Rogal Dorn Says

The Phalanx

"If you think you're ready, you can begin at any time, Vulkan."

Guilliman spoke cautiously. They were standing within the Inner Sanctum of Stone aboard The Phalanx. Beyond the deep, towering stone arches, beneath carvings of Angels and Demigods, clusters of candles cast a dim, warm glow that blurred everything within.

Everything here, including the presence at the very center of the hall within the stasis field, had been meticulously preserved. Every slab forming the floor was spotless, glittering with faint specks of light.

Yet even so, Roboute Guilliman keenly sensed something unusual lurking aboard the immense Phalanx. He caught the faint scent of spores.

After the War of the Beast, the severely damaged Phalanx had only recovered some of its functions. Most of its remaining sections had been left idle, existing in a semi-abandoned state.

In the history of the Imperium of Man, after Dorn fell asleep, the Imperial Fists had briefly sunk into despondency before enjoying a short-lived resurgence under the policies of Guilliman, the Imperial Regent—

But after the Angel fell, during the Age of Apostasy, Sigismund, then Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists Legion, stepped forward to preserve the Imperium's stability, leading the Imperial Fists in campaigns throughout Imperial territory.

In that dark era, aside from the Death Guard, for whom the Primarch had left behind countermeasures early on, most other Legions and Space Marines had fallen into a state of passivity and confusion. The Imperial Fists, however, were clearly not among them—

Primarch Dorn had left them with qualities precious enough to endure. Under Sigismund's leadership, the Imperial Fists became one of the main forces holding up the vast colossus of the Imperium, preventing it from collapsing outright.

But after Sigismund himself disappeared following the battle with Abaddon, the relatively peaceful era of