MidHammer 40,000
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There is no true peace amongst the stars, yet it is not all carnage and slaughter.
MidHammer 40,000 is a /tg/ rewrite of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, trying to strike a balance between the grimdark original and BrightHammer. It aims for a grimbright or 'grimlight' feeling. The people of the Imperium stand together, each doing their part, pooling their drops into an unstoppable tide that washes away the darkness. This page will describe the differences between MidHammer 40,000 and the vanilla Warhammer 40,000 setting.
Thread links:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/59185788/ Original thread.
Assorted Lore
The God-Emperor of Mankind
It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the might of His will, and master of a million worlds by the might of His armies. The Emperor is a fallen hero, his nearly dead body writhes almost imperceptibly with power from the Silver Age of Technology as it ever so slowly recovers from the grievous blow dealt to him by his traitorous son. But He is the Lord of the Imperium for whom a million times a million soldiers fight and die, and He knows He will soon lead them once more. Yet even in his horrendous state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance.
Primarchs
Fulgrim & Magnus and their respective Space Marine Legions - the Emperor's Children and the Thousand Sons - remain loyal to the Emperor, for whatever reasons. This weakens the Horus Heresy and the Ruinous Powers significantly, no doubt leaving Slaanesh and Tzeentch disappointed at being denied their personal prodigies that "fate" would grant them in the original timeline. This also results in Ferrus Manus getting to keep his life, not being murdered by Fulgrim.
Fulgrim is A GOOD BOY. Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim are BROS FOR LIFE and go on BRO TRIPS OF PURGING TRAITORS AND HIGH ADVENTURE together.
The Codex Astartes and the Controversy It Causes
Because there were more loyalist Primarchs that could oppose Roboute Guilliman and the Emperor is apparently still a bit more present, coherent and vocal, the Codex Astartes isn't as universally adopted as in the original 40k. Currently in the Imperium, Codex Astartes and Legio Astartes coexist, with the Legions more suited for planetary scale operations, and for sector-wide offense and defense (basically everything).
Remaining Legions
Loyalist marines are "split" into two different ideologies, depending on which idea their particular Primarchs supported and if their Legions even came through the Horus Heresy with enough Astartes remaining to still consider as real "Legions".
In practical terms and with a bit of creative liberty, it would likely look like this for the remaining loyal "Legions" (though this is an estimate):
- Legion 1 "Dark Angels"
- Probably would remain as a Legion. Since they weren't exactly too thrilled anyway about having to pretend to not be one after the Codex Astartes was adopted in the original timeline.
- Legion 3 "Emperor's Children"
- Had 110,000 Astartes at end of the Great Crusade, and would not purge almost half of them like in the original timeline. No doubt also that Fulgrim, though he may not become dominated by Slaanesh, would still be too prideful and self-assured to put up with Guilliman's bullshit in this matter.
- Legion 5 "White Scars"
- 95,000 Astartes at the end of the Great Crusade. Jaghatai Khan should want to keep his men.
- Legion 6 "Space Wolves
- They hardly even bothered to respect the limitations of the Codex Astartes in the main timeline. No doubt they wouldn't bother at all here.
- Legion 12 "Imperial Fists"
- It's not yet clear what exactly happens with Rogal Dorn and his Legion in this alternative timeline, but if he survives and with the other loyalist Primarchs around, maybe he'll retain his regular Legions. Especially since this is another Legion that only sort of pretended to not be a Legion after "adopting" the Codex Astartes in mainline, like the Dark Angels.
- Legion 13 "Ultramarines"
- Ironically, Roboute Guilliman would probably want the Ultramarines to remain as a Legion, simply to counter his brothers who also have remaining effective Legions. His whole Codex Astartes chapter limitations concept was really designed to limit his brothers from going like Horus again, after all; not so much for limiting himself. The Ultramarines allegedly had 250,000 Astartes at the start of the Horus Heresy... Anything above 1,000 Marines is considered too much for a mere Chapter, according to the Codex Astartes... No doubt Guilliman would have even more Marines surviving the Horus Heresy than in the original timeline as well, thanks to the weakened Horus Heresy. So even more motivation to keep the Legion for himself.
