RWBY 40k fanfiction – Salem, mistress of Inquisition.

Ep 17 : The Corrupted Legion.

840.M31.

Magnus finally met his mother Salem in person as well as his father the Emperor of Mankind.

They were in Tizca, the city of Prospero. Received by the priests of the Six Cults.

Each had its symbols.

The first cult is that of the Corvidae, the cult of precognition.

The second was that of Pyrae, wielding the pyromancy of the Warp.

The third was the Pavoni, the cult of manipulation of the flesh.

The Athanaean cult were the telepaths.

Raptora's cult was telekinesis.

Finally, the cult of Aquilae was the material cult led directly by Magnus.

Salem: "So this is your city? It's splendid."

Magnus: "I know mother..."

Emperor: "My son, what is that tree on the horizon?"

Magnus: "It's Prospero's greatest hope. The Holy Tree of Darkness. The thing that helps fight the warp."

Emperor: "Hm... I see."

The Emperor said nothing but Magnus felt deep within him a lot of mistrust and disapproval.

They arrived at the main square of Tizca and met the various members of the Six Cults of Prospero. They bowed low before the Emperor.

Anathanaean member: "Behold the Emperor of Mankind. What an honor to see the Ipsissimus in person."

Emperor: "It's an honor for me..."

Salem watched the group discussing this and that. But saw that among them, a hooded man was watching the scene from a distance.

But suddenly, he approached her before stopping a meter away from her.

Salem observed that his hands were pale as a corpse, that black veins were sticking out and that white locks were coming out of his hood.

Everyone stopped talking to watch the scene in amazement.

He spoke in a mournful, croaking voice.

Man: "Witch of Terra, you are more radiant than I have been described to me. Allow me to shake your hand in nobility."

He held out his under Salem's worried eyes.

His pale hands, covered in veins of black blood and his long black fingernails were right in front of her.

She recoiled in fright and stammered.

Salem: "No thank you... no way..."

He lowered his hand.

Magnus: "Toror. Don't be so disrespectful to the Witch of Terra."

Man: "Please excuse me."

He walked away from Salem, under the dumbfounded eyes of the witnesses.

After a few more exchanges, the group decided to leave for the outside of the central city. The square in front of the grand canal of Tizca.

Magnus: "Are you okay mother?"

Salem: "It's nothing..."

Emperor: "This is your legion."

The phalanxes of the XVth Legion are right in front of them.

The Thousand Sons numbered nearly ten thousand, recognizable by their representative red armours.

Magnus: "Thank you Father... Know that I will lead these soldiers into the true path of knowledge and magic."

Salem: "I'm waiting to see what you have to offer. I've already taught them a lot of things. It's up to you to do the rest..."

Emperor: "Know Magnus that I will leave tomorrow."

Magnus: "Really?"

Emperor: "Your brothers need me. Your mother will take care of the rest for your Legion."

Magnus: "Hm... okay..."


Thus, the Emperor left the next day with his fleet. Leaving only the Salem expeditionary fleet and that of the XV Legion.

Both were in the pyramid of Magnus, having an impregnable view on the rest of the city but especially on the horizon, on the side of the sea, the tree of darkness was proudly enthroned there.

The duo were at a dinner party but Magnus was surprised at Salem's words.

Magnus: "What are you saying? Corruption in my legion?"

Salem: "Yes, an intelligible but very present evil. The same corruption that affects the fanatics of darkness and this man named Toror."

Magnus: "I still don't understand why your concern even after all these conversations. Then Toror is perhaps the most influential yet respectful preacher of all."

Salem: "You know. Among all my sons, everything is without a doubt who has inherited the most from me."

Magnus: "That is to say?"

Salem: "My magic in its entirety but also my immortality in its full substance. Ferrus Manus and Vulkan meanwhile inherited more from your father the Emperor. It's not for nothing that Vulkan is so strong while Ferrus Manus is one of the most enduring."

Magnus: "Hmm..."

Salem: "Certainly, this has its advantages. But we must not forget the problems it brings. In particular the danger that all magicians from my planet run: darkness."

Magnus: "The Grimms you mean?"

Salem: "They are only the embodiment. Magic at its deepest foundation is dark."

Magnus: "But why?"

Salem: "In the old legends of Remnant. There were two gods. One was of light and the other of darkness. One gave life to the planet while the other gave magic to give protection to humans."

Magnus: "I see..."

Salem: "But the use of magic had to be done with caution. Indeed, some could not control the terrifying forces within them, and they were consumed. Some bore the characteristics of the fanatics of your city."

Magnus: "And?"

Salem: "Their wills were then only destruction because the nature of darkness was now part of their soul. How much violence and carnage resulted from it? I have no idea."

Magnus: "Oh..."

Salem: "Others threw themselves in desperation into the lakes of grimm to find their death. If it worked for the majority, others emerged, become monstrous, full of hatred towards life itself."

Magnus: "Then What do you think then of fanatics under these conditions?"

Salem: "I don't think they're not full of hatred towards life. I didn't feel any of that in Toror.

