Aboard Macragge's Honour, Roboute Guilliman stared at the holographic star map.
Blurred Astropathic Messages marked out a Crimson Path.
Andermung, the future he had planned for Ultramar, had been destroyed. The embers of war were consuming this jewel of the future.
His gaze shifted to Calth.
It was a world under Nimrod's command.
Among the worlds surrounding Ultramar, none was like Calth.
It was both an industrial world and a dazzling jewel.
Only, he had fallen behind Nimrod.
Nimrod's foresight was astonishing, almost prophetic.
How would Nimrod break the deadlock in the current situation?
Guilliman tried to put himself in Nimrod's mindset. He recalled their encounter at the War Council, their side-by-side fighting in the Second Rangdan War, and line after line from Shadow Monarch.
At last, he recalled the words Nimrod had conveyed when the former Chief Librarian, Dio Promus, reported on the Council of Nikaea.
"Has any warrior cast aside the weapon in his hand?"
"To regard all Psykers as evil is equivalent to forgetting the Empire's dependence upon them."
Guilliman drew a deep breath, a dull ache stirring in his abdomen.
The wound Erebus had inflicted had yet to fully heal.
He spoke slowly. "Marius."
Marius Gage, commander of the Second Legion, brought his legs together. "Father."
"Reform the Librarius."
Gage took a step forward. "Father, The Emperor issued a prohibition at Nikaea—"
"I know." Guilliman nodded and looked at Gage.
"But we need the Librarius to counter the psychic tactics the traitors are using against the Five Hundred Worlds."
"To do that, we must take up the most useful weapon."
"I understand." Gage clenched his gauntleted fist.
Guilliman turned back to the holographic display. "Look at the image. What conclusion can you draw from the intelligence we have?"
Gage stared at a winding path amid the