Materium, Ichtar IX
Carl Franz
162.M32
The first sign that something was wrong was strange swirls in the sky and flashes of energy. Then some of the miners and even a few of his fellow soldiers from PDF began to behave strangely and have hallucinations. They heard voices, endless whispers that did not even allow them to sleep.
When the skies were completely filled with strange clouds of energy, cutting them off from the rest of the cosmos, it seemed that things could not get worse, only to realise that this was only the beginning.
Those who had previously suffered from hallucinations and heard voices suddenly seemed to go mad, and later monsters from the very depths of the abyss began to emerge from their bodies.
The slaughter began. However, the beasts turned out to be intelligent and began to capture people into slavery to use them for only the God-Emperor knows what.
In the first two days, of the planet's nearly 60 million inhabitants, mostly miners and their families, half died, and the rest either lost contact or took refuge in several Imperial strongholds on the planet, which, however, barely defended themselves.
In total, only four days had passed since the demons had attacked, and They had neither the men nor the equipment to defend themselves against such a terrifying force.
Worse still, their enemy was not just a stupid beast but cunning and intelligent, attacking when they least expected it and testing various defences, looking for a weak point.
Sometimes, however, instead of attacking or in the middle of an attack, the demonic creatures would start fighting each other, and then Karl's mind would fill with the terrible thought of what if the only thing keeping them alive was the fact that their enemy was fighting itself.
But at this moment, as he watched the coming attack from his place in the fortifications, the demons seemed completely determined to crush them that day.
With anger and pain, he watched as the first line of defences collapsed under the onslaught of the enemy horde. The countless salvos from their various types of weapons did not bring the results they had expected.
They did not have the advanced weapons of the Imperial Guard Regiments, nor could they count on the help of the Emperor's Angels; they were left to their own devices and what they had.
As the first ranks of demons began to reach the second line of fortifications, his attention was drawn to a sudden flash of light, however, coming not from the enemy but from somewhere high above them.
The darkness surrounding them was briefly torn apart by a brightening sun, which grew larger and larger with each passing second.
A moment later Karl realised that it was not the sun but a brightening meteor, which hit the enemy's front ranks, causing a huge explosion that brightened the horizon and stopped the enemy's charge, from which came mixed cries of pain and fury, but also fear.
Karl, like most of the defenders, was blinded by the explosion, unable to see what was happening.
Only after a moment, when his eyes seemed to be able to see again, did he see from the side where the enemy was a sea of golden flames and purple lightning spreading in all directions, engulfing demonic beings one after another.
Karl, impatient to see what was happening, took military binoculars from one of his fellow soldiers, thanks to which he could finally see what was happening in the place where someone or something was holding back the onslaught of beasts straight from some nightmare.
The truth was, however, that he could not see anything because there was such chaos there that all he could see were blazing flames and blinding lightning discharges, stretching for kilometres.
With a heavy sigh, he helplessly put down the binoculars, and like all the rest of the defenders, he simply waited while the fight for their survival another day raged in the distance.
Karl couldn't confirm this; the battle must have lasted for hours as the demons began to retreat in panic, or at least what was left of them.
A moment later they heard a loud flapping of wings, and a moment later they saw an angelic figure, now covered in blood, slowly approaching them, flying through the air thanks to its enormous snow-white wings.
Karl rose to his feet in disbelief and stared at the angelic warrior, who gracefully landed just near the place he and his squad were defending.
They hurriedly went to take a closer look at the one who had saved them. Seeing him, Karl was convinced that it was an angel sent by the emperor himself because no man had the right to be so beautiful and powerful at the same time. The three-metre tall figure covered in golden, magnificently crafted armour gave an impressive impression.
This was further emphasised by the golden halo of light that surrounded their angelic saviour, giving him an aura of such holiness that Karl felt like crying with emotion.
Then their saviour spoke, his voice as holy as his presence.
"Good people of Ichtar IX, I know the horror you have experienced is hard to describe. Daemons have fallen upon your world like a devastating plague, devouring everything in their path."
"But in this hour of trial, when you have faced an enemy far more powerful than yourselves, I come to your aid. I do not know whether you will believe my words, but I am sure you have heard of me before. Moreover, you have honoured me and held a festival in my honour."
Karl looked around, noticing that the other defenders were listening attentively to the angel's words. He himself, however, tried to guess who their saviour was, for he was certain that he had seen him somewhere before.
"I am Sanguinius, Great Angel, Primarch and son of the Emperor of Mankind. And on this day of your trial, I come to your aid."
Karl froze upon hearing these words, as did all who heard the angel's words that carried for miles. Indeed, the stranger's appearance resembled the paintings placed at their place of worship, where the Emperor's son was honoured as a martyr and the embodiment of sacrifice and loyalty to the Empire.
But that was precisely the point: Sanguinius was dead, sacrificing his life to give the Emperor time to kill his traitorous son Horus.
