Even the supreme eyesight of the demi-god Ultio Ultionis he was struggling with the eternal gloom of the flagship of the Bloodied Visage, Rakshasa. The combined second and eleventh fleet were well into their first day of travelling through the warp. Despite being in the eye of the greatest warpstorm in the galaxy the Rakshasa was calm as if they were travelling in the normal void of real space. Instead of putting Ultio at ease it discomforted him greatly as the voyage to the Arx Gap had been horrendous to the point that Ultio had had his astartes patrol the companionways. Ultio had taken the unheard of decision to travel with the Bloodied Visage alone, his sons and even Lord Commander Antioch had counselled against this but Ultio's intention was clear he wanted to show his brother that he trusted him.

For all of the voyage Ultio and Uvall Jormungand had been and were still sequestered in his brothers inner sanctum there was a complete absent of light only his superior senses made up for it. Everything architectural in Uvall's sanctum was constructed from the bones of those slain in combat by Uvall himself. There were pillars, arches and chandeliers all constructed from remains of a myriad of species. An entire wall an expanse of hundreds of metres was dedicated to skulls, there were Ork's, Ogryn's, Squats and Eldar these were the champions Uvall had bested in battle himself.

Uvall Jormungand was greatly interested in the history of Ultio as well as the people of Kerak. Ultio Ultionis gave a detailed account on Kerakian history up to and including the coming of the Emperor the only detail he left out was the war with their father. Ultio wanted to leave this out for two reasons, first as he felt it was too soon and also to see how much Lorgar told him Uvall of him and for now Uvall seemed satisfied.

'So if he hadn't come for you what would have been the plan?' asked Uvall.

'I vowed to rid Kerak of the Orkish threat for always.' Replied Ultio. 'If our father had not come I and my Kerakian's would have assaulted Ork territory, it would likely have been an eternal endeavour considering how difficult it is to eradicate the greenskin completely.'

'So you would have spent you time locked in an eternal war.' Mused Uvall. 'Would that not have been a fruitless task?'

'Most definitely not.' Said Ultio, he was surprised at his brothers question. 'I would have been locked in constant battle but the people of Kerak would live in peace and harmony save for those whom would have been conscripted. I would have been content fighting for the rest of my life if it meant that I could fulfil my promise to my people.'

'Fear not.' Said Uvall, with an impish light in his eyes. 'You may well fight an eternal war trying to reclaim the galaxy.'

Ultio chuckled. 'You haven't met any Imperial Fists have you?'

Uvall shook his head then cocked it to one side. 'The only astartes I have met are the Word Bearers and your sons why do you ask?'

'It is the opinion of many Imperial Fists, most notably Sigismund, that we will be locked in an eternal war trying to reclaim the galaxy.'

'Well I would call this Sigismund a pragmatist.' Replied Uvall. 'There are manifold enemies in the cosmos and as you have put it some of them like the Ork's are almost impossible to fully eradicate. Then I believe there are many enemies to come that we have not encountered, if we do actually lay claim to the galaxy we will be to shore up the Imperium from without and from within.'

'It sounds bleak.' Admitted Ultio. 'But by and large there are thousands of worlds where its citizens will live on and fruitful lives because of what we do.'

'There is that.' Agreed Uvall. 'At least some enjoy the fruits of the blood we spill.'

'That is our lot in life.'

'Some lot.' Smirked Uvall.

'Yet you took on a legion and went out to do battle to reclaim the galaxy.' Stated Ultio. 'You could have refused you could have stayed on Naraka with your people.'

'Do you think he would allow that.' Chuckled Uvall, with no humour in it. 'Angron refused him did he not and he was snatched from the surface of Nuceria.'

'That is not the same.' Pressed Ultio. 'Angron outright refused to lead a legion it was only Kharn who was able to persuade him yet if what I have been told is correct as soon as the gilded vessels entered your home worlds atmosphere you board The Lex.'

'I knew it was my purpose.' Replied Uvall.

'How?'

'Visions.' Stated Uvall. 'I had visions since my childhood.'

'Tell me of the visions.' Said Ultio. 'Tell me of your childhood I wish to know if you would allow me.'

'We all went through trials.' Replied Uvall. 'We each went through trials of adversity mine would have been no different from yours.'

'I disagree.' Replied Ultio. 'Yes we went through trials but what we experienced forged us into who we are today, I wish to get to know you brother and by doing that I wish to know what you went through. One thing I have pondered when I was readying to depart for the Arx Gap I spoke with our father he referred to your home world as Caede but you call it Naraka.'

'You know where the both names derive from?' asked Uvall.

'Of course.' Relied Ultio. 'Naraka as we have discussed is from the Hindu mythological name for hell but Caede is the High Gothic word for killing.'

'And there is your answer.' Replied Uvall. 'Naraka was not a unified world it was disparate groups of people hiding from warp predators and insane bands of murderers. For the most part before my coming to the world these people didn't know each other existed where he landed those people called where they were Caede that was the region they knew.'

'What of the region where you landed.' Said Ultio. 'What of your childhood?'

'Very well brother in the interest of bonding I shall tell you of my childhood.' Replied Uvall. 'As you may well have guessed some of the people who colonised Naraka were a lost strand of humanity whose genealogy hailed from the ancient Indian subcontinent. My gestation capsule hit Naraka when the planet was in The Dark Maw, the capsule breached the surface of the world and erupted into a cavern city.

