In the Halls of the Despoiler

(Warning: This chapter contains a female character whose backstory contains torture, abuse, and gaslighting. For those that have suffered abuse in their past and would be triggered by reminders of abuse, I place this warning here. I have no wish to cause harm to anyone. It is something that I feel does fit into the Grimdark setting of Warhammer 40,000, given the insane cruelties the Servants of Chaos delight in inflicting on others. And to those that think I am coddling my readers, please note that psychological triggers are something I take very seriously and I am only here to entertain and don't wish to cause harm or offense to anyone. On with the show.)

Aboard the Vengeful Spirit, The Warmaster of the Black Legion watched the Eye of Terror. 10,000 years of planning and 12 Black Crusades later and a great blow had been dealt to the Imperium. The Great Rift was tearing the Galaxy apart. The Warp was consuming the Galaxy and soon it would be at the doorstep of Terra itself. He smiled to himself as he reflected upon the last time a great blow had been dealt during the Great Heresy. "Such a thing was beyond even your ambitions, Lupercal."

Ezekyle Abaddon had been the First Captain to Primarch Horus Lupercal, the original Warmaster of the Luna Wolves which would later go on to become the Sons of Horus. Betrayed by the Emperor of Mankind, Horus had risen up against the Imperium and started a war that was continuing to this day. While the Imperium at large believed that the Heresy had ended with Lupercal's death, they were all wrong. The Legions that had turned away from the Emperor may have been reduced in strength, but they still fought on in their own ways. Abaddon had saved the Sons of Horus and reorganized them as the Black Legion. And they had all but wounded the Imperium with the forming of the Great Rift.

Flexing the Lightning Claw known as the Talon of Horus, Abaddon watched the approaching Night Lords vessel and smiled. In the depths of the Warp, whispers of the return of Konrad Curze had been spoken. The Night Haunter had returned and was gathering the Night Lord Warbands to his side. And now the Red Corsairs had joined him in the wake of the death of Huron Blackheart at the hands of Leman Russ. He would have to thank the Primarch of the Space Wolves for that before he killed him. Blackheart had been an ambitious and impetuous fool. A tactical genius and an outside-the-box thinker, but he'd had his eye on Abaddon's title as Warmaster and had not been subtle about it. His death was something Abaddon had been planning for quite a while. The only grudge he bore against Curze now was that the Red Corsairs were under his control instead of Abaddon's, thus depriving the Black Legion of more Marines. Abaddon had an idea what Curze was here for and he was certainly going to make things difficult.

"Warmaster," Falkus Kibre said, walking up to him. "Curze is aboard. And he has company. Red Corsairs, Sons of Malice, Night Lords, and... Sisters of Battle."

Abaddon turned to his right hand man, an eyebrow raised. "Sisters of Battle?"

"Wearing Night Lord colors, Warmaster, but I do recognize them as Sisters of Battle. He wants to see you."

"I assumed as much. Have him brought to me."

"I am already here," a voice with a Nostraman accent said from the door way to the throne room. Abaddon and Falkus Kibre turned to see the Primarch of the Night Lords, Konrad Curze, towering above them. Behind him stood the motley retinue that Falkus had described. The Sister that stood behind him wasn't that different from others Abaddon had killed in the past. Her armor and heraldry had been altered to that of the Night Lords. Her teeth had been sharpened to points and her eyes had been surgically altered to the black as the void color of the Night Lords. Despite the blackness, there was a glint of true madness in there. The Night Haunter had obviously broken her.

"Ezekyle, it has been a long time," Curze said, using his old name. "You have done well for yourself." The Night Haunter's mouth split into a wide grin showing blackened teeth. Abaddon could not be certain, but he was certain half of Curze's face was covered in darkness while standing directly in the light of the Eye of Terror.

"As have you, Konrad," Abaddon said. "The last I heard is that you were beheaded by the Emperor's assassins."

"I have been reconstituted thanks to the Sons of Malice." He gestured to the Son of Malice at his side. "I present Chapter Master Kathal of the Sons of Malice. It is thanks to him that I walk again. But enough pleasantries. You know part of why I am here."

"Your sons that are part of my Legion."

"Yes. I want them back. They are and always have been mine. I want them released from your service and returned to me."

Abaddon chuckled. "You want back the Legionnaires that you outwardly and vocally despised. Forgive me if I sound incredulous."

