Chapter 8: Index Astarters: Space Wolves

Index Astartes: Space Wolves. From executioners to heroes.

When the Astartes legions were created by the Emperor of Mankind, the sixth legion was meant to be his executioners, the warriors who would carry the Emperor's sacred judgment to his enemies. When Leman Russ was found, he continued with this mission and carried the mantle of being his father's personal executioner.

That changed with the heresy. The actions of the primarch and the legion during the heresy made Russ rethink his role and that of his sons in the imperium. Since then, the Sixth Legion has left behind the mantle of executioners and decided to become the heroes and protectors that humanity deserves.

-Origins:

During the final years of the unification wars, the Emperor focused all his efforts on the primarch project, in which he would create the greatest generals humanity had ever seen. But this project did not go unnoticed by the hideous creatures known as the Chaos Gods, who, fearing the Emperor's creations, used their powers to send the Primarchs as infants across the galaxy.

This was a major blow to the Emperor's plans for humanity, but he wouldn't let it stop his plans for the rise of mankind, and from the genetic material of the Primarchs that he still had saved, the Emperor began the creation of 20 legions of transhuman warriors. The legiones astarters.

However, there was a group of three particular legions that stood apart from the rest. While their sisters were recruited and saw battle in the final years of the unification wars and in the battle for the solar system, these three legions were built in secret with the Emperor closely monitoring the whole process. Everything indicates that the master of humanity created these legions to fulfill specific functions in the grand plan of humanity's ascension, but exactly what those functions were is a mystery to all. This group of legions was known as the trefoil, and was made up of the XVIII, XX and, the legion of today's entry, the VI legion.

The first legionnaires of the Sixth Legion didn't come from a specific region, but from the most diverse environments and locations all over terra, the only thing that all these individuals had in common was that they were all savages and their nature was extremely violent. After becoming astarters, these individuals underwent a rigorous indoctrination process that maintained their violence and ferocity, but made them develop an unquestioning loyalty to the Emperor of mankind.

The Sixth Legion continued to form in the shadows as the war for the solar system ended and the Great Crusade entered its first years. It wasn't until a decade after the start of the Great Crusade that the Emperor finally "unleashed" the Sixth Legion against its enemies, its first victim being the world of Delsvaan.

The rulers of this world refused to join the imperium, and in response the master of humanity sent the sixth legion. Within a couple of hours the armies of Delsvaan were devastated by the legionnaires of the sixth legion, who proceeded to massacre the city of Masaanore-Core. The massacre of the city and its inhabitants was so brutal that the planet finally decided to surrender to the imperium.

From orbit, the Emperor was pleased with the legion's performance, they had perfectly fulfilled their purpose. They were the Emperor's axe, his executioners.

Since then, the Sixth Legion has built up a bloody and violent reputation. Brutally eliminating rival human empires or xenos species that got in the way of the great crusade. The legion's reputation only got worse as the years went by. Several other legions disliked the Sixth's excessive brutality, and their ferocity often caused them to kill deadly allies of the imperial army, which in response made many commanders look down on the legion. But this mattered little to the legionnaires of the Sixth, they were more than satisfied with the bloodshed. It was during this period that the legion earned the nickname "The Rout".

The legion's situation continued for several more decades in which they mercilessly eliminated the Emperor's enemies. Until news broke that a new Primarch had been found, said Primarch being their genetic father, Leman Russ.

-The Wolf King:

The world of Fenris is an ice death world located in the north of the solar segmentum, right on the borders of the segmentum.

It is one of the deadliest worlds humanity has ever encountered. During certain periods of the year the world reaches temperatures so low that the oceans themselves freeze, while at other times the ground opens up and rivers of lava form across the planet, changing the entire geography of the world.

Because of this natural violence, the world's wildlife has adapted and become as lethal as the world itself. Krakens that reach kilometers in length swim the seas, while on land snow trolls and giant mammoths roam the land masses. However, the deadliest predator in the world are the Fenrisian wolves, beasts bigger than grown men and capable of withstanding bolter fire and devastating entire squads of trained hunters.

The humans who call this world home are among the toughest humanity has ever seen. Divided into several clans, the Fenrisians constantly have to deal with the planet's lethal beasts and deadly climates.

It was on this world that one day the pod with the number VI landed on its surface and changed the fate of the world.

The pod containing the Primarch landed far from civilization, in a territory that few humans dared to explore due to the large number of beasts that hunted there. The impact of the pod drove away several nearby creatures, but a She-wolf walking nearby was not intimidated by the impact and approached the gestation pod. Inside the pod, she found the newborn Primarch. The she-wolf then decided to adopt the child as her own and raised it with her other pups.

At first the other wolves in the herd didn't trust the Primarch, but as time went by the Emperor's son showed his true capabilities as a hunter and the other wolves accepted him as one of their own.

For several years, the Primarch lived with this group of wolves, whom he considered his family. As a young adult, the Primarch helped his brothers hunt for food or fight for territory against other beasts.

However, this peace didn't last forever, and one fateful day a group of human hunters led by the human king known as Elnarg attacked his pack and killed the primarch's adoptive mother and one of his wolf brothers. The king then fled the scene carrying the bodies of the wolves he had killed.

With the death of the she-wolf, the pack was left without an Alpha to follow and the Primarch took over as Alpha of the group. Furious at his mother's death, the sixth Primarch began to hunt down his adoptive mother's killer. For days the wolves searched for the hunters, until they finally found the king.

Elnarg was leading his army against an army from a rival clan in a war so bloody that the snow had turned red from the conflict. The Primarch spotted the king wearing the skins of his mother and brother as cloaks, and in a rage he and his tribe attacked the king's army.

Both armies watched in terror as the wolves descended from the hill and began slaughtering soldiers, however it didn't take long for the rival army to realize that the wolves were only attacking Elnarg's men, and seeing this as a divine sign the army fought back with renewed determination.

As his men died around him, Elnarg found himself face to face with the vengeful sixth Primarch. Even though he was a strong man armed with a mighty greatsword that had ended the lives of hundreds of beasts over the years, Elnarg was unable to stand against the fury of the Primarch who tore the man to pieces.

Thengir walked hurriedly among his men. Behind him, a priest did his best to keep up with his king's euphoric footsteps. Most of his soldiers didn't understand why their king was in such a hurry, they hadn't seen what Thengir had seen.

After a few more moments of careful steps, Thengir finally found what he was looking for. A few meters away was a huge man sitting on the remains of what he assumed was Elnarg, and around him were the wolves that had suddenly appeared in the battle. Both Thengir and the priest were paralyzed by this scene, both out of fear and because they felt the power that this man emanated, this individual was undoubtedly a demi-god who had decided to help the people of Russ.

After observing the man for a while, Thengir came back to reality when he noticed a large wound on the man's abdomen. From afar, Thengir had seen the man's fight against Elnarg, and he had seen how the latter had made a large gash in his abdomen. A normal man would have been killed on the spot, but the demi-god seemed unaffected. But Thengir wouldn't let him get such a wound.

The king of the Russ ordered the priest to tend to the man's wound. The priest advanced carefully towards the primarch, the wolves returned to the man in response, but the sixth primarch calmed them down and let the priest continue and treat his wound.

After killing his adoptive mother's murderer, the Primarch was contacted by the enemy army of Elnarg, more specifically their leader Thengir, and asked for the sixth Primarch to accompany them back to their village to treat his wound. Seeing such creatures similar to him and friendly, the Primarch decided to accompany the group.

There in the village, while his wounds were being treated, the Primarch learned about the tribe's culture and realized that he was not only a wolf, but also a human, and even something more.

When his wounds finally healed, the Primarch decided to remain in the village and learn more about Fenris' culture. Thengir agreed with the sixth's decision and decided to adopt the boy as his own son.

Thengir named him Leman Russ (or Leman of the Russ, in a more literal translation) and taught the boy about the culture of the Fenris people and how to use weapons. The Primarch learned everything he was taught at breakneck speed, and along with his incredible hunting and fighting skills, it didn't take long for the rest of the village to accept Leman and the other wolves in his pack as one of their own.

The addition of Leman and the wolves to the tribe meant that it began to expand rapidly. Leman proved to be a great general and warrior who could defeat any enemy Russ army or beast he faced. The Russ quickly grew as a tribe and their zone of influence expanded over almost the entire region. When Thengir succumbed to age, there was no need to discuss his successor, and Leman became the tribe's new king. Because of his relationship with wolves and animalistic appearance, it didn't take long for Leman to earn the nickname "wolf king".

