The Blood Ravens left with their Strike Cruiser without looking back, while Iax returned to Ultramar with what remained of his forces.
Intelligence from the Front Line had already arrived. Countless fleets had seen the Green Energy Ripple emanating from deep within the Sector.
Soon afterward, the Black Obelisks scattered everywhere fell silent and dormant.
Although the Necrons restored some of the Obelisks to operation within just a few days,
that brief interruption gave every surviving Imperial force in the Sector a chance to catch its breath.
The Astropaths of the Sector's Departmento Munitorum nearly suffered mental breakdowns. Warp communications throughout the Sector were flooded with requests for reinforcements, evacuation, and troop mustering, as well as searches for units that had lost contact.
The Warp there became almost unimaginably turbulent.
As those Necron constructs resumed operation, the Warp fell silent once more. This time, however, the affected area was much smaller. Imperial ships discovered that they could once again emerge from the Warp at the Sector's edge, rather than having to enter Realspace far ahead of their destination and spend ten or fifteen days traveling on sublight engines.
Guilliman held the crystal Iax had sent back, his thoughts churning furiously. Aeldari prophecies were riddled with all manner of cryptic language.
This message placed particular emphasis on a shadow shrouding the stars that was swiftly approaching.
That only made Guilliman more agitated. If this shadow shrouding the stars did not refer to the Necrons' strange energy field, what did it mean?
Full of questions, Guilliman leaned back in his seat and let out a deep breath.
The Imperium placed far too many burdens on his shoulders.
He rose and looked at the Emperor Statue behind him, reviewing every piece of intelligence and information he had recently received, over and over.
He