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"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea."
Horus chuckled, "Your opinion is noted, though I wouldn't echo the sentiment. This is the only good idea left to us." The Primarch narrowed his eyeslits as the cockpit was enwreathed in the ship's blinding re-entry flash, "Brace for impact. If memory serves me well, I've steered us a quarter of a mile away from the Eternity Gate. A great number of structures will undoubtedly be in the vicinity."
"It is not the structures that I worry about, Lord Horus." Celestine confessed, "It is the bolters held in the hands of the faithful. They remain blind to your true allegiance, and it is no mere assumption to say that they call me a false Saint. Were it by other circumstance, I would brand them as heretics. But they are being misled, nothing more."
"Your heart is heavy." Horus said as the roar of the shuddering voidship grew ever stronger. "That is good. It means you still care."
"It is a distraction."
"It is what makes us human."
Celestine frowned, "But we...we are not human. Not anymore?"
"Your uncertainty is answer enough." Horus replied, "Do you think that even with the blood of the Emperor flowing through my veins makes me a god? No, even with his gifts I remain irrevocably human. Never forget it, lest you fall like so many others."
"I'll try not to, although there is much evidence to the contrary."
The skies above the metropolis opened up as a gigantic ball of fire shot out of the heavy gray clouds swirling above, bearing the burning wreck of the Golgo's Respite as it made its mad plunge into Terra's airspace. Frightened eyes look up in horror as the massive streak of flame barrels in with the speed of a charging Squiggoth, a desperate scramble for cover was made as the wreck soared just a few feet above ground before touching down completely. Then, the horrid crash reverberated across the unfortunate Terran district as the derelict voidship made planetfall. Dust, rubble, bodies and debris flew in all directions as the ship's prow carves up a jagged path across the stacked structures, leaving naught but destruction in its wake as the tremendous weight of the voidship throttled it forward.
Horus shook off the vertigo caused by the initial strike and stretched forth his spear, bathing the wreck in a psychic cocoon of energy that it may halt the ship's advance. A single bead of sweat trickled down his brow as he fought to regain control of the vessel, his guilt for the innocents caught in the resulting crash growing with each meter covered by the voidship as much as giving him an incentive to pour in all his effort in stopping the wreck in its tracks. "Come on..." The Primarch groaned, "...you son of a bitch!"
Then, the ship made a sudden lurch forward that threw both the Primarch and Saint off balance momentarily, having been stopped by the sheer force of the Lupercal's will. Horus preferred to have halted it sooner, but the feat was accomplished nevertheless with lesser casualties than what would have been.
"Now what?" Celestine inquired.
"Now..." Horus heaved, "...we march for the Golden Throne."
Recovering quickly from the shock of the crash, the two descended from the ruined observatorium and leaped from the ledge to the streets below. Just as swiftly, the vigilant defenders of the capital homeworld swarmed in like locusts when they realized exactly who it was that arrived on Terra. At first glance, they did not recognize the tall being stepping forth from the clouds of dust and smoke- at least that was the case with the lowborn of Terran society. The Saint would have swayed their thoughts to a more welcoming mood, had the officers kept silent and considered the words of the Emperor as the Grandmaster had.
Alas, neither did they.
The Astartes stationed upon Terra lifted their guns and bellowed, "The Arch-Traitor! Kill him!" Then the roar of bolter, lasgun and lascannon drowned out the rest.
Guardsmen, spacemarine and battle-servitors took positions to block the path into the Eternity Gate. Battle machinations, dreadnoughts and Titans lumbered noisily into the fray. No amount of firepower was considered too much for the enemy they faced today, no amount of hate too great for the vilest of betrayers. Their Emperor, as they perceived, had spoken. Horus would be brought before the Golden Throne, in chains or in ruins.
Horus twirled his spear once and held it aloft, casting a protective bubble around himself and Celestine. He knew this would be the welcome he would receive, "We must press on!"
"Heretics! All of them!" The wrathful Saint screamed, drawing her Ardent Blade to lash out against those who would dare defy the Emperor's will. She was stopped by Horus just as she was about to dispense judgement, "What are you doing?"
"This is not the way!" Horus said, the Primarch closed his eyes and poured on his thoughts to the enchanted weapon, throwing forth the shield bubble in one gigantic golden shockwave that severely impaired those it struck and disarmed those few gifted with the hardiest of wills. The Imperial Fists champions convulsed for a moment, dropping their bolters as they felt their fingers grow numb and taut.
When they attempted to bring their weapons to bear, the firearms burst into flames or fell apart completely! In anger, they lifted their gaze against the Lupercal and drew their swords.
"Would you have them kill you then, when you are so close to your goal?" Celestine asked.
"I will not spill the blood of loyalists while I have yet the means to avoid it!" Horus answered, turning to the advancing tide. "Forward!"
The astartes bellowed forth their challenge and charges straight for the Warmaster, battleswords raised high in a desperate attempt to lay him low. Horus was true to his word and desire to avoid killing the ignorant, moving to disarm and incapacitate rather than outright slaying each spacemarine that came before him. This feat should've been impossible for even the greatest duelist, but not for Horus. As if moving through water, the lesser astartes were comparably sluggish to the Warmaster's umatched grace. Even Celestine was awed by his ability to weave about the chaos of the melee without laying a single casualty to the Imperial Fists.
