# Renegades 10 Long Forgotten Sons



## gothik

Renegades 10 
Long Forgotten Sons

*It is the 31st Millennium, man has reached the stars and the glory of the Imperium of Man is at its height. The Emperor and his sons bring the worlds of man into the Imperium but, its gone wrong. The Emperor met with the beings in the warp and emerged a different man. Gone is the Imperial Truth, the Emperor believes he is now a god, vindicating all that Lorgar had preached for centuries. He has gathered those sons around him who would not betray him, The Universe is full of evil and doubt and only Horus and his armies can hope to save the humans from the laughter of thirsting gods.

But can that laughter be silenced and the Emperors power as the supreme god be recgnised, when the Emperor sends his Son of the Night to complete a mission so secret that not even Lorgar or Dorn know anything about it.
*​*
*
coming soon


----------



## gothik

Dramatis Personae:

I will add to this in due course

The God -Emperor of Mankind.

VIII Legion Astartes, The Night Lords

Nightfall - flagship of the Night Haunter and the Night Lords

Konrad Curze "Night Haunter" Primarch of the Night Lords
Jago Sevatar Sevatarion First Captain of the Night Lords "The Condemned"
Zso Sahaal - Captain of the Raptors Claws "Talonmaster"
Sheng - Captain of the Night Lords 8th Company, equerry to Curze
Krieg Acerbus - Captain of the Second Company Night Lords "Axemaster"
Vacanas Bolderious - Captain of the 12th Company Night Lords "Justice Bringer"
Malithos Kuln - Captain of the 9th Company Night Lords member of the Kryoptera
Nakara the Bloodless - Captain of the 13th Company Night Lords member of the Kryoptera
Cel Herec -Captain of the 43rd Company Night Lords member of the Kryoptera

XII Legion Astartes The World Eaters

Angron Primarch of the World Eaters
Khan - Captain of the 8th Company World Eaters and Angrons Equerry

XVII Legion Astartes The Word Bearers

Lorgar - Primarch of the Word Bearers also the Black Pope
Ishmal Terock Captain of the 120th Company Word Bearers - Lorgars Equerry

VII Legion Astartes Imperial Fists

Rogal Dorn - Primarch of the Imperial Fists and Black Templars also the Regent of Terra

XIX Legion Astartes Raven Guard

Corvius Corax – The Raven….Primarch of the XIX Legion Astartes Raven Guard.
Branne Nev – Captain of the Raptors
Agapito Nev – Captain of the Talons
Tordan Cereck – Sergeant of the Raptors
Hasan Iev – Sergeant of the Talons
Anteau Shierek - Captain of the 61st Company Raven Guard and Captain of the Raven Guard Battle Barge, Hand of Deliverance.


Imperial Army. 809th Expeditionary Fleet

Cadence Justmier - Captain of the 54th Nostraman Infanty
Elisbet Incara - Leuitenant of the 54th Nostraman Infantry
Callian Freyan - Sgt of the 54th Nostraman Infantry "Shadow warriors"
Henrie Tekara - trooper of the 54th Nostraman Infantry "Shadow Warriors"
Calissandra Unterry - trooper of the 54th Nostraman Infantry "Shadow Warriors"

Non Military

Garvan Polarick, Artist and keeper of the secret
Pestrosa Gadfran - Rememberancer


----------



## Dave T Hobbit

Is that a Marillion reference?


----------



## gothik

no i been playing Forza 3 a lot and its one of the songs on there by a band caled lyrics without reason


----------



## gothik

1.​
Darkness is his friend; it has always been his friend, the one true friend he could always count on. His home world is a world of darkness, a world that he had tamed, with his own bare hands, but not without its consequences, unlike some of his brothers he did not make friendships easy sometimes he loathed himself more than he loathed their weakness’s, that was why he was so perfect for the job his father had given him. The ability to sow terror in the hearts of others, even unease in his brothers was, at the best of times a delicious feeling. 

Yet, yet there was a part of him he feared, the visions, it was his weakness, always visions of a dramatic violent future and in some he saw his own death, never the same but when those visions plagued him, it left him weak as a child. He would remain in seclusion until the visions past, sometimes minuets’, sometimes hours and sometimes days would pass, but always left with the afterimage and a foul taste in his mouth.

Sometimes it would be his own blood, but that told him he was still alive, alive to bring justice to those who deserved a peaceful honest law abiding life, and justice to those who thought they could escape the Emperors laws. 
Such was the fear he sowed, it had been known for entire systems to surrender when they even heard a whisper that he and his sons were coming. Such was their reputation, sometimes he would just let them think he was coming and never show, but the fear was enough to keep them on the right path. Other times he would not appear when they expected him, but when they heard the words, we have come for you then that was it. They knew they were finished.

But now as his mind cleared, the vision gone, something was different. The Stygian darkness of his quarters seemed, less imposing, more welcoming, as he bathed in his true love, feeling it caress him like a lover and a son Konrad Curze relived his mission briefing.
_
The Throne room was magnificent, there was no other word for it or any word that could describe it, and no matter how many times he had been here, it never ceased to amaze him at its grandeur. He did not know how the Custodes saw the master of mankind, but as he approached the seated figure, he saw a judge, not just a judge from the old judiciary from Terra’s ancient past but a warrior judge, dressed head to toe in the colours of darkness, his features unforgiving and unreadable, resolute and stern. He bent his knee and as soon as the Custode left, the mirage was gone and once more the Emperor appeared in all his glory but not in his golden armour, he wore the finest robes and a cloak of wolf fur sat around his shoulders. 
The Emperor motioned for him to stand and, standing with him stepped down and removed the skull shaped helm from his sons head.

Konrad Curze, whilst a well-built was pale and drawn. His eyes still glazed from his waking vision and blood trickled down his pale thin lips where he had bitten them in his frenzy. Without a word, the Emperor guided his son to the seat beside him and poured him some wine, handing him it the Emperor waited until his son was back to his senses completely.

“I wish you would let me help you be at peace Konrad” he finally spoke.

Curze said nothing and in essence the Emperor did not expect him to, despite all that had happened recently, the Night Haunter was still a silent and guarded individual. He had, however seemed to come alive at his new post, recognition for what he and his sons did best and being allowed to do it in the name of the Emperors Justice.

“I was looking over your recommendation for a universal police force, you believe this would work?”

“Yes father. Judicial forces that are loyal to you and you alone, their rule would be absolute in the eyes of the law, lawbreakers would be punished to the fullest extent of Imperial Law and they would also be trained in military tactics”

“Oh?”

“Should the need arise to impose Martial Law then they would be equipped to do so”

“And where do you propose the school for these Arbites be built?”

“Terra and Nostramo father”

The Emperor turned his head as if to refill his goblet but in reality he was hiding a slight smile that had started to appear. He had already worked out that the home of justice would be a school for future keepers of justice.

“So be it son, I will allow you to shape this as you see fit, but delegate, I have a different plan for you at the moment, something that I want you and you alone to carry out, in case your rather unique skills are needed”

That piqued the Dark Kings interest; The Emperor rose to his feet and beckoned his son to follow him. Curze remained silent but, when he passed the new statue afforded to Lorgar he could not stop the sneer twisting his features, his father did not fail to notice it.

“You still do not care for Lorgar, do you” It was not a question.

“I find him insufferable” Curze replied, never one to mince his words “Father, if mankind wishes to see you as a God then that is their right and one I will agree with, however, I am not about to pledge my allegiance to faceless entities in the Warp that have nothing but games on their mind. I have instructed my Legion as such, we shall use Chaos to meet our ends if need be, but these things are not gods and therefore should not be venerated as such. 

You are the only one they should follow to that end, for you are a being we can see, talk to and touch. I would rather see my Gods then have demons voice for them. I am a being of terror and justice, I am a scion of battle and the master of the dark, I am not like Urillean, and I do not seek faith when there are other answers. However that being said, he showed his Primarch mettle when he got rid of that blasted Kor Phaeron”

The Emperor nodded “Each of you have to find your own path to mix the warrior with the diplomat, Lorgar has done that and I feel that you have yet to,”

“I am not a diplomat” Curze corrected. “There are only two maybe three brothers that I can think of that make that mix, and none of them are on our side”

He saw his father’s expression and yet did not regret what he had said, it was after all the truth. He followed the Emperor in Silence, and through to the Emperors own hall of remembrance. He did not fail to notice the black shroud covering the statue of the Khan.

“How is Vulkan?” he finally asked.

“He is recovering, for the moment I am keeping him here; he will re-join his sons when I deem him fit enough”

“And what are you going to do about Angron?”

The Emperor stopped and shot his son a quizzical look “Do what about Angron?”

“Father, he crippled Magnus and destroyed Prospero, those actions alone sent Magnus into the renegades’ hands”

The Emperor said nothing and Curze decided that it was best left alone. Eventually they came to a stop between two Statues that had been covered for decades. The Emperor looked up at them and Curze had an eerie feeling creep over him.

“They are…..”

“I know who they are, just as you do and all your brothers”

The Night Haunter stared at the long vanished faces as his father pulled the covers off. He did not know why the Rout had been sent against them, he did not even know what they had actually done to deserve such extreme censure, but the events had sent a stark warning to the other Primarchs, one that they did not speak about, ever.

“They are dead father, you sent the Wolf King after them, why show me this now?”

“Did I say that?” The Emperor asked.

“We all know that, their statues were removed and their sons were given to the Ultramarines”

“Not all their sons” The Emperor corrected.

“Enough to make Gulliman master of the largest Legion” 

“Touché” The Emperor smiled “Now, come with me I have a job for one that is better suited to one of your skills and talents.”

“What is it you want me to do? And what has it got to do with…..them?”

The Emperor turned and his eyes darkened, once more he looked like the shadow warrior that Konrad sometimes saw him as. His heart soared as he felt the Emperors Justice Persona enter his own.

“You are to find them” He pointed “Their bodies were never recovered and not all their sons went to the Ultramarines, if they are still alive, then it is time to bring them home Konrad.”

For one that never showed any emotion the Night Haunters jaw suddenly dropped and if his face could go paler it would have done. His father walked ahead leaving his son for a moment and Curze stared up at the effigies for a long moment or two._


The Night Haunter made his way to the room where the artist had been quartered; the two Terminators of the Talonmasters company saluted him as he appeared. He ignored them and walked into the room.

“Now Garvan let us talk.”


++++​


----------



## VulkansNodosaurus

Wow- no rest, eh? Well, it's an impressive beginning. If you really are bringing the two Lost Legions into this... well, they'd better be creative! 

Also, when is this in the timeline? Block 6?


----------



## gothik

The idea came to me whilst listening to the song, wether or not they find the lost Primarchs I have not decided yet, but seeing as the books have leant teasers about what might have happened and allured to why the UM are the largest Legion i thought i might play around with that. As for when it is set, it is just in block 5, thought it was time to do something with the Raven Guard and Night Lords. 

glad you like it.


----------



## gothik

++++​
He paced his stratagem restless and out of balance with his humours. He could not believe, did not want to believe that his father, the master of mankind himself, the mightiest being to have ever lived had suddenly turned everything upside down, thrown all he had taught his sons to believe away to not only validate the bloody Prophets absurd claims, but to give himself the power of long forgotten gods.

He had been a loyal son, followed the course of history that his father had set out for him, and been good on his word, for when he took over as Primarch of the Raven Guard, his father had helped bring peace to his moon and his world, and he thought they were equal in their honour. But it seemed that honour could be traded when needs be.

To think that he now had to accept that what Horus and Magnus had said was true gnawed at him, he wanted to prove them wrong, go to his father and see for himself what had happened, but all that had changed. The death of an entire company of Raven Guard at the hands of the Night Lords, all of them brought back to the Ravenspire by the Alpha Legion. Prospero gone, wiped from the star charts like she had never existed, Magnus crippled and now the Great Khan dead at the hands of his brother Vulkan. Vulkan of all people…it beggared belief; the bloody universe had gone mad.

He heaved a heavy sigh, not just that but Malcador was dead as was the greatest of the Custodes. He had just been informed that Amon Tetromach Leng had been given safe haven aboard the Indomitable Will. At least with Mortarion watching over him the Last Lion as he was being tagged had found safe harbour. 

He stopped by his window and gazed out at the star screen beyond. For countless generations mankind had believed there were other forces in the universe, be they alien or deity, well they were right about the aliens but now it seemed after a war that almost destroyed Terra to rid it of religion and superstition, now it was back again with a vengeance. Not only that, but vengeance burnt at his heart, vengeance for his lost sons and 
vengeance for the disgrace of believing a lie. Corvus Corax felt the dishonour of having a father and brothers gone mad keenly. The Raven Guard would side with his brothers, but they would do things their way.

“My lord, there is a message from Lord Gulliman for you, private”

Corax acknowledged the Vox operators message and read what had been put through to his office. He ran a hand down his face as he read the contents. Once again trouble rested on the Raven Lords shoulders and he did not know, for the first time in his long years, what to do. He needed a battle, something to take his mind off this bizarre point in history.

He got his wish. Twelve days later the Raven Guard came down on Planet 1427.

++++​
The inhabitants of 1427 were not expecting anything like the Raven Guard; in fact they were not expecting anything like the Astartes. They were brutal and violent and, no matter how many battles the inhabitants fought, they were onto a losing battle from the moment the wrathful Primarch and his sons touched down.

As he looked over the bloody field of battle Corax began to wonder on who he was taking his frustrations out on. Was it the Emperor and his brothers who had turned their back on all that had been gene written into them? Was it Gulliman for asking him to aid him in building a second Imperium? Or was it the old rivalry with Horus? Things had never been easy between him and the Lunar…no not the Lunar Wolves, the Sons of Horus that was what they were calling themselves now. He had always believed that Horus had used him and his sons to further his own glories, so much so that the two Primarchs had almost come to blows. 

Corax did not want to be under Horus’s leadership again, however he had closed the rift between them and he was not about to open that wound again over ego. Then again Horus had been the natural choice for Warmaster, he was the Emperors chosen heir and Magnus had asked everyone’s opinion on the matter in hand. He had agreed that Horus was the natural choice for dare he say it Emperor. 

But what of their own home worlds, if the Emperor was going to send Angron to do the job that the Space Wolves had done in times before, how long before Cthonia, Baal or even Deliverance fell to the same fate as Prospero? 
He accepted the surrender with a nod of the head and let the Imperial Guard take over and was about to return to his vessel when one of his sons, a young Astartes by the name of Halan Gre knelt before him.

“My apologies my Lord but both Captain Nevs require your presence in the hall of wonders”

Corax caught himself before he could laugh at the way young Gre had relayed his message, his mood lifted and clapping his hand on his sons shoulder walked with him towards the Hall of Wonders.

He found the brothers in the darkened hall, the hall had been spared most of the damage of the Titans and Astartes firepower, but there were areas that would need to be rebuilt. Walking through it Corax had been amazed at the amount of history that was here. The Rememberancers that had accompanied him would find this place a fountain of knowledge, one for the future generations of the Imperium of man to appreciate.
_
If there is a future Imperium of man _that melancholic voice spoke to him, he dismissed it angrily such thoughts belonged to the likes of Little Horus Aximand and others of a melancholic outlook, not him. He joined them and looked around wondering what had caught their attention with such a mix of sorrow, horror and a little intrigue.

“Well?” He asked them.

It was Branne Nev who pointed; Agapito was too stunned to even make any gesture. Corax followed his son’s gazes and the colour drained from his already pale features. Primarchs were not meant to feel such emotions as sorrow or shock, not in the way that Humans did but he did a good approximation of it now.

Encased in a stasis chamber was a suit of power armour. It was a dull red but had once been a brilliant sheen, silver edging and black trim. On the left pauldron Corax could make out a faded animal, a three headed dog by the looks of it but that was not all, on the battered Helm he saw the numerals II and he almost fell over in Shock at the sight.

“Corax” Agapito finally found his voice “The human here said this was found three years ago, right here”

“The Sons of Hades” Branne finally whispered then made a sign of warding.
The Second Legion were all believed wiped out, or assimilated into another Legion. Corax did not say anything for a long time and when he did he ordered the armour taken down and brought with them to the Shadow of the Raven…Corax had renamed it, unable to bear it being called the Shadow of the Emperor for much longer. 

“I want to see the man or woman that runs this place and I want to see them now!” he ordered and the brothers knew that he was not to be kept waiting.

++++​
Curze shifted uncomfortably as he waited to board the War Hound, the vessel that belonged to Angron, he had been summoned by Lorgar and Dorn to attend a council of the chosen. His Stormbird touched down in the giant hanger bay and as he descended with Captain Sheng, his Equerry and his First Captain Sevatar on either side of him, the crews in the hanger abased themselves before the master of the night. 

He was met by Kharn; the Equerry of the Red Angel himself and Curze could not help but notice the checked violent emotions that surrounded the vaunted 8th Captain. Kharn bowed his head and led them to where the others had already arrived and were seated. 

At the head of the table sat Angron, and something was happening to him, not just the scars across his face given to him by the Emperor for failure to bring Magnus and his inner circle to Terra but he appeared more, animalistic, his breathing was harsh, harsher than the Night Haunter had ever heard it before, he was like a barely restrained killer, held on a leash that could break at any time and allow the full unrestrained violence that was Angron of D’eshara loose on an unsuspecting world. 

Beside him sat the Regent of Terra, his gold armour and red cloak fitting him like a glove. Upon his forehead sat a gold Diadem that signified his new position but as ever, Dorn remained the Praetorian, the Emperors Champion and his stone features betrayed nothing of what he thought or indeed felt at what was going on around him.

Opposite him sat Lorgar, resplendent in his armour with a cloak of the finest ermine dyed black around his shoulders, his golden skin with eyes lined with kohl and tattooed with the scriptures from his own written works made Curze sneer inside. Upon his bare head sat the Papal crown but, for the sake of equality he removed it and set it before him. Curze looked around him.

“Where are Manus, Jonson and Fulgrim?” He asked, he did not mention Vulkan knowing that at the moment the Salamander Primarch was unable to travel too far, and aware that his father wanted to ensure that Vulkans recovery progressed at a suitable rate. 