A few years after becoming king, during a great feast an old man wearing a large cloak approached Leman and asked the wolf king to pledge allegiance to him. Leman initially refused and ordered the old man to get out of his way, but the old man didn't budge. Annoyed at such audacity, Leman challenged the old man to a fight, whoever lost would have to pledge loyalty to the winner. The old man accepted and they both prepared for the fight.

It was at that moment that the old man took off his cloak, and as soon as the cloak was taken off, a figure more than three meters tall, muscular and exuding a golden aura appeared in the old man's place. Leman wasn't intimidated by the figure; on the contrary, it was proof to him that the old man was a witch hiding behind his dirty spells. The wolf king then advanced against the figure and threw a shower of punches at it, but these punches did no damage to the golden giant's body. The latter then threw a powerful punch that shook the entire great hall and knocked out the King of the Russ in one fell swoop.

Leman woke up hours after the fight. When he opened his eyes, he found the giant now wearing golden armor standing over him. Leman stared at the man for a few seconds before starting to laugh out loud. Finally realizing that this figure was none other than his father, Leman got up only to get down on his knees and pray allegiance to his father. The Emperor of mankind then greeted his son and began to explain his grand plan to uplift mankind through the Great Crusade.

Russ was inspired by such a plan, and the wolf king didn't think twice about joining the great crusade.

-The Great Crusade:

"We are the wolves of the imperium! The wolves of the Allfather!"

~Extracted from Russ's speech on becoming legion master of his legion.

For a couple of weeks the Emperor educated Leman about the workings of the imperium and its history, while also making him learn Gothic, all with the intention of preparing Leman to lead his legion. During this time the sixth primarch met his until now only brother, Horus Lupercal, and even after a tense first meeting the two brothers developed a strong friendship.

When Russ finally met up with his sons, it didn't take him long to reform the legion to accommodate his preferences. The legion's apothecaries were indoctrinated into Fenris' spiritual practices in the same way that Fenris' priests are. Several of the warriors who fought alongside Russ applied to become astarters. At first it was believed that they wouldn't be able to become legionnaires as they were too old for their bodies to accept the legion's gene-seed, but to the surprise of most, these warriors were able to become legionnaires without further complications.

Leman decided to name his legion "Vlka Fenryka", which in a direct translation of the language spoken in Fenris, Juvjk, translates to "Wolves of Fenris". However, due to a translation error, the name was translated as "Space Wolves", which is still the most common name used to refer to Russ's sons.

After reforming the legion, Leman was quick to officially join the great crusade. The veterans of Fenris quickly proved their worth, showing their experience and skills that perfectly complemented the tactics already used by the Sixth Legion. The Sixth Legion's victories began to increase at astonishing speeds while its size grew at an equal pace.

When Russ took control of the legion, several commanders hoped that the brutality of the Sixth Legion would diminish now that it was under the command of his biological father. However, the legion's brutality only decreased slightly now that Leman was in charge, as Leman saw no problem with his sons' brutality and the only thing that stood out was that attacking allies became explicitly forbidden.

It was during this period that the Sixth Legion took part in several important campaigns in imperial history. We can highlight the extermination of the Noman xenos, a group of xenos who had enslaved several human populations, and who contained an ancient STC containing the necessary information for a new type of tank. The mechanicum was so pleased with this STC that he named the tank Leman Russ in honor of the sixth primarch.

Another notable campaign was Wheel of Fire, in which Horus, Leman and the newly found Ferrus manus led their legions against a massive ork Waaagh that was located in the Wheel of Fire sector. More than a third of the Sixth Legion fell in battle in that campaign, but the sacrifice was worth it as the largest Waaagh outside of Ullanor was completely wiped out.

Being the second Primarch found, Leman saw the rediscovery of all his brothers with the exception of Horus, in several of these cases Leman formed strong friendships with these brothers, as is the case with Ferrus and =][= REDACTED =][=. Probably the most peculiar of Wolf's friendships was with the Primarch of the First Legion, Lion El Jonson.

In the case of Lion and Russ, the rivalry between the two primarchs had always existed because both had similar origins and both were the primarchs of the main legions competing for the title of Emperor's executioner. However, this rivalry reached a new level in the Dulan campaign, where the primarch of the first legion assassinated the enemy leader who had previously insulted Russ. Angry that Lion had killed his prey, Russ insulted his brother and after an acid exchange of words, both Primarchs began to face each other with a clean fist. The fight went on for a whole day and night until the Wolf King realized how stupid the situation was and started laughing out loud, Lion took advantage of the situation and landed a strong blow on Russ that knocked him out, and then left the planet. This event caused the rivalry between the two legions to grow even more, but it also caused both primarchs and legions to develop a form of friendship that would last until the end of the great crusade.

But unlike Horus, Leman had strong confrontations with some of his brothers, the most notable case being his relationship with Magnus the Red.

The enmity between Leman and Magnus is caused from a cultural and philosophical point of view. On the one hand, Fenris is a planet that has problems with psykers, as its inhabitants see them as witches and dangerous beings, yet they use psykers in the form of Rune priests. This hypocrisy is due to the fact that the inhabitants of Fenris believe that the powers of Rune priests come from the fact that they are in communion with the spirit of the planet that gives them power, and this makes them safer than psykers who draw their powers directly from the warp. Prospero, on the other hand, is a planet where its inhabitants are proud to be psykers and the search for lost knowledge is something its people are dedicated to.

These two philosophies clashed in the conquest of Ark Reach Secundus, where the sixth, fifteenth and seventeenth legions attacked the planet of Ark Reach Secundus to bring it under Imperial rule. The campaign went quickly, as you'd expect from a campaign involving three legions led by their Primarchs, but the problems began when the planetary governors decided to surrender.

The Fifteenth Legion was happy with the surrender of the planet, as they would now have access to knowledge in their great libraries. However, the Sixth Legion smelled warp in those libraries, and decided to ignore the surrender and destroy the libraries and everything they contained. Seeing what their cousins were doing, the Thousand Sons quickly mobilized to stop the Wolves and the confrontation developed. It got to the point where Russ and Magnus almost clashed right there, and if it hadn't been for Lorgar's intervention, who managed to get both legions to withdraw from the planet, the confrontation would undoubtedly have escalated.

During the second half of the Great Crusade, the Sixth Legion carried out various operations that were ordered by the Emperor himself. It is not known exactly how many missions of this kind the legion carried out, much less the details of these operations, since the information behind them is so secret that only a Primarch or the Emperor himself could access these files. Many suspect that among these missions is the execution of the lost Primarchs and their legions. Whether this is true or not is something that the Inquisition is not sure of, the only thing that is certain is that these missions changed the Wolf King.

-The Wolf in The Dark:

During the last years of the great crusade, the Emperor sent Russ and part of the sixth legion to the world of Gryth, on the edge of the segmentum obscurus. There, the Space Wolves encountered an army of beings they had never seen before, and the human population of the world seemed to be mind-controlled by these beings and showed anger and violence to a high degree. What neither the Primarch nor the Legion knew at the time was that the mysterious beings were actually daemons of Khorne and the humans were cultists of the Blood God.

The legion descended on the world and split into two groups. The first group led by Russ would attack the base of the cultists who seemed to be performing rituals that emanated large amounts of warp energy, while the other group would attack the army of daemons before they could help their mortal allies.

The cultists were more resistant than expected, but in the end they were unable to overcome the tactical genius of a Primarch, and within just over an hour the cultists were dead and the ritual had been undone by the Rune priests.

The second group, however, was not so lucky. Led by the jarl of the third great company, Ogvai Helmschrot, the legionnaires who attacked the demons found themselves up against a ferocious enemy and something they had never faced before. Throughout the Great Crusade, the Sixth Legion encountered beings from the Sea of Souls, but such beings had never been found in such numbers and in such coordination with each other.

This demonic horde was led by the greater daemon Arvax, the Arch-slaughterer. This mighty Daemon of Khorne slaughtered all the legionnaires who faced him as if he were a force of nature incarnate. He could only be defeated thanks to a lucky blow that the legionnaire known as Bjorn landed on his chest, banishing the daemon back to the sea of souls.

Even with the banishment of their leader, the demonic horde continued its attack on the legionnaires. It's true to say that if it hadn't been for the fortunate appearance of Russ, who came to the aid of his sons, none of the legionnaires would have survived.

Bjorn

The legionnaire known as Bjorn was a legionnaire of Fenrisian origin, who was recruited some time after the Wheel of Fire campaign, being part of the recruits who were recruited to recover the legion from its massive losses.

