A family council?
Hearing his father's words, Mortarion was momentarily taken aback. But he quickly regained his composure, nodding as he replied:
"Understood, Father. I will terminate this communication for now and await the convening of the council."
"Very well," Samuel Young, the Emperor of Mankind, responded with his usual calm demeanor.
With that, Mortarion ended the encrypted video call, and silence returned to his quarters.
He slowly rose from his seat, his gaze drifting to the vast sea of stars outside his cabin's viewport.
The infinite darkness, studded with ancient, unyielding stars, seemed to offer a peculiar comfort—a reminder that even in chaos, some lights endure.
Despite the lingering shadows of the battlefield weighing on his mind, the brief conversation with his father had been like a cleansing tide, washing away his inner turmoil. His father's words, though few and measured, carried a profound sense of care and assurance that Mortarion felt deeply.
A family council.
In truth, this would be the first time since the founding of the Imperium of Man that his father had summoned all the gene-primarchs to convene and discuss matters of grave importance.
Was it about the truth of the Warp?
The future of humanity's Imperium?
Or the true purpose behind their creation?
As Mortarion waited, images of his brothers surfaced in his mind.
The staunch and traditional Lion El'Jonson, the ferocious Leman Russ, and his closest ally, Corax. He could already imagine how each of them would approach the "truth" their father intended to reveal.
Taking a deep breath, Mortarion found a rare sense of calm. His gaze lingered on the endless expanse of stars outside his viewport, as if searching for an answer hidden among them.
Meanwhile, in the Meditation Chamber of the Prime Universe:
Seated upon the Golden Throne, the Emperor, Samuel Young, appeared solemn. His normally composed and serene expression now bore a weight of deep contemplation.
The recent chaotic eruption of Warp energy in Kuikanto's underground city had severed regular communications and disrupted the Prime Universe's ability to monitor the region.
All forms of equipment—whether power armor, drones, or biological and mechanical constructs—had ceased transmitting real-time intelligence. The underground city, housing the portal to the Warp, was completely cut off from the outside world.
Nevertheless, Samuel had still been able to sense the corrupted Death Guard crossing through the portal into the material universe.
At that time, Mortarion had chosen to stay behind in the underground city to fend off the hordes of Nurgle cultists, daemons, and the Great Unclean One, all to save Tyberos, the remaining Carcharodons honor guard, and the company champion.
But Samuel had no concerns about Mortarion succumbing to the influence of the Great Unclean One.
For every one of his gene-primarchs, Samuel had absolute trust.
He knew that no matter how dire the circumstances, the loyalty and resilience ingrained in their hearts made them utterly incapable of betraying him. They would never yield to corruption or temptation.
Of course, Samuel also understood that if the Imperium were to lose him—the Emperor, its central pillar—the seemingly united primarchs might eventually drift into internal conflict and infighting.
But as long as he remained at the helm, his presence would ensure that his sons fulfilled their duties—whether as planetary governors or as leaders of their respective legions. They would tirelessly uphold the Imperium's order and stability.
Thus, Samuel's focus was not on potential disputes among his sons but on the immediate threat posed by the Chaos incursion.
From Mortarion's confrontation with the corrupted Death Guard, it was evident that the forces of Chaos were attempting to drag the traitor legions of the Warhammer 40k universe into the Prime Universe's Imperium.
Unlike the uncontrollable Tyranids or the Necrons, the traitor legions—once loyal to the Emperor but now servants of Chaos—were the perfect tools for the Chaos Gods to strike at the Prime Universe's Imperium.
The Chaos Gods' scheme was obvious.
By forcing Mortarion to witness the state of his fallen "sons," and by revealing "the truth," they aimed to shake Mortarion's loyalty on both emotional and cognitive levels.
This was not merely a ploy against Mortarion but a far-reaching strategic maneuver.
If Chaos could successfully sow doubt and discord among the primarchs, it might crack the foundation of the Imperium, reducing its grandeur to ruins.
But Samuel was confident.
He understood that such tactics, while capable of stirring short-term turmoil, could not truly undermine Mortarion's faith in the Imperium, nor could they breach the unified resolve of humanity's greatest empire.
If Chaos sought to use "the truth" to disrupt the primarchs' faith, then Samuel decided to preempt them. He would lay the "truth" bare before his sons himself.
By doing so, the Chaos Gods' tricks would become powerless.
After a brief moment of thought, Samuel turned his gaze to Ap, who stood to the left of the throne, and gave a calm command:
"Notify Vulkan. Have him come to the Meditation Chamber immediately. There is much to discuss."
"Yes, my Emperor."
Ap responded respectfully, transmitting the order to Vulkan, who was stationed as a defender of the Imperial Palace.
Samuel then raised his hand, activating the holographic interface in front of him. With deliberate precision, he sent out a message to all his sons scattered across various universes:
A family council.
The message was concise, leaving no room for doubt or hesitation. Samuel rarely issued such summons, and the weight of the notification left no room for his sons to question its importance.
Upon receiving the message, every gene-primarch paused their current duties and began preparations for the council.
As for the youngest sons, Lorgar and Konrad Curze, Samuel excluded them from the meeting for now due to their youth. Once they matured and were ready, Samuel would share the truth with them in private.
Moreover, Samuel was confident in the palace's defensive measures, as well as his own presence, ensuring that neither Lorgar nor Konrad would fall victim to the covert machinations or corruption of Chaos.
Samuel turned to the Custodians guarding the Meditation Chamber, as well as Ap and Melissa, the two AI with physical bodies, and commanded firmly:
"All of you, stand guard outside."
"Yes, Father (Emperor)."
Though the Custodians wished to remain and listen, they understood that this meeting concerned secrets far beyond their current clearance. They had no choice but to obey.
