On Macragge, when Guilliman's flagship broke through the blockade imposed by the traitorous Iron Hands Legion and finally crossed the orbital space torn apart by gunfire, the entire world witnessed a miracle.
Bearing the Lord of Ultramar, Macragge's Honour burst out of a sea of flames and wreckage, the Ultramarines insignia on its prow still clearly visible through its flickering, damaged shields.
Close behind came hundreds of equally battered Ultramarines warships, still holding their battle formations.
They tore a breach through the void the Iron Hands had blockaded for weeks, pouring into Macragge's skies one ship after another.
When countless warships flying the banners of the Ultramarines Legion appeared in Macragge's skies, the resistance forces on the ground fell silent for a moment. Then the entire planet erupted in a deafening roar.
Hundreds of thousands of Space Marines landed on Macragge's surface.
They marched down the gunships' ramps in columns, crossing scorched earth that had been plowed by shellfire over and over again.
Their blue armour gleamed with a steady metallic sheen amid the firelight and smoke as they exchanged fire with the remnants of the Iron Hands traitors, clearing the enemies entrenched in the ruined fortresses room by room.
Bolts detonated among shattered walls, and the howl of chainswords echoed through charred streets. Every engagement ended swiftly.
Once the last pockets of Iron Hands resistance were eliminated, the balance of the war was certain to tip toward the Loyalist Faction.
Guilliman descended his flagship's docking gangway and set foot on Macragge's soil.
The first thing he saw was devastation stretching as far as the eye could see.
The urban districts surrounding the Fortress of Hera had been almost leveled. The surviving buildings were little more than blackened frames, and the streets were strewn with rubble and bodies that had