Horus

As the God Emperor of Mankind waged his war to reunite the galaxy under a single rule, he dreamed of creating the perfect children, their souls formed by the power of his mind, their bodies engineered for perfection by humanity’s most brilliant scientists. These would be great generals to lead the armies of man outward into the stars to bring peace and order to the galaxy. They would defend mankind from the forces of Chaos as well as the alien threat and internal dissent. They would be a shining example of all that is noble and beautiful in humanity, they would be the Primarchs.

The Emperor concentrated greatly, drawing the essence of the Warp forth and shaping it, forming it, giving it character and form. He was creating a soul, not merely a human soul but the greatest human soul that had ever existed, save perhaps for his own. This would be a son that would be born into the Emperor’s image, one to follow in his footsteps, to act as his right hand. This son would be called Horus, first of the Primarchs.

As the Emperor basked in the pride of his own creation, he decided to create others, twenty in total, to serve as great generals and advisers beneath himself and his son Horus. He lovingly created each new soul, some had weaknesses and many had advantages, but none was as perfect to him as Horus. As the Emperor created his children, embryos were engineered by earth’s greatest geneticists, bodies that would be stronger than any other human, healthier, smarter. His children would be the pinnacle of all of humanity and Horus was first among them.

Just as the Emperor was creating the last of his Primarchs, the forces of Chaos intervened. With great fury, the Warp storms enveloped Terra, overcoming even the Emperor’s great power and tearing away his children from him. The gods of Chaos could not destroy these souls, but instead scattered them across the galaxy, allowing them to be born into the bodies of random humans across the galaxy. There was only one soul that remained, the one that the Emperor held onto with all of his might. It has Horus, the first and most beloved of the Emperor’s children. He remained and that was all that mattered.

The Emperor raised Horus as his own son, he denied Horus nothing and heaped praises upon him. Horus deserved it, he was indeed perfect in mind and body. He grew up quickly, having a physical prowess greater than any other man. He had a brilliant mind to match and quickly mastered any subject he set his mind to. It was only that, he so seldom set his mind to any task of great difficulty. Horus was perfect and almost all endeavors came easily to him, and those that did not infuriated Horus. He quickly abandoned any study that challenged him and grew hostile with instructors that pushed him, even killing several in his frustration. While such actions upset the Emperor, he knew that these instructors had failed Horus and that was the source of his son’s anger. New teachers were provided, ones who would be more sensitive to the needs of the Emperor’s beloved son.

As Horus grew to adulthood, be began to cherish the power and responsibility that the Emperor had given him. He was second in command to the Emperor himself, commander of fleets, ruler of men. Nothing filled him with more glee than to make a man of great power and standing obey him, save for taking any woman he desired when ever he desired her.

The greatest fear that Horus had was that his father would some day find the other Primarchs, that he would place them on equal footing to him, that they might become his rivals. This fear was soon alleviated when he and the Emperor found the first of his lost brothers, Magnus. As the Magnus hobbled out to greet Horus and the Emperor, Horus’ fear melted away and was replaced with only mirth. He laughed long and hard at the withered dwarfish creature that stood before them with the aid of walking sticks. Horus mocked and derided his pathetic sibling, pointing out his grotesque deformities and debilitating infirmities.

Then, suddenly, the Emperor raised his hand, silencing Horus. Horus grew indignant that the Emperor, his own cherished father, would silence him as though he were a mere servant, and for this disgusting creature. Rage burned in Horus’ heart, though he suppressed it, at least for now.

As the years passed and other Primarchs were found and adopted into the fold, Horus felt his resentment grow. While each was clearly his inferior in both mind and body, some had certain skills that he lacked, and for these abilities the Emperor smiled upon his sons and daughters, sometimes lavishing praise upon them that should belong to Horus. Even more painful to him was the fact that many of his siblings possessed powerful psychic abilities, abilities that Horus lacked in all but the most rudimentary form. Chief among those with such abilities were the twisted troll Magnus, which rubbed salt in Horus' wounded pride. For this he never missed an opportunity to belittle his younger siblings or to exert his authority over them.

When enough of the Primarchs were found and brought into the fold, and the Emperor's forces consolidated, it came time for him to officially raise up one of his children to Warmaster. The child who would rule and act in his stead, to command the fleets and the legions in his absence. He might have named Helvic Angron to the position, a man who lived and breathed war, a fearless warrior who lead by example and devised cunning strategies that could defeat vastly superior opponents. Or he might had made his Warmaster Roboute Guilliman, a Primarch of great brilliance and ingenuity, one who was beloved by all of for his kindness, compassion, and wisdom as well as his cunning mind and innovative planning. He might even have made Magnus his Warmaster, with his psychic might rivaled only by the Emperor himself and the ability to see the future. The Emperor, in his wisdom, raised up Horus to the role that he had been created for, Warmaster of the fleets of mankind, right hand of the Emperor.

