Chapter 2
When Colonel Shayna Pellox had been assigned to the Therion Cohort 1st, separating her from her comrades in the PDF, she'd had reservations. Their new leader, Praefactor Alana Brahms, was herself not a very noteworthy officer. She had risen through the ranks well enough, but had been appointed her position after the establishment of the Cohort. It had had been rebuilt and remade from the legacy of the original from the days of the Horus Heresy there was nothing else to be done about it. The Therion Cohort needed all they had to fight the Great Enemy and the 1st was needed.
Shayna's hopes rose though when she heard that the 1st would be accompanying one of the returned Primarchs to Istvaan V. And not just any Primarch, but one that had fought alongside the original Cohort during the Horus Heresy. Corvus Corax, the Lord of the Raven Guard. It was an honor to be in the presence of one of the Sons of the God-Emperor himself. When he'd arrived, it had taken everything she and the regiment had not to kneel to Corax. She was surprised by how haggard the Primarch of the Raven Guard was. He looked older, his clean-shaven face that was depicted in paintings and sculptures had a small beard that looked decidedly unkempt. His hair was long, though more well kept than the beard. His eyes were pools of darkness that absorbed light itself. Nothing could be seen in them. When he spoke, it was in a loud whisper, as if he was unused to speaking in public. Despite the small fault in expectations, it was still amazing to see a being of his majesty.
As they descended upon Istvaan V, Shayna looked upon her squad in the dropship. Sergeant Hoffmar, her second in command looked excited. The rest were still suffering from what had been described in the past as Transhuman Dread, the effect of coming into contact with a Space Marine or even a Primarch. Many were praying to the God-Emperor Himself that they be found worthy to even be in the presence of the Primarch.
"What is this, Men? Is this how you react to being in the presence of the Primarch? This is how the Therion 1st reacts to being honored with standing on the site of the beginning of the Great Heresy? We are the Therion Cohort 1st Regiment! We have the blood of heroes inside us all! We know no fear!"
The Guardsmen gave a cheer at this, but Shayna had to smile to herself. This was just a memorial ceremony to remember the dead of Istvaan. It wasn't like they were going into battle.
Upon reaching the ground, Praefactor Brahms joined Primarch Corax in the center of the Urgall Depression. "Primarch, I wanted to say something, if I may?"
Corax gave a slight nod. "Speak, Praefactor."
"On behalf of the 1st, I thank you for blessing us with this mission."
"I would hardly call being at the sight of betrayal and murder a blessing, General."
Brahms was surprised by this response. "I apologize if I have offended, my Lord. I only-"
"Spoke as befits someone raised to see me and my brothers as beings of divine power, yes I know." The Primarch bent down to one knee and ran a gauntlet through the gravel, picking up a pile and letting it slip through his fingers. "I brought 80,000 Raven Guard here to Istvaan to bring Horus to justice. I left with less than 3,000 of them. And some of them were replacements planted by the Alpha Legion. I failed as a father. Do you have children, Praefactor Brahms?"
Brahms shook her head. "The Guard is my life, My Lord. My service to the Emperor is my legacy."
Corax smiled at that. "Then live to continue that legacy, General. Do not make the mistake we made here."
"And that was, my Lord?"
"Pride. A similar mistake Horus made, but one we should have foreseen. It was pride that made us not think whether or not more of our brothers could have fallen like Horus, Mortarion, Fulgrim, and Angron had. We didn't let ourselves see it. Pride and anger killed Ferrus Manus just as much as Fulgrim did. Istvaan V is the symbol of our failure. It is where the dream died. It is where the Imperium died."
Brahms could not believe what she was hearing. She had heard Corax was morose, but to hear him actively condemn the Imperium to be dead felt... blasphemous. "I disagree, Lord Corax. That the Imperium is dead."
"How so?" Corax stood up, towering above the General, his dark eyes boring into her.
"We... we are still here. If the Imperium is truly dead, then Humanity should have died with it. We have not. We still strive. We fight for survival. We fight the enemies of Mankind and we do not bow or bend to the Ruinous Powers or the Xenos. We are still here. And it is thanks to the sacrifices of your sons and your brothers and their sons."