“Ferrus is dealing with things on Mars” Dorn quietly said “Fulgrim is currently waging war against the Ultramar worlds and Jonson….well I am not sure what the Lion is doing,”

“Consolidating his system I expect” Angron snarled, his voice always held a hint of threat but now it was almost a permanent snarl “Or waiting to see how else he can piss off Perturabo”

“Someone needs to remind him that playing games with the Lord of Iron are not how to unman Perturabo” Lorgar sighed.

“He is acting like a petulant child” Angron snorted “Ferrus is starting to ensure our sons have their armour and weapons, denying Horus and his warriors theirs. The Pansy and his cross-dressing sons are at least doing something worthwhile, and the Lion is smarting over his personal honour because Perturabo kicked him off his LZ” Angron shook his head “The more things change, the more they stay the same”

He raised his head and arched an eyebrow at the shocked expressions on his three brothers faces, he allowed himself a smug smile, always thought he was the animal, the one that was worse than Russ and his Rout, they forget he had an educated mind too, although it was getting harder and harder to resist the voice that was baying for blood every day. It took all his will to suppress it and keep it in check and the pain eternal from the butchers nails did not make it any easier.

“And we are convened here because?” Curze asked, anxious to get on with what his father wanted of him, and aware that he was to keep it to himself.
“We need to act against the renegades” Lorgar sat forward, “They are making great gains as well as losses and half the surviving Mechanicum from Ferrus’s cull have ended up alongside Horus and our misguided brothers.”

“Then they will not be without their armour and arms for long” Dorn mused.

“No, I have recently heard of strange events going on around Cadia, although I cannot be specific as I do not have the information to depart, Typhon did inform us that Horus and Magnus asked for six sons from the Renegades, one each, of a Psyker nature but other than that I have no idea what he wants with them”

“I expect we will find out when Horus and Magnus are ready to tell us” Angron snarled. 

No one disagreed with that, at the end of the day Horus was still the Warmaster, still the one that was deemed to be the perfect Primarch. The first amongst them all and that made him more dangerous than any thought possible. 

“Way I hear it, Gulliman wants to make an Imperium Secondus” Angron yawned, a sign he was getting bored “and already the renegades are split, there are those that will follow Gulliman, like Russ and Corax, and those that will follow Horus like Sanguinius, although the Angel would find it hard to reconcile any issue against Gulliman”

“So let them have their civil war they’ll destroy each other” Curze sat back “Either they will see sense and join father in the spreading of his word or they won’t but, should the unimaginable happen and Horus win I cannot see them accepting him as Emperor, so a second Imperium with Gulliman as its warrior lord will be formed.” Curze narrowed his eyes “I am more concerned with the Alpha Legion, we do not know what they are doing and that worries me greatly”

“No need brother” Dorn motioned towards the door and as it opened a figure in *********** armour with green trim walked in through the door. 

They all stood as the Figure removed his helm to show a bald copper coloured warrior with a horrific scar down the left side of his face, one that even his healing could heal completely.

“I am Alpharius” He spoke “and I have come to pledge my allegiance to the Emperor”

++++​


----------



## gothik

++++​
Sevatar walked with his father along the corridors of Nightfall, he had not said much since returning from the War Hound and to be honest seeing Alpharius come in declaring his allegiance to the Emperor was indeed a surprise too far, still he had turned up with his vessel and of Omeagon and the Effete squad and the Omega there had been no sign.

Finally Sevatar broke the silence “What did you make of that father?”

Curze shrugged but said nothing, either he was mulling it over in his mind, or he just didn’t care, Sevatar thought it might have been a bit of both. 

“I suppose the Emperor will deal with it, could there have been a schism in the ranks of the Alpha Legion?”

Again Curze shrugged, but the slight furrow of his brow confirmed to the First Captain that was what his father had thought. He stopped by his quarters and as the First Captain took a closer look he could make out the tell-tale signs that his father was about to experience his curse once more. Quickly Sevatar guided his father into his quarters and locked the door behind him. 
He guided him to the centre of the room and sat him down, then took a place beside the doorway. Guarding his father and watching over him as the waking vision took hold of him once more…..

_It was always the same, the time he did not know, the place he did not know but the scene was the same, he was on Nostramo, his world, a world fit as a vision of justice. One of his rare trips home had seen him over see the next recruits for the Astartes and the intake of Judges, his dream of an ordered universe coming to fruition.

Suddenly the silence of the cheering crowds is as deafening as their roars of adulation and looking up the skies turn black. Astartes with jump packs, drop pods and Stormbirds start to fall towards his world, before he could react one giant amongst them lands before him, his talons as silver as the moon of Terra. _

_He moves out of the shadows like he belongs there, his breathing measured, he has come to deal death, he has come to restore the balance and he has come for the Night Haunter. As they fight he cannot see the face of the Primarch he is battling, but he knows who it is, he unsheathes his own claws, two Primarchs guided by the dictates of the night, both the best at what they do, both alike and yet so different. 

The Ravens talon strikes and cuts the Night Haunter deep, deeper than even his healing can deal with as blow after blow is rained upon him; he slashes at his enemy, cutting flesh and bone snarling his hatred, blood and spittle flying in equal measure._

_His sons are dying around him, Sevatar; his brave favoured son is cut in two as he comes to his father’s defence, sliced from sternum to abdomen, such a wound his body cannot recover from, Sheng, Zaal, Krieg they all fall under a Primarchs wrath and madness.

For there is only one Primarch who would know how to turn the Night Lords greatest strength upon themselves and as the Talons dig into his chest and rip his beating hearts from his body the face of the Raven looks down upon him with hate….._


He woke trembling violently, he was helped by a pair of strong hands and water was given to him to ease his dry throat. Once the trembling had subsided he allowed his helper to guide him to a seat and in the dim light of his own quarters he saw the concerned features of his First Captain. Nodding slightly to signify he was well, Sevatar stepped back, he bowed his head and left the Primarch to his privacy. 

He got up and lay on his bed, closed his eyes, the headache beginning at the base of his temples soon became a horrendous throb. It would not last, but for the duration he practised the techniques his father had taught him and his memory drifted back.

_“Are you going to tell me what is going on here father?”

They were now in the Leng Hall, the images of his two lost brothers burnt on his memory like a poker. He knew the story, the Emperor, for reasons of his own had sent the Wolves of Fenris after the two Legions, their Primarchs, as far as memory recalled were gone, their sons either dead, scattered or amalgamated into the other Legions….more so the Ultramarines. 

Something that had caused concern amongst the other Legions, including Horus and Sanguinius, Curze did not doubt Gullimans staunch reputation for his loyalty, it was predictable but occasionally sickening to one who lived on his wits. _

_The Emperor had allowed no further details to be parted not even to his heir Horus, which had puzzled the first among them greatly. Of course the rumours had flown around as so often they did, they were tainted, they had committed some atrocity in the name of other beings, they had defied the Emperors edicts, but whatever the reason, it would remain just that, rumours. 

Curze had wondered why his father was giving him this top secret mission with one hand, and yet unwilling to speak more of it on the other, as good as he was, he was no mind reader and in order for him to complete his task, he needed to have all the information to hand._

_“Do you remember their home worlds Konrad?” His father never called him Night Haunter, and whilst it had been a source of irritation for him, he had grown to accept the fact that his father was being….well fatherly to him, for the first time in centuries Konrad Curze finally felt like he had a father.

“One was a world that some might have put to the ancient descriptions of Hell as far as I recall” he had said “The other a world of raging storms and eternal rain”_

_They stood on the Balcony and the Emperor could see his changing world, mighty Cathedrals were being raised in his name, pilgrims from across Terra were making the journey to see him or even to touch the walls of the holy palace. On Nostramo the populace avoided Curze’s residence, as if even coming near the hallowed walls of the Night Haunter would bring his curse upon them all. Stories were told to the children by their parents, behave and do as the law says, otherwise the Night Haunter will come for you.

He had to admit it worked, crime was almost non-existent on his world now, of course he knew what he would do should that ever change, every one of his brother’s knew what he would do, and his people knew too, of course he had taken their sons, but not to maim or kill for his own ideals of justice, but to serve as his sons._

_It all added to the mystery of the Night Haunter and the Night Lords. The Emperor caught the eye of a child, and raised his hand in greeting, almost immediately the child was swamped by the faithful, Curze saw a Word Bearer amongst them, and taking an oath of moment attached to his armour, he gave it to the mother of the child, the child was nine maybe ten and almost immediately the child was taken.

The Emperor smiled a little “Another son for Lorgar” he indulged “Go to the world of Storms” He suddenly said “let no one stop you, let no one know what you are doing but find me any Astartes still there and bring them here.”

“And if their fathers still live?”_

_“Them too but with Leman having done the work I told him, I doubt it very much”

“You do know that if anyone else finds out about this on the Renegades side then we will have a battle on our hands?”

“Then do not let them find out Konrad, and if they do, well you know what to do”

Konrad Curze bowed his head and walked away. He stopped to look in on Vulkan and exchange pleasantries with the silent Primarch, he had never had a problem with Vulkan, in fact he had admired some of his brothers own world’s cult practises. Once he had spent time with his brother he re-joined his vessel and left Terra._

He fell into a sleep but not before telling the master of his vessel where to go, there was to be no questions and no debate, these were his orders as given him by the Emperor.


----------



## Deus Mortis

This is epic gothik. I really hope that the Alpha Legion are doing a reverse of the HH where they are told to work for Chaos, but still I hoped they would be on the renegades side. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

I also like how Curze had been portrayed thus far. Corax too


----------



## gothik

The Alpha Legion APPEAR to have split, but as we all know, not everything is as it seems with them....thanks Corax i know little about, but from what i have read and in Delieverance as well, i always thought they were the mirror oppersite of the Night Lords.


----------



## gothik

2.​
The terrified man was brought before the Raven; he had urinated several times as he was led to where the glowering Primarch now stood. Corax, however knowing the effect that he might have on the human ordered him to be allowed to clean himself up. 

Even so, after changing into a fresh pair of clothes, that did not stop the trembling and the poor man thought that he was going to piss himself again, however this time he did not, be he could not bring himself to look up at the giant before him. The Astartes were giants in armour, but the man now standing with his arms folded was taller than that….a god and all he could do was fall to his knees and on his face, terrified that this man was going to smite him down.

Corax felt his annoyance drain away he altered his stance and told the man to stand and asked him his name.

“Ba…Bauman Lord”

“Is that your Christian or surname?” He asked.

“It is my name Lord”

“Ok, Bauman perhaps you could tell us how you came by the suit of armour that had sat here?”

Bauman read the description and nodded “We found it Lord, three years ago”

“Where did you find it do you think you could you show me on this map?” 

Corax laid a map of the area he had conquered a few short hours ago on the table and waited as the nervous human took a long look at it. As the man studied the map Corax took a look over him. The human was in his mid-forties he guessed, his hair a salt and pepper colour, his skin a dark tone of brown, the only jewellery he wore was a band on his ring finger. 

Corax had no idea what the idea behind marriage was, as a warrior he had never had time to explore any feelings like that, then again he did not suppose he was ever inclined to, it was not written into his gene code. He had seen the warriors in his Imperial Armies form complex emotional relationships and, on occasion had the honour of binding two human warriors together, understanding that what the Astartes did not need, humans did. 

So he had no wish to keep the man from his wife and family, he just wanted to know where to go to continue his investigation. After a few moments, Bauman pointed to a region that appeared to be darker than any other area on the map.

“The Mountains of Mourn, this is where we found it, we were relieved that there was no body, for only giants” He paused for a moment nervously looking around him “only giants would wear that”

Corax did think of asking the man for a moment if he would escort them, but he was already scared enough, so instead he asked him to show his Captains how to get there and then let him go back to his family. Branne watched the man almost run out of the hall.

Agapito turned from his amused observance of the human and his amusement faded as he saw the expression on his father’s face. “Will you inform the Warmaster?” He reluctantly asked.

“When there is something to tell him, yes” Corax mused “For now I want this kept in-house.” Corax looked at the map “Just me and you two, let’s go”

++++​
The Emperor read the communication from Lorgar and Dorn, Lorgar would be continuing on his way, but Dorn was returning home, with Alpharius. The Emperor rubbed his jaw as Dorn outlined what Alpharius had actually said but Lorgar had also added a side message saying that, knowing how the Alpha Legion operated he was not altogether certain that it was Alpharius. 

The Emperor would know, he would always know, no matter how clever they were, what father did not know his own sons? It would be a few weeks before they arrived back here and he turned his mind onto the mission he had given the Night Haunter. 

He could have given this to Rogal or even Lorgar but he had felt this was more Konrads niche, besides he wanted his most distant son to feel that he was important. The Night Lords were doing what they were wrought for, and very successfully too he noted with some pride. It was hard to think that he was going to censure them and Konrad for striking Rogal. 

“Boys will be boys” he mused to himself.

Perhaps when this mission had been fulfilled he would send Konrad after Amon, he would get whatever Malcador had put in his Custodes head and he would bring Amon back into the fold, he had lost his oldest friend and Amon was like a brother to Constantin, the two were always in each other’s company….had always been, he corrected himself.

He had not wanted it that way, he did not want to lose his oldest friend and his own brother, there was no other Psyker like Malcador, well not including Magnus and for now Magnus was beyond his reach. So why did he feel the need to re-visit old ghosts. He had dealt with the Second and Eleventh hadn’t he? But something in the ether had told him otherwise, he had been communing with the other gods when he has sensed a change in the warp, a slight change granted and almost un-noticeable, but one never the less, the tell-tale sign of one or two of his sons. 

Ones that he thought gone, maybe Russ had not been as through as he had thought, perhaps the Wolf King could not bring himself to finish the task set out for him, whatever the reason it was puzzling to him. He could not leave Terra, not with his webway needing constant vigilance and his Imperium needing his guiding light, so he had despatched Konrad to do the job he knew he would find more to his taste than anything else he had done lately. 

He was certain it was just his own grief at what had happened playing tricks with his mind, but Russ had said that some escaped, and if that was the case he would offer them the hand of forgiveness, because if he was honest he needed all the warriors he could get, he knew Horus and his Renegades would come to Holy Terra, it was inevitable but he did not want to be caught napping, something he would never be accused ever, it would take a while, they would need to build more powerbases, reclaim worlds from his rule and he was not about to let too many fall into his misguided sons hands. 

He closed his eyes and sent his mind searching for Lorgar; he would give Lorgar something to sink his teeth into and something that he was ultimately entirely capable off.

++++​


----------



## gothik

++++​
The Mountains of Mourn were well named. The rest of the planet was wet and marshy, it had caused some of the Imperial Army…correction his human army, problems but nothing that could not be resolved, however once he and his two Captains landed on the track that the Human had shown them they were hit by a fine penetrating rain and fog that in places was so thick it even gave the Astartes and their father a few problems seeing further than their hands.

“I wonder if this is how the sons of the Lion feel when it rains on Caliban” Agapito murmured and tightened his grip on his bolter “It’s a wonder anyone makes a living on this swimming pool of a world”

“That’s why we protect humankind my son” Corax glanced at him “Because they have the tenacity to make a living out of a world that does not give up its wealth so easily”

Branne stopped as a roar echoed along the ridges, he shook his head “Seems the wildlife may not want us here either, no wonder the caretaker did not want to come here”

They remained on alert, wondering if they would see the creature that had made that loud threatening noise, as they made their way along the paths they could see the huts of miners, by the state of them they were long ago abandoned. Whether it was through the mines drying up or whatever lived up here none of them could say, but seeing the cobwebs that stretched across the mines entrance, nothing had been worked here in a long while.

Branne murmured something about the Mechanicum wanting to make use of them and Agapito made a mental map of where each mining town they passed was, so that a full report could be given to the Mechanicum when they returned to the Shadow of the Raven. He didn’t know if he would ever get used to calling her that, but like so much lately he would have to get used to the changing tides.

They walked for a few Kilometres, Branne had risen on his thrusters but the fog made it difficult to see anything and so for the sake of his sanity and safety, he had suggested they remain on foot. Corax had not seemed that bothered about the walk and by the rare peaceful expression on his now wet face, he was thoroughly enjoying it.

His coal black hair stuck to his handsome visage and his eyes took in everything around him, he was the Raven Lord, the master of Deliverance and happier in the skies, but sometimes it was nice to just be on a world that would offer a challenge to those who would inhabit it and this was one such world.

“Corvus” 

Agapito cleared his throat, he and his brother had been part of the Primarchs rebellion during the Civil war that freed them from their overseers and when they were alone, they addressed their father by his first name, never in the presence of others, it was a sign of the bond he had with the two brothers 

“Why do you suppose a member of the second would be here?”

Corax stopped where and took in the sights around him once more, he had wondered that himself and he had tried to think of an answer, more to the point why leave his armour? Was he afraid that someone would see him in it and end his life in a meaningless cull? No Astartes knew any fear, but they did have an aversion to pointless death. Death should come on the field of battle, at the hands of an enemy, not at the hands of their own cousins or brothers. 

Although the way things were now, that was a bit pointless really. “I don’t know Ag” He quietly replied, “maybe he wanted to forget his past glories and humiliations, maybe he was injured or dying and could not bear to die in the armour that had ended his honour? I do not know, but if the humans found no remains, no body then what’s to say where he is now”

 Branne rounded a corner and came face to face with the biggest creature he had ever seen. It stood about five meters tall with a long snake like neck but was thicker than even an Astartes neck. Its head was like an ancient Dragon head with row upon row of razor sharp teeth. It walked on its hind legs, two powerful muscles laden limbs that ended with claws that could rend flesh from bone in a matter of minutes. Its two arms seemed strangely misshapen and out of place on a large body, for they looked like the arms of a young adult male.

“Now we know why the mines are empty” Corax signed as he looked up.

The three men attacked, but it was not going to be an easy fight, for despite its bulk it could move relatively quicker than they believed it could. Agapito, attempting an attack from behind was sent hurtling into the rocks to the side of him, his armour protested at the force by blinking its runes at him. If he did not know better he would say it was swearing at him, as it was he was winded. 

He got to his feet in time to see his brother with his arms round the neck of the beast being swayed about like some bizarre dance partner. His swearing came in short gasps and as he raised his arm to dig his talons in, he was unceremoniously deposited high into the trees. 

