The Volcanic Heresyevtrax

evtrax

Summary:

An alternate heresy like the roboutian heresy or sanguinary heresy, but with Vulkan as the arch traitor.

Chapter 1: Volcanic Heresy Introduction

Chapter Text

the volcanic heresy

Pre-Heresy: the cracks begin to form

In the glorious 31st millennium the Emperor of Mankind launched his Imperium's Great Crusade to reclaim the galaxy for mankind. At the head of his forces were the mighty Space Marine Legions, 18 mighty armies composed of transhumans, each one the equal of the heroes of old, marched and were led by a demigod son of the Emperor himself. Behind them was the Imperial army, the numberless hordes of men and women dedicated to the ideals of the Emperor. The mechanical might of Mars, with the great god machines known as Titans striding in legions. And in the shadows were the Assassin Temples, who did the dirty work that heroes like the Emperor could not do, a thankless job that needed to be done. The worlds of humanity were recovered, either embracing their lost heritage or being forced into compliance. Even certain Xenos were allied with the Imperium, be they absorbed like the Squats or the Ratlings, or be separate allies like the eldar who raised the Primarch Lorgar. The Light of the Astronomicon proclaimed to the galaxy that the Long Night was over, and a new golden age had come.

The peak of the Great Crusade was undoubtedly the Ullanor compliance, where the Emperor himself broke the power of the greatest ork empire left in the galaxy. At the end of the campaign, with Ullanor turned into a trophy world by the victorious Imperium, the Emperor announced he would be leaving the Great Crusade in the hands of Horus, the first found and the now Warmaster of the Imperium. The Emperor took Magnus with him to help on the project and made Perturabo the Praetorian of Terra. It was here that the cracks that would leave the Imperium, the Emperor and his hopes and dreams in ruins, began to form.

Sanguinius, the angel of Baal, and his legion the Blood Angels worshiped the Emperor as a god, despite the Emperors outright ban on worship of anything, having declared there are no gods (to those who knew the truth of the warp and the war in heaven know that what he left unsaid, that there are god like entity's but to worship them is foolish). on the world of Ecclesia, the blood angels had begun to openly worship the Emperor. Upon hearing of this, the Emperor ordered the Sons of Horus (the newly renamed legion of Horus) and his most trusted confidant Malcador the Sigilite to burn this world and humble the blood angels. While doing this broke Horus's hearts to hurt his brother so he did it. This would set the blood angels on the path of chaos, first fighting the Nephilim and then going on the pilgrimage, thus becoming the first legion to fall to chaos.

Then the issue of psykers came to a head, many Primarchs distrusting all things of the warp and they called for the sanction of the Thousand Sons, the legion of Magnus. They believed that the sorcery of this psyker legion would re-ignite the age of strife. On the world of Nikea the Iron Warriors, gene sons of Perturabo, made a mighty colosseum and the Council of Nikea began. Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard, began with his legitimate concerns about psykers. He was quickly drowned out by the others who distrusted psykers. Unlike Mortarion, they were merely savages whose hatred of "witches" is the result of their backwards upbringings. The worst of them was Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves, whose hatred of psykers was hypocritical in nature. He called Magnus and his sons wielders of maleficarum, and the only evidence he presented was the evidence given to him by his rune priests, themselves psykers. The only thing Leman accomplished in the council was aiding Magnus's cause by managing to paint those against psykers as backwards hypocrites. Magnus calmly and expertly explained his proposed Librarius program, which not only addressed Mortarion's concerns, but appeased everyone.

Everyone except Russ, that is. He howled threats, accusations of the Emperors mind being poisoned, and stormed off in a huff. It was soon after the Council of Nikea that the Thousand Sons were afflicted with the flesh change. This had always been a threat to them, but the being behind it, the chaos god Tzeench, had realized Magnus would not fall and decided to take his anger out on the legion. Magnus assembled a cabal of his most powerful psyker sons, and the leader of the cabal, a Terran recruit known as Ahriman, proposed a desperate ritual. Magnus, devastated at the sight of so many of his sons becoming mewling mutants that were chaos spawn in all but name, agreed. Thus was performed the Rubric of Ahriman, and 9/10ths of the Thousand Sons became nothing but dust in armor. The Rubric succeeded, but created the rubric marines, automatons made from the souls of those who couldn't become psykers. At the sight of this perceived failure Magnus wept, and the Emperor himself went to Prospero, comforting Magnus and revealing to him the truth of the chaos gods. The Rubric was the best way to go, and while Magnus still felt guilty he came back to Terra.