The Night Lord behind Curze, moved his hand to his sword. A Red Corsair that Abaddon recognized as Armanneus placed a hand on the Night Lord's own.

"No offense was meant, Night Lord, but it is true. Your Primarch hated you because your kind was so much like the monster he was. You were everything he was and he hated it. Am I wrong, Night Haunter?"

Curze shook his head. "You are not. In many ways I still hate them. But they are my sons and I need them for what I have planned."

Abaddon turned his back on the Night Haunter and sighed. "Your sons served me well during the 13th Black Crusade. I am loathe to weaken my Legion, but I could consider this their just reward for their service. You may have them back. I will recall them all and have them meet your fleet."

"And the Grey Knight Epimetheus. Or what you have left of him."

That made Abaddon stop in shock. He slowly turned to look at Curze, anger smoldering in his eyes. "Who. Told. You," he asked slowly.

Curze's smile widened, the shadow across his face growing as the eye beneath the shadow glowed white. "The Warp whispers to me. It knows what you have and what you planned to do with him. I want him. His psyker abilities are astounding and I want them. I need them in order for my attack on Terra to be a success."

Abaddon turned around fully. "You wish to attack Terra itself? You wish to do what Horus Lupercal could not and with a fraction of the army he had at his disposal. No, armies. He had armies. You do not. You have renegades and lunatics. You have barely anything that could be considered a threat to the new Primaris Marines and the defenses Dorn and Vulkan have surely placed around it by now. You are more insane than I imagined." The Night Lord needed to be restrained by both Armanneus and Kathal at those words.

Curze raised a clawed hand. "Enough, Kaius. Enough. I can fight my own battles."

"And what do you want with a crippled Grey Knight Psyker? One whose progenoids have been removed. Tell me why I should give you what you want and not have my Black Legion kill you again."

"Because I know he still has power and I want the progenoids and him because I need his power for a specific purpose. I need him to break the Imperial Fists. I want him to drive Terra itself insane. You said I was insane. Insanity is the name of the game I am playing. I want to use him to make Terra tear itself apart before I have even stepped foot on Terra. That is why I want him. Does that answer your question, Warmaster?"

Abaddon had to admire the tenacity of the Night Haunter. "You are insane... but you are creative. If I give Epimetheus to you, I want guarantees that I will have him back. I am not done with him. I need him to find the Grand Masters of the Grey Knights. I have greater plans for the Galaxy than simply Terra."

Curze nodded. "You have my word. Epimetheus will be yours again."

"I want something else in return. I want the skull of the Emperor for my throne."

Curze nodded again and smiled. "We have an accord."

Sister Bernadette, formerly of the Adeptus Sororitas, smiled as the tortured and mangled remains of the Grey Knight Epimetheus were placed in a coffin and on life support. It pleased her to see one of the False Emperor's Angels in such a state and the legendary Grey Knight Epimetheus was one who deserved such a fate. It was justice for the lies and abuse she and her sisters had suffered through their entire lives before the Night Haunter had come to free them of the delusion of worship.

Bernadette had been part of the Order of the Crimson Chalice since she was a child. She had been taught to revere and love the God Emperor and to kill in his name. Then the Night Lords had attacked their ships. They had taken the Sisters of Battle prisoner and had tortured them. Kaius had been her personal tormentor. It had been cruel and it had hurt, but it had been for the best. It had opened their eyes. The Canoness herself had renounced the God Emperor and his lies and confessed to having lied and mislead the Sisters. She had died for her betrayal with Bernadette being allowed the first shot with the Canoness' own boltgun.

After that, the Sisters that turned away from the Emperor's light celebrated their freedom. It had been a carnival of debauchery. The mangling of those that remained loyal to the False Emperor. The partaking of drink and carnal pleasure with one another or even with other Night Lords. Bernadette had claimed Kaius as her own. She knew that he took no pleasure in it. She knew that he felt nothing for her in that way. It wasn't about that. It was about what she wanted. She wanted freedom and this was something she had never experienced before in her life. It was bliss.

She looked up at Kaius in his winged skull helm. She could tell that he was still angry with Abaddon. "You wanted to kill him, didn't you?"

"With all my hearts," Kaius said. "Because I knew it to be partially true. I still feel that he hates us, but I want to believe that my father believes in us and has accepted us at last. Is that wrong?"

"It is not, Kaius. But believe in him. He will lead us to our revenge on the Corpse Emperor." She placed a hand on his arm. "Believe."