- Legion 15 "Thousand Sons"
- Allegedly had at least 80,000 Astartes before the Fall of Prospero in the main timeline. No reason why Magnus the Red would want to give that up to the dweeb Guilliman.
- Legion 18 "Salamanders"
- Assuming a less massacry Drop Site Massacre, the Salamanders would still have more than enough remaining Astartes for Vulkan to not want to give up his Legion's "real Legion" status.
- Legion 19 "Raven Guard"
- Corvus Corax' Legion may have get screw harder than the Salamanders at the Drop Site Massacre, but they still have enough to remain a Legion.
Legions Reformed into Codex Astartes-compliant "Chapters"
- Blood Angels Chapter
(Formerly Legion 9)
- The Blood Angels get "chapter'd", just because Sanguinius is dead, and that Guilliman was known for being unnaturally persuasive as a writer and as a Primarch. Doubt any Primarch-less loyalist "Legions" would be able to remain as such in the face of Guilliman's efforts.
- Iron Hands Chapter
(Formerly Legion 10)
- They get screwed so hard in the Drop Site Massacre and afterward, even more so than the Raven Guard and Salamanders, that even if it's a little bit less bad in this timeline, they'd probably have little more than enough for one functional chapter anyway. So, Ferrus Manus may presumably be coaxed by Guilliman into giving up his Legion status and allowing for a mere "Chapter". Since it's screwed anyway; why bother maintaining the pretense of having a one Chapter-sized "Legion"?
Overall, it looks like the Codex Astartes might be a bit of a flop in this alternate universe, with only two Legions having good reasons to become demoted to chapters. Bit of a shame for Guilliman, really.
Big question: Legion of the Damned, does it become the Legion of Martyrs?
Government in MidHammer 40,000
The Imperium is governed by a 'Council of Regents', in which certain Primarchs spend a lot of time on Terra, making sure governance is actually competent. They may be Primarchs, but there are only so many of them, and the Imperium is the size of much of the galaxy. Sure, on occasion they'll venture out to kick ass or inspect the Imperium, but there are so many threats and only so many Primarchs - even they can't be in multiple places at once.
Alternatively, they could be ruling over Segmentums, taking up about as much time - sure, it's a smaller area of space, but now there's only one Primarch.
Primarchs
Loyalists
Corvus Corax
Corvus Corax is The Emperor's Huntsman. With the Emperor’s Executioner and Terror Weapon both falling to Chaos, [Corvus Corax might also take over both roles, becoming the dagger in the dark that terrifies into submission those Vulkan cannot convince. Obviously he wouldn’t take it to Curze’s extreme, though. Probably causes a lot fewer body parts of loved ones to be found in mailboxes. Instead, eloquently worded death threats, ultimatums, and warnings signed in suspicious red liquid. And sometimes all it takes is for petulant lords and nobles to see eyes in the dark and the gleam of mighty claws one night and they change their tune real fast. Problematic Xenos leaders, in particular Ork warbosses, are also on Corax' list of heads that need displacement.
Ferrus Manus
Ferrus Manus is currently traveling throughout the stars, attempting to repair worlds that have been left in dissarray after great wars and battles, particularly those which have seen Traitor Marine raids. The Raven Guard and Dark Angels both have a company specifically assigned to travel with Ferrus Manus to inspect such sightings, and to subsequently track the traitors if at all possible.
Fulgrim
A GOOD BOY. Keeps the masses loyal through flawless works of Imperial art, spreading the Imperial Truth to new worlds, etc.. Or maybe something halfway between the Imperial Truth and worship of Big E, hopefully. Since atheism just cripples any spiritual defenses and makes the reveal easily convert people to Chaos. Answering people saying "God created everything including science, so cannot be disproven" with a bolt to the face doesn't encourage loyalty or trust, to say the least.