What truly kickstarted the end of the new golden age, and the beginning of a dark age the likes of which the galaxy has never seen, was the meeting between the Sons of Horus and a civilization known as the Interex. During the peace negotiations Warmaster Horus was stabbed with a Daemon Weapon and sent into a coma. The Mournival that was the second in command of Horus prepared to go to war with the Interex, and only the quick thinking of the Word Bearer Chaplain known as Erebus prevented a horrible slaughter.

Abbadon looked at Erebus with disbelief, "What are you saying?" Erebus nodded, "I know it is difficult to believe, but I speak the truth." Abbadon started to laugh mockingly, "You mean to say that the concept of disorder has lain our father low." Erebus merely nodded, "Call it what you like, Chaos, Kaos, The Ruinous Powers, Reality Tumors, The Primordial Annihilator, the Dark Gods, it all means the same thing. They are the debris of the War in Heaven, powered by the emotions of sentient life and made hostile to everything that is good. My legion has known of it for some time, but by the decree of the Emperor himself we have kept it hidden." Erebus patted his copy of the Book of Lorgar.

Abbadon knew the Word Bearers had some strange beliefs, worshiping the gods of the eldar and such. But he also knew that the Word Bearers were completely loyal to the Imperium, unlike the eldar who were divided, with the dark eldar and the militaristic craftworlds and those enigmatic Ynnari. Horus Aximand, little Horus, spoke up, "It doesn't matter what afflicts our father. What matters is, can you save him?" Erebus nodded saying, "Yes I can, but it won't be easy. And I will need your help."

Horus was healed by an ancient ritual, nicknamed the ritual of chüd by Lorgar, and set off to terra to interrogate his father as to why he kept such important information from him. Magnus revealed what the Emperor had told him after the disastrous Rubric. The Emperors plan was to starve the chaos gods and then free humanity from the Warp via the Webway. Without the worship and constant interaction with the Warp the chaos gods would become so weak that the Astronomicons power would cleanse the warp of the reality tumors once and for all.

then, the unthinkable happened, Vulkan had turned traitor.

The Heresy: catastrophes abound

Those who defend the Imperium, such as the inquisitors, the space marines and the eldar farseers, know the myriad dangers besieging the Imperium. In fact, many times the mere knowledge of the enemy is corruptive. To save them from this tainted knowledge, they typically ponder the what ifs. What if history happened a different way. As such, they also gain an insight into enemies. For example, among the higher ups of the inquisition believe that Horus was the original target for the chosen of chaos. It makes perfect sense, after all Horus is a great general and a cunning ally. His position as the Warmaster made him perfectly positioned to cause a schism. It was only the quick thinking of Erebus and the strength of the Mournival that saved him. Of the Primarchs it seems Vulkan is the least likely to be the arch traitor. With the information provided by the Ordo Universium, the inquisitor order dedicated to the study of alternate universes and timelines, it becomes less and less believable that Vulkan, the kindest of all Primarchs, would cause the heresy.

"Oh Vulkan, the kindest amongst us, you who always took care of the common people. How like the chaos gods to turn your kindness into the fall of our father dream."

attributed to Horus

The truth of Vulkan's fall comes from a secret in plain sight, yet known only to the Primarchs, to Malcador, and to the Emperor himself. There weren't 18 legions of space marines, there were 20. The second and eleventh legions, the lost and the forgotten. Both committed crimes so horrible that the Space Wolves, the Emperors Executioners, purged them all. Their names, there deeds, everything about them was gone. Only two empty plinths in the Hegemon and two gaps in the legion's enumeration were left behind. Things that could be attributed to human error.

But there were two legions. There crimes were so horrible that even the traitor Primarchs, who have spat upon everything they swore upon, do not speak of these two. Even after the heresy, when the traitor legions were condemned with the Edict of Obliteration, the same edict upon the lost legions, there was still knowledge of the traitors. The common people knew of the so called nine sons of darkness who fought the Emperors nine sons, and the stars were watched fearfully. The Imperial Creed preach that only the God Emperor protected humanity from the hostile Xenos and from the bands of Daemons that raided worlds, taking children to make more of their own. But not even the highest of the inquisition knows or even thinks about the second and eleventh legions.