Though Horus had a sharp intellect and was a highly skilled in battle, he was lacking as a Warmaster in a variety of ways. Without the Emperor watching over him, he was lazy in his tactics, refusing to familiarize himself with the enemy, making only the simplest of plans. He relied on brute force when ever possible, sending his men to die in droves in lieu of complex planning, and declining to engage the enemy when the possibility of defeat existed. While the Emperor ignored Horus' faults, many of the other Primarchs began to question if Horus was the best choice for this role.

It was on the planet of Davin where Horus' lack of discipline became apparent to all, even the Emperor. While fighting a land war to finish off the last traces of the planetary resistance, Horus and his soldiers were ambushed and took heavy casualties. Horus himself was terribly injured, a wound that would have killed many others, and required months of infirmity to recuperate and receive life saving medical treatments. His pride was as damaged as was his body, for he was a failure for all of mankind to see, defeated by a smaller army, forced to rest while his brethren claimed all of the glory for themselves. The longer that Horus was kept away from battle, the more his star fell and the higher the stars of his siblings rose. Horus was told of how fleets he had once command were lead to victory by the likes of Angron or Guilliman, and he seethed in rage.

One day as Horus was nearly recuperated, he had a visitor. It was his sister Aurelia. Horus had no affection for his sister, she was a weakling and a fool, an embarrassment to the Emperor beyond even was the shriveled dwarf. Though he held her in contempt, he had no hatred of her, for in her incompetence she was no threat to him or his position. She spoke to him with the great reverence that was his due, and so he listened to what she had come to say.

She said that Horus only failed because of the Emperor's incompetence, because the Emperor gave Horus too few soldiers, forced him to spread his forces too thin, gave the best and bravest troops to the other Primarchs to compensate for their flaws. Horus listened intently to his sister, his interest growing with each complement of Horus or criticism of the Emperor. She said that the Emperor was jealous of Horus, was preventing Horus from reaching his true potential for fear that others would look to Horus for leadership instead of the Emperor. The secret denied to Horus, but not to his brothers, was that the were gods of the Warp who granted powers to skilled and loyal servants. The Emperor had such power and so too did most of the Primarchs, Horus was only denied this because of the Emperor's fear and jealousy.

Horus was incredulous, as he knew that Aurelia was simple minded and foolish. She changed his mind as she took his hand in hers and he felt the power of the Warp flow through him. Horus looked at Aurelia, fighting to maintain a calm facade over his shock. She said that these were the gods that gave the Emperor his power, that gave all psykers their power. They were powerful beyond imagining and they had chosen Horus, greatest of all mortals, to be their chosen one, to be master of the Warp and God Emperor of humanity. All that Horus need do is accept their power and he could overthrow the Emperor and take the galaxy that was his birthright. Horus did not even hesitate, he gave himself over to the gods of Chaos and became invested with their power.

As Horus took command of his fleet, he planned a massive attack on the forces of the Emperor, one that would strike terror into the hearts of his foes and show the armies of mankind that they must side with him or die. The site of this ambush was Isstvan III, where Horus gathered together many of the most loyal generals of the Emperor and destroyed them all form orbit, killing billions of people on the planet below along with the loyalists. After this, many other Primarchs flocked to his side, almost immediately as though they instantly recognized Horus' superiority and right to rule. A terrible civil war had begun.

Years later, as Horus and his armada lay siege to Terra, he allowed the Emperor and his personal bodyguard to teleport aboard his ship. This was another trap, planned by the dwarf Magnus who guaranteed its success. Horus knew that he was destined to defeat the Emperor, he wanted to engage the Emperor in personal combat, to prove himself not only the greater leader, but a more powerful warrior and psychic as well. As the two fought, Horus called upon all of the might of the four gods of Chaos, while the Emperor held back, pleading with Horus to come to his senses and to end this mad rebellion. Horus was able to gain the upper hand, using his Warp sorcery to ravage the Emperor's body and soul.

Just as Horus was about to finish the dying Emperor, Sanguine arrived, one of his sisters, a Primarch of foolish but unwavering devotion to the Emperor. She burned with rage and the power of the Warp. Horus turned upon her and smiled, ready to crush her with all of power of the four gods at his command. But something went wrong, the power drained away from Horus, leaving him weakened and disoriented. He thought he heard the laughter of the four dark gods as they drew away their power from him. With his last words, he cursed the gods, the Emperor, and himself.