Inspirational Friday 2017: If Horus had won... (until 11/24)

[Kierdale]

For those who do not know it, Inspiration Friday is a (generally) fortnightly weekly event within its home in the Chaos Space Marines forum (but open to all members of the B&C), in which a topic is set for members to write short (or long if the muse takes you) fluff/fan-fic pieces about a set theme an/or their war bands, characters and models.

And here begins our twenty-first challenge of Inspirational Friday 2017: If Horus had won...

In Legion, before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy the xenos Cabal presented the primarchs Alpharius and Omegon with a vision - the Acuity - of the fate of the galaxy. Two paths:

Excerpt from Legion, by Dan Abnett

Hidden Content

+ Regard, then, the future. Horus wins and Chaos triumphs, a terrible prospect, but likely. The Cabal sees a scintilla of honour remaining in bright Lupercal. He will secretly hate himself for the atrocities committed in his name. If he wins his fury will accelerate along with his self-loathing. He will immolate the human species inside two or three generations. The self-destructive, redemptive urge in Horus will deive him to exterminate mankind in shame. Even his closest allies will war against him in a final armageddon. Chaos will burn brighter than ever before and will then be extinguished. It’s great victory will flare and then gutter as the dying Imperium takes it to the grave. Races of the Galaxy will be spared, through the sacrifice of the human race.

Consider the alternative, Oregon Primarch. This is what we have foreseen. The Emperor will give his life to achieve victory. He will fall, at Terra, striking Horus down. This will be his destiny, see.

If the Emperor wins, stagnation will seize the Imperium. It will seek to perpetuate itself, over and again, across thousands of years, but it will decay, slowly and surely. It will decay, and gradually allow Chaos to seep back in and consume it.

If the Emperor wins, Alpharius, Chaos will ultimately triumph. Ten, twenty thousand years of misery and rot will follow, until the Primordial Annihilator at last achieves ascendancy.

The slow, inexorable conquest of Chaos, or a brief period of terror and frenzy. Creeping damnation, or a bloody century or two as the human race rips itself apart, and expunges Chaos from the galaxy. This is the choice we present to you. The human race is a weapon. It can save the galaxy or destroy it.

And as we all know, at the siege of Terra the (false ) Emperor was victorious, at a terrible price.

But what would have been the fate of the galaxy, in your opinion, had Horus slain his father and survived?

I ask you to tell us what you believe would have happened had fate taken a different path. Whether or not you follow what the (foul, never to be trusted) xenos Cabal predicted or not is entirely up to you.

IF2017: If Horus had won... runs until the 24th of November.

Let us be inspired.

The most inspirational piece will earn rewards. Not only the Octed amulet...

(For lapdogs of the False Emperor to hide away, or for the followers of the Four to prize)

...but also the honour of judging who wins the next Inspiration Friday (the latter of which you can relinquish to me if you wish).

Please submit your entries (and any questions you might have) in the main IF thread linked to above.

[Trevak Dal]

You know I never really got down with the whole "false Emperor" thing. He destroyed the last contenders soul. I had a hard time when I was getting into the hobby understanding how he was a corpse god, and how he has a :cusstier tier of immortality to have that happen-though I've heard it argued he didn't just heal because of his constant fight against the daemons on the golden throne and powering the astronomicon.

[SpAcEGhOsT095]

I would like to know what would have happened to the gate that the Emperor, then Malcador, held.

Would Chaos have allowed Horus to claim Terra or just break the gate and take it from him as soon as the Emperor was dead?

Edited November 10, 2017 by SpAcEGhOsT095

[Kierdale]

I would like to know what would have happened to the gate that the Emperor, then Malcador, held.

Would Chaos have allowed Horus to claim Terra or just break the gate and take it from him as soon as the Emperor was dead?

Horus could have used it as a bargaining chip with the gods?

Let Magnus have it as his plaything?...or force Magnus into it as Daddy may have planned all along?

[Dizzyeye01]

There is one thought that occurs to me. When you say that Horus wins, does this mean that for absolute that the Emperor died on the Vengeful Spirit during their duel or is it open ended in what we can do with it; the only condition being that Horus won? I'm asking this since I do have an idea in my head on how things fold out only that both Horus and the Emperor didn't die during the duel.

[Kierdale]

That’s an interesting idea. By all mean go with it :)

[SpAcEGhOsT095]

If the Cabal is to be believed, Horus would have destroyed humanity in two or three generations, so say within a century. The self-loathing would have probably started not long after killing the Emperor. His eyes could have been opened when he saw first hand what was going on in the imperial dungeons, and realized he was played like a chump. That might make me want to blow up everything out of shame too. 

[Kierdale]

What fate do you think would befall the other 40k races if Horus won?

Would Chaos be so busy over that hundred years or so destroying humanity that the Orks and Eldar might thrive, or would Slaanesh be more powerful after the victory and turn its attention upon the race that birthed it?