If the beast was not so dangerous Agapito would have laughed at it, but then he saw why it was Corax was their Primarch, their Lord and their Father. He descended from the clouds above like some black clad angel from ancient texts. His arms a little outstretched and the Ravens claws shining despite the dull weather. 

He looked the beast in the eye and with two lightning strikes attacked the head. The Left eye disappeared in blood and gore as the talons ripped it out and the right side of the head vanished, the beast did not die straight away, too hurt to continue it wandered off, Agapito made to follow it but Corax stopped him.

“Let it go, everything has a right to die where they want”

Branne came back brushing his armour of the twigs and leaves that had attached like limpets to him “Well that’s why there are no more miners”

“I don’t see how humans would satisfy something like that” His brother removed his helm and scratched his forehead.

“It would have taken the livestock too” Branne added “When we were battling in area designate 43, there were some pretty big creatures the natives were using as rides” 

Corax let them have their discussion; something else had caught his eye. Had they not been looking they might not have found it, an almost hidden opening in the rocks. When the brothers realised that their Primarch had wandered off, they looked around and found the opening themselves this was where he had gone, with a sigh they both followed him and caught up with him as he wandered along the path.

Branne wanted to tell him off, but thought better of it, after all Corax, like his own brothers, did pretty much what he wanted. They activated their armours lights as the darkness enveloped them and, for the first time since coming on their trek with their father, they felt comfortable. Darkness worked with them and for them and this was the only comparison to the Night Lords they agreed with.

Corax said nothing, his memory lost to the scouring as he and others called it. The Sons of Hades always had been a little different to their cousins, their world a vision of hell, like an old book that Corax had read once, something Inferno…he couldn’t remember the full title, but the image of one man’s descriptions of Hell had stayed with him. 

He had never been to the Home world of the Sons, but he had heard about it from Horus and Sanguinius, both of whom had found their brother Charion…there he said it, a name that he had not spoken of or thought about since that day. If Mortarion was the master of Death, then Charion was indeed its keeper. 

His sons fought through Terrains sometimes too harsh for other Legions. Their endless battles to free their system and the worlds of Man had won them laurels, but Charion did not want to believe their Father was the rightful ruler of Mankind, often he had spoken about how he disagreed with the Emperors edicts, that no man had the right to be absolute ruler as absolute power corrupts absolutely, a view that had Dorn and even Corax himself incensed, this was their father he was talking about, but it was the Lion who started the road to ruin for the Second Legion.

Much like the Company Captains in any of the Legions, there was a rivalry, between his Captains and others it was never much more than battle honours, after all they did what they did for the glory of the Legion. But with Lion and Charion it was more than that, Charion had his honour and his martial pride and – for reasons that Corax still did not know – the Lion told him he had no place amongst honourable brothers if that was how he was going to talk about their father. 

Tensions between them got too much and, on a joint compliance against the Orks Charion and the Lion came to blows, it was different to the fight between Curze and Dorn, this was all out animosity, Legion turned against Legion. The Wolves were sent to bring the Sons in but Charion was not about to face what he saw as his father’s one sided justice. He had done fine without him or anyone else and he would continue to do so.

Everything else after that was a mystery, not even Leman spoke of it, and the Wolf King was not quite the same after that. Corax had respected Charion, but he was not close to him, Charion didn’t get close to his brothers, except Perturabo, Curze and Mortarion, they could claim a bond with the pale skinned albino haired Primarch. 

He returned to the present and locked his memories away once more, there were something’s that were not worth remembering, and for the unease it set off in the master of the Ravenspire, this was one of them time. He focused himself on the job at hand, if any of the Sons of Hades survived, then this was a time to forgive and extend the hand of brotherhood, because no matter what else was going on personal battles or the war against their father, never was a time more needed for unity.


++++​


----------



## gothik

++++​
The Hand of Deliverance flew through the ocean of stars as if it deserved to be there, the battle barge of the 61st Company of the Raven Guard was enjoying the rare moment of freedom and the peace of the moment, one that was usually rare in their life afforded the Commander a moment or two to reflect on what was happening.

He did not know what to do, as a Terran born Astartes given the gene of Corax he had a duty to the Emperor, but, as so many of his brothers, his loyalty was to Corax, the man whose ideal and image he was modelled on. He did not believe in what the Emperor was doing, if he thought for one moment there was a good outcome to this then he might have followed others from other Legions, but he did not. 

As a child he had grown up in a community that had been the last to ditch the religious icons of the past. Some of his village community had taken longer to accept that there were no gods and that there was no big being of supernatural and omnipotent power to carve mankind’s destiny, all that was what man and woman themselves made. Now everything he had been conditioned to believe was thrown away in the trash like some worn out old Axim, what distressed him most, or at least a close approximation to it, Magnus was crippled by Angron and the Khan was dead at the hands of Vulkan no less. Prospero was gone, Mars was under the stewardship of the Gorgon himself and Lorgar was Pope….Pope? what a ridiculous title for a Primarch, even if Lorgar had always been a little zealous in his beliefs that once upon a time had no place in the Imperium. 

Malcador was dead, the Regent himself, now replaced by the Praetorian and that in itself made the Raven Guard Captain feel worse, he would have expected it from the likes of Angron and Curze and even Lorgar, they always were a little unstable in their temperaments, but Dorn? Now that was unexpected and unwelcome at the same time. He was snapped from his musings by the sound of the proximity alert going off, and as he began ordering for information he had an uneasy feeling wash over him. 
On the screen, where the star field was the only sight for him, suddenly a jump point opened and an Astartes Capital ship came through, cloaked in midnight clad, he felt a mix of his hearts jumping at the sight and the gorge rising in his throat as he realised what it was. 

“Night Lords” Sergeant Uneses breathed slowly beside him.

“Not just any Night Lords old friend” Captain Anteau Shierek swallowed heavily, “But THE Night Lord, that’s the Nightfall and that means…..”

“Curze” Uneses snarled.

“Have they seen us?”

“No Lord, they are continuing on their course”

“I want vox silence and I want only essential systems running” He ordered 
“What are you planning Brother Captain?”

The Captain looked at his Sergeant, a grim expression on his face “I want to see that they are doing, and I want to see what is so important that the Night Haunter himself is on the case, whatever the case maybe”

“Shouldn’t we inform our Father?” 

“Cal, when there is something to tell him and when it is safe to do so without them picking it up I will do so, until then we will recon the situation and maybe we will get to settle an old score”

“Corax wants that honour Brother” His Sergeant warned

“I am not stupid,” Shierek snapped “I am not about to take on a Primarch alone, I am on about maybe wiping out a company of theirs and finally showing that the Raven Guard are the true masters of the dark, not some deranged lunatics who get off on causing fear and terror”

Uneses shook his head, his Captain had thirsted for revenge against the Night Lords after the Death of the 152nd Company, he suspected it was because his genetic cousin had died there, the only link to a past that he had all but forgotten, and sometimes they say the sons of Deliverance were stubborn, maybe that should apply more to the Sons of Terra.

Despite his misgivings Calastros Uneses stood behind his Captains Command Throne and watched as the Hand of Deliverance went silent running observing the path of the Night Lords flagship, it would be good too good to get revenge for the fallen brothers, but it would also serve no purpose if another company was lost. Besides he knew the failure of loss, better than anyone on this ship and better than anyone in his Legion, more so than even the Primarch.


++++​

Corax stopped as they came out of the opening and into a rain sodden, fog laden valley that might, at one point have been paradise. Branne was now muttering about how he was fed up with the rain and although he was not about to catch the common cold, he still did not feel comfortable walking when he felt better suited to the air.

Corax understood that sentiment, they were the Raven Guard, the pinnacle of the Assault marines, even Horus had admitted that the Raven Guard were the best of the best when it came to Assault, strike and stealth tactics. The Raven Guard were better suited to ariel assaults, that did not mean that they could no launch ground attacks, for they were just as ferocious as any of the Legions in that area, but ariel warfare suited their needs and training and indeed their mind-set more. But he was determined to see this through, if nothing else than to satisfy his curiosity about that armour. 

They trekked across the marshlands the mud caking their power armour, although it did not slow them down, there were not many things that slow a Primarch and his sons down. He was about to turn around and head back when a large shape loomed out of the thick white shroud like death itself. As they neared the object they saw that it was a vessel, and not just any vessel but an Astartes vessel. 

“That explains why it is so forlorn here” Agapito observed “When it crashed it must have destroyed at least the majority of the wildlife and anyone who lived here too”

Corax didn’t speak, he was too busy looking over the stricken vessel, great rents in her sides like a whale being attacked by sharks, he could see the image in his head now, crew members, engineering crews and their overseers, Naval officers even Astartes being blown out into the cold vacuum of space. Astartes would survive a little longer thanks to their gene enhancements but even that was limited.

Something had hit this vessel and hit her hard; perhaps it had fought a mighty battle in the skies above and brought her down, whatever had happened there was no way she had been here for just three years. The undergrowth had started to make her part of the landscape, lichen and moss had been growing in abundance and had looked like it made itself at home.

A few trees had surrounded it like ancient guardians any damage had a branch growing out of it vines coming down curling themselves around wrecked conduits and pipes like slender lovers in an eternal tryst, The two Captains and their Primarch father had to cut their way through the overgrowth until they eventually found their way through to a clearer path. 

There as a feeling of foreboding in the air, like they were trespassing in a place that they did not belong. The dead lingered here and as they made their way through, Corax thought he could see ghostly replays of the crews’ day to day life, and their deaths. Of course that was ridiculous but he was not about to ridicule it, there was a legend on old Terra, that buildings and sunken vessels held the memories of the dead like a sponge.

None of them spoke, people had died here and to utter anything would be desecrating the souls that might still reside here. It was a superstitious thought and out of place, but that did not stop the feeling. They all could picture the last moments of the ship and its crew, it was not hard, they had all seen the effects galactic warfare had, sometimes it was worse than a ground assault, they saw their enemies faces, those in the ships did not see their enemies faces, just the last moment of their lives as a flurry of torpedoes came towards them spilling their doom.

Branne never really gave the lower decks a thought when he was aboard his vessel, but after this he would, he forgot that they worked hard, in harsh conditions, where their life expectancy was less than that of an Imperial Guardsman. They made their own rules below decks, even had their own culture, sort of a community within a community. 

No, he had not given it a second thought but here and now, sensing on some level the horrific deaths the men and women who lived, worked, loved and socialised on these deck must have gone through was enough to give him pause for thought and, as he glanced at his genetic brother he could sense the same thoughts running through his mind. Many of the civilian crews who worked the big Navy vessels longed for life on an Astartes vessel, life was harder in terms of discipline but the conditions were a little better. 

They paused by what was the Astartes Company Chambers, Corax paused and for a moment muttered something beyond his sons hearing. They continued walking and entered the Chambers, what they saw took their collective breaths away it was then that Corax felt himself begin to sway and both the Captains moved as one to catch him as he fell and sank to his knees.

There before them was a giant glass coffin and there inside, his arms folded across his chest, two coins over his eyes was a giant of a man, the wounds that killed him obvious to them, bigger than an Astartes this could only be one thing…a Primarch.

“Charion” Corax breathed and bowed his head.


----------



## gothik

+++++​
He was scared of that there was no doubt, as the Lord of the Night stood before him once more he could feel the fear in his pent up body being leeched out of him, almost like a vampire taking the last drop of blood from a body, and was the father of the Night Lords growing before his eyes? He shook his head to clear the image, as big as a Primarch was, he did not want to think that what his eyes were telling him was true, it was a trick it had to be, being on a ship that had constant low lighting to replicate the eternal night of Nostramo had stated to take a toll on his eyes. 

Curze eased his giant frame into the chair across from his guest and took stock of the quarters that had been given to their passenger. When Curze had picked him up several weeks ago he had been a strong willed man, worthy of being the so called Keeper of the Secret, the secret that was passed to him from his father and his father’s father. Now he looked like prey caught in the lights of the more powerful hunter.

“You are being treated well” Curze’s deep and dangerous voice always appeared to be on the edge of sanity. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t but one thing was for certain, you did not ignore any questions the Primarch directed at you. 

His strength was legendary and the history surrounding him almost mythical and his temperament changeable. If you did not want to meet the Night Haunter side of him, you stayed on the side of Konrad Curze. Garvan Polarick had heard the fearful whispers of other humans, that Konrad Curze and the Night Haunter were two separate entities living in one body. Depending on the Primarchs mood, depended on which one came to the fore.

“Yes my lord” he whispered.

“Sit up man” Curze amiably spoke “I come to you in peace, no need to cower like a child, sit tall and proud as I know your family to be.” Curze handed him a tankard “Try some Nostraman Ale, not as powerful as some but certainly potent, it won’t burn your stuff like the shit the sons of Fenris drink either”

Polarick took the drink and sat taller, but not so tall as to display arrogance, besides the presence of the Primarch cowed all that, sort of wiped it all away and made any human quite forget that they were human and not some pile of quivering sycophantic mush. He was in his mid-forties but time in the Night Lords Company had aged him, his brown hair was lank and had lost its life, but his grey eyes held the knowledge given to him and one that right now he wished had not been passed onto him. 

“Tell me Garvan” Curze adjusted his position “why were your family chosen to be the keepers? I am curious?”

Polarick did not want to look at the pale faced giant across from him, it merely awakened the realm of nightmares that had haunted his sleep, and his waking hours if he was honest, since he had been brought aboard Nightfall. 
But no matter how hard he tried to block out the mass of genetic perfection he could not. In the dingy lighting of Nightfall, the Night Haunter seemed to rise and swell, as if he was the master of the shadows, he might well have been, had the Primarch Corax not had the same affinity with the shadows as the Night Lord did.

“My great-grandfather was witness to the fate of the two who shall not be remembered” Polarick miserably replied, in the age of re-born superstition, it seemed fitting that he use such language.

“No human was present” Curze responded.

“My great-grandfather was Fenris born, his great-great uncle had been chosen to be one of the warriors of Fenris and he walked beside them as a member of the Army of the Fenris children. Because of his memory he was chosen by the Emperor to bear witness, an honour that any man should feel and not refuse, one did not refuse the All-father”

“The Emperors own record keeper then?”

“Yes Lord, Jovan saw everything that happened, even took part in it and, as per the All-Fathers wishes he kept a memory record, and then was asked to keep it sacred and secret to pass it onto the eldest son only, should the Emperor ever need to recollect those days”

“The Keeper of the Secret, I would have thought it would have been an Astartes”

“It was an unusual choice”

“So, why do you not live on your ancestral world?”

“I was born on the ice world of Holdarth, I left when I was 16, the memories locked in my mind are driving me insane, so I am not able to live like a normal man”

Curze smiled a little “You are in good Company then”

Polarick did not know what to make of that so said nothing. He kept his gaze fixed on the table and started patting hiss shirt down. 

“Missing something?”

“My Tabac sticks” He whispered. 

Curze turned and made a motion to the woman by the door, she bowed her head and reaching into her top pocket, she took a fresh pack out of her pocket and a lighter and lay them on the table. Curze motioned with his head and she left them alone. The Primarch watched as with shaking hands, Polarick lit his tabac stick and drew in a long shaky breath. 

“So tell me how these secrets were imprinted into you, are you Psykers?” 

Polarick made the sign of warding and shook his head vigorously “When I was 10 I was taken to the Mechanicum where a meme was placed inside my skull and all the secrets were downloaded into it and into my brain”

Curze had suspected as much. He could see why the Emperor chose a human now, an Astartes might think to make use of this information to further them, but a human would be too scared of the repercussions for betraying an edict that came from the Emperor himself.

“Tell me Garvan, why would the Emperor want a record of that which even we Primarchs do not speak of?”

Polarick arched an eyebrow and looked up for the first time since he had started talking to the dark Primarch “I thought you might know Lord, you being sent by the Emperor and all…it’s the Gene-seed”

Curze sat back, letting a hiss escape his throat now that was very interesting, very interesting indeed.

+++++​
Corax closed his eyes as his hand touched the casket saying a benediction to a lost brother, he did not expect what happened next. His consciousness was filled with the images of the Primarchs final days, days that would seemingly render true today. He gasped aloud and sank to his knees overwhelmed by what he was seeing, Branne and Agapito made to rush to his side but he snarled at them to stay away. Shocked by the venom in their fathers’ voice, the two genetic brothers stepped back; all they could do was watch as Corax relieved his brothers last moments……

_“Is this what you are reduced to now Leman, being the Emperors genetic assassin?”

Charion was an imposing figure, even in his gene bred state, his jet black armour lined with red trim and the symbol of a three headed dog forged into a clasp that held his dark red cloak in place. In his Left hand was a bolter made from the darkest black metal…Soul Keeper it had been named and for good reason, anyone shot with it was surrounded in a dark light, almost as if their souls were being sucked from them, then immolated. It was a painful and horrific death, one that even an Astartes did not fancy being on the end off, for then their legacy stored in their gene-seed would be gone. Almost as if they had never existed, and today some of the Rout had been on the receiving end of the Soul Keeper. _

_In his right hand, a powerful mighty Trident, forged by the hands of the Gorgon himself, balanced, sharp and deadly, able to cut through power armour like a knife through butter, rend human flesh into tattered bloody strips. 

His Albino white hair sat in a single punk strip and tied into a tight pony tail, at the end a metal Morningstar ball already bloody from the lives he had taken. They had come to his homeworld, sent by his bastard father to try them for crimes that had been perceived as dangerous to the stability of the Imperium, subversive._

_“The Imperial Truth is the law Charion” Russ evenly said “You are to bring the worlds you bring to illumination into the Imperial Truth, no gods, no magic, all manners of faith to be destroyed, only faith in themselves and the Imperium is what is required.”

Charions white eyes lit up with mirth, he had no pupils, his eyes were filled white, a mutation maybe? Russ did not know, all he knew was he was here to bring his brother and nephews in, they had refused and blood had been spilt. 
_
_“You and I both know that this is nothing to do with that, it’s to do with my….beating of the Lion” Charion snarled “He does not like to be made to look a fool”

“I don’t blame you for that” Russ conceded “but he is still your brother and your humiliated him, father could not let that and other subversive behaviour pass”

“HAH!” Charion spread his arms wide as he uttered his sarcastic laugh “Then where is my accuser? Too wrapped up in his own machinations to come and accuse me to my face?”_

_“He is around” Russ mysteriously said.

