Chapter 6: ~The Dropsite Massacre~
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Without the warning of the survivors of Istvaan III, being stalled by daemons sent by Leman Russ himself, the traitors could plan their grand reveal to the galaxy. So Leman decided to showcase the might of the traitors by claiming the planet of Istvaan V as a temporary homebase, while Horus, Logar, Alpharius and Omegon, and Jagahtai Khan all rallied behind his banner, whilst the others stayed in the shadows, displaying loyalty to the Emperor to keep the rest of the loyalist in the dark.
Upon hearing of the heresy of the four legions, and the destruction of the Istvaan sector, the Emperor quickly called for all of his loyal sons to gather at Terra for a council of the utmost importance. All who were loyal arrived, as those who hid their true loyalties did as well. The Emperor made a quick decision to have Sanguineus, Mortarian, and Perturabo become the Warmasters Triad, and they would decide what would be done, as his secret project had become more worrisome if not overseen properly. The Triad quickly made use of their role, updating the Primarchs of the heresy and what the current situation was. Perturabo, having been put in charge of the Imperial Palace after Rogal's little stunt, regarded Rogal Dorn with silent hatred. But he also noticed something off about him, Guilliman, the Lion, and Corvus Corax. Though due to the situation at hand, he decided to push it down
Sanguineus quickly put together a plan alongside Mortarian, who had arrived on Terra after assisting Magnus the Red and Konrad Curze on Prospero, the only Primarch of the three to arrive. Magnus had sent Ariham and Konrad had sent Servetar in their places. The Triad called for the Salamanders, Iron Hands, and Emperor's Children to land on Istvaan V to establish a landing zone as well as many defenses as possible. That way the Dark Angels, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, and Raven Guard could land on the planet and eradicate the traitor forces. Everyone present agreed to the plan, with Fulgrim most hopeful to deal with the situation as fast as possible.
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Fulgrim walked through the great halls of the Imperial Palace, Ferrus Manus and Vulkan by his side, none saying any words as they headed towards their shuttles to take them to their capital ships and then…
To Istvaan V.
As the trio walked through the corridors, they heard the bustling of the citizens around them, hurrying from place to place to try and do their duties. Iron Hands and Iron Warriors hurried around as well, making sure areas of importance were secure. It was chaos. As they turned to the flight deck, Fulgrim noticed a worried Fabius Bile. Approaching the chief apothecary while his brothers boarded their shuttles, Fulgrim also noticed Fabius typing away furiously on his tablet.
"Fabius, what is wrong?" Fulgrim asked, stopping to the side of Fabius, who jumped.
"Oh! My lord Fulgrim! I uh… um… well you see…" He sighed and just handed Fulgrim his tablet. Fulgrim, an eyebrow raised, walked on board the shuttle with Fabius, reading the contents of the tablet. Upon finishing, he turned to Fabius.
"Why make such notes about the Ultramarines? And the Imperial Fists? What ailments could they all have contracted?" He asked Fabius, confused. Fabius sighed again, stroking his chin as he often did when he was in thought.
"I am not sure, my lord. These are just observations that I have made. But something sickens them, down to their very genes. I just have never seen such behavior before, especially by the likes of the Sons of Ultramar and Sons of Dorn!" He finished his talk by sighing once again, obviously tired. Fulgrim gave him a solemn nod and turned back to the tablet. He just wished he knew what to do with this information.
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As the Iron Hands, Emperor's Children, and Salamanders made landfall, the true extent of the traitors' heresy on Istvaan V was made apparent.
The Word Bearers displayed horrendous acts of self sacrifice, their bodies warped and mutated into devilish things, summoning hoards of daemons and using vile spells to slay their foes. They chanted words of pure evil and treachoury.
The White Scars had become savage barbarians, using their bikes and superior speed to charge through the ranks of the loyalists, their faces twisted into chaotic glee and they butchered those that had once considered them allies.
The Alpha Legion, once of great secrecy, now charge forward with disjunction, trampling over each other to get to the loyalists, determined to claim glory for their primarchs. They utilized weapons of Chaos to sow confusion all over the ranks.
The Sons of Horus had become something monstrous. Through the introduction of the Butcher's Nails and the gifts of Khorne, the Sons of Horus have become things of pure rage and hate, intent on fulfilling their Primarch's will. They roar with such hate that Vulkan, on board his flag ship, buckles from the intense heat it sears from the planet's surface.
And the Space Wolves… oh the Space Wolves. Once the holy executioners of the Emperor's will, the Space Wolves had become twisted things. The sigil of Chaos scratched upon their armor, twisted weapons in their hands, and savage pure hatred glistened from their eyes. Amongst them came waves of daemons and daemon engines.
The loyalist forces, led by Ferrus Manus, clashed with the traitors. The two forces intent on destroying each other utilized every tactic they had up their armor plates. Despite the abilities of the traitor forces, the loyalists were able to capture some key areas and set up landing zones for their reinforcements. It was then when the traitor forces made another push, forcing the loyalist to fall back to the landing zones where their reinforcements were landing.
