I am very, very sorry for stupid grammatical mistakes, I mostly fixed them today, I am searching for a beta reader, so far no one came forth, if anyone is an able beta reader, please contact me, also if you like my stories make sure to send a review or pm me, it helps me to understand what you want from me and how I can improve the story, I have no problem with long reviews.
An Alternate Heresy
I was influenced by the The Divergent Empire of SSj Masta, but there are many facts in my fic that are different from that story.
This is a chronicling of significant events in the "Guilliman Heresy" alternate universe; a twisted alternate timeline in which Warmaster Horus was able to cast off the demon influence that sought to possess him, and were the Ruinous Powers were instead forced to corrupt Guilliman to overthrow the Emperor. The Guilliman Heresy is the tale of an alternate universe where choices, have led to the familiar primarchs and legions meeting very different fate.
M30
Eldar Exodus: Sensing the end of their civilization is approaching, a small portion of the Eldar race combine and modify their starships into Craftworlds, gigantic living vessels that are able to accommodate an entire planet's population of Eldar. One by one the Craftworlds begin to escape the murderous, hedonistic corruption that now dominates the Eldar empire's homeworlds. Hundreds of Craftworlds sail into the depths of space in search of the relative safety of the void from the catastrophe that their Farseers claim will soon consume the Eldar people.
End of the Age of Strife: The Warp Storms that have made interstellar travel and communications through the Immaterium impossible for the last 5,000 Terran years of the Age of Strife finally abate after the birth of Slaanesh within the Warp and the Fall of the Eldar.
The Unification Wars: During the turbulent era known as the Age of Strife, the Sol System and the nearby star systems that had been colonized by humanity during the Dark Age of Technology were effectively cut off from interstellar travel or communication with each other due to the massive Warp Storms that swept the galaxy as the Immaterium was roiled by the millennia-long gestation of the Chaos God Slaanesh and the turbulence that marked the decay of the Eldar empire before the Fall. After the Age of Strife ended during the 30th Millennium a series of conflicts were fought on Terra. It was during these campaigns that the Emperor of Mankind first publicly revealed himself to a desperate humanity and began his conquest of Terra to unify the techno-barbarian nations that dominated the sacred homeworld of Mankind and forge the foundation of the Imperium of Man.
Creation of the Legiones Astartes: Using sophisticated genetic engineering techniques developed in his laboratories beneath the Himalayan Mountains and on Luna the Emperor created the most elite of this first generation of genetically-engineered supersoldiers were known as the Thunder Warriors. These genetically-bred supermen were physically stronger and more formidable in combat than even the later Space Marines, though they were engineered to be vicious killers and lacked many of the more noble aspects of the Astartes as well as their tremendously long life spans. The Thunder Warriors were engineered to be the means to an end and were never intended to be integrated into the Emperor's new realm after Unity had been achieved.
The Treaty of Mars (Treaty of Olympus): The Emperor of Mankind travels to Mars and lands his flagship in the caldera of the great Martian mountain of Olympus Mons where he is welcomed as the Omnissiah, the living embodiment and avatar of the Machine God by the Cult Mechanicus. The Emperor convinces the leadership of the Mechanicus to forge a political alliance with the Imperium of Man in an agreement known to history as the Treaty of Mars and the Treaty of Olympus within the Mechanicus. In return for granting the Imperium the use of Mars' massive manufactorums, the orbital shipyards of the vast Ring of Iron and the military strength of its Titan Legions and the technological and scientific skills of its Tech-priests, the Emperor guarantees that the Mechanicus, now known as the Adeptus Mechanicus, will remain politically autonomous within its own territories and will be exempt from the atheistic doctrines of the Imperial Truth so that the Cult Mechanicus can continue its ancient worship of the Machine God.
The Primarch Project: The Emperor created the Primarchs; 20 genetically-engineered sons created in the late 30th Millennium after the end of the Unification Wars. They were intended to be the immortal and superhuman leaders who would command the Emperor's galactic Great Crusade to reunite the scattered human race beneath his leadership. Their genomes later served as the genetic template from which the Emperor crafted his 20 Space Marine Legions. The Ruinous Powers of Chaos somehow spirited the superhuman children away through the Warp, however, leaving them scattered across the galaxy.
Late M30 - Early M31
The Great Crusade Begins: Primarchs rediscovered and united with the Space Marine Legions created from their genomes. Human-settled galaxy reclaimed by the Imperium of Man. Accelerated gene-culturing of gene-seed organs used to fill a need for vast numbers of Space Marines leads to genetic flaws.