Kaius looked down at her. They had fought side by side, liberating other minor Orders from the Emperor's lies, slaughtering words left on the other side of the Great Rift. All in the name of the Night Haunter. They were not in love. They never would be, but they were connected by the fires of battle. They had shed and drank the blood of their enemies. They were more alive than the Emperor himself. It was magnificent.

Curze stood in front of the coffin that contained the mangled remains of Epimetheus. He had no idea who the Grey Knight had been before ascending to the rank of Grand Master, but he had heard rumors that he may have been of the Dark Angels Legion. And not just a Dark Angel. A Fallen Angel. One who had been recruited by Malcador himself. This was beautiful to him. He would take pleasure in using The Lion's son in breaking Terra itself. Perhaps he would turn it on the Dark Angels and their Successor Chapters.

The plan is coming together, Curze.

The voice of Malice was still in his head among the other ghosts that dwelt there. It had been... disconcerting upon his resurrection, but he had grown used to it. It was... soothing in a way.

Once we break Terra apart, we will enter the Warp and find the Gardens of The Four. We will bring retribution for what they did to me. To us. You will have your revenge on the Anathema. And this Grey Knight is among the many keys that will unlock the doors to the Golden Throne.

Curze scraped his claws across the metal and leaned towards the coffin. "Can you hear me, Epimetheus? Can you hear my words as I speak to you? I am Konrad Curze and I am taking you with me. Together, you and I shall break Terra apart. And I hope you are suffering while it happens. Physically and mentally. I hope you beg for death as I find your father, The Lion, and I make him pay for the humiliation he put me through in the Thramas Crusade and in Ultramar. I will kill you when all that is done. And I will make it slow. Not because of your connection to the Lion, but because of your connection to my Father and Malcador and all they put me through. The lies, the betrayal, I will make them all pay for that. And for the part you played. The part all of you played. You will all suffer. All of you."

He motioned for the Coffin to be taken away. This was the first step. He had more to do. More to plan and the next step would be the Alpha Legion. They had been planning with the Spider for years with the gene of Dorn himself. He intended to make those plans his own.

"I am coming for you, Father. I will end you. Once and for all."

Author's Note:

Finally back to Konrad Curze at last. Back to the Traitor Primarch that has been one of my favorite Warhammer villains for a long time and his machinations.

Now for the elephant in the room: I wanted to do an entire Chapter on the Fallen Sister Bernadette. What stopped me was ultimately the idea that I would be writing a chapter about mentally and physically torturing a woman into becoming a psychopathic monster. The fact that there is actual hentai about this sort of thing also added to my decision. Instead I kept it to a quick backstory explained in a couple paragraphs. I stand by what I said at the beginning. Perhaps it makes me cowardly to still have the character have that backstory, but really it still fits for someone who has been captured by the Night Lords. They are monsters that love to torture and maim their victims for the sake of it. In service to the story I stuck with the character. I will say this, Word of God and all, no sexual assault took place.

I also stand by what I said and by placing the trigger warnings. I know people like to make fun of the term "Trigger Warning" as meaning "oh, you're easily offended by this", but it is an actual medical term for those that actually go through psychological breakdowns when confronted with a situation that reminds them of a past trauma. Maybe I didn't need to make this particular author's note, but I felt that I had to.

Anyways... Heavy stuff out of the way, let's talk about Abaddon the Despoiler. The Sauron to Horus Lupercal's Morgoth. I personally have no strong attachment to the character, but I felt I should give a level of gravitas to someone who has raised himself up to become one of Warhammer's big bads just below the Four Gods of Chaos. Hope I did him justice.

Epimetheus the Grey Knight comes from the Space Marine Battles novel Pandorax, which I recommend you check out. Spoilers for those who haven't read it, btw. At the end of that novel, Epimetheus is captured by Abaddon for a future purpose which has yet to be disclosed. So I decided to put him to good use that is suitably grimdark.

Really, the whole reason I made this chapter is because I wanted to see if I could write a proper story featuring villains and characters with dark backstories that would fit right at home in 40k. I like light and happy, but 40k, unlike some fictional universes, needs the Grimdark. It founded the term Grimdark. Some of the best 40k stories are about villains and monsters. Had to be done. I hope you guys enjoyed this peek into the future schemes of the villains of The Primarchs Return and next up we are going to be continuing our look at Chaos with another of my favorite Traitor Primarchs. The Lord of Iron, the Hammer of Olympia is up next. Thank you.