RWBY 40k fanfiction – Salem, mistress of Inquisition.
Ep 7 : Horus Lupercal, my dearest son.
792.M30. Cthonia.
The planet of Cthonia was known to be a mining planet emptied of its materials. Its gigantic caverns hosted villages but also gangs that were at war for control of these caverns. All this in the middle of damaged shearers, rusty machine tools and other objects whose use has been forgotten.
In one of its villages which is fed by a geyser coming from the depths of the planet. Everyone was busy in this small village.
Two looters were moving through the caves.
Raider 1: "We're going to have to go to the Iron Skulls dump... There's nothing left around here."
Raider 2: "It's the risk..."
They climbed the caves to go to the dump in question.
But suddenly.
CRAAASSHHH!
A large explosion resembling an object breaking apart was heard from one of the caverns to the side.
Raider 1: "What was that?"
Raider 2: "Hm... I have no idea."
Raider 1: "We should leave. It must be the Iron Skulls!"
Raider 2: "I'm not sure..."
Raider 1: "Don't go."
Raider 2: "We should check. You never know. It could be everything."
Pillager 1: "Yes, but still..."
They borrowed the tunnel and plunged with their lamps.
They finally saw something.
He could see a large glass object, covered with wires, iron and such.
Raider 1: "Where did this thing come from? I've never seen anything like it!"
Raider 2: "Me neither. But at least we found a hell of a lot. It's the others who will dance for joy."
They heard stammering similar to that of a baby.
Raider 1: "Do you hear?"
Raider 2: "Hm... Weird..."
The stammering continued and one of the looters stopped untying the items and leaned inside.
He discovered a baby who was moaning.
Raider 1: "Come see!"
He took the baby in his arms.
Raider 2: "A baby inside this thing? But what does that mean?"
Raider 1: "I have no idea. Should we take him back to the village?"
Raider 2: "Yes. One less henchman for the Iron Skulls!"
Raider 1: "If you say so..."
The two looters finish what they have to do and one of them glances at the front of the machine. Words were marked on it but couldn't read them.
Raider 1: "What do you think is marked on these things?"
Raider 2: "No idea... Probably an Old Time language. Let's go..."
Unknowingly, it was marked on it in Terran Gothic: "Primarch XVI."
Soon after, they returned to their village.
It was a village in a large cave, in the middle of which were plantations fed by a geyser which sprang from time to time.
Residents in basic clothes, they had pale skin from living in a dark cave.
The two raiders arrived in the village which was blocked by a door making the size of the cave.
One of them knocked on the door and a hoarse voice answered him.
Doorman: "Password?"
Raider 1: "The water jet is the mother of life."
The door opened, revealing a man in his fifties.
Doorman: "You brought back a lot of things by the mother of the jets!"
Raider 1: "But also...this."
He pointed to the baby in the other looter's arms.
Porter: "Where does it come from?"
Raider 1: "We have to see the leader."
Doorman: "Very well."
The two looters entered the village and the doorman closed.
It was a fairly large village, nearly 1500 inhabitants.
Their buildings were made of pieces of patched metal or stone buildings where the miners of old legends lived.
The looters arrived in a square reinforced stone building, the chief's residence guarded by a dozen guards.
Guard 1: "The looters are back!"
The door opened and revealed a man with a large black beard.
Chief: "I see you have brought back some great items. But who is this baby? Who does it belong to?"
Raider 1: "No one..."
Chief: "Come to my house."
They put down their bags and entered.
They explained their adventure in the caves and the discovery of the capsule and the baby.
Chief: "I see... Let me see this baby..."
They took the baby in their arms and examined him. He was a young child in very good physical condition. The old man considered hundreds of possibilities.
Chief: "Here's an exceptional find... As if the mother of the jets wanted to offer us a reward. He will have a perfect place in the juvenile raiders."
Raider 1: "What are you going to call it?"
Chief: "Horus Lupercal. Horus because he comes from the caverns above. Lupercal because I sense in him a new legendary warrior..."
Raider 2: "Like the legendary Raider Hurdako Lupercal? The Raider fighting against the army of 100 Serpents?"
