Authors Note: Just published the second chapter on reddit so posting it here as well. I know it may seem fast, but I had posted the first chapter much earlier, I was simply waiting for the 12 hour waiting period to post here lol XD
For those who may be confused, in OG lore it explicitly said that there was nothing left of Horus' soul after the Emperor killed him, however in the more recent HH lore, it omits that detail. So theoretically Horus could come back just like the other Daemon Primarchs, and that is what I'm running with, with a slight twist. Plus a little reference to our favorite religious zealot, under a new name (You'll have to wait and see..)
Anyway, lets get into the fic!
More than 10,000 years later…
She doesn't know how long it was, time moves differently in the Warp after all. The last thing she remembers before her soul was reconstituted in the Materium was her Father striking her down. After that it gets… fuzzy…
"Aw… our savior has finally returned to the material plane, to end this rotting Imperium once and for all…" she vaguely heard from one of the robed figures standing around her. She did not know these people, nor did she know where or even when she was, but Hathor knew two things.
1. That voice possessed a mark of Chaos.
2. She needed to get out of here.
She looked at her surroundings. She appeared to be strapped to some kind of altar. The amount of blood that permeated the room made her sick to her stomach. And whoever brought her back to the Materium was human, or at least seemed to be.
Then she looked at herself. Her body was much like it was when she fought her Father aboard the Vengeful Spirit. Good… that would serve her well.
"Where am I?" She rasped… Her voice sounded much rougher than she expected, like she hadn't spoken for millennia.
"Sicarius, my lady…" That name wasn't familiar to her, but as her senses fully returned, it became clear where she was… It seemed different, stronger, but the psychic screams were all but telling.
"The Eye?"
"Yes, my lady"
Ah… that posed a challenge, but it only drove her will to escape even higher. She knew that if she remained in the Eye for too long, the voices would return… She was surprised they hadn't already.
"Get me out of this infernal contraption" She barked, imitating her diction from the latter days of her crusade.
"At once my lady" one of the robed figures responded, seemingly stumbling over their words.
"Your equipment is laid out for you, The Chosen wishes to to see you post haste." the robed figure to the right of her said with great reverence. Likely the leader, her tactical mind already noting individuals of importance.
The first restraint popped open…
She looked to her left, a heavily modified, black suit of Terminator armor was sitting, disassembled, without any heraldry to speak of, alongside a standard black body glove. It reminded her of her own armor, in some sick, twisted way. But she banished those thoughts from her mind… She needed to focus on escaping from this place first.
The second restraint popped open…
Her arms are now free… doing small movements at first seemed lumbering, however she quickly regained some of the dexterity she had.
"The Chosen?" she probed.
"Aw yes… Much has changed since your time. The Chosen is your sibling, Aurelia. She has been recognized by The Four to act as a herald of their collective will…" the robed figure responded with a religious zeal that sickened her. So Aurelia is responsible for her sudden reappearance in the Materium.
The third restraint popped open…
Her plan was progressing well. These cultists didn't suspect any malcontent… That would make the next part easy.
A platsteel door opens behind the leader, and a marine walks in. They are adorned with skull heraldry, and possess a blood red and black color scheme painted throughout their armor… A Word Bearer, she assumed.
"Was the ritual a success?" the marine barked at the robed figure. A sense of authority permeating their tone.
"Yes Father… She appears to be cognizant, shall we send word to the Chosen?" the robed figured responded, attempting to please the marine. Father? It seemed this marine is a chaplain. She remembered that Aurelia organized her legion like old-terran religions, with the chaplain being an important role among their ranks.
"That won't be necessary, I will carry the message myself." The chaplain responded, with seeming reverence for their Primarch, and disgust at the lowly cultist who dared to wish to speak to their Mother.
She hoped they would leave soon, their presence will make the next step more complicated… Until an idea came to her mind.
"Marine…" She flatly states. Flexing some of her psychic might will help with getting the marine to do what she wants.
"Yes, Lady Lupercal?" they quickly respond, any authority they previously showed gone in the face of the psychic wave of a Primarch.
"Remove these restraints, this servant appears to have forgotten their place" the robed figure which had removed her previous restraints, who had been staring at the marine since they entered, began to panic.
"My grandest apologies my lady, I will have the last one open in…" Their voice is cut off as a mace swing that could be heard throughout the room. A corpse flies into the wall with a gory splat.
"My apologies, Lady Lupercal. I would've thought that I wouldn't need to educate these followers about how to act in the presence of a Primarch, but it appears I was mistaken." the marine responds, venom dripping from their gravelly vox communicator.
The final restraint popped open…
Hathor stood up on her own two feet… it feels strange. Her body feels slow, lethargic even.
"Your armor, Lady Lupercal" the marine interrupts her thoughts.
"Aw yes… assist me marine, I'm not fully accustomed to my new form as of yet" she responds. While its true that she wasn't 100% as of yet; The abilities of a Primarch, even at suboptimal capability, long surpasses a marine's individual prowess.
The black body glove slips on like any other, like she had done it a million times. She was thankful that she had some assistance in putting on the Terminator armor however, even if she was to end the marine's life in short order, she can be thankful that her ruse continued to work.
"Shall we interface the onboard battle computer Lady Lupercal? If so, I can call a Mechanicus…"
"That won't be necessary" She interrupts, one extra body, especially a Mechanicus, would overcomplicate her plan.
Her new armor is on now, it feels slightly heavier, more cumbersome than her old armor, but that is unimportant. As the marine began attaching the lightning claw, Hathor spotted the mace the marine was holding. While not as large as Worldbreaker, it would serve her well enough.
"Marine… your weapon… give it to me" She said, internally hoping the marine would simply follow her instructions faithfully.
"Lady Lupercal?" the marine had just finished installing the lightning claw when they heard the demand from the Primarch.
"I do not understand. Why would you…" their dissenting voice is cutoff as a lightning claw cleaves their head in two.
Now it was time to put her plan into action. First was to eliminate all witnesses, and that is exactly what she did.
With frightening speed and dexterity, the Primarch of the Luna Wolves, former Warmaster of the Imperium, cleaved through the cultists in front of her with the ease of a dancer. Once they were all dead, she now moved on to stage two. Secure an escape craft.
It took some time, and lots of bodies, but she eventually found her way to a flight pad where several small transport shuttles, all branded with the mark of Chaos, were present. As Hathor began to board the transport, she spotted several Word Bearer marines that began to swarm toward the platform. She needed to leave… And she could not hold for any interruption. She spotted several large canisters of Promethium, an excellent cover. She picked up the bolter from one of the downed marines that had been guarding the transport, took aim at the canister, and fired…
A massive explosion rocked the entrance way, but the Primarch didn't give it much thought.
She needed to get out of here…