From the outset, the Rune Priests felt that Bjorn's wyrd (as the Fenrisians refer to fate) would be important for the legion. The legion's top brass watched closely as Bjorn rose rapidly through the legion's ranks to the rank of captain.

Bjorn accompanied his Jarl Ogvai in the battle against the daemons. On the planet's surface, Bjorn and his squad slaughtered countless daemons until they were approached by Arvax, who had just killed Ogvai. The legionnaires were massacred by the greater daemon who killed them one by one. Within minutes, a wounded Bjorn was the only survivor of his squad. Before delivering the final blow, the daemon laughed and gloated, thinking that Bjorn was already out of the fight. However, Bjorn took advantage of this opening and struck a powerful blow to Daemon's chest using his axe.

Being the highest-ranking surviving officer of the battle and one of the few survivors in general who didn't need to be buried in a sacrophagus dreadnought, Leman Russ decided to promote Bjorn to the rank of Jarl of the Third Grand Company. However, even this promotion couldn't take away the sadness and anguish in Bjorn's heart at being the only surviving member of his squad.

When this mission ended, agents of the sigilite arrived on the planet to continue cleaning it up. It was through these agents that Russ was informed of Ullanor's triumph and Horus' ascension to Warmaster and the Emperor's withdrawal from the Great Crusade.

The Wolf King was somewhat apprehensive about his father withdrawing from the Great Crusade, not because Horus was a bad leader, Leman didn't doubt his brother's leadership abilities, but because in Russ's eyes only his father was qualified to lead the Great Crusade. But Russ decided to put these thoughts aside temporarily and headed off to personally congratulate his brother and swear allegiance to the new Warmaster.

After meeting Horus, Leman and the Sixth Legion continued with their usual campaigns for several months, until the news that the Emperor required Russ's presence on the world of Nikea to discuss the issue of psykers reached the Primarch. Leman had always disliked the warlike use of psykers and constantly asked his father to ban them, so when Leman received the news that his father had finally listened to his concerns, the wolf king was happy and thrilled and quickly headed to the world where the council was to be carried out.

Russ was among the first Primarchs to arrive, and it didn't take him long to organize his arguments for the council along with the other opponents of psychic powers present. The "anti-psykers" faction was led by Leman, his brothers Corvus, Mortarion and Curze, along with the general Mars fabricator Kelbor-Hal. Each of these figures had their own reasons for opposing psykers, but all agreed that psykers meant a greater risk than benefit for humanity.

The council opened with speeches from the defenders of psychic powers and neutral elements. Russ listened in silence to his brothers' arguments, at times even feeling sorry for the fact that his brothers clearly didn't understand the dangers of the warp as he did, but he kept such comments to himself.

After listening to the arguments of the pro- and anti-psykers and the neutrals, it was Russ's turn to speak, being the penultimate one to speak before the Emperor gave his verdict. Russ told of the dangers of those who use the power of such a dangerous place as the great ocean, and warned of the danger that Magnus and his legion meant for the imperium as a whole if they didn't stop carrying out their sorcery. Most of the pro-psykers and some of the anti-psykers were clearly annoyed by Russ's comments, but the Wolf King ignored these reactions until he finally finished his speech.

When Russ had finished speaking, it was Magnus' turn to give his stance. The Crimson King argued that psykers were necessary for the development of humanity, and that it was up to humanity itself to master the powers of the warp so that they ceased to be a threat and became a tool for the ascension of humanity.

At the end of Magnus' speech, the master of humanity stood up, and with a strong voice that echoed throughout the room, he announced that the Librarium would continue to stand with new guidelines that would guarantee everyone's safety.

Most of those present agreed with this verdict, but Russ was crushed by his father's decision. After a few seconds of silence, the Wolf King then rose from his chair and called his father a fool, before hastily leaving the room with his entourage and withdrawing from the system.

Russ then began to spend long periods of time locked away in his quarters at Hrafnkel, these periods of self-isolation ranging from a couple of weeks to several months and entire years. There in his quarters, Russ began to wonder whether it was he or his father who was wrong. His father's decision went against everything he knew about the warp and made no sense from Russ's point of view, but the Primarch couldn't believe his father was wrong, and even regretted calling the Emperor a fool in the excitement of the moment.

For several years, these doubts plagued the wolf king's mind. His pride as Primarch and executioner of the Emperor wouldn't let him admit that he was the wrong one in this argument, but at the same time his unquestioning loyalty to his father wouldn't allow Russ to think that it was the master of humanity who was the fool in the argument. This mental conflict continued until one fateful day, Russ received an urgent message from Perturabo about Magnus.

According to Perturabo's words, Magnus, using sorcery, had attacked the imperial palace and wounded the Emperor himself in a failed assassination attempt. His father was now recovering, but he asked Perturabo to contact Russ and together they could bring the Emperor's justice to the Fifteenth Legion. At first Russ couldn't believe his brother's words, but after seeing several reports on the event and seeing a recording from Malcador confirming the event, Russ became determined to bring Magnus to justice once and for all. The Sixth Primarch called out to all the Vlka Fenryka who were free, and when they had all gathered, the Fourth and Sixth Legions set off in the direction of Prospero.

If communications throughout the galaxy weren't so bad because of the traitors, Russ might have found out about Perturabo's true loyalties and not helped him in the genocide that was to come. But unfortunately, Russ only found out about the fourth Primarch's loyalty when it was too late.

When they reached the prosperino system, both legions made their bloody way to the homeworld of the fifteenth legion. When they finally reached the planet's orbit, both fleets bombarded the crimson king's homeworld, turning all the planet's cities into ashes. The only city saved was Tizca, which was defended by powerful Void Shields. Determined to finish what they had started, both legions descended on the world, and the battle for Tizca began.

As soon as the sixth and fourth drop pods landed and opened their doors, the legionnaires began their bloody advance on the city. The Thousand Sons and their human auxiliaries fought bravely, but the ferocity of Fenris' wolves and Olympia's warriors was too much for them and little by little the defenders were pushed back.

Bjorn advanced like a war beast against the champion of the fifteenth legion. The champion in response increased the grip on his twin power swords and rushed to face the Fenrisian legionnaire.

The crimson-clad legionnaire's twin swords met Bjorn's power axe and lighting claw. The legionnaires exchanged hundreds of blows, both using all their experience and skill to overcome the other.

Bjorn was finally able to disarm the legionnaire of one of the swords using his lighting claw, and with his axe the Jarl cut off the legionnaire's swordless arm. Now with only one arm and a sword, the fifteenth champion withstood a couple more blows from Bjorn before being stabbed by Space Wolve's lighting claw.

Bjorn let his body fall to the ground and looked around. On his left, he saw a group of officers from his company coming towards him, and on his right, in the distance, he saw a group of legionnaires from the fourth legion moving away on the horizon.

He had no good feelings about it. Several times he had been close to psykers from other legions, both in and out of battle, and he had never had a problem with being around them. However, the psykers of the fourth legion emanated a strange aura, one that reminded him of Gryth. And that wasn't a good thing.

The other Space wolves finally caught up with him, and before they could say anything, he ordered.

"I want a pair of scouts monitoring every librarian of the fourth legion they come across. If the sons of Perturabo do anything strange, they should shoot to immobilize them."

The officers stood in silence for a couple of seconds before one of them broke the silence.

"Should we inform the Primarch, sir?"

"No, the wolf king has just retired from his seclusion and he doesn't need another headache to deal with. Anything, let me know and I'll decide whether to contact our father or not." With that, the wolves opened their Vox channels with their other brothers before separating again.

The attack on Tizca continued for hours. The Thousand Sounds did everything they could to stop the advance of the fourth and sixth legions, but nothing seemed to work. But unknown to the wolves, something much darker was being orchestrated by the Iron Warriors.

During the attack, the wolves noticed the various rituals that the sons of Perturabo were performing throughout the city. Unknown to the wolves, these rituals were intended to finally break the veil between the materium and the inmaterium with the aim of devastating not only the fifteenth, but also the sixth legion.

Several times, the sons of Russ intervened in these rituals, sensing the cursed energies they exuded, but this wasn't enough to stop the ritual as a whole, which was finally unleashed by the sons of Perturabo.

The wolves were taken by surprise as the veil between the sea of madness and the rational universe was broken. Hundreds of ghosts and things that shouldn't exist attacked the legionnaires of the sixth legion from all sides. At the same time, their allies from the fourth legion turned on them and opened fire on the Fenrisian Astarters. What had been a bloody offensive turned into an even deadlier fight for survival.