“My work has kept the worlds in this lawless Segmentum within Imperial Law, I am a son of the Imperium Wolf King, but I have seen what father will become, a mad god, drunk with power who would see those sons who did not conform to his will dead! Mark my words Lord of Fenris, what you do here today will come back and bite your hairy ass”

“Enough Charion, lay down your arms, come in with me and I will stand by you brother, order your elite to stand down”

“I will do no such thing….” _

_The Second Primarch hefted his Trident and threw it as if it were no more than a javelin; Russ dodged out the way and then turned as he heard what sounded like a mechanised scream. Brother Haffinjer, a respected warrior interned into a dreadnought half a century ago writhed as the Trident struck deep into his sarcophagus, the fluid that suspended his mangled body slipped from the broken tomb he called home. Russ stared, uttered a disbelieving shout and launched himself at his brother.

The two Primarchs fought like gods of old, the ground shook as blow after blow landed, Russ, so caught in the rage of a beast, mourning his son’s death gritted his teeth as spittle flew from his parted lips, his canines elongated, ready to tear out his enemies’ throat. _

_Charion was no weakling and for each blow the Wolf King landed, he landed one twice as hard, blood flowed from rents in their respective armours, but despite the battle around them Russ was always destined to win. He let a roar erupt from his lips and drove his clenched fist full forced through Charions breast plate and with a yank pulled out both his hearts.

Charion sank to his knees, his body going into shock and his eyes focussed on the two dripping hearts that were clenched in Russ’s massive fist. Russ lost his rage and in shock at what he had done he dropped to one knee and tried to stuff the hearts back inside his brothers’ body.

“I am sorry Char, I am sorry”
_
_Charions eyes flickered as his body convulsed. He looked up to see a golden armoured warrior above him and Russ raised his head.

“Father….can’t you save him…”

The Emperor glared down at his son and remained stoic; Charion gave a bloody half smile and died without a word. _

Corax finally moved from the sarcophagus stunned at what he had seen, it wasn’t just the violence of his brother’s death, and it was the expression on his father’s face. Uncaring, indifferent…it was like looking upon the face of a different man, If Corax had any doubts about his father’s new status they vanished in a haze of shock and amazement.

Had the Second Legion Primarch seen what was to come? It was true that each of them had some part of their fathers’ abilities; however it had manifested stronger in some sons than in others. Curze, Sanguinius, Lorgar and the most powerful of them all Magnus were known to have their fathers’ power in the fields of the Psyker. He did not know if Charion was ever that strong, but if what he had just seen was to be believed, his brother had reached out from beyond the veil. Corax had some ability but nothing on the scale of his aforementioned brothers. 

_I committed no sin Corvus, I was marked for death for knowing what he had done and what he had become_

Corax span round as the voice entered his mind unbidden he glanced at his two sons who were continuing with their work and he made his way back to his brothers’ tomb. 

_You are still alive?_

He got no answer and if Corvus Corax did not believe in ghosts before…he did now. Branne called him over and showed him a data slate; Corax took it and took one last look around him.

“We will bury him here” He finally said “This is befitting a tomb as any and I cannot see anyone else finding him”

“What about the armour Lord?” Agapito asked.

“I suspect it was thrown from the ship when it crashed here” Corax sighed “I think the crew that were here are all dead, they were the last of his sons that remained loyal and I suspect they wanted to get him away, mourn him. With the damage that was done to the vessel I am surprised they even got here”

He located a spot that looked peaceful enough and built a pyre, after a while he set his brothers body alight and watched it burn.


----------



## gothik

+++++​
Corax sat in the seclusion of his private sanctum, he was looking over the still sealed data packet, he hadn’t opened it, he was disturbed by the voice he heard, was Charion a seer, did he know what was going to happen to him? Did he know what was going to happen to the Emperor and the fate of his Legion? To have his sons either dead, incarcerated or split across the other Legions’, most notably the Ultramarines? So many questions and not enough answers. 

With a sigh he got up and stood before the holo-communicator, he waited and then when he was ready he pressed the receive button and there, before him stood Horus and Sanguinius. Corax was stunned by how drained Horus looked, not only was he having to deal with their fathers madness, but the threat of a second Imperium looming, for the first time since they met, Corax felt a degree of pity for Horus. It was all well and good Roboute building a second Imperium but they really needed to deal with the present one first.

Sanguinius as ever looked his noble and resplendent self, of them all, even Horus proclaimed that Sanguinius was the best of them all, that he should have been Warmaster, something that the Angel of Baal always refuted. As Horus’s closest brother and confident, he felt his role best served as his brothers conscience. 

“Greetings Raven Lord” Horus inclined his head “What is wrong brother?”

“Horus, Sang” Corax returned the greeting “You might want to sit down, I have something I need to discuss with you”

By the time he had finished his tale his brothers were staring at him jaws agape. Corax stepped back a little and pressing a side rune, the armour they had retrieved came into the light of his brothers’ views. 

“Was he still alive Cor?” Horus asked, using the affectation that his closest sons used in private and Corax finally felt equal to his brother.

“No Horus, I gave him a warrior’s funeral, rather than leave him there”

Horus closed his eyes as Sanguinius said “What happened to the Sons of Hades gene seed?”

Corax shrugged “I assumed it was destroyed or put in with Gullimans stock”

Horus rubbed his brow “The Emperor alone knows where that is and he will want it, I would if I were him. Cor, up to finding out where our lost nephews’ gene-seed is? Can’t let it fall into their hands,”

“Especially if the rumours were to be believed,” Corax added “You can count on me Warmaster….my brother”

Horus smiled a little “The lords of battle are with you Corvus” 

“And you Horus”

Corax stepped back and returned to his seat. The rumours about the Sons other abilities seemed to be true. On the field of battle they could vibrate through the reality stream and emerge behind enemy lines making their attacks almost unbreakable. Corax did not want to think about what would happen if the Imperials got their hands on that ability.

He finally touched the runes on the side of the data packet and as his genetic code was entered into the memory banks the screen resolved itself and Corax found himself reading the intimate thoughts the First Captain Cerona. He sat back as he realised this was written in the last days of their escape time to get to work…..


----------



## VulkansNodosaurus

Humph. Interesting, though I'd have thought Corax would land on Guilliman's side (eventually, at least) because:

1. He dislikes Horus.
2. The core of the Horus-Guilliman debate here is "just put Horus on the throne and get back to life as normal" vs. "rebuild the Imperium from the ground up". Conservative vs. liberal, in other words. Corax seems to fall more into the liberal camp here. (Interesting fact: at some point in canon, Corax tried to write a handbook for Imperial governors. He definitely has a reformer side- Deliverance, even.)
3. Without him, Russ is the only Primarch supporting Guilliman wholeheartedly, which feels very lopsided.


----------



## gothik

i have always seen Corax as a pragmatist, he has (in this au) some peace with Horus, but dont think he will go all out and see him as Emperor, for now there is a job to do and he is concentrating on that before he declairs his options.


----------



## gothik

3.​
From a distance the planet looked to all intense and purpose like a snow ball that was wracked by an occasional light storm, as Nightfall drew closer it was a different story altogether. The planet was wreathed in hurricane clouds for as far as the eye could see; the light show was massive electrical storms that raged as much as the hurricanes. Krieg stood watching the approach vector with nothing more than a blank look on his face. He was a hard man to read, known as the Axemaster; he was a true son of Nostramo who embraced his father’s promotion with the violent zeal that he had known in his human life.

To be let loose on a world that lacked the order vision of his father was like a release valve and when the Axemaster let loose, there was no forgiveness, no pity, just the purity of order and justice. He had no idea why they had come here; the human that had been named The Keeper of The Secret had spent the last few days on the bridge beside the Primarch. Sevatar had also been present and seemed to have formed a friendship with the human. Krieg had little time for humans, except one group and as he left the bridge, he headed down to the Imperial Army barracks on the vessel. 


They trained alone, separate from their own brothers and sisters, always in the company of the Astartes and as such seemed to be chosen by the vaunted Second Captain as attachment to his Company. Twelve men and women all chosen for their skills and abilities, taken from the 54th Nostraman Infantry and renamed the “Shadow Warriors”, a name the Primarch himself had bestowed upon them after their camouflage skills had helped win a victory against the humans on Planet Astrana, their Lieutenant had taken it upon herself to use her invite, the Astartes had been blocked in by the guns on the battlements, they had found a break in the wall and came in. 

So impressed was the father of night that he bestowed upon them the ranks of honorary Night Lords, something he had never done, he also renamed them the Shadow Warriors and took them away from the main Imperial Army. He had decreed that they train with the Astartes of the Axemaster; they were given a new uniform, their camouflaged clothing incorporated into the armour and raised above their comrades. 

Lieutenant Elisbet Incara might have been attractive once. She was a tall woman with shorn black hair, a tattoo of a winged skull sat over her left eye and her left eye itself was cybernetic after losing it in a bar fight. Years of fighting in extreme theatres of war had taken its toll on her looks over the years, now she appeared to be a scarred grizzled veteran of many fire fights, the only difference was, and she was respected and beloved by the other Shadow Warriors, even the CO Captain Cadence Justmier deferred to her uncanny battle skills. As respected as he was he did not have the same adoration that the others showed the Lt. 

She was currently pounding a boxing bag; the sweat poured off her brow and had drenched her vest top, the sheen across her scarred chest made the scars stand out more. Krieg folded his arms and watched her for a moment or two, she reminded him of someone when he was a mortal. Although that woman would be long dead now, still Incara had a ruthless streak that had marked her out as a ganger in her youth. 

“Take a rest Elisbet” He softly spoke.

She jumped a little startled; she had been so engrossed in what she was doing she had not heard him approach. She moved to one knee immediately.
“My apologies Lord, I did not see you there”

“Stand up Lieutenant, no need for that, honour is done”

Had it been anyone else, he would have left them on their knee, but she was an equal in his eyes. If the Emperors’ plans for a sisterhood went through, than he would insist that the woman before him became part of it, she had proved her devotion to the Emperor, more often than not, but he was also aware that, like the other members of her squad her first loyalty was to the Primarch.

He looked around and picked up her rifle, and tossing her it he pointed to the range “it is time to practise Elisbet,”

“Does the Primarch have a task for us Lord?”

Krieg nodded “However this is one task that cannot be written down in your battle honours or stitched onto your company banner,” he raised his hand to forestall any query “What you will do alongside us you do not only for your adopted father, but the Emperor as well”

She bowed deeply “As you will it Axemaster”


++++​

The Hand of Deliverance translated into the system with barely a ripple, this area of space was unknown to them and Captain Shierek had no idea why the Night Lords would be here. There were no Imperial settlements here to enforce the Imperial rule, as far as the star charts explained nothing lived here, and had not done so for many decades.

Petrous Gadfran, one of the few Rememberancers left aboard the Raven Guard vessel stood beside Shierek. A tall woman she looked elegant in her fine silken top and suede bottoms. Her blonde hair tied back into a tight bun that made her slender face appear classical in its intensity. Her blue eyes watched the screen, still amazed that she had been asked to come to the bridge to advise the Astartes Captain.

Shierek had asked her for one reason; her knowledge on most of the worlds of the Imperium, discovered by the Raven Guard and other Legions was quite impressive. He assumed that she would take the post offered her by Corax himself as a lecturer when the civil war was over. For now, he wanted to make use of her education. He was a simple warrior, raised during the upheaval of Corax’s rebellion against the overseers, all he knew was to fight, and education was restricted to the privileged children of the former masters of Deliverance. 

He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he read Corax’s latest missive. When the war was over, when balance had been restored, then the Raven Guard would join with the Ultramarines and Space Wolves to build a second Imperium…but only when this madness was over. Of course there had been rumours that the Warrior King had been stock building the worlds of Ultramar for that reason, a second hidden Empire within an Empire, now that seemed to be coming truth more than just scuttle butt. 

That is if there was anything left of Ultramar after the Emperors Children had finished with it, that was not going so well if reports were to be believed. He shook his head free of such maudlin thoughts, he had a job to do, and one of them was to find out why the Night Lords had come to a dead system. He supposed it was to establish a colony for the Emperor, if that was the case he would take it from them, claim it for the Raven Guard and show the Night Lords once and for all who was the better of the two Legions of night. 

Uneses looked uneasy and Shierek did not know why, ever since they had translated into the system, his usually stoic Sargent had taken himself to his arming chamber to do what he did not know. He would deal with that soon, right now he wanted to know all the female had to tell him. 

She bowed her head as he addressed her and cleared her throat. “There are no records here Lord except for a curios exploration undertaken by the Mechanicum in conjunction with the Space Wolves under Captain Jorvik. 

There are eight planets in the system, two gas giants, an ice world, a desert world, three dead worlds and a world perpetuated by storms. The Planet of Storms as it was named was deemed unsuitable to colonise, even with the Mechanicums vast terraforming abilities, it was believed that the atmosphere was just too unstable to sustain.”

“And yet the Night Lords are heading there, why I wonder, could the Emperor have change his mind? Does the Mechanicum along with their Iron Hand masters have some way of calming the storms?” The Captain spoke his thoughts aloud.

He knew that there was not a world around that the Mechanicum could not tame, for some reason, something other than what was listed in the star charts, they had left that world alone, and Shierek wanted to know why. His senses told him there was more to this than some notation in the books of knowledge. 

Uneses swallowed heavily and heaved a sigh, what did it matter now, the Night Lords were here and all efforts made by the survivors had gone to nothing. “It is the home world of the 11th Legion Astartes the Storm Riders” He quietly spoke. Every set of eyes on the bridge turned to face him. “My birth world” he added.


----------



## gothik

i will be continuing this arc, just at the moment i am recovering after a health scare and my writing juices are not flowing for this right now.


----------



## Over Two Meters Tall!

Excellent story arc!! This has been a Herculean task and I really hope your health and inspiraton are doing better. Storm Riders... I like the sound of them already.


----------



## gothik

++++​

Horus paced his private sanctum, as ever, his Mournival were in attendance. Sanguinius had returned to his ship, his own duties more urgent now since the call from Corax. This was what Horus had called his favoured sons to him for. This was what they needed to hear, if what Corax had said was true, then in all retrospect any secrecy was flying out the window. If his father, his misguided and changed father wanted to recapture the essence of the the two who were struck from the records, then every Primarch fighting with Horus needed to know this. 

“Forgive me Sire” Aximand frowned “but are you saying the Raven Lord found a lost Primarch?”

“That’s exactly what I said.” Horus leant against his mantle and stared out the window into space “Charion, the Primarch of the Sons of Hades, his body was found by Corax and two of his Captains, the brothers”

“Ah” Torgaddon nodded “Agapito and Branne, they are Lord Corvius' closest advisor’s”

“And, as I am doing with you four, sworn to secrecy, although I need not get you to do that as I know our conversations are sacrosanct.” 

“That they are Lord” Loken bowed his head “Was the Lord alive?”

Horus shook his head “No, he has been dead a long time, even Primarchs succumb to their wounds if they are not tended to almost immediately. Even then it is advisable to be the Emperor, after all he made us. Corax gave him a warriors funeral, something Sanguinius and I totally agree with. 

Charion is not the reason I called you here, well not completely anyway. Corax believes as do Sanguinius and I, that the Emperors forces are looking for the lost, we think they are looking for survivors, or indeed the gene seed.”

“But I was under the impression that any survivors went to Gulliman, and that any gene seed found was destroyed” Abaddon frowned.

“So it would have first appeared. We were gathered and given some of the neophytes and the scouts. The other survivors swore allegiance to Gulliman and became Ultramarines, forbidden to speak of their creation. Those that did not follow the line laid to them, died. Angron and a couple of others snarled that it was unfair as the move in effect made the Ultramarines the largest Legion, something that none of us can argue with. 

So Malcador allowed us to choose two companies to become part of our Legions, to become something to make them penitent for the crimes of their fathers and a chance to still serve. It appeased Angron but the outcome was the same. The Top tier companies and the bodyguards refused to bow to another master, but it is generally believed that the First and second Captains from both Legions told their brothers to accept the armistice.”

“If I were them I would have asked them to silently fight in their fathers names” Abaddon muttered.

“I am sure they did, but they could never speak of it again, they were accepted into the ranks and only the Primarchs knew their names and the names of their fathers. I myself have spoken with the captains and their companies and they are loyal to me, not the Emperor in fact one of them stated that it felt like history repeating itself, for which I agreed, and no Ezickle I will not say who it is, they have earnt the right to be Lunar Wolves and Sons of Horus, I am honouring their wish to be a part of something better, even if I allow them to do some deeds in the name of their fathers, all be it silently.”

The mighty First Captain bowed to his fathers wishes, he would not break Horus's word either but he already had an idea who they were, but he would not call them out on it, they had been brothers in arms and they would die Sons of Horus. No matter their genetics.

“My Lord, what exactly did the two Legions do that got them Expunged?” Loken asked.

Horus's eyes grew dark and foreboding, a sign that there was shame and anger flying in his veins although which was paramount, Loken could not tell, and it did not vanish as quick as it had come, it stayed there. The venom in Horus's voice was overwhelming.

“They disagreed with the Emperor, they alone saw what he was doing and they acted in their own ways to stop this ascension of evil. Charion had warned about the Emperors dealings with things in the Warp, but he was silenced by an act of pettiness on the Lions part.” Horus took the ale that Torgaddon gave him and stared into it, running his finger round the lip of the flagon “Lion knew that Charions temperament would not broke insult against his honour or his beliefs and a fight ensued, worse than the one between Curze and Dorn. When Charion spoke his beliefs he was censured, by the Wolves, although I always had a feeling that Leman did not really want to do that. As we all did though, father ordered them culled and that is what the Wolves did. I bet he is regretting that now”

“I know we have not always seen eye to eye with the Wolves, but I would agree to that one sire” Aximand nodded slowly “in some ways this madness has changed a few many things. Who would have thought ten years ago or even five years ago that the Wolves and Thousand Sons would be as close as they are now”

Horus smirked dryly and drank some ale, savouring the harsh taste of Cthonian ale then he spoke again.