M31
The Great Crusade Continues: The Emperor's Great Crusade to reunite humanity under His banner was continuing apace. Vast expeditionary armies, spearheaded by His Primarch sons, surged out across the galaxy, bringing enlightenment and compliance wherever they went. The future seemed assured and the future bright as the Age of Enlightenment was ushered in.
Ullanor Declaration - The Ullanor Crusade was a vast Imperial assault on the Ork empire of the Overlord Urrlak Urruk during the Great Crusade of the early 31st Millennium. The Ullanor Crusade marked the high point of the Great Crusade's vast effort to reunite the scattered colony worlds of humanity. The Orks of Ullanor represented the largest concentration of Orks ever defeated by the military forces of the Imperium of Man at that time. During the mighty celebration on Ullanor, the Emperor announced that He would return to Terra, and that Horus, Primarch of the Luna Wolves would command the Great Crusade in His stead. Some of the Primarchs were happy for this course of action, while others were secretly dissatisfied. One of those Primarchs was Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch with the largest legion felt jealous that the Emperor would choose Horus over him, but kept his envy to himself.
Seeds of Heresy are Sown: Some say that the Ullanor Declaration was where the seeds of disaffection were planted amongst the Primarchs, with one of their number being so publicly elevated above the rest. In truth, the rot had started long before.
Council of Nikaea: Just before the Emperor was set to return to Terra, leaving Horus in supreme command of the Great Crusade, He called His Primarchs together on the planet of Nikaea. There He sought to address the increasingly acrimonious disputes that had broken out over the nature of psychic ability. Mortarion, Dorn, Corax and of course Leman Russ led the charge, saying that there was no boundary between psychic abilities and the use of destructive sorceries. It was all a matter of degrees, with one inevitably leading to the other. The Emperor's decision to withhold knowledge about the nature of Chaos had not stopped the Primarchs from sensing its dangers, and as Magnus had feared, some lashed out against psykers, the eternal scapegoats. Hamstrung by the Emperor's decree, Magnus realized that no words of his could pacify the growing mob. He desperately begged a private audience with his father, and in a move both practical and symbolic, proposed that, starting with himself, every member of the Thousand Sons be soul-bound to the Emperor. Just as soul-binding fortified Astropaths against the horrors of the Warp, the rite would purge and protect the legion from the temptations of sorcery, and be a palpable sign of their loyalty. The Emperor agreed to this elegant solution, and the act was performed that very night. When the Primarchs and their attendants filed into the council chamber the next morning they saw Magnus, standing proudly alongside his father, his one eye socket an empty wound. The process of soul-binding, of merging essences with the psychic might of the Emperor, had burned out his optic nerve and left the Cyclop's blind, but Magnus was filled with a second sight that left him far from vulnerable. Though it pacified most, the judgement did nothing to assuage Leman Russ, who stormed from the chamber, and into the service of the Blood God.
Gambit of Eldar: For two hundred years, they watched as the Emperor of Mankind and his Great Crusade spread out into the galaxy, determined but ignorant of the True Enemy. As they watched, Farseer Eldrad Ulthran of Craftworld Ulthwe, felt the need to intervene. Perhaps, with the right guidance the humans could be prepared for the inevitable outbreak of Chaos. However, the Farseer's prodigious abilities sent to him a vision. He saw for only an instant, a future where he intervened. Approaching a large silver-haired warrior in purple and gold armor, he was greeted with only arrogance and one who'd already become an unknowing pawn of the enemy. Eldrad realized that he must go further. His intervention must be wisely timed and told to one who would listen. He contacted Magnus and tell him about the possibility of Horus heresy.
Counseling of Lorgar: A few weeks after the council at Nikaea, the Emperor, along with Horus, at ordered Lorgar to meet with them. Once gathered the Word Bearer Primarch was shocked to hear how the Emperor disapprove of the legion's progress and how the Primarch continued to refer the Emperor as a God. Before he could further devastate, the Emperor said that he if longer wish to spread his will, he should do so by making sure the people of the Imperium have faith in the ever growing empire, and in their leader, who is just a man. When the Emperor left, Horus explained to Lorgar that the Emperor was a humble being who denied his divinity and wished to be worshipped as a hero alongside his sons. Upon hearing these words Lorgar's beliefs was doubled as he left the meeting with new determination: to better serve the Imperium and his father by spreading their influence throughout the Galaxy.