Russ himself found himself surrounded by creatures from the sea of souls and the children of Perturabo. In this moment of confusion, a group of his children approached the Wolf King, but instead of supporting the Primarch, they opened fire on him, revealing themselves to be a group of Legionnaires from the Fourth Legion using advanced illusory magic. Enraged by this attack, Russ and his wolves, Freki and Geri, made their way between the traitors and the neverborns.

In the end, Russ was able to get rid of his attackers, but unfortunately his wolf brothers weren't so lucky and died during the confrontation. Leman was saddened by the death of his brothers, but the Primarch had no time to grieve, and quickly made his way to the Pyramid of Photep, where he knew he would find Perturabo.

The Primarch ran at speeds too fast for an Astarter to see. He slaughtered all the Iron Warriors and neverborns he encountered with a fury and strength that only the Emperor's executioner could wield.

When Leman finally found the fourth primarch, he saw his overlapping a wounded Magnus and ready to deliver the final blow. The sixth primarch didn't think twice and fired with his combi-bolter to prevent his traitorous brother from assassinating the Crimson king, and then with one last charge both brothers met, and the duel between the Wolf King and the Iron Lord began.

Perturabo was a formidable opponent. Between his psychic powers, advanced armor and an enviable intellect, the Iron Lord was an opponent that few beings in the galaxy could overcome. But Russ was among those beings. With his bare hands, the Primarch slayed the deadliest beasts Fenris had to offer, and when he joined the great crusade he was responsible for killing incredibly dangerous xenos warlords. Two of his brothers felt his wrath and died by the Wolf King's blade, and the sixth Primarch was determined to make Perturabo the third.

After a short but fierce exchange of blows, Leman overcame his brother and impaled both hearts with his frostblade. Russ watched in silence as the life left his brother's body, until his instincts screamed and Russ leapt away from Perturabo.

Leman watched in disgust as reality itself shattered and energies from the ocean of souls enveloped his brother's body, which began to convulse and mutate into a hideous half-man half-bird form.

The thing that had once been his brother stared at Leman for a few moments, before starting to laugh and making more warp energy emanate from the warp rift. Russ saw out of the corner of his eye that Magnus was preparing some kind of spell and Perturabo in turn cast a warp ray in response to his brother. Leman decided to trust Magnus, jumped between Perturabo and the Crimson King and received the attack full on instead of his brother.

The Wolf King fell hard to the ground, feeling pain throughout his being. But this was not in vain, as it gave his brother enough time to teleport most of the fifteenth and sixteenth Legionnaires to their respective ships, in time to escape the warp energy that spread across the planet's surface.

But unfortunately, the storm itself seemed determined not to let the Primarchs escape, and extended beyond the planet to engulf the captaincies of both legions along with the ships around them.

Devastated by the battle for Tizca and without the leadership of their Primarchs, both legalist legions could only flee the system to escape the traitorous fleet.

Both legions had hoped to ask the other legions for support, but as soon as they left warp they discovered that the galaxy was at war. The heresy had begun.

-The Heresy: The hunt of the wolves:

The Sixth Legion fled Prospero weakened by the heavy casualties they had taken, separated since the warp was so agitated that several ships in the fleet were separated from the rest, with their honor tarnished by having been manipulated by Perturabo, and most importantly, not knowing what to do.

Russ had led the legion for so long that the only legionnaires who had been part of the Sixth before the Wolf King's arrival were buried in sacrophagous Dreadnoughts. The legion was lost without his father's guidance in this imperium plunged into civil war. And to make matters worse, the traitors took advantage of the Sixth's confusion to send hundreds of false reports to the legion, ranging from claims that the legalist legions were the real traitors to requests for help with systems that were actually traps designed to hurt the Sixth even more.

For months, the legion went around in circles without knowing what to do. Arguments between those who wanted to find Russ's whereabouts and those who wanted to attack the fourth in revenge for his betrayal were constant. Order finally arrived when Bjorn and the Jarl of the 13th great company Bulveye Greybeard put the fleet in order. Without Russ or the first captain Gunnar, both legionnaires would lead the legion until their father's return. As they were both respected members of the legion, the rest of the fleet agreed to these terms.

Thus, the Sixth Legion reorganized and officially entered the heresy.

The Sixth Legion fleet set sail for Fenris and along the way crushed rebellions against the Emperor or forces from the traitor legions, all while searching for clues to his father's whereabouts. When the fleet finally reached Fenris, the legionnaires met up with the rest of the legion there, but unfortunately no one there seemed to have any news of the Wolf King's whereabouts.

Knowing that the legion couldn't spend any more time searching for his father while the rest of the imperium needed their support, Bjorn decided to take drastic measures and contacted Kva, the legion's chief Wolf priest, and together they performed a ritual.

In the volcanic cavern known as Syrtyr's door, Bjorn was joined by eight rune priests including Kva himself in a ritual that would reveal the whereabouts of Leman Russ, but to do so Bjorn would have to enter the Underverse itself, in the Warp itself.

The jarl took another step into the impossibly cold snow of the plain. Bjorn didn't know how long he had been here, he had lost all sense of time a long time ago. To him it seemed like days since Kva had performed the ritual and he had entered the Underverse, but his subconscious was telling him that it hadn't been that long.

Bjorn continued walking for what seemed like several days until he saw a large palace made of black stone. The Space wolf picked up the pace now with a clear destination, and after an indefinite time of walking, he reached the palace.

With all his strength Bjorn was able to open the thick, gigantic stone gates and entered the great hall. Before he could take a step, Bjorn fell to the ground in exhaustion and began to breathe frantically as he tried to catch his breath.

"+get up, warrior of the Vlka Fenryka.+" A deep, icy voice said from the back of the room.

Bjorn raised his head, and saw how the room was mostly empty, with supernatural shadows covering its bottom. At the far end, just where the shadows and lights met, there was a throne. Sitting on this throne was a being the legionnaire recognized as Erlking.

A long dark cloak covered a figure that could not be seen even in direct light, only two blue eyes as cold as the planet of Fenris itself. Bjorn could also see behind the Erlking several wolf-like figures hidden in the darkness staring at him, but when he looked at them they disappeared.

Bjorn stood up and with a couple of weak steps approached the being until he was just over two meters away. After a few seconds, Bjorn's breathing calmed down and he said.

"Oh lord of death, I beg you to reveal to me where my father is."

"+Son of Russ, to answer your question you will have to pay a price. For a hunter not to starve to death, his prey must die. All warriors who survive encounters with deadly beasts leave with scars that mark them for the rest of their lives. A reward and a loss, that's the game of survival. To receive this information, you have to give something in return.+"

Already knowing that he would have to give something in return, Bjorn took a meticulously forged dagger from his belt, and without a second thought stabbed his left arm repeatedly, each time deeper than the previous blow, with each stab the pool of blood on the floor increasing in size. Bjorn continued the process until his arm finally gave way and separated from his body, falling to the ground with a thud. Bjorn breathed heavily, but endured the pain. The legionnaire then looked at the entity, expecting some kind of reaction.

The Erlking just stared in silence for a few moments until a large wolf with the features of a human emerged from the shadows and in an instant grabbed the severed arm before returning to the shadows in the blink of an eye. Bjorn then stared at the Erlking, and noticed that the being's eyes seemed to glow brighter now. It was then that Bjorn felt a headache coming on and fell to his knees.

"South-in the third of the storms-in the domain of the bloody." The legionnaire stammered as he took in the information. From one moment to the next Bjorn knew where his father and his missing battle-brothers were, he knew their exact location and could feel their souls. He could sense that they were in danger.

With this last piece of information, the Jarl forced his legs to lift him and stood weakly. He could sense the danger his father faced, but he could also feel the distance between them and knew he wouldn't make it in time even if he left Fenris right now.

"My father, he's in danger, you have to do something to save him!" Bjorn shouted as he faced the warp entity.

"+I can't do anything without a sacrifice. The sacrifice has to be equivalent to the reward, and even if I sacrificed his entire body it wouldn't be enough to accomplish what you ask of me, son of Russ.+"

Bjorn stood frozen for a few seconds as he swallowed the entity's words. He had to do something, he couldn't let his father die. There had to be something he could give in return. It was then that Bjorn realized.

"My wyrd - That's it, my wyrd! In exchange for my fate I ask you to protect my father!" The legionnaire shouted at the top of his voice to Erlking.

For a few moments no response came from the entity, until its eyes began to glow in an impossibly blinding light that engulfed the entire room.

