The Lion King: The Great Betrayal
Note: Primarchs are family members and friends of Mufasa, Scar, and Simba and 'Prides' are the Lion King's version of Space Marine 'Legions.' Primarchs are males, females, lions, and non-lion. There are many details that will probably be missed which you can fill in for yourself.
Summary of the Lion King's version of the Horus Heresy.
Here's the list of Lion King 'Prides' and Primarchs (not necessarily in order of creation):
Pride / Primarchs
Ultralions / Simba
Dark Kings / Nala
Imperial Claws / Kiara
Space Lions / Kovu
Blood Kings / Rafiki
Iron Paws / Timon
Crocodiles / Pumbaa
White Cuts / Kopa
Vulture Guard / Zazu
Luna Lions/Heirs of Scar/Black Pride / Scar (Taka is a different character altogether)
Pride Eaters / Nuka
King's Cubs / Vitani (wasn't necessarily an evil character)
Death Lions / Shenzi
Roar Bearers / Zira
Iron Pride / Banzai
Alpha Pride / Max/Joe (the Alpha Legion wasn't necessarily evil)
Night Kings / Ed
Thousand Heirs / Ma (the Thousand Sons wasn't evil on purpose)
The Great Betrayal was the second and most devastating civil war in Imperial history. Occurring in M31 and lasting less than a decade, it divided and nearly destroyed the fledgling Imperium. It marked the end of the Great Crusade and the encasing of Mufasa, King of the Imperium into the Golden Throne.
Scar's Corruption
The Great Betrayal truly began after Scar was wounded by the stolen Anathame on the moon of Davin, a place that was cursed by the foul Chaos God Nurgle. The wound caused by the blade refused to heal, despite Scar's super-enhanced immune system or the efforts of the Heirs of Scars' best healers. While ill, Scar was taken for healing by the Davinites.
During the rituals, Scar's spirit was transferred into the Warp where the corrupted chaplain Hago (unofficial character from the Lion King in my story), disguised as the Warmaster's closest friend Ni (unofficial character from the Lion King in my story), showed him a terrible vision of the very future which his actions would bring about - the Imperium as a repressive, violent and superstitious regime where Mufasa and some of the Primarchs (but not Scar) were worshipped as divine beings by the fanatical and ignorant masses of Pridelanders. The Chaos Gods portrayed themselves as the victims of Mufasa's psychic might who had no interest themselves in controlling the material world. Scar, already having grown jealous and deeply resentful of his perceived poor treatment at the paws of his brother, Mufasa, and was one of many to be afraid of the concept of peace where all that they had fought for was given to weak willed men whilst his prides were cast aside and left as peacekeepers. Scar therefore proved all too willing to accept the Ruinous Powers' false visions of a Mufasa determined to make himself a god at Scar's expense.
But there was one thing no one had counted on: Scar's friend Ma (not in the Lion King), Primarch of the Thousand Heirs, had continued to study the forbidden arts of sorcery, and was not about to let her friend fall to the powers of the Warp. The Cyclopean giant appeared within Scar's vision, revealing the chaplain's identity and begging Scar not to give in to the temptations of Chaos. Unfortunately, the Cyclopean Primarch's voice of reason was left unheard. Scar had decided that if anyone deserved to be worshipped as a god it was he, and not Mufasa. He accepted the offer of the Chaos Gods to join their cause and in return they healed his wound and granted him the powers of the Warp. The Chaos Gods' pact with Scar was simple: "Give us Mufasa and we will give you the galaxy".
Swaying the Prides
Renouncing his oath to Mufasa, Scar led his Pride into worship of the myriad Chaos Gods. Scar's genius was revealed as he converted half of the Prides, along with many regiments of the Pride Army and several Titan Prides to his cause, revealing Mufasa to be as Scar saw him - a lion undeserving of the praise and recognition of the Lion race.
Nuka of the Pride Eaters, Vitani of the King's Cubs, and Shenzi of the Death Lions were to be the first of the Primarchs to side with the Warmaster. Scar found it easy exploit the Primarchs' flaws – Nuka's frenzied love of violence was a match for Khorne; Vitani was corrupted by a daemon weapon of Slaanesh and its promise of unending perfection; Shenzi, already a close friend of his, was too easily persuaded, having been turned long before the Betrayal through the efforts of his first captain Malka (unofficial character from the Lion King in my story). Ni had already vouched for the support of Zira and the Roar Bearers, and with these prides at his side Scar's plans began to come together.
