Captain Erikon Gaius, Twenty-First Company, Second Chapter, Thirteenth "Ultramarines" Legion, was still shocked by the events of the past few months.

There were a lot of details - the initial gathering, the news of Venus IX, Horus' first decision and declaration of rebellion, Prospero. It had not been announced by the Legion's formal channels outside its highest ranks; it was rarely talked about, even there. But, more and more, it was becoming clear: the Ultramarines were rebelling against the Emperor of Mankind.

Gaius wasn't certain how he felt about that. While Roboute Guilliman was choosing to follow Warmaster Horus over his father, Gaius had been crusading against orks in the Argent Stars. He had only recently been recalled, along with the entire Second Chapter, to meet with the Third and the oversized First under the command of Marius Gage. Ultramar would be an empire once more, a counterpart to Terra.

For the most part, Gaius believed the reports. For the most part, he simply couldn't imagine anything besides those tales of worlds burned and cultures exterminated that could turn Guilliman away from his father. For the most part, he trusted his gene-father's judgment that the Emperor had simply gone too far.

But the seed of doubt was there, as it rarely was for Gaius. And it was for that reason, more than any other, that Captain Erikon Gaius was immensely glad his duties were to be purely defensive.

He was walking now towards the Chapter Master's throne. No other from his company was present; Akrit Honoria of the 23rd walked to his left. Gaius could see his own hesitation reflected on Honoria's features, and the other Captain's wary glance told him that, perhaps, Honoria was even more paranoid now than Gaius.

"Brother-Captain Honoria," Gage greeted the arrivals. "Brother-Captain Gaius."

The Captains bowed.

"I am sure you have heard the rumors," Gage stated. "Unfortunately, we don't have much more than rumors. The Primarch has commanded us to fortify Ultramar, for it appears the Emperor has betrayed the Imperium."

"The Emperor is the Imperium," Honoria argued.

"Then," Gage said, "let it be known that the Emperor has betrayed humanity. On a dozen worlds, first among them Prospero, we hear of Astarte Legions attacking civilians and destroying entire planets. The Emperor is unwilling to discuss the subject. Horus has risen in rebellion. Our Primarch has done the only moral thing and sided with the Warmaster, though victory seems doubtful. But while he leads the majority of the Legion- including several Companies from my own Chapter- to war against the Word Bearers, a conflict without precedent, a conflict that is nevertheless a practical and not a seditious theoretical, we are left here."

"To mind the fort," Gaius completed.

"To mind and expand the fort. Ultramar will grow, I am certain; Ultramar must grow. Here the core of an Imperium Secundus will be forged." Gage looked at the Captains intently. "We have no theoretical for this course of action- we never could. So make one. The two of you and your companies are responsible for the Carenn sector." Gage waited for questions for at most a second before nodding. "Dismissed."

Gaius and Honoria exited silently, though only until Gage's ship was left behind. Gage was far from ostentatious, and in fact reserved a specific contempt for rich trophy rooms; his ship was similarly spartan. The throne itself was pure, almost certainly uncomfortable plasteel.

"Well," Honoria said upon exiting, "that was interesting."

Gaius felt the question he now had was absolutely vital. "Will you side with the Primarch?"

He tried to keep his voice questioning, though he knew his own side.

"Yes," Honoria said, "because I will not be a traitor to the Legion. But I've had moments of doubt."

"We all have," Gaius said with tangible relief.

"The margin was narrow. But you needn't worry; if I had sided with the Emperor, I would've killed the First Chapter Master then and there. My mind is made up, and nothing will move it. What about yours?"

Gaius' first instinct was to react with anger, but he knew it would be a lie. His own mind was made up for Guilliman - he thought. But there were too many variables he wasn't aware of to be sure.

The Captains flew in silence until- when the shuttle was about to dock- Honoria finally stated where he was going.

"I'll be on Seb. You can take care of Carenn itself. Leave a few Marines on every world south of Jesta. And like Gage said, run abundant theoreticals."

Gaius simply nodded as Honoria, on the spaceport's slick floor, marched off to the shuttle that would take him to his own vessel. For his part, he waited a few moments, then marched towards the surface shuttle. Perhaps talking to Carenn's current governor would calm the confusion that was making inroads into his psyche.

Probably not, though.