Vulkan felt extremely guilty about what happened to his brothers despite their horrible crimes. In addition, the constant forced compliances of worlds who only sought to keep their ways and independence started to wear him down. When Horus was saved the chaos gods turned to Vulkan. On a world fallen to chaos undivided they visited Vulkan and showed him visions of what had passed, and what was to come.

Vulkan looked at the four beings skeptically. He then asked them, "What proof do you have that the Emperor is evil. Yes, he condemned two of my brothers to death, but their crimes were so horrible that only their complete annihilation could absolve them. And yes, he has ordered compliance on many worlds, but his way is the best. I have seen the horrors of the Age of Strife and I know he is right. He is a good man, willing to do what is necessary, even if it is distasteful."

The vision showed Terra, and the pink hermaphroditic figure purred in her seductive voice, "Do you know of the Battle of Mount Ararat?" Vulkan nodded, "Yes, it was the final battle of the Unification Wars, where the Thunder Warriors heroically sacrificed themselves to achieve the Emperors goals." The fat green one gurgled out one word, "No." Vulkan was confused and it continued, "The Thunder Warriors were flawed creations, doomed to madness and sickness. Many times their bodies were opened after death to find nothing but a mass of tumors." The red one who seemed eternally angry said, "The Battle of Mount Ararat wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter!"

Vulkan saw the last of the Thunder Warriors and saw the forces who would cull the ones who fought to unite Terra. Several hundred Custodes, the brave gene-enhanced men and women who were the companions of the Emperor, and several thousand Proto-Astartes, bearing the gene seed of every legion. It was truly a massacre; the Thunder Warriors never stood a chance. Vulkan wanted to close his eyes, to turn away and cover his ears, but he couldn't.

Then the blue one said, "Now we shall show you what will happen should nothing be done." Suddenly the scene became one of horror, as Vulkan was shown the 41st millennium. He saw a grim and dark future, where there was only war. He saw as ignorance replaced knowledge and hate became a virtue. He saw thousands of people die in a petty war for a few feet of useless ground on a planet no one wanted. He saw entire worlds destroyed for the actions of one or a few individuals. He saw as innovation became considered heresy, and superstition and rote replaced knowledge. He saw wars on terra break out over places in line, suppressed by the Custodes or by cruel peacekeepers. He saw a bureaucracy so vast and inefficient that entire planets could be lost due to a filing error, and armies or supplies that were sent to worlds that had long ago fallen. He saw the people of Terra fear the space marines, and the imperium worship nine of his brothers as gods, while the other 9, including himself, were nowhere to be found. He saw the Imperial Palace as a hunched decayed thing, its beauty still there but twisted into a thing of war. He saw as every day one thousand psykers, men women and children, were sacrificed to his father. But worst of all was that his father was worshiped as a god, and that worship was the only thing truly keeping the Imperium together.

He started to weep at what he saw and turned to the four. "What can I do to prevent this?" he asked. And thus Vulkan fell.

Vulkan and his legion, alongside the iron hands and the raven guard, declared themselves free of the Emperor and his cruelty. Horus was too far from the Istvaan system to aid the attack, which spared his legion, but he used his authority as the Warmaster to call every available legion to bring the rebels to heel.

After the message came more horrible news, the Space Wolves had destroyed Prospero. The survivors arrived at the Imperial palace, telling of how Leman Russ declared Prospero and the Thousand Sons witches, defying the Emperor ban against sorcery by using the Rubric, unaware or uncaring that the Emperor forgave Magnus and his legion for its usage. They attacked and burned so much, then the Space Wolves started to turn into creatures that were best described as werewolves. Russ had cried to the skies for his son's salvation, and he was answered. They became diseased things and had caused Prospero to rot from the inside out. It is said that when Magnus heard this news he didn't cry, having shed all his tears in the aftermath of the Rubric. Instead he swore an oath of moment, swearing that he would have his vengeance upon Leman Russ. It wouldn't matter if it took 10,000 years or longer, but Russ and his dogs would pay for their crimes.

Then came Perturabo and his Iron Warriors, revealing that his home world Olympia had been attacked by the Gedehams, a xenos species believed annihilated by Rogal Dorn and his legion. The fleets the xenos used were comprised not only of their horrible hive ships but also of Imperial fist ships. Perturabo believed that the Gedehams claims that these ships were gifted to them by Rogal to be nothing more than the lies of hostile xenos attempting to spread dissent. But the revelation of the betrayals of both Vulkan and Russ changed his tune. Horus realized that the loyalist legions were being led into a trap, but by then it was too late.

