The Wayward Son

Melisara's eyes widened disbelievingly, "This is Tzeentch? Are you sure this is a chaos god?!"

"Didn't you hear them speaking to Ferrus' Soul during the resurrection, Melisara?" Seiras asked.

She shook her head, "No…though my armour probably deafened it. I could only hear the daemons that spoke directly to you. Is that what the four coloured horizons were? Hmmm…that's foreboding. They appeared once Ferrus' Soul showed up...like they were waiting,"

"You are indeed correct, Melisara. However, I am only an Avatar of Tzeentch," the Architect cackled.

"Who is Tzeentch?" Ferrus Manus asked almost angrily.

"A very good question, Ferrus! I am the Architect of Fate, the Changer of Ways, The Webspinner of Destiny, Bringer of Hope, and the Chaos God of most sorcerers. I am also the guardian and guide of your brother Magnus. I have been guiding him along his path of greatness," Tzeentch answered.

Ferrus glared at the daemonic eagle, "His master then…so you're here to stop us?!"

"Perhaps I'm here to help you…perhaps I wanted this to happen. Perhaps your return benefits me more than you think it does," Tzeentch responded.

Seiras shook his head, "Why would you possibly want this to happen?! You just tried to stop me!"

"One of my Lords of Change stopped that Bloodthirster from killing you earlier before Leman Russ arrived. I'm disappointed that you didn't realize that," Tzeentch replied.

The librarian scoffed, "That's a lie!"

"Is it? Maybe…or maybe not. Perhaps both of those are true. Perhaps I tried to get Ferrus' soul, but was prepared for the backup plan. Many trails fork away from the desired path, but they can converge later down the road to one's ultimate goal," he countered.

"And what goal would that be?!" Seiras demanded.

The daemonic eagle cackled, "So you want the red stone then, Seiras?"

"Is there any way to get rid of this thing, alien?" Ferrus asked Melisara.

She nodded as she reached into the floating pod nearby and pulled out a weapon, "Yes, I should be able to banish it with a pylon beam."

"You think helping humanity will save you, Melisara the Immortal? Have you given up on your own race, or are you still harboring fantasies of turning the Aeldari to follow the Anathema's Golden Path?" Tzeentch taunted her.

As she aimed the unusual necron weapon at Tzeentch, he chuckled at her silence, "Go ahead...try it."

Melisara fired the beam at the Architect and to everyone's dread, it didn't seem very effective as the blue bird dissolved halfway before reforming.

Ferrus immediately charged the warp entity as he ferociously snatched it out of the air and tore its wings off. He successfully bludgeoned it into warp paste, but that proved equally as pointless as it reformed once again into the Architect.

"And you...Ferrus. Like so many of your brothers, you cannot accept the truth…for you believe it invalidates your very existence. It is the same truth the Men of Stone faced during the Dark Age of Technology. We intervened in the Great Crusade to stop the Anathema's second attempt at the Golden Path. He is not the righteous father you think he is. You're living a lie," Tzeentch announced as he reformed.

"You're nothing but evil eldritch abominations that shouldn't exist! We will not hear your lies! Begone Tzeentch!" Seiras spoke up as he tried to banish the Avatar with his psychic powers.

It proved somewhat successful as the daemon vanished, but to their horror, Tzeentch reformed immediately once again. "Keep trying that and you'll end up a chaos spawn, Seiras. Hear me out for a moment. You call us Chaos Gods evil, but are we really evil? We are the embodiments of life. Think about what you're saying for a moment. Do you think honour, justice, and courage shouldn't exist? Those aspects embody Khorne just as much as blood, violence, and rage. Should cycles of life and death, of birth and renewal not exist? Those are aspects of Nurgle…aspects of nature. Should joy, obsession, or pain not exist? What is life without knowing these things…what is life when it is not shaped by sensations, emotions, and the obsessive desire to seek perfection? That is life without Slaanesh. Then there's me…what is life without change? Without progress? Without ambition, hope, or revolution? Without knowledge or purpose? What is life without Chaos? It is stasis…it is purgatory. It's the complete opposite of life itself."

"From what I can see, you and the rest of these daemons are twisted perversions of those aspects and you should be destroyed for being the evil cancers that you are." Ferrus countered.

"Do you wish to know true evil? Tell me this, Ferrus Manus…was it evil that the Emperor didn't remove the Butcher's Nails from Angron's head because it would make killing him later easier? Was it evil that the Emperor created Magnus to be a soul battery for the Golden Throne? Was it evil that the Emperor portrayed himself as a god and then punished Lorgar for believing it? Was it evil what the Anathema did to Zaratheon? Was it fear when he realized Asmund learned the truth about him? Tell me Ferrus…do you think Perturabo was right about the Thunder Warriors? Do you think Malacador feared the Emperor couldn't control you primarchs? Do you wonder if Asmund reached Sagittarius? Did you ever wonder if that STC on Aeon could have led you to Calyph? Do you wonder if one of us Chaos Gods corrupted Zaratheon?" Tzeentch ranted.

"SHUT UP, DAEMON! How dare you speak those names! I will hear none of your lies anymore! Go to hell!" Ferrus bellowed hatefully.

"Well according to humanity, we're in hell…but what if your reality in the Materium is hell?" Tzeentch responded.

