"I still remember the first time we met, Axis," Karl said, clapping Axis warmly on the shoulder. "Back then, If you had not saved me, I'm afraid I would have died."
"The Rangda are a truly vile species," Axis said with a smile, "They inflicted so much damage on the Imperium, but do not worry. As soon as I have put down this Rebellion, I will be free to see them to their utter extinction."
It was only because he had been trapped in the Immaterium that the Imperium had failed to win the Third Rangda Xenocide.
His absence had even allowed them to construct a weapon from a C'tan shard. But once his hands were free, annihilating the Rangda would be no problem at all.
"They were indeed a monstrously evil strain of xenos," Karl said, "My Legion was almost entirely enslaved by that special brainwave control device they used. With your help, my loyal sons were saved. After we returned to Holy Terra, Father gave my Legion a new name, the Children of Tomorrow. It was to signify that my Legion would embrace the future and cast off the past."
"After all these years, have you remembered anything of your past?" Axis asked.
If he had truly created a terrifying butterfly effect, he wondered, then if the Iron Warriors had not turned traitor, would the Second Legion have fallen in their place?
"The man I was in the past is dead. That part of my memory was completely erased by that evil technology. When my brain was regenerated, it was as if I was reborn." Karl smiled and then turned to greet the woman standing beside Axis, "It has been a long time, Sister Kasha."
She was, in the truest sense, the sister to all the primarchs, born of the same father and mother.
"This is not the time for the two of you to reminisce," Perturabo interrupted, "Axis, Vulkan, Ferrus, what on earth happened? You all look to be in a wretched state."
"We failed," Ferrus Manus said with a sigh, "We were utterly defeated. Horus laid a massive trap, and we walked right into it. If Axis had not arrived in time, all three of our Legions would have been annihilated, and the three of us would have died there."
His words silenced the command bridge in an instant.
Even the Space Marines standing guard turned their heads, their faces etched with disbelief.
Three full Legions had set out, only to be utterly routed.
The survivors of three Legions had escaped on a single frigate. How severe could their losses have been?
"Those damned traitors," Karl lamented, "Do not worry, we will regroup and win back what was lost. Axis, can you contact your Golden Legion? If your sons can join this battle, then victory is assured."
The presence of Axis's Legion was now the critical factor.
The Golden Legion was known to be the largest and most powerful of all the Space Marine Legions. Even the Emperor himself had privately expressed his intent to split the Golden Legion into two upon Axis's return, to be commanded by Axis and his son, respectively.
"I wish I knew," Axis said, "Fierce Warp storms are raging through the Immaterium. Astropathic communication is impossible. My Legion should be with Guilliman and Sanguinius. I have already sent the Khan to find them."
"That is a shame," Perturabo said, "Our two Legions combined number less than three hundred thousand; we have just over two hundred and seventy thousand marines. This force is likely insufficient to face Horus's rebel armies. What of the remaining three Legions, can you contact them?"
Two Legions, even supported by the remnants of three shattered ones, could not win this war. They needed the three Legions that had not yet arrived.
"We cannot reach the other three Legions either," Axis said, shaking his head.
"It seems the Warp storm has separated us," Karl said. "By the way, where is Corax? He should have been with you."
"To ensure our annihilation, that bastard Horus went so far as to detonate a star," Vulkan explained, "It caused a terrifying supernova. Corax was injured while helping Axis block the blast. He is currently recovering on the frigate and is unable to join us at this moment."
"Is he alright?" Karl asked with a worried expression.
"Do not worry. It is only exhaustion. He will regain his combat strength after a period of rest."
Axis glanced at Kasha.
They had been aboard for over ten minutes and had been speaking for some time. Had she found any useful information yet?
But Kasha could only shake her head with a look of frustration. A moment ago, she had used her powerful psychic abilities to scan dozens of Space Marines on the ship. They came from both the Iron Warriors and the Second Legion's Children of Tomorrow, but the result was unexpected.