"Do you not see?" Celestine snatched a warrior off of his feet as she declared Horus' innocence, "We are not your enemy! What you're doing is in direct contradiction to the Emperor's will! Cease and repent, I implore you!"
"Your words fall on deaf ears, traitor!" A chaplain roared, rising above the rubble to rally the beleaguered Imperial forces together. The Primarch was too much for them to handle, and so drastic measures were called on to balance the scale. "If we cannot bring you before the Emperor alive, we shall bring you before him in pieces!" He took pause to signal the Emperor-class Titan guarding the entrance to the Outer Palace, "Lock on to this beacon and fire, full power!"
The sanctum was in ruins.
Bullet-holes and scorch marks were all over the place, born from the weapons discharge of both loyalist forces. The High Lords of Terra, the many who proved too slow or too stupid to run for cover, lay dead where they once stood. The Master of the Adeptus Administratum
The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum, the Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites, the Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators, Lord Commander of the Segmentum Solar, Lord Commander Militant of the Astra Militarum, Lord High Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Even the Abbess Sanctorum of the Adepta Sororitas and the Chancellor of the Estate Imperium were not saved from the chaos of the infighting.
The Grandmaster of the Officio Assassinorum, though wounded heavily from his battle with the Captain-General, remained alive.
As was his rival.
The thunder of the Titan's guns outside the Imperial palace could be heard even within the bowels of the Sanctum Imperialis, its shockwaves felt like a dozen tectonic plates crashing against one another all at once. The Grandmaster raised his boltpistol at the Captain-General and clenched down hard on the gaping wound in his shoulder.
Trajann Valoris' helm was smashed open by the power-maul of one of the Grandmaster's battle-servitors, revealing a bloodied but steadfast visage glaring back at the Grandmaster.
"Gaze upon the chaos wrought by your disobedience, Grandmaster." The Captain-General snarled, hefting his waraxe upon shaky and battered arms. He referred to the bodies of the dead and dying officials littered all across the bloodied floor.
"I had thought that you, who knew the Emperor best, would know the error of your judgement." The Grandmaster retorted spitefully, "But I see clearly that even the best of us can fall, Horus is proof of that- as are you. Yet there remains redemption still. Even in the damage wrought upon this council over a misunderstanding and zealous backlash, what was lost can be regained."
"A moment before, you were so eager to raise arms. Now that you've realized you're outmatched you stoop to words?" Trajann frowned, "I am beyond reasoning now, Grandmaster."
"Do you not hear yourself now? You commit treason without even knowing it." The sidearm clicks empty, and the Grandmaster tossed the useless piece away. He didn't even move to defend himself when the zealous warrior threw himself forward and struck him his deathblow. The axe tore through the Grandmaster's armor and opened a wide gash across his middle, spilling thick red ichor all over the floor to join the pools collecting under the dead who littered the room.
"Emperor have mercy on your soul." The Grandmaster wheezed, closing his eyes for the last time and readying himself for oblivion.
Unbeknownst to Trajann, the work of the Great Deceiver had been done. A simple twist in the Emperor's psychic message had wrought the resulting carnage, thrusting the capital into the second war for Terra. Horus' plans for a successful peaceful confrontation were rendered null, his chances for true redemption dashed to pieces. Tzeentch smiled at the conclusion of the battle of the Sanctum Imperialis, reveling in the acts of betrayal ironically done in the Emperor's name. Much like the betrayal wrought by Horus all those centuries before, Trajann Valoris had fallen to the influence of Chaos.
The best part was that he didn't even know it was happening.
Horus shook his head slowly as the deep ringing in his skull died down. The smoke cleared as did his hearing, then the Primarch rose to take in the results of the meaningless massacre. He gazed out in horror at the masses of torn flesh, sundered power-armor, and charred bodies splayed out all over the battlefield in a wide circle about him. The Titan had done its work, though managing to decimate the entire first line of defenders stationed at the gates of the Outer Palace.
"You fools!" Horus cried vehemently, "What have you done?!"
At this, the defenders that yet lived stopped to stare in confusion as the Arch-Traitor began to rant despairingly at the losses of his own foes. Many wondered what would prompt him to do this, many dared to question if they were right in attacking him in the first place. Then the Adeptus Custodes, now rallied and regrouped under the banner of the Captain-General Trajann Valoris, marched steadily out of the ruined Outer Gate to replace the heavy losses inflicted by the Titan strike and surrounded the bewildered Primarch upon his knees before them.
"Don't listen to him!" An officer yelled, mustering his beleagured forces around him. "His cries are of a beast caught in the thicket! Ready arms and prepare to fire!"
Horus, still unwilling to take the lives of the loyalists defending Terra, rose up and wrenched his helm free that all may see his face. "Look at me, sons and daughters of mankind! Do you not see the very face of the Emperor in my features?! Look upon me and judge me, am I of Chaos?! You have been blinded by hate and ignorance for too long! Hope burns bright before you! Do not snuff it out, I beg of you!"
