Magnus was utterly perplexed. How could this be happening? A Warp storm of this magnitude did not simply manifest without cause.
"Axis," Magnus said, sighing in resignation, "It seems we will have to wait for some time before we can communicate with Father. As long as this storm rages, we are cut off from the outside galaxy."
The last time he had witnessed a storm on this scale, he recalled, was just after Axis had first departed from the planet Prospero.
That tempest had lasted for several months, blanketing nearly a quarter of the entire galaxy in its turmoil. This new storm, however, seemed far more terrifying. He could not send out any astropathic message at all. Such a complete communication blackout had only happened once before, a thousand years ago.
That event had been triggered by the birth of a new Chaos God, and the resulting psychic maelstrom had isolated nearly every human colony from one another. The great storm had thrown humanity's technological progress back by millennia, an age that only ended when his father, the Emperor, emerged to lead mankind's resurgence.
Axis's brow was deeply furrowed. For a Warp storm to suddenly erupt at the precise moment he returned to the material universe was too much of a coincidence. If only it had been delayed a little, just long enough for him to contact his own legion.
This terrifying Warp storm, he knew, was a prelude to the Great Heresy.
It was this very phenomenon that had crippled the Imperium of Man's ability to receive information and had made long-distance Warp travel impossible.
Had it already begun? At this point in the timeline, had Horus already betrayed the Emperor?
"Magnus, I have to ask you," Axis began, his voice tense, "what is the situation with Horus? Has anything happened to him recently?"
"Horus?" Magnus replied, a hint of confusion in his voice, "He is still leading the Great Crusade. He has been the one commanding the Primarchs ever since Father stepped back from the front lines."
Why was Axis suddenly asking about Horus? As far as Magnus knew, the two of them had only met twice.
"Has he been wounded lately?" Axis pressed, "For instance, stabbed by a dagger and left gravely injured? When I was in the Warp, I had a vague sense that Nurgle was plotting something against him."
The starting point of Horus's fall was the cursed anathame that had wounded him. It was only then that Erebus and Abaddon had taken him to a so-called serpent lodge for "healing," where he was ultimately corrupted by the four Chaos Gods.
This was the beginning of it all. The one thing Axis could confirm with absolute certainty was that Lorgar was already a traitor. From the moment Monarchia was destroyed, Lorgar had turned against their father in his heart. The campaign on the moon of Davin was a trap set for Horus from the very beginning. From the corrupted planetary governor to the appearance of that mystical blade, it was all part of the Chaos Gods' conspiracy. That particular weapon was an athame forged by Nurgle himself, coated with a poison potent enough to kill even a Primarch.
"What the hell?" Magnus exclaimed, his eyes wide, "Axis, you should have told me this sooner! However, in all my recent years, I have not received any news of any assassination attempt on Horus or him being caught in any plot. But this Warp storm is definitely not a simple occurrence. If what you say is true, then a conspiracy against Horus must be unfolding as we speak."
But at this crucial moment, all astropathic signals were blocked. They could not even attempt Warp travel, let alone send out a warning.
"What is the current state of the Immaterium?" Axis asked, "Can you try to locate Horus in the Warp? Try to warn him." According to his memories of the original timeline, Horus traveled to Davin to quell a rebellion in the year 004 of the 31st Millennium. But he could not rely on any timeline knowledge he had from the canon.
"Alright, I will try," Magnus nodded.
He once again sat cross-legged, entered a state of deep meditation, and projected his astral form into the Immaterium. In this timeline, Magnus's psychic energy was immensely more powerful than his original self.
Although a violent tempest raged through the Warp, Magnus could still force his way through the maelstrom by drawing upon his own power as a demigod of the Immaterium.
For three entire months, Axis and Magnus remained in the sealed chamber, leaving only for their meals. Their efforts yielded no results.
The terrifying Warp storm showed no signs of abating; instead, it grew fiercer and more violent with each passing day. In recent weeks, dozens of Imperial merchant ships had been forced to seek temporary shelter in orbit around Prospero, all of them having fled the storm from nearby sectors.
"Damn it!" Magnus said, his face etched with anxiety, "Axis, if this is happening to all the human colonies, we are in great trouble."
If this calamitous storm persisted for hundreds of years, like the disaster a millennium ago, the consequences would be unimaginable. The Imperium of Man, built through the Emperor's tireless efforts, could very well crumble into pieces. More terrifying still, the region of the Warp corresponding to Prospero's location seemed to be experiencing an even more intense squall. Several Imperial ships had been torn apart and destroyed by the storm even as they tried to reach the planet for refuge.
Axis could only sigh in frustration. The current situation was clearly the deliberate work of the Four Chaos Gods. The Warp storm alone was enough to tear the Imperium apart.
He recalled from the original timeline that even during the Horus Heresy, the Chaos Gods had never directed their full power against the Emperor. If they truly wished it, humanity would have been completely unable to conduct Warp travel or any form of Warp-based communication.
The Ruinous Powers sought to weaken the Emperor, but not to completely destroy mankind. To them, humanity was an excellent species. Each of the Chaos Gods had countless human followers among their ranks. And they were excellent playthings to spread their influence on.
A perfect example was the massacre at Isstvan V. Horus had intentionally allowed some astropathic channels to remain open, which allowed Rogal Dorn to dispatch a large pacification fleet. Horus had ensured these loyalist forces could traverse the Warp storm, leading them right to the meticulously prepared killing field.
On Isstvan V, three entire Space Marine legions had been shattered. With the blessing of the Four Chaos Gods, Horus's fleets could navigate the Warp as if it were calm water, while the Imperium's ships and communications were completely severed.
