"They succeeded. The Blackstone Fortress was no longer an obstacle to us. Horus's defeat was inevitable."
"All combat units, cease fire. Maintain alert status."
The Lion of Caliban, the great Lion El'Jonson, stood upon his command dais, his face flushed with excitement and fervor as he watched the colossal void fortress accelerate toward the system's central sun.
He had commanded the New Caliban and the Tears of Angels against the Blackstone Fortress for more than three Terran weeks. Every minute and every second had been fraught with life-and-death peril.
With unparalleled focus and vigilance, the Lion had seen through every feint and surprise attack by the Blackstone Fortress. The ancient Aeldari war fortress had not struck the celestial warships even once.
The calculations and gambits involved were so complex that even the Cogitators aboard the celestial warships could not swiftly determine the answer. The Blackstone Fortress's psychic nature made every assault rife with chaotic uncertainty, and Lion often had to rely on his own instincts and premonitions to make his judgments.
His decisions would determine the survival of millions of crewmen, and through that, the future course and situation of the Imperium.
If the expeditionary fleet's three celestial warships were destroyed at Beta-Garmon, Horus's fleet would sweep straight through. No matter how formidable Rogal Dorn was, he could not hold Terra without support.
No one knew the pressure involved better than Lion El'Jonson, the supreme commander of this battle.
Even the Dark Angels were shocked to discover that their gene-father, who seemed forever majestic and calm, could fall into an extremely well-concealed anxiety.
Since the battle had begun, Lion had neither slept nor rested. Not even a primarch's superhuman physique could sustain such intense expenditure forever.
The primarch's brain was consuming cells at more than a hundred times its usual