Across three Legions, more than four hundred thousand Space Marines had perished. The number of survivors was less than ten thousand. The faces of Vulkan and Ferrus were grim, tinged with a deep sense of loss.
Their three Legions had committed to this battle with their full strength, leaving only a few thousand Space Marines to garrison their respective homeworlds. Now, their forces had suffered a cataclysm of unprecedented scale, so much so that not one of them could even field ten thousand warriors.
"Damn it all. It was my fault. I was too careless," Ferrus Manus roared in anger, kneeling on the deck.
"Do not blame yourself so harshly. Horus prepared for this war for a long time. This was a sure kill trap, a decisive gambit designed to annihilate us. We are fortunate enough to be alive," Vulkan said, clapping a hand on Ferrus's shoulder.
At least the two of them were conscious.
Corax was still unconscious from the ordeal. If Axis had not arrived unexpectedly, crushed the Ork fleet with his absolute power, and held back the supernova's blast with his incredible strength, they would never have been able to make a successful Warp jump.
They would all have been dead, every last one of them consumed by Horus's treachery.
"Do not despair. The flame of our Legions has been preserved. With enough new recruits, we can restore our strength within a decade." The Ravenlord, Corvus Corax, had regained consciousness at some point and spoke with a weary sigh.
The Space Marine Legions had existed for more than two hundred years.
The special modification surgeries were nearly perfect and mature, and their Legions held vast stores of gene-seed. This precious material was enough to ensure their Legions could be reborn.
Axis listened but said nothing.
He knew their Legions would likely never have the chance to return to their former glory. After the Horus Heresy, the Legions would be broken down into Chapters.
He did, however, take issue with this division.
Splitting the Legions into thousand-strong Chapters was one thing, but he felt that the original Founding Legions should have been allowed to retain a strength far exceeding that of a standard Chapter.
That so-called Codex Astartes was nothing more than toilet paper, yet it baffled him that the future Imperium would actually adhere to it for ten thousand years.
Axis felt that the Founding Legions should have retained a strength of at least five thousand, or even more than ten thousand Marines.
In the future, several Chapters would disregard the Codex Astartes anyway, such as the famous Black Templars, the Space Wolves, and the chapter of Huron Blackheart, the Tyrant of Badab. These Chapters all maintained forces of four to five thousand warriors or more. Many Chapters kept their numbers slightly above the thousand-man limit, which made restricting the Founding Legions to a mere thousand seem utterly absurd.
Axis planned to address this matter in the future. The Founding Legions needed to retain a strength of at least ten thousand Astartes. Five thousand felt too small. Ten thousand was the proper number.
"We must pull ourselves together," Corax said, his voice regaining some of its strengt, "Although we survived, Horus could launch an attack at any moment. His goal was to kill us all."
Horus had sought their utter annihilation.
Since he had failed, his forces would likely strike again while they were weakened.
"Do not worry. Horus would not dare show his face to me. If he had the courage to confront me directly, he wouldn't have bothered detonating a star," Axis said, his expression hard to read.
He was only somewhat drained, not out of the fight.
After a few minutes of rest, he had already recovered a portion of his power. His extraordinary Saiyan physiology even allowed him to recover stamina during battle.
In less than ten minutes, he would be back to his peak condition. If Horus dared to come, he would be signing his own death warrant.
"But we only have a single frigate left. If a hostile fleet were to appear and hit us with a single salvo, we would be finished," Vulkan pointed out.
"I, for one, would welcome them," Axis said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, an alarm blared from the ship's control platform.
"Warning! Warp fluctuation detected!" A mortal naval officer immediately rushed to Axis's side. "Lord Axis, a fleet is approaching our position."
Axis was speechless.
Was Horus really so bold as to send a force after them, essentially serving them up on a platter?
"Axis, Horus might be trying to trick you into physically manifesting in the Warp again," Kasha warned, "We must exit the Immaterium immediately. We cannot afford to fight them in here."
The Chaos Gods were likely plotting to use same means to trap Axis, to prevent him from taking part in the wider war.
Axis nodded in agreement and gave the order for the ship to transition from the Warp back into realspace.
The fleet behind them had locked onto their vessel. Seeing Axis's ship exit the Warp, they immediately followed.
"They dare to follow us?" Axis said, cracking his knuckles, "Kasha, teleport me over there. I'm going to teach Horus a lesson he won't forget."
Although he had only recovered part of his stamina, he could still use his regular Super Saiyan form. As he fought, his power would continue to regenerate.
Once he recovered enough strength to transform into the Legendary Super Saiyan, he would make Horus regret his audacity. In that form, his ki would surge endlessly.
"Axis... that fleet doesn't appear to belong to the Sons of Horus, the Emperor's Children, the Death Guard, or the Eleventh Legion. They don't seem to be traitors," Ferrus Manus noted.
The ship's sensor displays showed that the approaching fleet was not in an attack formation.
Instead, it was advancing slowly and had sent a communication signal.
"He's right. They are not hostiles, Axis. The signal identifies them as a friendly Legion, here to reinforce us," Kasha confirmed.
"Patch their signal through," Axis commanded.
A moment later, the communication link was established.
"This is Perturabo, Primarch of the Iron Warriors Legion. Identify your vessel."
Another voice followed. "I am Karl, Primarch of the Second Legion."
It was not one fleet, but two entire Space Marine Legions.