Seven legions assembled at Istvaan, first to arrive being the Emperors Children led by their Primarch Fulgrim, having come in full force. Then came the Death Guard led by Mortarion, again having the full legion with him. Then came the Dark Angels, led by Lion El'Jonson, fresh from there campaign in the ghoul stars. Marius Gage came next, leading a chapter of Ultramarines, saying that Roboute was currently attacking a world that needed destroying, but sent what help he could. Then came the Alpha legion, led by Alpharius; only a 4th of the legion came, and Alpharius revealed the rest were dealing with something that couldn't be delayed, but he left his forces in the hands of a commander he trusted above all others and he came with what forces he could spare. Then came the Blood Angels, led by Sanguinius. Where they were once the pinnacle of space marines and Sanguinius had become one of the least popular Primarchs (possibly the least popular) his forces were welcomed. Lastly came the White Scars, led by Jagatai Khan. His full legion had come from the Chondax system.

The first wave was comprised of the Emperors Children (Fulgrim was enraged by Ferrus's betrayal), the Death Guard and the Alpha Legion. The second wave was to be comprised of the others. Upon Isstvan 5 the sight of the horrible mockeries their brothers and their legions made the Primarchs sick.

The Salamanders were horrible visions of devils, any kindness within them replace with pitiless hate. The sigils of the ruinous powers bedecked their armor, and the fire that once cleansed the worlds of filth were now the fires of hell.

There were few Iron Hands, but they more than made up for their lack of Astartes with what accompanied them. The sons of Ferrus Manus were accompanied by AI's and gene forged things, each of the Iron Hands commanded an army of the very things the Great Crusade had set out to destroy.

The Raven Guard were the worst. Much like the Iron Hands there were few true Astartes, but instead of the creatures of the Long Night there were horrible mutants that were once Astartes. The Raven Guard had unnatural hordes of Chaos Spawn at the command of the Nobles, those Astartes who mastered the twin gifts of Slannesh: pleasure and pain.

The three loyalist legions were in a tight spot, and when they believed reinforcements had come they were betrayed.

Omegon ran from the flailing tendrils of what had once been Astartes, but the sight of his nephews devolved into these things wasn't what made him sick. No, it was the fact that they moaned in pleasure and pain, that those two opposite sensations mixed in these twisted things. If Alpharius was here it would be so much easier. Hell, he'd have the whole legion backing him up. But he had said something about Cabal, and that was that. The Cabal was a threat so big, well their goal was humanity's utter destruction. Even three traitor legions paled in comparison, but Horus's order was clear. Omegon often pretended to be his twin, and he took as many legionaries as could be spared.

Omegon found safety behind a rock, and his anger was riled by the sight of the Ultramarines just standing there.

"This is Alpharius of the Alpha Legion! I command you, open fire on the Raven Guard!"

The Ultramarines did nothing, Omegon got even angrier.

"Help us you damn pompous cowardly smurfs! I..."

The rest of the angry rant died in his mouth as the Ultramarines did open fire, but not on the Raven Guard, but on his own sons.

The drop site massacre broke three legions, and Fulgrim was beheaded by Ferrus, using the very weapon Fulgrim forged for him. Mortarion and Alpharius escaped alongside there legions and the Emperor's Children, led by Lucius the eternal, whose bravery and cool head prevented the legion from splintering after Fulgrim's death. The blow to the Imperium was hard, with the legions loyal to the throne splitting up. Alpharius and the Alpha legion meet up with Konrad and the Night Lords, and they begin a war against Vulkan and his forces. There were many human worlds who were loyal to Vulkan, remembering the kindness of him and his legion. However, the newfound cruelty of Vulkan and his legion made many reconsider. Meanwhile the Death Guard and the White Scars engaged in a chase across the galaxy. As for the Emperor's Children, there chief apothecary Fabius Bile had been corrupted by chaos during the Laer campaign and led half of the legion into chaos with him. For the duration of the heresy, the Emperors children were engaged in their own civil war, the heresy in miniature.

