Three days later, the military leadership of the Telerion sector met in the Alecto's strategium; the sector headquarters were being combed over by the inquisitor and his retinue and had not yet been declared free of taint. The hololith showed an image of the planet, every unit marked with contact runes.

"-And the Undying Light was destroyed by concentrated fire when it attempted to ram the Inquisitorial ship," Admiral Shane concluded. "Ten percent of the fleet destroyed or crippled without a single enemy ship engaged."

"Which is still better than the situation on the ground," Lord General Solon growled. "Most regiments lost a third of their strength, half our sanctioned psykers dead, headquarters staff at twenty percent effective, and the Titans are still hunting the last of the possessed machines from the 79th Armored." He slammed the table. "And not a single enemy actually dead to show for it!"

"It is fortunate the Astartes were present," the tech-priest Minerva had finally identified as Magos Dominus Malion droned. "Their intervention prevented the loss of the sacred engines to data corruption."

"Not to mention saved all our lives," Solon muttered.

"Yes," Lady General Brant said skeptically. "Their intervention was most timely."

"Medea is a beta-grade seer," Minerva replied.

"Quite," she said blandly. "How very convenient."

"I do not appreciate your implication," Minerva said levelly. "If you wish to pursue this further, refer the matter to the inquisitor." Who hopefully wouldn't ask too many probing questions about how precisely Medea spent her time in the Deathwatch.

Brant hesitated. "I apologize; no slight was intended," she said, not very convincingly.

"Apology accepted," Minerva replied.

"The real question," Solon said, "is what do we do to prepare for this happening again?"

"Medea and the inquisitor believe that is unlikely," Minerva said. "According to them this was caused by the initial energy release of the formation of the Great Rift, as it has become known, and will not reoccur."

"Which brings us to the thing we've all been avoiding thinking about," Shane said. "The navigators still say they can't see the Astronomican, even though the Rift isn't between us and Terra. Fortunately, the news hasn't spread, or we'd be facing even more riots than we are already."

"The Astronomican has deactivated and re-lit before," Minerva said. Best not to mention when. "It will return."

"I don't suppose your seer can tell you when?" Admiral Gerax asked.

"No," Minerva admitted. "She cannot scry the future of the Emperor; His power turns all visions aside. Since this is still the case, we know He yet lives."

"He can never die!" Brant snapped. "The very idea is heresy." There was a chorus of agreement. Minerva thought about mentioning that the Custodes seemed to take the possibility seriously, but decided against it.

"We should concern ourselves with the sector at large," Malion droned. "Navigation without the Astronomican is possible at reduced efficiency."

"Barely," Shane replied. "We'd have to keep dropping out of warp to get a fix on our position, and we're a lot more likely to hit a storm unexpectedly. Even Macharius couldn't go beyond the Emperor's light."

"My navigator and Medea are confident they can guide the Alecto within the sector," Minerva said. "We can deploy, if we have a destination."

"We need you here," Shane said firmly.

"With respect, that is not your decision to make," Minerva said levelly. "The Alecto is at my command. It is not a garrison ship, and we have no intelligence on a particular threat to Telerion at this moment."

"It's the most critical location in the sector," Solon pointed out carefully. "Any courier ship will know to come here, and we can't expect much astropathic contact. It may be hard to relay intelligence."

"The Alecto's astropath withstood the opening of the Great Rift," Minerva replied. "He reports interference but was able to successfully contact Nemea."

"You have a company left there, correct?" Solon asked. "Can they deploy as well?"

"They don't have a strike cruiser," Minerva admitted. "Seventh company is primarily assigned to homeworld security, and when they do deploy it is as squads attached to other companies." Minerva could have asked a few along, but the reports had made her glad she didn't; multiple daemonic portals had opened up in the forests, fed by the violence inherent to a deathworld, and a major Khornate incursion had followed. Seventh Company had needed to fight through them to get their Librarians to close the portals. "There are bulk freighters available, but their navigators would not be able to make the trip."

"We need astropaths desperately," Gerax said.

"I can make him available for high priority messages," Minerva offered. "As well as relay received intelligence. I won't have him burnt out trying to replace an entire choir, however. It may be a long time before we receive any more."

o - o -O - o - o

"Captain, a word in private if you please," Inquisitor Malachi said softly. "Bring your librarian." It was phrased politely, but Minerva recognized a command when she heard one.

