Ben Counter - Galaxy in Flames

This was the end. They all knew it, but none of them gave voice to that fact.

He knew all their names now. Before, they had just been grime-streaked faces among the endless days and nights of battle, but now they were brothВ­ers, men he would die with in honour.

Flashes of explosions bloomed in the city's north. Shooting stars punched through the dark clouds overhead, scorching holes through which the glimВ­mering stars could be seen. The stars shone down on the Choral City in time to watch the city die.

'Did we hurt them, captain? asked Solathen. 'Did this mean anything?'

Tarvitz thought for a moment before replying.

'Yes,’ he said, 'we hurt them here. They'll remem­ber this,’

A bomb slammed into the Precentor's Palace, finally blasting what little remained of its great

stone flower into flame and shards of granite. The loyalists did not throw themselves into cover or ran for shelter – there was little point.

The Warmaster was bombarding the city, and he was thorough.

He would not let them slip away a second time.

Towers of flame bloomed all across the palace, closing in on them with fiery inevitability.

The batde for the Choral City was over.

The temple was nearly complete, its high, arched ceiling like a ribcage of black stone beneath which the officers of the new Crusade were gathered. Angron still fumed at the decision to leave Isstvan III before the destruction of the loyalists was comВ­plete, while Mortarion was silent and sullen, his Death Guard like a steel barrier between him and the rest of the gathering.

Lord Commander Eidolon, still smarting from the failures his Legion had committed in the eyes of the Warmaster, had several squads of Emperor's Children accompanying him, but his presence was not welcomed, merely tolerated.

Maloghurst, Abaddon and Aximand represented the Sons of Horus, and beside them stood Erebus. The Warmaster stood before the temple's altar, its four faces representing what Erebus called the four faces of the gods. Above him, a huge holographic image of Isstvan V dominated the temple.

An area known as the Urgall Depression was highlighted, a giant crater overlooked by the

fortress that Fulgrim had prepared for the Warmas-ter's forces. Blue blips indicated likely landing sites, routes of attack and retreat. Horus had spent the last hour explaining the details of the operation to his commanders and he was coming to an end.

'At this very moment seven Legions are coming to destroy us. They will find us at Isstvan V and the battle will be great. But in truth it will not be a batВ­tle at all, for we have achieved much since last we gathered. Chaplain Erebus, enlighten us as to matВ­ters beyond Isstvan.'

'All goes well at Signum, my lord,’ said Erebus stepping forward. New tattoos had been inked on his scalp, echoing the sigils carved into the stones of the temple.

'Sanguinius and the Blood Angels will not trouВ­ble us, and Kor-Phaeron sends word that the Ultramarines muster at Calth. They suspect nothing and will not be in a position to lend their strength to the loyalist force. Our allies outnumber our eneВ­mies.'

'Then it is done,’ said Horus. 'The backs of the Emperor's Legions will be broken at Isstvan V.'

And what then?' asked Aximand.

A strange melancholy had settled upon Horus Aximand since the battles of the Choral City, and he saw Abaddon cast a wary glance in his brother's direction.

'When our trap is sprung?' demanded Aximand. 'The Emperor will still reign and the Imperium will still answer to him. After Isstvan V, what then?'

'Then, Little Horns?' said the Warmaster. 'Then we strike for Terra.'

TIMELINE

Millennia Age Notes

1-15 Age of Terra Humanity dominates Earth. Civilisations come and go. The Solar system is colonised. Mankind lives on Mars and the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.

15-18 Age of Technology Mankind begins to colonise the stars using sub-light spacecraft. At first only nearby systems can be reached and the colonies established on them must survive as indeВ­pendent states since they are separated from Earth by up to ten generations of travel.

18-22 Age of Technology Invention of the warp-drive accelerates the colonising of the galaxy. Federations and empires are founded. First aliens encountered and first Alien Wars are fought. First human psykers scientifically proved to exist. Psykers begin to appear throughout human worlds.

22-25 Age of Technology First Navigators are born allowing human spaceships to make even longer, quicker warp-jumps. Mankind enters a golden age of enlightenment as scientific and technological progress accelerates. Human worlds unite and non-aggresВ­sion pacts are secured with dozens of alien races.

25-26 Age of Strife Terrible warp-storms interrupt interstellar travel. Sporadic at first, the storms eventually prevent any warp-jumps being made. The incidence of human mutation increases rapidly. Mankind enters a dark period of anarВ­chy and despair.

26-30 Age of Strife Human worlds ripped apart by civil wars, revolts, alien predation and invasion. Human psykers and other mutants dominate some . worlds and these rapidly fall prey to warp-creatures. Humanity is on the brink of destruction.

30-present Age of Imperium Earth is conquered by the Emperor and enters an alliance with the Mechan-icum of Mars. Finally the warp-storms abate and interВ­stellar travel is possible again. The Emperor builds the Astro-nomican and creates the Space Marine Legions. Human worlds reunited by the Emperor in a Great CruВ­sade that lasts for two hundred years.

About the Author

Ben Counter is fast becoming one of the

Black Library's most popular authors. An

Ancient History graduate and avid miniature

painter, he lives near Portsmouth, England.

His previous novels include the Soul Drinkers

series and Daemonworld.