Jaghatai Khan
Ferrying rapidly back and forth between Terra, as well as protecting messengers and shipping lanes and acting as rapid response troops, the White Scars are a welcome sight throughout the Imperium. Jaghatai Khan is probably a decent guy, if a bit of a less patient person.
The Emperor's Chicken-Cooking Bitchslap, more like. Racing up and down the galaxy, the Khan and his White Scars sear a path of destruction and ass-kicking upon the enemies of the Imperium. Making jumps constantly to be on every battlefront they can manage, determined with an absurd fervour to defend humanity and make all who would oppress or hurt them pay dearly. This level of hyper-Warpjumping is possible through the God-Emperor's direct psychic assistance in every jump the White Scars attempt, ensuring they end up as close in time and space to their target with as little incident as possible.
Lion El'Johnson
Besides Traitor-focused counter-intelligence, Lion El'Johnson has proven to be one of the scariest motherfuckers for any Chaos warband to so much as hear about. During the Horus Heresy, El'Johnson gave Konrad Curze such a vicious beating that the Traitor Primarch was first to flee for the Eye Of Terror, taking such flight that he left most of his Legion to be routed and leaving him with the smallest Chaos Space Marine Legion in the current day. The Lion is said to still be tracking Konrad to this day, and subsequently Konrad is still running scared. The Lion's stoic, ruthless badassery has reached positively legendary status. He is an absolutely terrifying entity to Chaos Space Marines. 'Tis only the Traitor Primarchs who have the gall to insult him to his face... except, of course, Konrad Curze.
Magnus the Red
Magnus the Red has overseen the training and study of many Imperial psykers, making him a sort of father to many of them, as he has by and large been the only individual within the Imperial hierarchy to treat them as anything more than tools. Due to this Magnus has taken it upon himself to try and train all of them to the best of his ability, but due to the high death count and low survival rate of psykers living to become old, Magnus has become somewhat cold and distant towards his Primarch brothers, dedicating his time to trying to save as many of his “children” as he can with little time set aside for anything else. In these duties include him and his legion launching campaigns to teach the common Imperial citizen about the psykers, and the running of the black ships(need a new name for it)(the gray vessels, the gray havens, silver sanctuaries something like that sound good?). Along with Magnus' duty of keeping the Golden Throne running when the Emperor needs to go and do something (like use the bathroom) Magnus has very little time to do much else.
He could also have become the administrator and leader of the Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition, being the most senior living authority on the subject of the Warp and how it works, being very sobered to the deviousness of it and the true threats it poses to those who dive too deep into it without looking first after seeing the Daemonic tide on Istvaan V and the corruption, both physiological and mental, that occurred with both his traitor brothers and some of his own Thousand Sons Astartes as the Letdown went down.
Roboute Guilliman
Roboute Guilliman and the Ultramarines have become the go-to force for minor insurrections and problems around the Imperium's eastern fringes. Due to their facilities and many recruiting worlds they are the largest of the Astartes forces, but due to Guilliman having to work through literal mountains of paperwork and council often with the Warmaster, the King Of Macragge had to write the Codex Ultra, a Chapter-specific guide to how the Ultramarines should be run whenever their Primarch was unavailable, although he has made several thousand addenda and changes to it since he first wrote it just a few centuries after the Horus Heresy.
Guilliman brought overwhelming force against the T'au, which they barely countered with clever tactics and highly-advanced technology. When he then brought the full weight of Ultramar against them, they realized that no tactics were clever enough and no technology advanced enough to allow them to stand against the Imperium indefinitely. Thus, they became reluctant Imperial vassals. Guilliman is seeking ways to integrate T'au technology into the Imperium. He knows that he must tread very carefully in this endeavor and does not expect it to achieve any significant success for centuries: The Ethereals are resistant to accepting humans as their superiors.
