Chapter Thirty-Six: The Victory Parade and the "New Home" of the Travelers

The victory parade finally began, though the suggestion had come from the traitors of Chaos; its propagandistic significance was undeniable. The people of the Imperium needed reassurance, Guilliman’s forces required time to regroup, and the cities and facilities of Macragge were in dire need of reconstruction.

At this moment, a grand parade of victory could soothe the souls of the Imperium’s citizens, scarred by the ravages of war. In this era, when the Emperor was worshipped as a god, the Primarchs were revered as the sons of divinity. The comfort their presence provided to the people was unparalleled.

Nothing could heal the psychological and physical wounds of war more than witnessing, with their own eyes, the figure of a god’s son in whom they placed their faith.

Though Guilliman despised being seen as a divine offspring, in this age where truth had been abandoned and the air was thick with frenzied religious fanaticism, he understood well the solace such a figure brought to the hearts of the people.

The splendid procession set out from Hera Fortress; squads of Ultramarines and Traversers marched in parade formations through the city streets, armored vehicles rumbling slowly behind them.

This parade, composed solely of Astartes and armored vehicles, was met with thunderous applause and cheers from the masses as it made its way through the city.

The people’s joy was plain to see as they gazed upon the three Primarchs among the procession. They prayed silently for the blessings and protection of these sons of their god.

The crowd cheered, waving their arms, showering the god’s offspring with every word of praise they had ever learned. Their voices of adulation soared into the sky.

Yet Guilliman, standing in the parade, felt his sorrow deepen as he surveyed the scene before him. His superhuman senses caught the praises ringing out through the din—praises for the holy and mighty return of the Emperor’s sons, for the sanctity of the Emperor himself.

Listening to these acclamations, Guilliman forced himself to wave at the crowd, suppressing the grief that welled within him.

All that he once strove for had vanished. The age in which people valued science and truth was gone, never to return. In its place, the traitors’ wicked false scriptures had plunged the entire Imperium into a frenzy of religious faith. Guilliman could almost hear the abhorrent laughter of Lorgar echoing in his ears.

It felt to Guilliman as though Lorgar had triumphed; his vision had come to pass in the present Imperium, where faith in the Emperor now suffused all of humanity.

“How pitiful…” Guilliman thought to himself.

The parade continued on. All of Macragge was swept up in the news of Guilliman’s return, the people rejoicing throughout the day as the victory procession lasted from dawn until dusk.

After the grand parade came to an end, the three Primarchs returned to Hera Fortress to continue planning their next moves.

Aid to the surrounding worlds of Macragge commenced the very next day. The Chapters that had come to support Macragge, under Guilliman’s command, were dispatched to assist those worlds beset by the attacks of the Chaos traitors.

The Traversers joined them as well, with Wang Ming using his system to set their resurrection points directly on the worlds they were assigned to help. This allowed the Traversers to revive rapidly and continue fighting on-site.

It is worth noting that Wang Ming also procured a battleship from the Golden Age for the Traversers. He brought the ship out in the starport of Macragge, piloting it through a portal that suddenly appeared beside the docks. The vessel adjusted its course automatically and slowly came to rest above the port.

This colossal thirteen-kilometer warship became the Traversers’ main base in space. However, since they were unable to operate such a vast ship themselves, Wang Ming borrowed nine hundred crew members from Guilliman to manage the vessel.

Because it was a relic of the Golden Age, Wang Ming, right after presenting the ship, went straight to the AI control chamber and promptly removed the chip housing the ship’s artificial intelligence.

In the 40k universe, AIs are notoriously untrustworthy—at any moment, the daemonic entities of the Warp might corrupt them.