Editing Chosen of Hecate (section)

===The Chosen are Chosen===
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Linares had mustered almost the entire Silver Blades Legion to track down his wayward brother. Most of Raj Vokar’s Titan Marchers were occupied on other fronts of the Crusade, but the Titan Lord managed to pull together two companies with which to assist the Lord of the Ale’s sons. Together they formed a formidable force that should easily outclass the depleted Chosen of Hecate, if it had to come to a fight. Something that both Primarchs deeply wished to avoid. No matter what actions Lambach had taken to earn censure from Je’she, someone all three considered friend. They both loved their brother and both would speak in his defense if a trial was to be had.

The combined fleet found that nearly all Chosen had returned to their homeworld of Miletus. Approaching cautiously, Linares and Raj noticed that the Chosen of Hecate’s fleet did not move to intercept them. The Silver Blades flagship, the Argentan, hailed it’s Chosen counterpart, Starburst.  The response from the Starburst’s captain informed both Primarchs that Lord Kropor was awaiting his brothers in Miletus' capital palace and they were encouraged to make planetfall.

Raj and Linares were both confused. Surely Lambach knew why they were here. Both thought, or perhaps hoped, that their good natured brother had decided to come quietly, in order to put this whole mess behind them, maybe to one day return to his Legion. Alas, they could not have been more wrong.

On the planet's surface the Chosen were displayed in full force. The Legion’s impressive array of Dreadnoughts standing alongside ranks upon ranks of marines and transports. The numerically superior Silver Blades and Titan Marchers faced off against their Legion cousins. Legionaries greeting battle-brothers from amidst the different legions. Lambach waited for his brothers on the raised dais in the city centre with his two most trusted sons, Gaius Mendel and Radcliff Kaden.

As they climbed  the stairs Linares and Raj exchanged worried glances. Their brother looked different. His normally short, shaggy brown hair was now long and lank and his eyes, once so full of warmth and friendship, were now sunken and filled with sorrow and remorse. Once they reached the top Lambach smiled and spread his arms wide.

"Brothers! It warms my heart to see you again! You arrive with such a mighty display of force? To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Lambach," Raj began with a solemn tone, "Je’She has sent us to bid you return to the Imperial Palace for transgressions against Fathers decree. Your men are to stand down." 

"Father..." Lambach seemed to consider the word for a time, turning his back on Linares and Raj, "The man thinks he knows what is best for everyone, but how many more of my sons must be sacrificed to his lies and arrogance?"

"Watch your puta boca, Kropor!" Linares snarled with more aggression than he perhaps intended, "This doesn't have to come down to a fight! You know as well as I do that you do not stand a chance against me, let alone with Raj here. Come with us to see the Warmaster. Raj and I will speak with him on your behalf. Whatever the issue is, it can surely be resolved".

"Don’t you see, Linares?  Father has lied to you, to all of us! The question I can't figure out is why?! I implore you brothers, please, join me! Ask our father why! Why hide from us ancient beings whose powers we have only one defense against?! And most importantly, why forbid us from using this defense?!"

"What are you suggesting Lambach?! Choose your next words very carefully!" Raj warned, the Titan’s wrath surfacing. 

Raj readied his large array of weaponry while Linares drew the famed Silver Slayer. Taking queue from their Lords, the marines of both  the Silver Blades and the Titan Marchers readied their bolters. Lambach took his weapon, the Venus Gospel, from the immobile Kaden, while Mendel started chanting.

"Our Father," Lambach spat the word, "Took my sons away from me! Now, one way or another, I will take his sons from him! I do not wish to harm either of you, but I cannot allow you to stand in my way!”

Lambach hurled a wave of sheer Psychic force at Raj, who was flung backwards down the steps. Linares leapt forward in an attempt to disable Lambach and end things before they got any further out of hand. The legionaries on both sides, unsure of what to do, stood awestruck at first, then they moved to engage. The Chosen of Hecate could not hope to win this fight, but they would make their opponents bleed.

In all the years they had fought side by side Lambach had never once bested Linares in a duel. Lambach was a formidable warrior, as was to be expected from one of the Emperor’s sons, but Linares was possibly the best sword fighter among the brotherhood of Primarchs. This time however, Linares noticed something different, something he had never noticed before. A stroke of his sword that should have connected simply passed through Lambach’s unguarded chest, while a thrust that Linares should have been able to parry with ease somehow penetrated his guard and stabbed down through his calf. 

Lambach laughed, "It feels good to finally be able to fight you without holding back brother! Come, show me what passes for fury amongst your misbegotten kind and let me give you a lesson in humility!" Linares roared at Lambach in his native tongue, "Jódete!" 