Ma, however, had yet to be dealt with. The Primarch was aware of her friend's fall, and attempted to forewarn Mufasa of the impending betrayal. However, knowing that he would have to find a means of quickly warning Mufasa, Ma decided to use her sorcery to deliver the message as an act of both desperation and vindication. The message penetrated the psychic defenses of Pride Rock in the Pride Lands shattering all the psychic wards Mufasa had placed on the Rock and destroying his secret project: a physic gate by Mufasa intended to invade the Webway and take battle to the Anteleer. Having already outlawed the Primarch's use of sorcery and refusing to believe that Scar, his most beloved and trusted friend and brother, would betray him, Mufasa instead perceived the traitor to be Ma and her Pride.
Mufasa ordered the Primarch Kovu to mobilize his Space Lions Pride and take Ma into custody; Scar, however, persuaded Kovu that Ma was a threat and should not return to the Pride Lands alive. The Lions of Fenris descended upon Prospero, destroying all in their path. Ma, betrayed, defeated and forsaken by her beloved friend, retreated into the Warp and pledged herself to Tzeentch. The Thousand Heirs had never planned to join Scar, but the trap that the Changer of Ways had laid for the Red Sorceress's pride led them to the Warmaster's side regardless.
Of the other eventual traitors, Ed was due to face disciplinary action from Mufasa for his excessive bloodshed on Nostramo; Uncle Max chose to join Scar after the prophecy of an ancient cabal of animals was revealed to him that Scar's victory would cause the downfall of the Chaos powers; and Banzai's cold nature and bitterness towards Kiara made him an easy target for corruption.
Even with so many prides on his side, Scar was still aware that some of his brothers would never join him. Three of the most loyal Primarchs, Nala of the Dark Kings, Rafiki of the Blood Kings, and Simba of the Ultralions, were sent on missions far from the Pride Lands. The Blood Kings were sent to the daemon-infested Signis Cluster and the Ultralions to Calth, where Tojo (unofficial Lion King character in my story) attacked the loyalists with a large force of Roar Bearers and millions of Chaos cultists. Unbeknownst to the Lioness, a rebellion was soon to occur on her homeland of Caliban.
The Imperial Claws and White Cuts were too close to Terra to be contacted without raising suspicion, though Horus believed (mistakenly) that Kopa would ultimately take his side. Shortly before the Dropsite Massacre, Scar also ordered Vitani to turn Timon to their cause, but the Leopard (not really a leopard, but used as a nickname) underestimated the Meerkat's loyalty and barely escaped alive. Vitani promised she would deliver Timon's head to Scar in recompense.
The remaining Prides - the Vulture Guard, Crocodiles, Iron Paws and Space Lions - remained staunchly loyal to Mufasa, though all but the Space Lions would pay dearly for it in the battles to come. Beyond the Prides, Scar had already swayed Adept Chumvi (unofficial character from the Lion King in my story) with promises of the STCs recovered during the war with the Auretian Technocracy, delivering Adeptus Mechanicus support to the Warmaster's forces, and had corrupted a large portion of the Pride Guard and Navy.
Scouring of Isstvan III
The first sign that Scar and his Pride had turned to Chaos was made evident when Scar virus bombed the rebel world of Isstvan III. The Planetary Governor of Isstvan III had declared his independence from the Imperium, and the Council of Pride Rock charged Scar with the retaking of that world. This order merely furthered Scar's plans. Although the four Prides under his direct command had turned Traitor, there were still some Loyalist elements within the Heirs of Scar, Pride Eaters, and Death Lions; many of these were Prideland Lion Kings (i.e. Space Marines) who had been recruited before being reunited with their Primarchs. Scar, under the guise of his orders, amassed his troops in the Isstvan System.
