Erikon Gaius was walking on scaffolding when the first rocket hit.

He felt it immediately, a shaking that knocked down his delicate balance. Gaius grabbed onto a metal support, doing his best to hang from enough points of support not to break the plasteel - but to be fixed enough not to hurtle into the abyss, as he had felt his safety cable torn in two.

"Activate missile defenses!" he screamed into his communicator, though he dearly hoped Usalaguer had done that already. It was impossible to use retinal displays to check; Gaius' helmet was off to calm the normal humans, and the construction wasn't supposed to turn into a combat situation.

Now it had, and the Captain decided to put on his helmet as soon as he reached stable ground. He crept along a set of planks, redistributing his weight so as not to risk crushing them; he still remembered practicing this as an Initiate, though then it had not really been a theoretical - merely a dexterity exercise.

As he clambered, Gaius saw, far to his north, the traces of the blast. A great chunk of the Hive was missing, the police offices within them. A fiery, white sphere was gradually expanding, and within it metal and composites toppled into the great emptiness below. To his west, above the defense department, a missile collided with a counter, the two rockets harmlessly exploding against each other in the upper atmosphere. Eastwards, in the gap between the government's spire and the adjacent-end residential one, lasers shot down a twin salvo; but the missiles' forward momentum was sufficient to carry them forwards, dropping down and exploding far below Gaius.

The building shook once more. The Ultramarine Captain held on to his support, slightly rocked but fortunately not kicked off, thanks to Astarte reflexes. The invaders were, Gaius noted, targeting exclusively the government's central Hive - a sign that they were well aware of Carenn's structure. In fact, perhaps the reason they had not been noticed was that they were receiving aid from traitors on the planet's surface?

Traitors. They certainly wouldn't consider themselves traitors, Gaius had to admit that, in the abstract. Betraying Ultramar could, to some, be considered a lesser wrong than betraying the Imperium. If the truth became widely known, there would be many Imperial sympathizers among the populace, so long as Prospero was presented as rumor and not fact.

As another rocket impacted, Gaius cursed the slow pace of work responsible for the defenses being unfinished. It was understandable, but the galaxy was at war, and attack could come at any time. He was shoved off one of the beams from his hesitation; retaining his grip on the other one, he nevertheless felt it shake.

Just a little bit more. Gaius hung onto the plank as gently as he could, trying to delay its inevitable collapse. The ledge of the Hive was drawing ever closer, and as he felt the metal give way Gaius jumped. It was an easy enough leap, for a Space Marine, and Gaius walked into the spire without looking back.

His comm beeped, and the Twenty-First Captain of the Ultramarines remembered to put his helmet on.

"What's the situation?" he inquired. "Who's attacking?"

"Missiles are coming from the lower levels of the Hive, Captain," Frazant reported. "No sign of ships in orbit."

Of course. No invasion had been seen because there had been no invasion.

"Spire Gamma," Usalaguer specified. "Base, approximately level twelve. There were a lot of rockets there, and we weren't ready for a salvo from below."

Spire Gamma. Level twelve.

He had been there, two weeks prior.

"The cult," Gaius voxed. "Practical: It's the cult."

There was a pause, long enough for Gaius to collect his thoughts. The cult had talked of honor and hope, but clearly they didn't truly believe in any just ideals. To bombard their own center of government, to endanger the very structure of the Hive World… to kill thousands of innocents, only to continue their misguided faith.

The channels filled with animated chatter, every Astarte who had seen Spire Gamma struggling to add their impressions to the Company's theoretical base. Gaius remained silent. His hatred for the hypocritical believers was too absolute for that.

"We'll obliterate them," he finally said as the noise died down. The cultists had offended him and the empire, and they were about to learn never to leave an Ultramarine alive.

"Captain, missile defenses are finally fully online. We're safe."

"It would have been nice to have that earlier," Gaius noted while passing through the somewhat shaken arches of the upper house. "Still good, Usalaguer."

"Gather in the war room?" Assault Sergeant Hardonisses proposed.

"Negative. This is a matter for all of Carenn. Meet in the Hall of the Cabinet."

Gaius continued to issue orders as he walked through the slightly ruined hallways. The Hive's structure as a whole had - very fortuitously - not collapsed. There were nowhere near enough missiles for that. Still, if the defenses had been even slightly weaker there would've been a good chance of the government of Carenn being blown up.

Ulriader Sezemes rushed up to meet the 21st Captain, and Gaius took off his helmet to hear what the defense advisor was saying.

