Guilliman paced back and forth in the room, his sixth sense screaming warnings at him, telling him he had to act rather than sit and wait for death.
His good brother was surely thinking of how to put him in his place as well.
"I need to show my brother some muscle, lest that Calibanite do something irrational. It would also be a good chance to boost public morale. What do you think of holding a grand military parade in the capital's military square on Macragge?"
Roboute clenched his fist as he spoke passionately, looking to Lox in the hope of hearing his opinion.
"That sounds good. Which forces do you plan to select for the parade?"
With the Ultramarines' current military strength, even that vast military square could not accommodate too many troops.
The damage the Shadow Crusade had inflicted upon the Ultramarines had gradually faded. This colossal war machine, spanning more than half the Ultima Segmentum and now fully in motion, was converting its potential into tangible strength every second.
The Mustafa Forge World sent him production reports at regular intervals. Those massive quantities of industrial goods would never face the risk of stagnation, because production could never keep pace with the growing demand.
"First, my Invictus Guard. If I gather them quickly enough, I can probably assemble a force of roughly ten thousand."
"My proudest sons, my personal guard can break through the five-digit threshold."
As Lox listened, his eyelids twitched, and he began to ponder.
The Invictus Guard were an elite force among the Ultramarines, the primarch's personal guard. Other Legions had, at most, only a few hundred or perhaps a thousand troops of this caliber.
More famous examples of primarchs' guards included the Emperor's Children's Phoenix Guard, the traitorous Warmaster's Justaerin Terminators, and the Great