Scar had a plan by which he would destroy all Loyalist elements of the Prides at his command. After a lengthy bombardment, Scar dispatched all Loyalist Kings down to the planet, ostensibly to bringing it back into the Imperium. At the moment of victory, however, the Loyalist Kings were betrayed: with a cold snarl of "Let the galaxy burn!" Scar ordered his ships to open fire on Isstvan III, and virus bombs began to rain down on the planet. However, some Kings loyal to Mufasa had remained on board their ships, and as Isstvan III died, these lions fought desperately to warn their brethren on the surface. Their sacrifice saved many Lion Kings, as they were able to take shelter before the virus bombs struck. The population of Isstvan III received no such protection. Twelve billion animals died almost immediately. The psychic shock of so many simultaneous deaths shrieked through the Warp, alerting Mufasa that something was terribly wrong, and informing the Chaos Gods that Scar was now theirs. A contingent of Loyalists led by Captain Tama (unofficial character from the Lion King in my story) of the Death Lions escaped the fleet orbiting Isstvan III aboard the damaged vessel called Mohatu (actually grandfather of Mufasa, but I had to use something), and fled to the Pride Lands to warn Mufasa.
Nuka, realizing that the virus bombs had not been fully effective against the Loyalist Kings, flew into a rage and hurled himself at the planet with 50 Companies of Kings. Scar was furious at Nuka for delaying his plans, yet reluctantly reinforced him with troops from the Heirs of Scar, the Death Lions, and the King's Cubs. On Isstvan III, the remaining Loyalists, under the command of Kula (unofficial character from the Lion King in my story), fought bravely against their own traitorous family members. But their cause was doomed. Soon only a few hundred of them remained until, finally, Scar grew unable to tolerate the delay and forced Nuka to withdraw his forces, and ordered a systematic orbital bombardment that killed Isstvan III's last brave survivors.
Flight of the Mohatu
The seventy Loyalists led by Captain Tama commandeered the Imperial frigate Mohatu and evading the forces of Scar, were able to escape from the Isstvan system into the Immaterium. The Mohatu was badly damaged during its escape from Isstvan III; all its astropaths were dead and its lone Navigator was mortally wounded. However, Tama managed to attract the attention of passing Loyalist ships by setting the vessel's warp engines to self-destruct and ejecting them from the ship. Kiara's Imperial Claws Pride had been becalmed in the Warp with its fleet for some time, and her Navigators sensed the detonation of the Mohatu's Warp drives. Making an immediate course for the location of the ship's beacon, Kiara met with Tama, who explained to him all that had happened with the Traitor Prides.
The remaining crew of the Mohatu, now aboard Primarch Kiara's Fortress-Monastery, the Phalanx, was able to reach the Pride Lands (after the destruction of the Mohatu by Kiara's fleet to ensure that no Chaos taint was left), allowing the loyal Kings to report the extent of the atrocities that had occurred in the Isstvan system. It was said in later millennia that without this warning, the Imperium would have faced even greater difficulties in responding to Scar's next moves although his warning may have enabled Scar to enact the drop site massacre.
The fate of these seventy Kings is ultimately unknown. Some believe they continued to fight for Mufasa until death claimed them, while others maintain that they were treated as if they were their traitorous brethren, either imprisoned and left to rot, or executed. Others believe that Captain Tama, shocked by the terrible betrayal, became a healer, vowing never to kill again. Others believe some of these men formed the nucleus of the elite Lion Kings Pride later known as the Silver Lions, for Busara the Wise (Swahili for 'wise') had presented eight of the survivors to Mufasa before his departure. These men were gifted psykers, came from the ranks of the Prides that had turned traitor, and yet maintained both an unbreakable faith in Mufasa and talent for resisting the temptations of Chaos.
Drop Site Massacre
After ridding himself of all suspected Loyalist members within the three Prides under his direct command, Scar chose Isstvan V as his command post and prepared a trap for his former friends and their Prides.
Agonizing over the betrayal of his most beloved son, Mufasa ordered the deployment of seven full Lion King Prides against him. Their orders were to take Scar and the Primarchs allied with him into custody and bring them back to the Pride Lands to explain their actions. Unbeknownst to Mufasa however, four of the Primarchs and their Prides chosen for this task had already turned against him, forming a "fifth column" which would strike against the Loyalists at the most decisive moment.
The initial naval operations seemed to go well for the Loyalists. The Imperial Navy gained orbit over Isstvan V and the Prides proceeded with their planetary deployment.