Ap and Melissa, ever loyal and devoid of hesitation, left the chamber without delay.
As the chamber's massive doors closed behind them, silence descended. Only Samuel remained.
He closed his eyes briefly, as if lost in thought. When he reopened them, he raised his left arm.
The Golden Throne began to radiate a soft, golden light.
Through its intricate hard-light projection systems, shimmering particles coalesced around the throne. Like a rising mist of gold, the luminous cloud illuminated the Meditation Chamber, imbuing it with an even greater sense of sanctity and majesty.
Moments later:
The chamber doors opened once again, and the Custodians outside performed a precise welcome ritual.
A massive figure stepped into the chamber.
Thud, thud!
Each of the newcomer's steps reverberated through the room like a drumbeat. The magnetic boots of his armor struck the floor with an audible clang that echoed across the grand hall.
The figure was clad in deep green power armor adorned with fiery red accents, carrying two enormous hammers on his back. His presence was unmistakable—Vulkan, Primarch of the Salamanders.
Towering even among his brothers, Vulkan approached the Golden Throne, stopping to bow slightly. His deep voice carried both reverence and curiosity as he spoke:
"Father, what are your orders?"
"Wait for your brothers," Samuel replied cryptically.
With a wave of his hand, the golden mist in the air shifted.
Faint humming filled the chamber as intricate hard-light constructs materialized in mid-air. These took the form of glowing sigils and glyphs, emanating a mix of soft gold and ethereal blue light. They arranged themselves into elegant, tangible holograms before the throne.
Soon, one by one, the rest of the primarchs appeared in holographic form, projected around the Golden Throne.
There were 14 in total, representing:
Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines
Sanguinius of the Blood Angels
Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels
Horus Lupercal of the Lunar Wolves
Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons
Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists
Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children
Angron of the World Eaters
Leman Russ of the Space Wolves
Mortarion of the Death Guard
Corvus Corax of the Raven Guard
Perturabo of the Iron Warriors
And the twin primarchs, Alpharius and Omegon of the Alpha Legion.
"Father," they greeted in unison, their tones filled with respect.
The atmosphere in the chamber was heavy. Though all the primarchs were gathered, there was no trace of levity or camaraderie. Even those closest to one another refrained from small talk.
They all knew, even before receiving the summons, about the Chaos incursion in the Halo universe designated "08."
Their expressions were uniformly grave, though the weight of their thoughts was not evenly distributed.
For Horus, Magnus, and Mortarion, the burden was especially heavy.
Horus and Magnus, having faced Chaos directly in their recent defense of Pandora in the Avatar universe, understood the insidious danger posed by the Chaos Gods.
Mortarion, still haunted by his encounter with his corrupted "sons," bore an inner turmoil that felt like a slow erosion of his very soul.
The silence in the chamber was deafening, a testament to the severity of the situation.
Finally, it was Sanguinius, ever the angelic leader, who broke the silence.
His voice carried a mix of hesitancy and urgency:
"Father, may I ask… is this council convened to discuss a strategy for responding to the Chaos incursion?"
"In a sense," Samuel replied, not denying the assumption. He raised his hand, and a massive hard-light screen appeared in the center of the chamber.
The screen displayed detailed footage of the battle in Kuikanto, including the encrypted combat recordings Mortarion had transmitted.
The images showed the underground city—a hellish landscape teeming with twisted heretics and daemons.
But what captured the primarchs' attention most were the corrupted "Death Guard." Despite their tattered armor, they still exuded an air of grim resolve, even as their actions betrayed a descent into madness and chaos.
"Traitor Astartes?!"
Rogal Dorn's voice was as steady as ever, but the barely-contained fury in his tone betrayed his shock. He scrutinized the footage intently, as though searching for evidence to refute the truth before him.
"How can this be?"
Angron, too, struggled to accept what he was seeing. But the evidence was undeniable.
Apart from Mortarion, the other primarchs were visibly taken aback, their expressions a mix of disbelief and unease.
They all knew that the gene-seed derived from their father was infused with pure psychic energy, which made it seemingly impossible for their Astartes to fall to corruption.
The only conceivable explanation was that these Astartes had been captured by Chaos and subjected to extreme desecration and modification, forcibly turned into instruments of the Warp.
Yet this was mere speculation, without precedent in their history.
Could it be…?
"Hey, you scrawny twig!" Leman Russ suddenly turned to Mortarion, his voice brimming with accusation:
"You can't even keep track of your own sons?! How could they have gone missing without you knowing?!"
"You fool!"
Mortarion's rage ignited instantly at Russ's taunts, especially the insult of calling him a "twig." His retort was sharp and scathing:
"Not a single Death Guard Astartes has gone missing. It's obvious those are Chaos Astartes from another universe!"
"Enough."
Before the argument could escalate further, Samuel's commanding voice silenced both primarchs.
The Emperor rose from the Golden Throne, withdrawing his psychic presence from across the Imperium as he approached the gathered projections of his sons.
As he walked, his voice carried both gravity and revelation:
"Those are indeed Astartes who betrayed the Imperium and humanity, choosing instead to serve Chaos.
But they are not Death Guard—they are from another universe."
The chamber was silent, save for the faint hum of the holographic displays.
Samuel let the weight of his words settle before continuing:
"These traitor legions include the Death Guard, the Sons of Horus, the Emperor's Children, the Iron Warriors, the World Eaters, and others—including their primarchs who turned against me."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across his sons.
"But they are not your legions, nor your brothers. They hail from a parallel universe… a universe where I fell, and humanity descended into ruin."
The revelation hung in the air, heavy and unyielding.
For the first time in centuries, the primarchs were struck speechless.
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