Chapter 48

Pieces of a Puzzle

Writers Note:

Sorry for the waiting people, I've been partying at University for three days straight and just want to get some sleep! My halls are great, the people are friendly, the only two problems with this place is one, the fire alarm which goes off at 3am, three hundred people at least drunk and pissed off and secondly the fact that it don't have wireless. Here's a chapter I'm proud off, enjoy!

------

Macragge was a world located within the eastern sectors of the Imperium territories, located within a sector known as the Ultima Segmentum, it was the home planet of both the infamous Ultramarines chapter and their legendary Primarch, Rouboute Guilliman. The planet was a bleak, mountainous world with most of its four hundred million inhabitants located in the more fertile low-land regions.

Because of its standing as an Astartes home world the planet was one of the most well defended in its sector with a mass of orbital defence platforms and a half dozen Emperors Wrath-class space stations orbiting the brown planet, large spire shaped structures three kilometres long and a half kilometre wide, armed with lines of lance and plasma batteries, a sizeable hanger holding a swarm of starfighters and docking arms for large ships the size of an Imperial cruiser.

The defences on the ground were just as impressive, large fortresses made of brown stone were dotted across the landscape. Many of them were built into the mountains covering the planet, strategically placed around the major cities and towns. The defence forces of the planet included tens of thousands of Imperial Guard, twice that many PDF troopers and roughly a company of Ultramarines to protect the main fortress of the planet.

The main fortress was located on the highest mountain range of the planet, overlooking the world's capital city, known as the Fortress of Hera it was the main garrison of the Ultramarines on the planet and so was where the planets space marine contingent was stationed. Its towers and ramparts reached up high into the sky, in some cases vanishing within the cloud cover, at the tops of these towers and fortifications were a mass of lance batteries, plasma turrets, las-cannons, heavy bolter turrets and rail-guns

Deep within the walls of the legendary fortress was a store of knowledge of the Ultramarines, the halls were made of the same brown stone with a mass of marble statues depicting ancient heroes of the chapter from Librarians and Chaplains to Brother-Captains and Brother-Sergeants. In the centre of the fortress was a massive hall, made of the same brown stone with thick stone pillars keeping up the kilometre high ceiling. Along the two hundred meter wide hall were the statues of past Chapter Masters and Chief Librarians, standing tall and proud with their legendary weapons held firmly in their hands, the statues depicting them made of solid marble.

Beyond this grand chamber was another, known as the Temple of Correction it was kept within a protective shell of adamantium steel and was where an ancient throne of marble resided. Sitting on this great throne was one of the most well known and respected beings in the history of the Imperium, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, held within a stasis field at the very moment of his death, the same throat wound that the traitor Primarch Fulgrim had inflicted upon him still visible.

He had been here for many more millennia than he wished to count, trapped within this stasis field, near death but not quite there. The wound in his throat where Fulgrim had cut him still much in evidence, he had used his psychic senses to keep a watchful eye on the planet and the entirety of the Ultramarine Empire, just like his father did, only on a smaller scale. For countless millennia he had watched as threat after threat came from the unknown sectors of the eastern fringe from Orks and Chaos pirates to the newly arrived Tau Empire and the Tyranid Hive-fleets. He wished so much to exit this stasis field and join his brothers in battle once more and cursed the galaxy and himself that he could not.

He was about to lose hope of ever being released from this marble prison when he felt something at the edges of his psychic vision. A single flame appeared in the far distance, a flickering light that over the last few months began to increase in size and strength until he couldn't ignore it any longer. As the flame became stronger a psychic voice whispered weakly in his mind. As the voice increased in strength the Primarch began to feel his wounds start to tingle.

Guilliman

It was the first time that the psychic voice that had been whispering within his mind had made any kind of sense. He recognised the voice almost immediately. It was the voice of the man that had created him and his fellow brothers, it was their father, it was the emperor.

Father

My son, it has been so long

Yes, yes it has

The time for your rebirth is at hand my son. It will happen much sooner than you think.

Father?

My power is growing. Our Alliances with another galactic empire have proved to be most beneficial. Within the next few years I will be able to walk among our people once again.