The stance of Alpharius: The Cabal a secret organization dedicated to the eradication of Chaos, whose operatives are drawn from more than a thousand different intelligent Xenos races, The key to their insidious plan was to see Warmaster Horus succumb to demonic possession, thereby plunging the Imperium into a catastrophic civil war. The end result of Horus' conquest of the Imperium would be the total extermination of the human species within two or three generations. However, if humanity were to disappear from the galaxy, the Ruinous Powers of Chaos, whose own existence within the Empyrean depended upon the baser collective psychic emanations of humanity, would be extinguished by it. They foresaw that the Chaos Gods would ignite a galactic-level civil war within the Imperium of Man by corrupting and using Horus, and claimed that what "Horus would do, Alpharius would undo". They also claimed that, while the outbreak of the Horus Heresy was inevitable and could not be altered, the Alpha Legion was perfectly placed to control and direct it to one of the two possible outcomes the Acuity had foreseen for humanity and the galaxy. The Cabal's Inner Circle tasked John Grammaticus, a human Perpetual agent of the Cabal, to arrange a meeting with the Alpha Legion's Primarch, which eventually took place on the planet Eolith about a standard year-and-a-half before the start of the Heresy at the Battle of Istvaan III. Despite subjecting the Xeno's conspirators to their most terrible and persuasive of interrogations, Alpha Legion was unable to extract where or even when this event would take place. They did, however, ascertain that the death of a Word Bearer Chaplain by the name of Erebus was vital to the alien's plans. Perhaps it is a sign of their paranoia and love of secrets, but rather than simply inform the Warmaster of the threat against his life, they decided instead to shadow Chaplain Erebus and ensure his safety.
The Warmaster Falls: On the feral world of Davin, Warmaster Horus was struck down by a mysterious contagion, which baffled the finest of the legion's apothecaries. During his recovery, Horus attended an initiation ceremony of one of Davin's primitive warrior lodges, known as the Hall of the Knife of Bone, after which the Warmaster's condition dramatically worsened to critical. After the Ullanor Declaration, the cracks began to appear. It was in fact an act of possession by a powerful warp entity, although at the time the concept of the daemonic was widely regarded as errant superstition. Only with the aid of the psychic might of the blind Primarch Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons, and spiritual counseling from Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers, could the entity finally be cast out. Having narrowly escaped their snare, the Ruinous Powers turned their attentions elsewhere for a new champion.
Corruption of Roboute Guilliman: When Horus had slipped from their clutches, the Ruinous Powers had moved to groom another for the role of the Arch - Betrayer. Roboute Guilliman was chosen for his potential to bring the entire Imperium crashing down. They preyed upon and magnified his feelings of jealousy at being passed over as Warmaster, despite merging the most planets with the Imperium and having a larger legion. Guilliman had sought to drown out these shameful doubts of his father's judgment and withdrew into his palace on Macragge. As the pressure increased, he spent longer and longer in his private quarters, until eventually it unhinged his mind, and the Pantheon of Chaos claimed him. He was not beholden to one, but to the glory of Chaos Undivided.
The Chastisement of Konrad Curze: Primarch Konrad Curze and his Night Lords Legion was an uncompromising and brutal legion who descended upon worlds that were only nominally still part of the Imperium. They would then give them an ultimatum to submit wholeheartedly to the Pax Imperialis, and any who resisted became bloody public executions to the folly of resistance. Though undoubtedly effective, the Night Lords' brutal ways were a source of friction with many of the other, more strait-laced legions. After the action of the Night Lords during the Pacification of Cheraut, Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion, confronted Curze. Dorn berated Curze for his brutal methods and began to lecture him. Turning to leave, Dorn reached out to stop him, at that point Curze received a dire vision of the future and the treachery in which half of his brothers would take part in, though no clear vision of what would become of him. In blind instinct he attacked Dorn, not knowing if he would play a role in the treachery. He escaped from custody aboard the Imperial Fists' mobile fortress, the Phalanx, and flees with the rest of his Legion. As he fled, he ran into Guilliman, who calmed him and listened to his fears. As he finished hearing it, Guilliman managed to persuade Konrad to join his cause, because father did not approve of his way and saw him only as a monster. But Konrad did not believe him and instead fled the Ultramarine Primarch to parts unknown.
Corruption of Rogal Dorn: Ruinous Powers preyed upon and magnified Dorn's feelings of jealousy at being passed over as Warmaster, and then being withdrawn to Terra while his brothers were carving a reputation across the galaxy. Dorn had sought to drown out these shameful doubts of his father's judgement in the scourge of the Pain-Glove. As the pressure increased, he spent longer and longer in the device, until eventually it unhinged his mind, and he was claimed by the Pantheon of Chaos. He was not beholden to one, but to the glory of Chaos Undivided.
Ultramar Segmentum: Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines Legion declares independence from the Imperium, claiming dominion over a massive region of space that he called 'Ultramar Segmentum'.
