They fly through empty skies, one drop in a rain of metal descending in a deluge upon black sands. Below them rages the thunder of a war most bitter and cruel, as its second battle is waged.
There is silence in the transport, as all contemplate what must be done. He sees his reflection in the polished armor of the warrior sat in front of him. He is tall, and strong, and holds in his hands the sword that was given to him when he was still mortal – before it, like him, was forged anew when he stopped being merely a knight and became an Angel of Death. Strips of parchment hung from his armor, inscribed with oaths of moments that command his obedience and loyalty.
The silence is broken by a distant voice, speaking on a vox-channel shared by all his brothers descending from the heavens.
"My sons," says the voice, and hearing it sends a shiver down his spine, making him sit straighter in his seat. "A most dreadful moment is upon us. We go now to do what was once unthinkable, our hands forced by circumstances cruel beyond imagining. But we will not falter."
"It is there, on these black sands, that the fate of the Imperium will be decided. Our actions this day will shape the course of history. They will echo for all eternity. The fate of all that we hold dear hangs in the balance, and we shall not be found wanting."
"What we do this day will earn no glory, no memorial. But there is no choice. We go now to do what must be done, if Humanity is to have any future."
"For the Legion and the Imperium," finishes the voice.
"For the Legion and the Imperium," he and the other warriors echo.
How many times has he spoken those words ? They taste bitter in his mouth now.
This is the last stretch of the fall, the first step on the path. This is the last moment before the war engulfs them all.
This is the descent to Istvaan V.

July 21st, 2003 AD – Kumamoto City

"Oi, Emiya. Wake up, we are there."

Shirou opened his eyes, blinking to focus on his surroundings. There was someone just in front of him – brown eyes framed by brown, frowning eyes – who was shaking his shoulder.

"Mitsuzuri," he yawned, stretching in his seat while frantically filing away every detail of his dream for later analysis. Once again, it was a new one. None before had seemed so … ominous. "Is the journey over already ?"

"Yep. You were asleep almost from the moment the train left Fuyuki," said the girl, now looking at him with a trace of worry. "Are you alright ? You need to be in top form for the competition !"

"I will be fine," laughed Shirou. He wasn't going to tell her why he had been so tired when they had boarded the train. Sakura may have been fine with him leaving, but she had still exhausted him last night, claiming that she wanted to "get three night's worth of Senpai" before he left. Combined with the need to get up early to catch the train, it was no wonder he had fallen asleep right away.

"That little nap was all I needed. Why, are you worried about me ?"

"In your dreams," she scoffed. "I just don't want you to use fatigue as an excuse for when I beat you in the competition."

"Sure, sure. Thank you for waking me up anyway."

"Umph. You are welcome. Now hurry and get up."

"Ayako-chan, don't try to put the moves on Shirou," called out Taiga from where she was seated. "Sakura-chan told me to watch over him while we were away, and I am pretty sure that includes making sure not letting anyone seduce her boyfriend."

Mitsuzuri sputtered a denial, her face red with embarrassment from Taiga's comment. Deciding to be merciful, Shirou stood up without calling her out on it. Less than a minute later, the train came to a halt, and the representatives of Homurahara Academy's archery club stepped out.

The boys carried the girls' luggage, none of them foolish enough to protest. Including Taiga, the group numbered seven – two members of the archery club for each year of highschool and the teacher accompanying them.

As they walked out of the train station and toward the area where their taxis awaited them, Taiga started to talk about the area, slipping into her "teacher mode". Kumamoto City, she said, was the capital of the Japanese prefecture within which Fuyuki was located, and was home to over a million and a half people. It had five wards, which had developed around Kumamoto Castle, the most famous landmark in the area. She went on to recite some of the city's history, which Shirou tuned out until she returned to more immediate matters :

"There will be representatives from all fifteen cities of the prefecture at the tournament," continued the teacher, "including Kumamoto itself. In order to accommodate all ninety competitors plus spectators, the tournament will take place in the gymnasium of the local university, which lent it out for the competition. We will go to the hotel first, and then to the dojo to register our arrival."

