The Triumphant Before Ullanor

[CYGNUS]

  It recently occurred to me to wonder just what the other Primarchs were doing while Primarch Horus was winning the rank of Warmaster during the Ullanor Crusade - we know that Old Lupercal himself was the sharp point of the spearhead that tore out the beating heart of a truly epochal Ork WAAAGH before it could get properly under way (presumably hell-bent on crashing into the core of the Imperium even as the Legions Astartes were busy pushing back the Frontiers), but I can recall very little about the location and activities of his brothers at this time - and just before the Triumph that celebrated the zenith of Imperial Fortunes.

 

We know for a fact that Primarch Guilliman and The Khan were with operating in support of the soon-to-be-acclaimed Warmaster with their own Legions at their back (it was presumably at this time that Primarchs Horus and Guilliman disagreed over the precise degree of consolidation required of an Astartes Commander in the wake of his victories), we know for a fact that the Primarchs Fulgrim, Khan, Dorn, Sanguinus, Angron, Mortarion, Magnus & Lorgar were present to acclaim their brother (doubtless snarling under their breath in some cases) at the Greatest Triumph of the Great Crusade but virtually nothing else.

 

 So does anyone have theories as to just what the rest of the Eighteen were up to while Horus was winning his laurels and being awarded them? (during the earliest years of M31).      

[CYGNUS]

Now having posed a question I shall take the liberty of answering it in part (or at least making an attempt to do so) by offering my theories on what the Primarchs may have been doing while Horus was making himself Primus Inter Pares:-

 

 - Firstly the Elephant in the Room (aka Roboute Guilliman): we know that the XIIIth and their Spiritual Liege fought during the Ullanor Crusade, operating in the outer worlds of the Ullanor Sector alongside the Vth (my guess is that the Ultramarines acted not only to tie down those Orks willing to throw themselves at the Enemy without bothering to wait for The Boss, but also as a backstop for the Crusader Forces - doubtless establishing a solid base on which to anchor the logistics of the campaign, as well as going to the trouble of consolidating the initial Liberation campaigns), but for some reason Big Blue seems to have failed to show up for the After Party.

 

 Certainly his absence from the Triumph at Ullanor seems one of the more curious features of that almighty shindig, given that we learn in HORUS RISING that he accepted Horus' elevation in Good Faith and Good Spirits (so he is unlikely to have gone off somewhere to sulk in the aftermath of a rival's success): my theory is that the XIIIth took serious losses during this particular campaign, the most serious of any Astartes force engaged (given they are likely to have acted to defend the Liberated Worlds while the White Scars lit up the stars with their lightning warfare and Horus bypasses the majority of Ork Forces to lunge at the jugular), with the additional probability that The Avenging Son was eager to return to the Five Hundred Worlds (having presumably spent more time away from his heartland than he was entirely comfortable with, remembering always the Illyrian Campaign that had won him Glory and cost him his Foster-Father).

 

 

 - The Khan we know to have been fought in the Ullanor Crusade and been present at the Triumph; my guess is that his White Scars ran interference for the Luna Wolves (snapping up mobile forces to clear a path for the XVIth Legion and in order to keep the Orks guessing as to which direction the Major Imperial attack would come from), skipping from system to system on some unpredictable plan all their own (and doubtless honing their appetite for the pursuit they are likely to have spearheaded - or preparing themselves to act as The Cavalry should Horus's Legion find themselves out of their depth).

 

 

 - My guess is that during the Ullanor Crusade Primarch Dorn and his Imperial Fists were acting as "Plan B" in the event that the Ullanor Crusade turned out to be a tragedy instead of a Triumph; presumably acting as a strategic reserve (as per usual) but also busily bracing those worlds that would be in the path of the Immense WAAAGH that would follow any Imperial defeat (building fortifications, patrolling to ensure that the carnage in the Ullanor Sector did not spill over into the rest of the Imperium, restoring confidence shaken by even the faint prospect of The Emperor and Horus being lost in the course of this campaign): I would be very surprised if the campaign that won the Seventh Legion recruitment rights on Necromunda in perpetuity did not occur at about this time.

 

 It makes sense to me that the Orkish Conquest of Ullanor and the presumably-impending WAAAGH did not inspire similar activities elsewhere in the Galaxy, that Necromunda (so recently the being heart of an Empire all it's own, still presumably nursing it's wounds and it's grudges, as well as undoubtedly ripe with all manner of tech worth looting) would seem to be a sitting duck well worth the plucking to any self-respecting Warboss with a hunger for plunder (I'm thinking that the scavenging Deathskulls in particular would find the prospect of this world mouth-watering).

 

 Given that the Imperial Fists lost brothers not only conquering Necromunda but also keeping it from being exterminated shortly after its capture, one suspects that Primarch Dorn would be almost certain to send some Expeditionary Fleet to fortify the local hives, hunt the Ork wherever he may show his ugly visage throughout the Ash Wastes and generally consolidate the Loyalty of Necromunda to the Imperium; he might even lead the force himself, if he can spare the time and the Greenskin threat is severe enough.     

 

 

 - If I remember correctly the earliest chapters of A THOUSAND SONS depicts exactly what Magnus the Red and his XVth were doing during the Ullanor Crusade, so I can safely refrain from speculating on this particular Primarch.

 

 

 - I don't have specific ideas for the rest of the individual Primarchs, but it seems logical enough to infer that while some of them were running operations in support of the Crusade (I'd guess Perturbo, for one, was just as busy preparing a warm welcome for The Ork WAAAGH, should it break the Crusade sent against it; it seems likely that Lorgar Aurelian and Primarch Fulgrim were whipping up fighting spirit in the masses - both being Charismatic, the former being the Voice of the Faithful and the latter being ... well, FULGRIM, and leader of the Legion that almost literally flies the Emperor's Flag, the Palatine Eagle) while others were busy keeping newly-won territories of the Imperium honest while resources that would have been dedicated to securing their loyalties in perpetuity were instead tasked to keep the Orks from chewing up the Imperium before it could really find its feet (the intimidation factor of the Death Guard and the Blood Angels seem to suit them very neatly to this task, especially since they are known to exercise some restraint on their Fury) and yet others would be busy keeping those Xenos species who might otherwise feel encouraged by the commitment of Imperial Forces elsewhere to take advantage of exposed Imperial Territories quiet through the simple expedient of savaging them like a hungry leopard chewing up a goat (I am morally convinced that Primarch Angron is NEVER allowed to fight Orks for the simple reason that everyone suspects he'll enjoy the process so much he'll go Native).

 

 Doubtless other Legions are unable to intervene by virtue of recruiting to replenish depleted strength, resting & refitting or just plain in the other side of the Galaxy from Ullanor (I'd bet that the Dark Angels, Wolves of Fenris, Iron Hands, Salamanders and the Raven Guard fall into this category).

[DarkProdigy]

I am fairly certain from the book Legion, that the Alpha Legion was in the process of mopping up the campaign from that book, and would have joined up at Ullanor if not for the events that led them to the cabal. It was something like a five month trip out to meet with them, and I'm pretty sure there was a line or two that mention twins regretting having missed out.