As the duel raged on, Raj had managed to return to the top of the stairs. He noticed that Mendel had finished chanting his mad words and was now throwing waves of warp energy into the Silver Blades marines at the base of the dias. Even more of a worry was Radcliff Kaden, a man whom Raj had grown to respect very much over the years, spasmed violently. His body contorted and twisted while his armor split. Despite how much obvious pain the first captain must have been in, he did not make a sound. Just the sickening cracking of bones and the ripping of flesh. From Kaden’s husk burst an enormous beast that had the general shape of a man, but with a rat like head and claws as long as Raj was tall. A sinister tail whipped back and forth behind the creature as it turned it's head to face the Turban clad Titan Lord. The creature that was once Kaden broke into a run, it's path charging directly at Raj, who bought his multitude of bolters and plasma cannons to bear. 

Only one thought coursed through his head, “What had Kropor done?!”

Fighting on the ground, Taarush Amin could scarcely believe what was happening. His cousins were firing at him. This was unimaginable, especially since those cousins were the Chosen of Hecate. There were Primarchs that, had this same situation happened with them, he would not have been so surprised, but he had fought alongside the Chosen on many campaigns. They were considered one of Vokar’s closest allies and friends. Yet here they were.

While the Primarchs battled atop the dais Taarush Amin was forced to lead his ground troops in what was sure to be a massacre of the sons of Lambach.Taarush got the feeling that something was wrong, even more wrong than he thought. As the Silver Blades crashed into the frontlines of the Chosen, Taarush could not help but notice they seemed slow and jerky. The Silver Blades dominated the Chosen in close quarters combat, as was to be expected, but Taarush assumed they would be putting more into it. The front liners, armed with spears and combat shields, a combination that was favored by the Chosen of Hecate, were predictably battered, but there were several who rose off of the ground and continued fighting through injuries that would have even seen most Astartes be brought low. All the while the backlines and Dreadnoughts kept up a steady stream of fire into the massed Silver Blades, reaping a bloody harvest. Taarush also noted the distinct lack of enemy Psykers, despite the fact the sons of Miletus were famed for making use of the gifted.

The duel atop the dais continued with Linares, for the first time in their long history, conceding ground to his brother. No matter how masterful his strokes or how perfect his parries, it seemingly made no difference. Linares bled from several wounds, but still he fought on. Forced to one knee, Linares raised his sword to parry a swing that would not come.

"I do not wish for this Linares!" Lambach said, sitting on his haunches, facing his brother, "Our father has wronged us, not you. Why can't you see he has lied to you?! To Raj! To me and all of our brothers! He could have warned you about what you would face this day and yet he did not. Ask yourself why my dear brother! Why would he force us into conflicts we are woefully unprepared for when he supposedly has all the answers?!" Linares glared at Lambach, during the speech the Lord of Ale had noticed something, something only a Primarch could ever have spotted.

Raj dived to the side as the creature that was once Kaden slammed its enormous, meaty fist into the ground where the Titan Lord had been standing moments before. As confident as he was in his own superhuman endurance and healing factor, Raj Vokar was certain that if this beast landed a blow like that even he would surely perish. Rolling to his feet, his mechanical legs braced Raj as he unloaded his full arsenal into the side of the monster. Missiles, plasma fire and bolter shells hammered home, ripping huge chunks of flesh from the abomination. Yet still it pressed on. Kaden lept at Raj who attempted to dive away again. This time however, the clawed hand connected with Raj's left thigh, shattering the mechanical replacement to smithereens. 

The creature was upon him instantly, pinning him down. The monster roared victoriously into the Primarchs face. With titanic strength Raj held back the monsters head, preventing it from crushing his own head into a red ruin. Raj pressed the Kagolus up against the monsters chin and, with a fully charged shot at point blank range, disintegrated the upper half of the abomination that had once been a great man named Radcliff Kaden. Raj allowed himself a single moment to breathe, before turning his attention to Linares and Kropor. Linares was down on one knee while Lambach spoke to him. Were the situation different Raj could have sworn the two were bonding, just like old times.

Dead. Taarush Amin could hardly believe it but the Chosen warrior he faced now could be nothing else. The man moved like a puppet. An enormous hole sheared right through his chest. A Power Sword, wielded by a Silver Blades legionnaire, had destroyed both hearts. The man should not have been walking, let alone be able to fight and yet he still carried on. Taarush knocked aside a clumsy spear thrust and fired his Storm bolter directly into the zombified legionnaire's helmeted head, explosive rounds shattering his skull. The body collapsed and did not rise again. What dark power had the Chosen of Hecate harnessed that they could force the dead to rise and fight like the living? 

