The Terra Crusade Sets Sail

Ultramar's starry sky gradually faded behind them, like a painting losing its color.

The vast expeditionary fleet—led by the flagship Macragge's Honour and comprising Guilliman's elite Ultramarines detachments, vessels from brother Chapters answering the call, and loyal Imperial Navy warships—slowly adjusted its course like a great blue sword forged from humanity's last hope. Its blade pointed straight toward the heart of the galaxy, the holy land shrouded in layers of darkness—Terra.

A solemn farewell unfolded upon the flagship's bridge.

Guilliman's towering figure stood before a vast star chart. Calgar and the other senior Ultramarines knelt on one knee, their blue-and-gold pauldrons heavy as iron beneath the lights.

"Calgar," Guilliman said in a low voice laden with trust, "Ultramar is our last spark. Its stability concerns the survival of countless lives, and the future foundation of this expedition. I am leaving you behind to purge the remnants of Chaos, restore order, and resume production. This place is in your hands."

"In the name of the Emperor and of you!" Calgar answered without hesitation, slamming his fist against his breastplate. "Ultramar shall become your strongest rear guard! May the Emperor bless your road to Terra!"

Elsewhere, Evelyn quietly stepped before Guilliman.

A complicated glimmer flickered in her starlike eyes before hardening into resolve. "Lord Regent, the road to Terra has already been swallowed by shadows. The Reaper Host's mission is to seek that elusive path to Redemption. I cannot allow them to stray from their destined course. But I will accompany you as the representative of the Aeldari. The connection forged with the Hilling Empire is a ray of light my people have glimpsed in this ocean of darkness. For the future of the Eldar, I am willing to serve as a bridge between us." She gave a slight bow, elegant yet carrying an unquestionable determination.

Guilliman looked deeply into her eyes, then nodded. "Your wisdom and strength will be valuable assets to the expedition. Welcome aboard, Advisor Evelyn."

The engines roared like the howl of colossal beasts, tearing apart the silence of space.

The fleet formation began to accelerate, its exhaust trails drawing long blue streaks through the Void as it sailed without hesitation toward the deep route shrouded in Chaos storms and unknown perils—the Warp.

Yet not long after entering that bizarre, riotously colored Warp current, a lethal alarm tore through the order on the bridge!

"Warning! Warp storm intensity rising sharply! Astronomican signal... lost! Repeat, Astronomican signal completely lost!"

The Navigator's shrill scream echoed through the communication channels. The third eye embedded in his forehead squeezed shut in agony as cloudy tears streamed down his face.

Without the Astronomican's guidance, they could be torn apart at any moment by the violent Warp tides—or lost forever within the turbulent currents of time and space.

"Astropath array! Full power! Attempt to receive any signal from the direction of the Imperium!" Guilliman's voice was like ballast, forcibly steadying the panic on the bridge.

The Astropaths sat cross-legged before crystalline arrays covered in runes, stretching the tendrils of their souls as far as they could into the raging sea of aether.

Countless shattered, twisted psychic fragments filled with pain and despair crashed into their minds like hailstones:

"Cadia... has fallen... requesting support..."

"Plague... Nurgle's blessing... devours everything..."

"Traitors! The traitors have breached the starport!"

"Emperor! Save us..."

"Food... there is no food left..."

Wails, pleas for help, curses, and dying prayers rose and fell one after another, like the harshest noise assaulting every Astropath's nerves—and the hearts of everyone on the bridge.

The Imperium's territory was accelerating toward the abyss of hell!

Guilliman's face darkened. His will of steel suppressed the grief, rage, and helplessness surging within him.

He could not stop! Stopping meant Terra would lose its last hope! Yet blindly navigating this storm was no different from suicide.

"Exit the Warp! Enter realspace!" Guilliman ordered decisively. "Recalibrate our coordinates! We must determine our location!"

The fleet struggled to turn at the edge of the raging Warp, its Gellar Field groaning under the impact of the energy storm.

At the critical moment before they escaped that realm of maddening colors, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had been standing quietly just behind Guilliman, suddenly closed his eyes.

The calm aura around him vanished in an instant, replaced by a profound concentration, as though he had connected himself to the pulse of the universe.

