The Emperor's Sons-[Finished Trilogy]

[Diamanchez]

                       Chapter 6
                                            Price of War

The obsidian sand plains of the planet didn’t just smoke, they bled, the sky was no longer violet but a bruised, pulsating red, reflecting the slaughter below, at the center of the wreckage of the Angel’s Hope, the blood angel rejects stood like a jagged island in a sea of screaming brass and rusted iron.
Valerius was the first to meet the tide, he didn’t wait for the charge, he became it. His ‘internal control’ was no longer a tool, it was a forest fire, steam hissed from his joints so loudly it sounded like a dying engine.
‘’BLOOD FOR THE-‘’ a world eater began, raising a chain axe.
Valerius did not let him finish, he caught the traitor’s wrist in a grip that turned ceramite to powder than drove his forehead into the world eater’s faceplate, the impact didn’t just crack the lens, it imploded the skull behind it.
‘’Shut up, traitor’’ Valerius growled, his voice a distorted bark through his vox-grill ‘’I’m trying to focus on real enemies’’ Said Valerius.
Fifty meters back, Ignis was a conductor of a different kind of symphony, he didn’t use the blade, he stood with palms flat against a pile of cooling corpses.
‘’The atmosphere is 12% sanguine vapor’’ Ignis muttered, his eyes glowing with a toxic green light ‘’Efficient’’ he said.
With a flick of his fingers, he triggered his ‘Blood Transmutation’ the blood now a pool around the feet of the charging world eater squad didn’t just boil, it turned into sanguine puddle of acid, the traitor’s heavy in their power armor began to melt downward, as they struggled, Ignis snapped his fingers again and the liquid turned into a solid dry sand, trapping the world eaters knee-deep in the earth.
‘’They are pinned, Cassian!’’ Ignis yelled over the roar of bolter fire ‘’Drain them’’ Said Ignis.
Cassian didn’t need to be told twice, he was standing atop of pile of crates, his arms spread like a dark priest his ‘external blood control’ was at its peak, he wasn’t just moving bodies, he was feeling every heartbeat within a hundred yards, he was already embracing the red thirst.
‘’I see their Rhythm’’ Cassian whispered.
He closed his eyes, and a dozen trapped world eaters suddenly stiffened, their own hands still clutching chain-axes, began to turn inward, under Cassian’s ‘puppeteer’ grip, the world eaters didn’t fight the blood angels, they began to systematically saw through their own neck-seals.
It was a nightmare of biological treason, a world eater screamed, but not in rage, but in the brief, cold terror of losing control of their own limbs.
But then, the ground began to vibrate with a heat that wasn’t psychic, Hulmutt the incinerator was coming.
The world eater didn’t run, he melted his way through the barricades, the obsidian sand beneath his boots turned to molten glass with every step, he ignored the bolter fire, the shells melted before they even touched his scorched plate.
‘’GHOSTS!!’’ Hulmutt bellowed, his voice a roar of escaping steam ‘’YOUR BLOOD IS COLD!! I WILL MAKE IT BOIL!!!’’ Yelled the world eater.
Valerius saw the giant coming and felt a spark of something he hadn’t felt in years, Genuine excitement, he wiped the gore from his power fist and stepped forward, the heat from Hulmutt already blistering the paint on his own armor.
‘’Finally’’ Valerius spat ‘’A furnace they might be able to handle my heat’’ Said Valerius as he put his helmet back on and headed straight for the world eater.
The world eater was melting incoming bolter fire he didn’t need to dodge and once a group of blood angels were close enough, he crouched and punched a slob of rock into them as soon as he touched the ground however the rock had melted and now a wave of lava had covered the five blood angels that attacked, they all died agonizing deaths, as the lava burned from the outside and cooked them alive in their own power armors.
‘’YES! YES! THAT’S MUCH BETTER! COOKED MEAT IS A FAVORITE OF THE BLOOD GOD, IM SURE HA HA’’ Said Hulmutt laughing.
He was not able to take another step however since before he could react he was met by a blur, a giant shadow in ceramite terminator armor.
Valerius had activated his ‘internal control’ in an instant and tackled the world eater, all though the world eater was sent back reeling from the tackle, the pressure form the heat dampened the attack and also the crash to the ground did not cause much damage.
‘’WHATS THIS?! A HUGE MEAT TO BE BURNED!! YES! YOUR BLOOD AND SKULL WILL PLEASE MY GOD!!’’ Yelled Hulmutt.
Valerius shoulder guard was slightly melted and it was not looking like he could just fix that, it would need to be replaced.
He didn’t care, he rushed again this time he opened with bolter fire from his pistol, he knew the shells would melt so he shot directly at the face and eyes so when they melted the same melted shells blinded Hulmmut.
The world eater removed the melted shells only to be welcomed by the sight of a huge terminator armor looming over him, Valerius pulled up his fist and meant to strike with full momentum, but he had seen how his foe would defend himself across the chest and started heating up, punching him there would surely melt his power glove off and possibly his hand.
Since he knew this, the punch had been a feint, he had seen that the light of the furnace was weak at the lower section so he took a page of Lyonel’s book and withdrew the punch, and with left leg kicked the right knee of the world eater, shattering it on impact, Hulmutt reeled but not before punching with both arms extended as pieces of his melted armor flew towards Valerius, the flesh tearer stepped back and observed the enemy as he wiped off the molten ceramite on his armor.
The world eater could no longer stand, he was struggling to balance himself on one leg.
‘’HA! How do you like that? So much for your heat you little furnace! And here I thought you would put up more of a fight HA-HA’’ yelled Valerius.
He tried to get up but saw that the leg armor piece he had kicked with was severely burned and somewhat melted, in just one second the enemy was able to heat up the most vulnerable part, he didn’t save the leg but he did wound Valerius.
‘’HA-HA! NOW WHO CANT MOVE!? NOW WHO CANT HANDDLE THE HEAT!? THIS LIMB IS NO PROBLEM FOR ME!’’ yelled Hulmutt
His leg then began to shine brighter and melted somewhat then in a second it harden again not totally fixing his limb but now he could stand and fight, while Valerius was wounded.

Back on the battlefield, Cassian and ignis had been doing a good job of protecting the troops, minimizing damage, and causing the most losses to the world eaters, while they did have world eaters squads this warband was just recently formed to steal the massive ship above them, they were mainly chaos cultists and lower rank demons.
‘’Cassian!’’ Yelled Ignis ‘’We might be able to pull this off! Lets keep gathering them and killing them in bunches’’ Said Ignis.
As Cassian was finishing up twisting the limbs of some world eaters he was showing a cold approach to it, he was slowly focusing more on ‘killing’ rather than ‘surviving’ as he turned to answer however he saw something coming for his brother.
‘’Watch out!’’ Yelled Cassian.
Before ignis could react he saw a bright light coming straight for him, Cassian noticing his brother would not react in time used his ‘external blood control’ on Ignis and moved his leg, so Ignis fell out of the way, saving him from a bright blue plasma blast.
‘’There you are’’ said Goloth the Hunter as he blew out the smoke from his plasma pistol ‘’These two are the anomaly that are causing so many casualties, killing them should grant us victory’’ Said Goloth.
He then signaled squad of world eaters to rush the two leaders of the blood angels, they felt they were ready they had not lost yet, and they were confident they could win, Goloth saw this and in an instant acted upon it.
‘’You guys seem ready to fight, none of my concern, but our hound likes caves’’ Said Goloth smiling.
Ignis looked back at the caves and saw a small squad of world eaters led by something in all fours running towards the caves entrances.
‘’Cassian! Go and protect the civilians! The guards won’t survive that thin, and if I go I might burn everyone there, you are the only that can go!’’ yelled Ignis.
Cassian did not say anything he simply jumped from the crates ordered ten marines to follow him and started running towards the entrance of the caves.
‘’Smart move, stupid against me, but smart overall’’ Said Goloth.
Ignis paid no attention to what the world eater was saying and instantly pushed his palm together and focused it on Goloth he then shot his pistol to ignite the vapor around the world eater, the world eater was engulfed in flames.
Ignis then began to look around thinking the enemy was done when a shout stopped him.
‘’Is that all you got?!!’’ Yelled Goloth from the Smoke ‘’C’mon make this fun for me!’’ Said Goloth.
Ignis was shocked not only did the explosion not do much damage the world eater was actually changing his skin red and eyes turning yellow.
‘’Demon possession, not new, but not welcomed either’’ Said ignis.
Goloth the tactician had earned his name by making a deal with a Khornite demon, the demon would sleep in the nails stopping the rage from overtaking him completely but only when Goloth made plans for battle and strategies if there was no plans or missions for weeks, Goloth would simply slaughter all in his way until summoned by his master and then he would speak normally and talk, and in some cases when both the demon and the chaos space marine mixed, they made for a terrifying team.
‘’Now fire angel! Show me what you can really do!’’ Yelled Goloth.
As ignis tried to touch the sand in his feet and turn into acid he threw it at the world eater, the traitor dodged with blindly speed he was now a different being, he then switched to making all the ground around him into an acidic pool, the world eater simply started chucking pieces of giant rocks with his new strength, to have foot holds to stand in, ignis was being countered.
‘’Damn it!’’ Yelled out ignis in frustration.
‘’HA-HA, what’s the matter?! Not used to your tricks not working!?’’ Yelled Goloth as he ran circles around Ignis.
Ignis then put his palms together and started slightly changing the molecules around him to be flammable, his plan was to bait the world eater and then blow each other up with the world eater receiving the worst of it, since the molecules nearest to Ignis would be changed to pure blood which would dampen the explosion.
‘’C’mon then! Or are you scared you can’t counter any more of my ‘tricks’ up close?!!’’ Ignis said while opening bolter fire at the world eater running circles around him.
A normal world eater would have rushed at the taunt, instead Goloth smiled and pulled his plasma gun and shot two quick shots to Ignis location from the front.
Ignis saw the attacks but he could not move because of his own acid around him, he realized then that Goloth wanted the acid to be his own downfall, now Ignis could not move in time, he had essentially trapped himself and was now surrounded with flammable gas and acid and as the plasma round approached him he said only one thing.
‘’This was not part of my plan’’ Said Ignis as he prepared to receive the damage.
The first shot caused the explosion and while the fire and the impact was somewhat dampened, the second plasma shot tore through the small explosion and hit ignis, he had his hands in an X formation blocking his chest and face so his arms and hands were now hit completely by the plasma, he tried to use gas and vapor to push the explosion away, but the damage was severe and he could not block it all.
When the smoke cleared Ignis was in the middle of it, kneeling with his hands still up and as he moved them his left hand completely fell off, and his right hand had charred fingers that were also falling and only a few fingers could still move, and pools of blood followed, the Pyromaniac had received too much damage.
‘’Perfect’’ Said Goloth smiling as he sat on a crate with a data slate to be able to take control again ‘’Now all we need is Skraal to slaughter the caves and we will be good on sacrifices for a while’’ Finished the smiling World Eater.

The Civilians were scared, all they heard was battle, war, screams, explosions and not a single moment of peace, then as the noises grew stronger it happened, the war had finally reached them.
The guards and space marines stationed at the entrance were no match for Skraal the unchained, he moved in all fours with raptor like talons and legs, and his hands had been embedded with ceramite, literally giving ceramite claws and paws like a true hound hunting its prey.
The world eaters with him were no better, half beast men with mutations all on their own, but with weapons unlike their leaders, five space marines were slaughtered in an instance all by Skraal he gouged, he bit, he chewed, through ceramite and killed like a feral beast, his men following suit.
The civilians heard the fire inside the cave they heard the shouts and then silken, all they heard was a ceramite claw dragging itself across the ground the cold shrieking noise echoing through the caves coming from the entrance, Skraal the unchained emerged, chewing a space marine torso in his mouth.
As the world eaters prepared to fight, Skraal was caught off guard when one of his own soldiers swung its chainaxe down on him, his instincts predicted it and he dodged, and with a clean strike of his claw pierced his soldier in the throat separating the head completely.
He looked around confused before all of his men started attacking him, he did not mind the slaughter, he dodged and weaved and ducked until from under them, he dismembered them, he chewed through them and he killed every single one since they all tried to attack him.
He had enjoyed the slaughter, but now it was time to go for civilians the main plate he would worry about the treason later.
Then as he tried to go to the lower caves he heard and dodged bolter fire coming from the entrance.
‘’Hold on there, doggy, you still have some more meat over here’’ Said Cassian with a bolter pistol in his hand followed by ten space marines ‘’Its weird, I cant control your blood for some reason, so I tried to kill you with your men, could it be that you have no blood, but oil? Are you a machine? I thought followers of the stupid red ‘God’ as you guys call it, were only people with blood’’ Said Cassian.
The hound began to stand on his two hind legs like a human, it was a creepy and eerie image like a regular pet canine standing up on two legs and looking directly at you.
The butchers nails started pulsating in its head causing it pain and ordering Skraal to move.
‘’YOUU….CANN..CANNOT TALK .,…ABOUT …HIM’’ Growled Skraal.
Cassian immediately caught on that it was not a machine, but alive, which made his power not working all the more confusing, he ordered the rest of the blood angels to move out to secure the civilians, he would handle this alone, something was wrong here, he needed to kill it alone.
‘’If you can speak then tell me why my ability has no effect on you?’’ Asked Cassian, buying time for the blood angels to move.
Where he had previously only thought of killing feeling compelled to fulfill his Fathers promise, Cassian, would protect these people with his life.
‘’I..AM…I AM…BLES…BLESSED’’ Said Skraal.
The nails pulsated even further, it caused the world eater to fall to the ground and start rolling around.
Cassian thought it was normal for a world eater to feel such pain but he had never seen this.
Skraal started relieving itself right in front of Cassian, piss swirling around with blood from all the injuries he had inside of him he started rolling around in it almost in ecstasy and then, it stood up, it snarled and looked at Cassian.
‘’He…HE…HE HAS….PRO…PROMISED A GREAT FEAST’’ Growled Skraal.
The thing lunged forward at Cassian with tremendous speed the blood angel opened fired but it was for naught, the beast dodged everything as if they were in slow motions, its senses beyond the limits of understanding.
As the beast got close to Cassian he drew his sword and parried the things claws and allowed to pass him and then turned to face it, the beast bounced back and attacked again, it was a combination of bites and claw strikes at the knees and legs.
Cassian would parry and step back, although he was surviving he could not strike, any moment of hesitation or if he missed an attack it would leave him open for a major wound.
He could not rely on his ability now so he opened fire point blank range with his bolter pistol, the beast dodged it only by jumping straight up, the pistols magazine was empty now, there was no time to reload, Cassian threw the pistol away and prepared to catch the beast in the air.
As he grabbed his chainsword with both hands and it revved the beast stretched his right hand forward making it seem like a lance preparing to attack as well, it was an easy target for Cassian he rose from the bottom of his right ankle and across his chest, he swung his chainsword catching the arm of Skaar dodging its tip waiting for the last second to strike right above the tip of the arm in the forearm where there was no armor.
He was expecting blood an marrow to fall over him and the bone grinding against his axe, instead he saw sparks flying his chainsword revving to its max for a second and then just ‘BAM’ the sword exploded shattering in a thousand pieces.
‘’What?!!’’ yelled Cassian
The lance like arm of the beast piercing through the stomach the right side of Cassian all the way through.
The arm pierced above the waist and below the chest but it was a strong attack, Cassian tried to turn to punch the beast behind him, only to be kicked by a roundhouse kick of the talon, he was sent flying several feet and crashed into one of the wall of the cave bleeding and feeling immense pain.
‘’Damn it!’’ He said as he touched his missing part on the side before coughing blood ‘’Damn it!, damn it!’’ he punched the ground below him in frustration as he saw the beast walking away towards the civilians ignoring him as he began to fall unconscious.
There he began to remember something, he and the other two, ignis and Valerius, would never notice, but by being close to the shard and in the warp they all began to remember the same thing at the same time.