With horror Taarush noticed his own fallen brothers, and those of the Silver Blades legion, beginning to rise. They attacked their former brothers from behind, distracting them long enough for the deadly heavy weapons fire from the Chosen Dreadnoughts to cause massive damage to the Silver Blades ranks. 

Then all of a sudden it struck Taarush. He knew why the Librarians of the Chosen were nowhere to be seen. He remembered a conversation he'd once had with his friend Radcliff. Kaden had told him that sometimes powerful enchantments required groups of Librarians, all focusing their Psychic might into one spell to keep the effects in place. The Titan Marchers and Chosen of Hecate had used this ploy once before to shield one of Raj's Titans from enemy scanners. Taarush just had to find where they were secreted. He gathered his command squad to his side, requested the aid of a squad of nearby Silver Blades and made for the base of the dais which had been largely ignored.

"Again brother," continued Lambach, "I implore you to join me. Below us our sons fight and kill each other, and for what? The lies of a man so far removed from both them and us that he does not, no, could not care about them! We could end this now, you, me and Raj! We could band together, others will surely flock to us! The three of us each have close ties to our brothers! We could make them see! We could show them the truth Linares! Great men like Kaden die in the name of the Emperor and he doesn't even care enough to learn their names!”
 
Suddenly Linares was upon him. A diving tackle forced Lambach down unto the ground, after which he hammered his fist into Kropor’s face. Linares had noticed that while Lambach spoke, his lips did not match his words, but only barely, just a fraction of second at most. Somehow Lambach Kropor was existing a fraction of a second after his actions. That is why Linares had been unable to land a blow and why he was unable to block. The Lord of the Ale saw it now and expertly adjusted his fighting style to match the time flux. He hammered several blows into Lambachs unguarded face. Then he raised his famous blade high, with the intention of pinning Lambach to the floor. Suddenly his arm felt leaden and the Silver Slayer became the heaviest object in the universe. With his fist wrapped around Lambachs neck he looked up to see Gaius Mendel standing several yards away. A look of intense concentration on his face, using his prodigious mental powers to hold Linares sword arm down.  The Master of the IVth was about to release his brother and focus on the Psyker when suddenly a molten ball of plasma connected with Mendel's leg. Shearing it off and sending the Grand Warpclaw sprawling down the staircase, down to the ground, clutching at the stump of his ruined limb. 

"Finish this Linares!" Raj shouted from his prone position in the middle of the dias. The Lord of Titans was affixing a crude replacement leg in place of his shattered cybernetic. 

Lambach was stunned. He had expected Linares to listen to him, or Raj. These were his closest brothers, the two he always knew he could confide in. Had he made a grave error of judgement? Lambach felt the Psychic links of his Librarians snuff out. All of a sudden the fallen warriors of all three Legions fell to the ground, dead once more. Someone had found the Librarium’s chamber. Lambach ordered his men to fall back, to try and get to the transports and somehow make it away from the orbital Silver Blades fleet.

As Linares blade descended time seemed to stand still. Lambach rose from the ground. He could see everything. His brother still straddled his body, blade poised to pin him to the dias. Lambach felt two divine beings. The Weaver of Fate, eager to enlist a Psychic champion of Lambach’s renown, offered the Primarch phenomenal cosmic powers. Father Nurgle offered the Lord of Undeath true mastery of his titular abilities and eternal life for his men. Both offered him a chance to escape, they bade him make a choice.

Linares blade stabbed down into Lambach’s chest. Pinning the Master of Miletus to the floor. "You have made a mistake Lambach! You have cost my legion dearly in your folly and for that, you, will, pay! I will not question our Father! His word is absolute! I would have stood by your side and begged for his forgiveness, but you have spoiled that chance!" Linares leaned in close to Lambach’s face and was surprised to see a smile on his lips. Lambach let out a shrill shriek and suddenly burst into a swarm of plague ridden rats which swarmed over the Lord of Ale. Raj rushed to his brother’s aid and, with the help of his built in wrist mounted flamer, the vermin were swiftly vanquished. Lambach was nowhere to be seen. 

Chosen of Hecate transports were taking off and being harried by the surviving Silver Blades and Titan Marchers. "We must return to the fleet, Raj. Kropor cannot be allowed to escape!" Linares spoke solemnly with uncharacteristic seriousness, finally letting the wounds he had taken show and thankful of his brother for the help standing. "We are in no state to pursue! The Chosen have taken heavy casualties, but our forces have taken a serious blow, my friend. We should report to Je’She. I heard what Lambach said to you. He may try to recruit others to his cause! I can think of one or two of our brothers that may give us cause for concern.” Raj made no comment on exactly how Kropor’s words had affected him.