“Adonnas was the Primarch of the Storm Riders. They could have put the White Scars to shame, the way they rode those bikes into battle. He had travelled with father for about three years, he was a potent Psyker, not in Magnus's league but perhaps the same as Sanguinius, the last time I spoke to him, he said he had a warning, that Charion had been right. I never got to find out what that was. 

The Emperor declared that Adonnas and his sons were touched by the beings of the warp, that their fathers ability to bring down great storms to cover his sons and their allies advances were warp magic’s, aided by beings of the warp that no true Astarte should ever see. Father declared that he had his proof and that the home-world of the Storm Riders was a hive of witches and warlocks.

It was all the words that the Wolves and World Eaters needed, he sent them both after the Riders, very few of them survived, if I recall maybe two thousand. The Worlds Eaters were very thorough” Horus shook his head “Adonnas's body was never found although Angron claims he cut it up and cast it to the storms that wracked their home-world, when the ships left the world was hidden away, cast off the galactic maps and forgotten about. We were then called to a conclave on Terra, told what had happened and told never to speak of it again. This is the first time I have spoken of it in over a century”
“I remember” Abaddon whispered “You were very distant for a while”

“Now you know why. I would wonder what was so bad that they had to pay with their lives. A part of me believed what the Emperor had said, why wouldn't I? He was the Emperor, my father, what he said was for the best of intentions true. But some part of me, the independent side always wondered if there was more than he was telling, something he never wanted revealed. Now it seems that the long forgotten sons are calling out from their graves.” 

“Do you need us to aid Corax?” Torgaddon asked.

“Not yet, I am sure if he needs aid he will ask, things between Corax and myself have cooled a little and we are mending, no this is what I want, have our spy network work within the Word Bearers and Imperial Fists, lets hope they have not been discovered. The moment you get reports back from them, let me know so I can let Corax know. This is how I am going to help him, I think Corvius wants to prove something to himself and maybe others and I am going to let him.”

“I'll get on it right away” Loken got up

“And I want the Night Lords watched”

“The Night Lords?” Torgaddon asked “Why?”

“Because father will not want everyone knowing his plans and the Night Lords are the one Legion that will complete his mission without the others knowing, but if I know them bastards they will slip up.” Horus clenched his fist and said no more. 

His sons left but they were left with the feeling that the betrayal of the Night Lords Primarch was the one that Horus felt deeply. He had been close to Curze but now, now it was as if he did not know him at all.


----------



## gothik

4.​

He paced the walls of the mighty half world spanning palace, his golden armour glinting in the watery sunlight. Those mortals who worked along the many miles of the Imperial Palace scuttled out of his way, not wanting to look upon the darkened face of the Regent. Where once he was revered as a hero amongst the heroes, a Primarch equal in affection to Sanguinius and Horus, his name exalted in high places, now he was among the feared. His mighty gold clad warriors stood guard at every point on the wall, and when they weren't guarding the home of the god of mankind they were defending the home system of mankind against the heretic and the alien. 

His black and white clad sons were feared in equal measure, many human worlds feared the wrath of the Templars, they were sent to quell rebellion and when they did so, they did it without hesitation, there were no innocent in their eyes, only the children were taken, the future of the Templars, Imperial Fists and Custodes were assured. Lord High Marshal Sigismund was the exemplar of the creed of the Templars, the former First Captain of the mighty Imperial Fists, brash and headstrong he would face any enemy head on, charge into impossible situations and come out on top, no matter what the stature of the enemy. 

It had been whispered that Angron was holding Sigismund as an example to his own doctrines, one that Dorn was not happy about. Sigismund was to all intense and purposes reckless, but, to the Praetorians way of thinking, he was never defeated and his intense belief in the Emperor and his son made him not only the ideal choice to be the Emperors Champion, but the Chapter Master of a Chapter designed wholly around the edicts of the Imperial Creed. 

Sigismund was not one for sitting on his arse and Dorn had recently placed them on permanent crusade, to root out out the heretic legions of his brothers who would not follow their father. So far the Templars had become quite efficient in that business. Despite this, Dorn was changing. He did not follow any one Chaos god, truth be told he followed none of them, they held nothing for him, he did not hold truck with any daemons and he despised the idea of one of his sons becoming one of them. Let Lorgar and the others deal with the denizens of the warp, he did not want his sons becoming slaves to those things. 

But at night, when he slept he was plagued by dreams, dreams that would have him waking in a cold sweat, A being that was nothing he had ever seen before whispered words into his mind, appeared in his dreams, telling him that he was more than his father, more than those brothers who fell their souls to the chaos gods, that he was in fact something more than that, he could be the greatest scion of the future, a world with no chaos and no self important immortal, but his work must be done in secret, not for the eyes of the others.

He would wake bolting from the dreams of a being that was not a man and not a beast, that was half black and white. The name had not been revealed to him, but at the moment he was not sure he wanted to know. He stood on the ramparts and overlooked Albion, some of his own sons came from this land and he pulled his cloak around him, cold, wet and windy.

Rogal Dorn did not like the way this was turning out, he did not like the idea of daemons being part of the Legions, some part of him couldn't help but think his father had gone about this the wrong way, and now, if his own spies were to be believed, Curze was off on some secret mission into the long forbidden zone. To do what he did not know all he knew was his father had sent the master of the night to oversee this mission. 

The voice whispered in his mind once more, telling him that like himself, Curze did not truck with daemons, he had no time for the Chaos Gods, he did not care, he was a renegade and perhaps the two brothers were more alike than they cared to believe. It was a subtle thought but one that for once, Dorn did not laugh at or dismiss out of hand. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, deep in thought, he cared little for the pantheon, he was a warrior and the lord of Terra, not something he wanted to be, but something he had to be. 

Something to balance out the power play..........


++++​


----------



## gothik

The Planet of Storms was aptly named, electrical storms lashed the skies like some neon dance, every now and then striking out to touch the land below sending electrical sparks rolling away. Hurricane force winds battered the land and seas into a frenzy and as the Stormbird decked in the midnight blue and single winged skull icon of the Night Lords flew overhead, lighting sparked off its hull in places making it look more fearsome then it already did. 

It circled the area that it had been ordered to scout out and descended into a rock covered valley. The ship master had pinpointed this area as the only place he could find not affected by the ferocity of the storms. It was also the one place he could find that was safe for the Shadow Warriors to move about, without fear of being electrocuted or blown into the jagged rocks that littered the landscapes. 

The Shadow Warriors moved into protective positions, areas that were safe enough for them but, where they could get the best view of what was around them. They heard the whine of another Stormbird but did not break their concentration. When they were certain that all was clear only then did they focus their attention on the Stormbird as it landed. As the occupants alighted they moved to one knee and bowed their heads, not daring to look until ordered. 

The Axemaster came down first, his bolter swinging left and right, followed by the Prince of Crows and finally came the master of the Night himself. A small contingent of the Second Company. Incara kept her eyes fixed firmly on the ground, her heart hammering in her chest and when a claw lightly touched her shoulder she thought she might faint at the honour. 

“Rise my child” The voice softly spoke “You and your warriors need not bow in my presence, you are one of mine”

Incara and her squad rose to their feet and straightened themselves up. Their left arms came across their breast plates in salute then stood at ease.

“We are in the right Area First Captain?” The Primarch turned his attention to his favoured son. 

“According to the historian, aye lord” Sevatar nodded and looked around, tutting under his breathe he ordered the last member of the landing team to get out here. Eventually the terrified man emerged. He wore protective armour but to Incara and her squad, he looked like a prey creature surrounded by prey animals. 

Polarick had never been here, never set foot here, but as he came onto the surface of the planet of storms his mind was assaulted by memories that were not his, yet passed to him by order of the Emperor, to keep the secret safe. It was these memories that had forced him to live in a world of seclusion, never staying in one place for fear of being thrown into a mad house or captured by those out for revenge. 

Not every son of the Storm Riders had died, not every son had joined the Legions of their uncles, they had vanished from sight. Where not even the Emperor knew, but over the years his father and fathers father had the uncanny feeling they were being watched or followed. Something that had made them more secluded over the years. 

Curze cocked his head a little as the human fell to his knees, his hands to his head and wailing. Had the mortal gone mad? What was he seeing here that was causing him such distress. Incara and Captain Justmier helped the Keeper of the Secret stand. Krieg glanced at the Captain. She was a brave woman who let her Lieutenant take most of the command posts. Justmier was not a youngster any more and Incara was her protégée. She was handing the reigns over and the Lioness of the Shadow Warriors was getting ready to fight her last. He had to respect her for that. 

“Pull yourself together man” Justmier snarled “You are in the presence of the master of the night himself. Do not soil yourself in his presence or I will cut out your spleen and make you eat it!”

The First Captain chuckled as his hearing picked up what she had just said, even though she had all but whispered it in Polaricks ear. 

“The images” He moaned “I cannot take it”

“You will endure” She barked “You are Human, not some snivelling xeno cretin, endure it will make you stronger”

“What images?” The Primarch Ordered “Tell me what you see!”

Polarick whimpered and almost lost his footing once more, if it were not for the two women holding him he might well have done. A painful squeeze on his arm made him yelp. Incara had no time for snivelling whining people. The only reason she did not kill him where he stood was because he was important to the Father and that was reason enough.

Polarick yelped but, the pain shooting up his arm made his fear retreat for a moment. His eyes glazed over white and the two Shadow Warriors let go, backing away for a moment, their pistols raised, believing themselves in the presence of a witch. Acerbus steadied them and shook his head. 

*++Easy my brave sisters, he is no witch, not in the sense you understand, he is a Keeper of the Emperors greatest secret, his mind has been altered to accommodate the information he has been passed++*

The two women relaxed but they were still uneasy around the now taller standing Polarick. Curze folded his arms across his chest. He may not have been as broad as Angron or Russ, and his whole physiology made him more the master of death than his brother Mortarion, but he still cut a powerful figure. Black hair framed his gaunt pale features and still he was a son of the Emperor. Yet even here, watching the now silent mortal he was struck by the sheer power that glowed around the man. 

Certainly his father knew what he was doing to the line of the Fenris humans who bared this burden. He certainly understood the madness that came with it. Polarick was young for a human but he would age quickly. In a way he hoped the mortal had no children to pass this onto, they would certainly endure the same life their sire had that was for certain. To be blunt about it, this was no life for a mortal not born with the witch sight or who was not an Astartes. 

He waited patiently as the human walked around the clearing, seemingly guided by whatever he was seeing in his head. Polarick was searching for something...no not searching....watching. It was like he was a scout watching, he watched the skies above as the storm struck its fury once more. He walked around touching the cliff face behind them and stopped. Moving his hand over a leaver a door opened in the cliff face. 

“They retreated through here. They needed to get to their Primarch, to protect him from the Eater of Worlds and his hounds.” Polaricks voice sounded distant “The Eater of Worlds wanted to claim their fathers head before the Wolf King, the Wolf King was calling for surrender, The Eater of Worlds wanted only death and blood”

Sevatar glanced at his father “It would seem Angron has been keeping secrets himself”

“So it would seem my son” Curze mumbled “So it would seem...lets move, get the Shadow Warriors out of this storm, we will be lucky, they might not be so.”


+++++​
Uneses watched his Captain pace his quarters, he paused a couple of times to look at his Sargent then resumed his pacing. He had sent a message to the Father to tell them they had followed the Night Lords and were told to wait for further instructions. Uneses and his revelation that he had been born on that seething world of storms had shocked Shierek to the core. 

“You were a Storm Rider?” He finally asked. Uneses nodded but said nothing, “You were a rider of storms, the Legion that betrayed the Emperor!”

“We did not betray the Emperor” Uneses barked “He betrayed us”

“And how did he do that?”

“He -” Uneses swallowed his anger “I am forbidden to speak of it”

“And he does well not too” Both Astartes turned to see Corax come into the Captains chamber and immediately moved to one knee. He bid them rise and closed the door behind him “Where are the Night Lords?”

“Planet surface Lord” Shierek told his father.

“Then get a team together, lets give my brother a surprise he won't forget, Uneses a word in private”

“Yes My lord”

Corax waited until they were alone and turned to face the former Storm Rider “I want to know everything you know about that day, no holding back the future of all you know will depened on it. I want to know where the secrets of the Riders are kept and I want to know fast. Believe me my son, if Curze gets there first then this war we are fighting, this madness will be over and it won't be good”

Uneses swallowed “On one condition Uncle” Corax arched an eyebrow “I go with you. I want to save my legacy and my home from that crawling death dealer”

Corax nodded and folded his arms across his chest “Deal, now begin.”


----------



## VulkansNodosaurus

Excellent. It begins....

The interesting thing is that Warp-taint is a believable reason to clear a Legion out from our perspective, more so than from the characters' one. Though I suppose the Legions are learning at least the basics of Chaos now. So the Emperor was probably moved by a genuine concern when he got rid of the Storm Riders, but at the same time his judgment was probably already twisted. Perhaps he realized one of his Legions was following Chaos, and assumed it was the one directly speaking out against his rule rather than the one keeping it secret. But at the same time, the beginning of the arrogance that ultimately led to corruption was showing itself.

And then we have the XII joining on the extermination mission. That's proof that Adonnas was seen as more dangerous than Charion, and also - perhaps - proof that the Emperor didn't really mind if the XII and VI came to blows. The two Legions didn't get along, but perhaps the Emperor planned to get rid of the potentially disloyal World Eaters? And then corruption, and if Angron asks him now he would say that it was an attempt to train him to be an executioner.

And Dorn tilting towards Malice. I had, in truth, expected that to be Ferrus, with Dorn's Legion being devoted to the Emperor as a Chaos God. But this makes plenty of sense too; Dorn turned through loyalty to his father, and will do his duty, but hates Chaos and himself and... and the god of hate and paradox was always a good fit for him. Though Sigismund may well disagree....

Keep up the good work!


----------



## gothik

thanks i was reading a short story about the Sons of Malice and remembered him as a renegade chaos god from my WHFRP days so, although Dorn loves his father and would die for him, he has no intentions of seeing any of his sons become like the Word Bearers or World Eaters. 

More will be revealed soon finally get the ideas flowing for this again...taken a while,


----------



## gothik

++++​
Shierek moved through the Barracks a little annoyed, of course it was an honour to have the Primarch aboard his vessel, but why was he not informed of the Primarchs arrival? Surely someone had the wits about them to inform the master of the ship that someone as vaunted as Corvus Corax was aboard his ship...this was the Primarch of the Raven Guard for crying out loud...you could not mistake him for a normal Astartes.

“Corax never breaks protocol” he spoke aloud “What idiot didn't tell me the Primarch was aboard”

“He didn't want anyone to know he was aboard until it was too late to do anything about it” A deep voice behind him made him stop and turn. Branne Nev stepped out of the shadows and stood before the Captain of the 61st Company.

“My lord” The beleaguered Captain bowed his head at the presence of the Second Captain and one of Corax's close circle. 

“Forget that Anteau, lets walk.” The two men fell into step “I apologise on behalf of our father, he does not like leaving his sons in the dark but with a Night Lords vessel nearby he could not risk them being alerted to his presence by radio chatter. We came in under cloak and came to the dark side of the moon and teleported across. A most...discerning way to travel I must say”

Shierek shook his head “Branne, what is going on”

The Second Captain glanced at the younger Captain and his voice took a solemn cadence to it. “Digging up old ghosts and preventing their memories and sacrifices being used for the cause of madness”


++++​

Uneses was silent for a long time and Corax let him gather his thoughts. He was returning to a place in his memories that he had been forbidden to return to. Corax felt for his adopted son, his whole life and identity had been changed again. 

“The people of Sturmgarten, the planet of storms as you know it Lord, lived deep within a cave complex, like those on Calth. The weather patterns make it too dangerous to remain above ground for too long. When there are breaks in the season they last maybe three months but there is always another hurricane on the way. 

The seas swirl with the anger of the storms and the lightning strikes with more voltage than those that strike Terra or Caliban. When Adonnas landed here it was believed he would be struck dead by the storms, but instead he seemed to absorb it and calm them. Now I know that it was his own psychic abilities, he was what I suppose others in days past would call a Shaman.” Uneses shrugged and paused. Corax waited for the Sargent to continue.

“He tamed our people, moved us to the underground city where our people could live without fear of being struck by the lightning or swallowed by the storms. He brought the clans under one banner and he ruled like a warlord, worthy of our love and respect, so when the Emperor came it was only natural that we in turn would follow the father of our father.”

“So were Adonnas and Charion of the same opinion?” Corax asked “Is that why they rebelled against the rule of the Emperor?”

“I cannot answer that question Lord, I just know that my father and Lord Charion met twice, once on the field of battle against the Inargur and second in private, behind closed doors, no bodyguards. What I do know is after that meeting My Lord was wary around the Emperor and would listen where others would not”

Corax nodded and rubbed his jaw, “So what happened the day of the banishment?”

Uneses wrung his hands and for the first time in a long time, sorrow crossed his face. “The Wolf King told us to lay our arms down, for our father to come peacefully, he did not want it ending the same way it had with The Sons of Hades. My father told Lord Russ that he was the one mistaken, that the Emperor was a being who was long corrupt, in times before even the Primarchs existence, when Terra was more than she is now.”

“What did he mean?”

“I do not know Lord Corax, the Wolf King did not have a chance to answer when the Red Angel himself came to ground. He said he was taking control and if the Storm Riders did not surrender then we would all be executed to the last man and serf for failing the Emperors edicts. The Wolf King was incensed by this usurpation of what he saw as his mission, but it would not have done to show any disagreement between the two brothers in front of their men.”

Corax knew that too, and he could only imagine the emotions coursing through the Wolf King at Angrons words. Russ was a proud man, a warrior who was directed by his code of honour and his strength of arms. There was no love lost between the Wolves or the World Eaters, the only thing they had in common was the fact they were the Emperors own exterminators. Send them in when there was no diplomacy to be had that was how they were wrought and how they would remain.

“So how did those who were amalgamated into the other legions survive?”