In the background, Tzeentch watched this ironic twist with wicked glee. Many a hero had sacrificed much in hopes of bringing the Imperium a brighter future, only to be betrayed by the very people they sought to save. Horus, powerful though he be, is just another one of those ill-fated heroes.
Upon his Throne, the Emperor watches this exchange with a heavy but burning heart. Untold millennia of sadness, anger, and despair roiled up like the ocean stirred by a great storm. For too long had he sat immobile upon that glorified armchair, unable to grasp fully the true potential of his waning power as his near-broken spirit mended itself.
He had reached breaking-point once when Horus was corrupted by the Chaos gods and unleashed the horrors of the Heresy upon mankind. He wanted to die, and nearly had when he dueled his own son aboard the Vengeful Spirit. Then, that lone soldier who died in his name reminded him of what he was fighting for.
Seeing Horus now, alive and on Terra, reminded him again of his purpose.
The throneroom's gilded walls shook as an unseen force pulsated from a long-forgotten source. The floor and ceiling cracked as abyssal fissures formed from the sundering Empyrean. The Emperor, for the first time in a millennia, tore his consciousness free from the Warp without the direct aid of his daily sacrifice of a thousand psykers. The effort required a great deal from him, and the results nearly broke realspace as he flung himself out of the gaping maw of the immaterium that spawned out of his gashed and failing mortal body.
Free for a time in this astral form, the Emperor looked back at the corpse grimly as the rift spilled all manner of daemons into realspace. It was another price he had to pay to put a stop to this madness, one he was willing to, and he knew he had to make it count.
The Adeptus Custodes who remained in the Sanctum Imperialis gazed up in awe and fear at their liege as he moved out of the throneroom. These he warned of the open rift he had left behind and then instructed to contain while he saw to the mess outside in person. "There is no time to stand on ceremony, move quickly and watch the breach. I have sons to welcome home." The Emperor bade them a curt farewell and faded through the walls of the shattered temple, passing by frightened servants and faithful monks. Those who were not attuned to the Warp as well as they should have were blinded by the brilliance of their lord, but even so rejoiced as their last vision was of the Emperor coming back to lead the wayward Imperium.
"He has come!" The blinded men and women cried, eyes glassed and bleeding from burnt retinas. "The Emperor has returned! Oh joy, a marvelous day to be alive!"
Word quickly spread ahead of the Emperor, reaching the astonished ears of the defenders as they moved to slay the Primarch Horus Lupercal.
"The Emperor is here!"
All eyes turned to the brilliant figure who entered the shattered fields of the Outer Palace, "CEASE THIS MADNESS! I COMMAND IT!" His voice was as gentle as a running stream, yet at the same time commanding as the thunder of a distant storm. At his word, the masses threw down their weapons and prostrated themselves upon the ground. By now, of course, the Emperor would've gotten used to the state of divinity that the Imperium has placed him in. But this would mark as the first time he had, indirectly or otherwise, claimed his godhood. "I have given my word for Horus's safe passage that I may communicate properly with him. Your ignorance truly knows no bounds! Now, you've forced my hand."
Trajann Valoris, axe still bloody from the slain Grandmaster, looked down in shame as the Emperor cast his stern gaze upon him. He knew his error, no words could express his regret for having failed his master when he needed him most. "You disappoint me, Captain-General. You all have."
Valoris closed his eyes and nodded, "Emperor, forgive me. Forgive us all." Thinking quickly, Valoris patched himself to the fleets still bombarding the remaining Terran Crusade voidships above. "Priority Alpha, cease all fire. The Emperor has spoken."
"Father." Horus approached the Emperor of Mankind and knelt before his astral form, "I have returned to Terra as you've instructed."
The astral form laid its hand upon the Lupercal's shoulder, "You have done well, in spite of the odds, my son. I am proud and glad to have you here." He turned and smiled at Celestine, who was practically bursting with happiness. The Saint shone as bright as the sun, nearly as blinding as the Emperor himself. "And you as well, my daughter. Welcome to the capital."
With that said, the Emperor turned to the penitent defenders gathered around. He had much to say, most of which were to berate and punish the disobedient, but he had little patience for such things and he was of a different tune this time. "You bear your shame well, as deserved. I know your hearts. You desire death for your crimes against me and my family. But I do not ask for your deaths, I ask for your lives." The Emperor pointed at the Imperial Palace, "To end this madness, I answered with madness. A great rift opens even now beneath my Throne, spilling daemons into Terra! If you desire redemption for your sins, venture and contain the daemonic incursion! This, I command!"
"It will be done, milord!" Trajann answered, turning to the Custodes under his command. "You heard the Emperor, to the palace! Quickly!"
"Not you." The Emperor forbade Horus, seeing the Primarch begin to follow the Custodes into the fray. "Have you already forgotten what you're here for, my son?"
"Ah yes, the task." Horus nodded.
"Walk with me. We have much to discuss."
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