Chapter 10.2 – I Forgive You
Osiris stepped through the gateway onto the dias of Prospero. With him, hundreds of Astartes poured forth on the surface of the Sorcerer's World. Nearby, the Pyramid of Photep glowed in the setting sun's amber light.
Grabbing a Plasma Gun from a nearby Imperial Fist, Osiris fired at the vital components of the Warp Gateway. Power sparked, the violet warp energies flared for a moment, then the portal died with a mechanical whine.
"Our enemy are trapped behind us," called Osiris, "They may yet find a way here, so we must depart as swiftly as we may."
A cluster of Thousand Sons were swiftly gunned down by the enraged Death Guard and Imperial Fists, the surviving Sisters of Silence suppressing their abilities enough to get the kill shots. The World Eaters carved down any enemy that got close, fighting the urge to break from the pack.
The enemy Legion was almost entirely deployed in the Webway, and given Gateway was now disabled only those least capable remained on the world to serve as its defence.
Osiris continued to lead the Loyalists through the Prospero landscape to reach the nearest spaceport. They would need transports, lots of them, to get near 6,000 Astartes off world. Fortunately, with the March on Terra there was no shortage of such vehicles idling on the planet's surface.
"We're going to need to find a ship to target," muttered Amit as they approached the imposing features of the spaceport, "If we get aboard transports and scatter to board many ships they might pick us off one by one. I doubt your shield can expand to cover us all as we leave the atmosphere, or when we make to escape."
"You are right, the sensible option is to find a single ship and focus our attack on it," agreed Osiris, "Ideally if we can find one capable of carrying everyone that would be best. Take Torgaddon and access the noosphere to find out which vessels are currently in orbit."
"Yes, My Lord," bowed Amit, ducking away to grab his fellow commander.
Calistis Merovin, the lead Sister of Silence approached Osiris, her hands waiving in the sign language of her order.
'Lord Osiris,' she said, the Primarch reading some concern in her movements, 'We have reports that two of our Sisters are missing. There were reports of a massive surge in warp energies to the west. They were sent to investigate, but they and their Astartes guard have not returned. We can no longer raise them over vox.'
"I sense a greater warp presence approaching too," murmured Osiris, "I fear one of my wayward brothers has reached here before us."
'We will die to defend you,' signed Calistis.
"That will not be necessary," replied Osiris, shaking his head, "Magnus is beyond your powers to contain. I must face him if we have any chance of escaping his planet."
'Do you think you can beat him?' asked Calistis.
"I don't know," said Osiris, honestly, "But if I can't find some way to suppress him, none of us will be getting out alive."
The Knight-Centura bowed her head as Osiris marched off to face the source of the disturbance.
Around him Astartes filed into the spaceport, the most senior warriors providing a rearguard for any Thousand Son counter attack. The enemy seemed to have been so utterly committed to the assault on Terra that the Loyalists continued on almost completely unchallenged.
All except this.
As Osiris turned the corner to the plaza beyond, he saw the figure of the Crimson King, the bodies of the fallen warriors below. The pair of blazing yellow eyes fixated on approaching Osiris, confusion and amusement sparking across Magnus' face.
"Angron? Is that you?"
"No brother," said Osiris, "Angron is dead. He died in the Webway for your ambition and revenge. I am Osiris, the one who has returned from the dead."
"Sanguinius would have loved this!" roared the Crimson King with laughter, "In the end Horus remains dead, but Angron lives again! Oh the bitter irony."
"You had some to do with our brother's inability to be here though, didn't you?" accused Osiris, "The Great Angel died on Terra, didn't he?"
Magnus shrugged.
"He asked me to make a Primordial Essence. I succeeded. It's not my fault if it came with a personal cost to him. Unfortunate, but that's how it goes. And I'm still pulling from the powers of all of them," he replied, raising his arm to show the symbols of the Five Chaos Gods on his arm, "Do you have any idea of how powerful I am right now? I am beyond even our Father's ability to control."
"Your patrons have weakened their gifts for you though, haven't they?" asked Osiris, observing the symbols and the glowing eyes of Magnus, "I can read it in your face. You are angry they have withdrawn their power now you have served your purpose."
"What do you know of such things?!" snarled Magnus, "I had to burn the powers I possessed to create the Primordial Essence. That has left me… diminished, it is true. But I still have my bond with the Five, and I still have more than enough power to eviscerate YOU."
Magnus lazily flicked a finger, summoning a bolt of pure warp energy to spear in at Osiris. Osiris raised a hand reflexively and a blue shimmering shield appeared before the Primarch, dissipating the bolt into the ether. Magnus leaned forward with curiosity, eyeing the shield hungrily like a wolf with a slab of meat.
"Fascinating," murmured the Crimson King, "Were you always a psyker or is this a gift of your rebirth?"
"I do not know," admitted Osiris, "Maybe Angron was a psyker but his abilities were repressed by the Butcher's Nails. Perhaps it was the gift of Horus that brought me my powers. The source does not matter, only what I choose to do with it."