“The Chapter Novitiates, Scouts and younger Astartes were told to surrender into the hands of the Wolf King. I was also told by the First Captain to go, I did not want to, I was one of the First Company, but First Captain Klyne told me that some of us have to survive, to remember the legacy and fight for the Legions honour, even if we were forbidden to talk of it. All in all Six Thousand of us were amalgamated into other Legions. The rest died on Sturmgarten. I watched as my father, having dealt with Russ was struck through by Angron, a fist clean through his chest, his hearts clenched in the Primarchs bloody fist. Not even a Primarch can survive that.”

“No” Corax whispered “No I doubt we would”

“The inner sanctum was closed with the Apothecary’s and gene techs inside, nothing the other Legions could do would open the doors so it was bombed from orbit. They thought it was over but it wasn't, not really. You see the Inner Sanctum was the most secure area of the Fortress, that was where the Gene-seed was stored, and the Emperor knew that lord.”

“So Adonnas was not warp tainted?”

“NO!” Uneses forcefully spoke, the love for his murdered father coming to the front. Corax arched an eyebrow but said nothing. Uneses drew in a deep breath and calmed his Choler “Forgive me Uncle, you were very good in taking me and some of my brothers in to become Raven Guard. The Emperor told you all Adonnas and Charion were Warp Tainted, the only way he could explain the Sons of Hades abilities and our affinity with speed, why we the Storm Riders could out ride the White Scars and perform ariel feats that would have the Night Lords and Raven Guard in awe, in truth, my Captain told me, in truth it was the Emperor who was not as he seemed, and that he had us going to war over every little slight against his rule. 

The Imperium of man can only be created with absolute rule and absolute power in the hands of the Emperor. There can be no freedom except the freedoms he offered. As Astartes we do as we are ordered, out Fathers see more than we do. Adonnas had almost convinced the Wolf King to pa lay, but Angron.....he did not want to waste the opportunity of taking a brother Primarchs head, how else was he to prove to his father that his sons were prepared to do whatever the Emperor ordered?” 

“Sounds to me father was looking to see if the incident at D'eshara had been forgotten” Corax muttered, more to himself. 

Every Primarch knew that Angron had little trust for his father it must have been something else, but that was for another time. By the sounds of it, his father wanted the Gene-seed of both fallen legions, how else would he consolidate his power, or could it be something else was brewing? Corax didn't know and did not want to know what other dark powers his father had signed deals with, all he knew was he had to stop the Night Lords from taking the seed of the dead. 

He motioned with his head and Uneses followed his Uncle, it was time to lay some ghosts to rest and Corax had no intentions of letting the master of the night walk out of there with the essence of a butchered brother.


----------



## gothik

5.​
The master of the night moved with his chosen sons, by now the rest of his inner circle had joined him. He had no idea what he was walking into and yet on some level instinct guided him. If Konrad Curze had any apprehension about walking into the ruined fortress of a slain brother, the Night Haunter did not. More and more the two sides of his personality were becoming separate entities. One side of him wanted order but not at the cost of his soul, the other side wanted order no matter what. Fear was a great weapon, a great tool to be wielded when it was necessary, it was also a deterrent, many worlds that had been brought into the Imperium courtesy of the Night Lords never forgot that lesson. 

Fear was not something that Curze worried about, no Astartes knew fear, Primarchs even less, but here and now he was gripped by the sense of desperation that had flooded the walls of this monastery. He had read what Adonnas had achieved here. A world ravaged by storms but, with a populace able to sustain an Astartes Monastery and a workforce for the ever growing Imperium. There were only two Imperial Army regiments that had been raised from this world, but they had more than proved their worth in fighting. If Curze recalled correctly they flourished in the underground caverns of Tolmar and Recnos, it was where they fought best. 

He admired them, not just for their tenacity but their success’s. Something that had ended when their master fell from grace and they fell with him. Curze tried to recall what his brother looked like, and found it hard to do so, which concerned him a little, all Primarchs and their sons had near perfect recall of everything they had ever seen or read. Curze had met Adonnas only three times but once was enough to never forget, it was his brother for crying out loud. 

Now, now he found it hard to even picture him. He shook it off him and drank in the fear of the serfs and novitiates that had died in this place. It was – intoxicating and he revelled in it. Sevatar, like his brothers also could feel and sense the cloying emotion. It was what they all thrived on,, they were the Night Lords after all. 

“How many died here?” Malithos Kuln, the Captain of the 9th Company and a member of the Kryoptera wondered aloud. “It is...wonderful”

Sevatar glanced across at him, some of his brothers fed off the fear like an addict on drugs and although it stirred the wanting in him, he had it under control, he was the First Captain and the favourite son of the Night Haunter, therefore he had to be above his brothers. There were others who would love to take his place, Zso Sahaal being one of them. Ambition in the Legions was not unheard off. Any sign of weakness on his part would leave him open to attack from within. 

Abaddon may have been the most feared First Captain amongst the Astartes, Kharn one of the more violent Equerries and Kareosian the more learned, but Sevatar had his own reputation amongst the Legions and he was not about to let that falter for the sake of a fleeting moment of drinking in the fear. 

“Almost an entire Legion” Acerbus replied. 

“Almost?” Kuln fought to keep his voice steady.

“Those that survived the cull were brought into other Legions, I think it is safe to say that the upper echelons of Legion power all died here” Acerbus stretched.

Curze remained silent, the walls provoking memories that were not his. The screams of the dying, the shouts of the defenders as they fought against the savagery of the Wolves and the Hounds. Sevatar noticed his fathers expression and glared at his brothers for silence. It did not matter that the sons of Adonnas had died here, it mattered that they died and they died as warriors. He was conveying his displeasure at their lack of respect to a fallen Legion. 

“They do not deserve our respect” Acerbus voiced to his First Captains unspoken words. “They betrayed the Emperor”

“Enough!” Curze barked “It matters not their crime, they died here, my brother died here, silence Krieg, check on the Shadow Warriors”

Cowed into silence Krieg bowed his head and spoke into his internal vox. Sevatar walked alongside his father and switched to internal private vox. *++Acerbus is one to watch father, I hear that he has made pacts with....++*

*++I am aware of his actions my son++ *Curze assured *++I am dealing with it,++*

Sevatar nodded once *++Did he suffer?++

++Who?++

++Your brother Lord, did he suffer?++*

Curze stopped and touched one of the walls. He closed his eyes and was silent for a long time. 

*++Yes++* Curze quietly said and continued his walk. 

Silence fell once more.


----------



## gothik

+++++​

The Raven Guard made their way deep into the hollows of the fallen Monastery, Corax allowed Uneses to lead them, after all this was a homecoming for him, not one that he would have wished for, but one never-the-less. Although the others could not see it, Corax read every emotion that crossed his adopted sons face perfectly. 

Every shattered cell they passed caused a pang of grief to flow through the Sergeant. Memories that seemed to be from a distant age flowed through his brain like it was only yesterday, instead of over a century ago. The Raven Guard kept a respectful silence, no matter the crimes or perceived crimes, cousins had died here, by the thousands. 

They exited the corridor to come into a large arena, and it must have been glorious in its day, now it was a collapsed ring of shattered stands, seating and columns, raised to the glory of the Primarch lay in pieces like a giant scattered jigsaw. 

“I was here the day it happened” Uneses spoke quietly. 

“Why?” Corax asked.

“I had suffered a serious injury in our last battle, one that my own healing needed aid with. The Apothecary decided I needed to be on light duties for a few days so my Captain told me to show our newly raised brothers what it meant to be a warrior. I had been here for four hours, teaching, observing, correcting, just as my former mentor had done to me and that was when all hell broke loose”

“Tell me” Corax rested a hand on his Sergeants shoulder “I want you to confide in me my son”

Uneses took a deep breath and moved to the centre to the ring. The other members of the Raven Guard circled their Primarch and watched their brother as he made his way to where he had been that day. 

Uneses stopped and looked down, he crouched down and removed his helm with a hiss. Touching his hand to the dust laden floor he brushed it and closed his eyes as he saw the ancient stain that littered the floor. Long since dried into the stone, but the mark of blood was still there. 

“There had been fifty newely raised brothers here, all had their strengths and their weaknesses, not yet christened into the fires of being a full brother, but christened enough as scouts to know what was expected of them, and what they had to work on to make them a true Storm Rider. 

The First Captain wanted me to pick out the best for Bike duty, those that showed the aptitude to ride our storm mounts, eventually all would get that honour, but for the moment only a dozen would be chosen for the elite company.”

Uneses looked upwards and pointed. His face became an angry snarl and none of the Raven Guard doubted the emotions that played through their adoptive brothers mind, it was like an infection and his reaction spread to them, except the Primarch that is.

“The Wolves and Hounds came through the ceiling. They had bombed the site from orbit and made enough of a hole to get through, half of my pupils were cut down by the World Eaters before they even had a chance to recover. I ordered the rest back to allow us to regroup, I remember cutting down a Wolf who would have taken my shoulder off if my pauldron had not been there. 

The serfs that had been watching the battle practise were shot or told to kneel with their hands behind their heads by the World Eaters Captain, a man named Sagroth, he killed a novitiate who refused his order, disembowelled him without a thought. That was when I noticed that the World Eater had these things in his head, even the Wolves avoided him, maybe he smelt wrong, I do not know, I just know that those things in his head, which I now know to be the nails but didn't at the time, made him revel in the death and destruction he wrought. 

I killed him with my bare hands, giving my charges time to escape and regroup with the battle brothers that had been practising in their own practise chambers. It gave us a chance to get our bearings, we were aware of how the Sons of Russ fought, but we had not encountered the Red Angels sons before. Their barbarity and their violence outstripped even what the Wolves were capable off.

They killed the humans that worked here without a thought, the corridors swam in blood and they barely gave us a chance to get an opposition organised. But we did and when we fought back and recovered from the surprise attack, we fought as we should have done. We used our knowledge of the Monastery to our advantage.”

“Guerilla tactics” Branne mused, he could appreciate that, like his brother and other members of the old Guard, it was a tactic that had served them well in the revolution to free Deliverance. “I suspect Russ and Angron thought a direct attack would work.”

“Aye, keep the Storm Riders off guard.” Agapito agreed “It's a tactic that I would have used.”

“It would have worked too, if they had not been divided” Tordan Cereck of the Talons sighed “We all know that Angron does not work with others, neither does Russ”

Uneses nodded but his mind was lost in the swirl of his memories. So he only really half heard what his battle brothers were saying. “We used the old tunnels to our advantage, killed scores of them, as many as they killed of us we killed of them. I was near my Lords battle zone when I heard Russ proclaim that the Storm Riders had fought well and honourably, that there was no more need for this sacrifice, if only Adonnas would surrender. 

My father was incensed, his home, his sons and his people had been cut down for no other reason then they did not agree with the Emperor. That was when my Captain, First Captain Klyne told me to take the surviving brothers, Novitiates and Serfs and surrender. It was Adonnas's order. I wanted to be with my father, serve him till the end but, he told me himself, if there was ever to be a day of reckoning for this crime, then some of us needed to survive to enact that revenge.” Uneses bowed his head “How could I disobey my father, even though every single fibre of my being told me, no screamed at me to stay where I was, fight to the end.”

Corax saw his nephew hang his head and walked over to him, he crouched down beside him, even at this level he still towered over the Sergeant. He rested a hand on his shoulder and lowered his head. 

“My son, you have done as your sire requested and more than that. You have done as you were asked, not talking about it, keeping that day secret from others, as I asked you too when you came to me. Now it is time for the son of Adonnas to enact his own revenge, but not alone, with his brothers by his side.”

Uneses raised his head and met his Uncles gaze, his eyes bloodshot from the tears he was shedding. 

“My twin brother died that day lord, as did my blood cousins. I saw the World Eaters cut them all down in showers of blood and guts. If I can take a slice of that anger with me to the Night Lords then I would have done my duty, as a grieving brother, cousin and Storm Rider”

Corax nodded “You are also a Raven Guard, never forget that Patria Uneses” He Squeezed the Astartes shoulder “Come, I need to get to the central chamber, before Curze does”

Uneses nodded and bowing his head he stood to his feet. He got his bearings and unslung his bolter. “This way my lord”


+++++​


----------



## gothik

Acerbus Krieg listened to what had been relayed to him and cursed in colourful Nostraman, He moved himself swiftly alongside the First Captain and stopped him,

“They have been seen” he quietly spoke.

“Who?” Sevatar was a little irritated by the intrusion into his thoughts. Thoughts that extended to the deaths of thousands of cousins, for a cause he was not sure he entirely believed in. 

He loved his father and his loyalty was always to his father, but the idea that some of his brothers and cousins sought to make nice with demons sat uneasy on him. He wanted to take those who would make such deals for power and glory, and make them suffer for their folly, his father had expressly forbid such dalliances, but he was aware that there were some who would take that path just to make them more powerful. Krieg was one of them. All Sevatar had to go on was rumours and half truths, but it was enough that it had already come to his fathers ears to know that the mighty Night Haunter was already making a plan, one that he had not sought to enlighten his First Captain on, but one that he ultimately thought necessary. 

“The Raven Guard are here My Lord, with Corax himself”

Sevatar heaved a sigh “Shit” 

“Permission to join the Shadow Warriors and see off this problem”

Sevatar looked around him and nodded “Take Kuln, Nakara and Herek with you. Follow them and if necessary deal with them, but not unless it is paramount to our operation here.”

“Who informs the Dark King?”

“I will, in a few moments, Now go and tell the Shadow Warriors to stay in the shadows, out of sight of the Raven and his minions. We all know how well Corax sees in the dark...as good as us”

“We Nostraman are better” Krieg proudly snarled.

“Then you are a fool to underestimate the Raven Lord Krieg, now go before I change my mind”

Acerbus bowed his head and taking the other three Kryoptera members with him disappeared down the way they had just come. Although they went Midnight Clad, Sevatar had a feeling that they would learn, against other foe it might work, against the Raven Guard it would not. 

He breathed in deeply and once more resumed his pace beside his father. He told him what Acerbus had told him, the Primarch did not look overly perturbed by this unwanted turn of events. In fact it was like he had expected it, had he possibly foreseen it? He was aware that his father had suffered his waking nightmares more than normal lately. More so since the Emperor had granted them this mission. He had told his favoured son about them, death on wings of black. Sevatar was not so sure about the wings of black, but from the other description it sounded an awful lot like Corax. Who else could take his father by surprise then one who knew the night as well as the Night Haunter? 

He opened a private channel to his father and relayed the information to him. Curze turned to face his first and the smile that hit his face as grim one, but one that told Sevatar he already knew Corax was here. The First Captain did not like this, not one bit. This was going to go wrong, he could feel it and if he felt it, then so did Curze, of that he was certain. The Primarch carried on, pausing only to consult with the human, then moved in the direction the terrified man pointed out. 

These corridors were a maze of broken tunnels, crashed rock and collapsed ceilings. Skeletons of humans and Astartes alike littered the floors, the armour corroded, but he could make out the faint markings of a World Eater here, a Wolf there and a Storm Rider over there. Sahaal shook his head a little as the remnants of the carnage here and there stared back accusingly at them. The Captain of the Raptors Claw, The Talonmaster was not by nature a superstitious man, that was best left in the domain of humans and the like, but there was something about treading in a place that still had the bones of the dead littering the place. It was...wrong.

He could understand the bodies of the Storm Riders laying where they fell and their human servants and Serfs. But he could not understand why the bodies of the World Eaters and Space Wolves had not been collected. He expressed such an opinion to Vacanas Bolderious, the Justice Bringer and Captain of the lauded 12th Company. 

The moody and stern faced Astarte knelt down by one of the remains and checked the body over. “The Gene-seed was taken” he rumbled “my guess is they removed the gene-seed but did not have time to move the bodies, maybe the ceiling collapsed before they could return to retrieve the honoured dead.”

“This place feels wrong” The Talonmaster shook his head “There was a reason this world was removed from the star charts”

“Aye brother, I know that you are not given to flights of fancy where superstition is concerned and I feel it too. It is not fear but the echoes of the dead” The Justice Bringer remarked. 

“The sooner we are away from here the better I will feel” Sahaal mused “This is a place of death and dishonour, I am not comfortable here my friend.”

“Quiet” Sheng hissed “We are Night Lords, those are the feelings of mortals not us.”

“Forgive us Equerry, it is just the history of this place.” 

“Talonmaster, I understand that such a battle stirs feelings like that, but this is a place of the dead and the damned, under the Emperors command it was thus made and under the Emperors Command we are here, still” Sheng stared at the half dust claimed remains “It would not hurt to remember the dead,”

The three Astartes saluted the remains, not sure if they were saluting a brother Legion or the Renegade Legions from both eras, still it did not hurt to cover their bases. 

Polarick stopped where he was walking as he came to a crossroad of corridors. Closing his eyes he dragged up the information that had been handed down to him from his forefathers and after checking the walls and reading the time worn markings, he bowed before Curze.

“This way leads to the throne room Sire,”

“And from there?” Curze asked

“From there a hidden passageway to the inner chamber.”

“Then lead on my friend, this will soon be over, for all of us” 

The remaining Astartes became aware that their own mixed emotions had conveyed themselves to the Primarch. He had said nothing because he may have, on some level felt their trepidation, whilst death held no fear for him, and fear and darkness his greatest ally, he was also aware of the constraints such a place held for soldiers and his sons, at the end off it all were warriors, stepping over the bones of the dead, especially Astartes was bound to raise even their hackles. 

He did not doubt his sons bravery, nor their ability to manipulate the fear of others to their needs, but he also understood that, like their cousins and their human warrior brothers, a place of the dead was as sacred as a place could be in this time and age. He had felt another presence within these walls, and not just Corax, there was an anger here, a warrior god, a giant angry at the fate of his sons. 

If Konrad shut his eyes he believed he saw the angered visage of his brother Adonnas, even in death swearing to reek bloody revenge on those who brought about his death and his demise. 

Well brother, The Emperor may have enacted such an order, Russ and Angron carried it out, but it was Malcador who first brought your name to father, he is dead so part of your revenge has been sated. I mean no harm brother, I want to allow your sons to live again, walking a path they were destined to walk.

A shiver ran through the Lord of the Night and suddenly and without warning one of his visions hit him full on, causing him to loose his balance and have to be supported by Sevatar and Sheng....

_

The central chamber loomed before them, the Emperor in all his golden glory stood before it, beside him Malcador and Constantine, behind them the Apothecaries and Mechanicum priests.

