In orbit near Malcador,
Kaiser's fleet majestically entered the capital Star Sector of the Ultima Segmentum. What greeted their eyes was the clear blue planet of Malcador, Roboute Guilliman's home world, and one of the most beautiful planets in the entire The Galaxy / Milky Way.
How to describe it... Malcador, the capital of the Ultima Segmentum, was like a blue gem embedded in the darkness of the universe, dazzlingly bright. The vast oceans reflected the light of the star, and the sprawling continents were dotted with magnificent silver-white cities, just like... ancient Terra.
Even in this war-torn The Galaxy / Milky Way, after ten thousand years of vicissitude, Malcador still maintained unparalleled order and splendor. It was one of the most stable and prosperous Core worlds of the Imperium.
The operations staff behind him busily adjusted the fleet formation on holographic screens, and the communications officer continuously reported information from Orbital Defense Command.
"Fleet has entered standard trajectory. Expected to connect to Malcador's main control network in five minutes."
Kaiser nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed. His fleet, a massive group of warships, advanced like a steel torrent in the darkness. Each hull gleamed with a deep metallic luster, and the fleet emblem shone brightly under the starlight.
Battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, expedition transports, and xenos Arks—all formations were orderly, perfectly demonstrating the majesty and discipline of a powerful fleet.
Countless orbital nodes around them, adorned with colorful lights, welcomed their arrival.
"Malcador Defense Command has sent a communication, requesting fleet identity verification," the communications officer reported.
The emblem of the Imperial Navy appeared on the screen, followed by an officer in an Imperial Navy uniform appearing in the projection. His face bore a solemn expression, but his uniform also featured Malcador's local "Roman fashion."
"This is Malcador Orbital Defense Command. Please state fleet designation and Commander identity."
"Imperial Prince's fleet, Commander: Imperial Prince Kaiser," the liaison officer responded calmly, his gaze steady and firm.
He paused for a moment, and after hearing the sound of various buttons being operated on the other end, he nodded and said, "Welcome to Malcador. Fleet clearance code has been sent. Please follow the guidance for orbital descent."
Kaiser looked at Malcador's perfectly standard air traffic control procedures and sighed, "As expected of Guilliman's territory..."
At this moment, Yvraine, who was beside Kaiser, heard his sigh and asked curiously, "Mr. Li? Why do you say that? Is there anything special about Guilliman?"
As her fiancé, Yvraine was naturally very curious about the "Boy's" story. Although she had read many stories in human texts, she still wanted to know more about the real Guilliman.
Seeing Yvraine's curiosity about Guilliman, Kaiser sat down in a nearby chair, preparing to tell a story. Meanwhile, Russ and Khan, hearing that Kaiser was about to speak about Guilliman, immediately perked up their ears.
Kaiser: "Ten thousand years ago, long, long time ago, mukashi mukashi..."
During the Horus Heresy, in the Battle of Calth, Lorgar and his Word Bearers fleet pulled off a brutal move. This made the entire Ultima Segmentum place great importance on fleet communication.
The fuse for the Great Heresy was the Emperor ordering Guilliman to burn Lorgar's Perfect City. Guilliman carried out the order, showing no sympathy for Lorgar.
Although Guilliman, in a humanitarian gesture, notified all citizens of the Perfect City to evacuate, and the Ultramarines personally participated in the evacuation efforts,
those citizens who had faith in the Emperor were unwilling to abandon their homes or their beliefs... So the orbital bombardment began.
But privately, he still expressed his discomfort to some of his officers, feeling that such a complete act of humiliation would irrevocably damage the relationship between the Thirteenth and Seventeenth Legions.
So at the very beginning of the Great Heresy, Horus deceived Guilliman into taking the majority of his Legion to Calth for a joint operation with the Seventeenth Legion, the Word Bearers.
Although most of the Captains believed the Warmaster merely wanted to assert his authority, Guilliman realized there were political considerations involved. The Emperor had reprimanded Lorgar for spreading the so-called scriptures of the word and ordered the Ultramarines to burn Lorgar's capital, the Perfect City. So he believed this joint operation was a good opportunity to mend relations.
However, upon reaching Calth, the Ultramarines' fleet attempted to communicate with the Word Bearers' fleet. At this point, the Word Bearers, who had already fallen to Chaos, immediately used "electronic daemons" to disrupt the Ultramarines' fleet communications.