She checked her watch – which showed that it just over 10 AM. "We should have enough time to grab some lunch after that. Everyone will need to be in their uniforms by 1:30 PM for the start of the demonstrations. I have heard that the organization committee managed to get some real pros to demonstrate, so make sure you won't bring shame to Homurahara, alright ?"

The six archery club members responded by a chorus of "yes". It still amazed Shirou every time he saw Taiga in "teacher mode" : he was far too used to how she behaved in his home, mooching off his food and teasing him and Sakura. But there was a reason Taiga was a teacher, and it wasn't just because her grandfather was the head of the local Yakuza family. She was actually good at her job, even if she always complained about how hard it was when she came to visit the Emiya household.

"The first round of the competition will take place right after the demonstration," continued Taiga, looking specifically at Shirou and Mitsuzuri. "That's the first years' turn, so you two will be the first to participate. Don't feel too pressured by that – no one is expecting too much from first years." Her serious face was split by a wild grin. "So feel free to surprise everyone by showing off just how good the two of you really are !"

"Yes, Fujimura-sensei !" energetically replied Mitsuzuri. Shirou merely nodded in response.

While they were packed in the two taxis, Shirou used the time to think back on the dream he had had in the train. Most of the visions had been vague, full of symbolism and stuff that made sense at the time but lost all significance once he woke up. This one, though … it had included actual names, even if what those names referred to was beyond him now. "Angel of Death", "Legion", "Imperium", and … "Istvaan V". Why would a number be added to that particular name he had no idea, but merely thinking it was enough to make him experience a strange sense of discomfort.

In fact, the entire vision was like that. The dreams had never been peaceful – even the ones he had before rescuing Sakura had involved killing monsters in a forest where visibility was extremely low, after all – but any emotional impact they had usually faded as soon as he woke up. This one, though …

Was he … was he actually afraid ? It wasn't a feeling he was used to – the last time he had been really scared had been when he had confronted Zouken and had thought he would fail in saving Sakura. Perhaps this could help him finally make a breakthrough in his investigation of his strange power, regardless of how it made him feel. He needed to know more about this power, if only to make sure he wasn't a danger to those around him. Even if … even if he didn't want to.

A trip in another city with his clubmates was definitely not the appropriate time to contemplate matters related to his own strange magic abilities, though. For now, he would focus on the archery tournament and the task Kamido had given him. He would discuss this latest vision with Sakura once he was back home.

Four hours later, the luggage was at the hotel, everyone was in their Archery Club uniforms, and the competition was about to start. Seats had been set up in the gymnasium for those not currently participating and the friends, family and enthusiasts who had come to watch.

"Alright, Shirou, Ayako-chan," said Taiga, pumping her fist. "It's your turn. Go and show them what Fuyuki's Archery Club is made of !"

All thirty first-year competitors were lined up on the makeshift range, with targets laid down at the other side of the room. Temporary markings on the floor showed clearly which target was attributed to which competitor.

At the organizer's signal, the competitors took out their bow, each receiving a single arrow. The way the competition was set up was that they would all take a shot at their target, and those who missed the shot would be eliminated. The arrows would then be retrieved, and those who had succeeded would be handed another projectile – then it would start again. Accuracy wasn't the only skill being tested here – how long each competitor could keep up, how long they could maintain the level of focus necessary to hit a target, was the real challenge.

In truth, Shirou had considered deliberately missing after getting far enough into the competition to avoid drawing too much attention. He could always have claimed that it was due to stress from performing in front of so many people. That was hardly uncommon among highschool students, and even when he had performed for everyone in the Archery Club the crowd hadn't been nearly that numerous. But after seeing how much effort Mitsuzuri had put into her training, it would have felt wrong to do anything but his best – even if it ended up bringing him unwanted attention.