                                       Two Hours before the battle

The caverns were still quiet, the only thing hear were the small drops of water in the distance, everything was already evacuated and  the six leaders had just finished talking but they needed to make everything clear to make sure there were no doubts or misunderstandings.
‘’I call it the Sanguine Anthesis’’ Thalassos had whispered his voice with a heavy wight of heresy ‘’And well, you know the ingredients, it is a reset switch for the soul, if a brother fall to the red thirst-not the black rage- this vial can force the brain to snap back but will make you incapacitated for a couple of minutes, and I only have enough for those in this room’’ Explained the priest again.
Lyonel looked at his brothers, not a single one worried, but prepared and focused to know that if need be they would fall to the thirst immediately for the sake of this mission.
‘’The world eaters outnumber and outclass us’’ Lyonel said, his voice a steady anchor ‘’ The nails give them fury we usually fight to suppress, but today, we stop fighting it, to save these people, to kill these monsters, we must become the monsters ourselves, we will dive into the red thirst, we will let the blood-madness take us’’ Said Lyonel
‘’And if we don’t come back?’’ Valerius Growled his hand over his chainsword.
‘’Then you die a beast’’ Lyonel replied ‘’But if you survive the slaughter, you must have the willpower to reach for the vial or’’ he looked at his brothers one by one ‘’Your brothers will force it down your throat, and if that fails……they have orders to execute you, no son of Sangunius leaves this world as a mindless animal’’ Finished Lyonel.


                                                     Present time

Back on the plains, Valerius let out a sound that wasn’t a roar- it was sob of pure, unadulterated hunger, his internal control didn’t just heat his armor, it turned sweat in to steam and then into red steam from all the blood that was vaporizing around him and his eyes were turning into pits of bright dark pupils, with a slight glow in the middle because of the enemy he was looking at.
Across him Hulmutt the Incinerator Paused, The world eater, a master of fury, felt a sudden, primal chill, he was a creature of the Nails, but the giant in front of him was becoming something older, something from the dawn of the crusade.
A couple of hundred feet from them was Ignis who on his knees began to laugh, a high sharp sound, as his skin began to translucent it was not his skin, it was his veins, he was drinking his own blood to activate the thirst and thus he was now analyzing his own blood, something he had never done.
Goloth just looked on, amused, that the battlefield would change and new tactics needed to be implemented, he waited for Ignis to fall to the thirst but the laughter creeped even the world eater out.
Back in the caves the beast had taken its time getting to the civilians, when he heard the wind slashing and something coming towards him, it was crescent shaped blades made out of blood, he dodged it by jumping sideways then turned to where the attack had come from where the supposed dying angel was, and there was Cassian, standing up and grinning, his eyes wide open seemingly about to burst out, his hole on the side had been covered by hardened blood and on his right hand five strings of blood connected to five dead bodies and he was controlling world eaters that had fallen, on his left hand was now holding a thick whip made of blood with the tip seemingly made of hardened metal, he could now control the iron in the blood and thus make weapons with them and control dead bodies, once falling to the red thirst.
Back on the Plains Valerius had finished his descent and was fully into the red thirst yet he spoke one last word before rushing the Traitor.
‘’The ghost is gone to the sky’’ Valerius rasped, his teeth lengthening, his grip on his chainsword crushing the metal handle ‘’But the Hounds of Baal are staying for dinner’’ Growled Valerius.
The red thirst had arrived, and the world eaters who thought they knew what it meant to bleed, were about to learn that there is no fury like a dying angel who has finally stopped caring about his own soul.

[Diamanchez]

Chapter 7
                               The shadow of the betrayer

The massive ship seemed almost small in the ship bay, since all the room had been taken up by broken ships, salvageable ships and some that could somewhat work.
The blood angels were here guarding as tasked by Lyonel, but also Looking for any information that could help, amongst the dead bodies the dried up viscera and guts smeared on the walls they looked.
The taste was foul, almost as if no one had been here in a while, the only sound was those of the gunshots and the explosions in the distance from the arena, and a low vibrating heartbeat that the shard would emanate every few seconds, that all blood angels could feel.
A blood angel stumbled across a box of crates and supplies and looked, as he saw the mowed jaw opening wide eating a world symbol of the world eaters on a busted Thunderhawk, smeared with blood of a most unlucky victim.
The symbol was different however, more than just being the regular symbol it had something around it, it had chains, that symbol was of an specific warband, the butcher horde.
The blood angel rushed to try to get inside and get some sort of identification, and on a flickering screen of the pilot area, names were listed, and at the very top it had the nickname, ‘The betrayer’.
‘’We have to inform Lyonel! Now!’’ Said the blood angel to one of his brothers.
They all ran towards the ship they came in to try and get some sort of signal and message to Lyonel, however even if they could have sent the message on time, Lyonel was too focused on the warrior in front of him.

Even if the room had been mostly cleansed by the shard the air in the chamber didn’t just smell like ozone, it smelled like an ancient slaughterhouse.
Arkanus the Ascendant didn’t roar like a common berserker, he stood with the terrifying, heavy stillness that made Khârn a legend, his single armored shoulder was hunched, his chain-axe a brutal oversized thing, hanging low at his side.
‘’You smell of the old ways’’ Arkanus rasped, his voice a low, mechanical growl ‘’Ishidur’s mongrels, I remember your kind from the pits of the conqueror, you fought with the broken blades and died with smiles on your faces’’ Said Arkanus looking directly at Lyonel’s Eyes.
Lyonel felt his ‘Blood sight’ twitching, to his eyes, Arkanus was not a man, he was a black hole of intent, the nails in the traitor’s head weren’t just firing, they were singing a rhythmic hypnotic song of murder that Arkanus had mastered over ten millennia.
‘’Khârn… he is a fool’’ Arkanus continued, his eyes now fixed on the pulsating shard behind him ‘’He would have left this soul-splinter as a trap, a lure for some minor engagement, but I… I saw the potential, the blood God does not want your death, little angels, he wants your corruption, he wants the Golden Sons to become the red hounds’’ Said Arkanus as he turned back to Lyonel smiling eerily.
Arkanus stepped forward and the footplates groaned under his weight, he didn’t raise his weapon yet, but the pressure in the room spiked, the blood angels felt it, it was coming, the slaughter.
They all out of instinct got into position even Lyonel, normally confident, was already crouching a little getting ready to dodge or jump in any direction, one thing was for sure, this warrior and his aura of ten millennia was going to make the first move, and no one in the whole room even thought of attacking first.
The air was tense, no one had noticed, but the only thing that could be heard now was the humming heartbeat of the shard and the breath of the blood angels, then as a hunter savoring his meal the traitor spoke, breaking all tension and creating a time bomb in everyone’s mind.
‘’One drop’’ Arkanus whispered, pointing his plasma pistol at the shard ‘’One drop of your ‘Revenant’ blood on this crystal, and the frequency will shift, you won’t just fall to the black rage, you fall to HIM, and for that gift, the skull throne has promised me the crown of a demon prince, the one thing that will finally put me above Khârn’’ Finished Arkanus.
‘’For a world eater, you do talk a lot, Traitor’’ Lyonel spat, and put his helmet back on.
His hand tightening on the hilt of his blade, he could feel the shard vibrating in his very marrow, it was reacting to Arkanus’s presence like a wounded animal.
But Lyonel was severely overcome by not fear or dread, but in a deep part of him, excitement, he was not sure if it was him or his gene seed finally reacting to the shard, but he wanted to see what ten millennia could do, how he would fight, and how he would kill him.
‘’I talk because I am savoring the moment’’’ Arkanus replied with a smirkingly calm smile ‘’Khârn always said the best part of the kill is the look in the eyes when they realize their God isn’t coming, now… let us see your ‘sight’ can track a disciple of the eightfold path’’ Said the traitor as he was looking at all twenty blood angles and the leaders.
In a heartbeat, the ‘tense’ air was gone, Arkanus didn’t just charge, he exploded into motion, he feinted for Lyonel but didn’t go for him first, he ran around and fired his plasma pistol into the ceiling, melting the support struts.
‘’DIE IN THE DARK!!’’ Arkanus Bellowed.
As the massive light fixtures crashed down, plunging the kilometer-long room into a flickering, strobe-light hell, Arkanus vanished into the shadows.
Lyonel’s ‘Blood Sight’ Flared, but the room was filled with twenty confused blood angels and the falling debris.
Arkanus was moving like a predator in tall grass, his chain-axe revving only at the last possible second as he lunged from the darkness toward the nearest squad of blood angels.
‘’Circle up!’’ Lyonel roared ‘’He’s picking us apart!’’ Screamed Lyonel not able to see anything but his brothers in danger.
It was too late, a scream cut through the dark as the traitor’s axe found its first victim, the sound of tearing ceramite echoing through the cold chamber, The ‘Ascendant’ was a ghost of a different kind a of the pit, trained by the best to kill the most.
It had only been a few seconds but that was enough for the world eater, each blood angel dying withing a single strike, he could have attacked again and again, but the blood angels had their own hope, their own way of fighting.
The darkness didn’t just lift, it was shattered, as the sanguinary chalice and the Primarch shard resonated together, the kilometer-long room was suddenly bathed in a light so pure it burned the retina, it wasn’t the artificial glare of the ship’s lights, it was a golden aurora, the psychic echo of Sanguinius himself reaching out across ten thousand years to help his sons.
In the center of this radiance stood Arkanus, his boots planted in a literal lake of blood, he didn’t cover his eyes, he stared into the light with a grin of pure predatory respect, around him laid the twenty battle brothers of the Angels’ Hope, their bodies broken and scattered like discarded toys.
‘’Impressive’’ Arkanus rasped, wiping a spray of ichor from his bare arm ‘’ to see a relic of the corpse-God find its voice again… its almost a shame I have to crush it’’ Said Arkanus smiling.
He turned his gaze toward the only two survivors Thalassos and Lyonel, looking directly into their eyes, directly into their souls it seemed on how intense he was observing them.
Thalassos was slumped on one knee, his white armor now a patchwork of deep red, a jagged smoking cut ran from his shoulder to his hip where the world eater’s chain-axe had just grazed him in the dark, beside him Lyonel stood perfectly still, his eyes glowing with a terrifying, cold blue that could almost be seen through his helm.
‘’You both Dodged my first strike in the dark’’ Arkanus said, his voice dropping into that chilling calm master-butcher tone ‘’ A feat few in the galaxy can claim, but only one of you dodged correctly’’ He then pointed a blood-stained finger at Lyonel ‘’The priest moved because he was afraid’’ Arkanus chuckled ‘’ But you…Ghost…you moved because you knew exactly where my axe would be, you didn’t just survive, you predicted me’’ Finished Arkanus.
‘’I am the son of the great Angel’’ Lyonel whispered, his voice vibrating with a frequency that matched the humming shard ‘’And you are nothing but a thief that’s has been caught’’  Said Lyonel.
The Blood angel leader knew from just dodging that one single strike that even with all his abilities he might not win this, he could see no clear path of victory and had only dodged since Arkanus was not yet used to his blood sight, something that Lyonel was confident a warrior of ten millennia of experience could do before dealing a fatal blow.
He would have to improvise, to invent, to do something he hadn’t done, fall to red thirst, but he did not want to, a deep part of him knew there might be no coming back, and he knew he needed to consume blood either the traitors or one of his brothers, which made him sick to his stomach to even think about.
Lyonel felt his heartbeats, the two of them, syncing with the pulse of the chalice, He looked at Thalassos, who was struggling to stay conscious, and then at the shard, where the phantom of Sanguinius seemed to be reaching out toward him.
The revenant inside him wasn’t whispering anymore, it was screaming for the throne that was Lyonel’s head.
‘’Thalassos…stay down’’ Lyonel ordered, his voice shifting, it was no longer the voice of the young captain, it was deeper, it was ancient, carrying the authority of Ishidur Ossuros.
Lyonel stepped forward, letting his recovered left arm and shoulder twirl in a circle as if you just put on a new armor or suit, his right hand gripping his sword with a strength that began to crack the hilt.
‘’Arkanus’’ Lyonel said, his ‘blood sight’ flaring so bright his eyes seemed to be bleeding light through the helm ‘’ You said you were a disciple of the eightfold path? I will show you something much older, I will show you the Hunger of the First Sphere’’ Growled the blood angel.
Lyonel didn’t charge, He disappeared.
To Arkanus’s eyes, the blood angel didn’t move, the space between them simply ceased to exist.

In the arena, the dust rose up and fell back down from each blow Amael and Varkas would deal each other, the pillars that were already on the dust had been used as weapons or projectiles and been shattered into more dust, all the other blood angels had already killed their targets and decided to leave Amael alone as he ordered them follow the light that was coming from the main room where Lyonel and the others had gone.
Amael was now as big as his armor would allow him or whatever part was left, only his chest piece and waist and boots remained, his thighs and arms and head and hands had no armor they had been shot or cut off, he had generated his missing body parts however, after consuming blood and fallen bodies and continued fighting.
‘’HA-HA-HA, blood for the blood God! Skulls for the skull throne!’’ Shouted Varkas as he hit with his axe on Amael’s chest.
The blood angel saw sparks fly, and before it could cut through he kicked with his right leg, square in the stomach of the world eater and actually sent him flying several hundred feet, until he crashed into a wall of the arena.
The world eater did not stay down long however as he immediately got up as soon as all the rubble was falling on him, he had switched to the calm personality before the blow reached him this allowed him to bypass his anger for a second and instead of getting the full impact he was simply sent flying by the kick, thus minimizing the damage.
‘’HA-HA-HA, that was great! You really would be better off with us at this point! Look at all the blood you shed! Either yours or mines or anyone else’s! The blood God cares not where the Blood comes from!’’ Said Varkas smiling his mouth filled with his on blood where he braced for the impact so hard his gums were bleeding.
‘’Shut….shut… up’’ Said Amael struggling to keep his sanity together ‘’Don’t….don’t….don’t compare us…. Scum!’’ Yelled Amael.
He then rushed to the  front of the world eater and was met with a downward slice of an axe as soon as he reached him, he used his arm to block, it would normally make anyone step back but he no longer felt pain, the only focus on his mind was to kill this traitor in front of him.
Because of Amael’s abilities he has always been cast out, he had always been kept close by because of his abilities but even in his chapter he would never be welcomed or included, only used.
When they first introduced each other he saluted everyone since he truly thought this could be a new start, now that his brothers are danger and they need his help, he purposely threw himself alone at this warrior so as many as his brothers could be saved.
The blow started cutting through his arm all the way up to the elbow leaving nothing but bone to see, Amael headbutted the world eater as hard as he could, Varkas second personality immediately took over and with overwhelming power, his other hand with the chainsword was used to block Amael’s attack causing the blade to shatter and the blood angels head to bleed, with is right hand Amael tried to punch the world eater, the traitor switched again and with ultimate finesse and ability he used the upcoming punch as a platform and stepped on it and was flung back, and landed on his feet while smiling at the blood angel.
‘’We both saw the light! I know you have hopes little angel! But don’t let me down! Show me the rage! Show me why Arkanus has us in this suicide plan! Come!’’ Roared Varkas at Amael.
‘’I…will….i will.. I will not fall!!!’’ Screamed Amael back.
He had been ordered by Lyonel his leader and new brother to only use the thirst not the rage and he would continue to do so, however he was wounded and was out of bodies to consume, the only ones left were the ones of his dead brothers, and he had never consumed another blood angel before.
In desperation and wanting to heal he decide to clamp down on a near by blood angel body, he was sobbing, he was crying, and in between saliva, mucus, and blood and viscera he consumed another blood angel, he healed instantly and actually felt more alive than ever, a sinful existence he would now lead he thought.
The blood angel now had veins popping on every muscle and as moving like blur he covered hundreds of feet in an instant all the while the world eater had to switch between personalities just to keep up, one would dodge and block and the other would attack and keep Amael back, the blood angel had a different strategy however, he would just simply kill the traitor, as soon as he could reach his blood he would drain him dry.
Amael attacked with bare hands and whenever a huge boulder or piece of Cement or of metal was on his way he would throw it at the world eater which would be dodged and would cause Amael to rush in a frenzy, sometimes he would miss and crawl in all fours and come back to the world eater only to be dodged or parried again, he was a beast now of immense power for sure, but the world water with ten millennia of experience and dual personality were winning, each cut even if small would lead to another slash or another attack, all the while Amael would heal but not land a solid attack, and he was running  out of blood to heal from.

