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The mood on Fenris was joyful, as per usual. The Space Wolves were having another feast, laughing and chugging mjod like no other Chapter would. Each one laughing as they told tales. They thought today, perhaps, would not be a clusterfrak.
They were wrong.
A bloodclaw burst into the hall, eyes wide with horror. "Great Wolf!" he called out, carrying a sheet of parchment. Logan stood, unimpressed.
"Pup, you'd better have a good reason for barging in," he growled. In response, the Bloodclaw raced over to him, and merely handed the parchment.
"Is this some sort of jest?" Logan asked slowly, finishing the reading of the parchment.
"N-no, sir… it's… it's straight from Terra."
Now that got everyone excited. News from Terra meant a great hunt! Then they heard a growling, and turned to Logan, who was shaking in fury.
"What do we do?" the Bloodclaw asked, concerned.
"We stop this. By any means necessary. Send the message to the other Marines, and hopefully we can stop this before it is too late."
Vulkan He'Stan read the message he had received from the Space Wolves, visibly shaking with utter fury.
An entire Segmentum. Declared Excommunicate Traitorus. With a quota of three-quarters of the worlds subjected to exterminatus.
Nocturne was included in the path. So were Chregoris, Ultramar, and Baal. The messenger was also snarling.
"What do we do, Chapter Master?" he asked.
"Tell the other Marines to prepare for war. We must stop this as soon as possible."
Magus Calgar stared at the message in shock.
"Is… is this real?" he asked, horrified.
"Yes, Chapter Master. The message has been deemed authentic," the messenger replied.
"The entire segmentum?"
"Indeed."
"We have been declared traitors… for the crime of being in the same segmentum of the Black Commissar… and using Panacea?!" Calgar was fully enraged now. "Tell the successor chapters we march on Terra! We will bring these criminals to justice!"
"COURAGE AND HONOR!"
On Baal, the Blood Angels' worst fears had become apparent- their gene flaws were now well known. But aside from that… the orders.
They knew that they would likely be purged. That, they had accepted.
But the entire segmentum?! Fully half of the First Founding chapters were stationed there, and more than half of the Foundings afterwards! And so were many of the recruiting worlds of the Imperial Guard! This… this was…
"A second Age of Apostasy falls upon us," Dante gravely intoned. "And I, for one, am not about to to allow half of the Imperium to be burned to the ground!"
"Do we march on the Protectorate?" one of the gathered Chapter Masters asked.
"...No. We… we have… we have to march on Terra. The only way out of this is to overthrow the High Lords and rescind the order, before too much damage is done." The words were like poison in his mouth.
"You speak of treason."
"We have already been declared traitors! We may as well act the part!" Dante exclaimed. "For the mere crime of Panacea usage! How many of our battle-brothers have been saved by it?! How many from the other chapters?!" There were nods, which turned into cheers.
"We march on Terra!"
"Down with the High Lords!"
"For the Emperor!"
The White Scars' chapters had heard the report as well. And, as one, they turned their focus inwards. Every one of them ordered a course set for Terra, or for the most likely muster points of the Inquisition's fleets.
The High Command of the Segmentum met with the Chapter Masters, reading the note. The Guard had not been informed of the issue until the Marines had brought it with them. They voted unanimously that, for the good of the Imperium, the High Lords must be deposed.
*****
On Titan, the Grey Knights were trapped. They had been revealed, and marked as traitors for the usage of the chaos god that, to their utter astonishment, was fully loyal to the Emperor. All they could do was desperately try to push through the conscripts thrown at them, hoping to push out and make way to Terra, so as to stop this madness.
Hundreds of conclaves of the Inquisition were called, as the news went out. The order had come from someone with Karamazov's Madness, and would normally be ignored. But this had the seal of the High Lords. Every case of the Madness suddenly went to the sixth stage, and now, there were dozens of fleets making way to carry out this madness. Many cursed Cain, but the Radicals disagreed. By all accounts, Cain the god was on their side. This was shown, especially since even Imperial Guard troops could summon the daemons of Cain, and said Daemons would not turn on them. Eventually, a consensus was reached in all of them:
The High Lords must be killed for treason. So too must all those suffering from Karamazov's madness.
The Assassinorum was already in motion. The High Lords had all but disappeared, guarded by the fools who desired this Grand Purge. They searched everywhere on Terra for them. The madness would only stop when new High Lords were elected.
The Adeptus Custodes had been shaken by the voice of The Emperor, ordering them to stop the High Lords' madness. However, they obeyed. The Ten Thousand were searching the Palace, and their interrogators were torturing the Minotaur chapter for information. So far, there had been little success.
In a secret corner of the Imperium, the High Lords scowled. Their wealth had to remain behind on Terra, after the Inquisition had relocated them, for fear of heretics. They gave little thought to the quadrillions that they had consigned to death. All that mattered to them was themselves. Humanity could burn for all they cared. Those around them all wore the same face- it was decided that only the Ordo Karamazov was pure enough to keep them safe, as this Pruge was underway. The grins, drooling, and outright dazed with pleasured looks at the thought of so many planets destroyed on the Karamazovs' faces was, however, quite terrifying.