Sol's End

> "*My brother...Abner. Turn from this path, turn your vessels and leave this system. I do not ask you to turn from your treachery, for I know that it not an option for you, just as it would be no option for me to accept such a change of heart. but I implore you, do not dash yourself to death in a futile attempt to break my lines. Turn from this path, or be destroyed. I beg you, chose the former, for I do not wish to carry out the latter.*"
> ― Shaaa Hydrades, transmitting a final plea to his brother Abner before the first shot was fired.
>
>

## Sol's End

Abner and Shaaa, once the closest of brothers clash in the light of a star with both sides of the Apostasy hanging in the balance.

### Defending Commander

Primarch Shaaa Hydrades (WIA)
Lord Commander Crikon Hanfer (WIA)
Commander Julius Atalan (KIA)
Commander Sirvan Golz
Forge Master Avalon Saros (WIA)

### Theatre

Sol, Sol System, Sub-sector Solar, Sector Solar, Segmentum Solar

### Strength (Attackers)

Most of the Light Bringers fleet, numbering hundreds of vessels - Each ship is fresh and fully armed
40,000 Light Bringers

### Strength (Defenders)

A large portion of the Star Guardians fleet - hundreds of vessels - Each ship has experienced heavy fighting however and are already damaged before the fighting starts
50,125 Star Guardians - Like their fleet, all the warriors are already tired from fighting

### Casualties (Attackers)

Heavy, including their flagship the Monad with almost all hands

### Casualties (Defenders)

Extremely heavy, all vessels are heavily damaged, some beyond repair, and the flagship "Bastion" is destroyed
40,121 Star Guardians Astartes Casualties, with a further 9,678 rendered combat incapable, only 322 warriors remain at peak fighting efficiency
The 9,678 wounded are almost all classed as requiring dreadnought level life-support to survive, far more than even the IVth could house at their peak. All warriors are put into stasis to maintain their lifesigns until a solution can be found
Shaaa Hydrades is heavily wounded and does not recover during the flight from Sol

### Status

Pyrrhic Star Guardian Victory, Tactical Light Bringer Defeat

### Outcome

Sol's utter destruction is prevented, saving all forces, traitor and loyalist alike, in the system
The Light Bringers as a legion are no longer considered allies of Almire, striking out alone, though various warbands do still follow the Warmaster
The Star Guardians are broken almost beyond repair, forcing them to align themselves directly with the newly formed Mechanicus to survive

Sol’s End was one of the last battles within the greater conflict of the First Solar War, concurrent with the Battle of Terra that saw that conflict brought to a bloody end. The battle took place at the beginning of M31.060, and saw Shaaa Hydrades and the IVth Legion clash with Abner and the Xth Legion. In the days of the Great Crusade, the legions had been amongst the closest within the twenty strong brotherhood, this closeness turning to furious rage as both sides tore into the other in a battle that all but destroyed both legions. In the end however, the IVth managed to succeed in living up to their name, protecting Sol from the destructive powers of the *Monads Judgement,* a weapon capable and proved to be able to send a star into supernova collapse in a matter of moments.

## The Battle of Sol

### The Stage is Set

Half way through M31.059, Almire finally launched his final attack on the Sol system, beginning the devastating First Solar War and clashing with the Star Guardians aboard the Solar Guardian Array, a mighty defensive structure given life by Shaaa’s own mind. For six months, the IVth held off the Warmaster’s advance, reinforced by the might of the XVIIIth Legion and innumerable mortal forces, but it was never a fight they could win.

At the apex of the war, the warp yawned wide, ripping open reality and spitting forth the Warmasters final forces, and amongst this armada flew the *Monad*, commanded by the Primarch Abner Cassian of the Light Bringers. Unbeknownst to all on both sides of the conflict however, Abner no longer held faith in the Warmaster as he once had, nor did he hold any loyalty to those who sought to defend the Empire he helped to forge. As he exited the warp and surveyed the destruction both sides wroughts upon the other, he knew that this war would never end, the feud between traitor and loyalist would last until the species itself passed into memory, with all of humanity dragged to oblivion alongside them.

