Guilliman's face darkened. Again and again, he told himself that, like the damned Book of Holy Words concocted by Slaanesh and Lorgar, whether he liked it or not, it had become part of the Imperium.
Spreading out the star map, he saw that forty-seven barren planets in Ultramar had now been planted with Trees of Life. They roughly formed two rings of differing diameters. The next phase of tactical planning was much simpler. Guilliman intended to establish defensive lines around these planets and slowly drive back the surging daemons.
At the farthest edges of the Milky Way, the T'au Empire had not suffered a massive daemon incursion. Shadowsun and Farsight had waited tensely for a long time, watching the rifts above their worlds, yet no daemons appeared. In the end, the two could only joke, "Looks like daemons don't like the smell of T'au."
"But there are plenty of humans here too." Farsight lightly tapped the table with his finger. He and Shadowsun were mobilizing their forces to support the Big Canteen and Ultramar.
Without even raising her head, Shadowsun replied, "Maybe they've spent too long with us, so they've picked up the strange stink of soullessness too."
Farsight curled his lip, clearly displeased with Shadowsun's description. Before long, a specially marked communication device began flashing rapidly. Farsight picked it up, and his expression changed slightly after listening. Then he quietly spoke to Shadowsun, who was still busy at work.
"We may not be able to send aid outside."
"What does that mean?" Shadowsun looked up. "Are you implying that I should abandon our allies?"
"What kind of person do you take me for? See for yourself."
Suspiciously, Shadowsun took the communication device and discovered that the message came from Volani and General Klawos. The two were stationed along the