"And my father? The 'God-Emperor'? It is thanks to him sitting on his throne, siphoning off the lives of 1000 humans daily, that the Imperium lives?"
Brahms felt uncomfortable. "It is not my place to question the Emperor's Will."
Corax sighed. "And that is where the Imperium my father dreamed of died. No one questions. No one tries to wonder if what they are told is false. I have heard that the nine of my brothers that turned on the Emperor are not even named as Primarchs, but Devils. Honestly, it is disrespectful to refer to them as such, General, in my opinion."
"My Lord, they betrayed the Emperor! They... they betrayed and murdered your sons! Here! On this very ground! How could you accuse the Ecclesiarchy of disrespecting traitors?!" Brahms had no idea where this anger had come from. For years, she had kept herself composed whenever the pig bastards at the top of the Imperial Guard would question whether or not someone of her sex was fit to command. She had kept cool under fire in the heat of battle and she had done her best not to hear the words of Corax as anything more than the words of a Demigod in mourning. But to hear the Traitors being referred to as anything other than monsters was the limit for her. Corax looked down at her and she feared that he would strike her down for her words. He did not. He gave a sad smile and looked around at the Astra Militarum assuming parade formation behind the three Companies of Astartes.
"I remember the first time I met Horus Lupercal after I was found by my father. By then, he had already made a name for himself as a legendary warrior. A figure that we would all have to strive to meet. I admit that I feared being looked down on by him. But when I met him... there was no ego. No hint of anything other than affection for a formerly lost brother, one who had been locked away in darkness for his entire life. He put his hand on my shoulder and then embraced me and said, 'I am glad to meet you at last, Corvus. We shall do great things together.' And I knew he meant them. I fought alongside him many times. I drank with him after each victory and we talked. I admit that I wasn't close with many of my brothers. Some I found confusing. Roboute, for one, could irritate me, but he never truly looked down on me like others did. Neither him nor Horus. And Horus... I mourn the man that Horus Lupercal used to be. I hate the monster he became. My brothers, aside from Curze, had distinguished themselves as warriors and now the deeds they wrought for Mankind's future are erased. Even Angron had moments of rare humanity along with his moments of petulant rage. Discarded and set aside due to them not fitting with the narrative the Ecclesiarchy set for them. I mourn for the men lost here. Men I knew for years. Men I fought alongside. I mourn Ferrus. I mourn the Fulgrim I used to know. I mourn Lorgar, in a sad, pathetic way. I mourn Horus the Hero. Not the monster." He looked around and realized all eyes were on him. The Guard, Father Ruban, and his sons and nephews. He gave a thin smile. "Forgive me, Praefactor. I am not at my best. And please, do not ask for forgiveness for your questions. I was actually about to write you off as a gutless coward."
He walked away from her, striding towards the line of soldiers and the priest at their head. Brahms followed, amazed by the words of the Primarch. She had never expected one of their own to apologize to her.
Ruban bowed his head as the Primarch approached. "I trust that all is well, My Lord."
"As well as it can be, Priest. Let us begin the ceremony, General," he said, turning towards Brahms. She noticed him and saluted and turned back towards her soldiers.
"Do you know what I had when I dwelt in the dark of Deliverance, back when it was known as Lycaeus, Priest? I did not pray. I planned my escape. And I made it out. I broke out, I killed my captors with the help of humans. I, more than anyone, know what mankind is capable of. So why does mankind bow to imaginary Gods? My father never wanted this so why must it continue? Why must your species devalue itself?"
Ruban, to his credit, did not take offense. "I think, my Lord, it is because of faith in something greater than itself. Faith in the God-Emperor, for example. Faith in the Imperium's continued survival. Faith that we can survive and fight the dark as you did in the days of Ancient Terra. Faith is something we all need in these dark times and you and your brothers have helped reignite that."
Corax was impressed. "I was sure you would tell me to read your Holy Book to convince me."
"Well, there is still time for that, My Lord," Ruban said with a smile. "But not just yet." He motioned that Brahms was about to speak and their conversation came to an end.
"Present arms," Brahms ordered. The Guard and the Astartes gathered there presented their guns and stood to attention. Corax looked over them and spoke, his voice unmodified by a vox caster.
