V3 Chapter 96: Arrival at the Solar System
After nearly four months sailing through the churning, boundless sea of souls, the fleet led by the Macragge's Honour finally closed on the heart of the Sol System. That was the core of the entire Imperium: the "eternal" Solar System, and "perfect" Holy Terra.
On the Macragge's Honour's command deck, Duvette stood beside Guilliman, something he hadn't done in some time. By the fleet's internal reckoning, these four months had probably been the best-rested stretch he'd had since arriving in this damned galaxy.
The post-Badab reports and the expeditionary force's reorganisation had eaten up part of his time, but the rest of the days had, rarely enough, come without one campaign running straight into the next. He'd eaten good steak, drunk the fine wine stored aboard the Macragge's Honour, sparred with Markus and the others now and then, and gotten dragged into chess more than once by that old man, Admiral Villent.
Duvette genuinely did not want to play chess with Villent. In four months, he hadn't won a single game.
More troubling still, ever since Duvette had recommended Villent to Guilliman as the Conqueror's future captain, once its final purification and review were complete, the old man broke into a grin every single time he caught sight of Duvette aboard the Macragge's Honour.
Even losing his old command, the Resolute, to another officer didn't seem to trouble Villent much.
If nothing went wrong from here, he'd end up captain of a Gloriana-class battleship. Looking across the whole of the current Imperial Navy, the number of mortals who'd ever be handed a chance like that could be counted on one hand, if that.
Right now, Villent stood at the fleet command station, overseeing final preparations across every ship. The bridge crew kept cross-checking navigation data, the Navigator had already locked onto the coordinates given in the astropathic message, and the Gellar Field and plasma engines had both been brought to their designated states.
They'd just received formal transit clearance from Terra: Solar Command, acting under the High Lords' authorisation, would guide the fleet through the Gate of Elysium near Uranus into the Sol System, where it would complete identity verification and fleet inspection at the entry marshalling zone.
Once verification passed, the Macragge's Honour and whichever escort vessels were cleared would proceed to the Jupiter dockyards. The fleet would resupply, undergo repairs, and split a second time there, after which some ships would be allowed into lunar orbital anchorage, and representatives would finally be sent on to Terra.
"Confirm your authenticity?" Duvette's mouth curled slightly, and he turned to the expressionless Primarch beside him. "Seems the High Lords' council on Terra doesn't trust us all that much."
Guilliman glanced at him; he could hear plainly enough the lack of proper respect in Duvette's tone toward the High Lords.
"An expected reaction." Guilliman said evenly. "My return will reshape the balance of power as it currently stands. They already believe the astropathic message, but they still need a result they can put on record, one jointly endorsed by the Custodians and the Solar Battle Fleet."
He looked back toward the shifting course projection ahead on the bridge as he said it. "I don't care for this suspicion, but until I've seen my father, I can follow their procedure for now."
Duvette laughed once and let it drop. It helped that Guilliman's temper ran a little more even than most; if the Lion had shown up in his place, Duvette figured he'd probably have torn down the Sol System's defence line first, then stormed straight into the High Lords' council to give every last one of them a flying headbutt.
The Navigator's countdown sounded across the bridge, and the Macragge's Honour's hull shuddered in answer, the Warp's colours washing across the viewports beginning to contract fast, the dark of realspace gradually taking shape before everyone's eyes.
As the fleet began emerging from the sea of souls, Duvette looked out through the command bridge's viewport and saw a massive, open parabolic megastructure stretching thousands of kilometres through the void, its ancient metal surface covered in lights and Mechanicus markings, ships emerging one after another from the still-fading Warp glow at its centre.
The Gate of Elysium, Duvette thought, studying this relic left over from the Dark Age of Technology, capable of bypassing the ordinary Mandeville points at the Sol System's edge and delivering the fleet straight into the Uranus defence zone. A cold, blue-green disc hung far off, faint planetary rings encircling it.
Further still, the sun burned bright but tiny, its light crossing the vast distance to fall across the ships' armour and the Gate of Elysium's metal structure.
Great numbers of fortress satellites, star forts, and armed space stations were spread throughout the space around the Gate.
Patrol ships held position outside the safe lanes marked out by minefields, and hundreds of orbital gun platforms had already swung their barrels to bring the newly-arrived expeditionary fleet into their firing arcs.
Guilliman watched the lock-on signals rapidly filling the tactical projection, his eyes cooling slightly.
He didn't question the defence zone's alert procedures, but he noticed several of the gun platforms had already opened their torpedo silos, readiness set clearly higher than what the transit clearance had agreed to.
"Tsk, tsk. That's more than just unwelcoming," Duvette said, eyeing the distant gun barrels with amusement. "Looks like if we put a foot wrong, they'll open fire without a second thought."
Once the Macragge's Honour dropped out of the Warp, hundreds upon hundreds of active scans swept across her hull.
Alarms kept sounding across the bridge, but the officer responsible for fire control activated no countermeasures, and every ship held to its planned course, clearing the Gate of Elysium's transition zone.
A transmission connected to the Macragge's Honour. "This is Sol System Entry Defence Command. Incoming vessels, maintain current heading. Weapon systems remain silent. Launch of void craft is prohibited. No formation changes without authorisation."
The fleet's comms officer replied at once per protocol, reporting the status of the Macragge's Honour, the core battle group, and the Conqueror. The Conqueror would be the last through the Gate, proceeding on to an independent isolation anchorage on the outer edge of the Uranus system.
Once the comms officer finished the report, another encrypted transmission came through. "Fleet supreme commander is required to confirm identity and purpose of transit."
Only then did Guilliman join the channel. "This is Roboute Guilliman. I confirm every declaration the Macragge's Honour has submitted. All ships will submit to Sol System Defence Command's flight control, and will hold in the designated zone pending inspection."
The Primarch's voice carried steadily across the whole Uranus defence zone. "I am bound for Terra, to enter the Imperial Palace and seek audience with the Emperor. Per the transit plan already approved, open the lane. In the Emperor's name, we have returned."
The entry command centre replied quickly with confirmation, and sent every ship its new heading out of the transition zone. The Macragge's Honour led the core battle group slowly into the designated marshalling zone, while the remaining ships deployed one after another outside the Gate, submitting to the defence installations' scans.
The wait went on for some time, until the fleet had finished reorganising, and a new transmission reached the bridge.
"Macragge's Honour, your identity codes and biometric data have passed preliminary verification. The Solar Fleet is closing; maintain weapon silence and await boarding inspection."
The transmission paused briefly, then continued. "Per Terra's transit order, your fleet will proceed on to Jupiter for further inspection, and will stand down there for refit. The Macragge's Honour and five escort vessels may then proceed to lunar orbital anchorage. The Conqueror will enter independent isolation anchorage, and will not travel further into the inner Sol System without joint review."
Hearing the order, Duvette turned to the expressionless Guilliman. "So what's the call?"
Guilliman was quiet for a moment. He studied the Solar Fleet closing in on the tactical projection, and the defence installations in the distance still holding firing readiness, before finally turning his gaze to the course marked out for Terra.
"We follow their lead for now." The Primarch drew his gaze back, his tone settling into calm once more. "Once I've seen my father, I'll deal with whatever's left."
If you're enjoying the story, toss a Power Stone or drop a review — it helps more than you'd think.
Advance chapters → patreon.com/Eatinpieces