The Serenity's sleek silver-gray hull tore through the busy traffic network in Terra's orbit. The enormous Crystal Cross emblem on its stern, radiating a gentle glow, stood out with particular brilliance amid the drab paint schemes of countless Imperial ships.
Thanks to the close ties established between the Privy Council under Guilliman's regency and the Hilling Empire, as well as the Emperor's personal approval, the Serenity had long since been entered into the Imperial Navy's highest-level identification database.
Its entry into Terra's low orbit went exceptionally smoothly. It even received the symbolic honor of an escort formation from the Imperial Navy—though the sailors and officers aboard those vessels all watched this mysterious warship from beyond the stars through their portholes with reverence, curiosity, and a trace of barely concealed vigilance.
On the bridge, Luke Skywalker calmly watched the planet gradually filling the main screen—Holy Terra, cradle and heart of the Imperium of Man.
Yet the sight before him made even this well-traveled Jedi sage furrow his brow slightly.
Obi-Wan had once described Terra's current state to him: a Hive World overdeveloped and drained of its last vestige of vitality. But seeing it with his own eyes, Luke still felt an indescribable disappointment rise within him.
The entire planet radiated a sense of heavy, oppressive exhaustion, as though it were on the verge of death.
It was vastly different from the birthplace of glorious civilization and symbol of humanity's splendor that he had imagined.
Sanguinius stood beside Luke, her calm golden eyes fixed upon the planet below as complex emotions flowed through them.
She saw the outlines of the magnificent buildings from her memories of being brought back to Terra, but now all that remained were scars piled high in steel, concrete, and despair.
A trace of deep nostalgia and sorrow