A New Alternate Heresy Project

[40k_fan]

Alternate Hersey Projects are fun.

I've thought for a while, and decided that I should make my own, but also invite other people to share ideas.

So in a sense, this isn't so much my alternate heresy as it is B&C's alternate heresy, I'm just leading it.

 

Some ideas I have had for reimagining the primarchs:

 

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Lorgar Aurelian - The Firebrand - Loyalist

 

...

 

When a child in a strange pod landed on the planet Colchis, in a small village. The villagers knew not what to make of the phenomenon.

Word spread fast. He was taken to the Covenant of Colchis. They saw his incredible potential and natural charisma as he grew.

They raised the boy, whom they named "Lorgar", to be a figurehead, a holy warrior in the name of the Four Gods, the greatest son of Colchis.

 

Lorgar's soul was not so easily corrupted by Chaos as the rest of the church.

He would see visions, of a golden figure, descending from the sky, one that was not any of the Four Gods.

He felt a pang of doubt, for none of the Four had appeared to him in a vision. But he pushed these doubts aside.

 

For years he served the covenant, crusading against heathens and barbarians, enemies of the Gods.

When a radical priest named Phaeron started an uprising across the planet, and Aurelian was ordered to put it down, and he complied, as he always had.

It was only after slaying this priest that he saw the man's holy symbols and realized the truth.

This man worshipped the same gods as the Covenant themselves.

Followers murdering followers over differences in belief.

It disgusted him.

He returned to the Covenant and slew them, his unnatural soul shining, resilient to their dark magicks.

And so he took his position as king of Colchis.

 

Lorgar reigned as king for many years, and in this time, the forces of chaos would try to tempt him to their side:

 

First, the Lord of Plenty approached the king.

“If you swear your loyalty to me, I will grant you your greatest desires. Food and drink. A great harem. Symphonies in your name.”

“No,” said Lorgar. “I desire something else. Something deeper than what you can offer me.”

“Fool.” said the god with scorn in their voice. “That you would forgo the pleasures of the earth, offered up for you, in pursuit of some spurious folly. I will deprive you of joy.”

“Perhaps,” said Lorgar, “But I will remain.” 

 

…

 

Second, the Lord of War appeared to the king.

“If you swear your loyalty to me, your strength will be limitless, and the strength of your armies will be limitless as well. No enemy will ever defeat you.”

“You offered great power to your Covenant, and I slew them all the same.”

“Insolent wretch!” snarled the god. “I could smite you by my own hand at any moment!”

“Go ahead. I’ll wait.”

 

…

 

Third, the Lord of Wisdom offered a deal to the king.

“If you swear your loyalty to me, I will show you the future, I can show you the fate of you and your kingdom.”

“No,” said Lorgar, “I have seen visions of gods in my dreams before. And you’re not in them.”

“All in due time…” said the god.

 

…

 

Fourth, the Lord of Life and Death spoke to the king.

“If you swear your loyalty to me, you will be blessed with eternal life.”

“I haven’t died yet,” said Lorgar.

“And if you refuse, your kingdom will be struck with great plagues and sickness.”

“My people are strong. They will survive.” said the king.

“If you say so,” said the eldest god, with a hearty laugh.

 

…

 

Finally, the mysterious god in golden armor appeared before the now weary king.

“If you swear your loyalty to me, you may rule the galaxy by my side.”

“No,” said Lorgar. “Four gods have tried to tempt me before. You won’t be the fifth.”

The god in golden armor smiled.

“Then you are truly ready, my son.”

 

Lorgar legion, whom he named the Torch Bearers became one of the leading forces in the Great Crusade, loyal not through some blind devotion to the divine, but through a deep understanding of the Imperial Truth. When Chaos brought division once more, Lorgar was no stranger to its tricks.

 

Unfortunately, after his death, his Legion would not remain as staunchly antitheist as he was, and would fall into worshipping the emperor as a god.

 

---

 

Corvus Corax - The Raven - Traitor

 

A child crash lands on a faraway moon.

To most, it would be inhospitable, with a poisoned atmosphere and barren landscape.

But this is no ordinary child.

He crawls, then he walks. He travels across the landscape for days, weeks, as he grows.

Eventually, he found civilization, others like him, humans.

He saw a slave master, beating a girl to death, but he could not save her.

All there was left that he could do was kill the slavers.

 

When the people of Lycaeus found the child, they saw their once and future king, and they named him their Deliverer, Corax. They took him in as one of their own, raised him, taught him their ways.

But of course the people of Lycaeus were slaves. The planet below, Kiavahr, used the moon as a prison world. Lycaeus' people were made to work, mining away their crimes, stone by stone. Thieves, murderers, heretics, political opponents, and those unlucky enough to have been born on the world all called it home.

 

The plan was always to break free, to escape from under the thumbs of the Kiavahrans. Corvus used his innate psychic abilities to spearhead infiltrations, take out infrastructure, and secure key strategic locations. But plans change. As the Lycaeans worked wrestled control of their world from the Kiavahrans, it became clear that war was brewing between worlds. But Corvus knew this. His army was prepared. They had killed before, and they would need to kill again if they wanted their freedom.