In that moment, Abner passed judgement upon loyalist and traitor alike, and for such a judgement, only one punishment would fit the magnitude of their transgression; annihilation.

Breaking from the traitors fleet as the main fleet clashed with the remaining loyalists in Terran orbit, the Light Bringers made to bypass the battle in its entirety and make for the sun itself. To avoid the clashing fleets however, the Xth were forced to take a wide berth of the cradle of mankind, and it was this that allowed the Star Guardians to get ahead of their new foes.

Disengaging from the ongoing battle at the cost of dozens of mortal crewed vessels, the remaining Star Guardian fleet slingshotted themselves around Terra, heading on an intercept course to Sol at a far greater speed than the Light Bringers could match. Though their fleet was larger than the one the Light Bringers commanded, each of the IVth’s ships were heavily damaged from months of fighting. Armour was buckled, patched or even holed in places, void shield generators were burnt out or strained to breaking point, and hundreds of guns across the fleet were silent, either through damage, worn parts or a simple lack of ammunition available to them. Even the mighty forms of the *Herald of Destruction* and *Bastion*, the twin Gloriana class battleships of the IVth, were struggling, the *Bastion* in particular listing heavily to one side, its engines spluttering as it barely kept up with the rest of the fleet.

By comparison, the smaller Light Bringers fleet was in perfect condition, having been held in reserve by Almire to ensure he had access to fresh forces as required. Shields were powered, weapons were locked and crews were well rested. In a conventional battle, such a force would have had the advantage but here, arrayed against the battle hardened IVth who knew they had only a single target to neutralise to complete their mission, the Light Bringers knew that this battle would be anything but easy.

### The First Blow is Struck

Almost at the same time as Almire and his armada bore down on Terra, the first shots from the approaching fleets were spat into the blinding void around Sol, the Star Guardians unleashing volley’s of torpedo fire and Nova Cannon shells into the void, depleting their remaining arsenal of such weapons in a mere twenty three minutes. Through the devastating barrage, the Light Bringers came on, their own extreme range weapons ringing out in response. On both sides, ships began to die, the number amongst the wounded IVth rising more than those of the oncoming Xth.

As the ships drew ever nearer, the Star Guardians forced to merely weather the volley’s delivered by their foes, the Xth reformed their line, the *Monad* slowly being flanked on all sides by the largest ships the Light Bringers had at their disposal, battle barges and grand cruisers surrounding the mighty Gloriana, while every strike craft in the fleet was launched not to protect their carriers, but to ensure nothing could breach the cordon put around the *Monad*. For Abner, every ship in his fleet was expendable, as long as the flagship and its deadly payload could reach Sol intact, the tactic brutal but effective. Dozens of ships died as their protection was pulled away, their own turrets unable to protect them from the torpedos of the Star Guardians alone, but the Monad and its escort carried on, even when the Star Guardians began firing with solid shot weaponry, their shots impacting with the vessels surrounding the flagship, but the flagship itself was beyond their weapons. With the certainty of Shaaa’s own hammer fall, the two fleets clashed in a deadly point blank duel.

As they did, the Light Bringers fleet finally split, Xth Legion vessels peeling away to scatter throughout the IVth’s line, attacking from all angles, only the Monad itself continuing on its path. Vessels made to follow it, but it was a mighty foe, a trio of light cruisers dying to its guns in a matter of moments. Soon, only the wounded form of the *Bastion*, flagship of Crikon Hanfer and second ship of the IVth Legion, stood between the star and its would be destroyer.

The *Bastion*, wounded and left closest to the sun as a last line of defence, began to move towards the oncoming *Monad*. The *Bastion* was heavier than its foe, but the damage done to it was telling, only one ship would survive a direct encounter, all who watched the battle unfurl knew it. The first shots rang out across the void, slamming into the *Bastion’s* struggling voids, their surface still rippling as the second slammed home, bursting them in an expanding pressure wave of otherworldly energy. When the third volley struck home, it found armoured plates, warriors dying in droves as the vessel returned fire. The fight was a knife fight in void terms, taking place a mere thousands of kilometers, not tens or hundreds, but it was a losing battle, and Shaaa was not about to lose his last chance to intercept the *Monad*.

