}!{
The metal beam pinning her down against the floor groaned as Captain Maranda Goodwill fought to push against its crushing weight. Disaster struck the Terran Crusade where she least expected. Being out in the front, where loyalties are strong between allies, has dulled her perception on the inner workings of the Imperium. What they had fought for, the values and ideals that they strove to uphold, was rotten to the core.
The events of today have been evidence enough.
Lord Horus had put his faith in the Psychic Amplifier Project, although it wasn't misplaced it did not guarantee that the Lords of Terra would be convinced. Nevertheless, she had followed him through worse odds, Goodwill would not back down then. Neither did those who marched under the Lupercal's banner. They had two Primarchs with them, which should have been more than enough proof of their intentions. Alas, it was not to be.
The Lords of Terra had amassed a fleet bigger than anything mankind had ever managed in thousands of years, their cause uniting all banners and ceasing all infightings in likened purpose. Their hatred for the Redeemed Primarch was so great that they had abandoned their little wars of attrition in favor of what they perceived as a higher calling- the Defense of Holy Terra.
And yet what enemy were they fighting with, but their own kin?
Maranda hissed through gritted teeth as a sharp pain exploded up her right side, born from a wound where a shrapnel had torn through. Her anger doubled as the agony seared hot like a brand pressing down on her ribs. "Damnation!" The woman crawled out of the pile of debris and climbed up on unsteady legs, "Somebody give me a status report!"
No one else onboard the Golgo's Respite bridge was left alive after that suicide bomber made a beeline for the observatorium and detonated before the prow main batteries could take it out. The emergency sealants have done their work and covered the breach, but not in time to save the remaining crewmen from being sucked out into the void of space. All around the derelict battlecruiser were Imperial vessels giving all they've got at each other.
One side was desperate to reach Terra at all costs, to bring an end to this madness. The other, just as desperate to lay the man they knew as the Arch-Traitor low.
They had met them in good faith, but Horus overestimated their willingness to accept him. The Psychic Amplifier, to say the least, did not help his case any better.
Maranda remembered vaguely awaiting the results with baited breath, as Horus addressed the fleets guarding the gates to Segmentum Solar. He stood at the helm of her vessel, the Amplifier sat upon the floor behind him, primed and ready for its initiation. Thousands upon thousands of Imperial vessels filled the void of space, their numbers totally overwhelming the tally of the Terran Crusade. False hope sprung within the hearts of the battered loyalists as the defending fleets did not initiate the first strike.
Perhaps it was a moment's pause in the commander's decision, a providence born from the Emperor's hand?
They could not be certain, for the end results annulled such speculations.
The Amplifier, linked to the psychic network of the Terran Crusade fleet astropaths, had formed its connection with Holy Terra. If such a thing was possible, Maranda could not know for certain, but she trusted in the skill of the Arch-Magos' craftmanship. Somehow, the connection grew strong, at the cost of the lives of all the astropaths in every Terran Crusade ship that had linked to the Amplifier's nexus.
She remembered it, still fresh from a few hours prior to disaster, the commanding voice of the Emperor himself.
"Bring my son to me."
All who heard the spoken words fell prostrate where they stood, be it the defense fleets or the Terran Crusade. It seemed that the impending assault would be avoided altogether, but alas, in this grim darkness...
There is only war.
++ Priority Alert to all Defense Fleets ++
"The Emperor has spoken, after a thousand years of silence!"
A pause, then fervent prayers could be heard.
"We...we will not fail him!" The zealous commander screamed, "Bring the Arch-Traitor before the Golden Throne! Lay waste to the heretics! Attack!"
Those words led them here. Maranda couldn't help but wish, blasphemous though it may be, that the Emperor had worded his sentence a little bit differently. "Forgive me, my god, but surely you know that the masses are as ignorant as they can be?" The captain muttered a prayer as she dressed her injury. The hot paste seared her wound shut, and the injection assured a cessation in the biting agony in her side.
Unmanned at the moment, the Golgo's Respite was making a plunge headlong into the thundering batteries of four Gloriana-class Battlecruisers.
