Editing Crimson Consuls (section)

==The End of a Chapter==
To the creeping dread of the Crimson Consuls officers, they discovered the Chancellorium was already occupied by a contingent of Chaos Space Marines from the Black Legion, who were led by an Alpha Legion officer who claimed to be none other than the [[Primarch]] [[Alpharius]]. "Alpharius" (whose true identity was Quetzel Carthach, the Harrowmaster of the Alpha Legion) explained that in the fashion of the Alpha Legion, he had worked for decades to lay a series of traps and intrigues intended to destroy the Crimson Consuls so that he might hand over their precious [[Gene-seed|gene-seed]] stores to [[Abaddon|Abaddon the Despoiler]] and his Black Legion so that their ranks might be replenished before the unleashing of the [[Black Crusade|13th Black Crusade.]]

"Alpharius" revealed that he had gotten the Crimson Consuls to turn upon one another by psycho-indoctrinating all of the Chapter's recruits before they were ever even Aspirants by lacing the walls of the underhives of Charcharias' hive cities with psycho-sensitive graffiti, essentially turning them into unwitting time-bombs ready to gut the Chapter from the inside out. Since the Crimson Consuls only recruited their new Astartes from the gangers of the underhives on Carcharias, every Aspirant they chose was already corrupted before the first gene-seed organ was even implanted ([[Skub|it's arguable psycho-indoctrination would have purged this as it re-writes the individual's psychology and at least one implant also aids in this, rendering this method of brainwashing actually impossible by 40K's own standards]]). Only the officers, many of whom had been with the Chapter for many centuries, had been recruited before the Alpha Legion's insidious trap had been laid. As it turns out, High Chaplain Enobarbus was an unfortunate firsthand witness to this when he was shot to pieces by his trainees and tossed down the tall, cold heights of the hives. And in one of the most deliciously vile moments in Warhammer 40K history, "Alpharius" detailed in excruciating detail how he pulled off one of the most intricate deceptions this side of [[Eldrad|The Dick,]] [[Cegorach]], and [[Mephet'ran|the Deceiver:]]

In a twist that surprised no one but the Crimson Consuls, it was the Alpha Legion who sabotaged the Warp-Drive that dragged 100 Marines and hundreds of thousands of Orks to their doom. It was also the Alpha Legion that actually gave the orders to redeploy two Companies to Phaethon IV, [[A Game of Pretend|masquerading]] as Imperial Segmentum Command. They were the ones who diverted the Celebrants away from the planet, so the garrison of Crimson Consuls were left to fend for themselves against their inevitable demise. In perhaps the only instance of the Alpha Legion taking up arms, they quickly and efficiently dispatched the 8th Company of the Crimson Consuls, preventing the Chapter from discovering the full scale of the whole operation.

And finally, with relish, "Alpharius" told Artegall not to expect any last-minute intervention from the 3rd and 5th Companies; they were long-gone, eradicated by [[Farsight|Commander Farsight's]] forces more than a <i>decade</i> ago; the Alpha Legion arranged for falsified [[Adeptus Astra Telepathica|astropathic]] reports to be continually sent to their Chapter homeworld of Carcharias so that the Crimson Consuls would not learn of the loss.

With the sounds of battle dying outside, and with his comrades being executed by the Black Legionnaires, Chapter Master Artegall realized that he was, quite literally, the last of the Crimson Consuls. Formerly the leader of a thousand proud superhuman soldiers, he now led no one but himself.

Desperate, Artegall managed to break free from his captors and flee to his personal Armoury, but was shot in the leg and crippled right before he sealed the door. To his pleasant surprise, he discovered that he was not alone after all; his master-crafted Bolter had been taken by Baldwin, his Chamber Castellan, a loyal [[Chapter Serf]], and his best friend. But his relief quickly turned to shock, as Baldwin, who was recruited from the underhives, slowly turned the Bolter to face his old master. As Elias Artegall, last of the Crimson Consuls, accepted his fate with quiet resignation, his closest companion calmly [[Blam|shot him directly through the skull.]]

[[grimdark|And thus was the destruction of an entire Chapter of the Emperor's Finest completed.]]

Just As fucking Planned.