Across the fleet, a singular order went out. All warriors of the IVth were to make for their teleportarium’s, targeting the shieldless and failing *Bastion* and making speed to its decks. Most would have called the action the prelude to suicide, but none refused, the order carried out without hestitation. In an instant, the *Bastion’s* crew was bolstered by over ten thousand Astartes, and at an order from Shaaa, the *Bastion* carried out its last order as singular ship, pouring all remaining pour into its engines and shooting forth, ploughing into the side of the *Monad* and unleashing the warriors of the IVth deep into its hull. For the first time, battle was join with the flagship of the Xth not with Macrocannons and Lance strikes, but with bolters, shields and combat blades.

### The Realm of the Empty Sun

Across the vast flagship, battle was joined and thousands of Star Guardians poured forth, hulking Saturnalians and Dreadnoughts leading the charge, followed up by storm shield wielding Terminators and more traditional Indomitable and Heavy Support Squads. The Star Guardians were made for this type of warfare, and they proved their mastery of it yet again, initially seeing success as they smashed through defensive lines, pushing ever deeper into the bowels of the ship, the strike force divided into three distinct forces.

The first, the largest of the three and comprising fully half of the warriors comprising the assault, struck for the armoury, moving to capture and neutralise the *Monads Judgement*, to ensure the weapon could never fire, Commander Julius Atalan of the 7th Division and ancient veteran of the Legion, leading the way as always, twin pistols in hand.

The second, led by the Lord Commander of the IVth, Crikon Hanfer, struck for the engines of the *Monad*, determined to stop the ship in its tracks, denying an adequate firing position for the vessel if the first group did not reach their target in time.

And the last of the groups, led by the Primarch himself, moved to strike at the heart of the vessel and the legion, Shaaa vowing to bring his closest brother to heel himself.

The fighting was fierce, the second group reaching their target first. Leading from the front as always, Crikon Hanfer smashed aside all opposition, his Saturnine armour proof against almost anything the Light Bringers could throw at him, while his storm shield protected him from those few things even the armour may have struggled with. Nevertheless, while he may have been all but impervious to enemy fire, not all under his command were so protected.

Scores fell when a trio of Contemptor class dreadnoughts appeared through a bulkhead, each equipped with multimelta’s to turn the metal to slag as they crashed through it, engaging the warriors of the IVth in a vicious melee that did not end until the Star Guardians brought up their own Fracturam dreadnoughts, the honoured dead of the IVth striking down those of the Xth, losing one of their own to claim the victory. Yet more fell as they made the charge across the engine rooms open area, kill zones created in the vessels forging for just such an occasion, the high ceilings allowing emplaced weapons to fire down upon the warriors, forcing them to adopt an ancient formation known as the “testaedeo”, shields to the front, sides and raised above heads. This however made them prime targets for high explosive weapons, blasts killing dozens of Star Guardians as they advanced.

By the time the strikeforce reached the engines, barely two hundred remained, all clad in either Cataphractii or Saturnine terminator armour, or housed within mighty dreadnought forms, any lighter classifications of armour, even the Indomitus and Tartaros terminator patterns, simply coming apart under the hellish fire arrayed against them. Despite the losses however, they made it to their target, striking down the last defender and shutting down the mighty ships engines, rupturing plasma conduits and overloading drive capacitors. The *Monad* would require months, if not years, to repair such damage, and before its end would never again move under its own power.

Elsewhere, Commander Atalan had similar losses, though in a brutally pragmatic light, he had more warriors at his disposal to lose, and as he finally broke through to the central chamber of the *Monad*, silencing the last of the traitors within, he had far more warriors to stand by his side, Commander Sirvan Golz, the champion of the IVth Legion and longtime friend of Julius, chief amongst them. Sirvan was brutal, personally holding an access way alone against the worst the Light Bringers could throw at him, giving Julius and Forge Master Avalon Saros some respite to examine the weapon, the tech marines they had brought along with them aiding them in their attempts to unravel its mysteries. Eventually, a means to disable it were discerned, but they were temporary, the warriors remaining to find a more permanent solution, their numbers dropping by the minute as the Light Bringers launched counter attack after furious counter attack, trying to take back control of the weapon chamber.