Also, he wasn't certain he could deceive Fuji-nee or Mitsuzuri, and he didn't want either of them angry at him if he could avoid it.

His first shot hit the bullseye, as he had known it would. So did the second, and the third, and the fourth, and so on. By the time people started to miss the target and be eliminated, the audience had noticed that he was consistently hitting the center of his target. Next to him, he could hear Mitsuzuri grit her teeth – she was hitting near her target's center, but had only hit the bullseye once.

Every "round" took several minutes, with everyone taking their time before shooting, the arrows being removed and those who had missed being removed from the line-up. Eventually, it all started to blur as Shirou's mind reached some sort of archery nirvana – draw, aim, shoot, relax, draw, aim, shoot, relax … Using his bow had always been relaxing to him, and the hushed noises of the crowd faded away as he completely immersed himself into his shooting.

Eventually, exhaustion took hold of the competitors. Archery was more tiring a sport than it looked : drawing the long bow, holding the string while aiming, all that while maintaining a rigid posture – those were surprisingly intense activities, especially when repeated over and over for a long period of time. Focus started to slip, and even those who could reliably hit a target ten times out of ten began to miss completely as their arms trembled and burned.

But not Shirou, and not Mitsuzuri. Three hours after the beginning of the competition, the two of them and another – the current ace of Kumamoto's own high school Archery Club – were left. There had been a pause at the two hours mark, more for the benefit of the spectators than the participants.

The three of them went on for another ten rounds before – finally – Mitsuzuri missed her shot, her arms trembling from exhaustion. After that, it was another four rounds before Shirou's last remaining competitor finally missed, the boy nearly collapsing from exhaustion and cramps.

For almost an entire minute, Shirou remained standing, waiting for someone to hand him his arrow so that he could fire again. It was only when Taiga spoke to him that he was shaken off of the trance-like state that had descended over him.

While the length of the competition wasn't special – after all, both Mitsuzuri and the boy had lasted almost all the way to the end – Shirou had been the only one of the participants to hit bullseye every single time. Thinking back on it as he was surrounded by questions about his skills, Shirou couldn't help but think that maybe he should have at least tried not to make perfect shot after perfect shot.

He could almost hear Tohsaka's voice calling him an idiot.

Once the first day of the competition was over and Shirou and Mitsuzuri had received their trophies as first and third and smiled for the cameras – there would an article about the tournament in the local newspapers, if a small one – the group returned to their hotel. They ate dinner at the establishment's in-house restaurant, celebrating their victory on the first day, before splitting between boys and girls, each heading to their own room. Though it was only 7 PM, the sun had already set, and Taiga had been adamant that everyone go to bed early in order to be ready for the next day's competition ("After all, we can't have the juniors steal all the glory, now can we ?").

Before going to her own, individual room – the privileges of being a teacher, so she claimed – Taiga once again made it clear that they weren't to leave the hotel, and that she would check they were up tomorrow at 7 AM. She promised terrible things would happen to the 2nd year students if they weren't ready on time, and though Shirou couldn't help but smile, he knew she looked suitably intimidating to his seniors.

However, Shirou couldn't remain in the room all night – not if he was to perform the task Kamido had asked of him. But he couldn't simply leave – his room-mates may be willing to cover for him, but he didn't want to take the risk. The mere thought of what Fuji-nee would think of him leaving the hotel in the evening to go into the city, especially after Sakura had asked her to look after him …

No, it was better to use magic to get himself out of that predicament. The other guys were already tired from the long day, and it only took a quick round of hypnosis to convince them to go to bed early and make sure they fell asleep immediately.

Once that was done, Shirou slipped into the casual clothes he had brought with him – it wouldn't do to walk around in his school uniform after dark – and left the hotel. Just in case, he took the bag of "special" equipment he had brought along, sliding it on his back. Sneaking past the man at the counter wasn't particularly difficult, and his room-mates wouldn't wake up before tomorrow morning unless something disturbed them.