"What's happening? Who's attacking?"

"The cult from half a month ago." Erikon Gaius clenched his fists, the gauntlets creaking from the effort. "Instead of disbanding as they were ordered to…."

"They always had the stockpile," Sezemes said. "There is no way to get this many weapons this quickly."

"Quite likely, which would mean they were planning a takeover well before my visit."

Sezemes continued to the Hall of the Cabinet trailing behind Gaius. They entered the amphitheater together. Most of the Ultramarine Sergeants were already there, seated on benches in the back; they were not official advisors, and thus their spots were those of guests. The Cabinet itself trickled in more slowly, each advisor and minister carefully taking their seat. Many of the humans were shaking; Gaius classified the symptoms as a reflection of shock.

"I thought you had an agreement, Gaius…" Jakane muttered.

"Clearly they have disobeyed that pact," vice-governor Jaranuos commented, "which means that we should simply send the Ultramarines to take care of them. Isn't that simple enough?"

"We've done that before," the Lady Ruler pointed out. "There's something about the cult…"

"Gaius can do it," Jaranuos said. "I have doubts about Space Marines in general, but none about Erikon Gaius."

"I still have a question," trade advisor Zentonna observed. "What's going on?"

All eyes swiveled to the Space Marine Captain.

"The galactic civil war has come to Carenn," Gaius said. "Religious fanatics denying the Imperial Truth have attempted to stage a coup on this planet. Having stockpiled weapons, the cult has launched an attack, presumably to install themselves in place of this legitimate government. Two weeks ago, an anomalous increase in disappearances caused me to investigate; the oddness turned out to be people leaving their families to dwell with the cult. At that point, I left the cult alone after agreeing they would soon disband - a mistake, it now appears. There are likely less savory elements to this religion, as to every religion - an increase in murders went along with the increase in disappearances."

"Then," Jaranuos asked, "will you be able to take care of this threat?"

Gaius checked his Sergeants for consent before nodding. "We will burn them at their core."

"My forces will back you up," Arbite representative Konscalles promised.

"Sergeant Usalaguer," Gaius said, "will remain behind once more and work on the defenses. The rest of us will leave within hours."

"I approve this plan," the Lady Ruler said, "though not without some reservations. Is there anything else?"

No one proposed anything. Not even Zentonna, usually buzzing with some economic report, made any suggestion. The planet had been invaded from within, and was now in a state of war.

How had he not foreseen this? How had he not understood that some humans would remain allied with the Emperor over Guilliman? Gaius chided himself for not even considering the possibility, even as he had been silent about the Imperial civil war's details to governor Remasna precisely because of the fear of treachery.

But blaming oneself would not fix the problem. Gaius recognized his error and moved on.

"Alright," Lady Ruler Remasna said, "meeting adjourned. I desire to personally speak with Captain Gaius afterwards."

The advisors filed out. The rulers of Carenn exited the chamber, dejected and frightened, but also full of resolve. They were, in their majority, civilians; none of them had truly expected war, even after the Captain's direct warnings.

Gaius walked up to the governor, and she led him out of the Hall of the Cabinet, tiny compared to the massive Astarte she was leading.

"So?" Gaius asked.

"The civil war," Remasna said. "You're fighting against the Emperor, aren't you?"

Gaius fumbled around in search of a response. It was true, of course, and yet it was also more complicated, and yet that really was its core.

"You are," Remasna confirmed. Gaius' uncertainty on how to respond had apparently made that clear enough.

"We - well - "

"I am not condemning you," the governor said, somewhat surprising Gaius. "But you are a rebel, and you should not be afraid to announce that fact."

"Why?" Gaius asked. "Why do you accept this so easily?"

The ancient governor grinned. "Why do you not? I trust Guilliman, son. When he came to Carenn we had resisted the Imperial Army for half a decade; the Ultimate Warrior convinced me to turn the planet over peacefully. His judgment has consistently been sound, which is more than I can say for the Emperor. Why do I accept rebellion? Because I know that if Guilliman himself is rebelling, rebelling is the right and proper course of action. You should have that knowledge, Gaius. Loyalty to your Primarch. You are blessed with his blood; do not be so fearful of his spirit."

"I am not fearful. We know no fear."

"And yet you know doubt." Erikon Gaius had no comment on that. "Ignore it. Your Primarch is doing the right thing, Gaius. Embrace it."

For his part, the Twenty-First Captain of the Ultramarines hoped he already was.