The first wave of traitors that marked the beginning of the Battle of the Elisyon Fields came from the west, where traitorous nding ships spewed hordes of men and women from hundreds of different worlds. All fanatics, all convinced that they have "freed themselves" from the worship of the false Emperor, when in reality they have done nothing but exchanged a golden chain for a damned one.

  The 9th Cadian was ready to receive that horde. They would be the rocks on which the tide would fall, and this time they were intent on dying, with the same zeal with which a coward hopes to redeem himself.

  The cannons of the Phanx opened fire, hammering the chanting horde spurred on by the Dark Apostles. Hundreds turned into masses of burnt flesh and blood, but even so, they continued their charge against the positions and bayonets of the 9th.

  Disciplined volleys of ser rifles responded to that charge of darkness; corpses piled up, staining the ground with blood and creating mountains of corpses on which new dead rested. But even so, the horde pounced on the trenches and began fierce hand-to-hand combat. Insults, screams of death and grief rose in those violent cshes. The losses were unsustainable on both sides, and the 9th, although they knew this unconsciously, was about to die out. They fought like furies; the st surviving teams were ready to take as many heretics as possible with them. But someone had decided that their time hadn't come yet.

  A golden lightning bolt came between the survivors and the howling horde. A ssh of the spear with which he was equipped reaped dozens of heretical lives as easily as a sickle reaps ripe grain. The movements of that golden lightning bolt were impossible for the human eye to follow, but they were professional, precise, and lethal. But it was more his presence than his ability that gave those few seconds of hesitation among the enemy ranks.

  ?Fire!? the Custodian roared authoritatively

  The legendary Cadian discipline made the 9th squads instinctively move, and they immediately fired red ser lines that hit the hesitant heretics, making them pay dearly for the betrayal. But even though dozens of them just died, others were ready to take their pce and resume the assault.

  ?Cadians! This is your home!? the Custodian shouted, hitting the ground with his spear, ?Defend it until your st breath! Don't let those madmen desecrate it a minute longer!? he ended, heading towards the new heretical wave.

  ?For Cadia! For the Emperor!!? The cries of the Guards resounded

  When the 75th and 403rd Cadian reached the front, they saw something incredible and, at the same time, inspiring: three battered teams, all that remained of the 9th, were fighting tooth and nail, led by the Custodian who had arrived on Cadia together with the Archmagos.

  *****

  Day became night and night became day. The cycle repeated itself several times, but the battle for the Elysian Fields continued to rage. The imperial forces had no intention of giving ground, and if they did, they made sure that entire puddles of heretical blood bathed the one meter or inch the enemy had gained. The central front was maintained thanks to this raw determination and the intervention, at key points, of the Custodian: his golden armour, purple cloak and the bde of his Paragon Spear, a macabre tapestry of fresh and encrusted blood. He led and commanded Cadians by example and centuries of continually refined tactical acumen, while killing with unnatural grace and ruthlessness. What remained of the 9th was always at his side, incited by his presence to perform deeds as heroic as they were suicidal, but necessary. Never once, under his leadership and under the watchful eye of their only remaining commander, did they hesitate to carry out his orders.

  News of Abaddon's assault on the imperial command centre reached the Custodian's ears, drawing the fires of his righteous wrath, but at the same time sharpening his analytical focus even more, knowing that the Lord Casteln had survived. The battle on the surface was bloody, and both heretical and imperial blood was still being shed, but now that the command centre had been attacked and partially neutralised, he knew that the crucial moment of this battle would take pce in the catacombs, where the Archmagos was carrying out his studies on the Pylons.

  ?Commissar Katarina Steele!? he called to the vox as his spear took the lives of seven other cultists.

  ?Commands, my Lord!?

  ?Gather what's left of the 9th and follow me? he ordered, then changed the channel. ?Colonel Viktor Casteln, Major Katara Voss?

  There was only one second of waiting before the commanders of the 75th and 403rd answered the Custodian's call.

  ??Commands, my Lord!??

  ?Do you think you can hold your ground without me and without the 9th??

  ?With respect, sir, but this is a stupid question? Colonel Viktor stated seriously but amusedly.

  ?We are Cadians, sir! This is our home! We would have held our ground even without your express order... sir!? Major Katara joyfully stated

  ?Ha! So this is the renowned Cadian spirit?!? asked the Custodian approvingly ?Happy to have seen for myself that this is not a legend. Close ranks! Hold your ground! Cadia stand!?

  ??Cadia stand!?? the two commanders roared in the vox.

