Macragge's Honour, Central Command Bridge.
The twenty-six-kilometer-long super-flagship was currently pushing forward at a standard cruising speed.
The massive aquila carved into her prow looked practically alive, the gemstones set in the eagles' eyes reflecting the blue-green planet looming ahead. Starlight poured through the observation dome at the top of the bridge, casting a golden halo over the imposing command throne.
Roboute Guilliman sat squarely on the throne, his ice-blue eyes fixed on the massive holographic star map at the far end of the bridge. Golden litanies were etched into his deep-blue armor plating. Dead center on his chest plate, the massive Ultramarines' Omega symbol gleamed brilliantly under the lights.
In the center of the star map, a blue-green planet slowly rotated.
Aurelian IV.
Twenty-three years ago, he had spent a bizarre night on this world.
A festival they called the New Year's Eve. The bright smiles blooming across the hive city plazas. The mortal Governor, Cage Lawrence, handing him a bowl of dumplings...
Guilliman tapped his fingers lightly against the armrest of his throne twice.
An Imperial Navy officer stood up from the comms station, briskly walked over to the throne, and slammed his right fist against his breastplate in salute.
"Lord Guilliman!"
"The planetary orbital starport above Aurelian IV..."
"The Crimson Drake Gate is requesting a communications link!"
"Shall I patch them through?"
Guilliman shifted his gaze slightly, glancing at Marius Gage standing on the right side of the dais. The Ultramarines First Captain immediately understood.
He stepped over to the hololith projector, his weather-beaten face entirely devoid of expression, projecting only the cold, unyielding authority of an Astartes First Captain.
"Open the channel." Marius's voice was sharp and commanding.
The Navy officer's fingers instantly flew across the control panel, sending strings of data cascading down the holographic screen.
A few seconds later, a young figure flickered to life on the hololith. He was a young man, looking barely thirty, wearing a sharply tailored, pale crimson uniform. Three gold bars were stamped onto his epaulets.
A silver medal hung on his chest, engraved with an intricate emblem: A rising sun breaking over the horizon, framed by wheat stalks, a gear, and a constellation of stars. Right below the emblem, two lines of small text were clearly visible...
Labor earns dignity. Hope guides the dawn.
The young officer stood as straight as a pine, but his face didn't show a hint of the nervous awe or groveling usually seen when mortals faced the Astartes. His eyes held only a quiet calm, along with something Marius found deeply familiar...
It was the look of a man who had survived brutal training and carried total, unshakable confidence in his own duties.
"Honored Commander of the Ultramarines Legion." The young officer spoke first, his voice clear and steady. He raised his right hand in a textbook Imperial aquila salute, his form so perfect it belonged in a military parade. "Greetings. This is the Aurelian Orbital Starport, Crimson Drake Gate Defense Force High Command."
"I am Defense Force Division Commander Xavier Locke."
He paused, looking dead into the hololith projection straight at Marius without an ounce of fear.
"May I ask the purpose of the Ultramarines Legion's visit, and whether your fleet requires clearance to dock for R&R? Aurelian is fully prepared to resupply the Ultramarines Legion."
Marius listened to the speech with a completely deadpan expression before responding in his signature cold, gravelly tone.
"I am Marius Gage, First Captain of the Ultramarines."
"The Ultramarines and the Blood Angels Legions have arrived to honor a promise made years ago. We are here to conduct a final audit of Crimson Dawn, and to determine whether to allow Crimson Dawn to retain governing authority over this planet."
His voice didn't waver a single decibel.
"The fleet does not require resupply. You only need to open the VIP docking bays and receive the joint fleet. We require nothing else."
On the hololith, Xavier Locke went quiet for a couple of seconds. In that brief window, his eyes flickered slightly. It was as if he was digesting Marius's completely frigid declaration.
Then, he nodded.
"Understood, honored Commander Marius." His voice remained perfectly steady, showing zero signs of panic at being hit with a surprise inspection. "We will open up enough berths for the joint fleet and dispatch harbor pilots to assist with docking procedures."
"We welcome the Ultramarines and the Blood Angels Legions to Aurelian for your inspection." He brought his right hand up in another aquila salute. "Terminating communications. Thank you for your transparency, Lord Marius."
With that, the hololith flickered and vanished into thin air.
Marius turned and walked back to Guilliman's throne.
"Father." His voice immediately slipped back into the deep respect reserved for his Primarch.
Guilliman remained seated, his ice-blue eyes resting on his First Captain as he spoke evenly. "What do you think?"
"Just going off the sheer discipline of that Division Commander Xavier, I get the feeling Crimson Dawn is exactly what the report from the Korianis Sector Governor's office described." He paused, shifting his gaze out the viewport toward the rapidly approaching planet. "It doesn't seem like they broke the promise they made twenty-three years ago... In fact, they've done exceptionally well. They even managed to successfully build an orbital starport."
"Even from this distance, just looking at its silhouette, I can tell the Crimson Drake Gate is something extraordinary."
Guilliman gave a slow nod.
He stood up from his throne and walked over to the massive observation deck window. Outside, Aurelian IV was slowly revealing itself. The once gray, dying, and decrepit rock was now glowing with a lush blue-green luster under the sunlight. Massive swathes of green carpeted the continents. The oceans were crystal clear, the cloud cover a pristine white.
Even from orbit, you could easily make out the sprawling footprints of over a hundred ground cities, stitched together by glowing transit networks.
"I have a feeling," Guilliman's tone was calm, laced with the faintest hint of a smile. "That the bureaucrats in the Korianis Sector don't have a clue what the real Aurelian is like. Those reports they submitted to us... heh."
He didn't finish the thought, but what he left unsaid spoke volumes.
"Looks like this inspection might actually catch us by surprise." Guilliman stood in front of the observation window with his hands clasped behind his back, his deep-blue power armor shining brilliantly in the starlight.
"Then let's see... just how many surprises you have for me, Crimson Dawn."
Marius nodded, but just as he was about to speak, he remembered something else.
"Father, there is one more thing." He lowered his voice a fraction. "That bizarre group of people back on Macragge... Quite a few of them have actually managed to pass the screenings and civil service exams, securing entry-level government positions in several cities across Macragge."
"And judging by the feedback, they seem... to be doing a rather good job."
The corners of Guilliman's mouth twitched upward. "Is that so?"
He turned around, looking at Marius, his ice-blue eyes flashing with a profound knowing. "Their growth rate is truly astronomical... just like Crimson Dawn."
Marius was suddenly hit with a jolt of realization.
So... his father knew everything all along.
Those strange people grinding away at civil service exams, studying relentlessly, fighting tooth and nail to climb the ladder on Macragge... and the Crimson Dawn organization pulling off miracles over on Aurelian IV...
There was some kind of unspoken, inexplicable connection between them.
He opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately kept quiet, simply giving a silent nod.
Guilliman didn't say another word. He just turned his head back, staring out the window at the blue-green planet swelling larger by the second.