Chief: "Yes. (He looked at the child). Welcome to the village of the jet, Horus Lupercal."
In the passing years. The young Horus Lupercal multiplied the exploits. He mastered the Cthonic language and many dialects at the age of only 3 cycles. At 6 cycles, he mastered the art of juvenile looting and the martial art of the goddess jet.
He was now 8 cycles old and sleeping in his patched house.
Horus always had the same dream.
He was lying on the lap of a woman with blond-looking hair.
She was singing a lullaby that he didn't understand her meaning...
Woman: "Leaves from the vine… Falling so slow… Like fragile, tiny shells… Drifting in the foam… Little soldier boy… Come marching home… Brave soldier boy… Comes marching home."
Horus woke up at the end of this song and looked around.
Horus: "This dream again..."
Young Horus dressed in his raider's clothes and left the hut.
He heads outside the door with the other juvenile looters.
He was much taller than two other children, nearly 30 centimeters.
In fact, he had become the leader of the small group.
Doorman: "Good luck Horus."
Horus: "Hmm..."
The porter opened the door in front of the caves.
Horus: "Let's go!"
The group of children climbs into the cave.
Juvenile Raider 1: "Where are we going?"
Horus: "In the cavern of the Iron Skulls."
Juvenile Raider 2: "What?"
Juvenile Raider 1: "It's dangerous out there!"
Horus: "We don't have a choice. We can't find anything around the village. But with our small size... We'll know how to lose them."
They arrived at a huge cave, supported by huge iron pillars while mountains of scrap metal stretched as far as the eye could see.
Juvenile Raider 1: "Incredible..."
Juvenile Pillager 2: "We've got it for hundreds of cycles."
Horus: "Let's go..."
They descended into the cave and approached the nearest mountain of trash. They took as many materials as they could before leaving.
But as they collected the last items.
A man in patched iron armor came running, he had a symbol of gray colored skulls.
Soldier: "Hey! Miserable gnats! Come back here!"
Horus: "Run!"
The three fled pursued by the soldier. He pointed his spear and deftly threw it at one of the children. The piercing right through. The young child dies instantly.
Horus: "NOOO! Turie!"
The two children came to a dead end and the soldier approached them.
Soldier: "You won't escape me anymore... This dump belongs to us and no one has the right to steal the town of the Iron Skulls!"
Horus: "It belongs to everyone!"
Soldier: "Silence! I see more and more of your vermin! When our king discovers your hiding place, we'll make short work of you! Band of thieves! But soon you two won't be around to see it!"
Horus: "No, not that!"
Soldier: "Die!"
He threw his spear and Horus stretched out his arms trying to protect himself. Suddenly, the spear stopped in its flight.
Soldier: "What?!"
Horus: "How did I...?"
Juvenile Pillager 2: "Incredible..."
Horus brought his hand back and the spear came to his hand.
Soldier: "Thief... Thief! Give me back my spear!"
He threw himself against Horus, fist forward. Horus dodged and thrust the spear into the soldier's heart. He collapsed to the ground.
Horus: "I succeeded..."
Juvenile Raider: "But we lost...Turie..."
Both had tears in their eyes. The two left with the body towards the village.
During the following days, bad news continued to flow into the village as well as the dead.
Then one day...
The village is attacked by an armed force of the Iron Skulls, the access door was forced and the massacre began.
Horus rushed towards the village chief.
Horus: "What are we going to do?"
Leader: "Run! Run as far as you can!"
Horus: "No! I want to fight with you!"
Chief: "No... You have another mission!"
He gave a leather book.
Chief: "It's a sacred book from the legendary period! A priceless treasure that the Iron Skulls want to seize! I implore you to leave immediately... Please..."
Horus hesitated and saw the village burning while the inhabitants were massacred.
Chief: "Take this book and run away through the underground of my house. Come!"
They entered the house and the Chief pointed to a cavity behind his cupboard.
Chief: "This cave leads to another exit. I can't enter it because I'm too fat."
Guard: "The Iron Skulls are coming!"
Leader: "I'm coming! Horus... Take care of yourself and survive."
Horus (tears in his eyes): "Farewell, great leader..."