"On this ground, treachery of the most foul took place. Heroes of the Imperium died in fire and blood. murdered by those they called brother. Here, we stand to remember them. To remember a Primarch who gave his life in service to our Father. None of you were there to see your fellow Guardsmen perish beneath the shells of the Iron Warriors, but you are still here today, to pay respect to soldiers that fought to make sure you would be here to see this place. Istvaan V was a beginning and an end. Let it be a new beginning for the Imperium. Let us not forget the history that was made here. Let us not forget the Heroes of the Imperium!"
"Ave Imperator!" The soldiers, Guardsmen and Astartes, cried out. "In the name of the dead! In the name of the Emperor!"
The Father began to read the names and ranks of the Astartes Officers and the Guard Officers that had died in the massacre. It surprised Corax. There had been so many and it had been 10,000 years. To find that information, he would have had to go to each Chapter's records as well as the Militarum's. The Imperium truly did honor its dead. Even if it was only the officers and not the infantry.
Ruban bowed his head. "And now a moment of silence for the dead." They all bowed their heads. All except Corax. Something was off. A hum was in the air. The humming of machinery. Ruban looked up at the Primarch. "My Lord? What is the matter?"
"Something is coming. Astartes! Guardsmen! Assume defensive positions! General, stay by the priest!" The Astartes and Guardsmen formed defensive circles, their bolters and lazguns trained in all directions. Corax activated his lightning claws, the Raven's Claws, and scoured the Depression with his eyes. "Who is it... Who is there?"
Then the ground opened up. Multiple areas of the Depression opened up and giants in silver gray armor with gold trimming rose out of the ground, bolters trained on the Guardsmen and Astartes. Both sides shouted at each other to drop their weapons. Corax examined the intruders and noticed a few odd things. The first was their armor. It was a mixture of armor pieces that were combinations of Mark IV and Mark III Power Armor. The next was that they hadn't opened fire upon the Imperials. The third... was that they were Iron Warriors. All of them. Heretic Astartes. Traitors of the worst kind. The ones that had opened fire upon the Loyalists. "First blood will be mine this time, you bastards." He tensed himself, preparing to strike one of them down when his ears picked up six distinct words from the Traitors.
"HALT IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR!"
That stopped him cold. Why would traitors invoke the name of the Emperor? He closed his eyes. "I am taking a chance. If it goes south, I am going to blame you, Roboute." He deactivated his lightning claws and stepped forward, his hands raised. "I am Corvus Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard. You bear the livery and colors of the Iron Warriors. You deserve to die for the crimes of your Legion. But I have a question before we slaughter you. Why do you invoke the name of the Emperor? What gives you the right to state His name?"
The Astartes and Guardsmen kept their weapons trained on the Traitors as the Primarch walked forward. The Traitors all turned their heads to look at the Primarch, each one lowering their weapons in what looked like... awe. Many bowed on one knee. Corax noted one or two Guardsmen were about to fire. "Do not shoot the Traitors until I say so," Corax commanded. "I want an answer from these bastards. What gives you the right to say His name?"
One of the Traitors put his bolter down and took off his helm. His face was old and worn. It was wrinkled, as if this Traitor had been alive for millennia. He then did the most insulting thing Corax could think of. He got down on one knee and bowed his head. "Primarch Corvus Corax. It is an honor to be in your presence. I am Captain Ingoldt, second-in-command of the Sons of Dantioch, formerly Brother Sergeant Ingoldt of the 51st Expedition of the Iron Warriors Legion." He spat on the ground as soon as he mentioned the Traitor Legion. "We detected your ship's signal as soon as you entered orbit and were worried the bastards had returned to the planet. We apologize for the ambush. We are the last True Sons of the Emperor left in the Iron Warriors. We are the Sons of Dantioch and the Ghosts of Istvaan V."
Corax had no idea how to respond to this. From what he could detect from this man's pulse, he wasn't lying. But there was no way this Traitor could be over 10,000 years old. "How are you still alive?"