The moment Bjorn opened his eyes, he was back in Fenris. His senses were weak, but he could feel his left arm missing and the figure of Kva above him saying something he couldn't hear. Bjorn then smiled faintly before passing out.

With the information on Russ's whereabouts, Bjorn informed the other high-ranking legionnaires. Now having an estimate of his father's location, the Sixth Legion organized a large fleet led by Bjorn in order to reach his father. Meanwhile, the rest of the legion would be led by Bulveye against the traitors.

The Jarl of the Thirteenth Great Company led his brothers in hundreds of battles against the traitors. In each of these battles, the Space Wolves fought with fury and vengeance against the traitors for having tricked them into attacking Prospero. In several of these battles they found themselves supported by the Alpha legion who, as is to be expected of the legion, didn't explain why they were helping the sixth legion apart from the fact that they were both legalists. In several battles during the heresy, the traitors found themselves distracted by the Space wolves' attacks while the twentieth legion wreaked havoc behind enemy lines.

Meanwhile, Bjorn's fleet set off to meet his father in the segmentum tempestus. The whole journey was difficult, the warp itself seemed to be against them and dozens of times along the way the wolves had to face daemon incursions inside their ships. But Russ's sons didn't let such setbacks faze them, and continued on their journey to find their father. And after a journey of almost two years, the sixth legion finally arrived in the Caradryad sector.

-Against the shadows:

The chaos gods knew what the Crimson King and the Emperor's executioner were capable of, and they couldn't leave the two Primarchs free to lead their legions. So, when Perturabo invoked the warp storm on Prospero, the chaos gods used their almost omnipotent powers to take both primarchs and part of their legions to the sea of souls. In the inmaterium, both legions were swept away by terrible currents that sought to destroy them and that dragged them over impossibly long distances.

When the currents finally stopped, both legions not only discovered that most of their ships had been scattered by the currents, but that they were in a warp storm in the Caradryad sector, on the other side of the galaxy.

The Caradryad sector stands out for having three large warp storms that occupy almost the entire sector. It is not known exactly how these storms came about, only that they suddenly appeared in the sector decades before the expeditionary fleets reached the region. These storms are known as Justice, Vengeance, and the one that met Hrafnkfel and most of the Space Wolves, Warth.

The wolves tried to reorganize and recover from the battle in Prospero and the voyage in the Inmaterium, but this was not possible as they were attacked by Khorne's daemons and various followers of the Blood God, both human and xenos.

And to make matters worse. After the battle of Prospero Russ had fallen into a deep sleep. Perturabo's attack had not only wounded Leman physically, but had also hurt the Primarch's very soul and caused the Wolf King to fall into a coma. The legionnaires of the Sixth Legion tried everything they could to awaken their father, but not even the countless attempts of the rune priests were able to rouse the Wolf King from his slumber. So the legionnaires were forced to simply wait and protect his father's body until he awoke. Unknown to them, Russ was fighting for his life in his sleep.

With a strength capable of killing an astarter in one punch, Russ was thrown through the air by his opponent's blow. The Wolf King flew for a couple of meters before colliding with a rock almost as big as himself. The impact was so strong that the stone was pulverized into hundreds of pieces and the snow around it bounced off the ground.

Leman got up with difficulty and faced his opponent.

In front of him stood a warrior even taller and more muscular than the Wolf King, almost as tall as his father. He wore armor clearly of Fenrisian origin decorated with the skulls of various beasts, but in areas not covered by the armor you could see dozens of tribal tattoos along his body. In his left hand the warrior carried an axe so large that even Russ would have to use both hands to use it, but his opponent used it with one hand without any difficulty.

The part of this warrior that irritated him the most was his face, since this warrior's face was identical to Russ'.

"Is that the Emperor's executioner?" Said the fake Russ. "I thought the executioner was the powerful Wolf King, not some weakling pretending to be a warrior."

Russ stood up silently and circled his opponent, an action which he reproduced for his part. Both without leaving the other's sight for a second.

"You don't deserve the title of Wolf King, let alone to declare yourself the king of Fenris. I am a far better representative of the culture and warriors of Fenris than you are."

At that moment Russ advanced against his counterpart, and with a great and powerful bow attacked with his Frostblade. False Russ easily blocked the attack with his axe, and began an intense exchange of blows with Leman. The exchange ended with a huge blow that left a deep gash in his chest and sent the original Russ flying.

Leman fell weakly to the ground. Hot blood was pouring out of the newly made wound in worrying quantities. But Russ didn't allow himself to stay down, and struggled to get up.

"You don't represent Fenris. You're just a barbarian." The Primarch said with difficulty.

"Who are you to talk? You let Freki and Geri die in prosperity. The symbol of Fenris, the Fenrisian wolves, died because you were weak!" Shouted the fake Russ, who in an instant cut the distance between the two and threw a powerful punch at the Primarch's face. Leman fell back to the ground from the force of the punch. But however bruised his body was, his fighting spirit was still alive, and with a leap he stood up and tried to stab his counterpart, who in response jumped backwards away from the Primarch.

"No, my brothers didn't die because I was weak, they died because of my pride! If I had listened to my father, they would still be here!" Exclaimed the Primarch.

The fake Russ seemed to get even angrier at these words, and in an impossibly quick movement, the fake Wolf King stood in front of the Primarch and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up with one arm.

"There's no place in Fenris or Vlka Fenryka for a weakling like you." Said the fake Leman in an unnatural voice. "I gave you the opportunity to become stronger than you could ever imagine, but since you refused, I don't see why I should leave you alive." The entity then smiled wickedly as it tightened its grip on the primarch's throat. Russ tried to fight against the grip, but everything he did seemed to be in vain as his strength gradually left his body.

It was then that the whole scene was taken over by a deafening sound. Russ instantly recognized the distinctive sound of a wolf's howl, the Primarch then began to feel his strength returning to his body, while his counterpart seemed to suffer the opposite effect, as the Wolf King could feel the imposter's grip gradually weakening.

With this renewed strength, Leman freed himself from his opponent's grip, and without giving him a chance to wait, advanced against his counterpart. Leman cornered the fake Leman with a flurry of blows that caused serious wounds to the imposter, who was barely able to block the Primarch's blows.

It was then that Leman executed a powerful swing that decapitated his counterpart. The entity's body fell to the ground and remained there for a few moments, until it began to dissipate into beams of purple light that were carried away by the wind.

As soon as he woke up, Leman took command of his legion and used all his tactical genius to overcome the chaotic scum and bring down the attack on his fleet.

After defeating the attackers and learning about the situation, Russ didn't think twice and quickly set his fleet in motion to reunite with his sons who had been separated by the warp.

The campaign within the warp storm was tough and complicated, but both Russ and the legionnaires were determined not to leave any legionnaires behind, and continued on their journey. The sixth legion faced difficult battles against the Blood god's armies, but with the Primarch at their side they not only had a brilliant general, but one of the best warriors in the entire galaxy on their side. In the end, the Space Wolves were able to overcome their opponents and gradually recover their fleet numbers.

During this period, the Sixth Legion encountered lost elements of the Thousand Sons in and around the warp storm. The first time they met, the sons of Magnus were aggressive towards the wolves, but after several discussions, Russ was able to convince these legionnaires to accompany them on their journey through the warp storm. After a while, a small group of fifteenth ships was formed and accompanied the Space Wolves.

After making it through most of the Wrath, the fleet left it behind and began wandering through space untouched by the warp in search of supplies and lost Sixth Legion ships. It was then in the Dominicus system that Leman's fleet was met by the fleet led by Bjorn.

Both sides welcomed each other with open arms and told each other what they had experienced since Prospero. It was at this point that Leman was informed of the full extent of Sanguinius' treachery, and that the imperium needed his help. The Primarch quickly began preparations to head for Earth itself, but before the Sixth Legion could leave they were intercepted by a fleet of Dark Angels led by Lion El'Jonson himself.

Both fleets didn't hesitate for a second and opened fire on each other. The battle was hard and bloody, both the Wolves and the Prosperine Legionnaires fought the traitors with will and fury, but the fleet of the First Legion was outnumbered and outgunned. The traitors then began to focus fire on the fifteenth legion's ships, considering them more dangerous than the Space Wolves' due to the extrasensory senses of their crew. Determined not to let Magnus' children die like this, Russ placed his flagship between the fire of the First Legion and the Fifteenth Fleet.

Even a technological masterpiece like a Gloriana isn't indestructible, and it wasn't long before the Hrafnkel began to take considerable damage from the Dark Angels' fleet. However, Leman didn't let this faze him, and quickly ordered the ship's tech-priests to overload the ship's plasma reactors in order to blow up the entire ship in what would be a suicidal maneuver.