Horus entered the cave and the chief put the cupboard back in its place.
Horus could hear the chief's battle cries, his cries of pain and then agony from inside the house.
He went to the cave and climbed through the tunnel and then exited into a cave.
Horus sat down and cried, he cried for a long time to have lost everything. He lamented the cruelty of this world and the fact that the gangs were fighting each other to survive.
Then the young boy calms down before heading off into the unknown, into unexplored caves.
1 year later...
The Imperial fleet arrived on the planet and began to subjugate it.
Among the gigantic ships that hovered over the planet. One was more massive, more decorated and more armed than others. It was the Bucephelus, the Emperor's flagship.
He was accompanied by Salem.
Salem: "I feel it...I can feel its magic. One of my babies is on this planet!"
Emperor: "I too can feel a part of myself there. Let's go down..."
The Emperor uses his Warp powers, takes Salem, and the two teleport to the planet's surface.
They could see the Space Marines from the Legions scattering across the planet and entering the caves.
Salem: "My son... You will soon be with us..."
A few miles down...
Horus was drinking from a waterhole. He now had a height of one meter sixty for his 9 cycles.
He had also grown very tough in such an inhospitable environment.
He carried with him his book, the only vestige of his village.
As he descended into deep caverns. He suddenly felt presences coming from above. Presences that hurt his stomach.
Horus: "But what's going on...what's happening to me...Why do I have such a familiar feeling?"
Fearing what is happening, he decided to descend lower into the huge caverns.
A long moment passed and the presence was getting closer to him, no matter where he was going.
The fear increased and he descended more and more, running at times.
But after a while, he heard heavy footsteps approaching him.
He didn't know where they came from but were getting closer and closer.
Then at the bend of a corridor, he then fell on someone or something.
Indeed, he had in front of him a warrior wearing a strange armor measuring nearly two and a half meters. He had strange weapons on him.
In an unknown language. He shouted at the child but the latter turned and ran away.
But down the hall, he was cornered by dozens of these warriors.
Horus panicked.
He opened his hand and a ball of light materialized in his hand. He had learned during this year to have some notions of his magic. Which allowed him to survive many gangs.
Horus: "Stand back! Stand back, if you don't want to die!"
The other warriors pointed their guns at him, causing a Mexican standoff.
For a long time, the child remained like that. The two presences had approached him. Until the crowd of warriors part and reveal two people.
When the latter approached, Horus was shocked.
One was colossally tall, wearing a gigantic golden robe, possessing long black hair and a shining gaze. The other was a woman of human size, with golden hair and eyes as blue as the water from the geyser in Horus village.
Then the man spoke in a deep voice.
Man: "Lower your arm my son. I mean you no harm."
Horus: "What...Who...Who are you?"
Emperor: "I have been looking for you my son for a long time. I feel my flesh in you."
The woman began to speak.
Woman: "You won't believe me... But we are your parents."
Horus was surprised.
Horus: "No, impossible! I come...I come from ancient times! Impossible! I was discovered by my village in a...in a machine!"
The woman: "Ours... Please, my child. Be calm..."
Horus shook his head, not wanting to see them.
It was then that he heard a song, a lullaby song that he recognized perfectly.
The woman (singing): "Leaves from the vine… Falling so slow… Like fragile, tiny shells… Drifting in the foam… Little soldier boy… Come marching home… Brave soldier boy… Comes marching home."
Horus recognized this song; he saw it in his dreams. Such a touching and sweet song. A song that gave him hope.
Then out of his mouth came...
Horus: "Ma... Mama...?"
He realized his words and covered his mouth with his hands. He heard a chuckle from the woman and she began to sing again. She had crouched on the ground.
Horus then saw in him memories that he had never seen.
He saw himself immersed in water. In a hot water and lives around him capsules. But in front of him was the woman who was singing in front of him. These memories were so real and a feeling of sadness came over him.
Woman: "My baby... I used to sing this song to you when you were inside your capsule... I used to sing it to you every night..."
Horus slowly approached the woman then when he was close to her, the latter put her hand on his face.
Woman: "I've been separated from you for so long... But now..."
She hugged Horus then began to sob.