The Burning of Prospero: Believing that the soul-binding ritual would allow Magnus to poison the Emperor's essence with sorcery, Russ gathered his entire legion together to attack the Thousand Sons' homeworld of Prospero. To their credit, not a single brother shied away from the terrible thing the Wolf-King had asked of them. With all of their cunning and skill, the Space Wolves were able to catch the legion of sorcerers unawares, chasing off their fleet and blasting their orbital defenses into wreckage before descending onto the planet below. However, Magnus the Red foresaw this incident, going against the Emperor's decree, and contacted a close friend of his, Lorgar – who vowed to help his brother despite what the Emperor said. Lorgar and the Word Bearers arrived just in time to stop the Space Wolves from breaking the Thousand Sons. All three legions suffered depletion in forces, and the Space Wolves were forced to withdraw.
Betrayal at Istvaan V: Guilliman takes a portion of his massive Ultramarines Legion on a road of conquest, and were identified as being present at his newest conquest, the fifth planet in the Istvaan system. This was set to be the place that the Imperium would crush the rebellious Primarch and his dreams of an independent domain. With Horus still recovering after Davin, The Emperor assumed authority back onto the Imperium's military. In order to repel the Ultramarines, the Emperor summoned the might of nearly half his legions to the task: Alpha Legion, Iron Hand, Emperor's Children, Iron Warriors, Blood Angels and the World Eaters. Rogal Dorn was put in charge of the task force and went over the plan with the other Primarchs. The Iron Warriors, Iron Hand, and Blood Angels made planet-fall first. Their stated intention was to draw an ever-tightening ring of steel around Guilliman, so that the Alpha Legion, World Eaters and Emperor's Children would be able to sweep in from orbit and land the crushing blow. The second wave found the drop-zones to be heavily fortified killing grounds, well garrisoned by the Ultramarines. The three legions took horrendous losses fighting their way to link up with their allies, only for their supposed brothers to open fire on them in an act of base treachery. For unknown to the Emperor, Guilliman had managed to persuade the three legions to join his cause. In the greatest betrayal and military disaster the Legions Astartes had then faced, the Alpha Legion, World Eaters, Emperor's Children and the unexpected arrival of the Dark Angels decimated the survivors of the planet-fall. It was only the timely intervention of the cruiser, Eisenstein, which had been commandeered by loyalists among the turncoat forces, which allowed even a small percentage of the ambushed legions to fight their way back into orbit, and escape. But Fulgirm died on the planet, staying behind with his Phoenix Guard, he held off the enemy to allow his allies to escape. He met his end at the hands of Ferrus, his closes brother, who used his head as a trophy.
The Traitors Revealed: It became clear who had joined the treacherous Guilliman's side: The Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Iron Hands, Imperial Fists. Even the Raven Guard defected from the Imperium, along with the White Scars, who started to show odd lustful behavior and the corrupted Space Wolves company under the command of the Wolf Lord Svane Vulfbad. Their forces increased with several Imperial regiments from the Ultima Segmentum.
The Arch-Betrayer Plots: The Blood Angels, Imperial Fists, Raven Guard and White Scars headed to the Sol System to tighten their grip on Terra, while Luther and his Dark Angels went to rendezvous with their brothers under Lion El'Jonson on Caliban. What occurred on the Dark Angel homeworld is unrecorded by Imperial history, except that it ended with the utter destruction of the planet.
Corruption of the Space Wolves: The Space Wolves that left the ruins of Prospero and set course for Terra were a much changed breed. Although they arrived believing that they were protecting the Imperium, the ferocity of their battle with the Thousand Sons stripped away their veneer of righteousness. By the end, the Space Wolf Legion had been baptized in blood, and anointed into the overt worship of Khorne, the Blood God.
Preparing for Battle: When word reached the Emperor of these events, he and recovering Horus began to summon as many of the loyalist legion as they could. The Sons of Horus, and Salamanders had arrived to assist in the defense of Terra. The only legions that were yet able to join were the Death Guards, those were caught in a campaign with the Tarellians, and the Word Bearers were busy holding off several renegade Imperial Regiments and two companies of the Ultramarines from afar. The World Eaters were moving as fast as they could to reinforce their allies, followed by the Alpha Legion. But the Emperor's Children were still recovering from their massive losses and the loss of their Primarch. Many Imperial Regiments were recalled and setting up defenses for the attack.
The Siege of Terra: The Arch-Betrayer and all of his Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines lay siege to the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra in the greatest battle ever fought in Imperial history.
The Emperor Imprisoned: As the Emperor's Praetorian, a portion of Dorn's legion garrisoned the Imperial Palace, and when the time came, the guards became jailers, trapping the Emperor and His Custodes within the armored bunker of the Imperial throne-room.
