‘Heth should—’
‘Heth can’t commit Guard forces without the cooperation of the Navy, and Lansung is more interested in the glory wars against the pathetic greenskins on the frontier. That’s where he’s sending his fleets. He’s fighting border wars and claiming territory practically in his own name. And with Udo backing him, he’s pretty much got a free hand to do that.’
‘Like too many seats on the council, Lansung places his own interests above those of the Imperium,’ said Vangorich.
She nodded again.
‘Ardamantua is just six warp-weeks from Solar Approach. It’s not a frontier war. It’s on our doorstep.’
‘And?’
‘We’ve been intercepting comm-traffic between the undertaking fleet and the Chapter House. In the last ten hours, relative, problems have begun to arise. We anticipate that Mirhen will be forced to request support and reinforcement inside a week.’
‘Against a xenos threat? Against… vermin?’
She held up a hand.
‘He will need it. And Lansung won’t give it. We must make sure we apply pressure today.’
‘Pressure?’
Wienand’s soft smile tightened.
‘Mirhen may have underestimated the nature of the xenos threat.’
‘Since when did the Imperial Fists underestimate anything?’ asked Vangorich.
‘Since, I think, they were forced to act without the combined support of the Senatorum,’ she replied. ‘I believe — that is to say that the strategic planners at the Inquisition, and my immediate superiors, believe — that the Imperial Fists will require direct fleet support within the next three months in order to complete the undertaking.’
‘Or?’
‘Or the xenos threat could actually threaten the Terran Core.’
Vangorich thought about that.
‘There hasn’t been a threat inside the Core for… centuries,’ he said lightly, much more lightly than he was feeling. ‘Xenos or otherwise. It’s unthinkable.’
‘Politics could make it happen. Power play.’
He considered her carefully.
‘These… Chrome things? Really? That dangerous?’
‘We believe there is a palpable and credible xenos threat. We brought it to the attention of Udo, Lansung, Kubik and Mirhen as a Critical Situation Packet. Only Mirhen agreed on its credibility.’
‘What aren’t you telling me, Wienand?’
‘Nothing, Drakan. Nothing at all.’
She fixed him with eyes as chilly as starlight.
‘It’s the principle of this matter. Personal ambition is allowing the Senatorum to become weak and inefficient. This is a matter we have discussed before. Now it threatens to become more than a theoretical annoyance. I will not stand by and see a core world burned or overrun just to demonstrate the fatal inadequacies of the Senatorum.’
‘What are you proposing?’ he asked.
‘We bring the issue into special business. Lansung, Mesring and Udo are too strong, and too many look to them, even if we swing Heth with us. Zeck too, perhaps, because the reputation of the Adeptus Astartes is at stake and he holds them in especial regard. The point is, we don’t try to change the world overnight. All we want is the Senatorum to recognise the problem, and get Heth to propose a fifty-regiment reinforcement expedition to back up the undertaking. We basically shame Lansung into approving fleet support. The Lord High Admiral does not want to go down on the parliamentary record as the man who refused support and left the core worlds wide open.’
‘Can he commit what we need? If we embarrass the man, we could corner him.’
‘I’ve reviewed it,’ she replied, ‘carefully. There are three Segmentum quarter-fleets he could mobilise easily enough, or two vanguard attack squadrons standing off Mars. He has the resources. Thank Throne, he hasn’t sent them all to the frontier.’
Vangorich sat back and watched the fish dart about.
‘Let’s not make it a hard vote,’ he said.
‘How so?’
‘Let’s not push him or humiliate him into compliance. Let’s make the case and give Lansung the opportunity to look magnanimous.’
‘You let him be the hero of the hour?’
‘Does that matter if the Terran Core is protected? Let’s give him the opportunity to look good in the eyes of the Senatorum and the populace. Let him take it as a win. Wienand, you get much more out of people if you let them feel good about doing what you want them to do.’