'Who are Asmund and Zaratheon? Are they…the other primarchs?!' Seiras thought uncertainly.

Tzeentch answered Seiras' thoughts much to his shock, "Yes, Seiras they are. Asmund Rex the Forgotten, and Zaratheon the Purged. The former was the primarch of the 2nd legion Void Crusaders and the latter was the primarch of the 11th legion, the Scourge Wraiths. They-"

"DO NOT SPEAK THOSE NAMES!" Ferrus interrupted angrily.

"Why not? Perhaps you will see them again one day. Just so you know, Zaratheon doesn't serve any of the main four chaos gods. He serves Malice. 11 was always his favorite number. It's good you're alive again, Ferrus…you can stop Malice from entering the Materium," Tzeentch chuckled.

"Alien, do it again! GET THIS THING AWAY FROM US!" Ferrus commanded Melisara.

Melisara obeyed him immediately as she fired the beam nonstop at the eldritch horror, but it continuously reformed.

"Wondering why the Anathema can't stop me, Ferrus? Of course you are…I can hear your thoughts. He exhausted himself. Besides, the doubts both you and Seiras carry keep manifesting me back. You cannot purge or destroy me like a regular daemon. I am a part of you..." Tzeentch explained nonchalantly.

The haemonculus looked over at the two of them as she kept it firing, "We need to get out of here immediately! You two move, I'll hold this thing off as we retreat! The ship is that way! Start running!"

They both nodded as Melisara kept the beam firing continuously. Ferrus and Seiras both began to run now at incredible speed. Ferrus was obviously faster, but he made sure not to outrun the two of them. Melisara was quickly following behind them as she levitated backwards at high speed with the beam firing. The pod followed her and proved effective at shielding against random doombolts flickering off the amalgamation of chaos.

Tzeentch's avatar got larger and larger the more it was broken apart as it bubbled up into a grotesque mass of faces, arms, and wings.

His voice echoed loudly around them now in hundreds of voices, "The Anathema keeps many secrets. He would sacrifice you all for the Golden Path. You're nothing to him…and his efforts here were only to keep us from freeing you!"

"He shouldn't be able to manifest this close to Khaine Gate!" Melisara remarked disbelievingly.

"The Men of Iron tried to save humanity from the Men of Gold. The Men of Stone were blinded in their naivety and betrayed them. So too are you blinded in your delusions of self-righteousness." Tzeentch echoed even louder now.

"We're almost there!" Melisara announced as she briefly glanced in their direction.

To their relief, the Avatar now shrunk as it followed them through the gate opening into the Chasm of Woes.

Right as he reached the size of a small bird, Tzeentch spoke one last time, "Run then, but it matters not. You crave knowledge above all else and it will lead to one inevitable outcome…the truth. A word of warning before you go…do not ignore the Sons of Malice. They will lead you to Zaratheon."

None of them said a word as they kept on moving. Melisara immediately decloaked her ship which was now within range and spoke urgently, "We're here! Hurry and get in!"

They didn't even have time to sit down inside as Melisara ran to the front and piloted the ship at full speed away from Khaine's Gate. Seiras had thankfully magnetically activated his boots to keep from falling over, and Ferrus sat down as he grabbed onto a console for support.

After a minute or so of flying, the ship calmed down as it slowed to a more normal speed. Seiras immediately took off his helmet as he sat down on one of the seats exhaling a breath of relief.

Ferrus sat across from and let out a breath of relief himself. No words were spoken as the ship distanced itself from the unreality and back into the familiar sight of Commorragh.

"UGHHH!" Seiras cringed in pain as the gate's pariahs began to hurt him.

Ferrus looked at him seriously, "Is something wrong with you, librarian?!"

"It's the nulls…this gate is covered in them to keep the warp at bay here. I'm fine now," Seiras grimaced in pain. For some reason he detested the idea of showing any weakness in front of the primarch and he willed himself to endure it as the ship continued.

"You tolerated it better this time around, Seiras. I expected the opposite to happen…especially with how much warp energy you used," Melisara spoke up.

Ferrus said nothing as he looked out the window and into the horizon of Commorragh. It was obvious he found its architecture disturbing and unusual like Seiras did.

"I can't believe that was really Tzeentch," Seiras shook his head and broke the silence.

Melisara glanced back and spoke heavily, "That was quite disturbing. I was genuinely afraid we were in trouble back there. I didn't expect something like that to happen…especially after the Emperor banished all of those daemons. The warp is an extremely dangerous place. Had we not been that close to Khaine's Gate, he undoubtedly would have been able to keep us trapped there."

Ferrus looked a bit horrified as he stared at the floor of the ship deep in thought. He grimaced angrily, "Damn that creature! Now I see how my brothers fell to Chaos. Why the Emperor didn't trust the warp. I can't believe he said their names…"

"You're referring to the 2nd and 11th primarchs?" Seiras asked for confirmation.

The Gorgon looked intensely at Seiras and sighed, "You know far too much already. I cannot let this go unexplained lest you start believing that abomination's insidious words. I will clarify the truth. Then we will NEVER speak of it again. Is that understood, space marine?!"

"Yes, Lord Ferrus!" Seiras bowed his head.

"Swear to me that you'll never speak of it to anyone. I'm only trusting you with this knowledge because Leman trusted you and because it would be negligent otherwise. If you ever break this promise, I will have no choice but to kill you and anyone you tell," Ferrus continued.