And finally, leading from the fore as was his way, Shaaa Hydrades smashed his way through the Monad to the bridge. Though none could see it, his cheeks were stained with tears, even Abner’s betrayal not changing Shaaa’s love for him. As Shaaa broke onto the open bridge of the *Monad* however, locking eyes with his brother, it became clear that Abner did not share this sentiment, launching himself at the Breacher Lord with a speed no other being in the galaxy could match, save the Emperor himself.

### Brothers Clash

   Abner Cassian, the Empty Sun, the Untouchable Lord of the Light Bringers. He had always been the fastest of the Primarch’s, a master with a blade, fighting with his paired swords with terrifying efficiency, and while not the equal of Necalli or Kodiak, in terms of raw skill he was far above the likes of Shaaa. The Breacher Lord however had ever known his own weakness, his ponderous speed making him an easy target, and if he could not match some warriors of the universe in speed, he would eclipse them in sheer survivability. Abner moved across the deck faster than a mortal eye could follow, a blur even to an Astartes trans-human eye, and with that, the lightning bolt struck against the immobile mountain.

Shaaa possessed the advantage of both reach and survivability, fighting as he always did with mighty hammer and impenetrable shield, while Abner was hampered by his shorter weapons and the confines of the ship, Shaaa’s size filling the room, making flanking him hard. Nevertheless, Abner fought as he always did, leaping and spinning in a dazzling display of skill, using the walls, floor, even Shaaa’s own shield to dictate the ebb and flow of the duel with contemptuous ease. There were no melodramatic speeches, no cries for vengeance as the pair fought. Everything that needed saying had already been said.

All around the two, Folly Guard clashing with the Saturnalians, killing and dying in droves around their lords, neither Primarch sparing their sons a glance. Both Primarchs fought without heeding their warriors, their godlike movements an inconceivable blur to the Space Marines fighting around them. In years past, none had ever imagined the heroes of this new age would take to the field against each other, and even if they had, never two as close as the pair that now fought, these bonds now working against each other, lifetimes of battle at each others side allowing both of them to predict, counter and be countered in turn each and every time, neither able to gain an advantage without ceding one in return.

With a roar of anguish, Shaaa struck out with a wide arcing swing of his hammer, the blow smashing into his foes side, armour cracking and the artificial star above the Primarch flickering for an instant before stabilising. It was a telling blow, but Abner span with it, robbing it of much of its momentum and flicking over it, stabbing one of his swords under Shaaa’s helmet, Shaaa moving back at the last moment, preventing the weapon from slicing open his throat but ripping his helmet free in the process. In return, Shaaa struck out again, swinging his shield just as Abner placed a foot upon it, robbing the Primarch of his landing and sending him stumbling, allowing Shaaa to deliver yet another blow with the haft of his hammer, Abner once again twisting away from the worst of it, the fight dragging on yet longer.

And then finally, the pace of the duel changed. Abner lunged with his weapons, a clumsy strike that seemingly left him open, Shaaa swinging his own weapon in what would have been an ending blow, but Abner was no fool. At the last moment, the Empty Sun twisted, reversing his grip on his swords and plunging them into Shaaa’s wrist, perfectly striking the point where gauntlet and greave met, the merciless powerfields slicing through the already weakened seal into the flesh and bone beneath, the organic offering no more protection than the inorganic, and in an instant, Shaaa’s hand was sliced from his body, the Primarch roaring in pain as his hammer fell, his severed appendage still clutching the hammer.