“Did the Sons of Hades gene-seed arrive?” The Emperor wanted to know, his voice echoing around the chamber.

Before him lay the body of his second son,and the Emperor seemed to show no reaction to the sight of one of his own sons dead before him. 

“We have it My Liege, ready to be transported down at your command” Malcador explained. 

“Then do it and seal this chamber with him in it. Then wipe the planet from the star charts only we shall remember it.”

The tech priests took the gathered Storm Rider gene-seed into the chamber and the door was closed behind them, whether they were prepared or not, Curze felt their shock at such an action. The Emperor however had no such qualms about locking them in there. He knew he could trust Malcador, Valdor and both Primarchs to the secrecy of this place, but he was not prepared for the Tech-Priests to blab to their masters on Mars about it. 

Knowing their penchant for lost technology he did not want this place found, ever. Curze was out of sink with time, almost as if he was there but not there, no one could see him but he saw the expression on the Wolf Kings face, barely hidden hate at the Red Angel and confusion at his father.

Leman did not understand why Adonnas had to die, and he certainly did not like surprises, especially having his mission snatched from him by the unstable Angron. He would have a talk with his father about that when they were alone, but for now the Wolf King remained silent as they moved out of the central chamber and sealed it off for ever._ 

Curze came out of his trance, foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Sevatar and Sheng held him whilst Sahaal tipped a water flask to his fathers lips. Curze gulped the water like a dying man and eventually came back to his senses. 

“How long?” He hoarsely asked.

“An hour maybe two my lord” Sevatar replied “We should give you a moment”

“No” Curze shook his head “We press on,”

The Primarch got to his feet and let his head clear. A Primarch was crying out for vengeance beyond the grave, and for the first time since taking this mission, Curze wanted to know why. He wanted to know why two of his brothers had been executed by the Emperors attack dogs and why they were declared heretics, in a universe that had gone mad anyway.


----------



## gothik

6.​
The Raven Guard moved slowly and silently. Despite the bulk of their armour, they moved without a sound, a trick many years ago during the war for Deliverance and other times. Ahead of the Primarch the Veteran Sergeant moved his auspice around, his memories of his home-world and his former Monastery returning to him full fold. Corax watched his nephew silently. Understanding how much of a toll this was taking on the former son of Adonnas, for over a century he had to pretend to be something he was not, and although he had been loyal to his uncle and cousins, he would always be a Storm Rider in his heart and that was all that mattered to him. 

He stopped as he heard a sound and raised his hand. Corax joined his side and glanced at the scanner on the Sergeants arm. There were marks ahead of them, about 10 meters, he read the runes and arched an eyebrow, it would seem that they were indeed in the company of shadows. 

He made two gestures with his hands and his company moved into the shadows. Uneses readied his flamer and waited for his uncles signal. When it was given he let loose a pillar of flame that entered the opening ahead. At first there was nothing but then the scream was doubled as flesh burning fire covered the two Shadow Warriors who fell from their perch. Another gout of flame brought another two warriors down to their doom. 

An anguished roar and Uneses only brought his arm up in time to stave a blow from Acerbus Krieg, his twin axes whirling in unison. Behind him his chosen flooded into the chamber, the Raven Guard were on the defensive as the Night Lords before them attacked their traitorous cousins. 

Corax ignited the Ravens Talon and dragged them across a Night Lord in Terminator armour, when the Night Lord looked up in shock. He brought his storm bolter up and under the jaw cracking through the helm and tearing the Terminators jaw clean off. 

Uneses managed to get some breathing room as Acerbus mistimed a swing and raising his boot he kicked the second company captain in the midriff and threw his flamer to one side, in a swift moment he drew an axe that seemed out of place with the Raven Guard. Silver in colour bright blue and silver sparks coursed off the blade as he activated the weapon and whispered a mantra to the spirit within. 

Etched along the blade were words in the old language of the Storm Riders and as Branne looked up he stared as the giant axe cleaved the air between the sergeant and the deranged Captain known as the Axemaster. Everything around the Sargeant seemed to fade and be replaced by the cheering of the Neophytes and scouts as his memory played the day he faced the beloved First Captain in the training ring. Even though he remained focused on this Hagrah before him, his body seemed to work in unison with a memory long ago dead. 

He moved like liquid silver, ducking under swings that had it been anywhere or anyone else might have taken his head off his shoulders. Muttering in his battle cant, Uneses ducked under one blow and brought the hilt of his axe up under the Night Lords jaw, the crack reverberated around the bloody room where Raven Guard and Night Lord still fought one another, the Night Lords for the dint of being the true masters of the shadows and the Raven Guard for the death of their brothers of the 152nd, and for the betrayal of everything the Imperium had been about. 

*“ENOUGH” *

The voice boomed across the chamber echoing around them and causing them all to stop fighting, Corax rose from two Astartes who he had killed, the bodies of the fabaled Shadow Warriors lay burnt or cut in two. Corax snarled beneath his blood covered face as Curze walked into the room. 

“Desecrating the place of the dead brother? Shame on you” he taunted the Raven Lord. 

“Here for the dememted father when he caused this? Shame on you Night Haunter” Corax breathed.

His body trembeled with rage, this man had once been a comrade in arms, no friend and no bond between them except the boundry of siblings, both Primarchs had strived to prove who really were the masters of the shadows and it had always ended as it began, no clear winner. Equal on all side. 

“I come to fulfil the Emperors wishes, as I always have Corax, come let us talk in private”

“I doubt that you wish to talk Curze” Corax narrowed his eyes.

They both turned as Krieg angered at the intervention to his fight ran at the Raven Guard Primarch, Uneses reacted swiflty, he span his axe and threw it, it seemed to slow time for the moment as the axe flew true to its target and cut the head off the Second Captain of the Night Lords the body moved a little further before falling to the ground., the head flew and landed at the feat of the First Captain of the Night Lords. 

“Bloody Idiot” Savator swore but did nothing. He had no liking for Acerbus in life and he certainly did not mourn his loss. He leant on his trident and inclinned his head at the Sargeant, he deserved the respect for saving his Primarchs life. At the moment the Lord of Nostramo wanted to talk and Acerbus would try to dishonour his father. 

Curze picked the Axe from the floor where it had landed and looked at the inscription, it was finely balanced and honed to a sharp edge, this had been made for the Sergeants hands only and he deserved it. He walked to him and handed it back to him. 

“Adonnas would have been proud of you Sergeant.” He looked at Corax “I want to talk, that is all, after that what you do is up to you” He turned to Sevatar, “Make sure no one interferes”

“As you wish My Lord, shall I have Acerbus's body returned to the Nightfall?”

Curze shrugged, in other words do what you wish, and the Primarch walked alongside his Raven Lord Brother. It didn't stop the Night Lords and Raven Guard in the room glaring at each other and the tension was high enough in the air but for the moment it was stayed. 


+++​


----------



## Over Two Meters Tall!

Excellent continuation! You've put Curze in an interesting place, both true to his twisted nature, but actually allowing his mind to take him down the trail. If his character holds true, he'll go all crazy and damn himself in the process.


----------



## gothik

i am trying to see if i can work in a truce of sorts between them both, he is well aware that his father is a tyrant, but in his twisted idea of order it is where his father needs to be, however, his dreams are saying that the Raven Lord is the one that will cause his death, this is something that he no longer wants in this AU, his father has finally recognised the need for the Night Lords and yet he does not want to make any deals with creatures that will hasten his end. 

I think he is wary of Corax, had times been different they might have been close, two sides of the same coin, in the mainstram universe he does not fear anything, he is fear incarnate and in this universe that holds true, but i am trying to put across that what he sees in Corax is someone he could have been, and that grates him a little. 


thanks for the input.


----------



## Over Two Meters Tall!

Just FYI, I've absolutely loved your conception of the II and XI Legions, along with how they met their demise in this AU. Thanks for all your work on this!


----------



## gothik

thanks my friend, i know this is taking a while but from this chapter its what i have been leading upto and i want to do this justice.


----------



## gothik

+++​
The room that the two Primarchs walked into was wreathed in darkness, the smell of death clung to the walls, although there were no bodies here any more, they had all crumbled to dust long before. Still the cloying sense of anger, indignation and vengeance screamed out to Corax and he had to steady his mind and his soul against such overwhelming emotions. He could almost see the final hours as they were condemned to die, although for what he was not altogether certain off. 
He glanced to his left, if being in the dark was supposed to unnerve him, then Curze was sorely mistaken. For as much as it wrapped the Lord of the Night in a comforting second skin, the Raven Lord also wore the darkness like a comfortable coat. He could see Curze ahead of him, whether this was all orchestrated for his account or, the possibility that, like so many other areas of the now broken Monastery, darkness was permanent he did not know.

“You wanted to talk so...talk” Corax folded his arms and leant against a wall. His eyes picking out his brother perfectly as if it were daylight. 

He could not believe the changes that had come over his brother, oh Curze was always a little unstable, being able to see the future and possibly his own death would do that to a man, and had he not been so....insane in his beliefs then Corax might just have felt sorry for him, but Curze did not like pity, he abhorred it, and as much as it made his skin crawl being in the same room as the pale skinned black haired Primarch, who might have been Corax's twin had circumstances dictated differently; he was not going to dishonour his brother with such thoughts, he was a monster, but he was also his brother, and that was as simple as that really.

“Can you not feel it Corvus?” Curze asked, his voice as quiet as the grave he seemed permanently at home with.

“Feel what?”

“The anger, the rage, the desolation at the injustice of it all” 

The Night Haunter walked around the darkened room, but to Corax he was seeing him as clear as if they were in daylight. The Primarch of the Night Lords had his arms outstretched, drinking in the anger and the rage as well as the fear of the humans and those who had not yet become scouts, those that still had their human emotions before becoming an Astartes would strip them of any such weakness. 

“You are aware of why they were killed, butchered don't you?” The Night Haunter asked his brother.

“Like we all do” Corax kept his voice even.

“You do not lie well brother, none of us except Russ and Angron knew the truth. But I do, I now know what no one else knew”

“And you brought me in here to gloat about that!” Corax snarled “Our demented father *MURDERED* his sons, like he had Malcador Murdered, like he murdered Constantin!” 

Curze turned and his pale visage regarded his equally pale brother. Two Primarch, brothers by genealogy, both raised in darkness, but one a hero, venerated by the people of the world he delivered, the other a despot, feared by the people of the world he kept under his heel. 

“Tell me Corvus” If Corax was surprised at the sound of his forename from Curze's lips, he hid it well “What is it like to have a world revere you as their saviour? The man that freed them?”

“You know that is not entirely true, there are overlords who still want me dead” Corax stated “and I suspect if someone gave them that opportunity to retake the power they lost, they would certainly take it”

“Humour me brother, what does it feel like to be a master of the night who is not feared by those he saved?” 

There was a slight change in tone of the Night Lords voice. It was not as deep as it normally was and for a moment it was like listening to a tired man. Corax did not lower his guard, to be honest he did not know if this was a trick or if he was listening to the hidden side of the Night Haunter.

“I don't think about it like that” Corax finally said “I treat them all as my family, they were my family for years. We are what our circumstances made us. Is this what you wanted to talk about?”

Curze sat down on the floor “I am tired of being the bogeyman sometimes. I have done everything that father wanted but I know that he uses my ability for fear to his advantage. I walked in here and I saw Adonnas, I saw what was done to him, he offered to talk to the Wolf King, but Angron was still angry at what had happened to his family at D'eshara, he wanted to prove he was the warrior.”

“You are not telling me something that I do not already know” Corax unfolded his arms “If it is a fight you want brother then let us decide who is the master of the night, my Ravens or your Night Lords. Because you are not leaving here with Adonnas's sons legacy I swear that to you. I would rather it got buried then end up in the hands of you and your demented master”

*“THAT IS NOT WHAT I CALLED YOU HERE FOR*” Curze shouted “This always happens with you and the others! You all think I am some kind of crazy mother fucking serial killer who knows nothing more that murder and fear! I am trying to reach out to the one brother I thought might understand what it means to be a child of the night”

Corax arched an eyebrow and waited as the madness in his brothers eyes subsided. “It is an image you have cultivated brother. Ask Vulkan or Dorn...oh forget that, they are both in league with the Emperor now so it really won't matter any more.”

“Vulkan? He is not what he used to be, the fires have him now, the Vulkan you knew is gone the Salamanders you knew are gone, they are...something more, and Dorn...” Curze waved his hand dismissively “Dorn will always be Dorn, the Praetorian will always do as his father wishes.”

“As are you”

“NO! I was sent here yes, but I am here to save Adonnas, I am here to resurrect his sons in the image they were supposed to be, warriors of the Imperium, great Astartes. There is also the Gene seed of the Sons of Hades within those walls. The Emperor wanted them kept safe now, now we know why. I envy you sometimes Corax, you do not have the power to see the lines of the future, every day I see my death, hear the words of death so I do not fear it, why fear something that will come to get me eventually”

Corax wasn't sure where this was going, he was rambling, incoherent, one moment softer spoken the next darker, deeper toned. It was like listening to two different men, one side of his brother battling with another. 

“I don't care about what you think or not Curze, I am leaving here and I am bombing this place from orbit, the Storm Riders and the Sons of Hades will rest in peace and not be resurrected as some infernal army for a demented father and his sons”

Corax turned his back and realised he had made a mistake, he was felled in the back by a shoulder barge that would have put Russ to shame. He was quickly picked up and tossed across the room like he was nothing more than a human child. 

Shaking his head to clear it, he only just moved as Curze came at him again. Spittle flying from his mouth as he spouted his rantings, Corax was going to have to fight for his life and prove that he was the master of the night....


----------



## gothik

+++++​

None of the Raven Guard or Night Lords could hear what was going on in the room that their fathers had been taken into, but there was something about the ruined fortress that put even the wind up Sevatars spine. Only Uneses didn't seem uncomfortable here, he was home, there was no reason for him to feel uncomfortable. Agapito set his hostility aside for a moment and moved to the Night Lords First Captains side.

“You are still murdering bastards for what you did to our brothers” He snarled “and there will be a reckoning for that, but at the moment I think we all need to leave here. This place is not to be trifled with”

“Scared little Raven?” Sahaal smirked 

“I was talking to the organ grinder, not the monkey” Agapito evenly said and returned his attention to the silent First Captain “This place smells wrong”

Sevatar shifted his stance a little and moved his trident so that it was in front of him. He looked around him and his surroundings. He had felt wrong since they had set foot in this place, he would follow his master wherever he led, he had more love for his father than he did for his grandfather. He had liked the way the Raven Guards beloved First had spoken to Sahaal, it always cheered him up when the likes of Krieg and Sahaal got put in their place...ah hell Acerbus wasn't going anywhere except the afterlife, if there was one and Sahaal was a scheming worm, a true Nostraman to the bone. 

“I find that I am in agreement with you for the moment, cousin” he conceeded “But we were sent here to do a job and nothing short of the Dark King telling me otherwise will get me to leave this place without what we came for”

“Oh look around you Jago, open your mind, this is a place of anger and death, any gene-seed taken from here will be tainted with that rage, and it will not work in the way that the Emperor wants” Agapito snarked.

“We are not alone” Uneses got to his feet and cocked his head a little, as if listening to something...or for something. Agapito and Sevatarion turned to face the former Storm Rider. They heard nothing at first, then faintly the sound of marching feet. “My brothers have come for their due.”

“Ghosts do not exist” Sevatarion snarled although there was an undercurrent of uncertanity in his voice.“No such thing!”

“Who are you trying to convince?” Branne called as the sound of marching feet drew every closer “us or yourself?”

“There must be a break in the veil here somewhere” Sheng assumed.

“A what?” 

“A tear in the reality” Sheng explained “Some Word Bearer explained it to me, there are things in the Warp that would like to come through and feast on us, there are barriers to keep this in check and make sure that doesn't happen, but there is a tear here, somewhere and its allowing the still mountainous rage that resides here to become manifest” 

Sevatar snapped his head round to look at Uneses “Your father was a Psyker wasn't he? How powerful was he exactly?”

Uneses shrugged “Not in Magnus's league that’s for certain, but he might have been a little more like Sanguinius”

“Oh great” Branne muttered.

“Its a trap” Sevatar scowled, he had wondered why they had been sent to this unmarked world. He was a Nostraman, he had no fear for he was fear, but this had all seemed too simple to him.

Collect a human who kept the Emperors law, come to the Planet of Storms and retrieve Gene seed that was not destroyed, just so happened that the Raven Guard were here...they had been played for fools, the Emperor was playing them against each other but, not even the Emperor knew what had happened in the decades since the wolves attacked. This had just gone to prove his own disquieting about the whole thing. The footsteps drew closer and both Agapito and Sevatar sent a vox to their fathers Nev was right, their own animosities could be sorted another time, but for the moment they needed to work together.


----------



## gothik

7,​

Corax got to his feet and lifted into the air as Curze came at him again, the blood on the back of his head was already congealing and receding. He needed to think, to get away and the only way he could do that was to get out of reach of his insane brother. 

“Come on little Raven” Night Hunter taunted “You think I cannot see you?”

Corax wraith slipped into the darkness and remained where he was, part of him wanted to end the madness his brother was suffering, give him some peace but, he knew what had happened to the White Scars with Kharn dead. Despite what he thought about the Night Lords and their demented father, he would rather not see the universe at the mercy of grieving rampaging Night Lords, they were bad enough with him, without their father they would be even worse. Not even the charisma of Jago Sevatar would be able to keep all the rogue factions in line. 

No, the best he could do was fight it out then get out of here and get his sons, bombard the monastry from orbit and ensure that there was no way the gene seed got into the hands of his brother or his father. Adjujsting his position he activated his Talon and dive bombed his brother.

Curze looked up to see a blackened figure come down at him, for the briefest of moments he froze, his vision, death upon black wings, came back to him, then he snapped out of his trance and moved aside, he avoided the bulk of the attack but the Ravens Claw caught him across his face. 

Already the Primarchs own healing was acting to seal the wound but Corax flipped himself up and drove his boots into Curze's stomach knocking the wind from him and landing on his stomach. With his hand closed around the gourget of the Primarchs armour, he landed several blows in quick succession.