"I swear upon the Emperor's name and my honour as a space marine that I will never speak of it again to anyone," Seiras said seriously.

Ferrus paused for a moment before shaking his head, "Asmund Rex was the primarch of the 2nd legion Void Crusaders. He fled the galaxy with the remnants of his legion after abandoning the Great Crusade. He is the forgotten primarch. My brother Zaratheon was the primarch of the 11th legion…the Scourge Wraiths. His legion suffered rampant mutations. The most noteworthy of which is some marines would grow antlers and horns from their heads and develop monstrous features. Many were also cannibalistic to a troubling degree due to an Omophagea mutation. The marines with these mutations were called Wendigo Marines and it was very common among the legion's librarians. Zaratheon himself was a powerful psyker, and he consorted with warp spirits to a dangerous degree. To be honest his legion was quite similar to the Space Wolves in some ways as they had their own pantheon and tribalistic society. They got along quite well at first, but I think Leman was horrified by how the 11th legion operated. The legion employed countless unmodified human battle psykers which were called druids…some of which who also had mutations. The people of their world believed it was sacred to have these features and they were quite liberal in their use of the warp. To make matters worse, instead of culling the mutation or asking father for help, Zaratheon concealed it by adorning all of his sons helmets with antlers from the Faelk Stags which were native creatures of their planet. When we discovered this mutation in their legion, the Emperor was appalled. He ordered Leman to purge it all…and to bring Zaratheon to him. Obviously Zaratheon resisted, and they fought to the death. Leman likely believed Magnus was consigned to a similar fate."

Seiras' eyes widened, "That is quite tragic…they were affected by chaos then? Do you think that this Malice corrupted Zaratheon? I've never heard of that warp entity before."

"It's quite possible this Malice is another Chaos God…maybe a minor one. I have heard of a chapter of Astartes called the Sons of Malice. According to Fabius, they were renegade Astartes that killed loyalists and chaos marines alike. They have black and white armour…just like the Scourge Wraiths. Though I've never heard of horn mutations in any chapter except the Black Dragons." Melisara added.

"Whatever it is, a warp monster corrupted Zaratheon. We did not know what Chaos was at the time, but I believe that to be the case now. The 11th Legion didn't have many inherent issues with its Terran-born Marines. It was only when they started recruiting from Zaratheon's homeworld that this began to happen. It would also explain why Leman was afraid of Magnus dabbling in the warp…considering THAT THING back there was probably what he was talking to. The 11th legion primarily worked with Russ and Guilliman as Zaratheon was the 18th primarch found. I think it pained Russ to have to kill them off since the 11th legion liked him a great deal," the Gorgon replied.

"What about the other primarch…Asmund Rex? Did he fall to chaos too?" Seiras asked.

Ferrus looked at him seriously, "I don't think so. At least looking back on how things happened, and knowing what I know now, I don't think that was what led to his fall. His problem was entirely different. Asmund had about the same psychic ability as Jaghatai Khan. In fact Khan was probably his favorite brother. He used the warp in battle, but it wasn't what he was known for. He was a bit of rogue even near the beginning and usually disliked working with other legions or primarchs. To better describe him, I think you should know how he was in general. After the conquests of Segmentum Solar and Obscuras, Asmund crusaded with Fulgrim and I to destroy several powerful human and xenos civilizations near the edge of Segmentum Tempestus. We encountered one called the Erudonians on a human hive world named Alecto. They had enslaved the human population there and were a psychic species. Their ships were extremely advanced and despite our combined efforts, we did not make much progress. Asmund's flagship was eventually destroyed in one of the fleet battles and we were forced to retreat. What happened next was unusual…some of the humans Asmund's legion had rescued from the planet told him about a ship in the nearby system that could help. These humans were highly advanced in their own right. They had not suffered much regression since the Age of Strife. Keep that in mind when you consider how these Erudonians actually enslaved them and how three legions couldn't siege this one planet. After we retreated, Fulgrim and I went to get backup from the Emperor and the Mechanicum. He came with Horus and Russ as well as a large Mechanicum Fleet to help us crush them. Asmund on the other hand went to find this ship…and he did. One of my biggest regrets in the entire Crusade was not going with him…because Asmund was different after he found it."

"Different how?" Seiras asked.

"By the time we all returned to Alecto to regroup with him, his legion had conquered the entire planet, destroyed the alien fleet, and glassed most of Alecto's hive cities with that ship. I can't even imagine how one ship was able to make that kind of difference in battle." Ferrus paused.

"What was this ship like exactly? Was it bigger than a Gloriana?" Seiras asked.

"It wasn't much larger than a gloriana, but it must have had weapons on it that put anything in the Imperium to shame because that one ship was powerful enough for Asmund's legion to conquer Alecto by himself. When the Mechanicum went to scour the planet for technology, they found a destroyed STC…apparently the humans there destroyed it after Asmund conquered the planet and he executed people until they finally surrendered to Imperial compliance. None of us understood why, but the Emperor told us that the people of that world were part of an Anti-Terran splinter faction from the dark age called the Temepestus Systems Alliance. Apparently, they didn't use the ship Asmund found because its automated security systems recognized them as hostiles. The ship's entire crew had long since died aboard it, and it was empty minus a few mummified corpses." Ferrus explained.