As Abner made to follow up from the sudden turn of events however, he found one of his swords slipping from his grasp, the blade embedded deep within Shaaa’s arm, stuck fast and showing no signs of being worked free. In a heartbeat, Abner relinquished the grip on the weapon, plunging his remaining sword forward in a two handed blow directed at Shaaa’s exposed jaw. With a fountain of blood, the blade struck home, slicing through flesh and bone, Shaaa’s jaw dropping away, the Primarch staggering backwards, stunned by the blow, his shield hanging at his side. He was an easy target, one Abner was quick to take advantage of.

Too easy a target.

As Abner dived forward, his sword again in two hands, aiming for Shaaa’s head once again, the Breacher Lord made his own move. In a smooth movement he dropped his shield, moving his handless arm in front of his body, the sword and active power field still crackling as Abner slammed into him, the Empty Suns own sword punching through his midriff as his own momentum forced the blade in deep. With his other hand, Shaaa caught Abner’s remaining sword, the blade slicing through his palm and sticking, Shaaa latching onto Abner’s outstretched wrist. The Primarch of the Xth was caught, his weapon stuck in Shaaa’s hand, his wrist in a vice like grip and a sword stuck in his stomach. With a gurgling roar emanating from his ruined mouth, Shaaa lashed out with the last weapon available to him, delivering a kick that could shatter tanks and hold up titans, to Abner’s chest.

With the sickening sound of rending armour and tearing meat, Abner was thrown across the deck, blood pouring from his stomach where the power sword had torn itself free, and from the stump where his arm had been, the limb still in Shaaa’s hand, dripping blood and viscera onto the floor.

The duel was over, but the fight on the bridge was far from done, and now, Shaaa was defenceless, his shield discarded, his armour all but useless. It was an advantage the Xth would never have passed up, and it was here that the Stellar Decimators stepped forward.

Time seemed to slow as they took aim, before unleashing round after punishing round from their specialised Eradicator Autocannons. Shells the size of an mans arm and infused with radiation deadly enough to lay low even an Astartes punched into Shaaa’s weakened armour, and finally, the mighty terminator plate that had survived being immersed in magma, crushed by titans and shot by all manner of terrible and powerful weaponry across two centuries of service, came apart, its strength finally spent. For Shaaa, this could not have happened at a worse time, shells down tearing into his flesh, reducing much of his body to bloody chunks, his legs being shredded as they too finally succumbed to damage.

Shaaa stumbled backwards, bleeding from innumerable bullet holes, but still very much conscious, but even that was soon to change. Abner rose, shakily but determined, a familiar weapon in his one remaining arm. It resembled a heavy flamer, though this was very different from the weapon Shaaa himself had carried onto the Monad, and was all too familiar to the rapidly fading Shaaa, forged as it was by his own hand in ages past. Without a word, Abner fired, bathing Shaaa in the living green fires of Phospex, engulfing the fallen Breacher Lord, melting and destroying flesh and armour in a heartbeat.

Having delivered the final blow, Abner collapsed, succumbing to his own injuries as a cry of rage sounded throughout the IVth still remaining on the bridge. Surging forward, they smashed into the Light Bringers lines, the Folly Guard reforming just in time to halt the charge as Abner was dragged from the room, the last of their legion falling to protect their own fallen lord.

With the bridge secured, the Star Guardians turned their attention in its entirety to Shaaa’s still burning mass, none able to tell if the fused chunk of metal and meat still lived. In an instant, Saturnalians had surrounded their lord, scooping up his Hammer before a crack of ionised air filled the room, a teleportation array on the Herald of Destruction spiriting Shaaa and his bodyguard away, none knowing whether their lord was alive or dead.

### The Guardians of the Star

Shaaa’s fall and departure did not bring about an end to the battle that still raged aboard the Monad, thousands of Light Bringers still on board the mighty vessel, while thousands more were making their way to their stricken flagship from the rest of the Xth’s fleet, having broken through the IVth’s lines, the Star Guardians vessels forced to fight from a distance, their compliments of Astartes away, meaning a boarding action would easily cripple a starship, even one of the IVth Legion.

