"Cawl..." He looked at the Tech-Sage, who had gone utterly still, like a great heap of scrap metal.
"I'm here... I... I'm here, Warmaster." For the first time, Belisarius Cawl's voice lost its electronically synthesized steadiness and took on a tremor. He stared at the wound in Horus's chest, which was steadily widening and crumbling into sand. For the first time, his "brain," composed of countless logic gates, showed signs of crashing.
"Catch."
Horus took a crystal-clear chip from the storage compartment built into his Power Armour and, with the last of his strength, tossed it to Cawl.
Cawl instinctively caught it with a mechanical arm.
"Use it..." Horus gasped, his vision beginning to blur. "...to create a... better Imperium. One... that no longer needs... sacrifice and lies... to sustain it..."
Then he turned his gaze to Alcato, Alkhan, and Kaldia.
"You..." He looked at the three utterly loyal veterans who had followed him ever since the Solemnace Galleries.
"Go back to Zelanis."
"What?!" Alcato jerked his head up. For the first time, shock and bewilderment crossed that granite face, unchanged for ten thousand years. "No! Warmaster! We cannot leave you! We must stay with you..."
"That is an order, Alcato." Though weak, Horus's voice brooked no argument.
"You, and the brothers of the Redeemers Legion, are too politically sensitive for the Imperium as it stands. If you remain here, fools like Katavonus will only purge you as heretics."
"Return to Zelanis... Find Fulgrim. Tell him his elder brother failed to keep his promise. From here on, he must walk his own path."
"Tell him not to grieve, not to rage. Let him... take my place and become... a better ruler."
"Warmaster..." The three iron-willed Astartes veterans could no longer contain their emotions. Burning tears spilled from their eyes. They