Terra's Departmento Munitorum was caught in a silent storm, one more suffocating than the screams of any battlefield.
Dataslates passed like falling snow between officers and servants. Every handover seemed to carry an immense weight, recording worlds that had fallen silent, fleets annihilated, and distress signals from sector after sector, their every word steeped in despair.
Communication channels teemed with cries, orders, and dying wails torn apart by static and psychic interference. Disasters from every corner of the galaxy converged into a maddening torrent of noise, battering everyone who tried to maintain order.
The holographic star map had become a scarlet inferno.
Quantum communication links lit up one after another, spanning boundless distances to tenuously connect the Imperium's strongest remaining pillars.
Vulkan's enormous figure appeared first, his eyes burning with anger and concern for the mortals.
"Guilliman, Ultramar..."
His voice was like a suppressed volcano.
"I know, brother."
Guilliman interrupted him, his tone urgent.
"The Ultima Segmentum needs you, immediately! I'll have Calgar, the Four Champions, the council of Ultramar's Archons, and the Ultramarines assist you. I need every Salamander deployed! And Armageddon, Vulkan. The Gorgon swarm is there too. You must divide your forces!"
"What about here?"
Vulkan hesitated.
"I have another plan. Vulkan, the swarms move fast. The Imperium cannot handle this many battlefields."
"Chogoris, Nocturne, and Greater Ultramar are all in the Ultima Segmentum. It's too vast, and there are two Tyranid Swarms there. You must take your forces there immediately and contain the situation."
Leman Russ's image radiated a wolf's restlessness and fury.
"What about the main front? The insects are almost at the main defensive line, just as we predicted. Are we supposed to abandon it, Guilliman?"
"The Sons of Fenris fear no challenge. Even if my progeny and I cannot return in time, I