In the shard room, the situation was dire but for many different reason, the world eater and the blood angel were canceling each other out, for every axe strike delivered a chainsword from the blood angel would parry only for Arkanus kick or punch, and the blood angel would jump or sidestep, this was a duel, not a slaughter but a fight of skill and prediction where every move counts and every second is important.
‘’What’s wrong?! I remember the first sphere being tougher than this!’’ Yelled Arkanus as he kicked and the blood angel blocked and was sent back.
‘’Are you so eager to die, hound? That’s what you were called back then remember? And that’s all you are’’ Said the blood angel as he ducked.
He launched himself again in an instant making the whole space between them null, in a blink of an eye they were face to face again, chainsword dropped down and the axe would meet it, a punch was thrown and another would catch it, a kick to the legs would be delivered and the other would just dodge.
These warriors were using every technique every fighting style they knew to try and outdo and outkill the other, it was no longer a matter of just killing, the other had to prove they were the better warrior.
Sparks flew as both warriors stepped back and circled each other, all while Thalassos was treating his injuries, but could do no more than be a simple light to illuminate this battle that seemed to have no end.
‘’If we just go on like this there would be no end, what do you say Blood angel? Is it not time?’’ Asked Arkanus smiling.
‘’I believe it is, I have just about heard enough from you’’ Said the blood angel the ‘Blood sight’ flaring with cold blue eyes.
Both warriors crouched and lunged forward clashing in the middle of the kilometers-long chamber, sparks flew between axe and sword and the initial impact send a shockwave of air through the chamber lifting dust, and being felt by Thalassos the only survivor.
Arkanus then pushed the blood angel backwards all the way to a steel wall and made sure he could not escape, there he pumped his butchers nails to the max and put his axe over his left shoulder to attack in full force.
The ‘’blood sight’ flared and the blood angel then ducked the horizontal slash coming for his head, he then, with his chain sword from his left hip, rose and it slashed an gouged through the left side of the world eaters stomach.
‘’So much for the eightfold path, you need more training’’ Said the blood angel.
However it had been the world eaters victory, as he was able to hit the blood angels left injured shoulder even if slightly, in the exchange, and had drawn blood that was now on his axe.
‘’I win, ghost’’ Said the world eater as they passed each other on the attack.
Before the blood angel could react Arkanus had shot two plasma shots from his pistol, one aimed at him and the other at Thalassos.
The priest was saved by his brother in the last second before the shot hit him, but this was enough time, Arkanus was now above the shard, he was dripping the blood he had just gotten from the ‘Revenant’ blood angel.
‘’Lyonel you have to get him it might not be too late’’ Said Thalassos.
The blood angel looked down to meet his gaze and pointed to his shoulder signaling the priest to heal him.
‘’Heal me ill have a better chance, even if we fall to the rage’’ Said the blood angel.
As the shard shone with the brightness of a sun, it began to react to the blood and sure enough it began emitting waves of psyker energy that would resonate with all blood angels, including the ones in the planet, they could all feel it now, the shard was about to do something and they were being warned ahead of time.
‘’Yes! Now you fall! Now you spill blood in his name for all eternity! Now I truly ascend!’’ yelled Arkanus as he turned back to the blood angel leaders healing one hundred feet from him.
The blood angels could not move, being so close to the shard each wave they were hit with would bring them to their knees their body reacting to their gene-fathers energy.
The shard began to gather and condense light in its center, a blinding light even someone on a planet where the sun never went down would have been robbed of sight, then after just one second of silence, the ship seemed to tear itself apart, a huge wave of energy sent the world eater flying and the two survivors reeling back, and they could not believe their eyes once the light had gone down, the shard was still there however something else now was too, something that was causing alarms and klaxons and all matters of sound through the ship.
It did not simply appear, it tore away into existence, the air in chamber curdled, a rectangular of absolute, blinding gold slammed into the center of the hall, the deck plating of the world eater ship buckled, iron shrieking as it was forced to bear a weight from a holier world, This was the Golden Sarcophagus.
The resting place of the great angel, its surface carved with a thousand scenes of the siege of terra, every line of gold pulsing with a heartbeat that shook the room.
In the front it bared a golden statue of Sangunius in repose, his wings folded over his sides, carved with such detail that every individual golden feather seems to catch a light that isn’t there, it  was surrounded by a shimmering stasis field and its hum could be clearly heard, the time around the sarcophagus seemed frozen and the blood on the floor did not touch it, almost as if it was levitating above the madness.
The light coming from the sarcophagus was burning Arkanus’s skin, and every demon was immediately banished from the ship only Arkanus and Varkas remained.
‘’What is this?!’’ yelled Arkanus in anger as he shielded his face with his hands.
The blood from Lyonel was of the most ancient and pure none other alive is purer, and when spilled into a piece of Sanguinius soul it worked like a beacon and pull his body here.
The sarcophagus light then began to dim and shadows and clouds gathered around it, it was being called back to Baal, then it shone one more time sending direct light to his sons on the ship and those on the ground as well, before being dragged back to Baal by the Sanguinor light's behind it, knowing it was not supposed to be there.

Even though he was not the closest to the coffin, he was the closest to falling to the black rage when he saw the light burn Varkas and reach him, the light spoke to him, he heard a voice, it was Sanguinius.
‘’Let go my son, you will overcome this’’ Said Sanguinius.
Amael who was now able to move wasted no time no second and immediately let out a roar mightier and heavier than any beast anyone had heard, the roar shook pillars and made the sand shiver and it could be felt throughout the ship.
When Varkas was getting up he saw what he tough was a monster out some sort of story.
‘’What are you?’’ Said Varkas one half of his face relaxed the other angry, both voices both personalities in shock at the same time.
Amael was no longer wearing any armor and his black carapace skin was the only thing covering his abdomen and waist and crotch area, but even the black carapace was breaking apart, he was now Thirteen feet tall, as big as some primarchs in size, his veins and blood vessels seemingly pumping blood to every nerve in his body his jaws now bigger and seemed to have gotten more teeth as he was bleeding from them biting his lips.
His blonde hair had grown longer and his eyes were no longer his green color they were now yellow and he was observing his prey in front of him with an eerily patience.
Then almost as if something had finished processing in him, he cast a shadow over the world eater and yelled so hard he busted Varkas’s eardrums, but it was no simple roar, a name could be heard in the shrieking of Amael’s Yells.
‘’HOOORRRUSSS!!!!!’’
Varkas had no way of knowing, that what the blood god wished for, was right in front of him, and that he would taste for the first time in millennia what true fear is.

[Diamanchez]

Chapter 8
                                       Voice Of The Angel

The sky of the planet was purplish pink and the warp storms could be seen through whatever smoke from the battle didn’t already cover it, explosions ,shots and revving chainaxes and swords could be heard through the dead planet.
The blood angels had all embraced the red thirst and most of them were close to falling to the rage, however right in the main battle in the makeshift base of the remaining metal of the Angel’s Hope. The blood angels where being overwhelmed, they needed help but their leaders were too busy, that’s when it arrived.
The light was blindly golden and it tore apart the clouds and the color of the sky itself, from the world eaters ship a ray of light emitted to the warriors on the planet below, for this was Sanguinius trying to help his sons even ten thousand years later.
The light shone on the battlefield and also three different rays shone on each leader and their fight, but the blood angels noticed the light at the base had been stronger, so strong that it covered them like a veil of righteous power.
No demon or demon infected could penetrate it they all struggled against it and only chaos cultist who were ‘normal’ where able to past through, this was the hope they needed.
After kneeling before the light they all stood and prepared for the meat shields that were coming, without world eaters or bloodletters one hundred space marines filled with courageous purpose would slaughter in the thousands, the veil however would not last forever, and the blood angels would need to make quick work of the cultists, since they know the hounds of hell awaited them with an impatient malice they could feel through the veil.

A couple of kilometers away, clouds of toxic acid and quicksand now turned into pools of acid could be seen, Ignis now had consumed his own blood and had finishing analyzing it.
He was on his knees but was standing up, his arms charred, his left arm had fallen off and of his right only his thumb index and some of his middle finger could still move even severely burned, the rest of the fingers were gone, his facemask and helm were gone and he was charred black in the upper part of his left face and all of his chest armor and left shoulder guard was damaged.
Plasma shots with almost no protection are devastating, however Ignis used this chance to drink his blood and analyze it, something he had never done before, ideas, chemicals, possibilities, combinations all matter of ideas where popping into his mind one after another.
‘’Yes, yes HA-HA, yes’’ Murmured Ignis looking at was left of his hands ‘’And then I can do this, and ill mix it with that, and then ill see I can add those to it yes HA-HA’’ Said Ignis.
He was completely in a ‘high’ his brain focusing solely on the ideas and combinations he could now make and do, it seemed almost as if had forgotten he was fighting Goloth the Hunter.
‘’Its seems you have finally lost it, The black rage they call it? I remember something like it millennia ago, you are simpler now to plan against’’ Said Goloth a couple hundred feet from Ignis keeping his distance and loading his weapons ‘’This should be quicker now’’ Finished Goloth.
Ignis then stopped talking, stood straight up and looked directly at Goloth and smiled.
‘’You will die traitor, and I will be the catalyst’’ Ignis said as he began to prepare to attack.
‘’Wow, are you sure you don’t want to join us? You seem like you would fit right in’’ Said Goloth as he finished preparing.
This made Ignis stop in his tracks, in all his euphoria and ideas and battle he had forgotten why he had been sent here in the first place, he was always cautious of his ideas as he would always see his peers who made discoveries or new ways to battle would be taken away by the inquisition and branded as heretics.
He did not want this he did not want to just win here and then be killed later, he will control his red thirst and he will win with his own hands without inventing new abilities, that was his thought process after hearing Goloth saying he should join them, that all changed however when a striking beam of light descended from the ship up above them, and he could hear a voice talking.
‘’Ignis, Always doubt, Always question and Always experiment’’ Said the voice as the light faded away.
This was the voice of their gene father reaching out across millennia to help his sons, proving that even after all this time there is no one that knows their sons better than the holy Angel of Baal.
Ignis needed no more indication, no more orders no more concerns, he now had freedom to anything he pleased, and the one who would suffer his experiments was Goloth in front of him.
‘’HA-HA you are not healed little angel! I come for you now! That light was nothing more than an illusion it seems!’’ Said Goloth.
He had already planned how to beat Ignis, he would stay out of his range and blast him with plasma shots and bolter rounds and would get close occasionally to make Ignis think he was not safe at any distance, all while dodging the acid the explosions and the blast radius of his sanguine gas.
‘’You move around a lot for a world eater’’ Said Ignis pointing directly at Goloth ‘’But just as your life, that also stops today HA-HA, witness this and know that your end is here, traitor!’’ Yelled Ignis.
Goloth could see the particles heading towards him and stopped short before he reached them.
‘’I know this trick already! I see that now you have adjusted the distance, so the explosions do not affect you and it also forces me to go around it. Ha! You fool! planning is done and now you are dead’’ Said Goloth with a grin.
He picked up his plasma pistol and shot at the invisible cloud of sanguine gas causing an explosion like before but this time the outcome was different, this time Ignis smiled.
When the explosions normally occur they blast away all around them and ignite flammable objects or substances, that’s how they normally work, in his heightened state by the red thirst Ignis had done something differently now.
The explosion did not blast away, it ate air, completely erasing any type of air in the small explosion almost like a vacuum strong enough to attract tanks into it suddenly formed, in that sense Goloth who thought that he was safe was now meters away from Ignis’s face, and above them a shadow of a chainsword.
‘’WHA-‘’ tried to question Goloth.
But it was too late the chainsword ripped through his upper left shoulder and made its way through its collar bone then chest then stomach before exiting thru the left hip all the while the chainsword revved, ceramite shards fell, and sparks flew around the body of the world eater.
Goloth fell back coughing blood and grabbing at his chest and stomach, guts falling out and a puddle of blood surrounding him, Ignis fell to his knees, completely exhausted and bleeding form his hand, he dropped his sword, the pain on the remaining fingers too much to continue.
‘’That was’’ said Goloth as he gurgled blood ‘’That was an explosion that eats air and shifts space’’ Goloth then locked eyes with Ignis ‘’I did, not plan for that’’ The world eater said struggling to stay alive.
‘’You are still alive? HA! That’s great, now I can try another mix on you, lets see how much you can take before you die!’’ Said Ignis Smiling preparing his remaining hand to fight.
‘’I will not indulge you, son of the dead angel’’ Said Goloth as he smiled ‘’But you will indulge me and the Blood God, he cares not where it comes from!’’ Yelled Goloth as he grabbed his stomach.
A metallic noise could be heard and the guts and viscera could be heard shifting until the world eater stopped moving and a soft ‘CLICK ‘ could be heard.
‘’Oh you crazy maniac, you, HA-HA-HA!’’ Said Ignis as he prepared.
It was an explosion that could fully wipe out a squad of space marines, Goloth had always had this with him, he planned it as a last resource in case something like this happened, and now was the time, the fire set out from within him and it was point blank in Ignis’s face.
The blood angel used all his blood that he had been spilling on the ground and around him to turn into the gas that eats air again, with no air there was no fire, no spark no explosion, and so Ignis stretched out his hand towards the explosion, completely enveloping the fire and smoke in a round invisible of sphere indicating that there was no air around the explosion for it to go anywhere, and it stayed like that for a brief moment, until ignis closed his hand and the sphere shrank, the explosion and the world eater along with it.
‘’Ha-ha! That was close, you bastard! HA-HA! You almost had me! But I killed you! You were nothing!’’ Said ignis now falling deeper and deeper.
As he started to look around in his belt for any other weapons or chemicals he might have to taste and possibly get other ideas on how to use his ability he found something that stopped him in his tracks.
He felt the Vial Thalassos had given him, blue liquid in a small Vial, without a second thought he drank it, not to stop the red thirst, but he wanted to know if he could weaponize it or study it better for his own research.
He was in the end not able to gain anything other than its original purpose, he felt a burning sensation in his body being rapidly ‘cooled’ by the blue liquid, then his whole body stiffened up and it caused him immense pain to just move, making him fall on his back.
‘’It worked’’ Said Ignis looking at the sky ‘’I felt myself falling, but now I feel normal, but I can’t move worth of :cuss:’’ Said ignis as he smiled and it caused him pain on his injuries ‘’It seems the serum also heals us a little bit, stops our bleeding and closes wounds, but bones and limbs are another thing all together, I can no longer move, let’s see who sees this’’ Said Ignis to himself as he shot up as much sanguine gas as possible.
He then snapped his fingers and caused and explosion that revealed his location, and then immediately passed out.

