Chapter 5 Devising Division
Chapter 5.1 The Phoenician's Mirth
"Stop", said Fulgrim holding up his hand to interrupt Captain Vitus Salicar's explanation, "You are telling me that the Warmaster, my brother Sanguinius, the Great Angel, has lost control of one of his Legions? That the Warmaster, first of us all, cannot keep his own Astartes in line?!"
The Phoenician let out a loud melodic laugh. Other members of the Emperor's Children also appeared to be suppressing laughter, but Vitus, Sejanus and Tarik were not amused. They had been welcomed aboard with much fan fair after reaching the forces of the Third Legion, Fulgrim even being more than happy to grant them an audience in person. The Phoenician was probably expecting a new assignment from the Warmaster given how close the Interex were to compliance now. The Remembrancers had been taken away to recover from the traumas of the affair, but their testimony would be called upon later if needed. However, given the nature of their news, it was turning into a public ridicule.
"My Lord, this is serious," said Sejanus earnestly, "The Sixteenth has gone rogue and is slaughtering anyone they do not consider pure enough in their loyalty to the Warmaster. All can agree this is not something the Warmaster would EVER condone, let alone order. I do not know where the Warmaster is, the last I heard he was onboard the Red Tear, but if he does remain with the forces of the Ninth he might well be being held hostage!"
"Sanguinius?... being held… hostage?"
Fulgrim let out another laugh that echoed around the bridge of The Pride of the Emperor. The very idea of a Primarch being subdued by his own warriors was the height of ridiculousness, especially to one such as the Phoenician. Many of the human crew simply shook their head in disapproval as Fulgrim wiped a tear from his eye and attempted to compose himself.
"You are… you are right, of course," he said calming himself, "My brother may find himself in trouble. We have heard about his injuries on Davin. I cannot imagine such wounds would plague him still, but perhaps it is so. We must of course aid him. To be fair, I did warn him he might struggle to keep the Cthonians in line. They are an unrefined lot after all. But to have them become vicious zealots and possibly taking him captive… My word. We have had Primarchs and their Legions be purged from history, but never before has a Primarch so utterly lost control of his warriors! This makes the previous errors of my Legion look positively minuscule. Oh how far the Great Angel has fallen."
This caused Vitus to wince but he kept his temper under control. He needed the Third, the Emperor's Children, to ride to his Lord's rescue. As cruel and demeaning they might be, he had little choice but to tolerate their mockery until action was taken. Fulgrim was a Primarch, one full of pride whose ego had been shattered but months ago. It was unsurprising he was taking the opportunity to wallow in schadenfreude.
"Then you will got to the Isstvan system," asked Vitus cautiously, trying to bring the conversation back on topic.
"If the Sixteenth have risen in rebellion and devastated the Ninth," said Fulgrim with the heir of proclaimation, "The Third shall put this rebellion down in the name of the Emperor. Since we do not know the well being of the Warmaster we shall assume he is being held on the Red Tear, possibly injured. I shall commit my best warriors to the rescue mission, and lead the advance myself. As brutal as the Lunar Wolves might be the Emperor's Children, loyal to the last, shall bring them down in the Emperor's name with no quarter. We shall cripple any Ninth vessel that they have seized, and shall board them all to put down the rabid animals of the Sixteenth that might hide within. Any ships of the Sixteenth… will not be left intact. We must make it clear to ALL the Legions what happens when you defy the will of the Emperor and the Warmaster."
Now it was Tarik and Sejanus' turn to wince. Firstly, the use of the term 'Lunar Wolves' rather than Sons of Horus was a clear slight to their Legion's renaming under the Warmaster. Secondly, the fact that Fulgrim intended to offer no quarter meant a lot of good men who had been swept up in events would be put to the sword in the Primarch's vengeance. But again, they weren't in a position to argue.
"My Lord," ventured Tarik, "Perhaps it would be wise to alert other nearby forces to the situation. It was a struggle to reach you in the warp as storms that have begun forming. In the event there are… difficulties… in subduing the Sixteenth, it would be wise to have confidence that other forces are on their way."
"You think my sons incapable of destroying your rebellious kin, Lunar Wolf?" asked Fulgrim coldly, his face a mask of ugly rage, "You think my sons not up to the task to subduing this revolt without aid from others? You think us INFERIOR To You?! You Think We Need Others To Hold Our HANDS In This MATTER?! You Think Us WEAK or DULL-WITTED?!"
Tarik took a step back in surprise, and Sejanus stepped in front of his Mournival brother in a defensive move to attract the Primarch's ire. It was clear the Primarch of the Third still felt slighted for the mistakes that took place on Murder, and having needed assistance from the Warmaster and his Legions. This needed a more delicate hand, one Sejanus knew he was well suited for.
"Of course not, My Lord," said Sejanus hesitantly, "We only have concerns that the deceptive nature of the First Captain means he might well lay traps and tricks that could allow them to escape punishment. If they should escape from a direct assault, then with others in the area able to respond we shall be capable of vanquishing them outright. We do not want them going to ground and remaining a thorn in the side of the Imperium as the Great Crusade continues."
Fulgrim paused to consider this, staring at the ceiling in deep thought. After a moment he nodded, the calm pleasant complexion returning to his features.
"Of course. We should not be hasty. The deviousness of our adversaries should not be taken lightly, and swift action must be taken lest they escape. I will send a message to my brother Ferrus to have his Legion ready to close the net if the necessity arises, and we shall move at once to ensure the traitors do not have time to leave the Isstvan system. In the event some do manage to flee, hunting them down should be trivial with my brother's aid."
"How do we know they haven't left already…" questioned Vitus, "We managed to depart and took some time getting here. If they left shortly after us they will be long gone."
Sejanus shook his head in response.
"I don't think they will have left," he mused, "There were large numbers of the Ninth fighting on the planet below. If their goal was a complete purge they will have taken the time to ensure those on deployment definitely had no survivors. They will also have taken fire damage from the surprise attack after the Ninth rallied. They won't want to divide their forces at this critical stage so they will keep the fleet together until repairs have been completed to their best of their abilities. It leaves a small window, but a notable one none the less."
"Then the sooner we act, the better," concluded Fulgrim, "Despite previous campaign losses the Third is in good condition, and given the losses recorded by the Sixteenth prior to your departure their will not outnumber us by much. They will not have a Primarch guiding their forces and so we shall hold a significant tactical advantage. They may well become overconfident in thinking they have a numeric advantage, but we shall exploit this arrogance to deliver a crushing blow. We will devastate the traitors, utterly."
Fulgrim stood from his command chair, issuing his directives to the crew below. His First Captain, Julius Kaesoron, made busy passing the orders down the chain of command, working with the other commanders as how best to execute the Primarch's orders.
"Send the word out to all ships in the fleet!" proclaimed Fulgrim, "Have all my sons make ready for War. Have all vessels load all batteries and prime shields for ship to ship combat! This will be a fight of the most challenging we have ever faced. Never before has the Imperium's might come to blows with itself on such a scale! However! We shall prevail, for we are the Third, The Emperor's Children, and our perfection is above repute! We shall meet our fellow Legion in combat, and we shall prove to them that defying the Emperor is the LAST THING they will EVER DO!"