Soon after the drop site massacre was the second most horrible event of the entire heresy, with only the death of the Emperor surpassing it. Rogal Dorn and his Imperial Fists attacked the Meretara Cluster, a might set of Iron Warrior established worlds, who willing accepted the Imperium's rule after being freed from the Black Judges by Perturabo and his sons. This in itself wasn't particularly noteworthy, the traitorous Imperial Fists preferring and still prefer to attack the Iron Warriors. What was special was the hand guiding Rogal. He had been consumed by jealousy of Perturabo and his sons for getting what he believed should have been his honor, the privilege of fortifying Terra. Before the drop site massacre he was approached by the Specter King Kor Phareon, who promised a way to ruin Perturabo's greatest accomplishment. Thus Rogal and his legion attacked the cluster in the form of a ritual, and at the end the ritual activated. The force of the magic blast shattered the wards the Emperor had set up around the Webway, allowing the daemon hordes to pour in. Thus started the War in the Webway, and the death of the Emperors greatest dream. This and the heresy did ruin Perturabo's greatest accomplishment, as he was forced to destroy the beauty of the Imperial palace to make sure it endured. This kept the Emperor, his Custodes, the Sisters of Silence, Magnus, the rubric marines, and the Harlequins from aiding the loyalists, too busy making sure that the hordes of Daemons didn't engulf Holy Terra.

On Mars the situation was no better. The Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal remained loyal, his friendship with Horus ensuring that, but sadly Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl did not. Cawl was a tech priest who always bordered on tech-heresy, his devotion to innovation skirting the Emperor's decrees. His friendship with Roboute was what sealed the deal. He declared the Emperor a false Omnissiah and created the Dark Mechanicus, trapping the loyalist tech priests on Olympus Mons. One of the Triarchs of the Trident and an army of Iron Warriors were sent to liberate Mars, and while the public believes they succeeded those who know of the Iron Lie realize that myriad technological hells lurk beneath Mars.

Meanwhile the Craftworlds were about to rush to the aid of their human allies, only for a Schism to strike them as well. The Ynnari, worshipers of the theoretical whispering god Ynnead, led half of the Craftworlds against the Imperium. The reasons for the traitors varied, maybe they longed for the days of the Eldar Empire, or maybe they still thought of humans as like the ancient Mon-Keigh who cannibalized entire races. Whatever the reason they declared themselves a New Eldar Empire, dedicated to destroying the humans and those foolish kindred who allied them with the savages. The loyal Craftworlds, led by Eldrad Ulthran, became the Ulthwe alliance. For the entire heresy they were tied up in a war throughout the entire eldar race, with the dark eldar pillaging and attacking both sides.

Ynnead, the lords of order, godly morality, and the end prophesy

The god Ynnead is not a eldar god, not truly. In fact, Ynnead isn't even a god yet. The prophesy of the now accursed Mystic Kysaduras the Anchorite once gave the eldar hope. Now they curse this damn fool, knowing that Ynnead is merely a repeat of the Slannesh incident waiting to happen. Indeed, Ynnead is a theoretical concept (as much as anything involving the Warp can be called theoretical) known as a lord of order.

the lords of order, given the name, might sound like enemies of the gods of chaos. But they are just as big a threat, as befits the origin of what can be called warp gods. Gods of the eldar and other such gods are artificial gods, warp powers born of belief and the science of the mythical Old Ones. Such gods are made of stories and the power of prayer. Warp gods, however, are born of emotions and the debris of the War in Heaven, they cannot be benevolent. Even if the galaxy found peace the gods of the warp would still not embody any of their positive traits, the damage left by the war in heaven would still taint them.

In fact, any and all attempts to create a god are doomed to make a warp god. The order of the warp the Old Ones used were broken in the War in Heaven. And more disturbing is the prophesy about the so-called lords of order found by Argel Tal of the Word Bearers during the defense of Black Library in the Scouring.

translated from the old one's language, using eldar runes as a baseline into gothic, it reads as follows:

When the arch priest is saved from the hells ruled by the specter king, the end times shall begin.

so shall be born the lords of order. First shall be the lord of ambition, the Greater Good, born of the ideals of a naïve race, broken from without and betrayed from within.

Second shall come the lord of unity, the Consumer. born of a race that eats like locusts and drawn by the light of order. There primitive mind of one shall be ascended by a fallen angel and a mad god of the material.

Third shall come the whispering god Ynnead, the lord of glory past. It shall be born of fools attempting a route they already tread. Mad men will walk down the path of atrocity, blindly believing in their own arrogance.