The caverns were no better, as the current battle there could very well be the end of the civilians, Cassian was now using dead bodies pumped with his blood to ‘puppeteer’ them and his left hand he had whips of blood and the tips were all made of metal where the iron was focused the most.
The caverns wet and damp with mushrooms illuminating them and stone and rock pillars holding them up were not spared the brunt of Cassian’s attack.
‘’You move pretty fast!’’ Said Cassian while moving bodies with his right to protect civilians and moving whips to his Skraal with the other ‘’As expected of a hound! But you will not taste any innocent blood today! Not while I stand!’’ Said Cassian.
The whips move through the cave as if it were his own limbs, striking and slashing and trashing about, hitting anything in its way, everything except its target, it was as if he was hitting shadows, Skraal could not be predicted nor pinned down.
‘’YOU….ARE NOTHING…. NOTHING BUT FOOD!’’ Growled Skraal as he ran in all fours dodging the whips that were coming for him.
His nails allowed him to dodge any attack as his senses dialed up to the max and as he would dodge and try and close in, Cassian would defend by lifting dead bodies around him as meat shields.
The world eater would claw and bite, and retreat and then attack again viciously, it was only a matter of time before Cassian ran out of bodies to defend with, and his attacks were destroying the cave.
Without him noticing Cassian was putting the very people he wanted to protect at risk, if he were to crash down the caves on them who know who would survive, if any.
Cassian could not see it, he was to blind to the elusive target that was Skraal, he tried predicting where he would be but it was pointless, all the while it seemed Skraal enjoyed running around in its own filth and blood, only attacking when he wanted to or when the blood angel least wanted to.
His head was screaming, his sight was blurring, each attack drained him of energy, of willpower to control the red thirst, it gives immense power but using it for too long or abusing it might lead to a one way road of no return.
‘’Damn it!’’ yelled Cassian in frustration while attacking ‘’Quit moving! I thought you world eaters fought in close quarters, coward!’’ Screamed Cassian.
Skraal once again dodged the attacks and stepped back behind a destroyed pillar, knowing full well what was happening, he didn’t mind eating dead bodies in the rubble.
‘’I…I…TAKE ….MY TIME….WITH MY FOOD’’ Said Skraal as it grinned and drooled.
Immediately a whip of blood got to his position only to crack the ground beneath his feet where he had already ran sideways on all four, dodging the attack.
Cassian was getting more and more frustrated and he was not able to see a quick way to end this and his sanity was beginning to slip.
Just when Cassian was about to rush in and risk everything to try and corner the hound, he was stopped by his hearts irregular beating, as if something was coming as If something was warning him to be ready, ready to listen.
The light did not penetrate or leave any sort of mark, it simply passed through the stones of the caverns all the way to the blood angel, Cassian still attacking and not noticing the light suddenly felt a warm feeling reach him once the light touched him, and the feeling was followed by a voice.
‘’One cannot protect, if one does not win Cassian, Think of your brothers’’ Said the voice as it faded with the light.
Cassian could not believe it, how could someone like him be worthy of hearing his voice or listening to his command, he looked down and his feet and all the blood that had now been spilled all over the cave and decided to call his whip back into him and the dead bodies stopped moving.
Cassian thought of his brothers and planned to taunt like Lyonel, Fight like Ignis, and kill him like Valerius, he then looked at Skraal and taunted him by saying.
‘’Your God took away your balls along with your brain?! Come! I will fight you with no tricks! Or have you no heart either?!’’ Yelled Cassian.
Skraal would not tolerate his God being mocked, and not seeing any whips or moving and his nails not alerting him to anything he decides to attack, he rushed in on all fours at blinding speed, covered several hundred feet of distance in mere seconds, while weaving form side to side.
Cassian lowered his stance and grabbed from his two hands, small blades of blood, that had been constructed from his own wounds, inciting the Hound to come close, letting him know he was prepared for him, for the engagement.
As Skraal was finally upon him, his senses immediately spiked up, a small sharp pain that grew larger quickly, came from both his feet at the base of them, from puddles of blood, lances with hundreds of small spike were emerging and penetrating his feet, locking him in place.
Cassian had set this up, and now he moved in for the attack and tried to deliver a horizontal strike with his right hand, Skraal tore his feet off the spikes by mutilating part of his feet enough for him to jump up and dodge the attack, he was now in the air with pieces of his feet flapping in the air, dangling from tissue and broken armor no longer attached to his ankles.
The blood angel quickly tuned to meet him and fused both his small blades swords into now regular sized sword, but the rage and ferociousness of the Hound was too much, as he was now extremely angry for having to suffer such an injury.
‘’BLOOD! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!’’ Skraal yelled as he fell and parried the attack.
His left hand swept away the sanguine blade coming for him and then before Cassian could react he grabbed him by the right shoulder before completely opening his mouth and attempt to bite Cassian’s head off.
The blood angel barely had enough time to react and moved his head, however Skraal still found a mark, he began chewing through the shoulder guard of the left shoulder until he reached the flesh of Cassian.
As blood began to pour from Cassian’s shoulder he let out a shout that could be hear throughout the caves before he gritted his teeth and spoke.
‘’You die! Now!’’ Said Cassian showing anger he did not know he had in him.
He reached out behind Skraal’s head and instead of trying to pull him off his shoulder, he pushed him further in, Skraal began to kick with desperation, hitting Cassian with his stumps on his legs and tried to claw and trash about, but a blood angel under the red thirst has tremendous strength.
Skraal was so desperate because he felt through the wound on Cassian’s shoulder that three lance-like points were forming from his blood manipulation and had emerged on his shoulder wound, the blood angel was pushing him closer and closer to them, until eventually it reached the top of his mouth, Cassian did not stop he hugged and squeezed tighter and tighter.
Skraal was screaming in a muffled sound as his jaw was now opening even further, his lower jaw completely breaking off, and eventually the spikes piercing all the way to his head and severing the butchers nails, killing the hound and dropping its limp body in a puddle of blood.
Cassian fell on both knees breathing heavy and coughing blood, his vision blurry, his conciseness fading, he did not know if he was falling to the black rage or simply passing out, either way he could do none of those things
He needed to make sure the civilians were okay, he reached for the blue vial he had and it fell off his hand from all the blood, it did not break but it did roll away from him.
He could feel his hearts pumping, his stomach hungry, his fangs itching, he was losing control of the thirst and was losing hope, since he could not find the vial.
Then he saw the feet of a civilian, a regular person was in front of him.
‘’No! get away!’’ yelled Cassian.
The girl was the first one they had met with the blood angel pendant, she locked eyes with Cassian and handed him the blue vial he had lost sight of.
‘’We saw how your protected us my Lord, I saw you dropped this and thought you might need it’’ Said the young woman.
Cassian did not answer but immediately drank it, he then started to feel the same cool down effect one would have as if being dropped into a pool of ice.
He fell back in relieve knowing it had worked and he had not lost himself, he could not move for his muscles had tensed up and needed to rest, but his wounds had closed and his minor injuries where healing.
The blood angels that had come with him had rounded up and secured all civilians came back to him to treat him.
‘’What’s the casualty rate?’’ Asked Cassian as they wiped blood off him and tried to look for more wounds.
‘’We lost fifteen of us sir’’ Said a blood angel apothecary treating him.
‘’And the civilians?’’ Asked Cassian.
The blood angel Apothecary looked at his brothers and then back at the wounded leader.
‘’None, not a single one sir’’ Said the blood angel.
Cassian could not help to smile he knew the death of his brothers was no small thing and he was sad for sure, but his main objective his purpose from now on, to protect the people, and it  had been accomplished.
‘’You guys wouldn’t hate me for smiling a little bit would you?’’ Asked Cassian.
The blood angels around him simply smiled before answering.
‘’Not at all sir’’ they said.
They did not have the heart to tell him, that an apothecary had ran blood tests on the civilians and almost all were infected with some form of warp mutation, from living in the warp for so long, meaning even if they were safe, the inquisition might just kill them, but for now they let the captain have his victory, he had earned it.
Cassian then closed his eyes smiling passing out from the exhaustion.

The plains had now been completely flattened, where these two warriors engaged the sheer force and pressure from their blows would rip stones from the ground and caused debris to quake and shiver.
Valerius and Hulmutt were now two furnaces with different heat types, while Hulmutt was external and consumed metal and iron to become hotter, Valerius would use his own blood pressure to boil and cause red vapor to leak out of his body.
In terms of strength they were seemingly equal any blow one landed to the other would send them reeling back, the main factor however has that Hulmutt could defend better than Valerius since his furnace would heat up on contact and burn Valerius even if he did land a blow.
‘’HA-HA! You are pretty strong after all!’’ Said Valerius as he prepared to rush Hulmutt once again.
‘’You are nothing but a spark that will feed my soul! Skulls for the skull throne!’’ Yelled Hulmutt as he prepared to receive Valerius.
The speed was astonishing, his ability plus the red thirst made Valerius the only person other than a primarch to be able to move in such a way in terminator armor, he rushed Hulmutt who could not react, only defend and heat whatever part he thought would be stricken.
Valerius knew this by know, and would feint kicks and punches with his attacks this time however he noticed the world eater had not protected his face.
For a flesh tearer this was an opportunity he could not miss, he feinted a left punch and saw the right side of the body heat up, he wasted no time and in a flash he stepped forward with a lowered stance and with a stomp he smashed his helmet of ceramite armor directly into Hulmutt’s face, this blow shattered the ground beneath them and created a giant cloud of dust and ash.
‘’HA! So much for that! You little furnace!’’  Yelled Valerius into the air.
Then under his feat a bright orange light was beginning to form, he immediately stepped back noticing the attack, a geyser of molten lava almost hit him, it grazed his left hand and left thigh but he was able to avoid most of the attack.
‘’That was a good one! Now let me feast on your charred corpse little angel!’’ Growled Hulmutt as he stepped through the lava and his molten face already reforming while heading towards Valerius.
Valerius knew he could go further that he could push his body past more limits but he really did care about his team, he really did want to help them, he was thinking that even if he won this fight, what would be the point if he was dead afterwards.
He was holding himself back on purpose he was doing feints, thinking of strategies, adapting and even thinking like some of his brothers which was not like him at all, but he wanted to do something that would not burn him out and cause him to die, or worse.
The terminator armor which was once white was now charred black and had cracks everywhere his helmet was falling apart and you could see inside of it through a huge crack on the right side, all this and he had one thing that was still whole, slightly burned but whole.
He had a sash around his waist that was formerly the cape of the flesh tearer’s chapter master Gabriel Seth, it had been given to him once he reached his rank wand wore terminator armor for the first time, he had always unconsciously protected during battle.
‘’Well Seth, I would love to go berserk like you would tell us to’’ said Valerius grabbing the sash as it slipped past his fingers back to his waist ‘’But I have new brothers now, and they will be a mess without me I know it HA-HA’’  Said Valerius as his enemy slowly approached.
The time for joking was over, he needed to think of something quick and he wondered how one or any of his brothers would react against this enemy, how one could even think of an strategy against such a thing, his head was beginning to hurt more than it already was, then before he rushed in he felt a feeling of something approaching him that made him stand firmly quiet.
The light shone upon him like a shower of golden warm air it filled him with peace and calmed his mind all while hearing a voice talk to him.
‘’You will not die to this foe my son I assure you, Valerius, you must trust your instincts and you shall vanquish this foe’’ Said the voice as it left him along with the light.
Valerius knew exactly who it was and what this meant, it was a holy command he will follow to the letter, he didn’t need strategies or tricks, he didn’t need plans or tactics, he needed to simply overpower his opponent and kill him with no mercy.
Valerius let out a roar so loud the ground beneath him began to shake, he removed his helm and the blood mist surrounding him became even thicker, it now  flew out of his body with immense heat and pressure.
‘’You are dead!’’ Screamed Valerius as he jolted forward.
The ground shook, and whatever was not fused to the ground was flying away from the pressure Valerius was generating, his heartbeats could be heard by anyone close by, his skin beginning to go black from the pressure.
He stopped short right in front of the world eater, allowing his body to create a shockwave from the sudden stop in force, he then swung his right fist straight forward, it too created a wave of hot air protecting its hand from further damage and dealing massive damage, the world eater simply defended and heated up further.
‘’WHATS THE MATTER! YOU BATHED IN SOME SUNLIGHT AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THINK YOU CAN MATCH ME! YOU ARE TEN THOUSAND YEARS TOO YOUNG FOR THAT!’’ Screamed Hulmutt who now prepared to punch back.
Valerius would punch and his wave of hot air would not reach Helmet but he punched  again, and again ,and again, now every time stopping short before each blow, his fist no longer making contact with Hulmutt but the waves of force crashing against the world eater faster than he could heat up or heal.
‘’Wai-‘’ said Hulmutt as he knew he could not stop Vlaerius
‘’AAAAHHHHH!!!’’ Yelled Valerius as he continued to punch nonstop.
Hundreds of hundreds of blows were now flying per minute it was a cannon of force at point blank range and it was landing, it was working.
Valerius body was beginning to feel the toll however his consciousness was fading and he was beginning to notice the red thirst was becoming stronger and stronger.
Alls his bones groaned every piece of his skin hurt, as it felt as it was constantly being burned, yet he did not stop.
It was a barrage an artillery cannon could only hope to accomplish, without noticing Valerius began to punch down, noticing the body of the world eater had somehow gotten smaller.
Hulmutt had not gotten smaller however, the world eater had simply been torn to pieces by the force of Valerius fists.
He still did not stop however, until he finally felt stone and earth with each impact, he was facing fully down now and stopped to look at what he was punching.
He saw there was nothing left, only marks from his punches and he looked up a little bit more and saw in front of him, pieces, arms, legs body parts, molten lava now dried, and viscera all over the floor, he had simply erased Hulmutt without a chance for the world eater to self-destruct or explode, he was simply killed by overwhelming force.
‘’HA! That was fun!’’ Screamed Valerius as he fell to one knee grasping for air losing his grip ‘’Whoa! It seems I took more damage than I thought! let me take the magical medicine of the priest’’ Valerius said to himself.
As he reached for his back pouch and grabbed the vial and put it in front of him and there it was, laid out in his hand.
‘’:cuss:’’ Said Valerius.
The vial had been completely charred the liquid in it had since long evaporated there was no cure and the black rage was coming, worst yet there was no one near Valerius to help him.
He looked at his sash one more time and took a deep breath, before looking up at the world eater ship.
‘’Well, there is only one thing to do now Ghost’’ Valerius said as he crushed the vial and threw it away ‘’I will kill as many of these traitors as i can so everyone can escape’’ Said Valerius now looking over to the battlefield and preparing to run there, his body now almost melting itself from the inside, but still at full throttle ‘’If I am a monster once you come down, I hope it’s you who delivers the blow brother’’ Said Valerius in a sad tone as he headed for the Angels Hope.

[Diamanchez]

