Chapter 130 - To Sable Star
~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday! Thanks!
When the Lion returned to Karmas, the planet was burning.
Shattered defense platforms drifted in orbit, twisted metal turning slowly in the cold light of the star. Like disemboweled corpses. The starport further out had gone completely silent, its communication channels reduced to static and the occasional Chaos blasphemy bleeding through.
The culprit was obvious. The Thousand Eyes Warband had done this.
Lion stood at the observation viewport of the Unyielding Accord, his emerald eyes reflecting the black scorch marks spreading across the planet's surface. The burns were visible from orbit, patch after patch of them, as though someone had pressed a red-hot brand into the planet's skin, again and again and again.
He remembered this planet.
Karmas. The first Imperial world he had made contact with after awakening. He had promised its people he would protect them.
He had said he would come back.
He had come back.
Too late.
"My lord, surface scan complete." Zabriel's voice came from behind him, low and controlled. "All population centers on Karmas have been subjected to orbital bombardment. No survivors. Based on the bombardment pattern, this was a punitive strike. Not conquest. Simply... slaughter."
The last two words came out through clenched teeth, carrying every ounce of fury a Dark Angel could hold.
Lion did not turn around. The entire bridge sank into a silence deeper than vacuum. Every son present was waiting, for a roar, a bellow, an order to pursue the fleet. Anything that would let them release the fire burning in their chests.
The Lion remained motionless.
Silent, for a very long time.
"Land," he said. "See if anyone survived."
They found no one.
Burning cities. Collapsed cathedrals. Agricultural machinery ablated by energy weapons until only skeletal frames remained. Corpses scattered across the streets, all of them face-up, fallen while looking at the sky, consumed as they watched death descend. The Thousand Eyes had left them no chance at all.
During the search, they encountered an emissary from the Warband. A figure in an ornate purple robe, almost absurdly lavish, wearing a smile and offering an elegant bow.
A Slaanesh worshipper.
"Great Lion, your arrival restores luster to this already dead planet." The man's voice was sweet enough to rot teeth. "My master, Knight-Captain Seraphax of the Thousand Eyes Warband, was overjoyed to hear of your return to the galaxy. He cordially invites you to Sable Star for a discussion. Alone. Should you refuse — or arrive with your army — I fear more beautiful worlds like Karmas will be reduced to ashes before your very eyes."
The emissary's smile widened on that last sentence, as though he genuinely found the choice delightful.
After that, the Lion's sons tore him apart. Zabriel personally took his head.
Lion stood among the burning ruins and said nothing for a long moment.
"My lord, this is clearly a trap," Zabriel said, returning to his side.
"I know." Lion looked at the sons gathered around him. "But he isn't wrong. If I don't go, more Imperial worlds will be destroyed. And I will not let any more innocents die because of me. That includes all of you."
His gaze moved past the assembled warriors and settled on a quiet figure at the rear, Cullen. The son personally pardoned by the Emperor stood in the corner with his usual steady composure, watching.
Lion gave him a slight nod. A silent understanding passed between them and was gone.
He knew Horus's fleet was on its way. What he needed now was time.
---
Several days later, the Unyielding Accord tore out of the Warp and returned to realspace at the Mandeville Point.
Everyone on the bridge saw it.
Sable Star. An industrial world transformed beyond recognition, its former human colonies now a Chaos fortress. But it wasn't the planet itself that made every person on the bridge go still.
It was the ring.
Pale white. Densely packed. Catching the starlight and throwing back a color that made the skin crawl.
"Throne above..." someone murmured, voice unsteady. One of the Fallen Angels. "That's a ring of bones. An entire ring... all human bones."
It was. Billions of bones, fused together by some vile method, forming a pale halo that rotated slowly around the entire planet.
Bones from every size and age.
Adult femurs and ribs. Children's skulls, not yet fully fused. The vertebrae of the elderly. The finger bones of newborns.
Cast into orbit. Made into a ring.
The moment the Lion's sons understood what they were looking at, the bridge erupted. Fury nearly burned through the deck. Seraphax had defiled the honor of the Dark Angels, and his end could only be the most unforgivable punishment imaginable.
Lion watched the bone ring in silence.
Not a ripple on his face. Breathing steady. Shoulders straight. But his stomach was turning. The knowledge that this ring was the work of one of his sons, of his own bloodline, sent something churning through his chest: nausea, rage, and a grief that went all the way to the bone.
Seraphax had once been a Dark Angel. Full of honor. Full of righteousness.
Now he had woven the bones of countless innocents into a Chaos ornament and hung it above his fortress like a trophy.
This son was beyond saving.
Lion closed his eyes and drew a slow breath. When he opened them again, those emerald eyes held nothing but cold, clear calm.
He opened the communication channel himself.
"This is Lion El'Jonson. Seraphax, my son." He paused, letting those two words sit for a moment. "I have come."
The reply didn't take long. Within a few breaths, the signal cut in.
Seraphax's voice filled the bridge. Pleased. Warm, even, carrying what sounded like genuine delight.
"My Gene-Sire, hearing from you again fills me with excitement. I must admit, arriving with only a single ship surprises me. I shall take it as a gesture of trust. Now — so long as you do not open fire and do not launch boarding actions, we have something to discuss. I have already sent the landing coordinates. I await you here."
There was even a hint of tenderness in it.
It sounded like a son inviting his father home for dinner. Against the backdrop of that bone ring, it was the most grotesque thing any of them had ever heard.
The Lion's sons ground their teeth.
Lion cut the channel and swept his gaze across every face on the bridge. Then he looked at Zabriel, voice steady as ever. "We're going down. We're going to meet Seraphax."
Then his gaze shifted to Cullen.
"When will Horus's fleet arrive?"
Cullen stepped forward.
"The Wolf of Luna will arrive at the moment you need him most, my lord."
Lion let out a short, quiet laugh. It was barely anything, light, brief, but in the oppressive silence of the bridge it rang out clearly. "This is the first time I've ever actually hoped that he, and the other two brothers, might manage to arrive on time."
He let the amusement go. His voice rose, sharp and certain, the voice of a commander.
"Make ready, my sons. We go to the surface together."
"We are honored, my lord!"
The response came in unison.
Of course, it wouldn't only be them. Sevatar, that old bat, was coming too.
Lion found him in his quarters, checking his equipment. The old Night Lords power armor had been fully recalibrated, its joints humming with a low, steady thrum.
Sevatar looked up when Lion pushed the door open. One eyebrow rose. An expression settled across that weathered face, somewhere between mockery and resignation.
"My lord, are you certain you're not simply taking me along to die?"
He was already fully geared.
"If you'd rather stay aboard," Lion said, glancing at the two weapons laid out nearby, "then prepare to be blown apart by the enemy fleet's concentrated fire. Come with me. And don't forget those two weapons."
Sevatar followed Lion's gaze to the weapons, then laughed.
The Lion was rather attentive, it turned out.
"It is my honor to fight alongside you, my lord."
Lion looked at him for a moment, then turned and walked toward the hatch.
"Thank you."
His footsteps faded steadily across the metal deck.
Sevatar watched that retreating back. He shook his head once, then locked his helmet into place and followed.
➤ Next: Forest Path Teleportation
— .—— .—— .—— .—— .——
📚Read 70+ chapters ahead on Patreon.
💎Join the free community tier for early access to the latest updates:
🔥patreon(.)com/DarkGolds