"In my quarters," she replied, not wanting to clear the strategium for the conversation. She voxed ahead to warn her serfs to exit the room.

Minerva's quarters were spartan, as was the norm for the Astral Amazons. She didn't collect the trophies some others did, not wanting xenos or heretical artifacts to sully her sanctuary. Instead, she kept battle honors from allied units they were occasionally gifted; a banner from the Elysian 54th drop troops after the Amazons had cleared air defenses at Nemetes, a Skitarii insignia from the cleansing of the Anaxis Prime forge world, others. Malachi examined them, expression guarded.

"I am surprised you keep them," he said finally. "In my experience, Astartes care little for the respect of those outside their chapter."

Minerva shrugged. "They're reminders of the missions. We pride ourselves on being able to work with the rest of the Imperium. Even we can't win wars on our own."

"Indeed." Malachi lifted an eyebrow. "There are some who might view things differently. There are always… concerns when Astartes are too close to others."

Minerva sighed internally. Not this again, she thought. "We maintain independence of command, and don't dictate overall strategy. Our actions have passed scrutiny on every occasion they have been called into question." Which was often. The only female Astartes chapter got plenty of attention, especially given the accursed company of its founding.

The worst, contrary to what many expected, came from the Sororitas. To them, gene-seed was the work of the Emperor's divine hand, and that it had only worked on men clearly His inviolable intent. To modify it was basest hubris, the overweening pride of man, and the fates of the Black Dragons and Flame Falcons were a clear sign of divine displeasure. Some canonesses refused to deploy alongside the Astral Amazons at all, and it had come to blows on more than one occasion.

That wasn't something to discuss with an Inquisitor, however. Malachi might be probing for something specific, or he might just be trying to unsettle them. Either way, best to give him nothing. He regarded her for a moment longer, then got to the point.

"I've been pursuing a cult calling itself the Eyes of the Raven throughout the Telerion sector," he began, "They were unusually large and deeply embedded by the time they were uncovered, with a propensity for daemon summoning sufficient to draw the attention of my Ordo. They were preparing for a prophesized 'sundering of the galaxy'; this initially appeared to be an allegorical reference to the Thirteenth Black Crusade, but has proven more literal."

"Indeed." Minerva refrained from commenting that it was his job to know things like this before they happened; there wasn't much point in recriminations. "And they had plans for after this occurred?"

"Many, involving mass uprisings and summoning. I have reason to believe, however, that they have outside confederates, specifically among the Thousand Sons traitor legion. I conclude that they are likely to mount an assault on the sector, targeting the planets weakened by the uprisings."

"Their objective being?" Minerva asked. "I have not personally engaged the Thousand Sons, but they are recorded in the chapter archives. Territorial conquest is not usually their concern."

"They did not disclose that to their pawns," Malachi replied. "That is why I wished to consult her," he added, gesturing at Medea.

Medea finally stirred. "Astor V," she said. "That is their focus."

"Can you say why?" Minerva prompted.

"No."

"If we engage them, who is victorious?" Minerva asked.

"If the Alecto is alone, it will be defeated. With the fleet here, I cannot say. The paths darken with delay."

"With the rift open, they will have the ability to perform sorcery on a scale rarely seen," Malachi said. "If there's a chance to foil them, we must take it. I will, of course, lend my forces to the endeavor."

"We could use your authority as well," Minerva said, calculating. "There's a Sisters of Silence band in this subsector, and they should be able to negotiate the warp's tides even now. They'd be a valuable countermeasure."

"Ah," Malachi replied. "I was aware of them, and had made use of their services early in my investigation, but they were called to Terra by an authority that exceeds my own. This was, I understand, a general recall order; we won't find any."

"Then I suppose we will have to rely on you and your 'Astartes specialists'," Minerva said. "Medea is a powerful seer and can empower her force sword, but she can't effectively counter enemy sorcery."

"Not generally," Medea agreed. "Certainly not of a Thousand Sons sorcerer lord."

"In that regard, I'm afraid I must disappoint you," Malachi replied. "I can banish daemons far more effectively than confront sorcery, and the specialists are rather similar in their abilities. And Mayumi has my only null rod. If the opportunity arises, I'll set her on the sorcerers, but we must rely on conventional arms and the grace of the Emperor."