 

But war is long, hard and resource intensive. When the man calling himself "The Emperor of Mankind" reached Lycaeus, and found his son, Corax and his army beleaguered by the years-long conflict. Corax and the emperor talked to one another in solitude, it is not known what they said, but afterwards, the emperor left without rendering aid, leaving Corax to fight with what was available to him. But soon after, a stockpile was discovered on the moon. Atomic warheads and mining charges from long ago, hidden away. The Kiavahrans had left it, thinking it was safe from the slaves, and eventually, they had forgotten it.

 

Corvus had seen his brothers and sisters die needlessly for far too long to not make use of these weapons. He made the only rational choice he could to end this war.

 

Atomic bombs rained down upon Kiavahr, but to the confusion of its populace, the bombs were not aimed at their cities or factories. Explosions rocked fault lines, vaporized ice caps, incinerated forests, poisoned seas, tore holes in the atmosphere. In the end, Corvus exhausted every last piece of ordnance in his arsenal in one fell swoop. And the end result was reducing Kiavahr into an inhospitable irradiated hellscape.

 

An eye for an eye.

 

When the Emperor returned, his son met him, and told him "It is done." And the emperor nodded solemnly, for what was done, was, in fact done. Corvus Corax had won his war, completely, and eternally.

 

The Raven and his Guard joined the Emperor's crusade. But he was never close to his father, their relationship was always one of mutual coldness. When the forces of Chaos took hold of the Imperium, the Raven's detatchment would make him perhaps the hardest to sway, but when turned to Chaos, his strategic skills and penchant for destruction would make him a formidable foe indeed.

 

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These are the first two alternate stories I came up with, if you have any critiques or ideas you want me to answer or write, I'd be glad to hear it! Tell me your thoughts below.

Edited October 16, 2023 by 40k_fan

[40k_fan]

My Next Story Idea:

 

This stuff is still in the WIP stage, I want to write full story segments for this, but at the moment, it's still pretty concise. 

 

During the Great Crusade, the Blood Angels mutations have become increasingly unstable. More and more incidents of cannibalism, blood drinking, and other perversions. Sanguinius weeps for his sons. He wishes that he could save them. The Blood Angels fight the daemon Ka'bhanda, Sanguinus is prepared to take the final strike in the daemon's heart, Ka'bhanda whispers in his ear. A devil's deal. To spare his legion from the Red Thirst, by taking on their burden. Sanguinius falters in his grief. He takes the deal. But the thirst of a thousand is too much to bare. His heart is consumed by bloodlust, mindless rage, Khorne. Like all daemon Primarchs, he grows a wings too. But he already had wings, so now he has a ton of wings, like a biblically accurate angel. He is The Blood Angel now.

 

Konrad Curze. For years, he always said that "It was the only way," the only way to justify his cruelty, his atrocity. But after Sevatar asks him "What other ways did you try?", he stops for a moment, just for a single moment, his facade cracks, and he retreats into his mind to think. And he thinks back to all of the differences and flaws that he has ignored in his visions. Missing details, inconsistencies, misunderstandings. And he realizes in horror that he's been so fatalistic and arrogant, that he never once considered that he could be wrong. But it is too late. Because his legion is out of control. They are murders, just like him. He chose them. And he has seen their fall. But he now notices that he is not with them in their fall. And this is his salvation.

 

Curze leads the Blood Angels during the Heresey. (They'd probably rename themselves the "Atoners" or something cringe like that, and be really solemn in honor of the fallen Sanguinius who sacrificed himself for them yadda yadda.)

 

Alpharius slowly pushes aside Omegon and becomes the lone Primarch of the Alpha Legion, and fades into the shadows, joining neither the loyalists, nor the traitors. Omegon remains loyal, but now he has no legion to call his own. Near the end of the Heresy, after the arch traitor [REDACTED] has been slain, and the Heresy is on its last legs, Curze retires his badge and gives Omegon the title of Primarch of The Blood Angels "The Atoners."

 

The reason Curze is retiring is because he knows he must put an end to Vulkan, one of the remaining holdouts of Chaos, and he knows this will be a suicide mission because he still has prophecy powers. Vulkan is evil, because he develops a god complex when he learns too early that he is immortal, and cannot die. He calls himself The Dragon, and keeps his legion named "The Warriors" instead of Salamanders, because dragons are cool. Curze will duel Vulkan on a sinking ship. Curze is the better fighter, as Vulkan has never needed to hone his combat ability due to his powers; He'll just keep coming back, no matter what. As they fight, Curze slowly grows tired, and Vulkan gains the upper hand. But Curze planned this. The duel is on a sinking warship, which falls into a black hole, a fate even a perpetual cannot escape. Vulkan doesn't realize until it is too late. And Curze has the last maniacal laugh as Vulkan screams in fury.

Edited October 10, 2023 by 40k_fan

[40k_fan]

Dorn - Traitor

 

In this timeline, he doesn't land on Inwit, he lands on Olympia. Realistically, Olympian names are different from Inwit names. So he would probably be called "Dorian Rex" or something, but we'll stick with Dorn for now, just for understanding's sake.