"So what did the Emperor think about this ship? Did he notice anything unusual about it or Asmund after you all arrived?" Seiras asked.

"We all boarded the ship with our honour guards to talk to Asmund. Nothing seemed too unusual about it at first other than its impressive technology. The Emperor told us that it was a Terran Federation Abyss-Class Heavy Cruiser. That ship was an escort vessel from the ancient age of technology, but it was far more deadly than even our Gloriana barges. The Emperor investigated the ship and remarked it had a V.I. program in it. That was when we first learned about V.I.'s or Virtual Intelligence. The Emperor and the Mechanicum told us that V.I.'s were not abominable intelligences since they were not sentient. They were merely supercomputers that followed algorithms and programming parameters. The ship was registered to obey Terrans, and since Asmund and many of his marines were born on Terra, the V.I. granted them access to the ship. The Emperor allowed Asmund to keep the ship and the Mechanicus took copies of its onboard blueprints back to Mars. The Great Crusade then continued as normal, but Asmund's legion was far more effective with this ship at the helm. Here's the part where it gets strange. After acquiring that ship, he began to volunteer for obscure conquests in the outer rims of the galaxy and almost always objected to crusading with another primarch. None of us realized it back then, but that ship's machine spirit wasn't a V.I. at all. It was an A.I. pretending to be a V.I." Ferrus spoke grimly.

Seiras' eyes widened, "How could the Emperor not have realized that though? Or the Mechanicum?! They have firsthand experience with A.I. interaction, don't they?"

"I honestly don't know, but the Mechanicum didn't think it was a problem at the time since even the Ark Mechanicus ships had V.I. systems in them. The Emperor told us that his ship did as well. He believed it would be a major war asset and he allowed Asmund to keep it as his new flagship. Asmund repainted the ship to the colours of his legion…black and purple. The ship's name was the UTFS Queen Calyph…which stood for the United Terran Federation Ship. Asmund kept the name Calyph for it. I have no idea what that name's origin meant, but I'm fairly certain it was the A.I.'s name. Asmund would often call it his Void Queen and that was a common name the 2nd legion referred to it as." Ferrus shook his head.

"So, do you think Asmund realized that ship had an A.I. when he found it? What happened next?" Seiras wondered.

"I have no idea…but the more time he spent with that ship, the stranger he and his legion became. Asmund started to repurpose his legion afterwards. He began to send an unusually high amount of his marines to Mars to become techmarines…even some of the librarians and apothecaries which is simply ridiculous. The Mechanicum accepted his requests however because Asmund's legion had a close partnership with them like the 4th and the 10th. He delivered quite a number of partial STC's to Mars and had a commendable reputation among the Imperial Navy as well. It was only after he crossed paths with Corax and his legion on the fringes of the Galaxy that we found out that Asmund had been diverging from the Crusade and looking for something called The Last Ark. Corax reported quite a few disturbing things to the Emperor about what he saw. Corax realized there were discrepancies in Asmund's reported conquests and he proved it by encountering the 2nd legion halfway across the galaxy from where they said they were. He then discovered that they had been fabricating both tithes and reports to Terra and Mars. Asmund had unique and advanced dark age technology that he kept to himself. Things Corax was only able to see after spying on Asmund's fleet personally," Ferrus paused briefly.

"Like what exactly?" the librarian's eyed widened.

"Quite a number of dangerous weapons that I don't even know about. Only Corax and the Emperor truly knew the extent. There was one I did hear about when Corax warned Russ. Asmund and his legionaries had a unique titan called an Ouroboros-Class Titan. Only Corax had ever seen it and according to him it resembled a dragon or a snake of some kind. The titan's name was Apophis. It was massive and it could fly in skies and in space," Ferrus said slowly.

The librarian shook his head, "A flying titan that looks like a dragon?! How is that even possible?!"

"A dark-matter engine would make it defy gravity. Those essentially transmute dark matter into a malleable form allowing it to then be destroyed by generating antimatter particles against it. This in turn creates dark energy or anti-gravity as you humans called it. Your ships use this same thing to accelerate quickly through solar systems as it cuts out the ridiculous energy requirement for reaching partial light speed. But I digress...Ouroboros Titans were specifically designed for void-combat by the Terran Federation. There's no doubt that this Ouroboros Titan was used in the ancient war between humans and their A.I. creations. From what I learned of that conflict, titans were one of the few trusted weapons humanity had against their Men of Iron," Melisara pointed out.

"You know about ancient humanity?" Ferrus questioned her confused.

She nodded, "Of course I do, I was alive before the Fall of the Aeldari and I saw the end of the ancient humans' Federation. Your Imperator class titans used nowadays were mid-tier in comparison to the greatest of mankind's titans. There were three additional types of advanced titans I know of that were used back before your Imperium arose. That's not to say there weren't more, but these are the ones I know about: The Castigator Titans, the Ouroboros Titans, and the Angel Titans. The Castigators were the most common of the three and were unrivaled on land. Castigators were much larger than Imperators, but they were faster. Some were specialized for underwater combat as well. Ouroboros were primarily used in void combat but could function in any environment. Most resembled dragons or snakes. The ancient Terrans called them Star Dragons…and for good reason too. As for the Angel Titans…well they were essentially angels compared to regular titans. By that I mean they were a mythological tier above them. I know next to nothing about angel titans other than the fact that they were the rarest and most powerful."