"Very well, then" Minerva said. "The fleet can follow us in warp space if we jump together. Do you have any lore that could benefit our travel?"

"That's mostly worked into the ship," Malachi said regretfully. "It can take courses that would tear other vessels apart, but its guidance is mostly the skill of its navigator. Who wouldn't take kindly to having a seer in her chambers; she's difficult to work with at the best of times. I think it best if you lead."

o - o -O - o - o

Althrax glared at the silver mirrors, eight in a circle around a ninth. "You failed," he growled.

The fractured image of a Lord of Change, split across the all nine mirrors, stared back. "Have a care, mortal."

"Don't think you can cow me," the sorcerer snapped. "You claimed you would leave the sector fortress in ruins, but you couldn't even carry out a simple assassination! So much for your vaunted foresight."

"Fate is fickle, ever changing" the daemon rasped. "One of the Anathema's slaves with the gift of sight intervened; she saw little, but enough. She will lead his warriors here. Perhaps if your lackies had prepared the ground properly, matters would have proceeded otherwise."

Althrax kept a rein on his temper, despite the reminder. Three hundred years of preparation, and the Inquisition upset it in a matter of months. Only a handful of the cults so carefully seeded over the centuries had survived. At least the one on Astor V itself was intact.

"When will they arrive?" he asked.

"They will struggle against the tides. You will have a third of a year to find what you seek before they arrive." The daemon raised a clawed hand into view. "The price for my aid in the search is as it ever was. One volume only."

"No," Althrax replied. The very fact that the price was so modest had raised his suspicions. There were hundreds of volumes in the lost librarium, but he didn't know how many of them had true value; he wasn't going to give up one sight unseen. It might be the only prize worth having. "We'll find it on our own."

The daemon laughed. "Such confidence. Very well, then; our current bargain holds." It cocked its head. "The female marines interest the Changer; if you can provide their gene-seed, there is much that can be offered."

"We'll see." Althrax had already been planning to retrieve it, if possible, but five thousand years of attempts by various warbands had nothing to show for it. The Astral Amazons would burn their dead if the gene-seed couldn't be retrieved, and were quick to destroy reductor vials if they were going to be overrun. They even rigged their gene-vaults to purge the contents on command.

"Until next time, then," the daemon said, fading.

"Perhaps we should have accepted its offer, my lord," one of the thrall-sorcerers who'd been maintaining the ritual said carefully. "If it's psi-shielded, a third of a year is not a long time to scour an entire world."

"Perhaps it's making that offer because it knows we'll stumble over it while we're exiting the lander," Althrax replied. "Perhaps it failed intentionally, to pressure us to take the bargain. Perhaps there's only one book left. There is a reason I make the bargains, and you obey."

o - o -O - o - o

"We can't exactly dispatch the entire fleet without some idea of their dispositions," Admiral Gerax argued after Minerva completed her initial presentation. They were once again in the Alecto's strategium, this time with Malachi present. "Even taking the information as reliable, they're hardly the only threat that will be coming out of the woodwork."

"We expect that it is a warband, rather than the Legion as a whole," Minerva replied. "Their main force recently assaulted Fenris, and is unlikely to mount another offensive of similar magnitude in the immediate future. The warband's fleet would be at least large enough to defeat the System Defense Force and then the Alecto."

"Or it may include the SDF," Malachi added. "We do not know how far the cult extends, or whether the planet faced a similar daemonic incursion."

"Indeed," Minerva acknowledged. She tapped a control on the hololith, bringing up a series of lists. "These are recorded fleet strengths of Thousand Sons actions, from which we can attempt to extrapolate their possible forces."

"Not a lot of the really old patterns," Shane mused, reading through them. "It looks like they're bolstered by recent defectors."

"The Thousand Sons were never a large Legion," Minerva replied. "Most of their original fleet strength has been lost in conflicts with the Space Wolves. They have produced some new, esoteric vessels, but mostly rely on traitor navy."

"Their forces don't appear particularly consistent," Gerax said balefully. "If we don't know the specific warlord leading them this isn't a lot of use."