Vulkan
Vulkan would go out to the masses and rouse their support for the Imperium. Bro of everyone. Prepare to be friended. Of course, if you piss him off...
In the last few milennia, the Salamanders and Vulkan have been on the absolute forefront of every reported Tyranid incursion along with specialists within the Ordo Xenos, and have become supreme experts at combating the teeming hordes that descend from the heavens like a biblical plague. The Salamanders handle the open warfare, fending off the teeming invasion horde and torching capillary towers, while the Inquisitors scour the Imperial worlds, rooting out Genestealer cults. While the Tyranids have displayed a notable frustration, manifesting as comparatively short-sighted and short-lived invasions and sudden, violent psychic attacks, the 'Nids have not been stopped anywhere-near completely, and distant worlds not yet returned to the Imperium during the Great Crusade continue to be wholly consumed to feed the hive.
Traitors
Alpharius & Omegon
Tzeentch. The mustache-twirling, cat-petting “I’ve been expecting you”-ing villains of 40k. Triggering uprisings in previously thoroughly loyal sectors, generally creating copious amounts of JUST AS PLANNED.
Konrad Curze
Curze went truly mad by the end of the Letdown, and declared himself the new “god of justice”, sending his Legion on a crusade of terror across the galaxy. This caused the “years of fear” in the wider Imperium, where sectors were cut off and entire planets went mad from fear, often tearing into one another and collapsing into anarchy simply from the threats of the Night Lords. But the more space the Legion took the more fractured they became, and eventually from an assault by Magnus on the world of Contranis they were able to fight off the mad Primarch, and his Legion was shattered, never for the pieces to be put back together.
Another possibility is that Curze's sense of justice was warped by Khorne's influence until Curze went from vindictive but at least understandable acts of vigilante-grade justice to unabashed and unrelentingly vicious tyranny, unable to see reason anymore as his Legion descended into downright barbaric brutality. At the climax of the Letdown, Curze received a hellish beating from Lion El'Johnson, who was absolutely furious at his brother's vile, pitiful cruelty, and Curze abandoned his Legion as he fled for the Eye Of Terror, with the other Traitor Primarchs not far behind. Leaderless and mostly annihilated on Terra, the Night Lords Legion split down the middle into dozens of bands of Khorne-worshipping Punisher-type monsters and Slaaneshi torture-freaks savouring the terror and agony of mortals, losing the sense of right entirely. Curze is said to still be watching for the Lion to this day, fleeing mindlessly like an abused animal. Curze's actual fate is unknown even to the other Traitor Primarchs.
Perturabo
His natural perfectionism developed into obsession and Slaanesh worship. The Iron Warriors essentially replaces Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children as the Slaaneshi Legion.
Xenos
Eldar
With the Emperor still around, and the threat of Chaos considerably smaller than in the OG 40k, the Eldar may go two ways: either they are as uptight as ever, and thus be hunted down in any of their form, or they become some sort of shady on-and-off ally for the Imperium. In the first case, the Emperor knows that Eldar souls are quite powerful and feed chaos when improperly stored, so exterminating them all once and for all and collecting their Soulstones to protect them from destruction (the Eldar do have a weird habit of getting themselves killed) might stop them from feeding Slaanesh, and thus might starve one of the nastiest of the Chaos Gods. Considering the Emperor is still alive and Magnus is still loyal, the Imperium probably has semi-stable access to the Eldar Webway, and enough firepower to threaten Commorragh itself. Then again, the Human Webway is still a project worth consideration, given that Magnus' psychic phonecall never ruined it, so the Emperor may negotiate with the Eldar in exchange for Webway knowledge, as well as to help fight Chaos, Tyranids and many other threats. One of the most important things the Imperium can offer Eldar is safe passage when their people end up cut off from the Webway for one reason or another.