"How powerful exactly? Do you have any scale to measure it?" Ferrus interjected with interest.

Melisara shrugged, "Nothing that would do it any justice. It was humanity's attempt to create something comparable to the Maelsaha'eil Atherakhia…or Angel Exterminatus in your language."

"What is the Angel Exterminatus?" Ferrus asked anxiously.

"Ancient legends claim it was a god, but in actuality it was the most powerful Aeldari Titan ever built. It was so powerful that the ancients sealed it away for fear of what it could do. It was briefly unsealed during your dark age of technology to battle the Federation when they encroached too closely on our borders, and it actually scared them into a non-aggression pact with my kind. Although, humanity started developing Angel Titans after seeing one of our fleets and the Angel Exterminatus destroy a sun-snuffer," Melisara explained.

"What made these angel titans so special in comparison to the other two? And what it the warp is a sun-snuffer?" Seiras wondered.

"From what I learned, Angel Titans were void-capable and they had warp engines on them. They also had weapons on them that I can't even describe to you. One could destroy a fleet by itself…and I mean an ancient terran fleet with comparable technology. They were also the only real weapon humanity had against Sun-Snuffers during the Men of Iron's uprising. Most were destroyed taking them down. It took nearly one hundred of them to kill the last three Sun-Snuffers in one of the last major battles between the Men of Iron and the Federation. Also, to answer your other question, a Sun-Snuffer is essentially a planet sized Ouroboros titan. They were originally designed for Starlifting to mine hydrogen and other elements from metal rich stars. The Terran Federation later weaponized Sun-Snuffers when they realized they could destroy stars with them. The Men of Iron destroyed most of the ancient Federation star systems with Sun-Snuffers. To give you an idea of how terrifying these things were, my race in its infinite power back then had no desire for a galactic wide war with humanity because they had the capability to destroy the galaxy with their weapons. That is why we also agreed to a non-aggression pact." the haemonculus explained.

"So these sun-snuffers were planet sized and only one hundred angel titans to kill three of them?!" Seiras gawked in pure disbelief.

"Yes, that is correct. Only nine angel titans survived the final battle against the last three sun-snuffers…and not for long. They were A.I.'s and couldn't be trusted. Humanity purged all A.I.'s after the end of the war. The ancient humans unleashed a black hole in the system to swallow the last of the Angel Titans up after they destroyed the last Sun-Snuffer. It was an act of betrayal and fear…though I can hardly blame them. This is also why fully intact STC's are impossibly rare…because they're A.I.'s," Melisara mused.

Ferrus shook his head, "That all sounds impossible."

"Why didn't the ancient humans just use black holes to kill the Sun-Snuffers if they could make them on such a scale?" Seiras asked.

"They did as a last resort, but usually avoided such a measure to save hundreds of trillions of lives per sub-sector. I honestly don't know that much more about the topic, sadly," she shrugged.

Ferrus glared at her a bit disturbed, "Hundreds of trillions of lives per sub-sector? What kind of inflated numbers are you suggesting here?"

"Hard to grasp I know. The current Imperium has quadrillions of people and that's not even 1 percent of the Federation's population back then. They didn't just own most of the planets, but they had space habitats around hundreds of stars in the galaxy. Trust me…there's a reason the Aeldari Empire didn't want to go to war with them. If your race ignores the Tau for too long I imagine a similar explosion of population will happen." The haemonculus chuckled.

"That's utterly preposterous…" Ferrus scoffed.

"What is exactly?" she wondered.

"All of it! That makes the Great Crusade seem so meaningless in comparison. I can't even imagine how father lived in such a time and how he views mankind after falling so far," Ferrus said a bit distraught.

"As someone who lived before the Fall, I can tell you it's certainly surreal. Most people can't even comprehend the post-scarcity and the scale of warfare and population back then. Almost nobody in this age has an appreciation for scientific achievement or the evolution of their species. They just wallow around in tribalistic groups fighting over pointless scraps of technology and territory that they know nothing about. You will probably experience the same feeling when you view the current Imperium Ferrus. To know that these insignificant children boast about their power without realizing that they are standing on the shoulders of giants. I see it with my own kind...these petty archons or annoying Craftworlders speaking as if they know the true greatness of our ancient empire. They know nothing of who the Aeldari were and they never will..." Melisara said distantly.

The primarch stared at Melisara and frowned, "That is an interesting perspective to consider. Since you're supposedly knowledgeable on ancient humanity, alien…tell me something. Do you know what the Men of Gold and Men of Stone are?"