Under the overall command of Timon three whole Prides took part in the first wave of landings; the Crocodiles lead by Pumbaa, the Vulture Guard under Zazu and Timon's own Pride the Iron Paws. Scar had foreknowledge of the location of the loyalist drop site, and his forces mauled the Prides during their landings, keeping them pinned down and unable to advance.
Timon engaged Vitani (stupid move, especially for a meerkat against a lioness) in personal combat, only to die at his hands, while the King's Cubs butchered the Iron Paws. The Loyalists retreated towards the apparent safety of their friends in the second wave, hoping to gain reinforcement; what happened next took them completely by surprise.
The four Prides of the second wave - The Night Kings of Ed, the Iron Pride of Banzai, the Roar Bearers of Zira, and the Alpha Pride of Max - already seduced to the cause of Scar, opened fire on their unsuspecting friends, slaughtering them wholesale. This orgy of carnage would later become widely known as the Isstvan V Drop Site Massacre.
A phrase from the Warmaster himself can easily summarize the entire battle: "When the traitor's hand strikes, it strikes with the strength of a Pride."
After the battle, the head of Timon was presented by Vitani to Scar as a trophy. It is widely believed that Scar planned the battle with aid from the tactical genius, Max.
Only five Loyalist Lion Kings, bearing the gene-seed of their fallen friends and carrying the critically wounded Zazu, managed to escape. They fled back to the Vulture Guard's homeland, Deliverance, to tend to their wounds and alert Mufasa. In a single stroke Scar had crippled three Prides, a Primarch had fallen in battle, another was severely wounded and a third (Pumbaa) was missing in action. How Pumbaa managed to survive and escape is still quite unclear. It was disastrous news for Mufasa and the Imperium.
During the developments at Prospero, Scar's rebellion would be further strengthened by Ma and her Pride, the Thousand Heirs, now servants of Tzeentch. In addition the Schism of the Outlands (i.e. Mars), the civil war of the Adeptus Mechanicus, had ended in the victory of the Warmaster's allies, the Dark Mechanicum. With nine Prides and much of the Adeptus Mechanicus behind him, Scar quickly struck towards the Pride Lands.
The Siege of the Pride Lands and the aftermath of the Betrayal
The Traitor Kings laid waste to their former allies' holdings along the way to the Pride Lands. Throughout the Imperium, rebel and loyal forces battled viciously. Scar and his forces destroyed Luna's naval bases, and within 30 days had destroyed the Pride Lands' system's defenses. The Pride Lands was bombarded and devastated, and eventually, the corrupted Kings landed on the Pride Lands, experiencing heavy resistance from the forces defending the Pride Lands (among these loyalists were Blood Kings, Imperial Claws and White Cuts). The loyalists were outnumbered, and the battle for the Pride Lands turned into a siege of Pride Rock. By the 55th day the rebels had reached the walls of the Inner Rock. Scar, who had remained in orbit aboard his battle barge, was at that point warned that the rest of the loyalist Prides were returning to the Pride Lands and would arrive in hours. The Ultralions were pushing their way to the Pride Lands, along with the Space Lions and the Dark Kings. If this were to happen, Scar's advantage in numbers would be diminished. He let down the force field protecting his battle barge, to lure Mufasa in a final battle that would decide the war.
Mufasa saw this opportunity and teleported to the Warmaster's battle barge with two of his Primarchs, Elephant armoured Kings of their Pride as well as members of the Royal Guard (i.e. Custodes).
Upon teleporting, Mufasa's forces were scattered through the ship, and were forced to battle their way to find each other. Rafiki found Scar first. Scar was at the height of his powers; augmented by the blessings of all four Chaos Gods, and Rafiki was slain. Scar stood over the Primarch's body as Mufasa found the Warmaster. After a long and grueling battle, Mufasa was successful in defeating Scar, but he himself was mortally wounded. Mufasa survived long enough to be transferred to the Golden Throne - a strange mechanism that would allow him to survive forever in a state of undeath.
After the death of Scar the betrayal broke apart, and the remaining Chaos Lion Kings retreated into the Eye of Terror, from which they periodically launch Black Crusades into the Imperium led by Taka the Despoiler.
Post Betrayal
The Great Betrayal was followed by the Great Exile (next chapter).