The Siege and Defense of Terra: The Arch-Betrayer and all of his Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines, with the first wave consisting of the Blood Angels and Iron Warriors lay siege to the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra in the greatest battle ever fought in Imperial history. They managed to do much damage to the capital city of Terra and pushed the loyalist closer and closer to the Imperial Palace. The embattled defenders of the Imperial Palace are reinforced by the mercurial Thousand Sons Legion, which appeared out of nowhere along with the Night Lords, who had returned from their long disappearance. The battle throughout the planet was brutal and swift. Then, without warning, they withdrew to take the fight elsewhere across Terra. The Arch-Betrayer, Guiliman, arrived back from Istvaan in force, along with the Traitor White Scars legion. The Iron Hands moved to secure Mars for the rebellion, silencing all words from the Adeptus Mechanicus and their Titan Legions. But the Mar's forces were reinforced by the arrival of the Death Guard Legion, who unleashed fury upon their former brothers. The Loyalist fleets of the Word Bearers battered their way through the blockade to make planet-fall, before encircling the Imperial Palace in a counter-siege. But the Ultramarines managed to divide their forces, one to hold back the reinforcements and the other to attack the Imperial Palace. In response, Horus quickly had Perturabo reinforce the outer walls of the gate while his Legion prepared the inner defenses. The Iron Warriors began to fight fanatically against the enemy, especially their long, bitter rival the Imperial Fists. The late arriving World Eaters began to reinforce the Imperial soldiers in the city, and securing any war machines and Spaceports. They also reorganized the War Titans that manage to make planet fall. The Alpha Legion and Emperor's Children arrived, though low in numbers, under the command of Alpharius led hit and run attacks, killing leaders and securing defensive positions, while the Salamanders assisted with evacuations of civilians. But still the traitors pressed hard never faltering despite the defender's efforts. The war hung in the balance, with neither side able to land a fatal blow. With the White Scars incommunicado, seemingly following their own agenda on the far side of Terra, and the renegade Dark Angels and Raven Guard unaccountably slowed to a crawl in the warp, Guilliman turned ever more towards the daemonic to win the war. Through foul sorceries and blood-pacts, Terra became a playground for all manner of entities from the Empyrean.
Death of a Primarch: By the 55th Day of the siege, the Iron Warriors finally break through to the Ultimate Gate, their Primarch Perturabo himself is leading the assault himself, hoping to face the Arch-Betrayer himself. But instead, the plague-ridden Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius defended the Ultimate Gate. The two Primarchs fought in an epic clash, but in the end, Sanguinius hefted the stunned Perturabo aloft, and brought him down across his knee, breaking his spine. Sanguinius then took flight, carrying his dying brother into the air, and drained him of blood. As the Ultimate Gate was bulldozed shut once more by the defenders, Sanguinius contemptuously threw the corpse back down at the broken Iron Warriors.
Change of Plan: A saddened and repentant Emperor sits atop the Golden Throne. Even from Terra, he can feel the battles being waged. He can hear the laughter of Chaos as they undo all that he has wrought. He can feel the pain of his people as they wage against the forces of the Ruinous powers. Then, something different strays into his psychic senses. A message from one, Eldrad Ulthran. No-one knows exactly what was said between the greatest of representations of Man and Eldar. What is known, however, was the coming result.
The Emperor Bides His Time: A few days later the Emperor completed his modifications and bonded a portion of His consciousness with the Astronomicon. In an effort to stop him the Imperial Fists led by Dorn moved in to attack the Emperor while he was distracted. But Konrad Curze and the Night Lords Legion stopped him. The battle was intense and lasted for several hours, but it ended with Konrad's death at the hands of Dorn. But the Night Lord's usual ruthlessness managed to hold off the Imperial Fists until the Emperor's plan activated. In an instant, the warp-influence weakened planet-wide, with whole legions of lesser entities banished from the physical realm. With half of their forces gone, the Imperial Fists had to retreat to safer grounds.
A Blow To The Traitors: Leaving half of their forces on Mars, the Iron Hands Legion arrived to join their fellow Traitors against the Loyalist forces of the beleaguered planet. Swooping down into the embattled Lion's Gate spaceport, they murdered the Imperial defenders, and without even fortifying their positions, the corrupted Iron Hands took to their vehicles and scattered across the planet at high speed to make sport with the cowering civilian population. The Salamanders charged to greet them, gunning them down with zealous ferociousness, causing many casualties among their ranks. But the Iron Hands led by their Primarch Ferrus, slaughtered the first wave of Salamanders. It wasn't until the arrival of Vulkan was the Salamanders able slowed down the Iron Hands. The two Primarchs dueled for what seemed like eternity, but in the end Vulkan was able to break Ferrus Manus's spine, leaving him to slowly die. Though his legion tried to save him, the Salamanders pushed them back, allowing Vulkan to deliver the final blow.