“You could have been the best of us” Corax snarled “You could have been the brother I could count on, but no, you asked me what it is like to be adored by the people of my world?”

He landed a blow that would have killed an Astartes on the Primarchs face, as it was it caused Curze's head to snap back. Blood pouring from his broken nose.

“It feels liberating, knowing that I took them from that life, that I helped them better themselves, you could have done that Konrad, instead you became the very thing you were hunting. You became the worst of the criminal element because murder and torture became you!”

Curze raised his fist and smashed it against the side of the Raven Lords face, then rolled until he was on top of the Raven Lord. As Corax had done to him he rained blows down onto the Raven Lord. 

“Thank you for enlightening me” 

As Corax fended off the worst of the blows he saw the madness in Curze's eyes fade for a moment, there was a sorrow there that was soon swallowed up by whatever the other personality he possessed became dominant. He moved his head back, and faster than the Kirvahe Lizard, he rammed his head forward head-butting the Night Lords Primarch.

Corax did it twice more and scrambling to his feet he lifted Curze up and above his head, for a moment he hovered there, something other than his own conscience was telling him to end this now. It would be so easy to do, but he had seen what had happened to Magnus when Angron broke his back, he had seen the disarray the Thousand Sons had been thrown into, 

Corax threw his brother into a wall causing it fall around the Primarch as he slumped to the ground.

“I am not Angron, I am not you!” Corax breathed, “I am blowing this place and there is nothing you can do about it. I owe you Curze for what happened to my sons, but it will not be decided here...there is enough death here”

“On the contrary brother” Curze got to his feet his lightning claws named Mercy and Forgiveness by his sons sprang into life “There is not enough death here. There is only one master of the night, one master of fear and it is me!”

Corax roared as the Lightning claws erupted through his chest. His physiology went into hyper drive as it tried to compensate for the damage that had been done to it. Corax sank to his knees, fighting the urge for his body to shut down. Curze withdrew his lightning claws and crouched down across from his brother. His helm scanning the other Primarch, curious as to how long it would take Corax to succumb to his wounds.

“We could have been so close, you and I, two brothers who understood the nature of the night, make it work for us”

“I will never be like you” Corax coughed up blood “I do not kill for the thrill of it, I do not kill those who would speak out of turn against me and I do not have my people so in fear that to say one word that is construed as sin, would result in their death” 

“It is called order, perfect in its making, my people no longer fear the criminals and corrupt politicians that made their world a dangerous place, they have me to protect them, me to rule over them with the laws that should be followed to make their lives better”

“You call...ugh...living in fear for the rest of their lives a victory? Have you seen what has happened to your world? To your Legion? I have seen how much more...ugh....violent they are, we all know that your perfect world of justice is slipping back without its tyrant there...I doubt you even realise it”

“My world is perfect” Curze got to his feet and stood over his brother “My world is order, my world is what all worlds should be” 

“Your world is like children let loose when the King is not there to keep order. It is a world of gangs and murderers and it is a world that will always be on that edge, without you there brother it returns to what it was” Corax began to laugh “The biggest joke, your world of order is now a world able to return to what it was, even your Night Lords are no longer the sin free warriors they were, just have to see their excesses to see that”

“You know nothing!” Curze hissed, and it was then Corax, struggling to keep his eyes open, saw what his brother had become, he had filed his teeth to sharp points. 

“I know that you have become the monster they say you are, you say you will not deal with daemons...look in the mirror Konrad, that’s all you ever will be. So kill me if that’s what you want to do but know this, the Lord of Ravens does not die so easily!”

Despite his weakened state Corax lashed out with his own Lightning claw and slashed his brothers arm at the left elbow, cutting through armour, flesh and bone, cutting the arm clean from the elbow. Curze stepped back shocked at what had happened and fell onto his back, Corax struggled to his feet and moved out the door into a scene from an old ghost story.


----------



## gothik

****​
The Night Lords and Raven Guard could only look on in shock as the human Polarick was raised off the ground by ghostly hands. Tears flowed from his eyes and his feet were kicking thin air. The smell of soiled underwear hit the noses of all present. Uneses moved forward and kept his hands raised.

But Corax's attention was drawn to the ghostly Astartes who now surrounded the living. They were like a fog of spirits. He heard his name and felt two arms steady him as Branne and Agapito realised their Primarch was wounded. 

Sevatar, seeing the wounded Raven Lord ran into the room the Raven Lord had exited from and let a cry of anguish escape his lips. His father was on the floor, a pool of his blood around his severed arm caused the First Captain's head to sway as he could smell the much richer gene altered blood that had belonged to his father. The wound had clotted but the arm itself was useless. 

“I shall kill them all” Sevatar growled.

“No” Curze moaned “What is happening out there?”

Sevatar paused for a moment, not sure if he wanted to explain what he did not believe was really there, “Ghosts father, ghosts of the dead”

After a long moment he let the First Captain help him up and allowed him to help him out into the now stunned gathering. 

Polarick was having difficulty breathing, even for a ghost, the Astartes that held him high had a grip like ice, it was cutting off his airwaves and he was finding it hard to breathe.

“This one, this one holds the answers we require” An ethereal voice emitted from the mouth of the one that was holding the human. 

Uneses swallowed a little and moved forward, “My Lord Klyne” He bowed his head “Please sir, the human cannot possibly help you”

“Uneses?” The head turned “This human bears the knowledge we need, why we were killed. Why our grandfather sent the Red Angel against us and the Wolf King and I will have it”

“He cannot say anything Captain if you squeeze the life from him” Corax spoke, ignoring the presence of his brother. 

“We were brought here as a trap my Lord” Branne explained “It would appear that we all, Night Lords included have been tricked.”

Curze arched an eyebrow and looked at Sevatar who nodded “As much as I hate to agree with the Raven, he speaks the truth My Lord.”

“So Polarick” Curze snarled, his sheer strength of will keeping him conscious and upright “Speak!”

The human was dropped to the floor and crawled into the corner, whimpering and crying. The room was cold, it didn't bother the Astartes, what bothered them more was the fact they were seeing something that could not in all possibility exist. These were the stories of superstitious Guardsmen and human who lived on worlds where such tales were folklore. Even their respective home worlds had such tales. But as Astartes, they were above such superstitions. 

Ghosts should not exist, but as the Night Lord Sheng had explained, there was a tear in the warp here, the veil between the real world and what lay beyond in the warp. Whose to say what the laws of physics were now? 

“The Emperor contacted me months ago” Polarick whimpered “Told me to make sure that you came here with the Raven Lord”

“Why?” Sahaal demanded.

“To see what happens to those who displease him, to see the fate that would befall all who displeased him. He wanted you to kill the Raven Lord”

Corax felt his jaw twitch in anger but the whimpering man’s ramblings had not such reaction on the face of the Night Haunter, if anything it was as if he was expecting this. The visions of his dead brother had more or less confirmed that now. 

“So why were the Storm Riders and the Sons of Hades expunged?” He asked, although his voice was wavering a little, his strength fading from the blood loss, if it gave him any satisfaction, he could see that Corax too was failing. 

“They discovered the truth about him, about what he was and how he has lived for as long as he has, what deals he has made to keep his power infinite. He did not want that known”

“And what is this big secret?” Branne clenched and unclenched his fist,

Polarick shook his head and remained silent. Sevatar marched over and pushed the tip of his trident against the humans chest, the voices of the dead Astartes whispering behind him.

“and the Gene seed?” 

“Degraded, the moment he killed the tech priests, he had the monitors put to sleep and the gene seed degraded” Polarick wiped his eyes “He had foreseen what would happen if the two unspoken of Primarchs were able to prove why he is eternal and he could and would allow nothing to interfere in his dreams.”

There was a hiss behind Sevatar and he turned slowley to see the Astartes move away, Uneses bowed his head “Granar Tesh Madaran” 

The spirit that was the First Captain nodded and in Imperial Gothic said “Serve the Riders well brother, Adonnas will be proud, we along with our cousins were sacrificed for a madman’s schemes, that is all we want to know, now, now we can rest”

Sahaal wiped his brow “And what happens if we were to leave this place alive?”

“You would not get that far, He has already informed Lorgar to deal with the Night Lords if they do not carry out his orders.” Polarick looked up.

In a fit of rage Sevatar pushed the trident into the humans body, feeling the satisfied scrunch of flesh and bone with a pull, tore the trident up and through the humans head, cleaving him almost in half. 

“So, like the Storm Riders and Sons of Hades we would become the forgotten sons” He breathed. “We need to get our lord back to the Nightfall and you need to attend to yours”

“We can't let the Emperor get away with this!” Sahaal glared “he has betrayed us too.”

“I knew he would” Curze looked at Corax “You will need a Primarch on the inside, I offer this not for you or Horus or anything so crass as Nobility, I offer this as my way of wrecking my own revenge. “

“You think....think I am going to trust you Curze?” Corax breathed, his vision becoming cloudy as his body sought to make him rest so he could heal. His soul however, that was another matter. 

“I don't care if you do or you don't. I am just offering a way to extract revenge on our father. And I am the only one that can do it” 

Corax said nothing and Curze took that as acquiescence, with that he passed out his brother following.


----------



## gothik

Agapito stood in the doorway of the Medicare unit watching the Apothecaries minister to their Lord. He would survive, but without proper knowledge of how the Primarchs body worked, all they could do was administer to the Primarch the best they knew how and hope that his enhanced physiology did the rest. 

The Captain had seen the Night Lords vessel bombard the Planet of Storms from Space until the crust had cracked and yawned spewing its molten blood until eventually it gave up the fight and blew apart in a showering wreck of earthquakes and tremors that ripped the world apart. 

He was still unsure as to what he had seen, if what he had seen was real, or maybe it was their own senses that had reached out to the dead wanting to know why they had died, why the Emperor had ordered such a drastic course of action. He was also interested as to what had happened between his father and the Night Lords mad Primarch. He had half expected an attack by the Night Lords for what had happened, but none came, instead they turned around after destroying Sturmgarten and simply went their own way. 

Unless Corax divulged what had occurred then he would be left in the dark. Whatever it was, was not pleasant. The Primarch's bare chest showed the scars that would remain. He had been struck from behind with those blasted talons of the Night Haunter, Agapito allowed himself a wry smile. His father had certainly returned the favour in kind. Corax would bear the scars of his brothers attack, but they would be hidden under his armour. Curze would have his on public display, no doubt there would be an bionic arm made for him but he would never be the same. 

No one had truly hurt Curze in the way that Corax had done, Agapito turned as Branne joined his side.

“How's he doing?”

“He will recover” His brother spoke...”What do you think of what happened?”

“I think the Emperor has a bigger secret than anyone realised, and its one he is prepared to expunge Legions to keep secret” Agapito motioned with his head and the two brothers walked away,

“But he wanted us to die”

“We didn't though, I thought it was touch and go for a moment, but we didn't and I doubt Curze will ever believe anything his father says to him.”

“Did he ever?”

“He won't now, still I wonder what he meant by Lorgar had orders” 

“Who? The Human?” Agapito nodded, Branne shrugged “I don't care. All I care about is the man laying in the apothecaries bed. What shall I tell the crew?”

“Tell them he is well and will be with us when he has recovered. For now I will lead the Legion until he is fit enough to do so.”

Branne bowed his head a little then said as an after thought “What do you suppose Curze will do?”

“Apart from lick his wounds?” Agapito folded his arms “I really don't know, whatever it is it won't be good. He will want Corax's head at some point for the loss of his arm, but right now, he will want revenge for what happened there.”

“But what exactly did happen there?”

Agapito smiled thinly “The Emperor wanted two Legions gone, kill the Raven Guards hierarchy and deprive Horus of a Legion equivalent to the Night Lords in terms of combat disciplines. Kill the Night Lords hierarchy to prove that he is the ultimate bad ass and they will tow the line. The Night Lords tow no ones line save their own.”

Branne shook his head “He really has gone mad, hasn't he?”

Agapito nodded and the two brothers walked towards the bridge.


----------



## gothik

EPILOGUE​

The Nightfall translated into the Nostraman system to be hailed by the Fidelitas Lex, Almost immediately they were boarded not just by three Word Bearers but by two Iron Hands Apothecaries and the Primarch of the Word Bearers himself. Despite his own personal feelings, the First Captain of the Night Lords and his brothers, awed by the sheer presence of a Primarch, moved to one knee. 

“You honour us Lord” Sevatarion chose his words carefully, not wanting to give anything away about what they had seen and learnt, if they had learnt anything. 

“What happened Jago and rise my nephews, honour has been done” Lorgar extended his hand palm down. Sevatar touched his forehead to the hand and rose slowly. 

Everything had to be done as it would have been had they not learnt that they were to be sacrificed. Lorgar was the Black Pope, the head of the Emperors cult and therefore, as much as it galled him, he had to be treated as such. 

“Corax was there my lord, he and My father got into an altercation and as you can see our father lost his lower arm”

“and the gene seed?”

“Degraded beyond any hope of recuperation my lord”

Lorgar nodded a couple of times and stood looking at the world of Nostramo below him. The Night Lords had failed and there was only one answer for that. The Night Lords were becoming too unpredictable, more so than his father had first thought. It would be easy to destroy the ship, but the his orders were simple. If they fail, teach them a lesson they would never forget. 

“The Emperor was wondering what happened to the human that travelled with you? He saw no mention of it in your report Jago”

“Dead” 

“I see, anything else you omitted?”

“No lord”

“Captain Jago...five more Word Bearer vessels have translated from the Warp” Sahaal looked up “heading here”

Jago turned to Lorgar “Is there a problem Lord?” although deep inside he had a sinking feeling. 

“The Emperor wanted the gene seed to be recovered and any interference dealt with. I was also informed that Nostramo is becoming....unstable once more, the element coming into the Night Lords would be detrimental to what the Emperor requires.”

“We can deal with our own problems my lord” Sevatar narrowed his eyes. “We could not deal with the Raven Guard to do so would have meant leaving our Lord to die and I was not prepared to do that. There will be other opportunities to bring them to cull”

“I know Jago” Lorgar turned his head slightly “this will give you and your brothers more of an incentive to do as the Emperor instructs in future. Konrad has paid with the loss of his arm and I suspect his psyche is more fractured than it was....this, this will send a message out to all who fail the Emperor and his creed”

Before the stunned gazes of the Astartes the Word Bearer vessels began firing upon their home world. 

“NO!” Sahaal roared and launched himself at Lorgar only to be caught and restrained by Sevatar. “What are they doing!” He yelled “That’s our world down there!”

++You try and stop him. You will die too, remember it brother, remember that we have been betrayed by our allies, remember it and feed upon it++

The world of Nostramo died in a fire of righteous bombardment. As it cracked and tore itself apart everything the Night Lords held in their hearts died with it. So they had problems but they had planned to address that issue, now they never would. 

Lorgar nodded as Nostramo died and turned to face the humiliated Night Lords “The Emperor forgives you. Let us hope he does not wish his Night Lords to become forgotten sons.”

Jago Sevatarion could only watch as the world he loved fractured into pieces, millions of lives snuffed out because they did not kill the Primarch of the Raven Guard or retrieve the Gene Seed of two dead Legions. His heart blackened with rage and vengeance, the Night Lords truly were alone.


----------



## gothik

Coming in November will be Renegades 11, it is in the planning stage but the repurcussions of this and other issues will also be dealt with.....including how Curze sets about getting revenge for the loss of his homeworld and a pact with an unlikely ally will spell doom for another Legion.


----------



## Over Two Meters Tall!

Many, many thanks for how you wrapped that up. The destruction of Nostramo is reminiscent of Monarchia and look what that did for Lorgar himself. I almost expected you to have a portion of the Storm Riders operate like a Legion of the Damned, but it was a good homage.

I will say, when I completed your post yesterday after Curze lost his arm is was a reading version of coitus interruptus the cliff was so great. You're developing the story incredibly well and I hope you aren't dragged too far off course that you never reach November. Cheers!


----------



## gothik

thanks i wanted to leave an opening and a change in the way Curze acted, wether it was for good or ill time will tell. I like the fact that he has always been seen as a loner, preferring to do things his way, wether this will bode well for him and his legion again, time will tell...and i can see Lorgar being struck from the christmas card list.

glad you enjoyed it. this one has been a struggle, not the way i wanted to tell it, but with helath issues over the last year and a bad case of writers block i wasn't sure if i was going to finish it to the standard i wanted and would have to shelve it. Glad i finished it and hope to those taking the time to read it i haven't detracted away from what this will be.


----------



## VulkansNodosaurus

Great stuff! Curze... well, it is really his own fault. He cultivated an image (a fairly accurate one at that - plenty of tortured corpses to show for it) of the monster to make others fear him, and ended up with no friends among the more reasonable Primarchs - and the less reasonable ones are hardly reliable friends.

Still, the stunt with destroying Nostramo was more for the other Legions' benefit, I would guess. The Emperor knows he's lost Curze's trust, and so gives up any leverage over him to threaten the other Primarchs. And, since the other Primarchs largely also hate Curze, they also get the satisfaction of seeing the Lord of the Night get punished.


----------



## gothik

it was a clear cut warning...follow me or face the consequences, do as i say and i expect positive results if you fail then i will show whos the biggest pisser in the pissing pot...thing is Curze is a sneaky git and he will get his own back, one way shape or form.......oh and VN, messaged you back.


----------



## Deus Mortis

Another brilliant part of this excellent series, and more motivation for me to get back to my portion of it. Keep it up


----------



## gothik

DM and Vulkan...i am showcasing the Renegades over on Deviant Art, do i have your permissions to post your parts over there in the Warhammer section? i have credited it back to you both so people can come and look but thought i might actually put them up, long as i have your permissions to do so


----------



## VulkansNodosaurus

gothik said:


> DM and Vulkan...i am showcasing the Renegades over on Deviant Art, do i have your permissions to post your parts over there in the Warhammer section? i have credited it back to you both so people can come and look but thought i might actually put them up, long as i have your permissions to do so


Sure, so long as you credit each chapter.


----------



## gothik

VulkansNodosaurus said:


> Sure, so long as you credit each chapter.


just decided to put the links up...thought it might encourage warhammer fans to come take a look and look at the site as a whole.


----------