 

Would the Tau home system be crushed before they arose, or be overlooked in the madness?

Who would remain, only to have to face the Tyranids and resurgent Necrons?

[SpAcEGhOsT095]

The orks would survive like they always do.

The Eldar would probably try to stay out of the way. The death of humanity would take a big toll on the chaos gods. They would most likely still exist, but their ability to influence reality would be greatly reduced. If the orks fuel Khorne then he might end up being the strongest. Slaneesh would most definitely be weakened from Horus killing humanity. It might be the only chance that the Eldar have of trying to kill it.

There are so many directions that you could take a story like this.

Orks stumble upon the STC Library on Hitto and Gork an Mork decide they want to get in on all the fun the humans are having.

The Eldar have to deal with Fulgrim and the Emperors Children because Slaneesh figured out what they might try to do when humanity dies.

Nurgal might decide he wants the galaxy to himself.

Really no reason that the Necrons can't be included in all of this, unless they are very heavy sleepers.

One thing I just remembered were those planets that Macharius destroyed that had A.I. and the corrupt men of iron STC that Gaunt destroyed, this kind of stuff could be included in the what if.

So the war that Horus wages would need to reach just about all of the human controlled areas. That is something they really never got close to doing during the Great Crusade.

This would basically be the mother of all wars. There might not be that much left for the Space Bugs to eat when they show up. As for the Tau, they and other species might just end up in the crossfire if human fleets enter their systems to fight.

 

The thing about the prediction the Cabal made about Horus winning means that he would have the free will to rebel against the chaos gods and they didn't have that much control over him.

 

These are just some ideas I had when thinking about the questions. Plenty of other directions to take things.

[Kierdale]

What do you think would happen to each of the Primarchs (both loyalist and traitor)?

[Dizzyeye01]

For me, those traitor primarchs who are under the sway of one god (Angron, Magnus, Mortarion and Fulgrim) get drawn into the warp like what happens in canon and on intervals come back to real space. Knowing what the Chaos Gods are like means they won't just contend with one primarch in their hands; they'll want another. To put it briefly, I think that some of the loyaltists could fall to the powers of Chaos either through getting desperate and using Chaos to even the playing field or through the influence of the Gods themselves. Those that don't fall or die go into hiding. In short the war itself won't be as dry cut as it happens in canon.

[Urriak Urruk]

What do you think would happen to each of the Primarchs (both loyalist and traitor)?

 

I took the "even his closest allies will war against him in a final Armageddon" to mean that Horus' Imperium falls apart pretty quickly. With Primarchs like Fulgrim and Mortarion setting up their own independent realms, and maybe even Perturabo and Konrad redeeming themselves.

[SpAcEGhOsT095]

The Daemon Primarchs might not survive. The more Humans that die means less fuel for the gods. Which means they will probably reclaim more and more of their power as humanity dies. The first to be impacted would be the lesser daemons and as the death toll rises they would completely vanish and the gods would move up the hierarchy taking back the power given to sustain themselves.

About the only other specie that has the numbers that the gods could use as a replacement are orks. Khorne would be about the only one to benefit, but would most likely be so weakened from the loss of humanity that Gork an Mork beat him to death, just because.

They could cause all kinds of trouble for the gods. Stealing Isha from Nurgle and burning down his house. Beat Slaneesh to near death and throw it in the cauldron they took from Nurgle. Destroy everything in the Crystal Labyrinth and rip the heads off of Fateweaver.

The above, while some of it sounds a little silly, could make for an interesting story. I haven't read of any real big involvement between the chaos gods and Gork an Mork. They normally don't have to worry about them going in their realms and breaking things. But, if they were too weak to prevent it?

It's not like Gork an Mork would really miss the gods after they killed them, because they always have each other to fight if they get bored enough.

 

I don't see any of the Primarchs surviving the war. Their deaths could be from any number of things. From the mundane of having a Geller Field collapse and the ship torn apart. To dying atop a mountain of enemy dead in a most epic of fashions.

 

[Dizzyeye01]

 

What do you think would happen to each of the Primarchs (both loyalist and traitor)?

 

 

I took the "even his closest allies will war against him in a final Armageddon" to mean that Horus' Imperium falls apart pretty quickly. With Primarchs like Fulgrim and Mortarion setting up their own independent realms, and maybe even Perturabo and Konrad redeeming themselves.

See, I feel like Perturabo could try to redeem himself but Konrad on the other hand would end up having the same fate as he does in canon however it is a cruel twist of fate that he helped put a new Emperor which also happened to send the assassin that kills him. Think on it, from what we've seen in the BL books is that the Night Lords in general are scattered ever since Thramas they acted more as a harassment force than anything and they are not easy to control and so when Emperor Horus decides he needs to start cleaning house, who would you say would be a target on the list?

[Urriak Urruk]

It would be interesting if the Emperor's death leads to that whole "the Emperor becomes the fifth Chaos God," a god of unflinching unquestionable order, a bit like a mix of Sigmar and the Tau's Greater Good. There was a series of fanfiction called "the nightmare to come" that took that concept pretty well.