All of the Space Marines were loyalists. The mission they had all received was to come and destroy the enemies of the Imperium and quell Horus's rebellion.
"How do we contact the other three primarchs, or find a way to rendezvous with them?" Perturabo asked. "We must inform them of this situation and decide whether to continue the fight or return to Holy Terra."
If they could rendezvous with the three remaining Legions, they still had a hope of winning this war.
That was, of course, assuming Axis was as powerful as the legends claimed. He was called the strongest primarch, said to possess the combat strength of an entire Legion.
Perturabo had never seen Axis fight with his own eyes, and though he had heard the rumors, he felt that one man matching an entire Legion had to be an exaggeration.
"That is what I need to speak with you about," said Ferrus Manus. "When we fought Fulgrim, we learned some... unusual information."
Vulkan and Ferrus Manus exchanged a look, then glanced questioningly at Axis.
At his side, Kasha shook her head again. She had just scanned several more Space Marines on the bridge. She had even scanned every one of the sons that the Iron Warriors primarch had brought with him. Yet, she found nothing amiss. On Axis's advice, she had paid special attention to Perturabo, but even so, she found no trace of chaotic corruption on him. The same was true for the Second Primarch.
"I will be direct," Axis said finally, "When Ferrus Manus fought Fulgrim, Fulgrim revealed that of the five Legions that have not yet arrived, four have betrayed the Emperor. Only one remains loyal."
These two primarchs both appeared to be loyalists, which left Axis in a difficult position to make a decision.
"What?" Perturabo exploded, his face flushing with anger, "Are you saying you suspect us? That you suspect Karl or myself, or perhaps both of us, of being a traitor primarch?"
"My brothers, and Axis," Karl began, "Fulgrim is a despicable traitor. How can you believe the words of a traitor? Perturabo and I have absolutely not betrayed the Emperor. We are completely and utterly loyal."
"Karl is right!" Perturabo said, looking exasperated, "This is nothing more than a lie he fabricated to divide us! You cannot have actually believed it."
"We are only being cautious," Vulkan said, "After all, both Fulgrim and Horus, once Father's most loyal sons, have turned against him."
"While I was lost in the Warp, I saw visions of the future," Axis said, "I can at least confirm that the Word Bearers, the Alpha Legion, and the Night Lords have all turned traitor."
"Axis, you cannot be so rash," Perturabo argued, "You cannot condemn three of our brothers based on nothing more than visions from the Warp and the words of Fulgrim! Everything you saw could be part of a conspiracy hatched by the Chaos Gods. Just as with us, do you have any substantive evidence of their betrayal?"
"I have no proof," Axis admitted, "But I am certain that all three of those Legions have turned."
Those three Legions had every reason to rebel.
Or in the case of the Alpha Legion, one of the twin primarchs had turned, while the other remained loyal.
Alpharius had done too many bizarre things during the Great Crusade, at times deliberately helping the loyalists and at other times aiding the rebels.
He had even been killed once by Rogal Dorn, but there was no way to confirm if the one who died was truly Alpharius, or Omegon. The XX Legion was simply too mysterious.
"To confirm your loyalty, I need both of you to gather all of your sons here," Axis declared. "Kasha will then inspect them, one by one."
He had no choice but to resort to the most basic method. Everyone here might be loyal, but that did not mean that Space Marines elsewhere were not compromised. The best way was to gather them all in one place and have Kasha inspect them individually. With her immense psychic power, she could do it, given enough time.
"What did you say, Axis?" Karl asked, his face a mask of disbelief.
Perturabo was also seething. To be suspected as a traitor from the moment they arrived and then have all their sons summoned for inspection was far too tyrannical.
"I am not discussing this with you," Axis stated, his voice turning cold, "This is an emergency, and we cannot afford to delay for a single minute. The Emperor granted me supreme authority. Now, you will choose to demonstrate your loyalty to the Emperor and follow my command, or you will choose to defy it. Which will it be?"
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ps? can't i upload one more bonus chapter before the week ends?