It was at that moment that Lion and a group of Deathwing astartes teleported into the legalist Gloriana. Russ responded to his brother and together with his Wolf Guard intercepted the warriors of the first legion. Russ and his sons kept their opponents busy until, at the last possible second, they teleported out of the ship before it exploded.

The explosion of the Hrafnkel was like seeing the birth of a star. The ships of the first legion near the Gloriana were caught in the blast and completely obliterated by it. Such was the degree of the explosion that all the ships in both fleets felt the massive expansive wave caused by the death of such a space colossus.

However, even though the explosion destroyed several Dark Angels ships, it wasn't enough to put the traitor fleet, which still had numerical superiority over the legalists, out of combat. But before both fleets could exterminate each other, an Alpha Legion fleet entered the system and attacked the traitor ships. Now outnumbered, the traitors quickly retreated from the system.

When the traitors finally left the system, several ships from the Fifteenth Legion revealed themselves among the Alpha Legion fleet. Both fleets exchanged formalities while Russ boarded the Gloriana of the twentieth legion, the Alpha, at the request of Alpharius himself.

Leman and Alpharius hurried down the long corridor of the Gloriana, behind them Bjorn and the bodyguards of both Primarchs followed them on the lookout for any danger. After a few more minutes of walking, both entourages reached a reinforced adamantium door that guarded the quarters of the twentieth Primarch. The door opened and Leman, Alpharius and Bjorn entered the room, while the rest of the entourage stood guard outside.

Inside the room, Magnus and the first captain of the Thousand Sounds, Ahzek Ahriman, were already waiting in front of a holographic table. Magnus glared at Leman, but said nothing to the wolf king. After everything he had done, it was a surprise that Magnus hadn't reacted worse, Leman thought.

"Thank you all for coming," said Alpharius, cutting through the awkward silence in the room. Leman nodded silently before moving to stand opposite Magnus, while Alpharius moved to the main panel of the table, involuntarily standing closer to the Crimson King than to Russ.

"I called you here to discuss the most urgent matter, our journey to Terra." Said the twentieth Primarch before clicking a button and making a detailed hologram of the Segmentum obscurus appear on the table, minutely showing each of the sectors and sub-sectors in control of the legalists and the traitors and the main territories in dispute.

"The path doesn't seem that complicated, most of the secondary warp routes on the west side are under legalist control and we could reach Terra before the end of next year. Our biggest problem is that the Death Guard will attack us from the rear, but if we attack Barbarus they wouldn't be a problem." Said Russ as he analyzed the map.

"The problem is that we can't travel through the Warp." Said Alpharius in response to his brother. The whole room except Magnus turned to stare at the twentieth Primarch.

"Why?" asked the Wolf King.

"As you may already know, brother, there are beings who live in the warp, who control it. These beings are allied with our traitorous brothers and will do anything to prevent us from reaching Terra, and they are powerful enough to make any long journey in the warp a sure death."

"We don't have time for that." Magnus said as he slashed at his brother. "If we only use short jumps it will take us almost two decades to reach Terra, and we don't have all that time."

"I know." Alpharius said. "And I already have a plan for that." The Primarch then revealed a small hard disk he had saved, which he plugged into the holographic table. In a couple of seconds, the map was replaced by a hologram of a large structure clearly of human origin, but not imperial. Before anyone could ask, Alpharius said, "This is the Dark Glass station, and it will be our passage to Terra."

The Dark Glass station is a creation of humanity during the Dark age of technology. This structure is surrounded by mysteries and doubts that no one knows the answer to, but what is known is that it has the ability to access the webway, a feature that makes it strangely similar to the Golden Throne on Holy Terra.

After the meeting between the brothers, the Primarchs quickly organized and prepared their fleets for the journey to the Dark Glass station. They were determined to use the station to reach Terra.

Throughout segmentum, the warp became so agitated that long journeys in the warp were impossible. This intensified wherever the fleet of three Primarchs passed, having to rely only on short warp jumps for the entire journey. And to complicate matters further, the fleet was constantly pursued by elements of the Dark Angels and other traitor legions.

For seven infinitely long years, the fleet traveled to the station, until finally reaching it in the middle of the year 014.M31, the fleet arrived in the Catallus system, where the station was located. The station was gigantic in size, equaling gas giants in size.

However, the legalists were not alone in the system. A traitorous fleet was already surrounding the station, and after defeating the forces protecting the station, the fleet began attacking the station itself in an attempt to destroy it before the legalists could use it. Seeing the situation, the legalist fleet quickly moved to intercept the traitors.

By the time the legalist fleet reached the station, it was almost collapsing from all the damage it had taken, and it would only be a matter of time before it finished collapsing. Seeing that they were running out of time, the Primarchs entered the station while their fleets fought the Legalist ships. Inside the station, the Primarchs and their entourage were besieged by traitorous Deamons and Astarters who tried to stop the Emperor's children from advancing. They made their way through the station until they finally reached the command bridge, where Magnus began making preparations to activate the machine while Russ and Alpharius were busy containing the horde of enemies.

Russ faced a gigantic Khorne beast known as the Gorefeaster, a daemon almost twice the height of the Primarch. But what this beast didn't know was that Russ had slain much larger beasts than it in Fenris, and after an intense fight the daemon joined the list of beasts slain by Russ.

Shortly after defeating the demon, Alpharius and Magnus met up with him, with the latter advising that the portal to the webway was already open. Thus, the legalist fleet entered the webway seconds before the Dark Glass station finally collapsed from all the damage it had received.

Inside the webway, the fleet flew at full speed towards the solar system, which at that moment was experiencing the last stage of the Siege of Terra. For all the turmoil in the warp above Terra and the damage the webway itself received during the Siege, the closest the fleet could come was a few hundred thousand kilometers from the edge of the solar system. The moment they returned to the materium, the fleet quickly made its way to the cradle of humanity.

Thanks to holographic systems, the fleet could pose as Alpha Legion reinforcements and approach the traitor fleet without arousing suspicion. When they were close enough, the legalists opened fire on the traitors, destroying and damaging several traitor ships in the process, while at the same time hundreds of drop pods were launched in the area of the imperial palace, catching off guard the traitors who thought victory was guaranteed.

Panic and confusion gripped the traitorous forces, and many began to flee in an attempt to escape the fury of the legalists. It was in this confusion that the three Primarchs took the opportunity to board the ninth legion's flagship, the Red Loom. Inside, Alpharius headed for the compartment section of the ship, while Russ and Magnus went to interrupt Curze's ritual.

When they reached the corridor that led to the ritual room, the Primarchs met Perturabo standing guard in front of the room's door. Russ didn't take a second to confront the fourth Primarch, thus allowing Magnus to enter the ritual hall. So the fourth and sixth Primarchs faced each other again, this time while the fate of the galaxy was decided around them.

The fight was intense and violent, but in the end it ended inconclusively, as before either could overcome the other, a powerful psychic pulse traveled throughout the ship, hitting both Primarchs. Russ immediately recognized the pulse coming from his father, and without a second thought ran to meet it.

When Russ reached the pulse source room, he saw in horror the corpses of Vulkan and Sanguinius on the floor and his father on the brink of death next to them. Leman ran to his father and clutched his broken body in his arms, Magnus arrived moments later and carried Vulkan's body. Both Primarchs then moved to exit the ship as it slowly collapsed around them. They both knew that the heresy was over, but that the fall of humanity had only begun.

-Post-Heresy:

Russ was among those present who heard the Emperor's last words before he was buried in the Golden Thorne. His father called for the traitors to be hunted down until there were none left on the face of the galaxy, and Leman obeyed.

When the Great Scouring began, the wolves of the Sixth Legion led the offensive and brought the Emperor's fury and judgment to every traitorous base they could find. Even though they were outnumbered by the casualties they received throughout the heresy, the wolf king's sons marched across the galaxy in their hunt against their traitorous cousins.

But while the rest of the galaxy saw the savage warriors of the Vlka Fenryka who fought in the great crusade, the truth is that both groups were extremely different. All the events that the legion experienced during the heresy affected how the legionnaires saw their role as enforcers, they realized the true meaning of such a title and realized that there was no honour in it. A desire for change began to grow in the legionaries of the Sixth Legion, a desire that Leman also had.

