The Emperor's Resolution

Amid the furious terror of countless people, the bombardment of Terra began.

The already scarred land of this planet, regarded by countless humans as the most exalted and sacred of worlds, gained innumerable more horrifying wounds.

The firepower unleashed by the warships was like a sharp carving knife, recklessly destroying and reshaping the planet's surface.

Horus's orbital bombardment inflicted even greater damage than the old Unification Wars of Terra. At the very least, back then, there had not been over five thousand warships unleashing their firepower without restraint.

Every place beyond the Imperial Palace was consumed by apocalyptic explosions and seas of flame. Humanity's power reshaped the crust as though it were clay; in some geologically fragile regions, the crust was directly ruptured, and surging magma spewed forth along Terra's wounds.

Perhaps the only fortunate thing was that Horus did not permit the fleet to launch two-stage cyclonic torpedoes or other, more dangerous Warp weapons capable of shattering the planet entirely.

In Horus's eyes, Terra surpassed every other planet in the galaxy. To humanity, it was unique.

This was not merely because Terra was humanity's homeworld and possessed an extraordinarily special symbolic meaning for the human race.

Terra also had its own reflection within the Warp. It had long since fused with the very concept of humanity; it could be said that Terra was humanity's destiny.

Humanity was Terra, and Terra was humanity.

Everything that happened to Terra would affect the course of humanity and the entire galaxy. Everything Horus had done would end beneath the witness of Holy Terra.

There could be only one master of mankind. If Horus wanted to become the new sovereign, he had to defeat his father and ascend the throne upon Holy Terra.

And without Terra, where else could he ascend to the throne