Curiously, some Eldar have made mention that something is "wrong" with reality and that "pieces are in the wrong places on the board".
Another possibility: The Dark Eldar are far, far fewer in number, and the supposed vileness and danger of Commorragh is mostly a ruse by the Drukhari Archons and their minions. The majority of the realm is just a mishmash of rundown dwellings and strange, barren streets; Commorragh is a slum. Most of the Eldar dwelling within, though called Dark Eldar for having fallen from the Craftworlds, are not spike-bearing sense freaks. The majority of them are instead sad, despondent space elves passing the time by either wallowing in mutual misery together, unable to go home and distraught at the practical death of their species and their civilization, or indulging in fairly minor pleasures such as smoke, drink and each other's company, many simply trying to push the awareness of the situation out of their brains. The events and troubles of the material plane are largely unknown to most Dark Eldar, as only few of them actually exit the Webway, and those few who do are usually Drukhari pirates and soldiers following the orders of the competing Archons, who are the "true Dark Eldar", being the worst specimens the Eldar species has left to offer and being more true to the OriginalHammer lore. Occasionally a Dark Eldar group may be approached by the Archons with offers of something worth living for in exchange for their service. Commorragh is actually quite habitable, and some Humans have been captured by the forces of Archons and then just either let loose when they stopped being fun playthings or somehow escaped, likely during a violent fued between Archons. The Humans have then been unable to exit the Webway and have simply ended up sitting around with the Dark Eldar slum-goers. Commorragh is, in essence, a spikier, quieter Underhive.
Orks
In MidHammer, Orks are still a constant threat, but the more organized state of the Imperium means they can be dealt with much more effectively. The War of the Beast was much less damaging. Rather than Vulkan going solo against The Beast and sacrificing himself to slay it, Vulkan, Corvus Corax and Ferrus Manus took it on three-to-one and tore the bastard apart, though not without great effort and some lasting scars for their troubles. The experience is said to have brought the three closer together as brothers.
Tyranids
The Great Devourer still lurks around the galaxy eating planets, but there are many things that can challenge their presence in the galaxy. For one, the Emperor is alive, and while He can't really direct His troops personally against the 'Nids, He is still the most powerful psyker in the galaxy, and it stands to reason He can devise multiple strategies to mess with the tyranids' sense of direction and inhibit the hivemind's control, limiting Tyranid effectiveness even in large swarms. Not to mention Magnus is still loyal, and he could be one of the greatest assests Mankind has against the Hive Mind.
While the original death of Tyran still occurred despite the God-Emperor's cryptic warnings of the coming "herd", the battle for Macragge went far better than in OH with Guilliman going boots on the ground to fight alongside his sons and tearing the head of the Swarmlord off at the climax of a brutal duel with the mighty beast, giving the Hive Mind brain freeze and allowing his Ultramarines to rout the Tyranids and, by chance, discover that slaying certain Tyranids had an extremely pronounced effect on the larger swarm. The successive elimination of so many synapse 'Nids one after the other in such a short space of time utterly broke Hive Fleet Behemoth's attack and the Tyranids were exterminated from the planet and the sector. The ships of Behemoth were reported to have actually fled during the escalating rout, and the Hive Fleet has not been seen in Imperial space proper since. Roboute and his Ultramarines left a lasting impression on the Great Devourer, it seems. This is not to say they scared all Tyranids away; Hive Fleets like Kraken and Leviathan continue to reach into the Imperium to devour worlds, but the distinct colours of Behemoth are giving anywhere with Space Marines a very wide berth. And the Tyranid threat will not arrive in one all consuming wave of pure, undiluted sadness, but will be a bit more disorganized, and arrive in waves. Because there cannot be light at the end of the tunnel if you have been eaten by an endless tide.
