Campaign · Ultramar · Macragge · Sotha · 008.M31 — 011.M31
Imperium Secundus
The Ruinstorm cuts off the east. Guilliman proclaims a Second Imperium; Sanguinius becomes Imperator Regis — regent-emperor; Guilliman takes for himself the civil authority of the Lord Warden, the Lion the military authority of the Lord Protector. The Pharos replaces the Astronomican. The structure is dissolved when the way to Terra opens through Davin.
Outcome Dissolved by its founders. The eastern Legions are preserved as a political whole and are still late for the finale of the Siege.
Commanders
Loyalists
Traitors
Commanders
- Theatre
- Ultramar · Macragge · Sotha
- Period
- 008.M31 — 011.M31
Analysis
Secundus is a political campaign that cannot be assessed as “victory/defeat”. Guilliman acts under an emergency protocol: the Astronomican was going dark, there is no word from Terra. Installing Sanguinius as emperor is, in his eyes, a gesture of legitimacy, not of usurpation. The Lion agrees and at once becomes the threat of a coup. The Pharos on Sotha is a technical crutch for navigation; without it Secundus is a set of isolated systems. Curze inside the structure is a virus: he proves to the triumvirate that their empire is already rotting. Secundus exists exactly as long as the storm is impassable — from 009 to 011.M31. The Second Battle of Davin and Guilliman’s renunciation (both 011.M31) are an admission that Terra lives. The canon is unanimous on the main point and quarrels over the details of the trial of Curze.
Order of battle
Not a classical order of battle. The core: the XIII (wounded, still the largest), the IX (after Signus), the I (after Thramas). The enemy: the Storm, the VIII as raiders (Sotha), Curze as hostage and saboteur. The mortals of Ultramar are the fabric of the “empire”.
Turning points
- The Proclamation — Imperium Secundus Proclaimed
Sanguinius is proclaimed Imperator Regis. The Second Imperium becomes a fact that no one likes to recall afterwards.
- The Pharos — Battle of Sotha · seizure of the Pharos
Navigation in the east is switched on. Secundus acquires a nervous system — and a point where it can be struck.
- The Trial of Curze — Trial of Konrad Curze
The triumvirate nearly tears apart. The politics of the “good sons” shows its brittleness.
- The Renunciation — Guilliman Renounces Imperium Secundus
Guilliman dissolves the structure. The way to Terra matters more than the crown of Macragge.
Events of the campaign
- Imperium Secundus Proclaimed Loyalist victory
With the galaxy cleaved by the Ruinstorm and no word of the Emperor, Guilliman founded a second Imperium centred on Ultramar in order to preserve the Emperor’s legacy.
- Battle of Sotha · seizure of the Pharos Pyrrhic loyalist victory
Guided by the warp beacon after Tsagualsa, the remnants of Krukesh the Pale’s Night Lords struck without warning at the lightly defended Sotha to seize the xenos Pharos beneath Mount Pharos, the…
- Trial of Konrad Curze Inconclusive
Captured by the Lion and brought to judgement before Sanguinius on Macragge, Konrad Curze split the Triumvirate: he accused the Lion of secret orbital strikes, and Guilliman snapped his brother’s…
- Guilliman Renounces Imperium Secundus Loyalist victory
Having received signs that the Emperor was still alive, Guilliman renounced the second Imperium and swore to help Sanguinius return to Terra.
- Second Battle of Davin · breach of the Ruinstorm Loyalist victory
Pressing through the Ruinstorm, the combined fleets of the Ultramarines, Blood Angels and Dark Angels shattered a daemonic host at Davin — the world where Horus had once fallen — and with cyclonic…
Significance
The only major loyalist statehood outside Terra. It shows that the Imperium is a compact of connection, and without a beacon it multiplies.
How to look in the atlas
- Time slider 8.3…11.6, Legions filter XIII + IX + I: Secundus exists exactly as long as the Storm is impassable.
- Compare the position of Sotha at 9.3 and at 11.5 — the beacon is switched on and off together with the entire structure.
Sources
- The Unremembered Empire (D. Abnett)
- Pharos (G. Haley)
- Ruinstorm (D. Annandale)
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