparation.
He was breathing deeply.
Transhuman lungs drew and released air, a low, audible rhythm filling the room.
"Before we leave Macragge..." Guilliman raised his head. His gaze moved across the three of them, and his tone dropped into sothing serious and heavy.
"I have a major decision. I need to inform you in advance."
He paused. The idea seed almost too audacious to say aloud, even in front of his own brother.
This was the kind of thing that invited universal condemnation.
"I intend to reorganize all defense zones, resources, and military formations of Ultramar." Guilliman gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and said the words. "I want to rebuild the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar here."
He braced.
He waited for Horus to show astonishnt.
He waited for Kullen to issue a sharp challenge.
He had even prepared himself for the hard scrutiny, are you trying to cause a second secession, are you building a state within a state, because back during the Great Heresy, when he had done exactly this, the disbelief on El'Jonson's and Sanguinius's faces had been burned into his mory ever since.
1 second passed.
2 seconds passed.
"Mm." Kullen responded, perfectly calm.
"Not impossible." Horus shrugged.
"I'm for it," Kaelen said.
The air solidified.
Guilliman stood frozen for a full half-minute. Every prepared explanation, every carefully constructed argunt, jamd in his throat. He genuinely wondered whether his language center had malfunctioned, whether he had sohow spoken in an incomprehensible xenos dialect.
"You all..." He looked at the three of them in disbelief. "Do you not find this proposal extrely... excessive?"
"What's there to be surprised about." Horus cracked a grin. "Roboute, my brother, you've written your thoughts all over your face. And besides, Kaelen already told us everything."
A question mark practically appeared over Guilliman's head.
Horus stepped forward and clapped a heavy hand on his brother's shoulder plate, voice dropping into a low, amused rumble.
"Back during the Great Heresy, Father was still alive and well on Terra. And you, my dear brother, went right ahead and set up your own little kingdom on Macragge — Five Hundred Worlds, El'Jonson and Sanguinius in tow — and built yourself a Second Imperium. Didn't you."
Guilliman let out a sharp, strangled noise.
➤ Next: Are You Sure He's Dorn's Son?
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