"Cryogenics, my Lord. We have been using the core of the planet to power our machines for 10 Millennia. We apologize for the ambush. We had no idea you were-"
"Enough!" Corax glared down at him. "You expect me to believe you are a Loyalist to the Emperor? Impossible! Your people were loyal to Perturabo! You bombarded our people!"
"Yes, and for that I am sorry."
"You are sorry? You are sorry?! After all that your Legion has done that is all you have to say?!"
"There is nothing more to say, my Lord. But there were those that did defect away from the Iron Warriors Legion. One of them was our Chapter's namesake. Barabas Dantioch, former Warsmith of the Iron Warriors 14th Grand Company. He turned his back on the Primarch and joined Roboute Guilliman's Imperium Secundus. I was one of the original members of that survived the Siege of Lesser Damantyne. When he remained in the Ultramar system, our Chapter Master and myself traveled throughout the Galaxy, turning Iron Warriors to our side. We are the last of those loyalists and carry on his legacy of defiance in the face of tyranny and loyalty to the God-Emperor."
The Iron Warriors assembled behind Ingoldt and fell to one knee, their hands making the Sign of the Aquila. "We do not expect you to believe us. The betrayal here on Istvaan V has stained our Legion forever. Your approval is not needed."
That last statement impressed Corax. He detected no falsehoods from Ingoldt. He was telling the truth. "Then why are you here?"
"We are here to guard the dead of Istvaan. We are the grave keepers."
"Grave keepers?"
It took some time, but Corax eventually managed to convince his officers and General Brahms to follow him down to the Sons' base with a detachment of soldiers from all three companies and from the Guard Regiment. It didn't sit right with him either and he did give Ingoldt the terms of their visit. "My officers will come with us. You will disable your weapons, we will not. We detect any treachery, I will kill you and they will kill your brothers." Ingoldt agreed without reservation.
"It is a just and fair agreement, My Lord."
The rest of the Guard and the Space Marines remained above, standing watch with a small group of Ingoldt's marines. When they arrived below, Corax could not believe what he was seeing. The base was a gigantic cavern that had been hollowed out and filled with all that was needed to outlast a siege. There weren't just elevators attached to the surface, but also multiple explosives including landmines and meltabombs. Las and Missile Turrets were prepped and ready to rise out of the ground to attack anything on the ground or the air. He remembered the last time he had been in an Iron Warriors. How Perturabo had shown off his defensive and offensive capabilities with an egotistical grin on his face. He had even made sure to include a small dig at Dorn's defensive capabilities. As usual. Corax had to admit that on the basis of combative siege abilities, the Iron Warriors were champions. He had also made sure to include a dig at Perturabo back then. "I admit you're good, but I don't think you would ever breach Dorn's defenses. Though I would like to see how that would turn out." Perturabo had scowled at that. Corax smiled at that memory. He had never truly liked Perturabo.
"And since the Palace is still here, brother... you clearly failed to breach his defenses in the end." The three Captains looked over the defenses in different ways. Kadus was impassive while at the same time impressed, his face betraying nothing. Ka'no was openly impressed. Ferod was not. His eyes were filled with cold fury at being brought into the belly of his enemy's fortress. Corax could tell that Ferod would happily burn this fortress down to the ground.
Ingoldt had his hand to his ear, obviously he was talking on a vox bead. He turned to the Primarch. "Lord Corax, our Chapter Master would like to speak with you. It would be a privilege."
"A 'privilege'? Really?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"I am not 'Your Lord'." Corax sighed. "Fine. Captains, General, remain here. I will be right back." He followed Ingoldt down a long hallway until they came to a set of gigantic doors. Aidoneus pressed several buttons on his gauntlet and the doors opened upon a massive chamber. Cold air burst out like a bomb had exploded. Corax felt his armor begin to develop a light frost. What he saw in that chamber took his breath away.
"This is the reason our Chapter exists. It takes up more than 50% of the base. Inside is our Chapter Master. He has been with the Sons of Dantioch since before the Heresy even began."
Inside were rows and rows and rows of organs. Gene-seeds, secondary hearts, all the parts needed to create the Space Marines. On each of the rows were familiar symbols.
"Those are... Those are Legion Markings. The Salamanders, The Iron Hands, and the Raven Guard. Where did you get these."
