Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One human warship after another tore into realspace. The thunder of their engines merged into a surging tide as steel roared through the void.
The outer armor of Gloriana-class flagships reflected the light of nearby stars, while the cavernous muzzles of their main gun batteries gleamed coldly.
Organized formations of cruisers spread across the void, their silver-gray hulls rising like a forest of steel. Frigates darted between them in swarms.
Still more fleets were arriving.
They came from the distant Sol System, from the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, Baal, and Chogoris, and from one region of the Imperium after another, including Charadon, Cadia, Calixis, Voss, and beyond.
Countless voices roared across humanity's public command channel.
"The Cadian Fleet has arrived in full!
"Led by the Gloriana-class flagship Glory of Cadia, our forces comprise thirteen Retribution-class battleships, eighty-eight Gothic-class cruisers, and more than a thousand frigates. Fleet status is stable, and all gun batteries are fully charged. We stand ready to engage at any moment!"
The Cadian admiral's voice was hoarse but forceful, as if he were venting years of pent-up emotion.
"We carry the honor of Cadia and bear the destiny of standing against the enemies of the Imperium. Our bodies shall be the Savior's shield. Heretic, xenos, and traitor alike will be reduced to dust beneath our main batteries!
"In the name of the Savior, Emperor of the Imperium, we Cadians will hold the line. Cadia will never fall!"
Cadia had now been restored, and the Cadian people once again possessed their homeworld, along with many other civilized worlds.
They never wanted to see another human world fall.
They would give everything in battle for the Savior and defend humanity's home.
"Voss First Fleet reporting!"
The admiral of the Voss Fleet sounded like a hammer striking steel.
"The industrial worlds of Voss will show the xenos the fury of human steel. Our gun batteries will drown every enemy who dares resist us. Blast them all to hell!
"Long live the Savior!"
"Calixis Fleet reporting..."
"Charadon Third Fleet reporting..."
More and more regional fleet commanders swore their oaths over the channel, bolstering morale and declaring their resolve.
It was essentially the military equivalent of everyone spamming "+1" in a public channel to announce that their fleet had joined the war.
They were excited and honored. Simply being chosen to participate in this war was already a supreme distinction.
Only the elite fleets of the Imperium received such treatment, especially those selected for the first wave bound for the battlefront in the Zone of Silence.
As for the fleets that had not been selected, their commanders were probably busy reflecting on their failures. Some might even feel compelled to offer formal apologies for their inadequacy.
"Loy... Loyalty!"
Suddenly, a rather different voice with a heavy accent sounded over the channel.
It belonged to the commander of the T'au Ethereal Fleet. As one of the Imperium's auxiliary forces, they had also joined the mustering.
The moment his voice came through, the command channel fell silent for a full second.
An awkward silence followed.
Then a particularly crude human admiral shouted, "This is the Imperium's public command channel! How did a xenos get in here?"
"Who dragged these auxiliaries into the channel? Hurry up and kick that bastard out!"
This was the public group channel for the admirals of humanity's Imperial fleets. Letting a xenos auxiliary commander into the conversation ruined the entire atmosphere.
Most xenos auxiliaries were only permitted to conduct simple clearing operations around the outer perimeter. They were not allowed to participate in operations on the central battlefield.
After all, there were not even enough battles to satisfy the Imperium's elite forces. How could any of the fighting be left to these loyal xenos auxiliaries?
They were fortunate to be allowed to sweep up the outskirts.
Besides, the auxiliaries had their own command structure and communication channels, overseen by specially assigned Imperial officers.
"By the Greater Greater Good! What slander! What contempt!"
The T'au fleet commander flushed with indignation when he heard the comments being made over the channel.
"The T'au are also part of the Imperium! We have fought for the Savior and shed blood for the Savior! We are just as loyal as anyone else!
"The Savior does not belong only to humanity. He is also the supreme leader of the T'au and the living embodiment of the glorious Greater Greater Good..."
When he had first discovered that he could access the public command channel, he had been thrilled and deeply honored. He thought it proved he was different from the other auxiliary commanders.
In simpler terms, he thought he had finally entered a more prestigious social circle.
But it turned out to be nothing more than a mistake. The moment he joined the group, the human admirals immediately looked down on him.
I'm also an outstanding graduate of the Loyal Scion Command Academy! What makes me any worse than you people?!
The T'au fleet commander, proud graduate of the Loyal Scion Academy, seethed with resentment.
In truth, he regarded graduating from the academy as the greatest achievement of his life. He believed it set him apart from other T'au and marked him as one of the Imperium's upper-class elites.
Of course, he only dared mutter such things in his head. Saying them aloud would damage harmony and undermine the Imperium's greater cause.
By the time all his anger reached his lips, it had already softened into submission.