End Game: With another fresh legion throwing its weight behind the traitors, and the fleets of the Dark Angels and Raven Guard only days away, the Emperor had no choice but to cut out the Heresy at its source. He and his finest troops prepared to board the Macragge's Honor and destroy the Arch-Betrayer, Guilliman, on his own battle-barge. As soon as the Emperor announced His decision to board the Macragge's Honor, Alpharius launched a sneak assault on the ship, and true to his word at the appointed hour sensors registered an internal explosion aboard the Macragge's Honor and the shields preventing teleportation flickered and died. The Emperor, flanked by his Custodes, and Horus, along with his Mournival of captains teleported onto the ship, but were scattered across the vast command decks by sinister magic. Called by the psychic presence of the Emperor, the loyalists fought their way back to their leader. The Emperor reached Alpharius's last location just outside of Guilliman's personal Sanctum, to find the primarch's Terminator armor-clad guards dead, and the armored doorway has already opened. A wail of unutterable anguish echoed from the chamber beyond. Guilliman mumbled that he had been freed - that the pulse from the Astronomicon had given him enough strength to finally banish the daemon. He said that he had killed his corrupted bodyguards. But the Emperor did not believe him, and instead removed a tapestry to reveal the brutalize corpse of Alpharius.
Change of Fate: With his deception revealed, Guilliman raised his sword and charged. Spurred into action, the Emperor leapt at Guilliman. The two battled for what seemed like an age, In his final battle with his son, his allows a single blow to pierce his armor, and find it deep within his arm. The god's glory in their puppet's strike, only to find out all too soon what the God Emperor has planned. Instantly, the Emperor strikes at the Dark Gods through his own son, the mental strain immediately shattering his soul apart as the Eye ripples in agony. Billions of Daemons shriek as they are annihilated beyond recovery, and their masters themselves feel a terrible blow across them. But none more than Slaanesh. For the God Emperor has fulfilled his part of the deal with the Eldar, and with such force and command that only He could muster, the Emperor rips his hands into the Prince's gut, and pulls out the Daemon-God's stomach. In an act of barbarity dating back to the Emperor's very birth, he devours it.
The Emperor's Ascension: When the Mournivals, led by Primarch Horus, reached the devastated site of the battle, they found both of them broken, burned and shattered beyond aid. The Emperor finally falls to the ground, dying. Desperately, he is brought to the Golden Throne, with hope that in the future, he might be saved. But the Emperor is not yet dead, or unable to speak. Mustering all his strength to give one last coherent order to his people, he explains the pact made with the Eldar. After devouring the stomach of Slaanesh, he now inherits all the souls of the Eldar who die from this point onwards. Their souls shall join with his for all eternity, safe and able to help him project his will. With such an influx of powerful psyker souls, only a handful of human psykers meditating with him will be needed to maintain the Astronomicon he had hoped to perfect.
The Traitors Flee: Upon this, space rippled as five Craftworlds and their fleets entered Realspace. The sudden appearance of the largest alien fleet mankind had ever seen threw the traitors into disarray. In a display of glorious firepower, the traitor chapters are decimated and forced to flee. The Macragge's Honor, under the command of Marius Gage, stayed in orbit just long enough to collect the remaining Ultramarines. The coalition of traitors fractured, and then scattered, with the Blood Angels, Iron Hand, Iron Warriors, and White Scars commandeering whatever vessels they could to escape. The Dark Angel fleet turned from its Terran course and even the Raven Guards fled to safer space. With the pact complete and their souls safe from She-Who-Thirsts, the Eldar pledge themselves to the preservation of humanity. The Imperium's goals are their goals, until Chaos itself is exterminated, as so that another such Slaanesh, can never arise again.
Bitter Work: Horus stepped forward and became the de facto leader of the Imperium's armed forces, becoming the first High Lord of Terra. Horus proved supremely adept at manipulating the disparate parts of the shattered Imperium back to some semblance of order. Soon he was able to command the fealty of the surviving primarchs, and played on their individual preferences and prejudices. For instance, Mortarion would commit to a force to drive the Blood Angels off of Baal proposed by Magnus, on the understanding that reciprocity would be observed when it came to mounting a xenocidal crusade against Tarellians. For Vulkan and the Salamanders, an attack on Ultramarines deep inside Ultramar Segmentum in revenge for Istvaan was the prize, and Lorgar was pacified with the duty of moralizing the citizens of the Imperium with his legion. But once Magnus had discovered that the Emperor's soul had become a god known as the Star Child, Lorgar formed the Ecclesiarchy in order to spread the word of the Star Child (Human) or Ynnead (Eldar). Painfully, slowly, but surely, the tide turned and the borders of Imperial-controlled space rolled back once again.
