As the Tech-Priests analyzed the data, a series of trajectories were plotted across the star charts. Within one specific report, intelligence surfaced that left even Guilliman stunned.
A colossal space fortress, the size of a mountain, had been sighted. It bore the heraldry of the Dark Angels and was encrusted with ancient, gothic architecture. Recalling every fragment of recorded lore, the identity of this fortress was unmistakable.
The Rock.
This realization filled Guilliman with a profound sense of foreboding. If the Dark Angels had mobilized the Rock itself to this sector, the situation was undoubtedly dire. Unlike other Chapters, the Dark Angels had lost their homeworld, Caliban, millennia ago; the Rock was the last remnant of that world, a massive fragment of the planet's crust, hollowed out and refitted into a mobile fortress-monastery. It was a gargantuan void-construct, as unyielding as it was immense.
The sheer scale of this emergency mobilization had left a trail of breadcrumbs across the void. As more data points were synthesized, they pointed directly to a mysterious zone in the western reaches of the Segmentum Ultima within the Imperium Nihilus, a region not far from the Great Rift.
This area had seen the emergence of several new star systems that had remained undiscovered prior to the birth of the Cicatrix Maledictum. Since the launch of the Indomitus Crusade, Imperial scholars had theorized that these worlds had likely been swallowed by the Warp long ago, drifting through the un-reality of the empyrean until the Great Rift's opening spat them back into realspace to stabilize once more.
The intersection of the Dark Angels' various flight paths converged precisely within that sector. Without a moment's hesitation, Guilliman ordered the fleet to weigh anchor. To guard against potential threats, he commandeered half of the Second Fleet and invited the Black Templars, still seething from their previous encounter with the Unforgiven, to join the task force.
When the fleet finally transitioned back into realspace, they found the mysterious region shrouded in vast, drifting asteroid belts. Standing at the observation port, Axion peered out at the tumbling rocks and immediately identified the anomaly.
A planet had been destroyed here.
It was not merely the surface-level devastation of an Imperial Exterminatus; it was literal annihilation. The planetary core had been detonated, erasing the world from existence and scattering its remains as shrapnel across the void. The debris patterns were tellingly directional.
In the ancient past, the Iron Men had unmade more than one world. Axion didn't even need to see the primary wreckage to recognize the radioactive signature of a shattered planet. In a cataclysm of this magnitude, it would be a miracle if even a third or a quarter of the planetary structure remained intact.
As the fleet pushed deeper, the graveyard of ships came into view. These derelicts bore the clear markings of the Dark Angels, and nearly every hull within visual range showed signs of catastrophic damage. The void was thick with the frozen remains of mortals and Adeptus Astartes alike.
"A battle of significant scale occurred here," Axion remarked, his internal processors running a battlefield reconstruction. "These Imperial forces fought with a suicidal tenacity. The damage patterns show no evidence of tactical withdrawal. They fought as if under an absolute, terminal decree."
Axion's analysis was far more direct than the painstaking prognostications of the modern Imperium. By calculating the positioning of the hulks and the vectors of the impact craters, he could visualize the engagement with cold clarity.
The Dark Angels' ships had arrived in successive waves, launching a massed assault on a central target. Subsequently, a massive ambush had been sprung from the "high ground" of the galactic plane, pouring heavy ordnance into the dorsal spines of the Imperial vessels. Over a third of the fleet had been vaporized in the initial opening salvo. The survivors had fought back with savage desperation, evidenced by the derelicts drifting on their sides, their guns still locked in firing positions.
Looking at the corpses floating in the vacuum, Axion ran a quick calculation. Based on the standard complements of the Imperial Battleships, Cruisers, and Strike Cruisers he had boarded previously, the number of bodies present was less than one-sixth of the expected crew count. While many had likely been atomized by high-energy weaponry, the discrepancy was still glaring.
Aboard the flagship, Guilliman surveyed the carnage with a mixture of fury and shock; fury at the blow dealt to the Imperium's strength, and shock at the sheer power required to inflict it.
"Lord Guilliman, battlefield scans are complete," a Magos reported, clutching a data-slate as he approached. "Life signs detected within several hulks. We have identified significant residual traces of Chaos energy and the wreckage of heretic vessels."
The Magos adjusted his vox-grille. "We have detected signatures of the Black Legion, Khornate warbands, Chaos renegades, and a massive influx of Warp Daemons. Additionally, we found a large fragment consistent with the remains of a Space Hulk."
"Tell me," Guilliman demanded, "is there any sign of the Blood Angels? Any trace of their fleet?"
Guilliman knew his objective. Whatever had transpired here, the answers lay with his brother, Lion El'Jonson, or Commander Dante.
"My Lord, we have found no wreckage belonging to the Blood Angels, nor any debris that could be identified as the Rock. It is highly probable they have displaced from this location. However, long-range scanning is currently inhibited by environmental interference. They may be elsewhere in the system, but we cannot currently verify their coordinates."
Guilliman's frustration mounted. "Disperse the fleet. Begin search and rescue operations on the wrecks immediately. The rest of the fleet is to conduct a sector-wide sweep."
"Negative," the Magos countered. "The probability of an ambush upon a dispersed fleet exceeds 73.22%. Analysis suggests the enemy possesses sophisticated stealth capabilities. Dispersing the main battle group could result in catastrophic losses."
"Recommendation: Deploy small scouting vessels to probe the surroundings and recover survivors. We must also prioritize the extraction of cogitator data-banks. Survivors may be tainted by the Ruinous Powers, and data may be corrupted, but it remains our most viable course of action."
As Guilliman began to finalize the search patterns, an Ultramarine hurried onto the bridge.
"Lord Guilliman! The ancient construct... Axion... has just commandeered a Thunderhawk gunship and departed the hangar via unauthorized means!"
Guilliman felt a jolt of alarm. He had spent countless hours worrying about the potential instability of the ancient Iron Man, yet the construct had been nothing but exemplary. It had even infiltrated a Necron Pariah Nexus to complete its mission. Guilliman had begun to view Axion as a reliable collaborator, perhaps forgetting that the machine was not a subject of the Throne, and possessed no inherent loyalty to the Imperium.
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