                           Chapter 9
                                        At the end of the tunnel

The silence that followed the miracle was louder than the ship’s dying screams.
Where the Golden Sarcophagus had rested, the deck plating was no longer just buckled, it was consecrated. The metal scorched white, a rectangular scar of impossible purity etched into the filth of the world eaters Vessel.
The air still tasted of ozone and ancient sunlight, a mocking reminder of the grace that had just been snatched away.
Arkanus stood at the edge of the scar, his breath coming in ragged, wet rattles. He Looked at his hands-stained with the blood of his brothers and the filth of the warp-and saw only shadows.
No wings had sprouted, no dark God had whispered his name, the shard had been his tithe, his ticket to Godhood, and it had ignored him.
‘’Nothing’’ He hissed, the word a venomous drip in the quiet room ‘’After ten thousand years of slaughter….nothing’’ Finished Arkanus.
He turned his gaze toward the shard, his eyes burning with a desperate, petty spite. If he could not be a demon prince, he would at least be a destroyer.
He lunged for the shard then, a frantic animal seeking a scrap of meat, but Lyonel was already there, he didn’t move with the frantic speed of the Thirst, he moved with the inevitability of a closing tomb as if he knew as soon as the light had disappeared that Arkanus would attack the shard.
‘’What’s the matter hound?’’ Said Lyonel gripping his sword with two hands preparing to meet Arkanus ‘’Your god abandoned you? Meanwhile our father still helps us even in death’’ Said Lyonel with a faint smile.
‘’DIE!’’ Said Arkanus as he reached Lyonel and lifted his chainaxe above his head ‘’IM DONE PLAYING WITH YOU’’ Yelled Arkanus foaming now at the mouth from pure rage.
The fact was the blood God had promised no one anything, Arkanus and almost all world eaters know how much Khorne wanted the blood angels for himself, Arkanus took it upon himself to steal the shard from the betrayer and thought he would ascend, it was just speculation it was never guaranteed, that’s why he attacked with such anger.
Lyonel could see the strike coming but he could not dodge, he feared the shard behind him would be cracked, he could see how to dodge but he could also see how to block.
His blood sight flared, he saw where the arm was still gathering strength and before the chainaxe could reach full velocity he stretched his arms forward while holding his chainsword horizontally and they crashed.
The room seemed like a firework or large welding was going on in the middle of the chamber as sparks flew in abundance, Lyonel had parried the strike and was holding on with all his strength, but the world eater was a veteran and could control his nails.
‘’BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!’’ Yelled Arkanus as he then grabbed his axe with both hands and clamped down on his enemy ‘’YOU ARE TOO LIGHT LITTLE ANGEL! STOP PRETENDING YOU ARE SOMEONE ELSE AND DIE LIKE YOURSELF!’’ Screamed Arkanus as his nails flared with red steam.
The power was too much for the blood angel, the weight of the world eater too much, the raw physical strength too much, the chainsword could not hold and under such immense pressure, it shattered, into hundreds of pieces.
Lyonel saw the blow coming regardless and shifted backwards to dodge, his mistake came when lifted his feet off the ground to step back he thought he was safe but in that split second Arkanus lunged with his right shoulder since if he lifted his axe again he would not reach Lyonel on time.
It was a ferocious tackle, and it hit Lyonel on his side cracking his fused ribs and causing internal bleeding, he was sent flying back but not before turning in midair to face the shard, he hugged it and then turned again, falling on his back and coughing blood.
Arkanus gave no time for a repose and rushed the Blood angel on the floor but before he could do so Lyonel stood up and yelled to someone behind him.
‘’Thalassos now!!’’ Yelled Lyonel.
Arkanus immediately looked behind him and saw the sanguinary priest right behind him with his chainsword raised above his head, Arkanus was a warrior of ultimate discipline and battle experience, and in his enraged estate he reacted as soon as Lyonel started speaking.
The world eater turned one hundred and eighty degrees behind him to try and cut the Blood angel priest, however when Lyonel had spoken he did not mean for Thalassos to attack, it was a feint.
Thalassos stopped short and flashed his chalice right in the face of Arkanus, in the brief moment that the world eater was blinded he thought he would be attacked, but no, instead Lyonel threw the shard to Thalassos and Thalassos threw his sword at Lyonel.
When the world eater opened his eyes again the only thing he saw was Lyonel standing a hundred feet from him a bolter pistol in one hand and the chainsword in the other, Thalassos was gone, and so was the shard.
And the only thing lighting up the room were the constant red lights spinning giving warning of the damage the ship had received, dozens of red lights now covered the world eater and the blood angel.
‘’You awake now, hound?’’ Said Lyonel
‘’YOU IMPOSTOR! I KNOW YOU ARE NOT FROM TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO! YOU THINK I WOULD NOT NOTICE!? I SAID IM DONE PLAYING YOUR GAMES!’’ Yelled Arkanus as he rushed Lyonel.
Lyonel lowered his stance preparing to meet the world eater, he did not open fire but instead planned something else.
‘’Are you sure about that?’’ Asked Lyonel.
The world eater had reached his limit, he was done with all this, he simply wanted to kill everyone on board and on the planet and be done with this.
He arrived to where Lyonel was, since as soon as he was swinging his axe at him he was already gone, but he did feel his axe make contact with something thick and light at the same time, it was smoke.
At the world eaters feet, a smoke grenade had been left there, Arkanus looked behind him and sure enough there were multiple grenades the blood angel had thrown.
‘’HA-HA! NOW I KNOW YOU ARE AN IMPOSTOR!’’ said the world eater laughing ‘’WHAT ARE YOU NOW?! A NIGHT LORD?! A RAVEN?! COME MEET YOUR END WITH SOME HONOR!’’ Yelled Arkanus to the smoke surrounding him.
From behind him the smoke shifted and a figure emerged, Lyonel had stalked him and now he would strike, but the butchers Nails are a dreadful thing, it brough Arkanus sense to the most limit he could smell the blood angel behind him.
‘’DIE!’’ Yelled Arkanus as he swung his axe behind him while spinning.
He expected metal or ceramite sparks or blood, yet again the only thing he felt was smoke.
‘’Are you an impostor?’’ Asked Lyonel behind the world eater once again.
Arkanus swung but nothing, nothing but smoke, he was not able to tell what was going on.
‘’A world eater that can’t cut someone, is he really a world eater?’’ Said Lyonel this time from the side of Arkanus.
The world eater looked towards the voice and instead of seeing the blood angel, he saw the muzzle flash of a bolter pistol firing at him, he barely reacted and ducked and dodge it.
‘’FIGHT ME!’’ yelled Arkanus ‘’COWARD! FACE ME!’’ said Arkanus as he began to shoot his plasma pistol at where he thought Lyonel was.
Bolter fire came now from the other side, and before he could rush the muzzle fire he could not believe it but he was already being shot from the opposite angle, was the blood angel teleporting? Thought Arkanus to himself as was beginning to lose himself to a blind rage from the nail’s pain.
Lyonel was not teleporting, he was simply using his blood sight to see the blood pumping in the world eaters body, specifically Lyonel focused on the eyes and its blood vessels to predict where the traitor was looking, after that he simply ran in the opposite direction giving the feel that he was teleporting.
The smoke was clearing however, and this needed to end now or Lyonel would lose his advantage, but the world eater needed one more push to lose his sanity and become a mindless beast, which is what the blood angel wanted.
‘’I remember a lot of you chased after your primarch’’ Said Lyonel in the smoke while firing his pistol and running in a circle ‘’You all wanted to be so much like him, only for him to kill you all like garbage, a pitiful existence really, especially when he was first discovered and only Khârn was able to convince him’’ Said Lyonel as he continued firing almost out of clips.
The world eater heard this word and felt a rage he had not felt in millennia for it was true, when their primarch had been found, most of the veteran and higher ups were killed by him in an attempt to calm him down, only someone from those times could have known that.
‘’NOO!!!!’’ Yelled Arkanus in anger.
As soon as he saw a muzzle flash he no longer cared, instead of dodging he simply sprinted forward an attack, the speed was so great the explosion of energy and momentum so quick and explosive that he actually caught up to the blood angel and felt his axe hit the back of the thigh as the blood angel tried to get away.
‘’NOW YOU DIE! I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU ARE!’’ Yelled Arkanus as he heard the blood angel in pain on the floor, the smoke cleared ‘’WHAT!?’’ said Arkanus.
It was Thalassos, after hiding the shard he had come back he had no idea what was going on, if Lyonel was alive or not, but he tried shooting at the world eater through the smoke and once that failed he tried to reposition only to be caught by the worlds eater attack.
‘’Hello traitor’’ Said Lyonel behind Arkanus once again.
The world eater yelled in anger as he turned to strike Lyonel but it was too late, his rage had taken away all finesse all technique, he was just an overpowered brute swinging an axe now.
As he swung his hand that had no armor was left exposed, Lyonel did not miss this, with a combat knife he had in his ankle he pierced right under the armpit of the world eater and the pulled out with a ferocity that drew huge amounts of blood from the wound.
The world eater only had one hand now and he tried to swing straight at him but only for Lyonel to simply dodge with his blood sight and stabbed him right above the waist where the armor connects, where the armor is weak.
The world eater fell to one knee foaming and drooling roaring at the floor, he then looked up and as he tried to yell one more time, he found Lyonel’s knife cutting him horizontally on the left side of his neck, severing arteries and even causing him to lose sight on his left eye.
As he fell and grabbed his throat trying to stop the bleeding Lyonel kicked him and made him lay upwards facing the roof, there he was met with four bolter shots to the chest, only four because Lyonel didn’t have ammunition for more.
And there laid the man who stole from the betrayer and tried to ascend, there laid a ten thousand year mistake now broken and dead.
‘’Are you okay brother?’’ Asked Lyonel to Thalassos who was now sitting against a metal pillar holding and healing his wound.
‘’Are you okay? Are you still our brother Lyonel? Or are you something from the past? Your voice is back to normal now but I still have doubts’’ Said Thalassos as his chalice shone around his wound and it closed.
‘’Yes, I did not mention my plan to you, but it was needed’’ Said Lyonel as he helped Thalassos stand ‘’I was feeling weird but as soon as I felt our fathers light and his voice, I felt back in control and clean with no more weight inside me, but I was left with memories of ‘The revenant’ inside me and saw a lot of world eater battles and moments in the pit’’ Explained Lyonel ‘’ If a world eater is in control of their nails you just have to make them lose control right? I doubt this what have worked on the betrayer, but for this enemy it was just right’’ finished Lyonel.
Thalassos looked at his brother up and down and then flashed his chalice around him healing and making sure he was truly him and not anyone else.
‘’Well everything seems in order brother, what’s our next step?’’ Asked Thalassos.
‘’Now we go back for our brother, he learns how to pilot this thing, we evacuate the people down below and our other brothers and we leave, with the shard, with this ship which is now holy since our Father marked it with his presence, the inquisition will have nothing to say now’’ Said Lyonel
Then as he was about to tell the priest to head back for Amael, the front entrance of the chamber was stormed by the sound of several space marines running towards them.
‘’What’s going on? Where is Amael? Asked Lyonel to the upcoming marines
‘’Sir’’ said the first blood angel to arrive and salute ‘’He said to come here to help you and he would be right behind us’’
Lyonel immediately knew what this meant, that Amael would throw everything away to defeat such a foe, when Lyonel encountered and fought even for a brief moment against Varkas, being able to turn on and off the nails was more formidable than a controlled one since they would be more unpredictable.
‘’You and you’’ Said Lyonel as he pointed to two blood angels ‘’Secure this room and the shard, the rest of us are going back for our brother’’ Ordered Lyonel.
Then a scream could be heard from the entrance, a shriek of pain and horror that caused all in the room to look towards the entrance, then everything went silent followed by a loud ‘thud’ above the entrance like something had been thrown from the arena and had impacted the top part of the entrance.
There, a body that had been splattered on the top part and slid down until it fell on the floor and splashed on a pool of its own blood, it was Varkas.
His body had been mauled badly, his face was a mess of slashes, his right side was now completely knocked out its eyes closed and his left side was struggling to breath, his left hand had been chewed off and his left leg had been ripped from his body, yet he was still alive, the followers of Khorne were always known for their resilience.
‘’Arkanus’’ said Varkas barely able to stand against the wall ‘’We need the power you promised! Now! This thing this is just no-‘’ Varkas was not able to finish.
From behind  long white arm with twitching fingers and elongated nails reached out in a blur, in just an instant the back of the head of Varkas was met with the now giant hand of Amael, and the front side of the head of Varkas met a gruesome end when it was pushed down with tremendous force against the metal wall he was leaning against, completely killing both personalities within Varkas.
As eye balls flew and brain matter splattered everywhere with pieces of skull and nails attached to it the figure fully entered the room, Amael no longer appeared like anything resembling an Astartes, his height was now about fifteen feet, his black carapace had been ripped open from the sudden growth and it was only covering part of his stomach and crotch area.
Longer blonde whiteish hair with yellow eyes and bigger jaw and more teeth all while it screamed ‘HORUS!’ at the top of its lungs, the others could see what this was, the black rage.
‘’I’ve never seen a black rage like that’’ said Thalassos as he saw what used to be his brother kneel down and hit the dead body again and again only to finally begin to eat it from the inside of the neck ‘’It must be his glitch that caused this’’ Said Thalassos.
‘’It doesn’t matter’’ Said Lyonel coldly ‘’No son of Sanguinius leaves this place like that’’ Said Lyonel as he held out the blue vial Thalassos had given him ‘’ I am going to try this once, just because he is our brother, if it does not work, he will not leave this place’’ Said Lyonel grimly.
He then ordered everyone to stand back and that he would handle this himself, he opened up by firing shots from the pistol of his brother, at Amael’s Feet getting his attention.
‘’HORUS!!!!’’ Amael yelled at Lyonel.
Compared to the earlier battle this was simpler, all Lyonel did was focus his blood sight on Amael, as he was rushed the giant blood angel opened his bloody mouth still swallowing organs and even the gene seed of the world eater.
Lyonel aimed directly for the inside of the mouth and with the hand the had the vial he punched the inside of his brothers mouth, the vial broke inside Amael’s mouth and as he drank  it he reeled back in pain struggling to stay standing he started rolling in pain on the floor, but his color was the same his eyes where the same the only thing that changed was that his jaw became normal, extra teeth fell out, and his body did get smaller from fifteen feet he went back to eleven feet but he was still pretty big, all while screaming ‘Horus!’ but also screamed ‘Brother!’ and then horus and then brother again.
‘’It seems it had some effect Lyonel you did it’’ Said Thalassos running up next to Lyonel.
‘’He is still saying Horus’’ Said Lyonel as he then pointed his bolter pistol to Amael in the floor ‘’We cannot have the black rage be known nor can we keep him here he will kill everyone, I am sorry brother’’ said Lyonel as his face was twisting into a sad frown.
Then just as he was about to pull the trigger the gun was kicked out of his hand, it was Thalassos, he did not want to see anyone of his brothers die.
‘’What are you doing Lyonel?!’’ Said Thalassos angrily ‘’He is our brother and he is calling for us!’’ finished Thalassos.
‘’And he has also fallen to the rage and is calling the arch traitor’s name!’’  yelled Lyonel as he turned to face Thalassos ‘’And someone under the black rage cannot be brought back even your serum only seems to have dulled or slowed the effects, now move’’ said Lyonel coldly.
‘’No!, I have had enough of this curse that bind us brother!’’ Said Thalassos ‘’ He is somewhat struggling if we can put him in stasis or something we can study him and help us further with the rage and thirst’’ Explained Thalassos.
‘’Brother, do not fight me on this, if the inquisition find him, it will be the end for all of us’’ Said Lyonel as he pushed Thalassos out of the way before being stopped by him.
‘’Stop, right now you are still tired from your battle’’ Said Thalassos ‘’Or have you forgotten that Amael came with us so he can pilot the ship!?’’ Finished Thalassos.
‘’It doesn’t matter, we will find another way another pilot we will threaten someone we have to find other options!’’ Yelled Lyonel now becoming more frustrated,
The blood angels around the room just looked on quietly, just observing their leaders argue they could not move they had no idea how to proceed.
Then just as the two leaders were face to face so close they could see nothing else, a voice spoke and broke the tension in the room in an instant.
‘’Do I get a say in this?’’ Said Amael now sitting perfectly normal with his legs crossed facing his brothers.
Lyonel and Thalassos could not believe it, their brother was back, but he was still huge and his eyes were still yellow, so Lyonel still had his doubts.
‘’Are you really Amael?’’ asked Lyonel ‘’ And have you truly recovered from the black rage?’’ Finished Lyonel.
Amael already had Thalassos next to him healing him and checking for any abnormalities before he answered.
‘’I… don’t know’’ said Amael surprised ‘’ I was sure I was seeing Horus and I am aware I was under the black rage, however now I feel like myself again’’ Explained Amael.
‘’Amazing!’’ exclaimed Thalassos ‘’I still sense the black rage in you brother, however it seems because you consumed a world eater with two personalities, you as well have developed two, one normal and the other Amael under the black rage’’ Said Thalassos.
They could not believe it, the black rage was a sure path to death yet here was a blood angel who had found his own unique way around it, yet he was aware of what he now was, a ticking time bomb.
‘’If that’s true brother’’ Said Amael looking at Thalassos then at Lyonel ‘’Then I understand why you would want to kill me, if that is your will brother I will follow you Lyonel and accept the emperor’s mercy’’ Said Amael.
‘’No! brother don’t say that, we can keep you alive and I can grab samples and then we-‘’Thalassos tried explaining but was interrupted by Lyonel stepping near them.
‘’Don’t worry brother’’ Said Lyonel in a calm tone now ‘’I saw your hearts as you spoke Amael, you truly will accept your death for us, a brother like that is not one we can be without’’ explained Lyonel.
‘’But I ate some of our dead brothers, I ate a heretic, I am a mons-‘’ he couldn’t finish the sentence as Lyonel spoke over him.
‘’We are all brothers Amael, and even the dead ones are now a part of you, and in the eyes of the inquisition we are all heretics and mutants, you are our brother Amael and that is all nothing else’’ Said Lyonel as he extended his hand to help Amael up.
Amael now with tears in his eyes could not believe it, he thought he was truly gone and now he had a second chance he would not waste, he stood up and shook Lyonel’s hand.
‘’Of course brother I will protect and help my brothers, nothing else’’ Replied Amael.
Just as they were done speaking the Blood angel squad had found bodies of pilots on their way to Lyonel and now presented them to Amael for him to consume, he touched them and by just placing his fingertips on the heads of the traitors he sucked their very essence into him and learned all about the ship.
‘’I can pilot it’’ said Amael.
‘’Good’’ Answered Lyonel ‘’We will send word to the planet they should have won by now, I felt all of them use the red thirst even over here, I know my brothers won’’ Answered Lyonel.
‘’Yes brother I have faith too, however to pilot the ship I must be infused with it’’ Answered Amael.
‘’What do you mean?’’ Asked Thalassos.
‘’The shard was actually also powering up the engines, it can move now, but it cannot get far, I believe they planned to leave a trail of our fathers essence and lure us in, until the shard is somehow ‘recharged’ or activates again, me and my lifeforce will act as the battery’’ Explained Amael.
‘’That would kill you would it not?’’ Asked Lyonel.
‘’Technically no, the way Amael is right now with multiple lifeforms inside of him I can estimate he would be able to pilot this vessel for a couple of weeks before spending all his lifeforce’’ Said Thalassos.
‘’Will you do this for us brother?’’ Asked Lyonel as looked directly at Amael’s eyes.
Amael had never been asked for anything he was always just ordered around and expected to follow if he would try to argue his flaw or glitch would be mentioned to offend degrade him, now a brother, their leader, the ghost, was asking him for something, the feeling of pride was something he had never felt before as he answered.
‘’I will do this and more brother’’ Answered Amael smiling.
‘’Good, now, get a vox message down below and tell them we have secured a vessel to escape we lea-‘’ Lyonel was interrupted by a eerie laugh coming from far behind him.
It was Arkanus, still faced up still dying and still bleeding out and gurgling blood in his throat while he laughed in a savage way then something happened.
Lyonel’s blood sight flared and he saw that a lot of blood was being concentrated inside the stomach of the world eater, then Arkanus pulled out his own combat Knife and pierced his own stomach popping the bubble of blood inside of him.
The blood didn’t explode or gush out, instead the blood turned into red smoke and then blue and then immediately shot out of the stomach of the world eater.
Lyonel followed the blue ray leave the planet and then explode right above the planet in a huge umbrella of blue energy, this was not just any explosion however, only Lyonel and his sight could see it, to everyone else it seemed like the world eater had just stabbed his stomach for no reason, but with the last of his strength he spoke.
‘’if you….if you think its over…..you have no idea’’ Said Arkanus smiling looking up at Lyonel.
‘’What did you do?!’’ Yelled Lyonel getting a bad feeling in his gut.
‘’If you…. Struggled against me’’ said Arkanus coughing blood and gurgling it in his throat ‘’He…..he will surely end you…. Let the betrayer be your executioner’’ Arkanus then smiled and with the last of his strength he yelled ‘’BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!’’ Before dying completely.
Lyonel did not need more than a second to understand what had just happened, the betrayer, they stole a shard from the betrayer, he said the betrayer shall be the executioner, and he shot out and invisible ray into space, there, it clicked.
The ray and exploding umbrella over the planet was a signal, a beacon reveling their position for someone and not just anyone to come.
Before Lyonel could give a command, Amael who was already calibrating the ship and pressing buttons and looking at screens reported something to Lyonel.
‘’Brother, there is something huge that just entered this system its huge but it seems it might be a small hunting ship’’ Said Amael ‘’I only sense nine lifeforms on the ship, but I can’t tell if that’s all or not, since I cannot use this very well yet it might take me a couple of days to understand and digest everything completely, but I can fly us out of here whenever we load everyone up’’ Finished Amael.
Lyonel’s first thought was that Khârn was on his way, there was no doubt, this was his ship, his stolen shard, and this was his warrior that sent out a signal, nine lifeforms one for Khârn and the other eight of the ‘exalted eight bound’ World eaters who had dominated both their nails and the demons that possessed them, these were no longer regular foes, they were catastrophic events waiting to happen.
Every single Astartes waited for Lyonel to say something, all he did was take a deep breath and then answer calmly.
‘’We shall retreat, we cannot face them as we are now’’ Said Lyonel as he ordered this message be sent to the planet below.
They had all but won, but still Lyonel had a feeling he could not shake off a feeling he felt since Arkanus started puncturing his stomach a bad feeling that would not leave him.
The blood angels were now on their last hurdle and just needed to leave, the universe however, even in the warp, is not always what it seems.
 