Creation of the Codex: After seeing what would happen if any legion retained their numbers, Horus decided to create the Codex Astartes. This commanded all Primarchs to divide their legions into chapters. At first many of the surviving Primarchs argued against this, but the ones without a Primarch had no choice but to comply, and soon were followed by the rest.
The Fate of the Sons: After the Guilliman Heresy and the battle of Terra, Magnus returned with his legion back to Prospero. While much had been destroyed by the Ultramarines, the planet remained intact and its capital city, Tezca, remained standing. Also the attack and the battle of Terra had left the legion very undermanned and it would require several years until the legion was back to full strength. It took ten years for them to rebuild their homeworld and replenish their forces. When they were done they gave birth to only one Chapter: The Blood Ravens, with Captain of the 4th Fellowship, Menes Kalliston as its Chapter Master.
Splitting of the Legions: Soon the rest of the loyalist Legions began to follow Horus's Codex, splitting their legion into chapters. The sole exception was the Emperor's Children, who were very low on marines due to the massacre and the death of their Primarchs. For the next three centuries during the push against Chaos, the Emperor's Children remained as a sidearm for other Legions led by Eidolon. They were able to give birth to one new Chapter, called the Winged Host, with Lucius the Eternal as their Chapter Master. The Sons of Horus, under the command of Horus, renamed themselves the Black Knights, with Abaddon as their Chapter Master. They gave birth to three Chapters, each one retaining their legion's old names: Luna Wolves led by the Sons of Horus led by Horus Aximand, the Luna Wolves led by Garviel Loken and Lupercal's Crusaders led by Tarik Torgaddon. The Iron Warriors created the Golden Legion, Titanium Fists, Iron Scorpions. The Alpha Legion created the Omega Legion, with Primarch Omegon as its Chapter Master. From the Night Lords gave birth to the Shadow Lords and Dark Lords Chapter, while the Death Guard created the Dusk Raiders, and Doom Vanguards. The Salamanders created the Red Hunters and Yellow Jackets. Finally the World Eaters created the War Hounds and the Devourers. The Word Bearers were only to create a small chapter, which they named the Prophets of the Emperor.
Death of Horus: In the course of a long lifetime, Horus saw his patience rewarded. The remaining loyalist legions were rebuilt and expanded, and the Traitor Legions were pushed from their homeworlds and enclaves towards the massive warp-rift, which became known as the Eye of Terror. He died as he lived; leading the Imperial forces from the front. In the world of Uralan, in the shadow of a monumental tower, during the 1st Black Crusade, Horus was struck down by overwhelming numbers of Chaos Marines. His legion recovered his remains, and Abaddon inherited his power claw and became the new leader of the High Lords of Terra.
A Legion Shattered: After the Heresy, the Ultramarines were regarded with bitterness by the other traitor legions. They would forever be condemned as pariahs. Worse, the ravages of extensive daemonic possession and the brutal meat-grinder battles of the Siege had reduced the Ultramarines to half their strength. Inheritor of Guilliman's mantle was Marius Gage, current Chapter Master at the time, who, to avoid the hated 'Imperials' associations, renamed them as the brooding 'Black Legion'. Such was the bitterness surrounding the legion that Marius could not even prevent elements of his own command from rebelling. Former Captain Remus Ventanus led many of the possessed marines to their own fate, and these bloody-handed butchers showed even the Space Wolves the true meaning of savagery. Another group despised the way Marius had turned his back on their primarch. Proudly and defiantly calling themselves the Sons of Guilliman, they set about carving a reputation by targeting a selected Great Company, be they loyalist or traitor, and not resting until it had been annihilated to the last marine.
Formation of the Gray Knights: Through telepathy, the Emperor instructed Magnus that the creation of a chapter of marines who are impervious to the taint of Chaos, along with an organization of people who live to fight against Chaos must be created. So with the survivors of the Loyalist the Inquisition was made. Then, with several recruits from Terra, a special Gene-seed was implanted into them, giving birth to the Gray Knights.
New Imperium: At first, the Eldar were treated little better than slaves, but with the Imperium in such a fractured state, the need of their power, knowledge, and technology quickly became apparent. As the centuries passed and the Imperium was brought back together, the Eldar were integrated into the Imperium, becoming a powerful faction. The alien race's status moved from hated/tolerated, to useful, to trusted ally. It was not too dissimilar to how the Imperium abhorred the mutant, but valued the navigator. Even the Eldar's religion and various gods are accepted, not unlike the Adeptus Mechanicus' Cult of the Machine.
