The Serpent

The Serpent

I am Alpharius. I am the Serpent Beneath. I am the one who bites your foot when you step on me as I lie beneath the leaves. I am Alpharius. But this is a lie. I have lived my life in shadows and deceptions and I have done it for a greater good than what anyone can possibly imagine. This Galaxy is under siege from forces far worse than Xenos.

I sold my soul 10,000 years ago to an organization of Xenos known as the Cabal. Their goal was to guarantee Horus victory over Terra in an attempt to starve Chaos of the power that humanity gave it. They were eventually wiped out by one of their own. A fitting end for scum such as they. I joined them because I felt there was no choice and thus I contributed to my father's demise. I am guilty. And there is no coming back from that. But I have made a choice. No more shadows. I am in the light now.

I stand on the bridge of my Strike Cruiser, the Epsilon Asp, and await my brother's arrival. Perturabo will be here soon. I have never been close with any of my brothers. Even Horus. That was merely a role that I had assumed for the sake of the Imperium. I had only my brother for years until we were discovered. We had each other. Then another brother took him away from me. I was trapped. I did what I had to.

The Iron Blood approaches and I await word. It was a beautiful ship once long ago. Now I see a wounded beast that has lived with its wounds for millennia. We are all wounded beasts in a way.

"My Lord," The Shipmaster speaks. "The Iron Blood is hailing us."

"Activate the hololith."

The image of my brother appears. He has changed. His suit has all but merged with his body, his left hand mutated into a claw. He used to be a great being of strength. Now he has given himself over to Chaos. My changes are more internal, but I am still as tainted as he is. "Alpharius," he says simply.

"Brother. You look different."

"For now. Once I fulfill my end of the bargain, I will be as myself again."

"I see. Which ship do you wish to meet on? I assume yours."

He nods. "I prefer to meet on my territory."

"I understand. I will be there promptly."

The hololith shuts off and I turn to my Legionary standing by my side, helmed and anonymous like all my sons. "I will be going alone. Do not fear. One head dies, two more take its place."

"Not you, My Lord. Not again."

The Iron Blood is corrupt. That is the thought that crosses my mind as I walk through its halls, lead by Perturabo's equerry Honsou. I can feel its anger. Not as bad as the Conqueror was, but the Warp has infected this ship. It is angry yet it is also stripped of emotion. It is a living paradox. Interesting. I arrive on the bridge and I see him. Perturabo stands above all. As grand as he was during the Great Crusade. He turns to me, scanning me with a discerning eye. One that is... slightly daemonic.

"You are unhelmed," he notes.

"I am coming to you with my face shown. No shadows when it comes to us now, Brother."

Perturabo walks down to stand before me. He is taller than me by a head. Then again, my twin and I were never as grand as our other siblings. "Why did you contact me? Millennia of silence, rumors abounding that you were dead, and yet suddenly, you contact me for a meeting. Why?"

"Because I bring a message from Konrad Curze. The time for our revenge is upon us, Perturabo. We are growing in strength. The Alpha Legion and Night Lords warbands are reuniting. No longer will we be scattered. We will be Legion again. The Red Corsairs have joined us and we have human soldiers now. The Sisters of Night.

Perturabo raises an eyebrow. "The Sisters of Night? You mean 'Sisters of Battle'?"

I shake my head. "Formerly of the Ecclesiarchy. They have been broken of their false beliefs and now see the Emperor as he truly is. He is no longer their God. They follow Curze."

"And you both believe we can just approach Terra with no fear of reprisal? Just like that? Even with our three Legions, it won't be enough. Dorn has returned and he has more than likely shored up defenses even stronger than the Siege of Terra."

I nod. "Yes, but the Imperium is in a state of disrepair. Even with our brothers returned, it is still a shambling corpse that has no chance of truly fighting back. The Black Legion and the Daemons of Chaos attacked it and the Daemons made it to the Lion's Gate. And our brothers are dealing with their own fiefs. And with the Great Rift, we have a chance to truly twist the knife that Abaddon stuck in it."

Perturabo scrutinizes me further. "You have thought about this."

"I have had 10,000 years to plan, Perturabo. I never leave things to chance. Information is victory, as Guilliman would say."

Perturabo chuckles at that. "If we are to go through with this, I will need time. But I warn you, if Curze's insanity puts my sons in danger, I will pull them back. I will abandon the field."

"I would expect nothing less."

A moment passes between us before Perturabo speaks again. "Are we really trusting the fate of our war to Konrad Curze? The brother that broke long before the Heresy began? Before the Great Crusade itself?"

"No. But he is touched by something different than the Four. Something on their level. It is a tool we can use."

"I also want it on record that I do not trust you, Alpharius. I trust none of you. I put my faith in a serpent once before and it nearly cost me my life. I put my faith in Horus and was rewarded with defeat. We are alone. Even when we stand together."

I feel sad hearing that truth. We are not our loyalist brothers. We are all divided, even when we are linked by common cause. I bow my head. "I understand, Brother." I turn away and make my way back to my ship to return the Epsilon.

On the bridge of the Epsilon, I watch as the Iron Blood departs. As it leaves, the door the bridge opens and I hear heavy footsteps behind me. I turn to see a Primarch in silver and blue-green armor, helmed, standing in front of me. "Alpharius," I say.

He nods. "Omegon. You passed on Curze's message successfully?"

I nod in return. "And once again, one of our brothers thought I was you. And it worked like a charm."

Alpharius gives a chuckle under his helm. "Good. You were always good at playing as me."

"It is why I exist."

"No, Brother." Alpharius puts his hand on my shoulder as he used to all those years ago. "You are the Serpent Beneath. I am the Serpent in the light."

He turns and departs the bridge. I put my hand on my shoulder where he touched me. It isn't the same. I swore I would never work in the shadows. I swore I would be in the light. This was a lie. I am not Alpharius. I am Omegon. This is the truth.

Author's note:

A bit of a breather just before I officially start on the Pilgrimage storyline focusing on the villains. As I've stated before, I love the Alpha Legion and Alpharius and Omegon as antagonists. I love the Serpent Beneath by Rob Sanders as a sort of Ocean's Eleven story with Alpha Legion characters. I love the twist at the end and trust me, Alpharius is gonna have a twist as well. It's the Alpha Legion. They are built upon twist after twist after twist until it's more knotted than a pretzel.

What I love about Omegon the most is that he really wanted to go back home. He is trapped by obligation and the fact that he cannot be his own person. He is trapped in Alpharius' shadow even after Alpharius was killed by Dorn. He will have a big part to play and I look forward to having his arc come full circle.

Additional note: I added some bits about the Cabal since not many people may have read Legion or other stories involving the Cabal. Thought it would be better. I hate it when things are vague and unexplained, even when it comes to the Alpha Legion.