"I have to agree," Shane said. "Especially given the time gaps, any specific fleet will have changed significantly. They'll have traded or stolen ships between warbands, and lost or gained ships in engagements that aren't in the records."

"It provides a basis for reasoning," Magos Malion droned. "The System Defense Force of Astor is considerable. Only the larger formations would be able to contest it."

"We could dispatch a scouting force immediately," Shane offered. "A cruiser strike group to evaluate enemy strengths, then call for appropriate reinforcements."

"There's no telling how long those reinforcements will take," Gerax replied. "No, we need to send one unit or nothing."

"Nothing is not an acceptable outcome," Malachi said mildly, and Gerax flinched.

Minerva decided it was an opportune moment, and toggled the hololith to display a new list of vessels, this time imperial ships. "We have a suggested fleet deployment." She'd aimed deliberately high, including an extra battleship. One of the tricks passed down among captains; it would make the argument about how many battleships to bring, rather than whether to bring one at all.

Gerax rallied impressively quickly. "Surely the Light of Absolution's battlegroup should be sufficient," he said. "If it's a secondary warband they're unlikely to have multiple battleships."

"In the worst case, they will have added the entire SDF to their formation," Minerva replied. "Two battleship groups would provide a significant margin of superiority even then."

"We may need all the battleships we can get, if the Orks make a move," Shane said. "We only have four to begin with, and the Wrath of Terra is going to be in dockyard hands for at least a year. Maybe reinforce the Light of Absolution's battlegroup."

"Don't forget the transports," Lady General Brant interjected. "We may have to make an opposed landing, and I don't want my troops trickling in from a freighter's launch bays. Again."

"Also dedicated landers," Solon said. "There's only two hives with major landing facilities, and if the traitors have captured both of them, we're going to be hard-pressed to get civilian shuttles down."

"Several of those are also in dockyard hands-" Shane began.

"Find ones that aren't," Brant snapped. "This is going to be bad enough already." She turned to Minerva. "I suppose you have some 'suggestions' for our ground force deployment?"

"We don't have up-to-date information on your unit force strengths," Minerva replied. Almost certainly a deliberate oversight. "We anticipate needing to besiege or defend hives, and to make long-distance overland assaults without the benefit of the planetary transit network. We also specifically request a drop regiment to support our operations directly."

"There's a drop regiment from Astor V," Solon noted. "Their local knowledge could prove valuable."

"Why can't we use the local transit network?" Malachi asked curiously. "They have an extensive rail system."

"Maglevs," Minerva replied. "According to my techmarine, they require the rails be energized along the entire route and each section can be disabled from either end. There are intermediate stations in the wastes, but they would be easily sabotaged and difficult to repair."

"That summation is correct," Malion affirmed. "We cannot rely on the network for offensive logistics."

"I'll see how many trucks I can shake out of the Munitorium," Solon said grimly.

Brant shook her head. "We're not going to be able to get enough to carry both troops and supplies. We'll need to use armored fist regiments for our infantry."

"Wouldn't you need more trucks to keep them supplied with fuel and parts?" Minerva asked. She was well familiar with the demands her own vehicles placed on her supply flights, and knew that Militarium AFVs struggled with the same problem.

"Yes," Solon replied. "Which means they're automatically allocated more trucks without particular regard to whether they're defending a fuel depot at a railhead while an infantry regiment needs to go five hundred miles." The mortals exchanged exasperated looks.

Malachi raised a hand to forestall Minerva's next question. "I'll give them an order to prioritize this expedition, but even inquisitorial orders have a way of getting stalled and I don't have the time to go to every individual clerk and browbeat them."

"Armored fist it is," Brant said. "Fortunately, aside from the possessions the daemons didn't make a real effort to wreck our vehicle pool. We have plenty of chimeras ready for deployment. The troops to man them are another matter."

"One which I am sure you can resolve," Malachi said in his usual mild tone. "I do so hate to be disappointed."

o - o -O - o - o

"So your Astartes friend needs us after all," Lady General Brant remarked over her goblet of amasec. She and Solon, accompanied by all six survivors of S company as their close protection detail, were in a private lounge in what had once been one of the most exclusive hotels on the planet until military necessity had intervened. It had the misfortune of possessing military-grade privacy fields in its conference rooms, and had eluded any identified daemonic incursions. Now its fine nalwood tables served the war effort. Idly Solon wondered if they'd predated the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, or been obtained at ruinous expense after the supply was so dramatically constricted.