Hearing these names, everyone on the bridge breathed a collective sigh of relief, except for Axis and Ferrus Manus.
Ferrus was worried because Fulgrim had previously told him that of the five reinforcement Legions, four had already turned traitor.
With two Legions now before them, it meant that either one of them was a traitor, or Fulgrim had been lying to sow discord among the loyalists. That possibility could not be dismissed.
As for Axis, his suspicion stemmed from his foreknowledge that the Iron Warriors would betray the Imperium.
While they had not yet openly declared their treason, he knew they were on the traitor's side. The Second Legion, however, was an unknown quantity.
His first encounter with their Primarch once before wasn't the most peaceful one.
Axis was already preparing for battle.
At the slightest hostile move, he would activate the ship's defenses.
"Perturabo, this is Ferrus Manus," Vulkan responded, "We were grievously wounded on Isstvan V. Horus laid a trap for us. Our three Legions suffered catastrophic losses, and our combined strength is now less than ten thousand men."
"What? Why did you not wait for us to arrive before making your move?"
"We intended to wait, but Horus attacked us before you arrived," Corax explained, recounting the events of the battle for the two newly arrived Primarchs, "If it had not been for Axis's timely arrival, we would have been annihilated."
"That is a great tragedy," the Second Primarch, Karl, said.
His voice turned to Axis. "Is Axis on board? It has been a long time, Axis. Do you remember me?"
Axis had been the one who saved him long ago, allowing him to return the few surviving sons of his shattered legion to Holy Terra and rebuild the Second Legion from the brink of extinction.
"I do," Axis replied, "When did you two meet up? And where are the other three Legions?"
"We never made contact with them," Perturabo, the Primarch of the Fourth Legion, explained, "I encountered Karl's fleet en route, and we joined forces in the Warp. But the storms were so violent that we could only proceed by making a series of blind jumps. We followed your vessel out of the storm."
"Axis, why don't you and the others come aboard my flagship?" Karl suggested, "We can discuss our next steps and figure out how to rendezvous with the remaining Legions."
"Understood. We will make our way to your Gloriana-class battleship shortly," Axis said before terminating the communication.
He then turned to Kasha. "Activate a psychic ward. I don't want this conversation to be overheard."
Kasha nodded and conjured a psychic barrier, enveloping the Primarchs on the bridge.
"Brothers," Axis began, his tone grave, "I must tell you something. It is highly likely that both of these Legions, or at least one of them, has already turned traitor."
"What? Axis, where did you hear this? The Iron Warriors and the Second Legion have fought loyally for the Emperor for years!" Vulkan said in disbelief.
"You have this intelligence as well?" Ferrus Manus asked, "Fulgrim told me that four of the five reinforcing Legions had betrayed us. But I do not know which are loyal and which have turned. It is possible both Legions before us are traitors, or that both are loyal. Fulgrim could have been lying to us."
"My source of information is different from yours," Axis said, "But if what Fulgrim said is true, then at least one of these two Legions should be loyal."
Fulgrim's pride was immense.
If this information had come from anyone else, it might have been suspect, but from him, there was an eighty percent chance it was genuine. Therefore, the Iron Warriors had almost certainly turned.
But Horus had no idea that Axis was a transmigrator, one who knew precisely which Primarchs would fall to treason.
If he thought he could use Perturabo to launch a surprise attack, he was sorely mistaken.
"But we have no proof," Corvus Corax argued, "How are we to determine who is loyal and who is the traitor? It is even possible that both of them remain loyal."
Axis did not explain further. It was better not to tell them that the Emperor himself had known more than half the Primarchs would betray him.
The shock might be too much for the remaining loyalists. It was simpler to let them believe the intelligence came from Fulgrim.
"Perhaps we can start with the regular Space Marines," Kasha offered, "Their minds are quite vulnerable to me. I can slip into their thoughts undetected and learn whether or not they have fallen."
Her psychic power was formidable.
Not even a Space Marine could block her intrusion. She could easily read the memories of an ordinary Astartes. Even the Legions' Librarians would be defenseless against her, unless they were on the level of Malcador himself.
The Primarchs exchanged glances and agreed with Kasha's plan. If a Legion had truly turned, its sons would surely know. This was a viable way to investigate the two forces.
"As a precaution, I suggest one of us remain here on the ship," Axis proposed, "If something goes wrong, we will have a way to escape, and Kasha can teleport us back."
"I will stay behind," Corax volunteered, "You can tell them I was too gravely wounded to attend the meeting. I can be your failsafe."
He had expended a great deal of energy helping to fend off the supernova. Though he was awake, his combat strength had not yet recovered.
In his current state, even a single Space Marine might be able to defeat him. If the other Legions were indeed traitors, he would be of no help in a fight. He was better suited to remaining behind to provide support.
Axis nodded and ordered the entire crew to follow Corax's commands in his absence.
He then, along with Vulkan, Ferrus Manus, and Kasha, boarded a transport craft and set a course for the Second Primarch's Gloriana-class battleship.
Based on Fulgrim's information, Axis suspected that the one loyal Primarch was likely the head of the Second Legion.
As soon as Kasha confirmed it, Axis would not hesitate for a second. He would immediately strike and eliminate Perturabo.
At the same time, the Iron Warriors dispatched a landing craft of their own.
Aboard it, Perturabo and his trusted sons made their way toward the rendezvous point.
...
..
.
It's 200 ps per bonus chapter!