That is great news father

It is The emperor confirmed. My powers have also increased to the point where I can heal life threatening wounds…including yours

What does this mean Father Guilliman asked.

By tomorrow my son you will walk again

------

Located deep within the northern sectors of the Imperium, in the segmentum known as the Segmentum Obscurus was the planet, or rather the ruins of the planet of Caliban. The first home world to the zealous and proud Dark Angels legion it was bombarded by a crusade fleet led by the Dark Angels own Primarch, Lion El'Jonson when he found that the planet's garrison of Dark Angel space marines, a full half of the ancient legion had been seduced by the forces of Chaos during the Horus Heresy.

The battle ripped the original home world apart and turned it into a massive barren asteroid where no life could exist on its surface, at this the planet was renamed The Rock. While no life could survive on its charred and pulverised surface, under the surface was a different story. Deep within the bowls of The Rock was the underground chapter monastery of the recovering Dark Angels space marine chapter.

The fortress monastery of the founding chapter was similar to that of the other main fortresses of the other founders. The interior walls were made of grey stone with lines of ancient statues made of marble, depicting the ancient heroes of the chapter. Further within the underground fortress, passed the living quarters, medical wings, armouries and chapter library was an ancient prison where the enemies of the Dark Angels were kept, these included the captured members of the Dark Angel marines who had turned traitor or The Fallen as they were called. The list of prisoners also included numerous criminals from across the segmentum as well as alien prisoners who would be of better use alive than dead, these alien prisoners included an Ulthwe Farseer whom the Inquisition wanted.

Deeper within the monastery was a chamber, defended by a shell of adamantium it held within its reinforced walls the most precious treasure of the entire chapter. A treasure that many of the marines except for the acting chapter master and chief librarian didn't know off. The Primarch of the chapter, Lion El'Jonson was within this chamber, in a state of hibernation within its walls, ready to awaken when he was needed again.

That time was coming much sooner than the sleeping Primarch realised. In the primarchs dream, or rather a nightmare he was on his knees, his ankles and wrists chained to the black ground. He was watching a series of events that he had never forgiven himself for, the emperor's last battle against his favourite son Horus. He wasn't able to make it in time to save his father and he blamed himself ever since.

The sound of footsteps brought his attention away from his nightmare, to the familiar form of a man walking steadily towards him, dressed in armour made of pure gold and encrusted silver. He held a long bladed power-sword in his hand, no, a possessed blade which crackled with incredible power.

Father

My son the emperor returned the greeting with a grin.

How is this possible Jonson asked as the chains holding him down suddenly began to disintegrate under his father's psychic pressure, likewise the images of the ten thousand years past battle of holy Terra also began to fade, leaving nothing but blackness in every direction. Only the emperor remained visible, glowing with heavenly light.

The time is drawing near for us to rise again my son the emperor said. The time has come for the Imperium to rise to providence once again.

Father I am unworthy to be at your side Jonson said suddenly. I failed you when you needed me the most, when you needed my strength, my sword, I was not there.

You are still blaming yourself after all this time The emperor said, shaking his head, he sighed and caste a steely gaze upon his guilt ridden son. Get a hold of yourself, you could not have helped me, could you speed up your journey through the warp to Terra? Did you have the Alliance hyperdrive at that troubled time?

No

Then stop acting like it was your fault!!!

Father

It was not your fault; it was mine The emperor all but shouted. I should not have left the front lines, I should have sensed the presence of Chaos manifesting itself and put a stop to it right there and then. If I did then all this would have been avoided, it was my arrogance that was my downfall my son. Not yours!!!

Lion El'Jonson diverted his eyes from the steely gaze of his father, suddenly finding something very interesting on the floor, if there was a floor. A few moments later his father, the Emperor regained himself and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, forcing his sons eyes to focus on his once again.

Awaken my son he said simply. Gather the Dark Angels chapter and go to Terra, they need your guidance more than ever. Even know after all these years they blame themselves for their brothers fall from grace. They should blame themselves no longer.

Father

Awaken

Within the hibernation chamber, in the very core of the Dark Angels monastery, Lion El'Jonson, Primarch and chosen son of the Emperor of Humanity opened his eyes for the first time in countless millennia.