After much thought, Leman came to the conclusion that neither Leman nor his legion were really warriors from Fenris. They originated from Fenris and dressed and adopted certain characteristics of that planet, but without counting the Rune priests or the Wolf priests these characteristics were only superficial, they didn't adopt the spirit of Fenris. So, with the help of the Rune and Wolf priests and the priests of Fenris, Leman and the legion immersed themselves in the culture of the planet and left their savage nature behind.

As Leman carried out these changes within his legion, he began to question whether the legions had a place in this new imperium. These doubts were shared by Magnus, who after spending seven years at Leman's side began to forgive his brother, as the Crimson king himself could see Leman's repentance and desire to change.

Both brothers began to discuss how the legions should be managed in this new era, and after many discussions between them, the idea of more dynamic forces of chapters made up of 2000 Astarters was created. So the codex astarters was written, a guide to chapter structure that would be the cornerstone for the warlike implementation of astarters in this new imperium. With Fulgrim's help, the codex was implemented, and the legions were divided into several independent chapters.

Due to its low numbers, the sixth legion had to wait a few years for the creation of its first successor chapter. Such a chapter would be the Wolf Brothers, a chapter named after the thirteenth great company that was completely annihilated during the heresy.

Wolf Brothers

While Russ and part of the Sixth Legion traveled to the Dark Glass station, the rest of the Sixth Legion fought and died against the traitorous advance. Even with all the ferocity of the wolves and the tactical genius of several legion veterans, the Space Wolves were unable to stop the advance of the traitors, who after several years reached the Beta Garmon Cluster.

There Bulveye launched a desperate offensive on Beta Garmon II in the hope of creating a breach so that his allies could retreat to the solar system. The Thirteenth Great Company fought in its entirety against the angel's armies in this bloody battle. In the end, all the legionnaires of the great company died in the battle, but their sacrifices were not in vain, since thanks to them, several forces were able to evacuate the planet and unite in the defense of Terra.

In honor of such a sacrifice, when the opportunity to name the first successor to the sixth legion arose, its first chapter master, Beor Arjac, decided to name the chapter "Wulfen-kind" (or in direct translation, "Wolf Brothers"), in reference to the thirteenth great company that was referred to by that title within the legion.

After undergoing all these reforms, the Space Wolves continued their role in scouring and beyond, fighting against the Emperor's enemies. Russ led his legion in most of these battles, until one day he was visited by the Custodes' captain general, Constantin Valdor. It is not known exactly what the two discussed, but it is known that Valdor gave Russ the weapon known as the Dionysian spear, a weapon created by the Emperor himself and which was the counterpart of the spear Valdor himself used. That was the last time Valdor was seen, as the day after the meeting he disappeared.

For weeks after that meeting, Russ secluded himself in his quarters, only allowing Wolf and Rune priests to enter. This continued for several weeks until the Wolf King finally left his chambers and announced that he would be busy on a great mission on behalf of the Emperor, and that during his absence Bjorn and the Great Wolfs who succeeded him would lead the legion in his absence.

So Russ and his Wolf Guard took a frigate and disappeared into the vastness of space. On the same day, Magnus the Red also disappeared in a similar way to Russ. Many believe that both Primarchs were entrusted with a special mission by the Emperor himself, but whether this is true or not is beyond the knowledge of the Inquisition.

Since then, the Space Wolves have fought against the enemies of the imperium and created their own sagas while longing for the return of their father. The Space Wolves and their successors claim that their father will return when the legion needs him most, they call such an event "Wolf time", and several Rune priests claim that this moment is closer than it has ever been in the last ten thousand years.

Whether the coming of Wolf time means the beginning of an era of rebirth for humanity, or a last gasp before the end of the galaxy as we know it, no one can say. But there is one thing for sure: the warriors of the Vlka Fenryka will not back down and will fight in this last great saga, even if it means the death.

-Organization:

Since Russ was one of the primarchs with the most weight in the creation of the Astarters Codex, it's no surprise to learn that the chapter and all its successors follow the structure dictated by the codex. Containing 10 companies with 200 legionnaires each.

However, Russ knew that his legion was not the same as the others, and so the more "generic" structure of the codex had to be modified to better accommodate the chapters that carry his gene-seed.

The Space Wolves and their successors recruit their Death Worlds aspirants from tribal or savage populations, which results in their aspirants being highly temperamental or violent for no reason. This violence is heightened by the gene-seed of the sixth primarch, which naturally tends to make aspirants more aggressive. This combination causes novice Astarters to tend to be extremely violent to the point of being berserkers. Russ's solution to this violence was to create Blood Claws squads.

The Blood Claws is a type of squad created when Russ divided his legion into chapters. These squads are made up of a group of rookies led by a veteran sergeant, each armed with bolter pistols and melee weapons and wearing traditional power armor. Instead of carrying out scouting duties, these rookies are part of the front line and serve to break through enemy lines. Such offensives are deadly even for the Emperor's angels, but these neophytes are so eager to satisfy their bloodlust that they don't care if the odds are stacked against them.

These deadly experiences gradually shape the astarters and make the neophytes control their savage instincts until they are finally elevated from the Blood Claws and gain the rank of Grey Hunters, the equivalent of a standard astarter in other chapters. This process is known as "the conquest of the beast", in which the newcomers take control of their wild instincts and officially become sons of Russ.

While Blood Claws are the equivalent of scouts in the sense that they are the neophytes of the chapter, Wolf scouts are the tactical equivalent of scouts. These units are made up of veteran astarters who have mastered the art of hunting and secrecy to the point of being considered among the best hunters in Fenris. Because they are veterans and masters of the art of hunting, these squads are much more skilled than the scouts from other chapters.

Both the Blood Claws and the Wolf scouts are exclusively part of the tenth company. The Blood Claws have fifteen squads of ten men and the Wolf scouts have six squads of six men each. Most of the successors to the Sixth Legion follow a similar organization for their Tenth Company.

Another peculiarity of the chapters of Russ's lineage are the Wolf Priests, a combination of Apothecary and Chaplain from other chapters. These Astarters are responsible for looking after the physical and spiritual health of their battle brothers, and for this they receive extensive training that makes them incredible doctors and sages of the culture of Fenris and the legion.

Like the Apothecaries of many other chapters, these legionaries are responsible for recruiting aspiring astarters to the chapter. At certain times of the year, these legionnaires roam their chapter's recruitment planets in search of warriors worthy of carrying the Wolf King's genetic seed. These Astarters are respected figures by the populations of these planets, often being the only contact with the chapter that the planet's population has.

As well as carrying the Chaplains' usual Crozius Arcanum and Rosarius, Wolf Priests carry a range of medical equipment and medicinal herbs to help them in their work as doctors. Unlike the Apotecarios, they don't tend to carry a Narthecium, and when they do it's a smaller version with fewer tools.

-Combat Doctrine:

Since its inception, the Sixth Legion has preferred to use assault tactics and hand-to-hand combat. This, however, does not mean that the Space Wolves or their successors are not skilled in other types of warfare. The sons of Russ are competent in almost all types of warfare, and if necessary they will have no problem putting down their swords and opting for a ranged approach.

It's also noteworthy that Space Wolves tend to fight deadworlds and other deadly places much more often than other chapters. Several of the chapter's detractors claim that this is due to the chapter's thirst for glory overcoming its common sense, something that is partly true since the sons of Russ prefer to create their "sagas" in deadly places. The chapter nevertheless responds to such claims with the fact that they are more qualified for such actions than other forces. In the words of the High Wolf Priest himself, Ulrik the Slayer: "Why would you send a group of Kriegers to hell when you have the wolves of Fenris, a place far worse than hell itself."

-Technology and weaponry:

In terms of weaponry, the Space Wolves are as well armed as you'd expect from a chapter of the first Foundation. The Space Wolves maintain formal relations with the mechanicus, sometimes the anarchist attitude of the wolves clashes with the interests of the followers of the Machine God, but such clashes are momentary and don't affect the chapter's relations with the priests of the omnissiah.

One feature we can highlight is that the sons of Russ have a large number of relics from millennia past in their vaults. This is due to the fact that the astarters of the Space wolves constantly seek to create their own legacy, their own saga, and in respect for the warriors who created great sagas, the chapter takes meticulous care of the armaments of such fallen astarters.

For the astarters who carry such relics into battle, it is a great honor but at the same time a great duty, since to carry one of these weapons is to carry the duty to honor the saga of its former bearers.

-Recruitment, Homeworld, Gene-seed:

The Space Wolves chapter recruits exclusively from its home world of Fenris. Recruitment is carried out by the Wolf Priests, who seek out potential aspirants from all over the world and take them to the chapter's monastery fortress, The Fang. There they are educated in the chapter's culture and trained in the chapter's tactics, while undergoing various tests that challenge their physique and cunning.