"My... my apologies, esteemed commanders. I may have connected to the wrong channel. I'll leave immediately..."
He bowed repeatedly as he spoke, not daring to show the slightest hint of defiance. He was practically groveling.
Then he slunk out of the public command channel and left the group chat.
"Hmph. I'll prove what an outstanding graduate of the Loyal Scion Academy can do!"
The T'au commander silently made up his mind.
He would work hard to find an opportunity to demonstrate even greater loyalty during this war and win more victories for His Majesty the Savior.
Then the regular forces would no longer be able to look down upon the T'au, much less upon him, a commander of the T'au auxiliaries.
"Savior..."
The T'au commander turned toward the void and fell silent once more.
The sight before him was so overwhelming that his blood boiled.
"This is His Majesty the Savior's fleet, the fleet capable of conquering the sea of stars. How magnificent. How sacred and mighty!"
The T'au commander murmured in profound pride.
From the nearest reaches of space to the furthest limits of his vision, layer upon layer of warships filled the void without end.
The fleets blotted out the stars and sealed off entire regions of space. They transformed the whole sector into a dominion of steel belonging to humanity and the Savior.
Within the supreme command star fortress, Guilliman, Dorn, the Khan, and the other Primarchs stared at the warships stretching to the limits of the void.
"This... is humanity's fleet?"
Even they could not suppress their shock.
They had known exactly how many fleets would be participating, and the numbers alone had astonished them. Yet numbers written on a report were ultimately nothing more than figures.
Only after all those warships gathered in one place did they truly grasp the power those figures represented.
Even more terrifying was the fact that these were only the fleets of the first wave.
This was not the full strength of the Imperium.
Moreover, the Imperium's colossal war machine was still operating without pause, producing ever more warships and weapons.
"If we'd possessed a fleet of this scale during the Horus Heresy, the traitors would never have reached the Sol System."
Rogal Dorn swallowed hard.
Forget preventing them from entering the Sol System. If every ship in this fleet spat once, the resulting flood would have drowned every last traitor.
"If we'd commanded such power during the Great Crusade, we would have swept across the entire galaxy long ago," the Khan added. "The Necrons had not yet awakened, and the Aeldari were still weak. We would have had more than enough time to develop our strength.
"Then we could have crushed them."
"Only if we'd possessed Brother Eden's talent for administration," Guilliman said with a sigh. His admiration for his brother was boundless. "Without that, none of this could ever have existed."
Guilliman had always believed administration and development were his greatest strengths, areas in which no one could surpass him, not even the Emperor.
After all, under his management, the Ultramarines had expanded at an astonishing rate.
Now, however, he freely admitted that Brother Eden's ability to build and develop an empire was a hundred times greater than his own.
The number of Astartes within the Imperium had already reached an astonishing level. There were enough of them to deploy as entire army groups.
That was without counting the countless gene-enhanced warriors outside the official military establishment.
If any xenos dared invade the Imperium's heartlands, they would discover the true meaning of terror.
Beside the command center's holographic strategium stood Keyes, supreme commander of the Imperial Navy. His hair had gone gray, and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
He had fought for many years and possessed more than enough composure, yet his voice still trembled.
"Savior...
"This will be humanity's final war before our civilization enters a new age of prosperity and revival. We cannot lose, and we will not lose!"
No matter the cost, he had to command this war properly. Failure would be an unforgivable crime, even if he died ten thousand times in penance.
The supreme commander of the Imperial Navy had privately decided to retire once this war ended. It was time to pass the burden to a younger generation.
But he quickly pushed the thought aside.
Thinking like that before a battle was terribly unlucky.
He was a firm believer in the Savior's particular brand of superstition. One could not casually raise a death flag before battle, much less start popping champagne halfway through a war.
Beside Keyes, the staff officers had forgotten to breathe. Their eyes were faintly red.
Across the hundreds-of-meters-wide holographic display, scaled to depict an entire stellar region, friendly signals clustered so densely that they were almost indistinguishable from one another.
They stretched from hundreds of millions of kilometers away to the edge of deep space, with no end in sight.
On the decks of the warships, soldiers from the armored combat units paused their final preparations.
They raised their heads and stared at the boundless ocean of steel formed by humanity's fleets.
Their hands tightened around their weapons, and their bodies trembled. It was not fear, but the shudder of hot blood rushing through their veins.
The cigarette hanging from Old York's mouth fell soundlessly to the deck.
As he gazed upon the fleet blotting out the stars, tears suddenly ran down his weathered face.
"After seeing this... I can die knowing my life was worth something!"
He turned toward the new recruits and glared at them. His voice remained as crude and stern as ever.
"Once you reach the battlefield, you little bastards had better fight with everything you've got! Those metal shells aren't invincible. Bolt rounds and las-fire can damage them, and a melta blast will bring them down.