------

Within the royal palace of holy Terra the emperor of man stirred in his golden throne. At the moment that was the best he could do, his growing powers had awakened Lion El'Jonson. His growing powers were healing Roboute Guilliman. This was putting a strain on his own regeneration but it had to be done.

Out of the twenty Primarchs nine had fallen to Chaos either by their own will or by his own arrogance, they were sadly out of his reach. Another two had simply vanished during the Heresy. He had no idea whether they were alive or dead. And nine had remained strictly loyal to him, out of those nine three had perished in the fighting that had followed, one had been fatally wounded, another had gone into hibernation. That left four, four who remained loyal to him but their locations remained unknown.

Over time his powers would continue to grow, over time he would be able to find all of his loyal sons and not just those who were stationary. The bacta was working, slowly but surely. Under normal circumstances with the Imperium secure for the time being he would have just relaxed in his life-supporting golden throne and waited for the healing liquids to do their job.

Sadly he did not have the luxury. Something on Mars was also stirring, something that was evil in its purest form. An evil that he was having trouble pinpointing, every time he searched the red planet with his warp abilities he would not be able to find it, there was something about this deity, something that made it immune to anything of the warp. The only reason he felt it was because of his most basic psychic abilities and from those abilities he sensed that this creature would be awake long before he would be healed, he needed to speed up his rejuvenation, but how?

He spent months pondering this very question, searching throughout both galaxies for a possible answer. Finally he heard whispers, rumours spreading throughout the two known galaxies. Rumours of a group of immortals awakening from a twenty five thousand year slumber, these immortals were not of the warp, they were not from another dimension but of the force, that inner power which derived from all living things. He heard rumours of one who could do incredible miracles with healing, even going as far as raising the deceased. While he considered that unrealistic he was intrigued by these rumours, sensing a shred of fact to them.

As he dived further in he began to learn more, searching through the warp and finding a fleet that owed its elegance to none of the powers of this galaxy or the other. The minds of most of these beings were well shielded and guarded from all outside, except of course from someone of his power. Carefully he bypassed all of the mind shields of the force-psykers on board this small fleet of vessels. Names and images appeared in his minds eye, showing him the leaders of this force.

Names such as Revan, Exile and Sasha came to his minds eye, organisations within the fleet known as the Jedi Knights, further still to his surprise was a chapter of space marines, a small order of battle sisters and Tech-priests. He felt that many of these beings where human or near-human but he also felt aliens among their number including Tau, Kroot, Eldar and a number of others that he did not recognise, possibly from the unexplored regions of the galaxy or from the second galaxy.

He was intrigued by these beings, especially by the fact that they had a full chapter of his own space marines as well as other Imperial organisations. He wouldn't be surprised that they probably had contacts and spies across his empire. He dived into the space marines well guarded minds and found that they were still fiercely loyal to him and the Imperium but also had a warriors bond with these Jedi and their higher masters as well. The Jedi themselves and the mass of other beings onboard were similar in that they meant no harm to the Imperium or his followers.

Smiling he pushed the information aside, interesting but not why he was here. He continued searching through the vessels of the independent fleet, hoping to find some shred of evidence that this Immortal healer existed or if she was simply myth. He found a strong presence, stronger than many of the others within these ships, it was a she and she was unaware of his presence. She was too far away from him to teleport so instead he found the minds of the pilots of the fleet and subtly directed them to Terra, making subtle suggestions too many of the leaders as well to make sure that there would be no trouble.

A few hours later and it was done, he released his hold on the warp, weakened by the mental exertion of powers he had not used in millennia. He would wait until the ships were within range and teleport the one he seeks to his throne, the others he would order to wait a safe distance. He did not wish their destruction and he sensed that they would be valuable allies in the future.

------

The lights of a thousand candles flickered in the darkness, their bright orange flames casting an eerie glow upon the large chamber they were in. Other than the flickering lights of the candles there was no other light in the room and that was the way it was supposed to be. Revan sat in the centre of the chamber, his arms folded and his legs crossed in an old meditation style long forgotten to the Jedi of this era.