He checked the address Kamido had given him one last time. He was lucky : the apartment complex where Natsuo Sakai lived was located just a few blocks from the hotel.

The street-lights did not particularly flatter the building as Shirou approached it. It was of standard construction, built after the war and well-maintained. A man was putting out the bins in front of it, and Shirou seized his chance, approaching him without trying to hide.

"Excuse me, sir," he called out. "Do you live in this building ?"

"Hm ? Yes, I do. I am the owner, matter of fact." He looked Shirou up and down, and frowned. "Aren't you a bit young to be out this late, kiddo ?"

Well, here we go, thought Shirou. He didn't like this, but it was necessary if he didn't want to draw attention. With a deep breath, he flicked his Magic Circuits open, and locked eyes with the older man.

The landlord tensed briefly, before relaxing as Shirou's hypnosis took hold. It was a minor trick, the kind every Magecraft user who interacted with mundane people had to master in order to help preserve the secrecy of Magecraft. Kiritsugu had taught this variant to Shirou, the old man having tweaked it so that it wouldn't leave any kind of long-term impact on its victims. The landlord would not remember anything of this conversation come tomorrow, but would answer Shirou's questions as best he could while the spell lasted.

"I am looking for someone living here," said Shirou, speaking slowly. "Do you know Natsuo Sakai ?"

"Yes. He is one of the tenants here. Quiet fellow, always pays the rent on time, never caused any problem. Spends more money than he should on the pachinko machines, but not so much that it's an issue."

"Do you know where he is, then ?"

"No." Despite the hypnosis, the man's face twisted in worry. "I haven't seen him in weeks. Even went to the police station to tell them he had vanished. The cops went to his flat to investigate, but I haven't heard back from them. He just went to work one morning and didn't come back."

Well. That certainly was ominous. Someone with Yakuza contacts disappearing, and the police seemingly not making any progress investigating it ? Shirou's mind started to whirr with possibilities, but he forced himself to remain focused on the here and now. Losing focus while hypnotizing someone was a recipe for disaster if ever there was one.

"Where did he work ?"

"He's a construction worker," answered the man. "I heard that he got work on the big construction project further out of town – some kind of office complex for one of them big companies." He went on to give directions, which Shirou memorized attentively.

"Thank you," said the red-haired teenager, releasing the hypnosis. The man blinked, his mind rebooting. From Shirou's experience, he would be constructing his own version of their discussion – it was time to make sure that version went in the right direction. "I would have been lost without your help, sir. Here, let me help you with these bins."

After helping the confused landlord put out the garbage for the city's workers to collect on the morning, Shirou gave his goodbyes and left, pondering his options. Kamido hadn't had any information on Natsuo Sakai's silence : the Yakuza had simply told him that the man had stopped answering their calls and letters. Technically, Shirou could just go back to his hotel and call Kamido in the morning to tell him what he had learned and see if the man wanted him to investigate further. There was still another day of the competition left, after all : he could go back out tomorrow evening if needed.

But if Natsuo Sakai was in trouble, then even a few hours could potentially make all the difference. Admittedly, it had been several weeks since he had gone missing, and Shirou was grimly aware that if the man's disappearance had a sinister cause, finding him alive was unlikely by that point. Yet as long as there was a chance, however remote, that his actions could help, Shirou didn't really have a choice.

The construction site was much farther than the apartment complex had been from the hotel, but it was still a distance that could reasonably be crossed on foot without needing to accelerate using Reinforcement. A little over an hour later, Shirou had reached his destination. The landlord hadn't been exaggerating when he had described the scale of the construction : the wall he was facing was hundreds of meters long, and a massive panel showed a picture of what the area would look like once the work was done. At the bottom of the panel was a stylized representation of seven pillars connecting the Earth and the Heavens.