And that is when the tradegy struck.
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Ferrus Manus ran to the landing zones that held the Imperial Fists, swearing all the way as he did so. Of course the traitors would attack when their reinforcements began to land. He hopped over a mound to get some cover, bolter fire storming all around him. He could take a hit, sure. But even the greatest of the Primarchs could fall to enemy fire.
As he evaluated his choices, he noticed a large detachment of Imperial Fists headed to the fight. Ferrus Manus smiled and made contact via his commincator in his helmet.
"Imperial Fists! Load your bolters and fire on the enemy! I repeat, load your…" He was cut short when he saw what happened next.
The Fists did indeed load their bolters and fire. But it wasn't at the enemy.
It was at his sons.
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Only now did the touch of Chaos make itself known, and the full true extent of the traitors' reach show itself. The Salamanders, Iron Hands, and Emperor's Children were surrounded by their former cousins and allies. Ferrus Manus, angry at what had happened, knew that his loyal siblings above were most certainly dealing with void battles and thus couldn't help much. So Ferrus was stuck keeping the loyalists together as they also were undergoing a slaughter. As much as Ferrus wanted to launch himself into the crowd of traitors and slay every single one, he knew that wasn't possible. He needed to keep his brothers' sons together or they would all be destroyed. Thus he began to rally the troops and lead them to areas of known safety, even if the safetly provided was limited.
Slowly but surely, survivors of the slaughter arrived to the last area, where Ferrus Manus called for transports to get everyone to safety. While many would be destroyed on the trip down, Ferrus had planned on it. Thus he lead the forces able to in a defense against the incoming traitors.
There he would face down the might leader of the traitor forces there… Lion El Johnson.
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Ferrus Manus stood before his traitorous brother, his hammer drawn, ready to clash with the leader of the Dark Angels. The Lion was clearly more out of it than usual, his typical stoic and knightly demeanor now being traded for a tired and sickly. Despite this, when they two clashed their weapons, the power of the Lion was still clear. The Primarchs dualed while the battle raged all around them.
During the battle, the Lion suddenly jumped back, staggering. Only then did Ferrus notice an odd blue glow in his eyes. The Lion looked up at Ferrus, the glow fading for a slight second and all that came out of the Lion's mouth was…
"I'm sorry."
The Lion then haggard over, grunting and then twisted back upright, straight to the sky screaming as tentacles, wings, and spikes burst from his body. Everyone around paused and looked up at the where the once great Primarch stood. Now there stood a twisted demon of Tzeentch.
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Ferrus kept leading the charge, now facing down the daemon that had once been his brother, the transports finally landing. As they did, all of the remaining survivors boarded them. They would have begun to lift off if it hadn't been for the Lion's efforts to hold them there. Tears in the warp began to appear everywhere. Hundreds of traitors fell into these tears, as did plenty of loyalists.
In an effort to stop the Warp Tears from spreading and doom the survivors, Ferrus Manus rushed the beast head on and forced the daemon and himself into one of the tears, despite the cries of Vulkan and Fulgrim on the vox. Once the two Primarchs had fallen into the Warp, the tears disappeared, and the remaining loyalists retreated into their cruisers, and the loyalist fleet, while wounded, jumped into the warp, heavily damaged…
But ALIVE.
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Ferrus Manus fought the thing that had once been Lion El Johnson, the daemonic planet they fought on barren of all life beside them. Hammer clashed with blade, iron clashed with flesh.
" WHY DO YOU FIGHT? I CONTROL THE BODY OF YOUR BROTHER. AND I WILL CONTROL YOU. YOUR SOUL WILL BE MINE. " The daemon spoke with a vile and twisted nobility. Ferrus just glared at the creature. Whatever controlled him, whatever was speaking with the Lion's voice, it lied. He knew better than this thing of the warp.
The two fought and fought, neither gaining an edge, neither willing to back down. But Ferrus was getting tired. His opponent on the other hand, wasn't. Ferrus needed a win, an edge, SOMETHING. He then had a flashback to when Magnus had dragged he and his legion out of a warp storm. While the Iron Hands were checked over by the Thousand Sons, Magnus revealed something to Ferrus.
" All of us, each one of us, have the potential to use the powers of the warp. Each of us unique. I have alway been able to use it… but most of us have not. "
Upon the realization, Ferrus closed his eyes, dug deep within his soul, his mind, his body. And upon opening them, a wild green glow shone, and Ferrus grabbed the armor of the Lion.
"No more." Ferrus said, and using his Primarch abilities, he caused the armor to warp under his command, shredding the daemon. The Lion cried out in pain before dispersing into a fine red mist. Falling down on the ground, the armor of the Lion now reverted back to normal, Ferrus slowly took in a breath.
It was over. But now he was stuck in the Warp.
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Notes:
Welp. Now we're getting somewhere! If any of you remember, Ferrus was said to be dead. And technically that is still up for debate, but yeah! He never died AT Istvaan V! I have plans for the Gorgon! heheheheheheh >:]