"I don't think they have friends," Solon replied, raising his own glass. "We've served in the same theatre, that's all." He took a sip. "She actually attended meetings and even listened to what we had to say. Told us what she was going to do before she did it. It was a very strange experience."

Brant grunted. "Doesn't sound like any Astartes I've met. I suppose next you're going to tell me you know a Sororitas who will actually refrain from charging straight at the enemy at the first opportunity, or a flyboy with a sense of humility."

Solon cracked a grin. "Don't ask for the impossible." Then he sobered. "I think we should take her seriously."

"Take her witch seriously, you mean," Brant growled. She'd never liked sanctioned psykers, and learning that several of their own had turned into daemonic portals had not improved her opinion. "Not that we have much choice, with that damned inquisitor breathing down our necks."

Solon wasn't much happier about that than her. Inquisitors hunting heretics was all well and good, but inquisitors trying to dictate military strategy usually ended badly. And then there were the "Astartes specialists". As far as he knew, the Ordo Malleus didn't have a dedicated Chamber Militant, and the Inquisition tended to prefer the more… difficult… chapters for their dirty work.

"I don't know much about the librarian," Solon admitted. "She doesn't attend meetings. Unless there's a daemon to slay, apparently." He shuddered. "I've been in warzones with them before, but just as numbers on a screen, a place to assign a battle psyker. Then the Ordo representative would take the unit into custody. Sometimes they'd come back."

"Well," Brant said contemplatively, "the secret is pretty thoroughly out. That rift must be visible from Terra-" she made the sign of the aquila "-and every report we get from the astropaths is the same thing. Of course, if what happened to ours is any indication there's not a lot of astropaths left." There were a bare handful left out of the hundreds that ordinarily served a sector command and shipboard. Minerva's offer was proving invaluable. If the Inquisitor still had one, he wasn't sharing.

Minerva's point had taken a while to sink in, but fortunately had gotten through to Brant and the others before they actually burnt out any astropaths. Ordinarily, there was a steady flow of replacements as age, disaster, and the stress of service claimed them, but every astropath had to come from Terra, bound to the Emperor's soul at the Palace itself. Ammo, tanks, ships, and men could flow in short hops from within the sector itself, but astropaths could not. And if whatever had brought down the Astronomican had affected the soul binding as well… Solon didn't like to think about that part.

"Well, without communication we're not going to be able to get another inquisitor to override Malachi," Solon pointed out. "So I don't see much choice but to do what he says."

"True." Brant admitted. "And if they're right, I don't much like the idea of some Traitor Astartes sorcerer getting a free hand. But we're talking taking badly understrength regiments that have just seen their own men turn into monsters from barrack-room legend right into combat. Throne, some of them are fresh mergers. And instead of giving them time to work up, we're planning to send them on the worst warp trip of their lives."

"I know what that's like," Solon said.

Brant narrowed her eyes. "Does she?"

o - o -O - o - o

"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me," General Solon said, standing in Alecto's strategium again. Minerva was in her full armor, helmet clamped to her waist. The room was crowded with serfs and sergeants, analyzing records of Astor V and the Thousand Sons.

Minerva nodded. "Your insight has proved valuable." She disliked the distraction during preparations for war, but diplomacy could matter even more than tactical preparations, and Solon had performed well in the past. If he was interrupting, it was likely important.

"I worry that you haven't fully considered the morale issues the Militarum forces are experiencing," he said carefully.

Minerva cocked her head. "That is primarily the responsibility of the commissariat," she said, unsure where the conversation was going.

"They can only do so much," Solon replied, "especially since a lot of commissars died in the fighting. They can't be everywhere at once, and fear is a limited tool when the enemy is scarier than any-well, most- commissars."

"They have other tools, I understand." Minerva said. "Certainly, I motivate my sisters without using fear. And it sees limited use among serfs."

"There are, but…" Solon scratched his head. "Well, they take time. If you promote a new sergeant, don't they take time to settle in, get the respect of their women?"

"Occasionally," Minerva said. "Mostly when they're transferred from another company. It's never a serious problem."