The woman: "I finally found you... Finally, after so many years..."
Horus did not understand but in the arms of the woman. He finally felt safe.
Thus Horus left the planet Cthonia which was now pacified. Salem explained to him all about his origins.
The witch had her maternal instinct which has been completely released since her reunion with her son. She took care of him but also gave him some breathing room because she didn't want to be like his father who locked him up in a tower.
Horus over the years grows and becomes stronger, brave and benevolent.
Through the fighting techniques that his father the Emperor taught him, thus learning to be respected by the XVIth Legion, his mother taught him to use magic.
Also, he learned that 19 other brothers were lost in the Galaxy and that the Emperor and his mother were trying to find them.
The day of his baptism of fire came when the planet of Reillis and its fortified capital refused to surrender to the Imperium.
Horus now had a shaved head, dressed in silver armor, with a large red cape.
His weapon was a mace with large spikes the size of his body. Despite the size and mass of this mace. He could handle it easily.
Also, her magic was far more powerful than her own mother's due to her status as a Primarch. All the offensive techniques she could teach him, the power was beyond measure.
He was on the council of war with the Emperor as well as Salem.
Horus: "...So we can finally take the city from within."
Emperor: "Very well... It's time to subjugate this city."
Salem: "Be careful my son."
Horus: "I would be mom."
They walked to a large room.
Emperor: "Watch out, my son. This will shake."
Horus: "I know!"
They teleported out of the ship to arrive on the verdant planet.
They could see the gigantic hive city coming out of the mountains and the forest. Although the silhouettes of the ships were in the sky, this stubborn city did not want to surrender in any way.
In any case, the fresh forces of the Imperial Guard were coming out of the ships landed on the planet. The Space Marines drop pods meanwhile crashed to the ground and the Luna Wolves Legion came out.
Emperor: "Forward! Towards the city!"
The Emperor and Horus rushed to the city, accompanied by the Luna Wolves Legion and hundreds of thousands of battle vehicles carrying the Imperial Guards.
Skirmishes from the city's defensive cannons began to rain down on the Imperial army. Hundreds of Imperial Guardsmen flew through the air as vehicles exploded. The Space Marines despite the explosions and wounds continued to charge.
The city soldiers, recognizable by their blue uniforms and blue war vehicles, emerged from the city and began to fight the Imperial forces.
Horus launched a large ball of energy against the cannons in front of him. These were destroyed.
The Imperial Guards began to climb the walls by various means. The ladder, seat towers, jetpack and other means. All the means were good to force the walls of the city.
But suddenly, when Horus and the Emperor were in front of the wall. They heard explosions behind them. They turned around and saw holes in the ground that Reillis' army was coming out of.
Horus: "Father! The Reillisians tricked us!"
Emperor: "Hidden dungeons. Prepare Horus!"
Reillis' soldiers began to slaughter the Imperial Guards who were surprised at this deceitful attack. The Space Marines meanwhile defended themselves as best they could.
Father and son end up surrounded by soldiers and have to fight back-to-back.
Horus: "But how many of these soldiers are there. For the love of the Twins?!"
Emperor: "Too much in a city like this... Keep fighting back."
For hours on end as the battle turns into a chaotic bloodbath, Horus and the Emperor liquidate soldiers who get too close to them. Horus was hitting several dozen soldiers with his mace with each hit when he wasn't using his magic to incapacitate the others coming behind. The Emperor on his side mowed down his opponents with his sword and used his psychic powers to repel others.
Finally, the arrival of reinforcements from the other infantry of the Imperial Guard pushed back and isolated the soldiers of the hive city while the assault on the walls gradually resumed.
Eventually, the last defensive guns were destroyed and the Imperial Guardsmen came up the ramparts and overwhelmed the defenders. Soon the city was overrun and fell.
Horus: "We succeeded... The city is taken..."
Emperor: "I am proud of you, my son."
Horus: "Thank you father..."
On the side of the Bucephelus, Salem looked with great pride at his child who had his baptism of battle.
She then took a list, namely that of the Primarchs.
Salem: "Don't worry my children... You will soon be with us..."
To be continued... Ep 8: The witch and the Wolf.