The Imperium has recovered and brought a sense of order back to the shifting galaxy. Though without eight Space Marine legions, they have gained much. Grav-vehicles are common now on many a world. Basic knowledge of Chaos is in the open, with average Imperial citizen well versed in the signs of possible Chaos incursion. The Inquisition moves through the stars, using Eldar magic and human grit to fight the forces of Chaos and root out heretics. Psykers are found more quickly and trained to harness their powers to a higher degree of safety. Arbites fanatically hunt down and punish crimes of perversion, greed, sloth and hedonism. Farseers use the powers of divination to foresee attacks and assaults. The use of navigators has all but been phased out in the human fleets are practically unheard of due to the widespread use of Spider drives, allowing use of the Webway. However, warp-drive are still used in the instance of a location not being near a Webway gate.
The Imperium has also made it a goal to recover any Craftworld that will join them. In addition, many of the Maiden Worlds have been turned over to the Eldar, so that they may slowly raise their numbers. This also frees the Craftworlds, which have become either mobile factory worlds or moving fortresses for Aspect Shrines. Finally, the Imperium makes dangerous runs to Eldar Croneworlds, searching for lost secrets. Their ultimate goal is to rediscover the ability to create a Webway Nexus.
Despite all these advantages that have culminated on top of each other, it is not a golden age and the Imperium is still besieged. Chaos attempts to wreak from within the Imperium and tries to batter down her gates. The warp still festers with Slaanesh's rage over being humiliated by the Emperor and being denied the Craftworld Eldar and Exodite souls.
The Dark Eldar have fully committed themselves to destroying the Imperium. They look down on their former brethren for allying with a primitive species, which they perceive as a betrayal. This is compounded by the fact that the Craftworld Eldar and Exodites are freed from the clutches of Slaanesh, but the Prince of Pleasure still continues to feast upon the Dark Eldar. In return, the Imperium regards them with hatred second only to Chaos, as the Dark Eldar continues the very actions that created a Chaos, God and attempt use them forestall their judgment for such actions.
Orks continue to plague various worlds of the Imperium. The Orks are looked down upon as a crude plague with little right to the success they have achieved. Biel-Tan have helped Imperial forces that were under heavy attack by Orks and to hunt down Ork Roks before the tide of Orks can overrun a planet.
The Necron have started to awaken to reestablish the supremacy of their dynasties. They are motivated even further by the fear of the Eldar's power in the hands of Man.
The Tau are but a thorn in the Imperium's side. They push for the alliance but seek to dominate the Imperium only to be rebuffed.
The Astronomican's potent psychic beacon, unbeknownst to the Imperium's Adepts, is what is drawing the Tyranids to threaten the Milky Way Galaxy and all of the Imperium of Man. It is also drawing them, inexorably and irresistibly, towards Terra itself.
In the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium there is only war… and a single sliver of hope.
New Hope: The Eldars believe that when the most of the spirits of their race and faithful humans will unite with the Emperor, and the collective spirits of the boat races will join to form a new entity in the Warp that will battle and subdue Chaos, so that Eldar and human spirits may once more be able to merge with it and form a single, balanced entity. By doing so, if such a thing is possible, they hope that this will allow the both races to be reborn into a better form. Ynnead itself (the God of the Dead) is a nascent Order based god growing in the warp, from the collective souls of the Eldar and men. Ynnead has yet to manifest itself, as it has yet to attain enough power to fulfill its purpose: to destroy chaos and free the Eldar and humans. Ynnead, when formed, will be a potent entity indeed, so powerful that it has been foreseen that a new dimension will be created, alongside the Immaterium and the material universe, that will be a part of Ynnead.
According to Eldar Prophecy, the death god's stomach will be like heaven, hell and purgatory, as also seen by some Farseers. Since the birth of Ynnead offers the one, faint hope to the Eldar and humans of defeating and overcoming their Great Adversary, all operations regarding his formation and the place of his eventual birth is regarded with utmost care and caution. Innards coming is the target of much of the Eldar's precognitive power, as are all theories regarding the acceleration of Ynnead's formation. As Eldars die and their souls become part of the Emperor, the nascent god grows in power. A few Eldar Seers believe with sufficient Percentage of Eldar and human death, Ynnead or Starchild, will awaken at last and have the strength to defeat chaos forever. At that point, the Eldar and Human race will be reborn into the physical universe to begin again, freed from the sins of their past and with the chance to build a better future.
M41
Traitor Legion United: After ten thousand years, the Traitor Legions at last seem to be putting aside their differences. That Chaos should finally follow the tactics dictated by Abaddon of a massed crusade would be a terrible irony. What their intentions would be are unknown, but if the Ruinous Powers were to attempt a second assault on Holy Terra, the bloodshed would be truly apocalyptic.