"Open the star map. Locate the Tanagra System."
The Primarch's Attendants immediately obeyed the Black Emperor's command, raising the Control Staff and projecting a star map.
Arsena Dunn entered "Reader" mode, recalling the information he had read, and spoke.
"The Tanagra System lies at the edge of the Ursoris Sector. It is only fifty-two point seven light-years from the Isstvan System and possesses the most stable Warp passage to Terra. It is the most industrialized system in the entire sector."
"Diamond Star within the system is a Grade One Forge World. There are also twenty-three mining outposts and refineries scattered throughout the system."
"Tanigra was a world Horus brought into compliance early in the Great Crusade. Since then, it has remained a crucial logistical hub for this sector."
Arsena shifted into "Deduction Cadet" mode thoughtfully. "Tanigra is the key. Once we seize it—"
"Horus will not only lose an important supply base under his control, but his morale will also suffer from the loss of such a major conquest."
"It is also bait. Horus's Alphas have already infiltrated the Forge World," Nimrod said.
"Our enemies are not merely the Skitarii and Cyborg Librarians. There are also the hidden Alphas."
Although he knew Horus had cast out a glittering lure, and although Lion had not encountered any Alphas when attacking Diamond Star, he still decided to swallow the bait.
Diamond Star not only possessed strategic value, but was also a highly valuable asset.
However, in order to reduce the time available for the Alphas to establish hidden sites, he decided to launch the offensive immediately.
In his memories, Lion El'Jonson had only learned of the Dropsite Massacre on Isstvan V long afterward.
At that time, he estimated that the war with the Gordian League would take another eight months to end