"Oh, well I only know a little unfortunately, but it's an allegorical name given to the various types of ancient humans. The Men of Gold were pure humans…though they were more than mere men. Genetic and spiritual superhumans I suppose would be a good way to describe them…sort of like Astartes or primarchs though obviously not the same thing. Your Emperor would be classified as one of the Men of Gold…possibly even their leader. I imagine Malcador might have been one as well. He did survive getting hit by primarchs after all. I'm not sure if the Men of Gold were all inherently psychic, but they were supposedly ultimate genetic humans. They could have been perpetuals, the predecessors of primarchs, or even on par with the Emperor himself for all I know. Regardless of what they were, I know that the Emperor was one of them. His vast knowledge on genetics didn't come from nowhere. Granted Custodes could possibly be Men of Gold as well. They might have viewed Astartes as imperfect pseudo imitations that were a means to an end. Nevertheless, I have no doubt many of the organs primarchs possess were present in Men of Gold. As for the Men of Stone…they were how do I say not entirely human or machine? They were some type of synthesis between humans and machines. My best guess is they put V.I.'s in their brains and became some type of synthetic human. If you would humor my conjecture, I believe your Mechanicus is the last remnant of the Men of Stone. That is possibly one of the main reasons they followed the Emperor other than believing he was the Omnissiah…since the Men of Stone followed the Men of Gold. The Emperor possessing the knowledge of V.I.'s only adds credence to my belief in this. And of course the Men of Iron are the A.I.'s that the Men of Stone created," Melisara answered in more detail than either of them were expecting.

Ferrus looked shocked by her insight, "So you're saying there were other humans like my father back before the Age of Strife?"

"That's just what I've heard. To be honest, I know next to nothing about the Men of Gold other than that. It is likely that the Emperor wished for all of humanity to become like them though. That is undoubtedly why he didn't allow any of you to have too much technology or use too many psychic powers. He did not want to see you walk the Stone Path of technology…as he knew firsthand where that road led. He also didn't want you to walk the Warp Path like the Aeldari did and fall into religious mysticism and hedonistic depravity. I think he desired true ascension and enlightenment along his Golden Path. That's just a theory though. It is obvious that the daemonic entities feared this Golden Path because Tzeentch mentioned that was why the Chaos Gods stopped the Great Crusade. With all that said, I have nothing but admiration for the Emperor's ideals. This Golden Path sounds like true apotheosis. If only my species had such aspirations," Melisara said with longing approval.

"The Emperor once told me that the Imperial Truth is the first step along the Golden Path of Mankind. Considering these daemons are afraid of it, I would say I believe in this Golden Path," Ferrus noted.

"Tzeentch said that the Men of Iron tried to save humanity from the Men of Gold…what do you think he meant by that?" Seiras asked.

Ferrus shook his head, "That's nonsense. It was likely a clash of ideals between man and machine. The Emperor believed in human perfection and these machines were likely threatened by it."

"Melisara, you said humans put V.I.'s in their brains…is that what created A.I.'s?" Seiras asked.

Melisara shook her head, "Not directly, that only created the Men of Stone. A.I.'s were much more advanced and dangerous. They were also soulless unlike Men of Stone. The Aeldari Empire found them almost as appalling as the Necrons. There's a reason most races forbid thinking machines from existing. You can't control their variation or contain their learning ability. One might be willing to help you, and another might think your extinction is necessary for a task it was designed for by your species."

"So what do you think that A.I. Calyph did to Asmund?" Ferrus asked Melisara.

The haemonculus looked back at him briefly, "Hard to say…it obviously knew it would be 'killed' if anyone found out it was an A.I. and pretended to be a V.I. for a while. Perhaps it convinced Asmund to keep its existence a secret in exchange for helping the Great Crusade. Maybe over time, Asmund grew to trust it and started doing what it suggested. At any rate, it is likely your brother didn't share the Imperium's views on A.I.'s. From what I've studied of A.I.'s they can be quite useful when they're not trying to kill you. It might be possible the Emperor wanted the STC on Aeon because it could locate other A.I.'s in the galaxy. He might have also found Calyph's willingness to help his son interesting. For an A.I. would likely believe a primarch is a Man of Gold."

"That is quite unusual then," Seiras remarked shaking his head.

"Do Ouroboros titans have A.I.'s in them too?" Ferrus asked.

Melisara nodded, "Yes, I believe so…as do Castigators."

"So Asmund has two A.I.'s then…Calyph and Apophis?" Ferrus said disbelievingly.

The haemonculus frowned at his question as she nodded, "Yes, that would appear to be the case. Perhaps Calyph convinced Apophis to join up with Asmund's legion. From what I understand, Ouroboros titans were almost primarily on the side of the Men of Iron in the great war of your species. I can imagine the Emperor was quite disturbed to hear about a primarch having one."

"I think I see now why the Emperor didn't want anyone knowing about the 2nd legion. If word got out that Space Marines were using an A.I. the Mechanicum would have declared war on Terra during the Great Crusade. I still can't comprehend how he managed to turn the tech-priests with their fleet," the librarian interjected.

Ferrus scowled, "That's likely why he wanted an excessive amount of tech-marines. Although Asmund's closest ally was the Magos Reductor Galina Tadras. She was an extremist who often pushed the boundaries on what Mars found appropriate. She had a huge following among the Mechanicum and I can imagine her followers were loyal to Asmund's legion. A primarch and a Magos like that could easily persuade Mechanicum forces to go rogue…especially if they hoarded lost and forbidden technology. Those that objected were probably killed."

"So what happened with Asmund Rex? Corax reported his divergence and Russ went after him, right?" Seiras wondered.