Onboard the *Monad*, the Star Guardians forces were close to breaking point, the number of dead and dying rising with each passing moment. Within the chamber of the *Monads Judgement*, Forge Master Saros was laid low as he worked furiously to permanently destroy the device, a discharge from the weapon throwing the warrior across the deck, his armour smoking, his lifesigns fading quickly. Elsewhere, Crikon Hanfer and his force came under an intense attack of their own, their numbers dwindling first to a hundred, then to a dozen, until finally, only Crikon remained, surrounded by enemies seeking to rip him limb from limb. Ironically, it was not the Lord Commander’s skill that saved him, but the Light Bringers themselves, a boarding torpedo meant to provide reinforcements to retake the flagship misfired its engines, careening off course and ripping a huge hole in the hull of the engine decks, exposing it to the void with explosive decompression. Wounded and close to death, Crikon could do little but seal his armour as best he could, being dragged into the void, the waxy nature of every Star Guardians skin, a product of a flaw in the legion's geneseed creating an overactive Mucranoid, keeping him safe until he could be retrieved by other ships extracting the wounded as best they could.

Soon, the highest ranking officers of the IVth who remained whole and conscious were Commanders Julius and Sirvan, the pair fighting back to back; realizing their position was not one they could hold, however nor could they pull out of it fully, the weapon of the Light Bringers still presenting a threat. Julius knew what had to happen, Sirvan knew it too, but only one of them could stay behind, the other needed to ensure the survival of the legion for future generations. Though Sirvan raged at Julius when he made his orders known, the 7th Commander broached no complaints, his senior rank quieting Sirvan, the Legion Champion withdrawing to the awaiting Star Guardian fleet, as Julius recalled all other warriors back to his side. Retreating from the *Monad*, reinforcing the engines room of the *Bastion*, the two ships were still inexorably bound by kilometers of twisted and melted armoured plates.

The *Bastion* was all but dead in the void, but the venerable vessel had enough power for one last flight in her, all other systems being drained to deliver every scrap of energy to the engines. The *Monad*, its own engines destroyed by the Star Guardians' sabotage, could not resist its influence, and with a screeching sound of metal, the *Bastion* surged forward, the *Monad* pushed before it. They were not attempting to escape however, the engines fixed to maximum burn as the Star Guardians aimed their vessel towards the heart of Sol, if their fleet could not ensure the weapons destruction, then the sun itself would.

The Light Bringers realised what the Star Guardians were attempting the moment they withdrew, and surged forward to ensure the plan would fail, unwilling to countenance failure or allow the weapon to be destroyed, just as the IVth were unwilling to allow it to survive. For over an hour, the two forces tore into each other, casualties rising faster than at any point in the battle as everything was unleashed against their foes with no thought of preserving the ship or their own lives. The IVth held on well, but their numbers and already strained wargear soon gave way, Julius himself taking a bolt round to the gut, slumping back against the cogitator bank as around him, the last of his men died. His weapons lost or expended, his life bleeding away from his stomach, Julius looked up at the approaching Light Bringer, a savage smirk of victory on his face. The Light Bringer did not say a word, raising his pistol to end the Commander's life, just as the *Bastion* finally plunged into the heart of the sun, all left alive within both vessels perishing in an instant. Julius met out a single croaking laugh as he died, the ancient warrior dying as a testament to his beloved legions name, the fate of Sol now secured, the star, guarded.

## Aftermath

> "*The only sight more grievous to the eye than a battle lost is a battle won.*"
> ― Attributed to Duke Artur, Warleader of Ancient Terra
>
>

As both ships plunged into the heart of Sol, the Light Bringers attack stalled, then in an instant, turned into a full withdrawal. This was no rout, but the Xth was never given to overt displays of pointless sacrifice like some legions were. They knew their mission, and they would sacrifice anything to achieve those goals, but when such a thing became untenable, they had no qualms against pulling out entirely, preferring to live and fight another day. The Star Guardians fleet was damaged, but it was still a threat, one the Xth had no gain in engaging. Slipping past the damaged IVth, the Xth sped for the outer system, their knowledge of traitor defence codes allowing them to avoid any reprisals Almire may have ordered their way. The exact numbers of the dead of the Xth were a mystery, many of their number having splintered to remain true to the Warmaster, while others had remained loyal to Terra. All that could be guessed at is the dead numbered in the tens of thousands as the Light Bringers finally slipped from the Solar System, pursuing their own path into the future.