The Force, an energy field beyond the laws of physics, flowed and gathered soundlessly around him.

Blurred images steeped in malice flashed into Obi-Wan's mind like lightning:

The instant the fleet emerged from the Warp, before the stars of realspace had even come into focus, countless Chaos warships painted with blasphemous symbols and warped into grotesque forms lunged out like venomous serpents that had been waiting in ambush—from asteroid belts and planetary shadows alike! Dense fire tore through the Void, aimed directly at the expeditionary fleet's most vulnerable heart—its engine arrays and Void Shield generators!

The vision shattered, then reformed. He saw several Imperial vessels seized by invisible psychic claws and violently dragged back into Warp rifts that had not yet fully closed! Within the rifts lurked countless greedy Warp creatures and grinning Chaos sorcerers!

It reformed again! He saw the prow of Macragge's Honour struck head-on by a pyramid-shaped vessel. The massive Void Shield shattered like fragile glass, the hull tore apart, and flames soared into the sky!

Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. A trace of alarm flashed through his blue eyes, and a fine sheen of sweat appeared on his brow.

He immediately turned toward Guilliman, his voice carrying an urgency unlike anything before.

"Lord Regent! Danger! I foresaw a trap! The moment the fleet exits the Warp, we will be ambushed! The Chaos fleet has been waiting at the designated coordinates! They intend to strike us fatally while our Void Shields are unstable and our engines overloaded! Powerful psykers will also attempt to drag us back into the heart of the Warp storm!"

Guilliman's pupils contracted sharply! He did not doubt Obi-Wan's warning for even a moment!

"Change the exit coordinates! Immediately!" he barked.

The fleet urgently adjusted its exit point.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes again, trying to find a sliver of survival within the torrent of the Force.

Yet only seconds later, his expression turned extraordinarily grim!

"A powerful presence is interfering..." he murmured, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly. "The vision... has been forcibly distorted! A will... unimaginably powerful, filled with pure malice... has directly interfered with the course of the future! No matter which exit point we choose, no matter what evasive measures we take... the ambush... will inevitably happen! Being dragged into a Warp vortex... cannot be avoided!"

The bridge fell utterly silent.

Even the engines' roar seemed frozen.

Despair coiled around every heart like an icy serpent.

Guilliman silently watched Obi-Wan, seeing the rare frustration and gravity in the eyes of this envoy who had displayed astonishing strength and wisdom throughout their journey.

He understood. This was not merely an ambush. It was a killing trap personally woven by a Chaos god—or some terrifying being of equal rank! Its target was Guilliman himself, along with this expeditionary force carrying the Imperium's last hope!

"Master Kenobi," Guilliman said, breaking the silence, his voice steady as bedrock beneath the deep sea, "you have done everything you could. I have seen your efforts and your warning. The Imperium of Man will remember this friendship."

His gaze swept across every face on the bridge—some panicked, some despairing, some waiting for orders.

"Since there is no avoiding it..." Guilliman's voice suddenly rose like a drawn blade, carrying the resolve to cut through every hesitation, "then we will meet it head-on! With all our strength, we will break through this crisis!"

He spun toward the command console, his voice exploding across the bridge like thunder.

"All fleet units, heed my command! Target—the original exit point! Void Shields at maximum power! Charge all weapons systems! Prepare to engage!"

"We fight our way out!"

The order was absolute! The fleet's engines let out roars on the brink of collapse. The Void Shield generators hummed, radiating blinding blue-white light as their energy readings surged into the dangerous red zone! Every gun battery stood ready, while the Lance Array's deep charging hum sounded like the roar of a giant beast!

Obi-Wan watched Guilliman's mountainlike, unwavering back, a complicated gleam flashing through his eyes.

The Lord Regent of the Imperium of Man possessed a will far more tenacious than he had expected.

And Guilliman was filled with gratitude toward this Hilling envoy. There was no doubting the man's abilities. This envoy had been able to warn them of traps that even the Librarians had failed to detect. He could truly be called a walking prophet of war!

The next second, like a colossal whale breaking free of its bonds, the fleet burst through the violent Warp barrier amid the wail of overloaded engines and the dazzling brilliance of its Void Shields, plunging headlong into the cold and... deadly realspace!