Guilliman didn't believe in fate. He believed only that people could overcome it.
The neighboring world had already proven one thing: fate, that bitch, could be tricked. All it took was prying loose a single pebble from behind, and whether it was an iron Hive City that had stood for ten thousand years or a sandcastle built by a toddler on the beach, it could all come tumbling down in the end.
A small leak could sink a great ship. Since you wanted to watch a play, then I'd put on a performance for you.
At some point, Guilliman had come to realize that an invisible hand was manipulating all living things. And there wasn't just one master behind those hands; there was always a sense of carelessness and contradiction to it all.
Guilliman was the sort of person who could still let his mind wander even with a blade at his throat. He was lucky to have a Primarch's sturdy physique and be able to multitask. Otherwise, who knew who might have slit his throat by now?
After giving the peddler in front of him a careful look, Guilliman used data analysis to estimate his age. Just as the old man had said, this Cat-folk was very old—so old that some surgeries that should have been stable were starting to fail.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because I remember everything. I remember the betrayal on Kairos, Lord Guilliman. Do you remember the Rangdan Xenos?"
The instant the word "Rangdan" left the old man's mouth, Guilliman lost his composure. He knew what the old man meant, but he didn't want to think about it.
"Come with us! You have to go to Kairos with us."
Guilliman's journey had begun, while Hogg's was about to end—or, more accurately, the ten