"Captain?" Lord Horus Lupercal ascended to the ruined observatorium, "Do you require assistance?"
"My liege!" Maranda cried out in surprise, "Emperor be praised, you live!"
The Lupercal wasn't listening, his eyes were fixed on the shattered Amplifier. "Well, there goes our only chance at getting them to stop shooting." The Primarch shook his head, giving notice to the grievous state of the cruiser. "Never mind. We have to get off this ship."
"But my lord, there is still hope for my vessel!" Maranda protested, dragging her dead bosun off the console to bring up the HUD indicating the battleship's status. The blinking red colors did little to aid in her attempt to save the Golgo's Respite. "No!"
"Come, Goodwill." Horus chided her, "The Golgo's Respite is lost, going down with it changes nothing. Your life matters more than this ship, let go of the sentiment!"
The captain sighed, "Forgive me, milord. I forget myself." She yanked on a lever to signal the evacuation of the battlecruiser, then the two headed out into the shattered corridors leading into the escape pods. When Maranda stepped into the pod with the rest of her crew, she noticed the Primarch remain out back. "My lord?"
"I will be fine, Captain." Horus replied. "I shall clear a path for the pods to safely escape the battle. I cannot promise a quick reunion, but know that I shall see you again soon. I will not give up this endeavor to reach Terra." With that, the Primarch initiated the release sequence, shutting the pod doors and jettisoning them out into space.
The artificial environment in his armor kicked in, and Horus was enveloped in a mute cocoon as the air within the breached compartment was sucked out along with pieces of loose debris. Horus had an idea, amidst the palpable shudder of each shell thundering against the failing gellar shields of the Golgo's Respite. The ship was picking up speed, he had only to drive it to its proper course.
Horus returned to the bridge and sat upon the Throne Mechanicum. The consoles that remained functional lit up as they sensed the Primarch's presence. The Lupercal looked up at the shattered observatorium and muttered to himself, "My plan might not have worked, father, but there's still a chance." The blockade had to be breached before any of them could go further. "A very slim chance." The Primarch said, gaze narrowing as he put the ship on full throttle.
"Horus!"
His eyes widened as the Saint glided into the bridge, "Celestine! What are you doing here? Why did you not leave with the Sisters?"
"I was informed that you yet remained aboard the vessel, so I went to investigate, fearing that you were injured in the attack." The Saint explained, "That being said, I must ask why you chose to be here instead of being at the side of your brothers?"
"Terra must be reached." Horus replied, "I go with the faint glimmer of hope that there are those who have heard the Emperor's words and re-evaluated my convictions. If I flee now, I prove to be the traitor they see. That, I shall never do."
"Look around you, Lord Horus! The Terran Crusade is shattered to its very core, the fleets have scattered! Am I to understand you will make this blind jump into Holy Terra, absent an army at your back?"
"I don't need an army to approach Terra." Horus smiled beneath his helm, "I have you."
Celestine's jaw fell slack. Horus' words meant differently, but the way she took it was another thing entirely. "My lord?"
"They are zealous in the Emperor's faith, are they not?" He asked, "We may be able to sway a great number to our cause when they see you standing at my side. A Saint's involvement is proof of the Emperor's will, so to speak."
"Or they may see us as they do now, as agents of Chaos, and still turn their weapons on us."
"A gamble." Horus shrugged.
"An act of faith." Celestine smiled nervously.
"Yes." The Primarch turned his gaze out into the blazing skies of Luna, where the battle had reached its peak. "Are you with me, Saint Celestine? Will you aid me in this endeavor, wherever it may take us?"
"You needn't ask, my lord." Celestine replied, "I had vowed to follow you, and I will not break it."
"Then prepare yourself." Horus warned, bracing himself as the warheads rained down upon the ruined voidship. "This is only about to get worse."
The Grandmaster of the Officio Assassinorum crossed his arms and looked on his fellow Lords with growing disapproval and resentment. He had heard the Emperor's words clear as if spoken in person as the next man, but where others had answered with vehement hate, he actually took pause to consider his god's decree.
If he wanted this returned Warmaster dead, he would've said it all very differently. "Why am I the only one considering this?"
