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Terra had returned to reality, and in doing so all followers of Chaos realized that their time was up.
Such a sign was obvious as the Blackstone Fortress hung in the air above the planet of Terra. Its presence was ever crushing upon their taint upon the planet yet it could not squash it. Terra had, only a few minutes ago, been within the warp itself. It was not immediate though. Such was the amount of Warp Energies that it could not neutralize it.
In truth that was a blessing. Even as the Blackstone Fortress settled itself in the skies above the Imperial Palace it could not blot out the Astronomicon. It would not cause a critical error within the Infinity Gate and it would not kill the Emperor.
These were great blessings. So great for they kept the Imperium alive even as the traitors escaped. It was an ancient wisdom that one does not block their enemy from fleeing, for if you do so then they will try everything in their power to kill you. After all, if they did not fight they would die.
The amount of forces upon Terra still under Chaos destroy the Blackstone Fortress and the fleet it brought. What it introduced was both a timer of escape and a force strong enough to force the retreat. It will harass those fleeing, but they will escape.
The Long War has only started. The Omnissiah could see this now. His sight had been cleared now as Chaos retreated once again to its crevasses within the darkness. The Traitors will keep fighting the damning fight against what was now a monolithically powerful Imperium.
The Imperium was not without wounds though. Perturabo and the Omnissiah entered through the Saturnine Gates and made their way to the core of the Imperial Palace. They both were witness to millions of people flowing from one side of the city to the other, every one of them realizing that the Siege had lifted. It was foolish to let them travel like this. The Custodian Guard however would not stop them for they now lacked the resources to keep back the tide of humanity.
It will be these people who will ultimately root out Chaos. Even an Astartes would struggle against a tide of humans who seek to lynch him or the Imperial Fists that were going to join them.
The halls of the Imperial Palace were battleshocked. Covered with several dozen wounds from artillery and infiltrations. There were several dozen Astartes and Warriors within the chamber mixed with militia. The air was mixed with unease because of the reports from the boarding party.
So tense was the atmosphere that even Perturabo seemed to shuffle under its pressure.