"You must not disgrace this honor. This is also your chance to change your fate.
"Damn it, I want to go down there and fight, but they won't even give me the chance. You little shits don't know how lucky you are.
"If any of you stains the honored designation of this unit, I'll be the first one to make you pay!"
On one armed troop carrier after another, instructors delivered their final speeches before battle.
Aboard the Battle Barges, row after row of Astartes stood at attention in densely packed formations.
They needed no speeches to rouse them.
They yearned for battle.
The moment they reached the battlefield, they would unleash their weapons, swing their blades, and execute the detestable Necron xenos.
On the frontier civilized worlds, countless prayers rose toward the sky.
"Savior, your radiance shines upon this planet. At last, salvation has come to us."
"Daddy, look! There are so many huge ships! There are more of them than stars in the sky!"
"That is humanity's fleet. His Majesty the Savior sent them here to protect us..."
Billions of people emerged from their homes and raised their heads toward skies occupied by colossal beasts of steel.
The stars had been blotted out, but those worlds were no longer dark.
Humanity's fleet had become a new sun.
Just like the Savior himself, it burned brilliantly and fiercely within the hearts of the people.
"How can we ever repay such grace?"
A trembling old man bowed toward the fleet in the heavens and the colossal banners hanging from the warships, each bearing a sacred image of the Savior.
Even from the planet's surface, the people could clearly see the Savior's holy and majestic form.
"Victory to the Savior!"
No one knew who shouted first.
Then the cry spread through streets and alleys, residential districts, factories, cities, and finally across the entire planet.
Every other sound vanished, leaving only a single rolling tide of voices.
"Victory to the Savior!"
"Humanity will prevail!"
The tremendous roar rising from those frontier worlds created powerful electromagnetic disturbances that were detected by the warships' communication arrays.
The commanders knew that this was the support and devotion of the Imperium's people for the Savior and for their armies.
It was the faith of humanity, united as one.
Just as His Majesty the Savior had said, wherever the righteous hosts of the Imperium marched, its people welcomed them with wholehearted devotion.
Heaven itself favored their cause!
"Warriors, admit it. You cannot tolerate those hideous mechanical xenos. You cannot tolerate their cruelty toward humanity.
"Today, they occupy the Imperium's frontier. Tomorrow, they will destroy our homes and use their accursed veil to devour the souls of everyone we love!"
"We cannot tolerate the deeds of those xenos, nor can we tolerate their very existence."
Within the command center, Guilliman's voice rose above every roar and echoed throughout the fleet's communication channels.
Until the Savior took personal command, Guilliman was the acting supreme commander of the war.
His expression was stern and resolute.
"The time has come!
"From the heart of the Imperium to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, we will set the sea of stars ablaze. The flames of war will burn without end and engulf every xenos enemy!
"They will know fear. They will learn to revere the might of humanity. Then, beneath humanity's thunderous wrath, they will be reduced to ash!"
Guilliman's voice was powerfully inspiring, sending the warriors' blood surging through their veins.
Their battle cries spread from the center of the star region to the spiral arms at the galaxy's edge.
In his excitement, Guilliman realized he had even borrowed some of Horus's rhetoric.
Still, it felt surprisingly good.
This was the oppressive, uncompromising attitude humanity ought to display when facing xenos.
Humanity was no longer condemned to passively endure attack after attack.
Guilliman drew a deep breath. Beneath his excitement, he also felt a trace of pressure.
He had never fought a war with such overwhelming resources before. If he still managed to lose, he would never have the courage to face Brother Eden again.
The Lord of Ultramar had also received a message from the Savior.
Besides conveying several strategic objectives, Eden had told him to fight without restraint. He was not to worry about conserving resources. In fact, he should consume more of the Imperium's stockpiles and avoid commanding this war according to his old habits.
Eden was worried that his brother's former stinginess would make him fight too cautiously and prevent him from securing a swift, decisive victory.
That was why he had been unable to resist adding a reminder.
Still, Eden believed that after so much time adapting to the Imperium's newfound abundance, Guilliman should have overcome those miserly old habits.
Brother Eden, I will not disappoint you.
I will win this war and eliminate the final threat to humanity's dominion over the galaxy...
A deep hum reverberated through the void.
As the supreme command star fortress raised its layered void shields, Guilliman's voice climbed to an even greater crescendo.
"In the name of the Savior and for the honor of humanity, we declare war upon the Necron xenos!"
"Commanders, the Warp is stable and the beacons have been lit. All forces, prepare to translate.
"Humanity will take back the galaxy from the xenos, once and for all!"
The supreme command star fortress vanished into a streak of light as space twisted around it.
Then, amid rolling spatial distortions, more Imperial warships plunged into the Warp and set course for the Zone of Silence.
(End of Chapter)
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