The second shuttle was almost torturously slow in its descent to Carenn's surface. One of the westerly planets within the five hundred worlds of Ultramar, Carenn was a Hive World of towering spires and great, barren plains. It was a world of Ultramar, and so it was not in the squalid condition that so many of the Imperium's Hive Worlds existed in - a lower layer filled with criminals, supporting several upper levels inhabited by increasingly rich people fleeing from the aforementioned criminals. Indeed, as one of only a few Hive Worlds in Ultramar, it was often the site of visits by Chapter Masters or the Primarch himself.

In general, Guilliman discouraged the building of large Hives; though popular in the wider Imperium, the Ultramarine Primarch considered them recipes for disaster. There was little else to do on Carenn, though- it was too far from its sun and too dry to be much of an agricultural world, and there were no useful deposits inside it to mine.

As it was, constant communication with at least one Agri-World was required to keep Carenn from starving. Fortunately, there were several in the vicinity.

To distract himself from the potential - no, real - betrayal that his Legion was committing, Gaius considered how he would reorganize the sector. Having the capital at Carenn made sense. Most enemies would not be interested in quickly capturing Hive Worlds- they held little short-term strategic importance, except as places where a lot of innocents could be killed quickly, which - consistent as it was with the Imperium's current actions - was not a valid strategic aim. Agri- and Forge worlds were more typical targets.

Gaius sketched out how he would place the void shields and citywide defense systems. Carenn was not built for warfare, and thus presented an interesting challenge; nevertheless, by the time Gaius arrived at the palace, he had a rough plan of what he was fairly certain would be the optimal placement. Orbital bombardment would have minimal effect under the system, and the enemy would be forced to take severe losses in a foot or bike assault.

The Captain was rather satisfied with his calculations. Carenn, under this system, was virtually untakeable, especially the center of the hives where an evacuation would send the people. And though the alterations would be expensive, they would make the planet an ideal location for a military base- not a bad idea in any case.

Gaius thus landed happy and, mentally humming Macragge's anthem, headed towards the governor's palace - fairly successfully, despite bumping into a couple of clerks on the way.

Governor Itacia Remasna's office was open. Gaius wasn't sure how sturdy the door was, so he walked in without knocking.

The governor - an elderly, spectacled woman who clearly had taken a fair amount of rejuv treatments in the past, putting her quite possibly at older than Gaius himself - growled at the Marine's entrance. Carenn was, in principle, a republic; but the Lord (or Lady) Ruler was elected for life, which could be… exploited… with the right technology.

"Here to relieve me of my duties, are you?" Remasna asked, her voice more screeching than any other Gaius had encountered anywhere, with the exception of some among the Sekkrach avians.

"Er-"

That single word, combined with a slight arm motion, caused two precariously balanced meter-tall stacks of paper to topple, leaving about twenty.

"Astartes, you say. Superhuman, you say. Taking our jobs! I've guided Carenn through rich and poor for seventy-five years, and here you come and expect to just take over without comment."

People like this, Gaius recognized, were what kept Ultramar running. Besides, he didn't specialize in civil governance anyhow, so he blurted out - before Remasna could really roll into her rant - a loud "Wait!".

The governor paused, and Gaius clarified, "I'm only here as a defense advisor at most."

The governor looked slightly shocked, then shrugged. "Then by all means! Come and defend us! From what, anyhow? Wasn't the Imperium supposed to be safe?"

"Civil war," Gaius explained. He didn't go into any more detail; he expected Remasna to be fairly conservative, and the last thing he needed was a rebellious governor.

The ancient woman made no reply and restarted filling in papers at her desk. Gaius was amazed at the speed - she was quite clearly reading everything that came her way, but at her rate the stacks in the room would be done in two hours at most.

"Well?" she asked after a couple minutes. "Are you going to make a suggestion or are you going to leave? Jakane is going to bring more papers in in a minute."

Wondering about the government's deviations from his theoretical, Gaius briefly explained his plan to the governor. Itacia Remasna did not seem to understand much and said only that she had her own defense advisor, with whom Gaius should confer, but that if Carenn really was in danger there was no sum she wouldn't give.

"But still," she said at the end, "I rather regret that Carenn must become a fortress."

And Gaius stayed silent, for he knew that every other world in the sector - every other world in Ultramar - would have to become a fortress too.