The IVth for their part remained in orbit for a little longer, sending out ships to retrieve any who still lived, amongst them Crikon Hanfer, his body ruined. Under Commander Sirvan’s gaze, the legion tallied its losses as it finally turned to face the distant orb of Terra, determined to return to the world and aid in the final fight, even it it would do little more than assure their deaths in orbit long before they ever reached the surface.

As they moved, the first casualty figures came in, unsurprisingly for a legion with such a strong link to the Mechanicum and a superemely logical approach to warfare, the figures were accurate and precise, done to the individual warrior. The legion had started the battle with 50,124 warriors, their fleet comprising 57 heavy capital ships, including two Gloriana vessels, and 176 cruiser or lower class vessels. As the battle came to a close however, and the tally came in, the reality of the losses became clear. 9,998 warriors of the Legion still clung to life, and of those, only 322 were combat capable, either bearing minor injuries or miraculously having escaped unscathed. The fleet had fared little better, 32 heavily damaged heavy capital ships, and a paltry 47 cruiser or smaller vessels, all that remained of a once mighty fleet of over 1,500 vessels, little more than a blip against the traitor forces currently besieging Terra, and yet still they made ready to die. It was a chance they would never get.

Before they could reach Terra’s orbit, or even extreme weapons range, the signal went out that Terra was lost, Camelous and Malcador had fallen, and worse still, the Emperor was unresponsive; none, even those of the Custodes, knowing what ailed him, or when he would regain his senses.

Suddenly, the IVth’s fleet was the centre of an evacuation effort, the vessels turning and making for the outer system once more, shielding the smaller shuttles and craft that had borne the few survivors of Terra away from the world. More ships of the IVth fell in the retreat, the venerable Battle-Barge *Emperor’s Wrath*, turning to engage a trio of enemy battlecruisers, drawing their fire for just long enough to allow its allies to move beyond weapon range once more before being destroyed.

Even so, there was no chance of survival, any who knew about warp travel knew that. To charge the Gellar fields of a ship meant time spent almost motionless with voids down. In the time it took the ships to raise their Gellar fields and prime their warp drives, the traitors would be amongst them, the loyalists easy pickings without their defenses. Still, they had to try, but finally, a single piece of light pierced the darkness, Kastar, mobile homeworld of the Vth Legion, forced its way into realspace, followed closely by the fleet of the Vth and XIth Legions.

Not expecting a true fight, the traitors broke off their attack runs, wheeling about and moving in system, already transmitting news of the arrival, preparing to mobilise the tens, if not hundreds of thousands of remaining ships the Warmaster had at his disposal. The loyalists had their reprieve, wounded pouring onto Kastar or other more void worthy vessels, before they once again jumped out, the speed of the turn about presenting its own problems in the journey to come.

### The Ten Thousand

The IVth Legion had ever had the moniker of ‘The Ten Thousand’, a reference to the 1st Division’s constant and unchanging strength at exactly ten thousand warriors strong, but in the wake of Terra, even that unit could not reconstitute its strength fully, 10,000 warriors surviving across the entire legion from multiple Divisions, including the two survivors of the Siege of the Ring. To many, they were just marines, but to the IVth, they were heroes, legends each and every one of them. These legends however were still mortal, their hard-won skills and experience something the IVth could not afford to lose, and so, an ancient practice was dredged up again, and as the IVth rose as the Revenax, the Revenant legion rose with them, the Immortal IVth, the Ten Thousand.