[Diamanchez]

Hello Everyone! just wanted to let you readers know that this will be my last post in a while, this is the end of my trilogy, i will not be posting next week since i have no material to post, this was always the plan, however do to life situations i am forced to spend my time in other things other than writing, so I'm not sure if ill continue to write in the future, but who knows right? the world is crazy like that! anyways, here is the final chapter, the epilogue and the index, i hope you liked my story and the journey and enjoyed all the scenes! if you have any feedback or pointers or tips i will gladly read them and take them into account and use them for when i write a 4th book, i am a novice and almost all of you are veterans with way more years of experience than me, so feedback is appreciated it trust me, anyway that's it, i don't know when ill write a 4th book, nor when i will post again, some day ill just post daily again the 4th book, or not haha, who knows, but yeah that's all, thank you all for this incredible journey, it was fun and a very interesting experience, so with that i wish you all a great day and may all your goals come true, goodbye everyone.

Chapter 10
                                     Reclamation & Vindication

The static on the vox-channel didn’t just crackle; it hissed with the lingering heat of the miracle on the obsidian plains. Standing on the bridge of the captured world Eater vessel, Lyonel felt the ship’s bio-mechanical systems pulsing beneath his boots— a rhythmic, unsettling thrum that Amael was still struggling to harmonize with.
‘’Status’’ Lyonel commanded, his voice a low rasp that seemed to echo with the ancient ghost of the revenant legion.
 From the planet below, the response from the ground team was a jagged collage of bolter-fire and heavy breathing. It was Cassian who finally broke through the interference, his voice strained but still alive.
‘’The civilians are secured in the primary extraction zones brother, but the cost was… absolute’’ Said Cassian with a sad tone ‘’The serums are gone, Ignis is incapacitated and will need new limbs, the blood angels, the monsters are unleashed. And Valerius….. Valerius is still out there in the red salt, hunting the shadows of what we used to be’’ Finished Cassian.
Thalassos stepped beside Lyonel, his Narthecium with a mixture of traitor and brother-blood, his eyes fixed on the atmospheric monitors.
‘’We cannot leave the equipment on the Angel’s hope, Lyonel, My research the gene-seed vats- it is the only future we might all have left, if the inquisition finds what I’ve built, they won’t just purge us; they’ll erase the very memory of our existence’’ Said Thalassos.
Lyonel looked at the swirling violet clouds of the Angel’s Hope and spoke.
‘’Then we descend’’ he said, the finality of the statement anchoring the room. ‘’Amael, hold this ship at the edge of the atmosphere. If the sky turns black, you run’’ He looked over at his giant brother who was preparing to power the ship ‘’And once we or you leave, you disconnect from this thing, not another son of Sangunius dies today, understood?’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’Yes brother, but I will also do whatever it takes to get everyone home’’ Said Amael as he nodded.
‘’Thalassos’’ Said Lyonel as he turned to the priest ‘’Prepare the extraction craft. We go down for the lab, we go down for the people… and I go down for the flesh tearer’’ Finished Lyonel.
As the blood angels left and began boarding the extraction crafts Lyonel could feel Thalassos looking at him.
‘’What is it brother?’’ asked Lyonel as they boarded and sat across each other.
‘’He… he spoke to me brother’’ Said Thalassos now feeling the weight of everything that had happened.
‘’I believe he spoke to all of us Thalassos’’ Said Lyonel as the shuttle took off ‘’What did he tell you?’’ Asked Lyonel with a smile.
For all his sins all his mistakes and everything he had done, Lyonel only truly cared about Sanguinius and his legacy, in his eyes he was the father he never had, he was the one that gave him a second opportunity to life as an Astartes, he was genuinely curious about Sanguinius’s words.
‘’He said to me ‘You cannot save a dead brother Thalassos, save the live ones’ and I did not know what it meant but when I left you alone I came back because I remembered those words, what was the point of hiding the shard and fleeing if you, our leader, was to die?’’ Said Thalassos.
‘’And I thank you for it brother, it gave me the last ‘push’ I needed for the traitor to lose all composure’’ Said Lyonel smiling.
‘’What did he tell you, brother?’’ Asked Thalassos.
Lyonel stopped smiling immediately and looked over the cockpit to track how close they were to the surface and with a grim tone he spoke.
‘’He said to me ‘You will die Lyonel, But not today, you are needed for a greater death with greater purpose, Fight my son’ is all he said’’ Finished Lyonel.
Thalassos wanted to ask more but he understood from the tone that it was better not to ask at the moment, but he knew Lyonel enough by now that even if he did love Sanguinius he hated the idea of everything being decided for him, His name ghost was given, not chosen, he actually didn’t like the nickname at all, his gene seed from someone else saying they might take over his body, his enemies saying how he should fight, and now his own father telling him about his death like it was predetermined, it did not sit well with him.