Necrons
The Necrons are waking up after millions of years of rest, but instead of a galaxy fully embroiled in war, they find a damaged, but still strong Imperium, that could counter the slowly awakening Necrons before they become too dangerous. The Emperor may try to do something about the C'Tan shards, considering he has the Void Dragon prisoner on Mars.
T’au
The T’au are mostly unchanged at their core, but the state of the Imperium means that the uncompromising “Join or Die” attitude of the Ethereals must alter to accommodate not getting blammed immediately. They still trade with Imperial worlds and Rogue Traders on the border of Imperial space.
When the Warp storm abated, Guilliman's people found the T'au Empire. The Lord of Ultramar saw in their technology a way to move the Imperium beyond its technological stagnation. He claimed their territory for Ultramar, making them a client state of the Imperium. The T'au resent this, but realize that overt action against the galaxy-spanning Imperium would be suicidal. The former client species of the T'au - Kroot, Vespid, etc. - variously see the Imperium as saviors who freed them from the T'au, a foreign power who can be played off against the T'au, or insolent barbarians who must be made to understand the Greater Good.
Writings
Vox-Recording Found on Terra, M41
John Alvok, final recording on Terra. "To Meredith, my lovely wife, so vast a distance away. I saw him today. After so many years of waiting. The Master of Mankind, our most glorious Emperor of Man. Though he once willed it not, I believe in his godhood.
Today, I have been vindicated.
Such a man. Tall, towering over the procession. His face carved from perfection, set in a strong yet calm visage, his eyes scanning over us pilgrims. Do you know the most amazing thing, Meredith? He spoke. Our immortal Emperor spoke to us. I am truly at peace now. Fifteen years awaiting and every instant was worth it, for the thirty seconds I could lay eyes upon him.
His words? "Be at peace."
The Dawn of Hades Hive
Sergeant Iastus - no, Lieutenant Iastus, he corrected himself - of the Hades Hive XVIth Militia Platoon surveyed the men and women under his command. Civvies, mostly, though a couple Arbites were mixed in - he’d put those to work as sergeants. A lot of his troopers looked hungry. Most looked tired. All were clearly afraid. Iastus shared that sentiment; he’d fought the Orks before, and it wasn’t something he enjoyed. He winced and reflexively ran his finger over the scar on his leg left there by one of the brutes.
Still, the Hive needed its defenders; the XVIth would have to do. He clutched the Imperial Aquila hanging around his neck, thinking of his home, his wife, and his son.
“Men,” he said, his voice shaky, “on this day, the world of Armageddon stands in the dark of night. Ghazghkull Thraka has returned to plague this noble world once again, and his armies are banging on the gates as we speak.” Several of his troopers went a couple shades paler as he spoke. “Today, the Emperor calls upon you to fight, and perhaps die, for the Imperium.” His voice grew quieter; he’d never been the best at inspiring speeches, and it was showing. He frantically cast around for anything to say that might inspire the civilians under his command to hold the line when the time came. His eye fell on a little girl, holding her mother’s hand, standing next to the parade square at which the XVIth had assembled.
“You there, little one,” he said softly, his vox-amplifier ensuring everyone could hear him.
“Please, join me.”
Looking at her mother, then back at him, the little girl trotted up to the stage, nervously. He noticed she kept glancing into the masses of troops on the field.
“What is your name, little one?” Iastus rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. The girl looked down at her shoes as she muttered her response.
“R-Rasa, sir. Rasa Halen.” At once, her furtive looks at the troops made sense.
“Trooper Halen! Step forward.” Iastus barked an order in his stern Sergeant voice. Speeches weren’t his forte, but orders... orders he could do.
A wiry man dressed in the uniform of the Arbites nervously stepped forward. “I-I’m sorry, sir, I told her to stay home today but-”
“Trooper Halen! This is your daughter, correct?” The man stood shaking in his boots, unsure as to where this was going
“Y-yes, sir.”
Iastus put on a friendly smile. He had no idea where he was going with this, but for once, his tongue seemed to have found him. He clutched his Aquila a little tighter and patted Rasa’s head.
