Siege of Terra (Detailed) 6

Operation Anabasis

Horus faces Sanguinius[25]

Upon teleporting to the Vengeful Spirit, Horus sprung his trap. He had the attackers scattered through the ship as the Warmaster revealed he had deliberately held back the measure of his true strength and clouded his own mind in dementia in order to lure the Emperor in.[24o] The Emperor and his Custodes appeared in a seemingly ordinary hangar until Horus used his dark powers to take control of many of the Companions. Blood flowing from their eyes and screaming at the effort to maintain control, dozens of the Emperor's own bodyguards attacked their liegelord. The Emperor slew dozens of Custodes before the madness passed and He was able to cleanse the lingering taint from His companions. The Emperor and his Custodes then found themselves in the midst of Hell, with many of the warriors falling into Daemonic traps until the Emperor unleashed His psychic fire to cleanse it.[24k] Meanwhile, Valdor and his Custodes found themselves deep within a dark vault, battling hordes of Daemons and only realizing they were aboard the Vengeful Spirit when the Captain-General stabbed the surface with his Apollonian Spear to confirm their destination.[24l] Dorn found himself in an endless sweltering desert for what seemed to him to be centuries, slowly forgetting all but his name and being tempted by Khornate madness.[24m] Only Sanguinius and his Blood Angels reached their intended destination, Disembarkation Deck 2, and it was here they faced determined resistance from Daemons, Sons of Horus, and Word Bearers.[24n]

Swelling with the powers of Chaos, the fully awakened Horus drove the crew of the Vengeful Spirit mad with his mere presence including hardened Space Marines such as his equerry Kenor Argonis.[26a] He broke down the barriers of space and time between the surface of Terra and his flagship, causing the two locations to overlap with one another and for time itself to be paused at this single monumental moment, with even the Inevitable City manifesting in his honour.[26b] This caused hordes of traitors to bypass the sealed Eternity Gate and spill into the Sanctum Imperialis, with Nassir Amit leading a defense against traitors less than 2 km from the Throneroom.[26h] Realizing that He had underestimated the true extent of Horus' power, the Emperor became desperate and took in the powers of the Warp for himself. This nearly created a 5th Chaos God dubbed the Dark King, but as He was ascending the Emperor was talked down from the edge of the abyss of corruption by His own friend Ollanius Persson.[26f] Returning to His senses and humanity, the Emperor unleashed a massive blast of power He had built up that purged much of Terra and the Vengeful Spirit of its Warp-madness while also freeing Rogal Dorn. The Emperor sent out a message for all loyal followers to join Him as He marched on Horus.[26g]

Still preparing to face his father, Horus deliberately let Sanguinius reach him within the heavily mutated Lupercal's Court. Planning to turn Sanguinius to Chaos so that they may confront their father together, Horus was genuinely disappointed when his brother refused his offer to join him in ascendency.[26c] Instead, the already heavily injured Sanguinius attacked Horus with all his might, displaying ferocious combat ability. Horus still held back his true power, engaging in a purely martial battle with Sanguinius in hopes of breaking him down so he may accept the powers of the Warp. However Sanguinius fought so stubbornly and viciously that Horus grew frustrated and even took several wounds.[26d] In the end, Horus was forced to change his plans when he detected that the Emperor was incoming towards his location. Horus finally decided to kill Sanguinius and unleashed his full power, reaching into the 8th dimension to grab Sanguinius and slam him to the ground mid-flight. Horus proceeded to batter his brother with Worldbreaker and impaled him several times with his Talon before the skull of Ferrus Manus. Horus let out a disappointed sigh as his brother died and his body was strung up by Daemons.[26e]

During all this, the battle still raged across the Vengeful Spirit and on Terra. The Blood Angels had been rendered insane with the Black Rage upon sensing the death of their Primarch and experiencing visions of his demise. They soon struck out a both loyalist and traitor, ravaging all in their path. Typhus led a final push against the Astronomican, coming into conflict with not only Corswain, Zahariel, and his Dark Angels but also Sigismund, Euphrati Keeler, and millions of surviving Terran refugees. Abaddon and Erebus led an offensive against Valdor, Dorn, and the surviving Custodes as both sides came under attack from the frenzied Blood Angels under the now-berserk Raldoron.[27c] Thanks to the Warp powers of Erebus, Abaddon and his Justaerin were able to badly injure Valdor but he and Dorn were able to escape towards the storm of the Emperor and Horus' battle. However at the Astronomican Keeler and the Dark Angels Librarians were able to utilize a speech being broadcast by Actae that "The Emperor Must Live" to inspire the throngs of millions. The Death Guard and even Typhus himself were driven back as countless of faithful Terrans sacrificed their souls to the Astronomican to reactivate it.[27k] With the Astronomican lit, Guilliman's reinforcement fleet of over 3,200 capital ships finally had the precise location of Terra and were only scant hours away.[27d] Inside the Sanctum Imperialis, Vulkan prepared to activate the Talisman of Seven Hammers upon hearing traitor forces pounding on the other side of the door into the Throneroom but was convinced to back down upon hearing Actae's message.[27d]