Lambach was gone. The Chosen had fled. Reports from the captains of the 54th fleet reported what seemed to be clouds of flies swarming their ships, preventing them from taking real action against the Chosen of Hecate fleet. There were no traces of Lambach to be found.

The next time either Raj or Linares would see their brother would be at the side of Marduk Engur, Warmaster of Chaos.
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The Brother war for the Chosen of Hecate would start much earlier than most of the other Legions. After the Formation of the Speartip and the death of Radcliff Kaden, Lambach would weave a powerful dark hex in an attempt to return his men to life. However, unknown to Lambach the spell he cast from the book of Hecate (Hecate actually being another older name of Nurgle) would not work as he had intended. While it did return Kaden and his men to life it was little more than a vile mimicry and the fallen Chosen of Hecate warriors would return as violent, single minded automatons with no thought of their own and only the instinct to feed on the flesh of the living. Lambach realized that with little effort he and his gifted sons could calm the minds of these risen marines and direct and channel their actions. 

This Dark Ritual would draw towards the Chosen of Hecate the attention of powerful entities that dwelt within the Warp itself. It would also alert Malcador on Terra. Knowing the Dark path Lambach was about to lead his Legion down the Sigillite demanded that newly appointed Warmaster Je'she take action. So it was with heavy heart that the Warmaster would send a combined fleet of Silver Blades and Titan Marchers to hunt the Chosen down, disable the Legion and bring their gene-father to Terra.

The showdown took place on Miletus, the Chosen of Hecate home world. Lambach Kropor hatched a plan to either convert or to cripple the Legions of his two brothers making heavy use of his newfound knowledge on how to control the corpses of the dead. Over confidant in his victory Lambach's plan swiftly fell apart once First Captain Taarush Amen of the Titan Marchers located and shutdown the unit of sorcerers dedicated to maintaining the spell. Broken and defeated The Chosen of Hecate enacted a full retreat of their home world. As unknown to them Lambach sold their souls to Nurgle, the god of death and decay. During this battle Tijo Nosebi, Crispus Parthenios and a score of Chosen who refused to partake in Lambach's ambush also fled Miletus.

Proclaimed renegades by the Imperium at this point the Chosen of Hecate found they were quickly running out of places to hide and Lambach again decided to place faith in another brother. The Battered Chosen fleet made it's way to the Thashunke system. The base of operations for the Soaring Host Legion. Lambach and Elsu had always been close, Lambach's calm, friendly demeanor and acceptance of Elsu's mutations had always penetrated the haze of unbridled fury that surrounded Elsu Eyanosa. Here the Chosen of Hecate would remain in hiding, licking their wounds and coming to terms with their new patrons gifts until the arrival of Warmaster Marduk Engur

Both the Soaring Host and the Chosen of Hecate would agree to join forces with the Leviathan Host, and while the other two legions would attend the Council of New Hope to set Marduk's master plan in motion the Chosen, who were considered renegades could not attend. Hence Lambach assured Marduk that he would take his Legion and either convert or disable the Dusk Phantoms Legion at Grethor. 

Again the Chosen of Hecate would lay a trap for their former brothers and again they would be defeated. Unknown to Lambach at the time Tijo Nosebi and the surviving Chosen of Hecate that had fled Miletus with her had bought warning to lord Gyhadred of Lambach's newfound powers and precedent for betrayal. None new better the weak points of the Chosen fleet than Tijo and the Dusk Phantoms set up a counter ambush.

The Chosen of Hecate fleet was shattered and considered neutralized, what Tijo and Gyhadred did not know however was the exact effects Nurgles curse would have on their former allies. While the Dusk Phantoms rushed from the system in order to warn the other Warmasters of Marduk's betrayal the Chosen of Hecate fleet began to stitch itself back together, inexorably slowly, but unrelenting. 

Outside much smaller battles and skirmishes the Chosen of Hecate were not engaged on such a large scale again until the Siege of Terra began. Though their Surviving Warpclaws would aid the Loxodontii Stargazers in the creation of the great ruinstorm that would divide the galaxy.

On Terra the Chosen of Hecate were instrumental in the Chaos forces early victories. Summoning fourth great hosts of Daemons and returning every fallen defender of the Imperial palace to servitude once more, this time under Warmaster Marduk Engurs command. Most Notably they seized control of the Eternity Wall space port, allowing much easier access for the Warmasters reserve forces. During this battle Lambach Kropor fought an epic duel with his brother Raj Vokar and succeeded in capturing the Titan Lord. Much to the chagrin of his chaotic brothers Lambach would release Raj instead of slaying him outright.

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