“She’s got guts to come here today. Got that from her dad, for sure.” He turned his gaze towards the assembled Hive Militia platoon.
“Men! Before you, you see the daughter of one of your own. You might have come to know Trooper Halen during our training together, or perhaps in the cafetarium. Perhaps you knew him from before this mess, perhaps this is the first time you’ve heard his name. It matters not. He comes from our Hive, from our planet - he’s one of ours!” His voice grew steady, taking on volume as Iastus’ confidence grew.
“Trooper Halen! Would you let any green-skinned barbarian near little Rasa?”
The soldier, who had relaxed a little now the Lieutenant’s attention was no longer on him, snapped back into attention. “Never, sir! They’d have to go through me!”
“Excellent. I would expect nothing less. Those Orks out there, though, seem eager to spill the blood of your daughter and your wife. Are you going to let that happen?” Trooper Halen’s earlier fear seemed to ebb away as righteous anger asserted itself. “Frak that, boss! I’ll fight ‘em all with my bare hands if I need to - they ain’t gettin’ Rasa and Eleanne!” Some troopers cheered at this, though it quickly died down.
“Men, before you you see Trooper Halen - not one of the Emperor’s Avenging Angels, not one of his fine Guardsmen, nor a PDF soldier. Trooper Halen is just a citizen of the Imperium, one amongst trillions. Yet, he is so much more than that. Through him, and all others like him, the Imperium is made manifest! Through him, and those like him, the tides of treason and bloodshed have been turned back time and time again! Together with him, we shall turn it back once more! These savages come to butcher our friends, our sons, our daughters - will we let them?”
“NO!” A resounding echo resonated through the square. The cheers returned, stronger this time.
“Men - nay, soldiers, HEROES of the Imperium! Today, we stand against carnage! We stand against the darkness, bearing the light that our Emperor has spread through the galaxy since He has led Humanity to claim its destiny! ‘Tis true, night has fallen on Armageddon, but every night must give way to dawn - today, WE end the night! TODAY, MEN, WE ARE THE DAWN, AND THESE FOUL SAVAGES SHALL KNOW IT!”
Like a volcanic eruption to rival the fiercest volcano on Nocturne, defiant cheers erupted from the men and women of the XVIth. Shouts of “We are the dawn!” “They ain’t getting my son!” and
“His Will Be Done!” filled the air. Little Rana, confused and scared by all the shouting, began to cry and hugged her dad, still standing out of rank. Iastus patted her on the back.
“It will be alright, little one. Dawn has broken today.”
The Emperor's Fury
“The Emperor’s Fury? Aye, I’ve seen him fight. Why are you staring at me like that? Close your mouth, boy, or your jaw’s gonna fall off. ‘Awesome’? Son, it was terrifying.
Sure, he might not seem that scary - imposing, certainly, he’s one of the Emperor’s children, after all - but scary? Nah, surely not, he’s the Emperor’s foremost diplomat. He hardly ever deals with combat on a personal level, rarely even duels. Surely he can’t be that scary? Listen up, boy, you’ve probably heard the rumours that that thrice-damned arch-traitor knocked something wrong in the Angel of Baal, hence his avoidance of combat. Lemme tell ya, that’s a bigger load of groxshit than you’d find in an agri-world fertilizer ship.
It was on Coronus V, Garguan sector, some ten, twenty years ago. I was still just PDF back then, stationed in the capital hive. We’d been dealing with an upsurge in mutant births, rogue psyker activities, cult activity, the whole package.The Planetary Governor, that traitorous fuck, was acting a bit miffy too. Seemed intent on seccession, and the Imperium would have none of that. So, over came Sanguinius, t’see if he could straighten things out.