The last test is the "test of Morkai" in which the aspirants are taken to the teeth of Morkai, a region characterized by its ever-active volcanoes and a large number of deadly beasts such as the Blackmaned wolves. There they are left with a couple of basic clothes and tools and have to make their way back to the fortress monastery. The few aspirants who pass this test finally become an astarters of the Space Wolves.

The world of Fenris is an extremely hostile one. Considered one of the deadliest death worlds on record, most of the world's fauna can kill a group of grown men with ease. The world itself is deadly, characterized by constant volcanic activity and deadly cold.

Because of this, it's no surprise to learn that the world is characterized by a greater number of astarter candidates than in other death worlds. The number of candidates is so high that every so often the Space Wolves offer candidates from Fenris for their successors.

The Space Wolves gene-seed is a special case. It has characteristics that are not seen in the gene-seeds of other genetic strains, such as the fact that the Astarters of the Space Wolves are more sensitive to sensing chaotic energies around them, or that certain senses are more developed than in other Astarters.

Many believe that this is due to the mysterious Canis Helix, a mysterious mutation in the gene-seed of Russ' lineage that is not present in any other lineage. The greater imperium has little knowledge of this mutation, since the Space Wolves are so secretive about their gene-seed that they even have a deal with Belisarius Cawl to ensure that only the mages of the mechanicum and Russ's children have access to the sixth primarch's gene-seed stock.

The Wulfen

The reason for the wolves' secrecy with their genetic seed is due to the mutation known as "Wulfen's curse".

This change is caused by the canis helix, which for reasons unknown even to the wolves, causes an aggressive mutation in the astarters and transforms them into a half-man half-wolf being, physically stronger than an astarter but with a totally broken mind that makes him more of an animal than a warrior.

The wolves and their successors keep this secret from the rest of the imperium for fear of what might happen if it were discovered. The only people who have this mutation are individuals who are extremely close to Russ's children or who could help in the search for a cure.

When an Astarter becomes a Wulfen, the chapter separates him from the rest of his siblings and imprisons them at the bottom of their ships. They are then released to face the Emperor's enemies in a last act as astarters.

How this curse is viewed varies from Astarter to Astarter. Some consider it a tragedy, while others think it's a sign that the afflicted had not actually taken their inner beast, and so became complete beasts.

-Relations:

Space Wolves are warriors who rarely obey the orders of non-Astarters and tend to act in their own way. If they see something they consider wrong, the wolves don't think twice before acting, even if they have to oppose their own allies. Because of this, it's no surprise to learn that the Space Wolves don't have good relations with many of the other imperial organizations. Either because they didn't follow the orders given by their superiors or because they directly stood in the way of these organizations.

The clearest case of this is with the Inquisition. The Wolves and the Inquisition have always had a complicated relationship, but things only got worse after the events of the First War for Armageddon.

Months of Shame

After the Daemon Primarch Horus was summoned to the world of Armageddon, and was subsequently banished by a group of Black Templars, ending the first pro-Armageddon war, the Inquisition was willing to eliminate most of the planet's population and the guards who fought in that conflict to prevent the taint of chaos from spreading.

The wolves opposed this action, since from their point of view these humans were clearly not tainted by the taint of chaos. So the wolves stood in the way of the Inquisition while secretly evacuating the planet in their ships. The Inquisition discovered this and ordered them to hand over the civilians, which the wolves refused to do. A violent argument erupted between the two groups until, at one point, one of the Inquisition ships shot down a Wolf cruiser full of civilians. The wolves then opened fire in response and destroyed the ship before leaving the system and heading for Fenris.

The Inquisition then declared the Space Wolves traitors and organized a large armada and headed for Fenris to punish the chapter.

In Fenris, the wolves called in their successors and waited for the inquisition to arrive. When they finally arrived in the Fenris system, both fleets clashed in a bloody confrontation throughout the system.

Fortunately, this conflict didn't last long, as a Black Templar fleet entered the system and ordered a cease fire between the two fleets. The Templars then asked the wolves to let them analyze the civilians, and after a few tense hours, the Black Templars announced that the civilians were free of chaotic taint, and therefore the Inquisition would have to stop its efforts to eliminate the civilians.

The Inquisition begrudgingly left the system, making it clear that they would keep an eye on the wolves. For their part, the Space Wolves thanked the Black Templars for their intervention in the conflict, which saved countless civilian lives in both Fenris and Armageddon.

Even though it didn't end in tragedy. This conflict is a problematic moment in the history of everyone involved. Since that day, the Inquisition's relations with the wolves have become more aggressive, and its bond with the Black Templars has been severely damaged.

The relationship between wolves and other Astarters chapters tends to be good in most cases. However, in the case of Raven Guard and Thousand sounds it is more complex. Raven Guard doesn't have good relations with the wolves because of the relationship between the sons of Corax and the inquisition.

In the case of the Thousand Sons, the wolves consider themselves indebted to the sons of Magnus for having been responsible for the destruction of Prospero, and whenever they can, the Space Wolves go to the aid of the Thousand Sons in an attempt to make amends for what they did ten thousand years ago. The sons of Magnus, for their part, have a grudge against the wolves, but they don't let these feelings get in the way of their relationship with the Space Wolves, since they understand that the wolves were manipulated into destroying Prospero and that the chapter is trying to make amends for this.

In the case of the traitor legions, Russ's children feel as much hatred for them as you would expect from any loyal astarter. The only cases we can highlight are the Dark Angels and the Iron Warriors.

In the case of the first legion, the Space Wolves felt their betrayal even more, since both legions shared a strong friendly rivalry. Because of this, to this day the chapters of the sixth legion hate the children of Lion, and every chance they get they join the offensive against Tenebris.

On the side of the fourth legion, the wolves feel a hatred of death for having been tricked by the Iron Warriors into attacking Prospero and devastating the Thousand Sounds. Since the end of the Heresy, the Space Wolves and their successors have been determined to bring the Fourth Legion to justice for the destruction of Prospero, and the sons of Russ will not rest until the last legionnaire of the Fourth Legion pays for what his legion did ten thousand years ago.

-Beliefs and Warcry:

The Space Wolves and their successors are characterized by a strong cultural influence from Fenris, and an ideology that is present in all Astarters who carry the gene-seed of Leman Russ.

In the beginning, the legion wasn't so influenced by Fenris' culture, being something more than nothing present in the titles or in certain customs. But after the heresy, Leman decided to change this, as the Primarch believed that this would be a way of making the legion more than just a group of savage assassins.

The legion then immersed itself in Fenris culture, learning both the savagery and the cunning of Fenris beasts and warriors. But the main characteristic of Fenris culture that marked the Sixth Legion and its successors was the sagas.

The sagas of Fenris are usually oral tales that tell the stories and deeds of heroes from the past. This characteristic has been passed on to the legion as each astarter has a saga to write, and it is their duty to make it as great as possible. All the Astarters of the space wolves and their successors are educated in the sagas and their importance in the culture of the chapter. The Sixth Legion has a dark history as the Emperor's executioners, and through the sagas not only does the genetic lineage redeem itself from such acts, but it shows that its Astarters are not executioners, but heroes whose stories deserve to be heard.

The Space Wolves use various war cries, but their main one would undoubtedly be: "For Russ and the Allfather!!!" (Allfather being the name used in Fenris to refer to the Emperor).

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Logan Grimnar hurried as he ran through the Fang towards the monastery's Librarium. The Great wolf had received a message from the chief Rune priest Njal, and from the message the situation was urgent, urgent enough to force the old wolf to cross half of the galaxy to reach Fenris.

Logan continued running for several minutes until he finally reached the chief Rune priest's chamber. With force, he opened the chamber's thick wooden doors from side to side.

Inside the chamber he found several Rune priests scattered around and a small group of librarians of the Thousand sounds, each of them carrying the symbol of the raven of the corvidae cult, in front of these librarians was the Magister of the corvidae cult Kazend Ahar. Logan had been told that Njal had called Magnus' sons to help him with the vision, but he didn't know that he had gone so far as to summon a Magister.

Logan then turned to look at Njal. The Rune Priest was wearing a large robe, sitting on a wooden chair, rubbing his head with his hand while breathing heavily. His two raven psybers were standing on the back of the chair looking at their master.

"Njal." Said the Great Wolf before stepping forward and approaching the rune priest. "What did you see?"

Njal turned to face the old wolf, and after a few moments of silence he said, "Death... death is coming to Fenris. And she carries an iron skull."