Solon sighed. "Well, with mortals it is." He said. "Troopers find it hard to put themselves in danger because a stranger told them to, even if that stranger has a lieutenant's bars. We try to rotate units that have taken these kinds of losses to garrison for a while, to rebuild."

"We do prefer to have reinforced or reorganized units train together before deployment," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Are you saying mortal units that do not do so are combat-ineffective?"

"It varies," Solon replied. "The Kriegers will be fine. The others might cohere quickly when the shooting starts or fall apart entirely. Or they might stick together but refuse to advance. There's no real way to know until it happens."

"Hm." Minerva regarded him thoughtfully. "I will rely on your judgement in this matter and advise the inquisitor accordingly. Will the fleet be similarly affected?"

"You'd have to ask the admirals," Solon said, "But I'd think less so; they don't have to get to grips with the enemy. The loss of experienced hands will still hurt, of course."

Minerva frowned. "According to Medea, time is not our ally. If the Militarium cannot support us, and they have made planetfall before we arrive, we'll have to prosecute the campaign from orbit, and if they take the void shields of the main hives we will have to resort to cyclonic torpedoes."

"Is that truly necessary?" Solon was clearly disturbed by the prospect. "Astor V is an important source of manpower and basic equipment." It was also home to over two hundred billion people, which carried more weight with Minerva than he likely expected. "If we had half a year, we could get the troops into better shape."

"We may well not have that long," Minerva replied. "It is possible Astor V will be a daemon world by then."

"If that's the case," Solon said reluctantly, "then I suppose we don't have any choice. We'll do what we can in transit. Just be aware they may not perform as you'd expect."

"I will keep that in mind," Minerva promised. "We do have experience with assisting PDF."

Solon winced. "Hopefully not that bad."

o - o -O - o - o

Minerva was at least a battlecruiser short of happy with their support fleet, but Malachi hadn't been willing to overrule the judgement of the admirals, and Medea had conceded it might be sufficient. Or perhaps not. They might all die, which concerned Minerva a lot less than the fact that they might fail.

Ultimately, they'd gotten the Light of Absolution and its rather substantial support fleet of carriers, plus one additional battlecruiser and a reasonable number of battleline cruisers and light cruisers. Assuming they all arrived, which was by no means likely, it would be a substantial array of firepower.

The troop transports had been successfully wrangled out of the Navy, mostly by heroic effort on Lady General Brant's part combined with the point that they didn't have anywhere else to go at the present moment. Unlike the conscripted civilian macro-freighters so often used for inter-system transport, the Navy transports had the hanger deck space to offload an entire regiment simultaneously, and Minerva had more trust in their navigators.

It had taken longer than she liked but less than she expected to actually assemble the fleet. The Thirteenth Black Crusade had led to an increase in alert levels, and the warships had been on standby for immediate deployment when the Great Rift struck. The incursion had disrupted that, leaving every ship with internal damage and slaughtered crew, and the press gangs had been busy scraping up everyone they could catch to recrew them. Some of the ships in dockyards had their crews transferred over, many leaving their void-borne homes for the first time in their lives.

The Mechanicum had agreed to come as well, though they only had their Titan carrier and no warships to contribute. They'd be welcome on the ground, whether or not the invaders had Titans of their own. It was nearly certain there would be a ground war; the traitors would have arrived with the opening of the Great Rift and have made planetfall before the fleet was even assembled.

Now the fleet was at the Mandeville point, and the Alecto flew in the center of dozens of warships, the Inquisition Black Ship at its side. Minerva contacted the navigator. "Is the Astronomican re-lit?"

"No," navigator Sextus replied. "We'll be flying blind. We'll need to make at least two stops for positional reference, more if we go off course."

"Acknowledged." Minerva cut the channel over to the fleet link. "Schedule two stops for coordinate determination. Alecto is prepared for translation."

"Light of Absolution, prepared for translation."

"Inviolate prepared to translate."

"Judgement prepared to translate."

"Omnissiah's Blessing is prepared for immaterial translation."

When all ships had reported ready, Minerva turned to the shipmaster. "Shipmaster Galene, begin translation."

"All hands brace for translation," she said tightly, gripping the arms of her control throne with white-knuckled tension. "Helm, begin translation." The warp engines came to life, tearing open a hole in reality, and the Alecto plunged into hell, the fleet following her out.