At this moment, Guilliman thought there was a problem on his side, but his subordinates checked several times, and the problem always lay with Lorgar. So Guilliman personally called Lorgar:
"Seventeenth Brother, it seems there's a problem with our communication. It appears something on your end is disrupting my electronic equipment. Could you please check?"
At this point, Lorgar immediately displayed Oscar-level acting. On the screen, he looked dejected, with even tears in his eyes... "Thirteenth Brother... Have I done something wrong again? I know, my children and I are not Father's favored children, unlike the 'great, glorious Ultramarines'... I had hoped this time we could mend the relationship between our two Legions... I never expected... Thirteenth Brother, you would humiliate us like this again..."
Guilliman immediately panicked and quickly said, "Seventeenth Brother, it's a problem on my end. I'm having my men check again. Don't be sad, I really didn't mean it..."
But after checking again and again, the problem was still on Lorgar's side... Guilliman made another call, and Lorgar continued his performance, finally saying:
"Alright, I'll check."
Then, the next second, the Word Bearers' fleet began firing on Guilliman's fleet. At this moment, everyone awaited Guilliman's order, ready to return fire.
But Guilliman still believed that his previous actions had caused an "overreaction" from Lorgar and the Word Bearers. So Guilliman had his subordinates write him a report every three minutes... By this time, the electronic daemons had already paralyzed Guilliman's fleet's fire control and engine systems.
Guilliman immediately called Lorgar again and quickly said:
"Seventeenth Brother! There must be some misunderstanding! Tell your forces to stop firing first..."
But what Guilliman saw on the screen was Lorgar's smug, "plan-succeeded" face... "Hahaha! Fool! You fell for it, didn't you? Lord of the 500 Worlds? You're utterly useless!"
Guilliman's sincere expression, cultivated by his good upbringing, froze. As his face twitched and veins bulged, his expression was uglier than Angron's in a rage due to the Butcher's Nails.
"Damn you! I should have blown all you Word Bearers to hell back then! I'll personally crush your head... Father should have sent Russ and Khan to deal with you..."
Before Guilliman could finish speaking, a massive explosion occurred directly on the bridge, and Guilliman was sucked out of the ship without his helmet.
In the vacuum, Guilliman, in a state of extreme fury and without his helmet, killed dozens of boarding Word Bearers with his bare hands in space before returning to the ship.
The subsequent battle turned into Lorgar's attempt to completely annihilate the Thirteenth Legion. For the entire Great Heresy, the main objective of the Word Bearers' invasion of the Ultima Segmentum, located on the eastern fringes of the The Galaxy / Milky Way, was to tie down the Thirteenth Legion and prevent the Ultramarines from reinforcing Holy Terra.
The Core of the entire campaign was Calth, an agricultural world within the Ultima Segmentum. Calth's atmosphere and lush biosphere were utterly destroyed. Despite suffering heavy casualties, the Ultramarines successfully crushed the Word Bearers' surprise attack in fierce combat.
Due to the destruction caused by the Word Bearers in the "Battle of Calth," Calth's descendants were forced to flee the radiation-scorched, airless surface and relocate to massive Hive Cities underground.
The final losses for the Rebel: fifty thousand Astartes killed, over 65 Titans destroyed, and all cultists killed.
And the losses for the Loyalists: one hundred twenty thousand Astartes killed, thirty thousand Astartes crippled, 100 Titans destroyed, 4/5 of the fleet destroyed, and five hundred thousand auxiliary and Mars forces casualties.
Guilliman and the Ultramarines achieved a tactical victory, but Lorgar and the Word Bearers achieved a strategic victory: the Ultramarines were unable to reinforce Holy Terra.
With such massive casualties, both Horus and Lorgar believed that Guilliman had lost over one hundred fifty thousand Astartes, and the Ultramarines were virtually defunct... when Guilliman returned to Malcador and immediately began rapid recruitment, instantly fielding two hundred thousand Astartes... "...This is why Guilliman's territory places such importance on communication," Kaiser said, and Yvraine nodded, savoring the history Kaiser had recounted.
Meanwhile, Russ and Khan strained their faces, trying not to laugh, their entire bodies trembling:
"Three minutes... one report... while under concentrated attack..."
And on the other side, Russ stroked his beard. He had grasped the key point in the story, and it was also why, ten thousand years ago, during the meeting of the Second Imperium's triumvirate, he was so wary of Guilliman... "To reorganize and field two hundred thousand Astartes on the spot? As expected, Guilliman is ambitious."
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