The situation on the planet was different, even if the leaders had been defeated the world eaters were always mostly rage driven monsters that would fight even if outnumbered, if they would draw one drop of blood from an enemy before dying it would be drop of blood for their God.
The perimeter was a circle of spent brass and red salt. Cassian stood at the center, his hands outstretched like a conductor of a macabre orchestra. Thin crimson ribbons trailed from his fingertips, he was no longer controlling enemies but instead protecting his blood angel brothers, physically stitching the rent ceramite of the blood angels and preventing them from falling with his blood strings.
‘’Hold!’’ Cassian wheezed, his voice sounding like grinding stones. ‘’The Ghost is coming. I feel his heartbeat in the upper atmosphere.’’ Finished Cassian.
The civilians looked at him and who had been their savior now seemed like some sort of vampiric entity controlling and moving things with his blood.
Beside him, Ignis lay on a heap of empty ammo crates. Where his hands had been there were only cauterized stumps wrapped in gray synth-flesh. He was laughing-a high, thin sound the set the civilians teeth on edge.
‘’The sky was Gold Cassian’’ Ignis whispered, staring at the bruised purple clouds. ‘’Tell me its still gold. I cant see… I burned my retinas in my eyes in the last explosion’’ Said Ignis.
A world eater lunged from the dust and clouds of smoke, his chainaxe screaming. Before a bolter could bark, a massive, gauntleted fist-disconnected from any visible body- smashed into the traitor’s helmet with the force of an earthshaker shell. The traitor’s head vanished into a spray of bone and iron.
‘’Valerius?!’’ Cassian called out into the fog.
The shadow looked back only for a second and then returned to butcher the traitors, the flesh tearer was still there, a predator in the salt, but if the brother they knew was still there, that was unknown since no one could get close to him no one knew for sure.
Then, the clouds parted. Not with gold, but with the roar of retro-thrusters. The extraction craft slammed in the salt like a falling hammer, the ramps hissing open before it even settled on the obsidian plain.
‘’Thalassos! Go to our brothers health whoever you can first, then coordinate the evacuation to the ship!’’ Yelled Lyonel over the drowning noise of chain weapons, explosions and screams of world eaters being tore apart by a huge shadow.
‘’What about you brother? What will you do alone?!’’ Asked Thalassos noticing Lyonel had ordered all blood angels that descend to follow the priest and not Lyonel.
Lyonel locked in his helmet and looked over the battlefield where the flesh tearer had last been seen.
‘’I will get our brother back or… I will come back alone’’ Said Lyonel in a sad tone.
Thalassos nodded and headed for the angel’s hope wreckage with the rest of the blood angels between him and his soldiers and Cassian’s wall of blood angels a small anvil and hammer tactic occurred all while the sanguinary priest led the front charge bolter pistol in one hand and chalice on the other.
‘’For Sanguinius!!’’ Yelled Thalassos to rile up his men and distract the enemy.
He was a priest but a warrior was well, any enemy that got too close would be met with a sudden and quick headshot, world eaters included, he had not been alive for more than five hundred years no reason, an enemy now broken and with no plan was simpler to handle.
‘’Brother!’’ Yelled out Cassian as Thalassos finally reached him and crushed the foes on their way.
‘’Brother! Those injuries! Come quickly!’’ Said Thalassos as he tried to heal Cassian.
‘’No Thalassos’’ Said Cassian ‘’Him first’’ Said Cassian as he turned to the wounded Ignis behind him.
‘’By the throne!’’ Said Thalassos as he saw ignis was in far worse shape.
Then all the wounded blood angels gathered around him as he began healing them one by one.
‘’What’s the situation?’’ Asked Cassian looking at Thalassos.
‘’We have no time, we need to evacuate and move out as quickly as possible’’ Said Thalassos.
‘’What has us against the clock brother?’’ Asked Cassian as bolter rounds flew around them and blood angels roared as they protected the wounded.
‘’The betrayer is coming Cassian’’ Said Thalassos as he was hurrying on patching up everybody.
Cassian would normally scream or shout in desperation, everyone knew that name and no one wished to meet it not out of fear but because they knew the level such a figure held. Only a chapter master or other prominent warriors could hold a candle to Khârn the betrayer.
‘’Holy angel’’ said Cassian with a simple smile while putting his hand over his eyes for a second.
‘’Brother we must move now, I did all I can and Ignis and the rest are stable but on the ship ill treat everyone better’’ Said Thalassos.
‘’Understood’’ Said Cassian as he took command once again.
The plan was simple, have everyone move little by little to the extraction points which where the cave entrances all while the blood angels defended the empty crashed ship, the world eaters no longer had the mind to attack civilians or plans of any kind they would simply slaughter all in their path they did not even notice most civilians had left, and their numbers were lowering and so were the blood angels numbers but not because of death. They were also retreating little by little accompanying the civilians to the extraction point.
‘’I have to report to Lyonel that we will be done but it will take hours at least’’ Said Thalassos.
Lyonel however was not listening to his vox anymore, he decide to truly go ‘ghost’ to catch up to Valerius in the sea of enemies ahead of him.
Lyonel was a blur through the crowd of world eaters and bloodletters, not having anyone around him made his current objective very simple. If he sees red, he is killing.
His blood sight flared as he ran across a dozen bloodletters delivering master stroked of precision he swung his new chainsword six times as he ran an all twelve demons fell as he took out two demons with one strike each.
His blood sight, his current stated and the battle he had just fought made Lyonel and his senses into the ultimate weapon, if they would try to surround him he would sheathe his sword and use two bolt pistols he had acquired and would shoot, all of them head shots, for someone who can predict your movements hitting twenty precise headshot is child’s play.
‘’Valerius!!’’ Screamed Lyonel as he thought he was getting closer to the figure of his brother.
Each time he did however he would get overcrowded by dozens of enemies who were coming from the direction of his brother, almost as if they were running away from the flesh tearer.
Then in an attempt to get as close as he could he jumped a top of world eater pointed his gun down and killed the traitor in one shot, he used his sight to see if there was a way to reach Valerius and he saw he could jump from one world eater to another in quick succession.
Lyonel moved with the weight of a feather, landing on one leg atop the enemies backpack only for him to point down, while still looking forward. And kill with a merciless shot after shot, world eater after world eater, until he finally got close enough to see his brother.
‘’Valerius!’’ Yelled Lyonel again.
The warrior was huge his skin almost seemed like it was melting all his armor had cracks and his knee and shoulder were melted into his skin and he was bleeding from the mouth, but he was not screaming ‘Horus!’ and when Lyonel used his sight on him he saw that he had no yet fallen to the black rage, Valerius was simply so lost in the red thirst and he could not hear anything because he had no vox or helmet on anymore.
The waves of enemies were too much, so Lyonel decided to call for back up.
‘’Thalassos! Cassian! Do you read me?!’’ Asked Lyonel over the vox as he dodged an axe coming for his head by ducking and while ducking shot at the world eaters head.
‘’This is Cassian, Thalassos is in his lab, what do you need brother?’’ Responded Cassian.
‘’I need you and Thalassos to come, now!’’ Ordered Lyonel as he opened fire with his pistols all around him getting some room.
‘’I will deploy a squad brother and they will meet you at your coordinates’’ Answered Cassian.
‘’Negative, I need you to keep his mouth open and Thalassos to heal him’’ Said Lyonel as he was rushed on all sides and jumped in the air to avoid the strikes and as he landed he decapitated two world eaters and landed on their bodies.
‘’I am sorry Lyonel, I no longer have any strength for that, I can barely help out our brothers as it is, Thalassos says he is almost done I will send him with a squad’’ Said Cassian.
‘’Damn it!’’ Said Lyonel while the figure of Valerius got farther and farther away from him.
After an hour of fighting Lyonel was being overwhelmed from the sheer numbers, he had not been hit yet but he needed to catch his breath he needed to regain composure and he needed to find Valerius who was no longer in sight.
Lyonel now leaning against a huge rock and surrounded by demons and world eaters was not being immediately rushed, even the world eaters in their rage would understand a true threat, and so now they moved in and closed in encircling him slowly.
‘’I don’t suppose you guys will fight me one by one at this point, would you?’’ Said Lyonel with a slight smile behind his helm.
The enemies rushed and where about to reach him when a shower of bolter fire came to them from the direction of the base, it was Thalassos, he had arrived and with a squad of blood angels  they had reached Lyonel encircling them both while they talked.
‘’What took you so long brother?’’ Asked Lyonel as he too opened fire while standing behind the circle of blood angels who were firing and protecting them.
‘’Sorry for the delay Lyonel, I was mixing Amael’s blood with my serum and I’m letting it evolve to see the results back on the ship once everything is in order’’ Said Thalassos as he ducked a bolter round then stood up and shot his own pistol above one if his blood angel brothers.
‘’You were experimenting?! Now?!’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’Yes brother, Amael is Unique I could not wait, and beside I did it as I helped with the evacuation and moved my lab we are about eighty percent of the way done, we would just need you and Valerius to leave’’ Explained Thalassos.
‘’Fine’’ Said Lyonel grunting ‘’ Tell the men to start setting explosives’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’Understood brother, where do you want them? For Khârn and them to find I assume?’’ Asked Thalassos.
‘’No, put explosives around every dead blood angel body’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’WHAT?!’’ asked Thalassos in shock ‘’ Why would we do that brother? What’s the point?!’’ Thalassos said ignoring the battle around him looking directly at Lyonel now.
‘’I do not know much about the warp’’ Said Lyonel he turned to face Thalassos ‘’But we have no time for gene-seed retrieval and I will not have our fathers legacy be corrupted by this place or the things in it, and this is not up for debate this time Thalassos’’ Said Lyonel
Thalassos could not argue, it was true that there were dozens upon dozens of dead blood angels, by his estimates the priest calculated that out of the original three hundred only about one hundred blood angels would remain by the end.
Yet his soul, his heart, could not allow him to abandon his Brothers’s legacy he needed to do his duty, his purpose, to extract as much gene seed as possible.
The Priest dropped his weapons and immediately headed to the nearest blood angel body where he began extracting the gene seed.
‘’Damn it Thalassos!’’ Said Lyonel in anger as he ordered the blood angels to move the circle around the priest.
‘’Look, you still have not found Valerius, take some men, leave me here with a small squad and when you find him ill come to you and I swear ill explode whatever gene seed I cannot extract, but you will not stop me from retrieving what I can’’ Said Thalassos as he moved to another dead body, the blood angel circle following along shooting bolter pistols.
‘’Fine’’ Said Lyonel reluctantly ‘’ But if you don’t make it in time I will blow you up along with the bodies. Brother the traitors must not have any of our fathers legacy’’ Explained Lyonel looking down on Thalassos as the priest nodded in recognition.
Their talk was cut short however, when a mob of world eaters rushed the fifteen space marines and the leaders, they opened fire and the blood angels fired back.
The world eaters rushed the circle and although the blood angels withstood the attack one blood angel was carried off of by a world eater running by and not dying initially.
Lyonel jumped out for the circle and followed, he systematically cut or shot any world eater or demon that got close to him he did this until he opened a path to his blood angel brother while leaving a trail of dead bodies behind him.
‘’Are you okay brother?’’ Asked Lyonel as he reached his wounded blood angel brother on the ground.
‘’Yes brother but we got separated from the main group’’ Said the blood angel.
Thalassos’s and the circle of blood angels were now several hundred feet away while still retrieving gene seed as they moved, they were behind Lyonel he could not see them as he was busy assessing the battlefield, in that time he received a vox call from the world eater ship.
‘’Lyonel do you copy? This is Cassian’’ Said Cassian through the vox already on the ship.
‘’This is Lyonel, what’s the status?’’ Replied Lyonel.
‘’We are about 90% percent full, the lab is here, Amael is now fully powering the ship and Ignis is alive but has passed out, all civilians have been evacuated we are missing only a few blood angels, you guys and some civilians still fighting by your side’’ Said Cassian.
‘’Understood, Once we have Valerius ill contact you for extraction’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’Wait brother there is something else, its about Khârn, what Amael detected, nine life forms and a ship, it seems it was a mistake’’ Said Cassian.
‘’What? What do you mean? There is more of them? Or more ships? What’s going on?’’ Asked Lyonel beginning to feel the gut feeling he had felt since Arkanus killed himself.
‘’Amael now understands completely the ship and its reports, at first it was not clear but it seems the nine world eaters are actually not on a ship but are being transported by a living organism, I am not sure how they move about in the warp, but it could be that they are riding some form of animal, the reason I say this, its because it sped up, it suddenly started heading toward us faster and last I checked it was already going to make contact with the planet’’ Finished Cassian.
‘’Damn it! That means we have no more time now. I am going to head for Valerius now, prepare all the ships and be ready with the teleportation device on their ship in case we need a quicker escape for less people and let me know exactly when they land I want to be-‘’ Lyonel was cut off.
His sentence was not able to be finished since from behind him he had felt something impact him, a shockwave a psyker energy of bloodlust and violence hit his back,  it was so strong it flung him away causing him to roll and then land on one knee and look as to what just had happened.
A jagged streak of crimson fire tore through the atmosphere, a falling star that refused to burn out. It slammed into the planets crust with the force of a tectonic shift, sending a shockwave of pulverized stone and ionized air through everyone around it.
The impact was not a sound, but a physical erasure of silence, Thalassos the sanguinary priest was gone in a heartbeat-not killed, but vaporized as the pressure of the wave of the impact flattened him the dead bodies and the blood angels around Thalassos into a slurry of marble of dust and blood.
As the dust settled the horror was revealed.
The creature stood at nearly thirty feet tall, a hulking tian of corded, crimson muscle. Great, bat-like wings, ribbed with obsidian bone and stained with the soot of a thousand burning world, unfurled to their full, a terrible span. A barbed, muscular tail-this as a heavy power cable-lashed behind him, cracking at the remaining blood angels body in an instant like a giant whip.
His face was no longer human. It was a bestial mask of pure, concentrated hate, dominated by a snout filled with fangs that dripped quicksilver saliva. The butchers nails were no longer mere implants; they had become a writhing nest of copper-colored cables and mechanical tendrils that pulsed in time with the warp’s own heartbeat, fused forever into his skull.
Around his neck and shoulders and waist where nine half dead humans and broken Astartes dying in pain hanging from his body in chains.
He raised his arms, and the chains rattled-thick, heavy links that bound a massive-rune etched black blade and a colossal chainaxe to his wrists. He threw back his head and let out a roar the wasn’t a sound, but a psychic shockwave that burned the nerves and paralyzed the hearts of every living thing in the planet.
This was the God of slaughter given flesh. This was Angron, The Demon primarch, and this planet was now his arena.
‘’:cuss:’’ said Lyonel as he stood in awe as he understood immediately  what had happened.
If he had not been so close to Sanguinius sarcophagus Lyonel would have fallen immediately to the black rage at the sheer presence of Angron, he did not, his brother however were not so lucky, every single blood angel on the planet fell to the black rage immediately and rushed Angron while screaming ‘Horus!’, only to be killed by his wings or tail while roaring, he would not move for such trash.
Arkanus was no chaos mage or student of the warp, all he did was release all his essence into space, he assumed Khârn was watching and thought he would be the one to come, but the one who caught the scent was actually their primarch.
Lyonel knew what Amael had seen, he had seen nine dying lifeforms a top of a much bigger one, no one expected it to be the actual primarch however.
The tension broke when Angron finished roaring and looked directly at the Blood angel, he then smelled something in the air, something old, something familiar, it was in these moments that the primarch would be capable of speech, if only briefly.
‘’I smell the old charnel houses on you, Little revenant’’ Said Angron as saliva dripped from his maw ‘’You carry the name of a dead man who refused to stay in the dirt’’ Continued Angron as he started pacing back and forward ‘’How many throats has that ghost clawed through to reach this day?’’ Asked Angron the nails now pulsing again ‘’You are twice a slave-once to your blood, and once to your memory that should have burned ten thousand years ago. Die. Let the real Ossuros finally rot today’’ Finished Angron as he prepared to rush Lyonel.
The blood angel did not move, not because he couldn’t but because he saw no point in it, this was something out of his league, he was tired, he was wounded, and no matter how much his blood sight flared he could not see a move he could make that would not end in his death, and so he prepared for it.
Lyonel closed his eyes and looked into the sky waiting for the giant to cleave him in two or maw him to death, however the unexpected happen, instead he saw when Angron rushed him that he dropped his axe wanting to squish the blood angel in his hands and feel the ancient blood he reached out with his hand, not a strike, not a full power lunge, Angron simple stretched out his arm almost eerily gently to grab the angel.
The primarch’s limb never reached Lyonel however, instead when Lyonel opened his eyes he felt hot air almost burning him since it had stopped the giant hand, the air had flown back at Lyonel and as his sight cleared he saw there, his brother.
‘’What are you doing ghost?!’’ Said Valerius as he was holding to just two of Angron’s finger with all his strength.
His armor revving, steam and fire now fuming from the back, his knees were cracking, his arms were breaking, his hearts were bursting, just stopping two fingers is all Valerius could manage.
‘’HA-HA, You smell like Nassir!’’ Said Angron as he pulled his hand back effortlessly, smiling.
The primarch then drew his sword and prepared to swing, Valerius prepared himself to receive the blow or die trying, he lowered his stance, his internal control to the limit his red thirst to the limit and even began to lose himself to the black rage, before doing so however he spoke to Lyonel.
‘’You have to let go to win Lyonel’’ Said Valerius.
The massive slob of metal that seemed to be more a part of a broken ship came from the side of Valerius who then yelled.
‘’Hoooorus!!!’’ At the top of his lungs.
The blade made contact with his arms pulverizing them immediately the shockwave so strong it sent Lyonel flying, as he landed he was hit on the helm with Thalassos’s chalice and in front of him all he could see were pieces of his brothers chest and some of his waist, the feet, the head, and the arms had been completely erased.
He remembered his brother’s last words and knew what he needed to do, but he was not sure if he was capable.
A vox signal cut his concentration and as Angron was lost in bloodthirst hitting anything that moved Lyonel spoke to his brother through the vox.
‘’Lyonel! Lyonel! What the heck happened??!! All the warnings are off the charts! What’s just landed?’’ Asked Cassian.
‘’How much time before we can leave?’’ Asked Lyonel with a serious tone completely ignoring brother.
‘’What?! We are practically done but if what’s with you can fly I doubt we can escape, but to answer your question we have about five more minutes to go until the last civilian has evacuated why?’’ Asked Cassian.
‘’In five minutes leave the system immediately, if you don’t receive my signal before then, leave anyways’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’What?! Are you crazy?! We are not leaving you guys down there what’s the-‘’ Cassian was cut off by Lyonel removing his helmet.
Lyonel then looked and saw the demon primarch had spotted him in the dust and would come for him, he had no choice, he grabbed Thalassos chalice and put it on his wait he tied it using the flesh tearer sash he found on his dead brother’s body.
‘’Forgive me, brother’’ Said Lyonel.
He then knelt above Valerius body and reached in through the neck hole until he reached the gene seed of Valerius, he pulled out his hand, bloodied full of viscera and slimy liquid, in his hand he held his brothers legacy.
Sobbing and crying with tears in his eyes, Lyonel began to devour the gene seed, the sudden taste of blood, the rush, the power, he was feeling the energy he was feeling, it was too much, he couldn’t stop, he tore Valerius’s chest cavity wide open, and began devouring every piece of flesh in the armor until nothing but the bones were left.
He would have continued but a massive axe shadowed his body until it came down and with a cloud of dust rose, but no body, no death, nothing, even Angron was puzzled he was sure he didn’t misjudge the distance, then, behind him Lyonel spoke.
‘’What’s the matter?! Ha-ha’’ Lyonel was now bleeding from his eyes his nose and his ears and mouth, his white around the blue of his eyes completely blood-shot red, and steam constantly coming from just his head, almost as if his brain was working overtime ‘’Its not the first time you miss right? You missed a lot during your fight at the eternity gate did you not?’’ Said Lyonel, eyes wide open blood now coming out from every major pore.
Angron did not answer he simply rushed the small Astartes in front of him, with a swing of his sword he would level mountains with a slash from his axe he could tear apart forests, yet for some reason every time he would try to hit this tiny man he would miss, and miss and miss again.
‘’YOU HAVE NO COURAGE!!! WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS!!??’’ Said Angron as he looked around for Lyonel.
Lyonel was right in front of him only a few feet from the primarch’s feet and he spoke.
‘’No trickery you traitor, this is the power of our Father, your nightmare’’ Said Lyonel.
As soon as the last syllable left his mouth Angron was already striking again, and missing again, his anger reaching the boiling point where he no longer speaks and just becomes a weapon of destruction.
‘’Over here’’ Said Lyonel now behind him.
Out of nowhere it happened, something Angron could not comprehend, he was beginning to adapt to Lyonel’s speed but this time as the blood angel dodged he also cut Angron right above the thigh, the pain did not worry Angron what did puzzle him was the amount of blood coming out of the wound, such an attack should not cause such a wound, it immediately healed as he is in the warp and feeds from it.
‘’MORE TRICKS?! COWARD!!!’’ Yelled Angron again as he rushed the blood angel.
Lyonel simply dodged and as he dodged again he stroke again, and at the exact same spot, letting the primarch know he could do that’s as much as he wanted to.
‘’The power of our father I said’’  As Lyonel once again was behind Angron.
There were many variables that made this insane situation possible, Angron was not taking this Blood Angel seriously to do so would admit Lyonel is strong something Angron would never do, he had also recently been vanished by the Lion and his body even if not normal was still recuperating, And Lyonel, under the red thirst and the power from eating blood for the first time and it being someone like Valerius had out him on another plane of fighters.
Lyonel had now developed two abilities that kept him alive against a demon primarch, he could now see afterimages, red outlined translucent figures of the demon primarch moving, before he actually moved, this allowed him dodge absolutely anything Angron threw at him. The second ability he had obtained was that he could now see not only the intent of his opponent but also where the most pressure was, where the muscle was the tightest, where the body had put the most stress, and the Lyonel simply stuck those places, that was the reason Angron had become so angry, he could not understand what was going on, how such wounds could occur.
‘’YOU ARE TRASH!! NOTHING BUT A SHADOW!!!! I CAN KILL YOU IN ONE BLOW!!’’ Yelled Angron as he swung his axe.
The axe came sideways, Lyonel ducked, the giant sword then loomed over him the shadow covering his whole body, Lyonel simply stepped sideways and stepped on a stone slab he knew would not get crushed from the impact.
Even when the wind and pressure from the strike would send Lyonel flying, he would use this to build speed and bounce back and hit Angron, it was small slashes, the only thing he could deliver in such a small window of time, and thus they continued, for five minutes Angron swung, and for five minutes Lyonel dodged, weaved and counterattacked perfectly, for he knows one small mistake would be the death of him, then, the stalemate reached its end as Lyonel began puking  buckets of blood and his vision started to Blur, he had reached his limit, but even if he hadn’t, he knew that not even one thousand years of him dodging and weaving would allow him to beat the demon primarch, there he stood now, bleeding, and every bone in his body had some fissure or fracture, even if you dodge a primarch’s blows the wind pressure is still enough to deliver massive damage, his armor was groaning, creaking with cracks all over, small shards of ceramite falling, Lyonel was done.
‘’HA-HA!! BLODD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!” Yelled Angron now completely lost in bloodlust.
Lyonel used his last remaining strength to look at the ship and realize it was already taking off, but he saw something else something not even Angron or the blood angels could see, he saw hope, a bright light would come for them, this is he had learned after tying to predict how the warp would move.
‘’Listen to me well!’’ Screamed Lyonel as he reached for Thalassos chalice ‘’You are nothing but a slave! Nothing but a monster with no purpose, you should have died ten thousand years ago! You have hurt our father, your sons have hurt our legion, and this battle has costs me my brothers!’’ yelled Lyonel as dodged again but this time the attack actually scraped him on his side enough to break his already cracked ribs ‘’You bring shame to the name ‘Angel’ from now one we shall show you what the name truly means! From now on we are the ‘Red angels’ and we will forever haunt you and your followers you beast!’’ Yelled Lyonel.
As the primarch rushed him Lyonel lifted the chalice above his head causing it to shine, signaling the ship he was ready, the air around Lyonel began to shift and twirl, behind him a sphere of black space began to form and swallow him whole as it did, he disappeared.
Angron brought his sword crushing down with such force that the ship, Angel’s hope literally fell over as it was standing upright how it had crashed.
‘’WHERE ARE YOU!!!??’’ Yelled Angron as he noticed a ship above him beginning to move.