[Trevak Dal]

Urriak, was that the one where the Eldar just said "screw you guys, we're leaving the galaxy" and the Tau had enslaved the orks and Tyranids, Loregar came back to the new God Emperor, Vulkan was back too (leading the Imperial Remnant) and Calgar was in a dread?

 

 

But would all of humanity be killed? The galaxy is big, and even in current the Imperium is discovering/rediscovering lost human worlds.

 

I imagine it would be like when the Ancient Human Empire was Devolved by the Forerunners in the Halo Universe, Humanity in 40k would be like Eldar in 40k. Far less prevelant, not knowing about space marines, the emperor or Terra at all.

 

The Astartes and their primarchs would either bow down or get put down, but much like how the scouring didn't get all the traitors, it would get all the loyalists. Neither would Horus's Shame Sandwich feast when he turns on all the other legions left.

 

Some would still exist, but would be like the Grineer from Warframe.

 

If the Eldar got off their collective asses and got to :cussing with a purpose (or however they breed, probably something with singing and windchimes) they could look to replenish their numbers.

 

Daemons and other warp entities I think favor humans because we are Easy access, but they would find new races to mess with, unless all sapient life was extinguished in the galaxy.

 

The Tau system was first discovered in m35 iirc. Tau were primitive, stone age. It was slated for destruction and colonization efforts, I don't think that changes, but the "world war"/Mon'tau event might be different in that whatever faction made Ethereals might not (assuming they were made, some think necrons some think eldar) and continue on until they effectively kill themselves before they leave their homeworld.

 

Or it could go the same, and they become a dominant power in the eastern fringe, finding the ruins of a once great interstellar empire.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Trevak Dal

[Ficinus]

I don't think that Khorne can derive strength from the Orks. The Chaos gods feed off of emotion, not physical acts. Khorne might care not from where the blood flows, but it's not as though Khorne is strengthened when someone voluntarily donates their own blood for humanitarian reasons. It's those emotions wrapped up in bloodshed and war, like pride in glory/honor or wrath and hatred, that feed Khorne. But Orks just feel happy and content fighting. They don't hate their foes, they are not angry or prideful. The emotions that make up Khorne are not present.

 

And this is why the Chaos God's would starve. The Orks don't have the same sort of emotional highs;be the Craftworld and Exodite Eldar are disciplined/repressed enough to not give off strong emotions; the Necrons are sleeping and mostly emotionally dead; the Tyranids have no emotions. The only ones feeding the dark gods would be the Dark Eldar and whatever minor species exist and feel emotions.

[SpAcEGhOsT095]

I thought that Khorne had orkish facial features because he gets some power from orks fighting all the time. And there is that ork DaemonKilla who fights everyday in front of Khorne. And then there is that argument about whether Gork an Mork are their own entities or a part of Khorne.

I do remember some orks worship Khorne, but most other orks think they are weird. Don't know if that is still canon or not.  

[Urriak Urruk]

Trevak, I think that may be a different one. The one I'm referring had the Tyranids and Orks blend together and leave the galaxy, the Tau become more authoritarian, the Imperium shatters into different warring empires. It's possibly the most "realistic" version of 50k I've read, simply that every race just continues on the grimdark path they were already on, to an even more horrible future.

 

It's a fairly good model for "what if Horus won" too, as it portrays a galaxy even worse than the one in 40k.

 

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Story:The_Shape_Of_The_Nightmare_To_Come_50k

 

EDIT: The section specifically on "the Star Father," who is mostly a bad dude. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Story:The_Shape_Of_The_Nightmare_To_Come_50k_section14

Edited November 16, 2017 by Urriak Urruk

[Warpmiss]

Hey, everyone! I was thinking about writing a short piece for this. But here I see you talking about the cataclysmic consequences of Horus' victory and now I feel silly because I had something very insignificant in mind. The concerns of an Administratum worker shortly after the defeat of the Emperor seem underwhelming in comparison. Whoops.

[Kierdale]

Warpmiss, I would love to read your story! The theme of each IF is very much open to interpretation. If everyone took the same angle it would be boring! :)

[Warpmiss]

Thanks! I hope I can finish it on time because I'm slow at writing.

[Trevak Dal]

Yeah not every story is about super soldiers being all stoically heroic or antiheroic, or the guard being all Longest Day, Worst Month, Craptastic Year. Sometimes Stocker Jerry has to contend with his grocery store being overrun by rampaging chaos or Genestealer cultists, on a former Imperial world.

 

That said I'm probably going to replay Halo Reach to get some inspiration.

[Kierdale]

We’ve had three entries so far :)

The topic closes this Friday (or Saturday morning Tokyo-time).

[Warpmiss]

I'm still working on mine. Hopefully, I can finish it this evening and re-read it tomorrow.