In his mind he was sitting in darkness, nothing above, below or around him. His mind was clear and awaiting a flicker of life to reach out and brush his consciousness, he waited for some time before finally a presence brushed his mind and the slender figure of the Exile appeared before him, her long blonde hair let lose and flowing down her back.

"Let me guess" she said with a grin spreading across her delicate and beautiful features "You've been summoned as well?"

"Pretty much" Revan replied "And it looks like we're not alone"

Another being appeared behind Keira and started walking calmly and confidently towards them, like Keira this woman was human and had a slender build but unlike her the newcomer had long brown hair tied up in a long ponytail. Her eyes were a deep brown and her features were pale but beautiful. She was dressed in a brownish red jumpsuit with knee high leather black boots, on her black belt was the hilt of a lightsabre and a curved gold sheath holding the blade of her own possessed sword, an ancient weapon that Revan and Keira both also possessed.

Both turned to regard her but while the Exile bowed respectfully Revan found himself grinning, his heart jumping at her presence which he had missed for so long. In the blink of an eye she had vanished and appeared before him, knelling and looking into his turquoise eyes, a smile of her own curving her lips. In another heartbeat they were kissing passionately, breaking away only when they couldn't hold their breaths any longer.

"Bastilla" Revan said almost dreamily as she fell into his arms and rested her head against his chest "I missed you"

"I could tell" she replied breathlessly.

"Oh man" Keira muttered as she turned her back on the happy couple "Get a room why don't you"

Both Revan and Bastilla were blushing just as another handful of individuals appeared, their sudden appearance bolstering their numbers from three to nineteen. All of them were beings whom had gained knowledge and passed through trials tougher than what a mere mortal could take, making them into beings stronger than that of any living or past Jedi or Sith master. Together they were the Sannin, immortal beings who had released their restrictions upon the force and could use it to its full potential.

"Well it appears that he has some very important news" Revan murmured "To call all of use together like this"

"I should think so" his daughter said as she walked calmly towards her father "It is dangerous to call us all together like this, Chaos has gotten stronger with the arrival of their new god and cloaking ourselves individually in proving more difficult"

"Where is Atton?" Keira asked suddenly, worry etched into her voice to find that her husband was not here.

"He is too close to the Eye of Terror at this time" Boa-Dur replied apologetically "It is too dangerous for him to join us in this link, the forsaken would be upon him like moths to a flame"

Keira bowed her head, her worry and sadness that Atton was not here carving its way through the forces currents, out of all present she, Revan and Sonya were the only beings safe from the warp because of being surrounded by so many Jedi. The others were taking a greater risk.

"Nineteen out of twenty ain't bad" Athura Ban said with a small mischievous grin crossing her purple face, her lekku slowly swinging from side to side as she tilted her head "What's with you guys, you don't call, you don't write. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were all avoiding meyaa"

"Now why would we do that" Shado Vao said sheepishly just after he snuck up on the older but still lavishly beautiful Twi'lek and made her jump by suddenly putting his hands on her shoulders. She spun around and lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"You miserable sneaky-" the former Sith master turned Jedi started before she was caught in a sudden kiss, which she leaned into after her initial surprise, her lover always had the ability to surprise her both inside and outside of the bedroom. The other seventeen immortals hid smiles and turned around to give the two some privacy.

"Are you lot really Sannin" a voice muttered playfully as a final figure appeared before them, his presence so strong that it dwarfed all of the others, in fact it was so strong that it shielded all of them from the dim yet still potent presence that Chaos had as its power tried to find them, pushing it further and further away, making a surprise attack by force-hunting dream daemons, known as Dream-Eaters impossible.

