Khârn told the assembled Primarchs of the Imperium's future, describing in detail how utterly fallen and corrupt it had become. He spoke of the Ecclesiarchy, the Battle Sisters, the Astra Militarum, countless desperate mortals, and above all, endless, ceaseless war.
An oppressive silence descended upon them. Beyond the silence, there was only more silence.
Not a single Primarch present had imagined that humanity's future could be so dark and desolate. They could not believe that the very Imperium they had bled to build would warp into such a monstrous state with the absence of the Emperor and his sons.
"That is your world, Khârn," Axis said, breaking the quiet, "That is your desperate future in the 41st Millennium, ten thousand years from now. But it is not ours."
He needed to restore their confidence.
"In this timeline, Ferrus Manus did not die on Isstvan V. Perturabo, Primarch of the Iron Warriors, did not betray the Imperium. The 12th Legion are my sons. Magnus never shattered the Webway project; that was the work of Chaos sorcerers under Horus's command. Right now, both the Emperor and Magnus sit upon the Golden Throne, working together to repair the Webway. There is still hope for humanity. The ten thousand years of this universe will absolutely not end up like yours."
"Hahaha! Axis is right!" Jaghatai Khan boomed, his spirits rising, "That is their reality, not our future! We will defeat Horus, and we will prevent the Emperor from being mortally wounded and interred on the Golden Throne. Magnus and the Emperor will repair the Webway together!"
If humanity's future was truly as Khârn described, was there any point in saving this Imperium from the brink?
None at all. But the dark future and the fates of the Primarchs that this Khârn spoke of did not completely align with their world. There were similarities, but there were also great differences.
At the very least, the destinies of several of them had already been altered.
"Jaghatai, you speak the truth," Guilliman agreed, his expression firm, "Everyone's fate has been changed. Destiny is not immutable. Now that we know all this, we will surely prevent it. The future will not be dark and desperate."
Even Sanguinius, who had long believed in fate and foresaw his own death in a duel at the hands of a brother, stood with a determined expression. Humanity's future would not be allowed to fall into such darkness. They would never permit such a thing to happen.
Watching the proud and spirited Primarchs before him, Khârn was filled with a complex emotion.
He, too, had once pursued honor with such vigor, until the return of his demonic Father changed everything. But in this universe, hope still existed.
"I will tell you everything I know," Chaos Khârn said, his voice laced with desperation, "Every future battle, especially those concerning the Great Heresy. I can provide you with all the details. I beg you, honorable Primarchs, you must change the future. You must save humanity from that desperate, agonizing extinction."
"I promise you," the golden Khârn standing beside Axis declared with a firm nod, "humanity's future will never become that. I will follow my Father and fight to the death for mankind." For the first time, he found this other version of himself to be just a little bit more tolerable.
Only Kasha forced a smile, her gaze fixed on Axis with a peculiar intensity. The others did not understand, but she knew with absolute clarity that if Axis had never existed in their universe, it would have inevitably become the same hopeless, dark future that Chaos Khârn had described.
It was because of Axis's appearance that the Second Primarch was saved from the control of the Rangdan, preserving the 2nd Legion.
It was Axis who, on the planet Prospero, mediated the relationship between the Wolf King Leman Russ and Magnus, pushing forward the Librarius project and becoming Magnus's closest friend.
It was because of Axis's intervention that the greatest hidden threat, Angron, was taken off the board, allowing the 12th Legion to be reborn as the Golden Legion.
It was also because of Axis that the Imperium won the Second Rangdan War with ease, crushing the xenos threat in a truly overwhelming fashion.
During the century of Axis's disappearance, the century she herself had slept, it seemed that everything had begun to drift back towards its original, grim trajectory.
Kasha even had a nagging thought that if Axis had not been gone for that hundred years, the Horus Heresy might never have happened at all.
Upon his return, Axis had completely reversed the tide of the rebellion. Horus did not dare to make a move, to launch a large-scale offensive against the Imperium, for he was terrified of exposing his position and having Axis descend upon him.
Fulgrim had already been killed by Axis, and though a remnant of his soul had escaped to Slaneesh, it would not be a simple matter for the Chaos Gods to forge him a new body.
The Iron Warriors and the 2nd Legion, the Children of Tomorrow, remained loyal to the Imperium only because of the Axis.