Shirou recognized that emblem : he had seen it that very morning, painted on the side of the train that had carried the archery team from Fuyuki to Kumamoto. It was that of the Mihashira Conglomerate, one of Japan's biggest corporations. He wasn't surprised to find it here : the Mihashira Conglomerate had branches in everything from computers to canned food. The newspapers had even taken to calling the group "the Pillars" in reference to its name, to express how important it was in Japan's economy.

He was surprised by the Bounded Field surrounding the construction site, however.

Suddenly, the disappearance of Natsuo Sakai had become even more sinister. Before, it could have been the result of a rival Yakuza gang learning about the man's connection to the Fujimura Group. But now that the Moonlit World was involved, things were looking even more grim. From the moment the landlord had told Shirou the man had disappeared, he had worried that he wouldn't find him alive. Now, it was all too likely death was the kindest possible fate to have befallen Natsuo Sakai.

Shirou focused prana into his eyes, activating their ability to perceive Magecraft. Months after the experiment that had revealed Sakura's condition to him, it seemed that his eyes had been permanently altered – now all it took to reproduce the level of perception he had accidentally given himself was a small trickle of prana into his eyeballs. With it and his improved knowledge of Magecraft thanks to Tohsaka's teaching, he could interpret the Bounded Field's propertires.

The Bounded Field seemed to be targeted at keeping people from wanting to get inside, without any real defence attached. That was nice, because Shirou had yet to reproduce the immunity to Bounded Fields that had let him invade the Matou household. It really was a simple field, inferior even to the one that had existed around the Emiya estate before Sakura had reinforced the residence's defence using Tohsaka's teachings. All it would take to ignore it was an effort of will, and that was the one thing Shirou Emiya had plenty of.

With one last look around to make sure there wasn't anyone watching or any camera recording him, Shirou vaulted over the palisade and into the construction site proper.

The construction had stopped at the stage of digging the foundations of the various buildings meant to form the office complex. He noted the tools scattered on the ground and the traces in the broken earth – as if a lot of heavy things (bodies, perhaps, his mind grimly provided) had been dragged across. Here, one excavator had slid into the hole it had been used to dig, keys still in the ignition; there, a protective helmet laid on the ground next to – was that dried blood ?

Drawing a pair of tonfas from his backpack, Shirou followed the footprints and other traces. A lot of them were converging on one particular digging site, where, if his memories of the panel outside were correct, the skyscraper central to the complex was supposed to one day rise. From the edge of the enormous hole, Shirou glanced downward – the foundation stretched dozens of meters deep, but unlike the steel beams and other supports he would have expected, there was something else at the bottom.

Reinforcing his eyes, Shirou saw that it was a heavy-duty elevator, identical to the one at the pit's edge and to which the traces Shirou had followed led. But why, after finishing digging the foundation, had the workers dug another, smaller pit, and gone to the trouble of setting up another elevator ?

This deserved closer investigation. Shirou made his way to the first elevator. A quick Structural Grasping revealed that it was still in working condition. Even its generator was still turned on, which was weird considering that the beginning of plant growth on the earth indicated work had stopped weeks ago. Cautiously, he stepped inside and activated it. With a groan, it jerked into action, lowering him to the bottom of the foundation.

The traces started again outside the elevator's landing zone. Unsurprisingly, they led directly to the other elevator. The drilling machine that had dug the shaft through which it descended was still next to it.

Unlike the elevator that had brought Shirou to the bottom of the foundations, the cage was at the bottom of the shaft. Using Structural Grasping on the cables revealed that the shaft was at most a hundred meters deep – which was quite the distance to go through, unless the Mihashira construction workers had reason to suspect there was something down there.

Shirou pressed the call button – and it immediately sprung to life, cables spinning to raise the cage from the depths. It took a good five minutes for the elevator to arrive, and the whole structure was groaning and squeaking the entire time.