Now, Axis was ninety percent certain that Horus had already turned against the Emperor. The only question was which other Primarchs had turned with him.
"Magnus," Axis asked, "in these recent years, has the Imperium fought the Rangda again? Have any Primarchs died because of it?"
"What strange questions," Magnus replied, tilting his head, "Since you defeated them that one time, the Rangdan have not invaded Imperial territory again. They have remained hidden in the galactic fringe. As for the Primarchs, all our brothers are well. With you, all twenty of us are accounted for."
So the Third Rangdan War had not erupted as it did in the original timeline. Was it because they feared his power? That made things even stranger.
What did this mean for the II and XI Primarchs? In the original history, the Emperor had erased them from all records. But now, due to the butterfly effect of Axis's presence, they had not been purged.
He himself had saved the II Primarch, but with no Third Rangdan War, did that mean the XI Primarch had not perished either?
Axis had had never met the Eleventh Primarch at all. If Horus truly launched his rebellion, would these two lost brothers stand with the Emperor, or would they side with Horus? Angron had been replaced by him, so his own Golden Legion would never join the traitors.
Not to mention, his own sons and his unique status as the Emperor's grandson made his loyalty absolute.
"Axis, your questions grow stranger and stranger," Magnus said, his gaze fixed on his brother. "Did you see something in the Warp? Tell me the truth."
"Well," Axis said gravely. "Back on Holy Terra, the Emperor and I foresaw some terrible truth through our psychic powers. We saw a vision in which more than half of the Primarchs would betray the Emperor."
"What?" Magnus leaped to his feet, his composure shattered, "Half of us will betray Father? How is that possible?" All the Primarchs were created by their father. They all held him in the deepest respect. Some even worshipped him as a god.
Wait. Worshipped him as a god.
An image flashed through Magnus's mind. If any of the Primarchs were likely to betray their father, one name stood out above all others. And besides him, Angron, the original Primarch of the XII Legion, had already turned traitor long ago.
"This is what happened..." Axis relayed the prophecy the Emperor had witnessed on Holy Terra. "After that, the Emperor strictly forbade me from speaking of this to anyone. But now, it seems the Great Heresy may have already begun."
"If that is the case, then Lorgar has certainly betrayed Father," Magnus declared, his conviction absolute, "And that man holds a great grudge against your Legion. It was your sons who destroyed his Monarchia ." Magnus believed that Lorgar was the most likely traitor among them all.
Although Lorgar had been conspicuously diligent these past few decades, enthusiastically carrying out every order from their father and no longer delaying the Great Crusade, such behavior was itself strange. A man could not so easily change his fundamental nature.
"There may be more than one traitor Primarch," Axis added, "That is why I asked you to search for them in the Warp. But now it seems the Chaos Gods have specifically targeted us."
It was as if they were determined to prevent him from interfering in the coming conflict. But Axis was truly powerless. His strength was absurd, on the level of a Super Saiyan Four, but without a starship, he could not cross the vastness of space with just his physical body.
"Axis!" Magnus's eyes suddenly lit up, a plan forming in his mind, "We must warn Father about the Heresy. Even though astropathic communication is blocked, I have another way. I can gather all of my sons, and with your power combined with ours, we can send a single warning signal directly to Father. What do you think?"
Astrotelepathy was indeed severed, but that did not mean all information transfer was impossible. If he exerted his full power, augmented by his entire legion and Axis's psychic might, they could definitely break through the storm's restrictions and deliver a message straight to Holy Terra.
"Nop! No way! Absolutely not, Magnus!" Axis immediately shut down the idea, "Sending such a powerful psychic blast could have unforeseen consequences. Besides, the Emperor likely already knows the Warp storm is a sign of rebellion. More importantly, you have no idea what lies beneath the surface of Holy Terra. Remember this, Magnus, never, ever strike Holy Terra with a powerful psychic signal."
He could not believe it. Was Magnus trying to get them both to blow up the Webway project? What kind of insane idea was that?
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Magnus demanded, his voice laced with helplessness, "We are completely trapped in this damn place! And what is so important on Holy Terra?" Why would Axis oppose his plan? It was a perfect solution.
"Guess it's about time you know," Axis said, his expression somber. "Some time ago, the Emperor and I sparred. He showed me the Golden Throne and revealed how he was using that special device to construct a new gateway into the Webway, a new path he intended to connect to the network created by the Old Ones.
"But this new section of the Webway is exceptionally fragile and requires the Emperor's own psychic power to remain stable. If a powerful psychic force were to strike it now, the gateway would shatter. A permanent rift into the Warp would open on Holy Terra itself. Endless tides of daemons would pour through and devour the entire Throneworld."
"...??" Magnus paled, as if he had imagined the scenario, "There... there is such a thing? A simple message can cause such catastrophe?"
He knew exactly how powerful the psychic shockwave from himself, Axis, and his entire Legion would be. It would have undoubtedly been enough to shatter that nascent Webway and rip a gaping wound in the heart of the Imperium.
"I have another way," Axis continued, "We can try to connect to the Webway of the Old Ones and seek help from the Harlequins. I have the authority to traverse their network. We can use the Aeldari Webway to get to Terra."
The Chaos Gods had not thought of this.
He had another way out. He would connect to the Webway near Prospero and walk the hidden paths to Terra.
Meanwhile, on a planet far away, Horus had gathered every Librarian and Chaos sorcerer from the traitor legions.
"All of you, listen to me!" Horus bellowed, his voice echoing with dark power, "We will combine our might and launch a single psychic assault on Holy Terra. We will destroy the Emperor's Webway."
A certain power had a plan he long since perfected, and if the pawns in his game did not play as he'd intended, he'd just use his other pawns to complete the granded picture.
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pppps?