And lastly shall come the Star Father, the true chaos god of order. The first fallen shall lead the angels of hell into humanity's cradle and kill the last hope humanity has left.

And thus, when order and chaos unite as one, the galaxy will burn, as the dragon of chaos is impossibly resurrected, and demigods die.

This prophecy is only known to the highest of the high, only the legion masters, the high lords, the custodes, the Primarchs and the emperor himself. This prophecy would make the imperium lose the things that truly keeps it going. Faith and Hope.

Indeed, if Vulkan and his legions had managed to use this momentum they would have easily toppled the Imperium. But as is always the case, Chaos is its own worst enemy. Attempting to direct the chaos legions was like attempting to herd drunk and stupid cats. Only the Iron Hands truly stayed with Vulkan throughout the heresy, and even then it was because their corruption was born more in the twisted abominable intelligences and sciences of the Long Night instead of in the Ruinous Powers. Indeed Vulkan only trusted the White Scars, which is why they were sent after the Death Guard. All Vulkan could get them to do was promise to aid him when he reached the solar system.

Thus this state of affairs continued for nine years. The Salamanders, the Iron Hands and the horrible hordes of the lost and the damned led by Kor Phareon made their way to the solar system while the other legions did their own thing. The Space Wolves rampaged indiscriminately, while the Imperial Fists attacked the worlds of the Iron Warriors. The Blood Angels converted worlds to the worship of the gods and slaughtered all who stayed loyal to the throne. The Raven Guards turned entire worlds into horrible brothel-abattoir's, and the Dark Angels gave into Khorne's influence completely after the destruction of Caliban. The White Scars hunted the Death Guard across the galaxy, denying the loyalists the strength of Mortarion's sons.

The only traitor legion with a different situation were the Ultramarines, some of their chapters either aided Vulkan's march or committed atrocities against loyal worlds. But the majority followed there Primarch, as is the way with space legions. During the drop site massacre Roboute led a fourth of his legion on an attack on Monarchia. This world was prized by the Word Bearers, for it is the site where the worship of the eldar pantheon was allowed by the Emperor. Monarchia was burned by the Ultramarines and the famous Kranon the restless had his eyelids removed, alongside the pieces of his brain required for sleep.

This outraged Lorgar, and he led his legion alongside Angron and his legion (having come back from annihilating an orkish empire) to make Ultramar burn. However, Roboute was one step ahead of them, as chaos cultists on each of the 500 worlds sacrificed themselves, and while some loyalist Ultramarines aided the loyalist legions, they were most killed in these sacrifices. Thus was born the Ruinstorm, and the Shadow Crusade began.

Then eventually Vulkan and his fleets arrived at the gateways to Sol, and the traitor legions assembled. The reported death of Alpharius at Eskrador by Roboute disheartened loyalists, even if it was revealed to be an Alpha legion ploy. Much of the Ultramarines might came with Roboute, and the traitor legions assembled.

On Terra proper the traitor legions once again proved chaos was its own worst enemy. The Raven Guard attacked the populace of Terra while the Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Imperial fists attacked the Imperial palace heedless of strategies. They were consumed by hatred, and the siege continued for months.

Eventually word reached the commanders of both sides that the Word Bearers and World Eaters had escaped the Ruinstorm, and alongside the Night Lords they rushed for Terra. Indeed, they soon arrived and Lorgar engaged Roboute and killed him. Meanwhile Angron banished Corvis Corax, causing the Raven Guard to collapse to the ground writhing in pain and pleasure, with many nobles becoming spawn.

It was then that Vulkan challenged the Emperor personally, lowering the shields on the Flamewrought. The Emperor, Horus, several Custodes and the Mournival all teleported to the Gloriana class battleship and were separated. There Horus found Sanguinius and was betrayed by him, and the Mournival then banished Sanguinius. Vulkan and the Emperor dueled, and it was only the death of a mortal soldier by Vulkan that caused the Emperor to realize his son was beyond saving. Unleashing his full power, the Emperor annihilated Vulkan, and was wounded fatally by Vulkan in turn. Even the Perpetual nature of Vulkan couldn't save him from the power of the Master of Mankind. The custodes and the Mournival carried the Emperor to the golden throne, where Malcador had sacrificed himself. And thus ended the heresy.