But their desire for destruction is somewhere else and I think it's warp."

Magnus: "That is to say?"

Salem: "Most of the inhabitants of Tizca are Psykers. Their spirits have attracted the Psychneuein, insects of the warp. This fear towards the warp would very well be able to turn into hatred. A hatred that would devastate everything."

Magnus: "So... which means that the fanatics of darkness would go after the mages of the city?"

Salem: "Yes. Temper their ardor because when a convert from darkness has an idea in mind: They always end up trying to apply it in reality. Beware of those who dare to oppose them because converts to darkness have a mood...for revenge."

Magnus: "I see..."

There was silence in the room for a moment.

Salem: "One last thing Magnus. Where does a tree fall?"

Magnus: "To the ground?"

Salem: "In the side towards it leans. Watch your inclinations because they will betray you at the slightest opportunity."

Magnus: "..."


The next day, on the flagship of the XVth Legion.

Salem took him to the depths of the apparatus.

Salem: "It's here..."

They arrived in a large dark room, filled with stasis capsules extending for tens of meters and several lines. Each of these capsules contained a Thousand Son which was more or less corrupted. But the most serious cases are right in front them: Some had an Ursa mouth instead of a normal mouth. Others had claws instead of hands. Still others had huge goat horns.

Magnus was shocked and surprised at the state of his sons.

Salem: "These are the most serious cases. Those who didn't could not assimilate the Grimm's spirit of destruction and were consumed in part. But we can still save them."

Magnus: "And what if they get consumed entirely?"

Salem: "It's obvious. They are nothing more than ferocious and destructive beasts. Your sons have been forced to execute them."

Magnus remained silent in the face of this terrible truth.

They continued to wander through the halls of stasis.

The Space Marines inside simply looked like the other fanatics.

Salem: "Fortunately these serious mutations only concern a minority. The rest were able to resist the temptation, but for how much longer?"

Magnus: "And the volunteers?"

Salem: "What do you mean?"

Magnus: "Those who willingly embraced the darkness?"

Salem was silent for a moment.

Salem: "They're not here. They're in the black phalanx."

Magnus: "What? Where are they?"

Salem: "In a small transport vessel fitted out for them, the exterior of which is like the rest of the fleet so that they are well hidden."

Magnus: "What did they do to get separated from the legion?"

Salem: "They may have a similar appearance to the Corrupted Remnants. There remain subtleties that set them apart from the rest."

Magnus: "What kind of subtlety?"

Salem: "They can mutate at will. Some sport wings to fly. Others have claws to kick instead of power fists.

They also possess a power of creation. They forge Grimm weapons that allow them to curse, infect or permanently injure an opponent. They make shields and armor from their own bones. Even guns are not impossible to craft for them. I've seen bolters firing dark projectiles.

But the most terrifying aspect is their magic."

Magnus: "Dark magic?"

Salem: "Yes, destructive magic on top of the basic magic they are quick to unleash. They curse, corrupt, doom, make weak and sick with this. Not to mention the fact that they extract souls from their victims for devour, like real Grimms."

Magnus: "Oh..."

Salem: "It's not over. On the battlefield, they give free rein to their cruelty towards the military as well as the civilians. When it was on planets on which a Xenocide was planned, it was nothing. But when it comes to conquering a human world by force...we avoid doing that."

Magnus: "But when does that happen?"

Salem: "They are only deployed in campaigns against Xenos and Daemons, in deployments that require quick and relentless intervention. Thanks to them, many campaigns were won."

Magnus: "I'm going to have to watch them?"

Salem: "You understood perfectly. A word of advice, deploy against daemons first."

Magnus: "Why?"

Salem: "According to the centurion of the dark phalanx, Marteus Olon. The soul of chaos tastes better than all the rest. They are sated for a whole year."

Magnus: "I see..."

Salem: "Enough talk. Let's try to find a way to cure your sons of this affliction."

Magnus: "Well..."


Several years later...

Magnus was in command of the XV Legion alone.

His mother had gone with the Emperor to find the other Primarchs.

Sanguinius, Lion El'Jonson and Perturabo had already joined the Great Crusade.

But Magnus didn't have time to meet them and discover them.

It took him a long time to find a magical cure to reverse the Grimm's corruption, not without a great price with the Magic of Light.

The Thousand Sons who suffered the most from this corruption were granted the exact opposite: immortality.

They could no longer die, even if their other brothers they cared most about died either of old age after centuries or in the battlefield. Magnus was sad to see that unlike him, this immortality was a curse for these space marines there. They are condemned to serve the XVth Legion forever until the end of time, even to fight alone for Humanity in case the Legion would disappear, even when the Space Marine order would disappear.

He is on the Burning Crusade against the Ork Empire of the Iron Hammers.

A powerful Ork Empire that recently made a WAAAAGH against the Astralis system, a human star system of 8 planets belonging to a fragile empire.

They begged the help of the Imperium against these monsters in exchange for their unconditional submission.

Magnus was in his ship with his Thousand Sons, ready to land on the planet Ostonver, a buffer planet on the border of the Astralis Empire.