"Considering what, Grandmaster?" Trajann Valoris inquired.
"You know of what I speak, Captain-General." The Grandmaster replied, "Do you not see our fellows blindly seizing this opportunity, while our own Lord and god had implied a vastly contrasting commandment. I sense heresy of the highest order, and I feel that I cannot stand for this."
"You would dare to believe that Horus Lupercal has come in good faith?" Valoris asked, "After everything he has done?"
"What has he done, but act to redeem himself? Is he truly lost to us, the greatest of our Primarchs and favored son of the Emperor, that we would shun him when we clearly need him the most?"
"Arch-traitor, blasphemer and Greatest of Heretics."
"Savior of Cadia, Slayer of Abaddon, Redeemed Son."
The Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes shook his head, "He is all these things. Too much hangs in the balance for us to gamble upon his word. We should not speak of this amongst ourselves, lest we sow seeds of dissent that the Ruinous Powers might exploit."
"To deny it is heresy."
"To act on it is heresy."
The Grandmaster frowned, "What is heresy, but a matter of perspective?"
"Careful, Grandmaster." Valoris replied, "You speak of dangerous things."
"We live in dangerous times." He returned, growing even more certain with his conviction with each word that fell from his lips. "If you will not support me in this, I shall walk this path alone. I would prefer not to, but circumstance will force my hand."
"Treachery within the heart of the Imperium? Now, that I will not stand for." The Captain-General drew his waraxe, to the surprise of all that looked on. The large chamber, in which the High Lords of Terra met to pool in their forces and command the Defense Fleets, was filled with both the Lords themselves and their corresponding retinue of guardian squads and servitors. They had taken notice of the exchange between the two Lords and caught on with the latter of the words fallen from the Grandmaster's lips.
"Is it really?" The Grandmaster replied calmly. He needn't draw him weapon, for all around them unseen were his own assassins, poised to strike with but a nod from their commander.
"What is going on here?" The Lord Commander of Segmentum Solar cried. "Have the seeds of dissent born from Horus' hand taken root, here in the citadel of mankind?!"
"It is not dissent, but misplaced vengeance, that had taken root!" The Grandmaster answered, "I have given it much thought, I do not act on a whim! I am sure of my convictions! We are all making a serious error, ignoring the Emperor's command!"
"He commands us to apprehend the Arch-traitor!" Trajann roared.
"He commands us to welcome the Redeemed Primarch!" The Grandmaster retorted, "Disobedience is heresy! Continue in this endeavor, and I will commence extermination!"
"Your words, your end." Trajann declared, dropping his visor down to shield himself from the assassin's bullet. In a flash, the Adeptus Custodes knights formed a tight shield formation around their commander the moment the bolt rounds started flying. The Grandmaster withdrew quickly and took cover behind a marble pillar, signaling his men to commence said extermination.
"Kill them all! Kill the heretics!" The Grandmaster shouted above the noise of gunfire.
"Heresy!" The Cardinal of the Holy Synod of Terra foolishly cast himself out of cover, holding naught but an ancient rosarius to protect himself. "This is heresy! Cease this pointless exchange and repent! I beg of you!"
His words fell on deaf ears as the overzealous leaders gave action to their bottled up years of resentment and animosity at each other. Lord battled against lord with steel against steel, bolter against laspistol and some at the psychic level!
The Grandmaster whirled around as Trajann caught up to him, drawing his full greatblade in response to the warlord's master-crafted waraxe. "You've longed for this, I gather?"
"My duty to the Emperor stands above my own passion!" The Captain-General snarled, striking the Grandmaster's blade with his own. The waraxe collided hard against the adamantine steel, sending sparks flying where the edge had bitten. "But I do take pleasure in slaying traitors!"
The Grandmaster smiled sadly as he parried the younger warrior's strikes with ease, "A pity it had to come to this. It is truly a deserved end for a dying Imperium when our own zeal blinds us to the edge we so desperately hurtle for."
}!{
I know, I know. This chapter should've been longer, and should've come sooner. But c'mon, I aim to deliver quality stuff.