The warriors who fought at Sol became the basis for all who followed. When one of their number of 10,000 fell, another would rise, consuming the flesh of the brother left behind, taking their cybernetic implants and adding to their own, in so doing absorbing much in the way of his experiences and battlefield knowledge. To further preserve the legacy of those warriors, the name of the consumed warrior would be taken up by the eater, his deeds adding to those of the line he was now a part of. Helmeted and augmented as they were, few ever noticed this subtle brand of immortality, and from that day forth, the first 10,004 warriors remained constant, never to fall, never to tire, always ready to destroy those who thought themselves the equal of the Revenant Legion.

## Loyalist Forces Known Order of Battle

### *Legiones Astartes* IVth ("Star Guardians") Personnel

* Shaaa Hydrades - Primarch of the IVth Legion - WIA
* Crikon Hanfer - Lord Commander of the IVth Legion - WIA
* Julius Atalan - 7th Commander - KIA
* Sirvan Golz - 8th Commander - Champion of the IVth Legion
* Forge Master Avalon Saros - WIA
* Quantil Herok - Vexillarius - KIA

#### *Legiones Astartes* IVth "Star Guardians"

As the legion took up position around Sol before the battle's start, their newly depleted strength was recorded, standing at 50,125 warriors, split across 9 different Divisions, each depleted well below their nominal strength. Almost all of the warriors had already been injured and possessed damaged or otherwise sub-optimum wargear.

* 1st Division
* 4th Division (Destroyed)
* 7th Division
* 8th Division
* 10th Division (Destroyed)
* 14th Division (Destroyed)
* 16th Division “*The Solar Harbingers*”
* 17th Division
* 20th Division “*The Astral Ravagers*”

### Star Guardians Fleet

These warriors took up positions within the remaining Star Guardian's fleet; comprised of 57 heavy capital ships, including two Gloriana vessels, and 176 cruiser or lower class vessels.

* *Antipathy* – Eclipse-class Lance Cruiser (Destroyed)
* *Bastion* - Gloriana-class Battleship - Flagship of Lord Commander Crikon Hanfer (Destroyed)
* *Cavascor* - Olympia-class Strike Cruiser
* *Constellation of Hydra* – Crusade-class Strike Cruiser (Destroyed)
* *Cornucopia* - Vanquisher-class Battleship - Star Guardians Vessel
* *Emperor’s Wrath* - Legatus-class Battle Barge (Destroyed)
* *Gauntlet of Glory* – Ironclad-class Battle Barge - twin of the *Glory of Victory*
* *Gauntlet of Victory* – Ironclad-class Battle Barge - twin of the *Glory of Glory*
* *Herald of Destruction* - Gloriana-class Battleship - Flagship of Primarch Shaaa Hydrades
* *Lutine* - Thunderbolt-class Heavy Frigate
* *Remembrance* - Dictatus-class Battleship - Flagship of Commander Julius Atalan (Destroyed)
* *Solonim Woe* - Dictatus-class Battleship
* *Stations of Neptune* – Tesujin-class Strike Cruiser
* *Tenacious* - Warspite-class Battleship
* *Ultimus Mortis* – Mortis Rex-class Battleship
* *Vernax Absolom* - Legate-class Battle Barge

## Traitor Forces Known Order of Battle

### *Legiones Astartes* Xth ("Light Bringers") Personnel

* Abner Cassian - Primarch of the Xth Legion - WIA
* Terratus Sige - 2nd Speaker - WIA
* Elpis Qant - 5th Speaker - KIA
* Pleroma - 8th Speaker
* Penumbra - 9th Speaker - KIA
* Aeon - 10th Speaker - KIA

### *Legiones Astartes* Xth "Light Bringers"

The forces of the Light Bringers still loyal to Abner came forth to carry out his will. They numbered some 49087 Astartes, each fresh from their journey through the Warp. Amongst their ranks, the elite troops of the Vacuous Chorus, Stellar Decimators and Folly Guard were readied to slay their estranged brothers.

* 1st Aether Company
* 2nd Aether Company
* 5th Aether Company (Destroyed)
* 8th Aether Company
* 9th Aether Company (Destroyed)
* 10th Aether Company (Destroyed)

### Light Bringers Fleet

*Monad - Gloriana-class Battleship - Flagship of Primarch Abner Cassian (Destroyed)*