As the place where Hogg had first arrived in this world, Alicia held immense strategic importance. It was a genuine prize that every military force coveted—or, more accurately, a true land of chaos.
Alicia lay at the crossroads of Segmentum Obscurus, Ultima Segmentum, and even the Solar Segmentum, the heart of mankind.
If anyone wanted to push toward Holy Terra, Alicia, the shield protecting mankind's heart, was an obstacle they could never bypass. It could even join forces with nearby Fenris to become a true bridgehead.
What made it even worse was that Alicia seemed cursed. Whenever the Imperium of Man launched a large-scale military campaign, this wretched place was always overrun again and again by rebels, Xenos, and even daemons.
And the worlds around it were all notorious troublemakers. Catachan went without saying; the damned place was practically on Alicia's doorstep. Fenris lay to the north, Armageddon to the east, and half the star system was swallowed by the Great Rift.
During the Great Crusade, even when Hogg slacked off, the Emperor never questioned him. As long as he did his job as the Imperium's transport captain and kept Alicia secure, he could do whatever he wanted. If he could even find a few of the Emperor's foolish sons, so much the better.
That was also why, during the Horus Heresy, Horus—who had been puffed up like a pastry—ultimately fought Hogg on Catachan. Occupying Alicia meant driving a nail into the heart of mankind and pointing a sword at Holy Terra.
Looking down at the verdant planet below, stained by the fires of war, Hogg had just arrived and was hesitating over whether to issue an Exterminatus and wipe the place clean—especially with those Elysian Drop Troops putting up such stubborn resistance.
But the thought soon vanished. The Imperial