Post heresy: the long war begins

With the death or betrayal of every Primarch considered fit to rule the Imperium, the job fell to Lorgar and the Mournival. Thus after the creation of the High Lords of Terra the Scouring began, as worlds that fell to chaos were retaken. The forces of chaos fled to the galactic hells that are warp storms. The traitor legions and the Dark Mechanicus fled to all these places where only the whims of the dark gods is law. The majority of the traitor legions fled to the Eye of Terror, while the Ultramarines and those of Cawl's followers went to the Ruinstorm that was once the 500 worlds of Ultramar. Kor Phareon and his unholy flock fled to the Screaming Vortex, while the corrupted Eldar fled to the one warp storm that did not offend their senses; the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom was not the ruins of there once grand empires like the Eye of Terror and the Screaming Vortex, nor was it the crude human infested canker that is the Ruinstorm.

The Iron Warriors made mighty rings of defenses around these four hells known as the Iron Cages, and then the Imperium began to divide its power. The Imperial Army was divided into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy. However, Lorgar immediately overruled the proposed breaking of the legions, saying that it would turn the mighty walls of humanity defenders into a collection of rotting picket fences easily destroyed by those seeking humanity's end. Lorgar believed (correctly) that the traitors survived inside the warp storms, having seen firsthand the horrors of the Ruinstorm, but he knew that the rest of the Imperium believed the traitors dead. Instead he cited the xenos enemy's, those known and who could arise.

In the eye of terror and other warp storms, the chaos corrupted forces carved out empires. The legions rarely stayed united, but the daemon Primarchs and their followers made their homes upon daemon worlds, where the great game of chaos is played.

The dark Angels rule over the world of Mordred, where armies of serfs and knights fight in a twisted mockery of chivalry, the legion of Khorne retaining their minds unlike so many of his berserk worshipers. Lion El'Jonson sits upon a throne made of skulls, brooding upon the wound Luther inflicted on him. Normally this obvious wound would necessitate the constant deflection of usurpers, but none are foolish enough to challenge the lion, even though he is weakened.

The White Scars rule over the world of Eindoe, an apocalyptic wasteland where the horsemen of chaos ride across the four quarters. The fate of Jagatai Khan is unknown, but the four true horsemen rule in his place, one for each of the four chaos gods. This is the center of their twisted empire, with many different worlds ruled by different Khans.

The Space Wolves rule over Asgard, a plague world that invokes the ancient legends of Valhalla. Here space wolves and mortals fight and drink endlessly, with twisted Valkyries born from human and eldar women choosing those worthy of ascension. And upon a throne of rotted ash sits Leman Russ, sleeping until the Wolftime. Each of the great company's rule a different daemon world in the eye.

The Imperial Fists reside upon the world known as Hangai, a place of buzzing and ever shifting hives, always making sigils for ritual magic. Here rules Rogal Dorn, now identical to the Gedehams in form, a horrible wasp centaur thing. His only goal is to see the works of his brother Perturabo destroyed, he seeks to shatter the Iron Cages and defile all his fortresses, with something particularly nasty planned for the imperial palace. From the hives of Hangai pour the Imperial Fists, breaking themselves upon the Iron Cage that traps them.

The Blood Angels, the first fallen, the priests of chaos, rule over worlds that are truly hells. Every place where the souls of bad people were sent has become a daemon world in the warp storms, ruled by the fallen angels. They preach to flocks of adoring cultists, and feed upon the blood of mortals, innocent and guilty alike. And upon the world of Helvete, the first of the crone worlds, is Sanguinius. In a place known to the common folk as the Nine Hells, the angel of Baal alternatively broods upon his lost wings and meditates on the will of the dark gods.

The world of the Iron Hands is not named by the Iron Hands, considering it just a world, one that their lord Ferrus Manus resides on, but just another number. The Imperium calls it Unicron, as it was referred to by Lorgar as such when he first heard of it. On this world the Iron Hands work eternally, recreating the horrors of the Age of Strife. It is unknown what they plan to do with these unnatural monsters, but it can only be bad for the imperium. in addition, the Iron Hands have a close friendship/rivalry with the black legion, led by Fabius Bile and composed of renegades of all legions and many other xenos, as well as Biles twisted new humanity.