'I was too young to know it at the time but my pod breached protective wards which allowed the denizens of the warp to fall upon the innocent citizens sheltering in the underground warrens. The people had nowhere to flee and were being slaughtered by blood maddened creatures who were laughing with glee as they went about their bloody work killing men, women and children. I slew hundreds of creatures and saved all I could. I was not alone in the fight, thousands of stalwart men and women managed to defend the breach until the city sorcerer's could reinstate the protective wards.

'As I grew to adulthood I learned that Naraka was the Hindu word for hell, not only that there were twenty seven underground cities nearby on our hemisphere of the planet which were named after each of the hells of Naraka. The city in which I breached and grew to adulthood was called Krimisha, which as you know is the hell where those who use magic to harm others reside. With the wards in place the city was safe although over a hundred thousand innocents were murdered. I learnt that it was not just warp creatures whom ravaged the world, there were armies of marauding berserkers, mutants and psyker lords.

'Most of the citizens of Krimisha just wanted to hide beneath the surface of their planet but thousands of men and women came to me and wanted to take the fight to those who ruled Naraka's surface. They became my Rakshasa my man eaters but the name was accidental as I mispronounced the phrase as the language was still new to me, I meant to call them men who eat worlds.'

'The eaters of worlds?' asked Ultio, it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

'I know imagine what Angron might think.' Chuckled Uvall. 'We took the fight to the surface of the world and for decades we fought with unrelenting ferocity that was until he came with my beloved brother Lorgar.'

'Why did you not meet the Emperor?' asked Ultio, he couldn't wait any longer he had to ask.

'I knew my purpose and I knew who had come for me.' Replied Uvall. 'I knew my role and I was eager to proceed therefore meeting him seemed moot.'

'How did you know?' asked Ultio.

'Like I said I had visions throughout my time on Naraka.' Said Uvall. 'I was afraid of them at first but they became more clear they lead me to an intact teleporter in one of the cities. Then I had repeated visions of myself using the teleporter to board a mighty vessel where I would meet a giant made of gold.'

'The Emperor?' offered Ultio, as he knew full well Lorgar had visions of the Emperor's coming.

Uvall shook his head. 'No not him I saw the Urizen I saw myself teleporting aboard his flagship and summoning him from the surface of Naraka.'

'What did the visions tell you of afterwards when you met the Urizen?'

'That Lorgar would show me the way.' Stated Uvall.

'And did he?' asked Ultio.

'I believe he did.' Stated Uvall, with a grin of needle point teeth.

Ultio paused waiting for his brother to elaborate when he didn't he asked. 'What of Naraka what of your people?'

'I wanted to destroy the planet to ease the suffering of the world.' Said Uvall. 'Lorgar wanted to assault the planet with his and my sons to assault the world to cleanse it of warp creatures but it would have been a fruitless task due to the eccentric orbit of the planet into The Dark Maw.

'I came up with a third option we quit the planet's surface with my Rakshasa, geneseed was implanted into them all those that didn't survive were ejected into the void to burn up in Naraka's atmosphere. My home world is left unmolested it is ravaged by the berserker, the mutant and warp creature and every five years my sons take the strongest, bravest and most suitable to be elevated to Astartes. We have no blood trials or selection process we only take the ones who can survive hell.

'During the feast I introduced Basdev as my Chitragupta, he is the lord of his ilk his title is Dar Saar Chitragupta. In Hindu mythology the Chitragupta's role was to keep records of human actions on Earth to decide when they die if they go to heaven or hell. Basdev and his order do this for me my Chitragupta watch the struggle of those on Naraka and choose if they are worthy to be elevated or if they are condemned to die on the world.

'Then there is Ashok who is Yamaraja, he is my lord of death and justice he weighs whether a lost strand of humanity needs to be purged or can be brought to compliance. Yamaraja is aided by his Yamaduta's who are his agents telling the worlds of their fate.'

'I do not believe Ashok was at the feast.' Said Ultio.

'Ashok is a solitary figure at the best of times he constantly reviews tomes brought to him by Yamaduta's to decide the fate of worlds.' Stated Uvall. 'Ashok as Yamaraja guides the Bloodied Visage and as we speak Ashok is in orbit above Cadia, he is weighing their fate.'

'Ashok alone decides the fate of entire worlds?'

'Ashok makes the recommendation.' Replied Uvall. 'From the earliest wars across the surface of Naraka my people gave me the title of Shiva as they said I was the Destroyer and the Transformer and this is the role I still carry out as Primarch. It is ultimately my responsibility to make the judgement but Ashok has never been wrong he knows what is in the hearts of men and women.'

'I look forward to meeting Ashok.' Said Ultio. 'I wonder what his judgement will be of the Cadian's.'

'I feel Ashok will be torn.' Stated Uvall. 'Cadia is the first world we have come across since Naraka that has been close to a warp storm I feel it will be a little too close to home.'

'You think it will cloud his judgement?'

'How could it not?' asked Uvall, rhetorically. 'We allow the events on Naraka to play out unmolested the Yamaraja may feel the same about Cadia, the events on Naraka serve a purpose to and I feel the events on Cadia will also serve a purpose, perhaps an even greater purpose.'