Magnus: "Time to go. Are the teleport spells ready?"

Chapter Master: "Yes, father."

He went down to a large room where his personal guard was waiting for him.

A huge hexagon on the ground drawn with a magical material surrounded the guard.

Magnus moved into the teleportation circle.

Magnus: "Let the Burning Crusade begin!"

Thus, the magic circles were activated. Magnus and his sons disappeared before reappearing on the illuminated planet under a big red sun, a white sky but whose clouds testify to a breathable atmosphere.

Magnus saw across the plain the rest of the legion appear behind him, with equipment in the same gigantic teleportation circles.

The whole legion finally arrived, the phalanxes of Space Marines stretching on either side of Magnus.

He saw in the distance immense smoke and flames as well as explosions. He could see Orks and humans fighting fiercely.

Magnus: "Time to go..."

[Theme : Wow Burning Crusade Main Theme].

The Orks then saw the Legion of Space Marines.

Ork: "Boyz! We 'ave humies to smak!"

Other Ork: "Let's slaughter those weird humies!"

A large group of Orks accompanied by a tide of Gretchins delighted to see new soldiers to kill and steal.

Magnus: "On the charge!"

The Space Marines screamed before running while others began to fly telekinetically. The Phalanges formed into a large triangle whose apex was Magnus himself.

The Orks charged in a gigantic mass against the Thousand Sons.

Those who carry their spears and shields pointed them at their enemies.

They ran so fast they exceeded the speed of sound, unleashing a gigantic magical shock wave ready to drive down the slow but equally fierce Ork charge, naïve beasts believing they could match the Legion.

Eventually, the two armies meet.

But the XVth Legion swept away the charge of the Orks.

Tens of thousands of Orks had already been torn to pieces by the Legion's charge.

But faced with the increasingly fierce resistance of the Ork army which was always turning towards them.

Then the Thousand Sons used their magic.

Their beams of light were destroying entire lines of Orks. The elements they unleashed mowed down their enemies.

But above all, their weapons enchanted by their alchemy cut their enemies like butter, both bladed weapons and the hypersonic bullets of Bolters.

But the one that stood out the most was Magnus, every hit with his spear against several Orks, every magic attack he landed meant certain death for these ferocious creatures.

For long hours, the fights lasted and the Orks retreated very slowly because of their bloodthirsty and diehard nature. But every meter lost was impossible to recover.

The fight remained fierce and the Legion could see on the horizon the soldiers of the Empire of Astralis using their cheap bolters against the Orks and other archaic cannons against the Orks.

But as Magnus caught sight of the Warboss, he sensed a dark presence in the sky.

He looked up and saw black Droppods falling from the sky.

They crashed in the middle of the Ork tide.

[End of the theme].

For a few moments, the cacophony stopped everyone was staring at these Pods which continued to fall from the sky, from a simple transport vessel.

The doors opened and revealed Space Marines wearing armor as black as the Grimm substance but some parts like the top of the breastplate, some additional skin were bones.

They carried weapons, shields and bolters made from bone and metal.

The Orks stood there watching them but eventually they pulled themselves together and shouted their WAAAGH.

But then the slaughter began.

These Space Marines launched black flame attacks that consumed the Orks to ashes. Curses they cast made the Orks weak and slow.

Other Orks were corrupted, their skin turning black before dissolving.

But above all, these Space Marines fought with a brutality and cruelty among the most refined of the Legions until then.

They broke the bones of the Orks with their hands, crushed them with their feet. Nobility means nothing to them.

This cruelty provoked the rage of the Orks who launched themselves against them, allowing the other two armies to fight against the rest of the Ork army.

Magnus walked towards the Warboss and before he could say anything: Magnus cut off his head.

This death seen by the Orks caused discord throughout the Orks. The Nobz were trying to regain control of their army but their unit quickly fell apart.

Eventually, after minutes, the entire Ork army was destroyed as the remaining Gretchins and Snotlings fled in all directions.

Magnus: "It's over..."

He watched the Dark Phalanx with their leader. Marteus Olon, recognizable by his four-cornered helmet, had taken it off to reveal his face, lined with black veins and skin as pale as the moons.

Marteus Olon: "This soul full of rage is...exquisite."

He took the head of a Nobz before eating part of its face.

The other members of the Black Phalanx joined in, removing their helmets before eating bits of Ork flesh.

Magnus was horrified and a thought arose.

Magnus: "What did I do on Prospero?"

He felt for the first-time regrets in front of this spectacle of a great distress.

The Burning Crusade of Astralis lasted another 5 years and the Empire of the Iron Hammers was purged. After which, Astralis submits to the Imperium but more particularly to Magnus.

Astralis Prime inaugurated the first pyramid of the Six Cults and the first recruiting academy of the Thousand Sons.


To be continued... Sanguinius and the Dark Rage.

Sanguinius was saved by the Emperor and Salem. But Salem felt an intense rage within him and told him of the catastrophic state of the IX Legion, about to be purged due to its dangerousness.