I had opposed The Emperor.
I had doubted The Emperor.
I had loathed The Emperor.
I had hated The Emperor.
But faced with the profound terror of the Warp, with the maddened shells of my brothers under the control of the Chaos Gods, with all the despair and suffering in the universe, I finally understood The Emperor's helplessness.
His brothers had been deceived. The sea of the Warp had never been benign. Even if humanity merely stepped into its most insignificant shallows, deadly predators would be hunting there. The greater the soul, the greater the danger. Horus had once possessed the greatest soul among them, and thus his fall had been the deepest.
He had been devoured, dismantled, and cast into the endless games of the Chaos Gods for their amusement, never to receive redemption.
But at least... these people deserved redemption...
They were children of this dark age. Throughout their lives, they had known nothing but hardship, suffering, and endless conflict. Even so, they still rallied beneath the banner of the religion The Emperor despised most and fought with all their strength, remaining unyielding even when surrounded by countless enemies.
And what about him? Jaghatai thought. He had seen a better age, seen a glorious era gradually rise from backwardness into progress. Though rebellion had ultimately destroyed every ideal, at least he had once seen the mottled light.
"How willful and foolish I have been..." Jaghatai clasped the golden Aquila in both hands and held it to his chest. Perturabo had already vaguely guessed what Jaghatai intended to do.
With a sigh, Perturabo knelt beside Jaghatai. He laid his hand over Jaghatai's, and together they recited the words of The Emperor's Maxims.
Their hymn of praise undoubtedly set an example for the Space Marines and the other mortals. They