All hope rested on Axis. He was the key. If not for him, she herself might have been imprisoned in the dark dungeons of Holy Terra for eternity, never to see the light of day, and perhaps even die there.
"According to this Khârn," Jaghatai Khan said, bringing them back to the present, "the Warmaster Horus will lead his armies to attack Holy Terra soon. We should return now and prepare the defenses." With all of them together, combined with Axis's absolute power, Horus would not stand a chance. They could kill him before the Emperor even needed to act, and in doing so, completely alter their dark future.
"No," Axis said, shaking his head, "Horus will not attack Holy Terra so easily."
In their timeline, Terra's defenses were far more formidable. An entire Legion, the Imperial Fists, was garrisoned there, along with the remnants of three other Legions. With both the Emperor and Magnus on the Golden Throne, Horus knew that if he dared to appear, the Emperor could leave the Throne at any moment, letting Magnus maintain it alone while he dealt with the Warmaster personally.
Most importantly, Horus could not be certain that Axis wouldn't suddenly return to Terra and hang him up for a beating. Axis had thrashed avatars of Slaanesh and Khorne in the Warp, a display of power Horus could not hope to match, and that was without even considering the Emperor. Horus would not take such a great risk. He would not attack Holy Terra as he did in the original timeline.
"You are correct, Axis," Guilliman said with a nod. "Horus will not risk attacking Holy Terra. The Imperium's strategic situation is much better than in that other world." Though a master of civil governance, Guilliman was also a strategist of the highest order, and in matters of military tactics, he did not consider himself inferior to Horus in the slightest. An attack on Terra now would be doomed to fail.
"Then does Horus intend to drag this war out?" Jaghatai Khan wondered, "To use the influence of the warp storms to slowly chip away at the Imperium's borders?"
"No. A protracted war offers no advantage to Horus either," Axis replied. A long war would only benefit the Imperium. The Emperor and Magnus could continue their work repairing the Webway, while the Pharos system could be used to mend the flaws of the Astronomican.
Even if the Chaos Gods whipped up the fiercest of warp storms, the combination of those two assets would open safe passage for Imperial fleets. Furthermore, with the proliferation of new FTL engines and a functioning Webway, humanity could one day be free of the warp entirely.
When that day came, there would be nowhere for Horus to hide.
Honestly, Axis could not see a single path to victory for Horus. He had blocked every possible avenue. All they had to do now was bring the Pharos system back to the Imperium and take the traitor Lorgar with them.
Once he finished planting the remaining four Tree of Mights and four more Primarchs ascended to godhood, Horus's chances would diminish to nothing.
"The next move belongs to Horus, not us," Guilliman stated.
"Our task now is to transport the Pharos system back to the Imperium and deliver the traitor Lorgar. As for this Chaos Khârn, my recommendation is that we detain him for the time being. We cannot be certain that everything he has told us is true." Guilliman, ever the pragmatist, could not bring himself to accept Axis's claim that Chaos could be purified and its champions returned to normal Space Marines.
He suspected Axis had only said it to break the Chaos Marine's psychological defenses and make him reveal future intelligence.
"I am a man of my word," Axis replied. "We can lock him up, but only after I have tried to purify him."
"Lord Axis," Chaos Khârn said, his voice steady, "if you must try, then let us begin."
The other Primarchs exchanged glances and nodded their assent. There was no harm in seeing if it could be done.
Axis nodded and had Kasha bring him a bottle of Tree of Might juice. He inserted a straw and held it out to Chaos Khârn. "Bite down on this straw. If you feel your body is about to collapse, drink the liquid inside. It contains a powerful life force that can preserve you," he instructed.
"Do it, Lord Axis!" Chaos Khârn declared, "Regardless of success or failure, I want you to save humanity. If you fail, please at least free me from the control of the Chaos Gods."
Axis acknowledged him with a solemn nod.
He took a deep breath, and his entire being erupted in a blinding, golden aura as he transformed into his Super Saiyan form.
He placed a hand on Chaos Khârn's head. The first step was to remove the Butcher's Nails, one by one. Throughout the process, Axis would have to use his own Ki to preserve Khârn's brain.
He had performed a similar procedure once before on the Second Primarch, so for Axis, this was familiar territory.
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ps?!