  After eliminating the st cultist in front of him, the 403rd squads plugged the breach that had been created with their bayonets, firing incessantly. With a smooth, dry movement of his arm, the blood on the spear bde was removed, and now, a few steps from where he had taken his st treacherous life, the remains of the 9th were awaiting his orders. Eleven exhausted and battered guards, who can only remain conscious and fight thanks to the effects of combat stims, but, despite this, determination and zeal burned in their eyes. The woman in bck cloth, typical of the members of the Prefectus Office, Commissar Katarina Steele, was guarding each of the survivors with her piercing purple eyes, ready to do her duty should a single moment of hesitation arise among the guardsmen. Seeing him arrive, the guardsmen were about to bow

  ?There is no time for formalities.? the Custodian stopped them, walking before them without stopping. ?Follow me!?

  He moved towards the entrance to the catacombs, and the guardmen did not ask him any questions. They followed him.

  ?At the beginning of this battle, on the 9th, he was dishonoured by the cowardice shown to Kasr Kraf. But you fought before my eyes and under the stern gaze of the Emperor. When this ends, it will be with pride that I will testify to your redemption.? he said, turning his gaze to that battered team. ?You have accomplished what the Imperial Guard excels at: holding the ground. I have no right to ask you more than what you have already sacrificed, and yet here I am.?

  ?What is the will of the Emperor, my Lord?? asked Katarina with her harsh tone.

  ?The Emperor's will...? began the Custodian, pausing and looking the Commissar in the eye ?you are already doing it. Every single man or woman who is dying on the battlefield, who is working in the forges, or who is simply living in His service is doing His will. Avoid stupid questions, Commissar? The tone of the Custodian was annoyed.

  ?I ask your forgiveness, my Lord!? Katarina excimed tremblingly.

  ?Forgiven and forgotten.? he said, walking again. ?Now, rephrase the question, Commissar Katarina Steele.?

  ?What are your orders, my Lord??

  *****

  Date: 999 M41

  Location: Cadia, Elysion Fields, nodal cave.

  The old Archmagos has done it.

  That was the thought that struck the Custodian when the Pylons activated. A sound that was initially inaudible for the sound of battle and now topped it too, colpsing both loyalists and traitors, their ears and noses bleeding. But that wasn't the most serious damage.

  True, the activation of the Pylons destroyed the connection the demons had with the warp, preventing them from remaining anchored to reality, but, at the same time, even the psykers and everything that had a connection through the warp were weakened irremediably... Saint Celestine, the hovered manifestation of the Emperor's will, suffered too, and the golden light, so familiar and warm to the Custodian, that the imperial Saintess emanated, had become dimmer.

  The Custodian himself was not entirely surprised. After all, the Emperor of Mankind is the most powerful psyker known to mankind, and if His will is actually channelled into the Saintess, this can only happen through warp.

  Theory aside, this fact had not gone unnoticed by Abaddon and his Bck Legion, as he renewed his attacks against the Saintess, knowing that, if she fell, the imperials would follow her.

  Shit! He cursed

  ?Support the Saintess!? incited Creed by leading a desperate assault

  The Custodian and those few men of the 9th tried to force their way into that massacre, sshing traitorous Bck Legion marines as guardmans tried to cover him with disciplined ser fire, inspired by the actions of the Guardian of the Golden Throne.

  Twice, Celestine's life was spared thanks to the sacrifice of the brave souls of the 8th Cadian, but the stalemate had transformed a battle of tactics and military manoeuvres into a bloody brawl, in which each warrior tried in every way to gain an advantage over the other. And the focal point of that brawl was the csh between Abaddon and Celestine.

  A third time. For the third time, Celestine's life was in danger, and this time the Cadians were not close enough to offer their bodies. Abaddon was so furious and focused on his opponent that he was surprised when his demonic bde, Drach'nyen, was elegantly deflected by the bde of the Custodian's Paragon Spear. Quick as lightning, the Custodian struck the Chaos Warmaster's face with the back of his hand, causing him to retreat a few steps and leaving him with a bloody nose.

  ?You will go no further, traitor.?

  The Custodian's icy voice was followed by the mechanical roar of the Bolter's bullets, mounted on his spear. The blessed bullets struck the ptes of the Terminator armour worn by Abaddon; none penetrated, but the force of the blow was enough to push the traitor further and further back.

  ?Cadia stand!? the Lord Casteln roared behind him.

  Creed joined him with a ptoon of Kasrkin, offering the enemy a new wall of flesh, ready to sacrifice themselves to allow the Saintess to survive.

  The battle for Cadia continued. An event of historical importance that would decide the fate not only of the pnet or the Imperium, but also of the gaxy itself.

  Cadia stand.