By the command of the Praetorian, take up your weapons and advance. The Emperor stands alone, at the hour of greatest peril. Take up your weapons and come to His aid. Protect Him as He protects you. You are the shield of humanity! Rise together and stand as one. Stand at His side now, or all is lost. Terra must endure. The Imperium must stand. Horus Lupercal must fall. The Emperor must live. ~ Actae's psychic broadcast across Terra.[27k]

Lupercal's Court

Horus and The Emperor meet for their final battle

When the Emperor, accompanied by Caecaltus Dusk, Garviel Loken, and Leetu finally reached Lupercal's Court and found Sanguinius' mauled strung up corpse, the Master of Mankind showed no visible emotion. He simply ordered Sanguinius' corpse be taken down then ignored Lupercal's taunts and proclamations of supremacy, instead addressing the Gods of Chaos observing the battle directly and ordering they stand down. The Emperor stated that the Gods had killed his son, which Horus soon came to understand was a reference to himself as well and not just Sanguinius. Frustrated at being ignored, Horus shot a blast of lightning from his talon and the great duel to decide the fate of humanity finally began. Loken, Leetu, and Caecaltus were quickly thrown aside by the immense power being released.[27a]

The ensuing titanic battle was fought across both the material and immaterial, across time and space and several dimensions simultaneously as the Chaos Gods watched on with glee and excitement. Fully empowered by The Four, Horus was able to match and then surpass the Emperor's own psychic might. What began as a physical contest of sword and maul escalated into a clash across time as they found themselves assailing one another on Cthonia, ancient Terra, Ullanor, Gorro, and even future Cadia. Horus and the Emperor began to attack one another in their own memories, and finally the battle manifested as a card game with the Imperial Tarot. Horus utilized his own deck he had been preparing for this, with cards whose creation was aided by the Chaos Gods. At the end of the duel the Emperor played his ultimate card, Death, but Horus countered with The Despoiler. The Emperor was defeated in the metaphysical, and in the material realm he was finally overwhelmed by Horus' barrage of attacks and collapsed.[27b]

Horus and the Emperor battle[25]

Back in the Lupercal's Court, Horus dragged the Emperor towards the 5th throne he had constructed alongside those of the four Chaos Gods. Horus proclaimed that he would punish the Emperor by forcing Him to be his slave. However the Emperor was able to use the opportunity to absorb some of Horus' dark power to launch a vicious counterattack, summoning solid sigils of light in the air and using them as weapons. However, the Emperor had only absorbed a small portion of Horus' power in order to avoid corruption. Thus, Horus was able to overpower the Emperor once more and puncture his throat with a talon of his claw and nail his father back to the throne using his own sigil-blades. Horus then created a crown of red energy and placed it upon the Emperor's head, completing his tableau.[27e] It was then that Horus was confronted by the lone Custodian Caecaltus Dusk, who refused to back down in the face of impossible odds and distracted Horus long enough for Leetu to free the Emperor from the throne. Angered, Horus callously incinerated Caecaltus with a blast of dark energy from the great eye upon the chest of his armour. But this was all the time the Emperor needed to take the crown Horus had created for him and ram it through the treacherous Warmaster's skull. Horus quickly regenerated from the attack and struck down the Emperor once more.[27f]

It was then that Ollanius Persson arrived in Lupercal's Court, teleported there alongside John Grammaticus by Actae. John used a single line of Enuncia to briefly blow back the monstrous Warmaster as Ollanius tried to wake the Emperor and give him the Athame blade they had recovered. John was forced to flee but Ollanius stood his ground and unloaded his Lasgun into Horus. Horus contemptuously swiped his talon, reducing Ollanius to red mist but giving the Emperor the time He needed.[27g]