"THEY WERE GATHERED FROM THE FIELDS OF ISTVAAN V AND OFF PLANET! THEY ARE THOSE THAT WERE ABLE TO SAVE, LORD CORAX. SOME WERE TAKEN BY THE WORD BEARERS FOR THEIR DARK ARTS! OTHERS WERE TAKEN BY THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN FOR THEIR PERVERTED EXPERIMENTS IN GENETICS! SOME WERE TAKEN TO BE DEVOURED BY THE OTHER LEGIONS! WE SAVED WHAT WE COULD!"
A voice from the center of the chamber boomed out. A gigantic shape, slightly larger than the Primarch, stood up. It stomped forward and faced Corax. It was a Contemptor Dreadnought. "LORD CORAX! I AM CHAPTER MASTER ZYGMUND TARRASCH! I WAS THE RIGHT HAND OF WARSMITH BARABAS DANTIOCH! IT IS AN HONOR TO MEET YOU!"
Corax was stunned by this. "You were alive during the Heresy?"
Tarrasch bowed his massive body "I WAS! I HAD THE HONOR OF FIGHTING ALONGSIDE BARABAS DANTIOCH! HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST MASTERS OF SIEGECRAFT, SECOND ONLY TO PERTURABO HIMSELF! I REGRET THAT WAS UNABLE TO BE ALONGSIDE HIM WHEN THE PHAROS WAS DESTROYED DURING THE HERESY! HE HAD ENTRUSTED ME AND THE REMAINDER OF OUR LOYAL IRON WARRIORS TO TRY TO FIND MORE TO SWAY TO OUR CAUSE OF REMAINING LOYAL TO THE EMPEROR AND DEFEATING THE TRAITOR WARMASTER! WE WERE ABLE TO GET A SMALL NUMBER, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! WITH ONLY A SMALL COMPANY, WE WERE ABLE TO HOLD OFF A GRAND COMPANY FOR A YEAR AND A DAY IN STANDARD TERRAN DAYS DURING THE SIEGE OF LESSER DAMANTYNE!"
Ingoldt bowed in respect to the Chapter Master. "We conducted raids on Iron Warriors Grand Companies, retaking the stolen gene-seeds from Istvaan V as we did. There were also those of our Legion that were at the Massacre that had chosen to collect and preserve the gene-seed of the dead. They had long since turned away from Perturabo, secretly resisting as best they could from the inside. It wasn't easy."
"WE HAVE LOST BROTHERS OVER THE MILLENNIA! YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST TO VISIT ISTVAAN V! WE HAVE REPELLED NUMEROUS INVADERS! TRAITORS AND XENOS ALIKE! YOU ARE THE FIRST IMPERIAL CITIZENS TO ARRIVE ON ISTVAAN IN 10,000 YEARS! YOU ARE WELCOME, MY LORD!"
"How many are in here," Corax asked, gazing at the remains of his sons.
"16,000 OF THE RAVEN GUARD, 24,000 OF THE SALAMANDERS, AND 28,000 OF THE IRON HANDS!"
"And... can we take them?"
Ingoldt nodded and bowed. "You can, Lord Corax. It is your right as Primarch."
Corax couldn't believe what he was seeing. They could start again. The Raven Guard had been devastated. They could make new Chapters. New Astartes. They could modify them to be Primaris Marines. They could begin to rebuild the Legions! He shook his head. One thing at a time. He didn't want to entertain crossing Roboute, no matter how much he may have disagreed with it at the time. He was about to say more when his vox chimed. It was the voice of an Imperial Guard. A Colonel named Shayna Pellox. "My Lord. We just got word from the Shadow of the Emperor! An Iron Warriors ship has appeared in orbit!"
Author's Note:
So, after a late night of editing, I was gaming for most of the night, I got this done. A lot of this involved getting the names and their spelling right. Turns out going by ear with an audiobook as reference for proper spelling is not the way to do things. Who knew? A lot of this mainly involved getting new character names to match canon ones or making new characters to replace canon ones. If you notice any inconsistencies, let me know. Ultimately, though, I think this turned out very well. Enjoy! Next time is uncharted territory with me delivering all new content instead of editing down old stuff.