"How poetic," sneered Magnus.
"You could have done something great with your powers," said Osiris, "I think you wanted to, once. I think for a long time you wanted nothing more but make Father proud."
"I DID do something great!" roared Magnus, "I created the Fifth Primordial Essence! I possess the powers of Five! I eclipsed our Father in every way possible!"
"But did it make you happy?" asked Osiris.
"What?"
"Did it make you happy?" repeated Osiris, "Did killing Rogal, and Malcador, and Sanguinius and destroying Father's work, and almost killing him too. Did it make you Happy? Are you Happy now, Magnus? Did you get everything you wanted?"
"What does it matter?" said Magnus, confused.
"Because you Won. If you aren't happy, then what was the point of it all?"
"To prove I was better than Father!"
"So you must feel happy," needled Osiris, "You achieved everything you desired. You can rest here on Prospero knowing that you out did our Father. Or perhaps your victory is feeling a little hollow?"
"Absolutely not," lied Magnus.
"So you do not still feel bitter?" prodded Osiris, "You do not feel that the destruction of the Imperium, the death of so many brothers, the slaughter of so many innocents, and the banishment of Father from Terra did not bring you the satisfaction that you crave? You do not feel that ultimately, you miss the days when you were working towards something greater than yourself, for the benefit of those that called the Imperium home?"
"SILENCE!" screamed Magnus, blasting Osiris with violet lightning.
Once more, the shield absorbed the power, leaving Osiris unscathed. Magnus tried again, and again, the shield still holding strong.
"Magnus, you were hurt," said Osiris, walking forward with the shield into the lightning as Magnus cursed and swore, "You took your pain and you turned it into a weapon to hurt others. Your intentions may have been noble, but your desires were corrupted along the way."
Magnus' features began to shift as he used more and more power. His true face began to cut through, that face he had been suppressing ever since the Fifth had burst forth into the warp. Giant wings burst from his back. Horns erupted from his forehead. His form nearly doubled in size as the powers of the warp flowed through him.
"I see now that the powers of Chaos have truly corrupted your soul," said Osiris, still approaching, "You have been responsible for so much pain, so much suffering. So much anguish. And to that I have only one thing left to say to you."
Magnus bellowed as Osiris reach out to touch his brother.
Ignoring the lightning playing over his body, Osiris pulled Magnus towards him and enfolded him in a hug.
"I forgive you," he whispered.
Magnus screamed and flailed as a golden light speared out from Osiris in all directions. It pierced his daemonic form, tearing free the warp matter from reality, forcing his essence back into the immaterium. As the Crimson King continued to roar his form began to destabilize, his shape losing coherence as the warp pulled what had replaced his soul back to where it belonged.
With a loud thud, Magnus vanished from reality. Osiris brought his arms back to his sides, and gazed at the sky once more.
"See you again soon, brother."
Turning to depart, Osiris murmured, "That was lucky. Definitely won't be able to pull that trick again. Time to get out of here."
As Osiris approached the spaceport once more, Tarik and Amit ran up to greet the Primarch. Tarik had a smile from ear to ear.
"Good news," said Amit, "There is a ship in close orbit we can use to escape, and it is large enough for all of us."
"You'll never guess which…" grinned Torgaddon.
"Which?" asked Osiris.
"The Photep!" laughed Tarik, "We're going to steal the Crimson King's ship from right under his nose."
"Sorry brother," muttered Osiris, "I'll make it up to you later."
Watching from the warp, Magnus glowered as he saw the Loyalists board the Photep and seized the vessel. It began to drift away from the planet, blasting its way through what little defence remained in system before vanishing into the immaterium.
'You have to admit…' came a small voice in Magnus' head that had once been the Cycloptian King, 'This whole thing has been pretty amusing.'
"Oh shut up…" murmured Magnus to his inner voice.
Reaching out with his hand, Magnus opened a tear above the atmosphere of Prospero, completing the ritual he had begun before his banishment. Reaching down with the forces of the immaterium that permeated his very being, the Crimson King pulled the Sorcerer's Planet into the warp.
The inhabitants of the world were terrified, but Magnus knew they would adjust. With majik this abundant, those who survived would be masters of warpcraft.
He moved the planet until it rested in close orbit to Terra, the worlds of Prospero, Terra and Mars forming a triad of Daemon Worlds that would form the basis of Magnus' new Domain.
Magnus pondered on all that had transpired. His work with Horus had been exemplary, but yet had failed. However Osiris proved it was possible.
Now he had time. Time to examine what had gone wrong, and perhaps... make something better.
"Osiris..." muttered Magnus, "I'm going to bring forth nightmares beyond your greatest terrors. If father can make twenty Primarchs WITHOUT the power of the Five, I will produce an army WITH that power. I'm going to create creatures that make Astartes look like toy soldiers... One day I'll make you beg for mercy before me here on Prospero, shadow of Angron..."