 

What is the difference? He's definitely on par with Perturabo in terms of strategic reasoning and architectural design. And on a different planet, what's to say he wouldn't grow up exactly like our Perturabo did in the main timeline? Well... Yeah. That's exactly what would happen. He'll do a lot of the same things growing up, designing fortresses, war machines, etc...

 

When he grows, he'll get his Imperial Fists legion. And he'll shape them into a formidable fighting force.

 

One unifying trend between Dorn and Perturabo in the main timeline, is punishment. For example: Perturabo practiced decimation, even of his own troops.

 

Dorn will employ a different kind of technology. The Pain Glove: Believing pain to be a way of tempering one's soul, he meditates for hours on end in the pain glove. He becomes obsessed with this form of self-discipline, and soon he employs even more measures to induce discipline and obedience in his troops, and unlock their inner potential.

 

The inside of every Imperial Fists' suit of power armor is lined with a pain mesh. Every moment, in and out of battle, the marines must endure pain. And all things considered, it works really well for a while. The legion kicks ass, and everything is going great.

 

In his meditations, in a pain-induced vision, he sees the truth. He falls right into the hands of Chaos. But what's to say that Dorn would actually rebel? He's still chosen by the emperor to renovate the palace and all, but this just pisses Perturabo the same way it normally does.

 

Perturabo is simply the better architecht than Dorn, and Perturabo is arguably more strategic and capable of more advanced engineering than Dorn ever was.

 

But Dorn always has a powerful drive in him, and a strong loyalty to his father. The Emperor thought that it could be used for good, to harness this determination.

 

In this timeline, when rebellion occurs on Olympia, Dorn just goes down, curbstomps the rebellion into submission, and then punishes the humans of Olympia who dared to rebel by making them the Auxiliaries of the Imperial Fists. And being an Auxiliary to the Imperial Fists is just as bad as being a Marine, if not worse. Not least because the Auxiliaries are expected to expend themselves for their Legion, as slaves and cannon fodder.

 

Only through pain, may we find betterment. So you see, Dorn Rex is a selfless leader. He doesn't care for glory, he cares for results.

Perturabo will join the traitors, but he's not evil so much as he is just very envious.

Edited October 16, 2023 by 40k_fan

[40k_fan]

The Teams (Simple):

Sons of the Phoenix, Angels Penitent, Sons of the Night, Angels of Death, Subjugators, Mortifactors, Black Templar, Ultramarines

vs

Fallen Angels, Raptors, Dark Wolves, Blood Drinkers, Brotherhood of A Thousand, Iron Souls, White Scars, Dragon Lords

 

The Teams (Nitty-Gritty Details):

Spoiler

LOYAL:

Fulgrim (Alive) — Emperor's Children Sons of the Phoenix

Omegon (Alive) — Alpha Legion (Formerly) ; Sons of the Night, Blood Angels Angels Penitent

The Lion (Alive) — Angels of Death

Curze (Deceased) — Night Lords (Formerly) ; Sons of the Night, Blood Angels (Formlerly) ; N/A

Dorn (Deceased) — Imperial Fists Subjugators

Mortarion (Missing) — Dusk Raiders Mortifactors

Lorgar (Missing) — Word Bearers Black Templar (I'm not kidding.)

Guilliman (Alive, Formerly Stasis) — Ultramarines (Formerly under command of Calgar)

 

NEUTRAL:

Horus (Alive) — Luna Wolves

Grimnar (Alive) — Space Wolves Dire Wolves

Angron (Deceased) — World Eaters War Wolves

Alpharius (Missing) — Alpha Legion Alpha Wolves

Magnus (Missing) — Thousand Sons (Formerly) ; N/A

Perturabo (Missing) — Iron Warriors Iron Shadows

 

TRAITOR:

Luther (Alive) — Traitor Angels of Death AKA Fallen Angels

Corax (Alive) — Raven Guard Raptors [Nurgle]

Leman Russ (Alive) — Traitor Space Wolves (Formerly) ; Dark Wolves [Slaanesh] (but not willingly)

Sanguinius (Alive) — Blood Angels (Formerly) ; Night Lords Blood Drinkers [Khorne]

Ahriman (Alive) — Thousand Sons Brotherhood of A Thousand [Tzeentch] 

Ferrus Manus (Undying) — Iron Hands Iron Souls

Jaghatai Khan (Deceased) ; Kor'sarro Khan (Alive) — White Scars AKA White Legion [Arch-Traitor]

Vulkan (Trapped In A Black Hole) — Dragon Warriors AKA Dragon Lords

 

Subgroups:

The Iron Circle  - Perturabo, Ferrus Manus, Lion El'Johnson

The Wolfpack (Broken) - Horus, Alpharion, Angron, Leman Russ

 

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You see, sometimes people just swap the traitors and the loyalists, but I made something even more complicated than that. Why? Because why not?

Edited October 16, 2023 by 40k_fan