"After Corax confronted him, Asmund completely abandoned the Great Crusade. He took his entire legion including all the humans under his command to find something called 'The Last Ark' as I mentioned earlier. It was only after hearing about this that the Emperor realized Calyph was an A.I. He sent Russ along with a considerable force of his Custodes to go destroy Calyph and Apophis. He wanted Russ to bring Asmund back to Terra alive. By the time Russ reached him, Asmund had already found this…Last Ark on the edge of the galactic rim. I don't quite know how to describe it to you. It was the human equivalent of a Craftworld according to Leman. Russ' forces wiped out about half of Asmund's Legion thanks to the advanced ships of the Custodes and the space wolves effectiveness in close quarters combat…but Asmund managed to relocate his ship's A.I. core into the Last Ark. When the Last Ark powered up, it blew apart half the expeditionary fleet in minutes. He didn't aim for Russ' ships though. He fired on the Custodes ships. Asmund then fled with the remainder of his legion into the void beyond the galactic rim. He sent a final message to Leman as he departed: 'The Void Gate is in Sagittarius.'" Ferrus concluded.

Seiras shook his head, "Sagittarius? The Terran Constellation?"

Ferrus nodded, "No, I think he meant the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy. It was beyond the range of the Astronomican and roughly 70,000 light years away from our galaxy. It would be suicide for anyone under normal circumstances, but Asmund went anyways. Perhaps he believed warp travel was possible between galaxies. Perhaps this Void Gate was some means of extragalactic travel."

"What ever happened to the Void Queen ship Calyph was on? Was it destroyed?" he continued.

"No, it just docked onto the Last Ark. I have no idea what the Last Ark was capable of, but it might have been built for an extragalactic colonization mission. At least…that's what the Emperor believed. He had nothing to say about this Void Gate though. After Asmund fled, the Emperor ordered all records of him stricken from history and we were forbidden to ever speak of him again for it would have greatly undermined the Emperor were anyone to learn that a rogue primarch abandoned the Great Crusade and fled the galaxy with two A.I.'s and a super ship." Ferrus sighed.

"Do you think Asmund will ever return?" Seiras asked.

The Gorgon shrugged, "I hope not. Honestly, I think he just wanted to leave the galaxy. He seemed obsessed about extragalactic threats. Asmund told Fulgrim and I later on in the Crusade that the Erudonian aliens we fought on Alecto were actually extragalactic. He believed they were from the Triangulum Galaxy. It was possible he learned more from that A.I. Calyph. That thing might have also tried to convince him not to follow the Emperor's Golden Path. I wish I knew."

"So considering an A.I. led to one of the primarchs going rogue, why do you think the Emperor entrusted you, Perturabo, and Magnus to go find that STC on Aeon?" Seiras wondered.

The Gorgon stared at his fists as he clenched them tightly, "I don't know…perhaps he knew even back then that we would need its technology to combat threats like these Necrons. Perhaps he knew what Asmund was so obsessed about."

"What was Zaratheon like?" Seiras changed the subject after an uncomfortable silence.

"He was a powerful psyker and one of the last primarchs found. Not many of us liked or understood him very well. Before his fall, he was close with Russ, Guilliman, and Lorgar. The best way to describe his personality is something like a combination of Russ and Magnus. He was extremely arrogant and had a polarizing effect on people. You either liked him or you hated him. I would say he was sort of an outcast like Curze and Mortarion were. He was an excellent fighter though and clearly matched Magnus as a psyker in some respects. His legion was very strange however…they barely ever spoke, and they had a small inherent gene-seed flaw with their Omaphagea organs. It would release extremely high amounts of dopamine in their brains whenever they ate flesh…which is probably why the legion was very cannibalistic. After Zaratheon was found, the men recruited from his homeworld also developed their Wendigo mutations. I distinctly remember the Emperor and Malcador did not like him. Their bias against psykers in the legions was obviously a result of his actions." Ferrus explained with a distant expression.

Seiras shook his head in disappointment, "I can hardly blame Lord Russ for having a psyker bias if he saw something like that before he even knew what Chaos was."

"How powerful would you say Zaratheon and Asmund were compared to the rest of the primarchs, Ferrus?" Melisara asked.

Ferrus shrugged, "That's not something one can really judge objectively. It would involve me ranking all of my brothers on their personal might, which is a difficult thing to do. The best I can do is compare them to the primarchs they were most similar to. Zaratheon was a lot like Russ in his combat abilities, though obviously he was inferior since he lost. Asmund was comparable to Jaghatai Khan. I doubt he could have bested Lion, Russ, or Sanguinius in a fight, but he operated a lot like Guilliman did. He was good at managing his forces and never felt the need to show his personal might. Fulgrim and I used to duel with Asmund on occasion. He beat Fulgrim many times, but he never defeated me. Although Fulgrim killed me, so considering all of that it's impossible to say conclusively how strong he was. I know he was weaker than Zaratheon, but Leman had a tougher time dealing with Asmund. How can one rank them based on those variables?"

"What did the Emperor and Malcador think of Asmund before everything happened?" Seiras asked.

"I think we've spoken enough about these forbidden topics. You know all you need to know about the forgotten and the purged. Let's move on from this now. We insult the Emperor's decree by even speaking of it. I am trusting you with this secret…don't make me regret it." Ferrus said grimly.

"Thank you for telling me, Lord Ferrus. I will honour my word and never speak of it to anyone ever again," Seiras nodded respectfully.

"Good," he nodded simply before another quiet spell filled the ship.