At least that was what the Ecclesiarchy taught them, and it was one of the tenets of their faith in the God-Emperor.
But before he could think about it any further, their savior spoke once more, "If you wish to escape this planet alive, have your commanders meet me within half an hour. Time is of the essence."
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Materium, Ichtar IX
Sanguinius
162.M32
By the time Sanguinius reached Ichtar IX, he knew he had arrived too late. The planet had already been under attack by the daemons of Khorne and Tzeentch for several days. This was also the only reason that humans had survived so far.
The daemons of both chaos gods had killed more of their kin than the planet's inhabitants.
Sanguinius was also unable to arrive earlier because the very process by which he was able to set foot in the real world required that the planet be touched by chaos and that a permanent connection be created between it and the Immaterium.
In this way, he had to first get to the Warp, and from there, among hordes of daemons, reach Ichtar IX.
As soon as he appeared in the planet's skies filled with chaos energy, he began to carefully assess the situation. Searching for survivors and the largest concentrations of the enemy.
To his surprise, in several places the humans resisted the chaos spawn, but it was in one place that they concentrated most of their forces.
The Imperial military outpost, situated on an old volcano, was well fortified, its ramparts stretching down the slope, creating several lines of defence that seemed increasingly difficult to breach as the slope became increasingly steep.
However, seeing the first lowest line of defence collapse and then be engulfed by the attacking daemons, he moved without hesitation towards the very front of their charge and, like a meteor dressed in an aura of golden psychic energy, fell on the unsuspecting enemies.
The sheer kinetic energy of the impact tore apart all the chaos spawns within a radius of hundreds of meters, and then the released psychic power came. The golden flames spread for kilometres, devouring most of the vanguard of the chaos army.
Sanguinius immediately jumped out of the crater he had created and threw himself at his enemies, carried by righteous anger and the desire for revenge for all the victims that had fallen at the hands of the daemons.
Beams of purple lightning flew out of his outstretched hands, searching for enemies, whom they disintegrated on the spot. Tongues of fire consumed the next advancing ranks of the enemy, who, having shaken himself from the first attack, in fury, carried by the will of his gods, rushed at him without hesitation.
However, the only thing that awaited them was death. Because none of them was powerful enough to get close to Sanguinius, even a few metres.
Grear Angel continued his attack, and where his flames and lightning did not reach, his golden spear reached, slaughtering enemies without mercy.
What the Daemons had seen as an easy slaughter had turned into an hours-long battle, from which they were not the victors. If a more powerful one, such as the Lord of Change or the Bloodthirsters, had appeared on the battlefield, it would have probably turned out differently.
Of the twenty thousand or so Daemons who had charged, only a handful survived, and they began to retreat in terror. Even the will of their gods could not propel them forward against this terrible enemy, whom some of them recognised as Sanguinius, one of the Primarchs.
The fame of this son of the Emperor had grown among the Daemonic beings after the terrible massacre on Signus Prime and especially after the defeat of Ka' Bandh, the dreaded Bloodthirster Khorne, twice, and then the Daemonic Prince Angron, Champion of Khorne.
From that moment on, many daemons began to call him the Angel of Annihilation, because that was all that awaited those of them who stood in his way.
When Sanguinius saw that the spawns of chaos were beginning to flee in terror, he did not continue the chase because he had less and less time. The moment he appeared on Ichtar IX, the gods of Chaos had to detect his presence.
So he needed to save as many of the planet's inhabitants as he could. So they headed towards the fortifications, and he called the commanders of the imperial base's defence to him.
If he wanted to save other defence clusters that were still defending, he had to evacuate those gathered here as quickly as possible.
In a dozen or so minutes, several dozen men and women in commanding roles gathered before him. Tiredness poured from their faces, and the eyes that looked at him saw more than a human should, but he was perfectly aware that in this galaxy, practically no one experienced the privilege of a normal and peaceful life.
"Let me make this clear," he spoke, immediately drawing their full attention to him. "We will not hold this planet for more than a day or two. The Daemons you have seen so far are merely cannon fodder for the Ruinous Powers they serve. Now they will send more powerful servants, or perhaps even go themselves."
"Then it is simple. We will all die. Both you and I will perish. Within six hours, you will gather everyone in one place, the most defensible. Then I will help you get out of here. But now I must try to save your other compatriots as well. For several places are still defending."
"Lord Sanguinius, if we start gathering everyone in one place, we will be leaving the lines of defence. Don't we risk another attack?" asked one of the men, gathering his courage.
Sanguinius looked closely at the young man, perhaps twenty years old, who had asked the question. He nodded in approval and replied, "You are safe for now. The Daemons will not dare attack again until they are certain they can defeat me. When they strike again, you will no longer be here. Now, let's get to work. Watch for me at dawn."
With that, he took to the air and flew off to the east.