Back on the ship Lyonel appeared and fell forward on the cold metal floor coughing blood and grabbing his head and eyes from the immense pain. Cassian wasted no time and looked for Lyonel’s blue vial and as soon as he found it he had Lyonel drink it.
Lyonel trashed around scratching the floor, pulling his hair and beating his chest until he laid upward looking at the roof in a silent stare.
‘’Brother, are you okay? Where are the others?’’ Asked Cassian concerned.
‘’I’m sorry brother, I couldn’t save them’’ Said Lyonel immobile now from the cure, but with enough strength to point at the bloodied chalice wrapped around in a flesh tearer sash.
Before Cassian could react or say anything, the ship immediately began to sound with a loud klaxon-like noise, Angron was approaching and the ship detecting him as a huge foreign object, set off its alarms.
‘’Damn it!’’ Said Cassian as he got on the Vox ‘’Amael! Full throttle! Now!’’ ordered Cassian.
But even if they had hours of head start Angron would still catch up, distance was not always the same in the warp.
‘’Lyonel, we are not going to make it, it seems this is the end broher’’ Said Cassian in a sad tone.
Lyonel not being able to speak or see any more from overusing his brain only pointed outside a monitor window.
When Cassian looked he could not believe it, a golden light was cutting through the warp to tough the hull of the ship, right at the tip of the hill where the light met it a figure stood, floating in Golden armor and golden light.
‘’The Sanguinor’’ Said Cassian in awe.
The golden figure then powered up the ship Allowing Amael to not exert himself and use this boost to warp jump, however he only knew how to pilot the ship, he did not know how to navigate the warp, he did not know when or when they would pop up in real-space.
The light suddenly got brighter and before it went off the Sanguinor spoke, and everyone on the ship could hear it.
‘’The tithe has been paid, your sacrificed had been noticed, you are worthy’’ said the Golden figure.
Golden rays of lights exploded from it as the ship was now able to warp jump just before Angron reached it, and there, in the middle of warp space above a dead planet a light shone so bright every demon in the system could see it before disappearing completely, Angron was blinded by such a light but when he opened his eyes again, there was nothing, just him and empty space.
‘’I WILLL KILL YOU GHOST!!! I WILL BE YOUR END!! YOUR SKULL SHALL BE ON MY THRONE!!!’’ Yelled Angron in a bellow of anger as he then plummeted to the planet again killing anything that moved demons, cultist, world eaters, none were spared his rage, it was later said that he spent weeks venting out his anger on an empty planet before he left.
The blood angels had left, they had taken casualties, they had lost brothers, leaders and some civilians did die during the invasion in the skirmish, but it was a victory none the less, now they knew not what their purpose was, they had been sent to die, and had come back with more than just their objective but a whole population of people.
Valerius and Thalassos were dead, Amael was powering and piloting the ship, Ignis was in the med bay and Lyonel had passed out, being the only Blood angel leader conscious the outcast Cassian ordered that no matter where they would pop up, they will introduce themselves as a new chapter when asked for their identity now they would answer with:
‘We are the Red Angels, misfits sons of Sanguinius’












                           Epilogue

The ship was creaking, the power was running out, supplies were running out, Ignis was back up but had to get prosthetics in one eye and both his hands, Amael was now so skinny even the giant figure now seemed vulnerable from so much energy being wasted, Cassian was running around ordering people to move boxes or supplies from place to another, Lyonel however only stood at the command bridge looking into warp space.
He now had Thalasso’s chalice hanging from his waist, and his eyes were now completely covered and blinded by Valerius sash of flesh tearers he wore in his brother’s honor, Lyonel had gone blind, and with no other sanguinary priest on board, they did not know if it could be treated or if it was permanent.
‘’Brother!’’ Said Cassian as he entered the bridge ‘’Amael says he will have to stop here, but he does not know where will land, it could be a planet, it could be a sun or it could just be another part of the warp, what should we do?’’ Asked Cassian.
Lyonel looked over at Cassian looking at exactly where he was even blindfolded his senses could still ‘see’ for him.
‘’Tell him to not hold out any longer and to disconnect at once, if he dies we won’t have any way to move anymore, and I can’t afford to lose another brother again’’ Said Lyonel in a sad tone while touching the chalice.
Cassian nodded and immediately gave the order for Amael to disconnect, and as soon as he did the ship stopped, the purple and pink lights outside the ship suddenly stooped. You could hear the ship creaking, groaning almost as if it was being forced apart, every single room, corridor or area began to shake violently, the Astartes were ready, but the thousands of rescued civilians on board were scared beyond their dreams, they had never left their planet so the unknow scared them even more.
The ship suddenly stopped, everything went quiet, the lights when off and the emergency rotating red light turned on without any sound or any klaxon but they had made it, the sky was dark everything around them just pure darkness of regular space, they were out of the warp.
‘’Are you okay brother?’’ Asked Lyonel as he helped Cassian stand up who had fallen from the sudden shake.
‘’Yes brother, but where are we?’’ Asked Cassian.
Then came in Ignis his hands twitching looking at his fingers admiring his new limbs, his left eye replaced with a red lens and wires.
‘’We are about to find out it seems’’ Said Lyonel.
Amael also came in through another entrance, tired and malnourished, being carried by two blood angels since one was not enough.
‘’You should be resting Amael’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’I will, once I know where we are, the pilot should know where he landed should he not?’’ Said Amael smiling as he was handed water and starch to eat.
Then, a transmission interrupted their talk, it was coming from a nearby planet that could be seen if they looked outside.
‘’It seems to be a vox call from an Astartes chapter from the planet down below’’ Said ignis as he started review the monitors.
‘’Do you know who they are? I can’t really read at the moment’’ Said Lyonel smiling.
‘’Of course ghost’’ Said Ignis typing into the monitors keyboards ‘’It says here they are a successor chapter of the ravengaurd they are called ‘The Ravenwatch’ and they hold authority over this sector and the planet called Corvus’’ Answered Ignis.
‘’What does that mean for our position? Where are we?’’ Asked Amael as he sat on the floor crossing his long legs.
‘’It seems we are somewhere near the eye of terror, I’ve heard of this chapter in my years of battle it is said they never leave this sector since they wait for their primarch’’ Said Cassian.
‘’Either way, lets not keep them waiting, answer the Vox Ignis, and put the image and sound at max for all of us to see and hear’’ Said Lyonel.
In the vox a cold whisper could be heard and the image monitor popped up with a pale white face long silky and black hair and the eyes, the eyes had nothing in them but darkness they were fully black not even being able to distinguish the pupils from the sclera and he spoke with a calculating indifferent tone.
‘’This is Kaelan Shadowstrike, chapter master of the Ravenwatch you are invading our space are in a heretic vessel, power down, identify yourself or prepared to be destroyed’’ Said Kalean.
Lyonel knew he was the leader he had to respond, but no one but Dante and the inquisition knew about their mission Lyonel not knowing what to say simply answered with honesty.
Kaelan now saw a blindfolded blood angel pop up on his monitor screen and speak.
‘’I am chapter master Lyonel and We are the Red Angels, Misfits sons of Sanguinius, we are loyalists not heretics, this was the only vessel we could acquire to escape the warp’’ Said Lyonel.
After a couple of minutes of silence and awkward vox static Kaelan finally answered.
‘’You do not show up in imperial records and in the latest created chapters you do not appear ‘Red Angels’, now, power down and prepare to be boarded, if you show any sign of restraint, you will be erased’’ Said Kaelan.
‘’I will only power down and allow you to board us if you guarantee the safety of the civilians on board’’ Said Lyonel.
‘’That is not how this work, we do not even know if those people are infected or corrupted, and we shall not run that risk’’ Answered Kaelen with an inexpressive cold face.
‘’These people are under our and our father’s protection, this ship is now a holy ground, and you will not board Anything unless you can guarantee their safety’’ Answered back Lyonel his tone now rising.
‘’Then you leave me no choice, prepare to die, you will now be bombarded by our planetary cannons and defenses, we shall suffer no risk to our people because of you’’ Said Kaelan.
Then before Lyonel could answer they were both interrupted by a giant ship arriving next to the blood angel vessel standing between the planet and the blood angels.
The ship was large with the colors green and black with the head of a giant lion in the front, its name popped up on both their radars ‘The Lion’s Fang’ it was called.
Then a third vox signal joined in.
‘’Stop! I know the cannons are being prepped, and you will cancel them now Kaelan, and you Lyonel you will power down and agree to an inspection before anything else’’ Said the skull hooded figure on the vox and screen.
‘’You have no authority here, this is my sector and I owe you, a stranger no allegiance’’ Said Kaelan.
‘’I do not know how you know my name or who you are, but I will not be boarded until the civilians are guaranteed safety’’ Said Lyonel to the hooded figure.
‘’Kaelan, check your vox feed and documents, I have just send a letter of approval with the seal with not just one but two primarchs as well as two chapter masters’’ Said the hooded figure.
Kaelan was then handed a data slate and as he looked over it he could not believe it, but they were legit, the data slate had two chapter masters one being Dante of the blood angels, and the seal of both Robute Guiliman and Lionel Johnson.
‘’And for you Lyonel I believe a couple of people on my ship will convince you to stand down’’ Said the hooded figure.
In the vox monitor an inquisitor stood forwards this was inquisitor Jaharis the one who had originally send Lyonel and his squad to die, he had heard this name from Thalassos so he knew who the inquisitor was.
‘’How? How is he here? Just who are you?’’ Asked Lyonel.
‘’I am Rickus, chapter master and chaplain of the Angels of Virtue sons of the Lion I have been tasked with finding an echo of the primarchs brother Sanguinius, Baal reported the Golden sarcophagus had been attempted to be stolen a few hours ago, we followed the echo and came here, and then after a thorough ‘talk’ with the inquisitor I know what happened Lyonel, you can trust me’’ Said Rickus.
Lyonel however did not want to trust another chapter and much less with one that was accompanied by the inquisitor who sent them to die so he chose to decline, he ordered Amael to go back as the battery and to prepare for takeoff to see if they could escape, he will try to buy time by discussing with these chapter masters.
‘’I understand you might know some stuff about us, but you said ‘hours’ that means here in real time not even a day has passed, for us a lot of time transpired and we fought battles you could not believe, all to protect these people, so understand me when I say I will not let anyone board us’’ Answered Lyonel.
‘’If you will not listen to words, then perhaps it is because I am the wrong person to say it, let me go ahead and let him handle this’’ Said Rickus, as he stepped off the vox image and another figured emerged and spoke to the blood angels.
‘’Lyonel’’ Said the Voice ‘’It’s understandable, what you have gone through made you act this way, but you have my word as another son of Sanguinius that these people will not be harmed’’ Said the Voice.
All the blood angels knew this person, they had all seen him or admired him at one point or another, this was a well-known veteran of the Blood Angels and Lyonel being from the blood angels had talked and trained with him on several occasions.
‘’Mephiston’’ Said Lyonel with a smile.


                          END














                                                        Index

The Red Angels: They are a newly formed successor chapter of the blood angels, originally they were 300 ‘unwanted’ units from different blood angels successor like the flesh tearers, Blood Drinkers, Angels Sanguine, Angels Penitent and Angels Encarmine, they were sent to a suicide mission to the warp, but after a battle with the world eaters and the demon Primarch Angron, they emerged as new force, all together now, they call themselves, The Red Angels, Misfits sons of Sanguinius.


Note: I know the protagonist did not use these weapons in the book, that’s because they were stripped of all their assets, this is the list of their usual and preferred weapons that’s all.

Lyonel

Role: Chapter master

Age: 386 Years

Home Planet: Baal

Weapons: Powersword and Jumpack

Summary: Since birth he had trained to become a space marine on his planet, he was groomed for it, but once he received his gene seed everything changed,  he began to see through people and their organs, he began to be afraid of the idea of consuming blood, for hundreds of years he fought and fought, brining honor to his father’s names until he began to be tracked by the inquisition for his ‘origins’ when they got too close he would make them, disappear, the inquisition thus branded him unstable and was sent on this suicide mission.

Valerius

Role: Terminator

Age: 406 years old

Home planet: Cretacia

Weapons: Terminator armor, power glove and storm bolter

Summary: After being integrated into the flesh tearers he gained a reputation for being violent, even by flesh tearers standards, and not following orders, it wasn’t until chapter master Seth defeated him in single combat that he started following orders, still if the chapter master was not around he would cause havoc, he was sent on this mission for that same reason.

Ignis

Role: Chemical Specialist

Age: 371 years old

Home planet: Unknown(Fleet based chapter)

Weapons: Dual bolter pistol and a plasma pistol

Summary: His planet was one of a chemical wasteland which influenced his mutation, he learned from a young age how chemicals work and react with one another, once he became an Astartes it became an obsession,  he began experimenting on all sorts of explosions and different acids causing major problems and casualties for his chapter, he was therefore sent on a suicide mission.

Thalassos

Role: Sanguinary Priest

Age: 386 years old

Home Planet: San Guisiga

Weapons: Chainsword and bolter pistol

Summary: After becoming an Astartes his healing abilities caused concern for his soul, for once a month he would have to undergo intense studies to prove he was still pure, fixating on the red thirst and black rage, he developed a heretical cure to the red thirst, but not the black rage, involving Xenos’s blood, more than one dose however, and the blood angel loses his mind, he was sent on the mission as a deal with the inquisition in which he would be allowed to conduct his research in exchange for information on the mission.

Amael

Role: Vanguard

Age: 274 years old

Home planet: Sycorax

Weapons: Powerblade and Powerfist with jumpack

Summary: Ever since he was recruited no priest or apothecary would go near him to run test or treat him, always isolated from his chapter, he started being used as a tool to gather information rather than a person, in an attempt to become more useful he began consuming imperial officials or enemies who were set for interrogation, this got him sent to the suicide mission.

Cassian

Role: Rear Guard

Age: 347 years old

Home planet: Malpertuis
Weapons: Bolt rifle and chainsword

Summary: Discovered his power fairly recently until then everyone had trusted him as a reliable shooter and decent close range fighter, after one day accidently twisted a brothers arm off he learned he was different, since then whenever he was assigned to a mission he would be left to guard the Thunderhawk or be used as a last ditch effort since no one wanted him nearby, he was offered for the mission since he refused to participate in rituals or meetings.


Butcherhorde
Normally a warband under Khârn the betrayer, these members from the warband however decided to ascend to demon hood and thus stole a shard of a primarch’s shattered soul and ran to a planet with the echo of the primarch, they thought they could attain godhood so they betrayed their leader and ran, all to fail in their objective because of the Damnatio they encountered.

Arkanus The Ascendant

Role: Leader

Age:986 years old (Chronologically over 10k years old)

Home Planet: Bodt

Weapons: Chainaxe and plasma pistol
Summary: Arkanus has been chasing Khârn ever since he became an Astartes and has been by his side for as long as he can remember, however as in all warbands he eventually wanted to defeat Khârn and take over, but he soon realized that was impossible when he saw how strong Khârn was, he decided to steal the shard and assume that he would get ascended to demon hood.

Varkas the Janus-Faced

Role: Second in command

Age: 974 years old (Chronologically over 10k years old)

Home Planet: Bodt

Weapons: Chainsword and chain axe and holstered bolt pistol

Summary: Torn apart by his love of dueling and mindless slaughter he could not handle simply butchering enemies he wanted to learn too, he wanted to get stronger and learn new techniques, he was so obsessed with being the two, both a butcher and a duelist, that plus the immense pain from the nails, cracked his mind into two, one the butcher and one the duelist.

Hulmutt the Incinerator

Role: Vanguard

Age: 947 years old (Chronologically over 10k years old)

Weapons: Himself

Summary: A world eater who after letting the dark mechanicus experiment on him he gained the ability to heat up in symphony with his nails, the more pain he feels the hotter he can burn, normally would  have weapons, but they all melt in his hands.

Goloth the Hunter

Role: Strategist

Age: 998 years old (Chronologically over 10k years old)

Weapons: Bolter pistol and plasma pistol

Summary: Live for the hunt so much that he pleaded to the Blood God to let him still keep some of his sanity so he can make plans and strategies, he promised more blood and more skulls if he could do this, his God listened and answered, by having a demon posses Goloth, but only wakes up when Goloth wants to make plans, the demon acts as dampener for the nails, while still active, the noise is more bearable, allowing Goloth to plan and kill with terrifying efficiency.

Skraal The Unchained

Role: Scouting

Age: 1,047 years old (Chronologically over 10k years old)

Weapons: Maw, Claws and limbs

Summary: A Hound of Khorne, after centuries of battle, he had to keep getting implants to keep fighting , every time losing more of himself, until eventually walking on all fours, like a canine, the blood God blessed him with the Necklace of Khorne, making him immune to any psyker attacks.

Kargos the Hollowed

Role: Warp smith

Age: 1,178 years old (Chronologically over 10k years old)

Weapons: Unbound Psyker energy

Summary: A warpsmith who convinced Arkanus of using the shard as a battery and also a tuning fork for the enemies, his allies did not trust him, so he offered himself for the experiment, the result was the first ever psyker/butcher’s nails hybrid, his existence did not last even an hour however, as he was killed by the red angels upon landing on the planet to hunt them.