Now, if I’d tell ya things went to the Warp in a handbasket, I’d be underestimating to the point of groxshitting you. I was stationed near the Governatorial Palace at the time, and saw the Emperor’s Fury himself enter to meet with the Governor. I could see why they call him the Angel; I’m still not convinced he ain’t got an actual halo around his face. Face like an angel, too.
Anyhow, so the moment he enters, a series of explosions rock the palace and the Hive as a whole. Within a minute, our positions are stormed by hordes of mutants and freakish zealots, barreling down at us with hardly more than cobbled-together junk as armor and rusty knives for weapons. They weren’t the problem. The problem was that pretty much every trooper in there with me, save for my own squad, the glorious bastards, made to shoot at us, screaming about offering our skulls to the Blood God.
Now, we were damn lucky that the Angel of Baal had bought a honour guard, or I wouldn’t be sitting here. Jervis was down, Petula had a slug in his shoulder and I was running out of ammo, and these freaks have almost bashed down the gates. So we’re sitting there, thankfully having cleared the traitors out of our position, but with a horde of mutants banging at the door, praying to the Emperor for salvation - what? Yeah, yeah, I know, He didn’t want to be prayed to, but trust me, you’d do the same if you saw some harlot with a face that look like it had melted promising to do unmentionable things to your spleen. Now stop interrupting me.
Okay, so, the door gives way, Yerrin goes down to some freak with four-and-a-half arms - yeah, I don’t know how that worked either - and we’re sure we’ve faced the end. Thankfully, it seemed the Emperor listened to my prayers, and the moment I’m jumped by one of those freaks, its chest explodes in a shower of gore. It wasn’t pleasant, but I’m sure it was preferable to the alternative. In storm the red-armoured sons of Sanguinius, wreaking absolute fucking havoc on the enemy. Within ten seconds, every last mutant in that room had died.
The Space Marines order us to follow them - not sure in what way we could help Astartes except draw fire away from them, but I’m not going to question a command by one of the Blood Angels. So, we grab our gear and follow them, fighting through a literal sea of mutants to get back to the palace - well, in fairness, they did most of the fighting, we just tagged along in the corridor of corpses they created.
Anyhow, we’re almost at the front door of the Governor’s place, and we see a dark, giant form crashing through one of the stained glass windows at the fifteenth floor. Turns out the Governor tried to summon Daemons to help fight the Son of the Emperor, but fucked up somewhere along the line and got possessed by one of them instead. I think they called it a Bloodthirster or something. I can’t quite recall after all those bottles of amasec I had after that event. Anyhow, after the Daemon, the Angel of Baal jumps out and starts punching the shit out of that abomination in mid-air. They crashed into the ground together, right in front of us. That Daemon never stood a fucking chance.
After punching it until its face stopped resembling a face, the Bloodthirster vanished in a puff of sulphur, and Sanguinius looks up. I still think I’m damned for him looking me directly into my eyes. There was something angelic about him still, but not the type of angel that exemplifies kindness anymore. This was the kind of angel that storms out of the heavens with a giant flaming sword to fuck you up in all sorts of ways. His eyes… oh Emperor, his eyes. Hand me that bottle of amasec, will you? Yes, I know it’s my fifth. I’m your superior, son, so just shut the fuck up and give me the alcohol.
Ah, that’s better. Where was I? Oh, right. So the Emperor’s Fury looks up at us, snarling for some reason. I looked at his Marines for guidance, and what I saw almost scared me more than Sanguinius himself. In all my years of service, I’ve seen Astartes on more occasions than many in the Guard, but this is the only time I’ve seen one afraid.
Never thought I’d say it, but I thanked the Emperor when a right proper army of heretics showed up and began to shoot at the Angel of Baal. He turned around to face them and charged. What he did… wasn’t pretty. The streets were crammed with heretics, but he just butchered them all in seconds. He waded into the city, out of sight. He pretty much single-handedly executed every traitor in the Hive that day.
I’ve seen The Emperor’s Fury fight, and let me tell you, son, he’s got that name for a reason”.