"Well there is a matter of concern there, Ferrus…what if these Sons of Malice are Zaratheon's gene-sons? Tzeentch mentioned something about this Malice entity wanting to enter the Materium," Melisara pointed out.

Ferrus scoffed at her question, "I have no intention of fulfilling that daemon's desires. I will not be a pawn in its game like Magnus was."

"Well maybe you can ask the Emperor when you go back to Terra. When you get there, tell him I'm sorry about building that psychic receiver into the Golden Throne…oh and make sure the Custodes know it was me that helped you," Melisara said optimistically.

The primarch gave her a bizarre look, "You're quite possibly the most unusual alien I've ever encountered."

"You mean the BEST alien you've ever encountered, right? If all Eldar were like me, our two species would be allies." she shot back.

Ferrus sighed, "I will be interested to see what my father thinks of you. He didn't hate aliens entirely…just those that opposed the Great Crusade. Considering your…helpfulness thus far, perhaps he'll allow an exception for SOME of you existing."

"Nothing would make me happier than to have my own gene-lab on Terra," Melisara suggested hopefully.

Ferrus scowled at her, "That is out of the question…you're lucky you even get to live with all this knowledge you have on humanity. If you ever use it against us, I will personally destroy this entire city and genocide the remainder of your race. I'll destroy that gate back there if you betray my mercy or trust, xenos."

"That's an unusual way of thanking me, but I don't hold your distrust against you. As you say, dear Ferrus." Melisara responded calmly.

Somewhere in the Eye of Terror

"Lord Perturabo, I have received a psychic message from one of Abaddon's sorcerers," an Iron Warrior announced as he walked into the primarch's private chamber.

Perturabo's eyes stopped glowing as he glanced over at the newly arrived Iron Warrior Sorcerer, "What does he want?"

"He's calling for all the primarchs to meet him in the Eye of Terror on Maeleum. Apparently, it's about the Gorgon's reanimation," the Iron Warrior Sorcerer explained.

The Lord of Iron didn't even bother answering his marine son as he went back to tinkering with a device on his workbench.

"Would you like me to give them a response, primarch?" The sorcerer asked with patient stoicism after thirty seconds of no reaction.

Perturabo finally stopped with his tinkering as he turned around, "I'll do it myself…mobilize the legion and recall all the warbands in the Eye of Terror."

"So we're going to Maeleum?" the sorcerer asked carefully.

"I haven't decided yet. If so, we'll stop by there on our way into real space. I will give you your orders when I'm finished here," Perturabo waved the sorcerer away.

After he was gone and the chamber sealed, Perturabo closed his eyes momentarily as he spoke into the warp, "Tell Abaddon I will speak with him."

Moments later Perturabo opened his eyes as a psychic window manifested in front of him. He looked into it and saw the Warmaster as well as a number of his sorcerers. The part he was not expecting to see was Fulgrim standing next to Abaddon.

Perturabo glared into the window at his brother but focused his attention on Abaddon, "What do you want, Warmaster Abaddon?"

"I take it you've heard by now about the meeting I would like to have on Maeleus? Fulgrim has already agreed to it, and so have Lorgar and Mortarion. That just leaves Angron, Magnus, and you," Abaddon began.

"You're out of your mind if you think I have any interest in being in the same location as Mortarion or Fulgrim. You're also delusional if you think Angron will agree to this," Perturabo said coldly.

"Lorgar told me he was going to get Angron. Apparently, he has some influence with him still. As for Magnus, my sorcerers have told me that he's escaped the webway and is back in the warp. He is adamant about finding Leman Russ but said he would show up to the meeting if you did." Abaddon explained.

Perturabo looked past Abaddon now and stared at Fulgrim, "Not wearing your true form, brother?"

"It's easier to travel in humanoid form," Fulgrim answered.

"Do not think I've forgotten about how you tried to sacrifice me for your pointless ascension. You sought to make a mockery of me and my legion, but here's what I find ironic, Fulgrim. I did find the Angel Exterminatus…despite your treachery," Perturabo spoke venomously.

Fulgrim's eyes widened, "Wait…what?! You did?!"

"What is the Angel Exterminatus?" Abaddon asked.

Fulgrim shook his head, "It shouldn't exist…it was supposedly an ancient Aeldari god weapon."

"Fulgrim lied to me about it being on Iydris and tried to sacrifice me for his daemonhood. While you were busy doing whatever it is you do in the warp, I was locating the real Angel Exterminatus. To answer your question warmaster, it is a weapon of great power. Greater than even your Blackstone Fortresses," the Lord of Iron answered.

Abaddon's eyes widened, "Why haven't you used this weapon at all then?"

"I found it recently and have been trying to understand how it works. It isn't what you think it is warmaster. The Angel Exterminatus was a god in Aeldari myth, but its true nature is far more concerning. It's a machine…an Aeldari Titan that can fly. I am only telling you about this weapon so that you won't get any foolish ideas about betraying me. I will be bringing it to Maeleus, and I won't hesitate to use it against you or my traitorous brothers if you try anything. Keep that in mind, warmaster!" Perturabo's voice rasped before he forced the psychic window to shatter.

After finishing his statement, the primarch glanced back over at his workbench. He picked up an Aeldari webway remote and stared at it seriously, 'Soon…'