The dizziness of the Warp jump had not yet fully faded when piercing alarms and near-collapsing distress calls flooded the bridge of Macragge's Honour like a tsunami.
On the holographic display, Ultramar's core region had already become a hellscape tainted by filth.
Distress signals, like the wails of the dying, piled densely across the communication channels:
"This is Macragge orbital defense platform Unyielding Bulwark! We... cough... cough... have lost power!"
"The lower levels of the hive city have fallen! I repeat, the lower levels have fallen! The civilians... have turned into monsters! They... are swarming upward! Request orbital purification! For the Emperor's sake!"
"Third Company of the Ultramarines reporting! We need support!"...
The transmissions came and went, but they were enough to make hearts quake.
Yellow-green pus flowed through the hive city's streets, crawling with writhing fungi and bloated mutants.
Once-magnificent buildings were wrapped in decaying vines and foul-smelling spore sacs.
Buzzing clouds of plague flies circled overhead, blotting out the sky.
The air was thick with despair and corruption.
Guilliman's fist slammed heavily onto the command console, making its surface groan under the strain.
His expression was so dark it seemed ready to drip water. Cold fury burned in his blue eyes, yet beneath it lay immense pain at the sight of his people's suffering.
The home of the Ultramarines, the model realm of Ultramar he had painstakingly built, was becoming a festering breeding ground at the hands of the brother he hated most.
"This cannot continue..." Guilliman's voice was low and hoarse, as though he were suppressing volcanic emotions. "The infected must be isolated and treated! Otherwise, the plague will burn through every force of resistance like wildfire and even spread to other worlds!" He abruptly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the star map before finally