He looked at the metallic platform. There, too, were traces of dried blood. His hands tightened around his tonfas. Moving to angle his head so that he could look directly into the shaft, he Reinforced his eyes again, looking into the pitch-black darkness. Even with his enhanced vision, he couldn't detect any Magecraft down there, but that didn't mean anything.

Well, there was only one thing left to do, then. Shirou did a final check of his equipment, used some of the discarded tools to open the emergency exit on top of the elevator cage – in case the elevator stopped working and he needed to climb back up by pulling himself up the steel cables – and went inside. After taking a deep breath and flexing his Magic Circuits one final time, Shirou pressed the 'down' button on the elevator command panel, and began his descent into the abyss.

AN : Enter solo instance ? = Yes.

That was a Secret World reference. It was playing that game that inspired me with the entire "missing person - abandoned construction site - underground section" storyline. It may seem out of place, but I promise you it will serve a greater purpose.

In all seriousness, while this chapter is a little shorter than usual (and kinda lacking in action) I felt it was best to cut things here. Everything has been set up, next chapter is going to be a doozy - and I may as well warn you now, things may get a little more ... intense.

As in, horror-movie style intense. This story has a M rating, so that shouldn't be an issue, but it's probably best I warn you about it anyway.

Archery tournaments probably don't happen like this in real life, but I found a video of a kyūdō competition online where it was how they did it, so I just rolled with it. It isn't like it was relevant to the plot, and I had already spent far too much time researching this.

Seriously, I am going to post the list of the topics I had to research for this arc once it's done, and you will be surprised by how many there are. It turns out that writing a story set in the real world - in comparison to Warhammer stories at least - demands a lot of research for the most stupid things.

Thanks to Spartan3909 for his suggestion for the Mihashira Conglomerate's name : I was stumped on that one for a long time, and his suggestion was the inspiration I needed.

This chapter was brought to you by FGO's Random Number God, who in Its gracious benevolence bestowed upon me another 5-star Servant. I am unworthy of your blessings, oh Great One, and present unto you this paltry offering as thanks.

(Look, I have been trapped alone in my flat for three weeks now. I am starting to get superstitious as well as stir-crazy. Deal with it.)

By this point, I am confident most of you who have also read the Roboutian Heresy have figured out the identity of Shirou's "dream-self".

As a compensation for a shorter chapter than usual, here is a quick list of the Roboutian Heresy's Space Marine Legions (in the RH, the dividing of the Legions into Chapters never happened).

Since there are plenty of readers who haven't read the Roboutian Heresy (and even, to my absolute shock, some who hadn't had any experience with the Warhammer universe before), I felt this could be useful.

Keep in mind that these are very basic summaries.

Dark Angels : Traitors, Tzeentch, Daemon Primarch Lion El'Jonson. The Legion is known for its mastery of sorcery and deceit, and its unending hunt for the loyalist Fallen who escaped Caliban's destruction.

Emperor's Children : Loyalists. Fulgrim vanished during the Burning of Commoragh, when he chased after the Arch-Renegade Fabius Bile. The Legion is known for its endurance, which it earned during the Bleeding Wars of the Heresy, where near the entire Legion was captured by the Dark Eldars.

Iron Warriors : Loyalists. Perturabo is entombed within a Dreadnought due to the wounds he received in the Long War. The Iron Warriors maintain the Iron Cages, networks of fortress-worlds around the Eye of Terror and the Ruinstorm.

White Scars : Traitors, Unaligned. Jaghatai Khan vanished during the Siege of Terra, and is considered dead by the Imperium. Without their Primarch, the Legion fractured into raiding warbands across the galaxy. They are known to make use of necromancy to create Undying.

Space Wolves : Traitors, Unaligned. Leman Russ vanished during the Heresy while following Lion El'Jonson into the Maelstrom prior to the Lion's ascension to daemonhood. The fractured Legion makes great use of xenos technology, and Bjorn the Fell-Handed searches for his father to this day.