"Master" Revan said as he came down to a knee, his eighteen fellow Sannin following suit "You have summoned us for a reason"

"Yes" the shadowed being said "Things are being set into motion very quickly, the destinies of the First Immortals, Sannin and the Jedi both under us and the Grand Master of the other galaxy will soon be intertwined with that of the Emperor, his sons, both Primarch and Senshi, the Imperium and the Alliance" the shadow stopped for a brief moment, as if gazing into the souls of each of them "You are my children, the sons and daughters of the First Immortals and we will protect you and the Jedi as we can…The Healer will be called to the Emperors fortress soon and I want you, Revan, Keira and a handful of your most trusted Jedi to go with her. I will make it so whether the Emperor likes it or not"

"I knew something didn't feel right" Revan muttered as realisation came to his face "I felt a strong, yet very well hidden presence. The emperor appears to have become impatient"

"It is not a matter of impatience" the shadow replied flatly "Something is about to happen at Mars, something that will resound throughout the galaxy. A Necron star-god known as the Dragon is awakened in the depths of the red planet, his power is sending shockwaves throughout the galaxy, attacks on fringe worlds by Necron forces are becoming more frequent, and in some forgotten tomb-worlds they are awakening"

"Mars" Bastilla muttered quickly.

"In fact it is getting so strong that it is threatening to shatter my crystal prison" the figure spoke, his voice serious yet tinged with excitement "I wish to challenge him and see how powerful this star-god is when compared to the first Force-user in existence"

------

His powers were growing

His grasp on the galaxy was tightening

His followers were awakening

Soon everything will be in place

And the galaxy will become lifeless once more

The Dragon, one of the four Star-Gods of the Necrons lay asleep in his metallic coffin, feeling the constant life energies of the living across the very star system, the home of humanity, the life here was so dense that it should be impossible. He took in a breath of air, revelling in the tangy scent of metal as it entered his lungs, he was getting stronger.

His bones had just been covered with a layer of grey scaly skin, his organs coming back one by one and starting up, a pair of wings were slowly emerging from the bones, dark grey in colour and leathery with talons sharp enough to dice the strongest metals appearing. Slowly the scaly skin was covered with a layer of living armour which gleamed supernatural silver, engraved with ancient and forgotten black runes. His gauntleted fingers felt the hilt of his ancient sword, created within the depths of the Necrontyr's ancient and terrible sun.

A pair of eerie green eyes appeared in the shadows of his helmet, just recently covering half of his face, the rest appearing as fragments, furthering the armours progression. At this rate he will be at full power within a matter of months, his forces were slowly converging on the central region of the Imperium, awaiting his powers to reach their peek, then a battle the likes of which has not been seen here in so long would begin and would not end until Terra and her surrounding planets lay in ruins, void of all life, or when he dies, which is very unlikely.

After the destruction of humanity he would move on like a plague to the Eldar, especially the descendants of Kharne that bloody handed god which had imprisoned him within these walls because he could not destroy him, weak, insolent, prideful fool. If the Eldar god of war was still alive then he would find him and rip him apart. Then there would be the other two Star-Gods whom were awake within this galaxy, his revenge on the Nightbringer and the Deceiver. The Deceiver especially would be the sweetest of all his future conquests, the Chaos Gods would follow, no matter how many there were, they were no match to his warp numbing abilities.

Little did the Star-God know that far below him was another chamber, its walls, floor and ceiling seemingly made of crystals of green, blue, red, yellow, orange and a swath of other beautiful and mystifying colours. A single gem lay in the centre, its cloudy innards laced with gold and silver. Suddenly a tiny crack appeared on its immaculate surface, slowly spreading across the entire crystal. Is exploded, releasing a sudden fog of gold and silver mist.

As the mist began to fade a throne made of a mass of multicoloured gems and crystals appeared in the centre of the chamber. Its beauty only matched by its mystery, a powerful being once sat here and sat here again. A figure sat, slouched rather on the throne, human definitely, a simple mortal, definitely not. He opened his eyes, which shone unnatural green and let out a heavy breath through his nostrils when he saw that he was naked. He snapped his fingers and his body was garbed in a simple tunic and trousers with knee high black boots and leather gloves, a sword appeared, leaning against his throne, crackling with power and boredom.

So you want a fight too my old friend? The being asked psychically, his eyes closing and his face unmoving. His hair was jet black with streaks of silver which stretched to shoulder length, the pupils of his eyes were a soft, yet supernatural green which seemed to glow softly with hidden power, his physique was muscular, but not too muscular as not to make him unattractive, his face was ruggedly handsome with stubble.

"Well" he muttered under his breath before rising from his throne and sending a powerful message resonating through the force, knowing full well that his opponent could hear him "I'm here Star-God. Come and get me!"