The Ultramarines make their home in the Ruinstorm, the warp storm surrounding the 500 worlds of Ultramar. 500 daemon worlds reside in this place, ruled by the warbands called chapters. On the world of Macragge rests the corpse of Roboute Guilliman, kept in stasis on the verge of death from the wounds inflicted by Lorgar. In the Ruinstorm also resides the arch-heretek Cawl, who made the horrible Primaris Marines after 10,000 years, and they have plagued the imperium ever since the 32nd millennium. Time is meaningless in a warp storm, and thus for Cawl it took 10,000 years but for the rest of the universe it took him mere centuries before his twisted "improvements" on the Emperors work was unleashed.

The arch traitor's legion, the Salamanders, rule a world near identical to their home Nocturne. this world, called Volcanis, is a world of raging volcanos and hammering forges. The Salamanders still love there Primarch, screaming "Vulkan lives!" as their war cry. they launch black crusades seeking the artifacts of Vulkan. It is believed by both them and by the Imperium that if the nine artifacts of Vulkan are reunited on Volcanis and a ritual performed by the Forgefather then Vulkan will return, and both parties seek the artifacts to prevent or ensure that Vulkan indeed lives.

And the Raven Guard, a legion comprised of spawn and nobles, reside on a world known as Nevermore, from the last words of Corvis Corax before ascending as a spawn prince. Here on this world the spawn writhe in ecstasy and nobles inflict atrocity's untold. And flying above it all is Corax, now a chaos spawn daemon prince the size of Texas, eternally in the twisted shape of a raven.

It is the end of the 41st millennium, and it seems that dusk is upon humanity. The orks gather in hordes unseen since the war of the beast which cost Mortarion his life. The Tau attack the Iron Cages unaware of the hell they will unleash. The Tyranids attack the galaxy, drawn by the light of the Astronomicon. The Dark Eldar continue to wage their ceaseless war on real space. Worse still is the fact that entire worlds are found lifeless, and the seer council of the Ulthwe alliance fearfully warn their allies in the Imperium of the Necrons.

But the greatest threat to the Imperium is undoubtedly Chaos, and now the traitor legions seem to have reunited. Reports say that the 13th black crusade has found the last of the artifacts of Vulkan, which even now makes its way to Volcanis. In the Ruinstorm the Ynnari and Cawl work together to resurrect Roboute.

But hope also comes to mankind, as in the Hadex Anomaly there are rumors of a mighty champion of man, trapped there by the specter king. Even now he draws ever closer to freedom from the hell he is trapped in. It is the endtimes, and the galaxy will burn.

Author notes

Alright, these are my random observations on this story.

First off, this story was born on alternatehistory.com, which is a cool site with a lot of fandom discussions and more that is free and easy to sign up too. Anyway, I made a post about Warhammer alternate heresy's and a Viscount of Ohio mentioned two things, one a possibility of Lorgar being raised in the black library and Vulkan being arch traitor yet still being his kind self. Thus the volcanic heresy (his name that I am using) was born.

Now to address the two things I want to really address, based on the first review I got for this story.

First I know Sanguinius is basically canon Lorgar, that is intentional. I wanted an emperor worshiping Primarch and it just hit me to use the blood angel Primarch. He has freaking angel wings!

Second, the first reviewer said I was unclear about which chaos gods got which legion. I think it's obvious, but I will state here which legions fall and the meta reason behind it.

Khorne gets the Dark Angels, and the meta reason is because I haven't seen it in other alternate heresys.

Tzeench gets the Imperial Fists, the meta reason is that I got a good idea on that thread where I started this idea as a mere description outline. I asked how Rogal Dorn, who couldn't tell a white lie to save his life, would become corrupted by the god of lies. One person, I don't remember who, suggested a Tzeench corrupted species with ever changing fortresses that do not obey the laws of physics driving him mad. So were born the Gedehams, I wanted to call them Vespids but that names taken.

Nurgle gets the space wolfs, and once again it was born on the alternatehistory site. Someone posted about a scenario where Russ falls to Tzeench by the warp touched atmosphere of Prospero, and he makes a deal with Tzeench to save his legion. I see the same thing happening, but Nurgle headbutts Tzeench and corrupts Russ.

Slannesh gets the raven guard, and I gotta be honest. The only reason the raven guard gets corrupted by Slannesh is because there needs to be a Slannesh legion. My original plan was for the raven guard to be like the canon alpha legion, but I realized Slannesh didn't have a legion, so I shoehorned them in.