Imperial Fists : Traitors, Khorne, Daemon Primarch Rogal Dorn. The Legion was broken by Sigismund after the Heresy, with Sigismund's followers becoming the Black Templars. A powerful rite performed during the Heresy shields the Imperial Fists from the all-consuming bloodlust that afflicts Khorne's mortal followers, allowing them to build armies and wage war in a more efficient manner.

Night Lords : Loyalists. Konrad Curze died on Istvaan V, killed by Vulkan after slaying the immortal Primarch several times. The Night Lords are enforcers of justice across the Imperium, dreaded by corrupt Governors and criminals alike.

Blood Angels : Traitors, Slaanesh, Daemon Primarch Sanguinius - the Angel. At Signus Prime, Sanguinius accepted the Dark Prince's offer to save his Legion from the Red Thirst. The entire Legion craves blood still, experiencing the memories of its victims in a sensory overload. After the Heresy, Sanguinius was revealed to have gone mad and trapped in illusions of a world where he is still loyal, leading to the Legion fracturing.

Iron Hands : Traitors, Nurgle, Daemon Primarch Ferrus Manus. At Pandorax, the Iron Hands were trapped and exposed to Nurgle's contagion, forcing them to surrender to the Plague God to survive.

World Eaters : Loyalists. Angron vanished some time after the War of the Beast and the Beheading. His Legion continues without him, upholding his teachings of brotherhood, protection of the common Imperial citizen, and hatred of all things related to slavery.

Ultramarines : Traitors. Guilliman fell to the Emperor and Fulgrim at the climax of the Siege of Terra, his body was put in stasis on Maccrage, at the center of the Ruinstorm - a great Warp Storm similar to the Eye of Terror, engulfing the Five Hundred Worlds and serving as the Ultramarines' base.

Death Guard : Loyalists. Mortarion died at Vulkan's hands during the Scouring. The Death Guard specialize in purging entire alien species and scouring entire worlds clean of life, using weaponry from the Dark Age of Technology. They are also the source of the Legion of the Damned, composed of those Death Guards who cannot bear the psychological toll of committing genocide after genocide.

Thousand Sons : Loyalists. Magnus was put into a coma during the Scouring, his body laid to rest on Terathalion, the Legion's new homeworld after the Wolves razed Prospero. Protected from the flesh-change by the Rubric of Ahriman, the Thousand Sons struggle to maintain their numbers due to the horrific toll the spell takes on their recruits. To compensate for their small numbers, they fight alongside the Spire Guard.

Sons of Horus : Loyalists. Horus died at the hands of Sanguinius during the Siege of Terra. The Sons of Horus, led by the Mournival, are at the forefront of Imperial war efforts across the galaxy.

Word Bearers : Loyalists. Lorgar vanished into the Warp during the Scouring. The Word Bearers continue to fight to protect Humanity from the tyranny of false gods, all the while glaring at the Ecclesiarchy and waiting for the first sign of renewed corruption after the Reign of Blood.

Salamanders : Traitors, Chaos Undivided, Daemon Primarch Vulkan - the Black Dragon. Specializes in oppression and tyranny, using sorcerous Brands to compel obedience, and display dragon-like mutations.

Raven Guard : Traitors, Chaos Undivided, Daemon Primarch Corvus Corax - the Ravenlord. Specializes in horrific mutations and use cloned Astartes (Spawn Marines) to fill their ranks.

Alpha Legion : Loyalists. Primarch situation is ... complicated, just read the Index for this one.

This story is having a lot of success - we went over 400 followers on ffnet last week. That's ... a little intimidating, to be honest. I am going to continue to try and do my best.

Thank you all for your support. If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review - you would be surprised how much it helps getting the creative juices flowing. Do it if you have a question - I try to answer to all such reviews by PMs.

The next chapter is already underway. I considered delaying this chapter so I could fuse the two of them, but I finally decided it made more sense to end it here instead.

OK, that's it for now. Sorry about the lengthy AN.

Zahariel out.