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Ultimately, Guilliman was able to set course for Holy [[Terra]]. Travelling at maximum speed, his reinforcement fleet of over 3,200 capital ships was scant hours away as The Emperor battled Horus aboard the ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]''. However without the [[Astronomican]] to light the way, Guilliman's force was marooned just out of Terra's reach as at conventional speed it would take tens of thousands of years for them to eventually find the Throneworld.{{Fn|26a}} This situation reversed when, thanks to the effort of [[Euphrati Keeler]] and her faithful, the Astronomican was reactivated{{Fn|26b}} and Guilliman arrived at Terra to drive back the traitors in the wake of Horus' defeat.{{Fn|4}}
Even as fighting waged in Terra's orbit and surface, Guilliman set foot on the Throneworld with the intent of gathering the remaining loyalist Primarchs and beginning the first phase of reconquest and reconstruction. To that end, he had emissaries track down [[Rogal Dorn]], [[Vulkan]], [[Jaghatai Khan]], [[Lion El'Jonson]], and [[Leman Russ (Primarch)|Leman Russ]] alongside the [[High Lords of Terra]] and organized the [[Grand Council of Reconstruction]].{{Fn|36a}} While Dorn, Russ, and The Lion wished to immediately launch a full crusade of vengeance against the fleeing traitors, Guilliman preferred a strategy of consolidation and securing vital assets such as [[Luna]] and [[Mars]]. Thanks to the support of the newly empowered High Lords, Guilliman's strategy prevailed and the first acts of the [[Great Scouring]] were the [[Retaking of Terra]] and [[Siege of Mars]].{{Fn|36b}}
===Post-Heresy===
In the aftermath of the Great Betrayal, the Emperor had been incapacitated, and the Space Marines' numbers had been decimated by defections to [[Chaos]] and battle losses. The Ultramarines were left as the largest loyal legion, and Guilliman eventually assumed the title of [[Lord Commander of the Imperium]]. For years thereafter, Guilliman deployed and led the Ultramarines throughout the galaxy, reclaiming worlds lost to Chaos and preventing the loss of still others to rebellion or invasion from outside the Imperium. At the same time, Guilliman reorganized the Space Marine Legions as [[Chapter]]s and composed the [[Codex Astartes]], the tome that the Ultramarines (and many other chapters) follow strictly.{{Fn|3}}
Guilliman led the assault against the [[Alpha Legion]] on [[Eskrador]] in the aftermath of the Heresy, and due to the vanity of [[Alpharius]], he utilised a surprise attack at the heart of the traitors and killed Alpharius in a duel. However, he and his sons were greatly mistaken in their belief that the snake would die without the head, as indeed, the Alpha Legion's symbol is a hydra, a multi-headed serpent. The Ultramarines were soundly pushed back time and again by the traitor marines, undaunted at the loss of their Primarch. Guilliman eventually pulled his forces back into orbit and bombarded the planet from above.{{Fn|3}}
*{{Endn|34}}: [[Battlefleet Gothic: Armada II]]
*{{Endn|35}}: [[White Dwarf 455]], pg. 73
*{{Endn|36}}: [[Ashes of the Imperium (Novel)]]
**{{Endn|36a}}: Chapter 2
**{{Endn|36b}}: Chapters 16-18
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{{Primarchs}}
