Chapter 273 — The Angel at the Gate
Mindy blinked.
"The Primarch of the Blood Angels!"
The surprise in her voice was immediate. Only a short time ago she had been jokingly referring to them as armored vampires.
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
Tony leaned forward slightly.
"What was he like?"
For a moment, Gaius said nothing.
Then he shook his head slightly.
"I never met him."
"No living Astartes of my era has."
The Primarchs belonged to a far older age.
His gaze settled briefly on the table.
"Everything I know comes from Imperial records," Gaius continued. "The teachings of my Chapter. And the words of my Gene-father Guilliman."
Despite that, the respect in his voice was unmistakable.
"However, every account speaks highly of him."
Tony listened carefully.
"Even among the Primarchs, Sanguinius was respected."
That immediately stood out.
The Primarchs already sounded extraordinary by every standard they had heard so far. If one of them had earned the respect of the others, that meant something.
"The records describe him as noble. Compassionate. Honorable."
Gaius paused briefly.
"Many considered him the finest of the Emperor's sons."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Better than Horus?"
That was a significant claim.
From everything he had heard so far, Horus had been the Warmaster—the one entrusted to lead the Emperor's armies. Being called the finest of the Emperor's sons seemed to place Sanguinius even above him.
Gaius considered the question for a moment.
"Perhaps not in military command."
He folded his arms.
"Horus was the Warmaster for a reason."
"But Sanguinius was loved in a way few others were."
The distinction was subtle, but everyone understood it.
One man could command loyalty.
Another could inspire it.
Then Gaius added something else.
"There is one thing that is not disputed."
Everyone waited.
"He had wings."
Silence.
Naruto blinked.
"What?"
He stared.
"Actual wings?"
"Yes."
"Actual wings."
Mindy stared at him.
"You have got to be joking."
"I am not."
For a moment nobody knew how to respond.
Then Tony let out a short laugh.
"Well, you're not exactly called the Angels of the Emperor for nothing."
A few smiles appeared around the table.
The tension eased briefly.
Even Mindy seemed amused by the image.
A giant warrior.
Leading an army called the Blood Angels.
While possessing literal wings.
The image sounded almost absurd.
Yet somehow, after everything they had heard about the Imperium, it also sounded completely believable.
Only Halsey remained focused.
Her attention had already shifted elsewhere.
"You mentioned earlier that the Black Rage of the Blood Angels is related to the final moments of their Primarch."
Gaius replied without hesitation.
"Yes."
Immediately, the atmosphere changed again.
The brief humor faded.
Halsey's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What happened to him?"
The workshop grew quiet.
Gaius answered carefully.
"I do not know the full truth."
He paused.
"Much of what happened aboard Horus's flagship is known only through fragmented records and surviving accounts."
"No living Astartes was there to witness it."
Tony's expression became more serious.
Historical records damaged by war. Incomplete accounts. Conflicting testimony.
History often became unclear around its most important moments.
"But there are events most records agree on."
Everyone focused on him.
"Sanguinius confronted Horus aboard the Vengeful Spirit."
A brief silence followed.
"Alone."
Tony frowned.
"Alone?"
"Yes."
"At that point, Horus was no longer merely a Primarch."
His voice remained calm.
"He had become something far worse."
Naruto leaned forward slightly.
"So he went to stop him anyway?"
"Yes."
"That is what the records state."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Halsey broke the silence.
"Because there was no alternative."
Everyone looked toward her.
Halsey remained composed.
"If Terra was already under siege and Horus was at its center, then confrontation was inevitable."
Her eyes shifted toward Gaius.
"Am I correct?"
"Yes."
Halsey continued.
"Then Sanguinius did not expect to survive."
Tony glanced toward her.
"You're reading a lot into that."
Halsey didn't react.
"If he understood the scale of the war and still went, then he accepted the probability of failure."
Her gaze returned to Gaius.
"Is that accurate?"
Gaius remained silent for a moment.
"I do not know what he believed."
His answer was careful.
"No one can know that."
A brief pause followed.
"But the records describe him as resolute."
His gaze drifted slightly.
"He boarded the Vengeful Spirit knowing who awaited him."
Another pause.
"That much is certain."
Nobody challenged that.
The logic was difficult to escape.
Then Halsey asked another question.
"Was that the end of him?"
Gaius shook his head slightly.
"There is another event often spoken of before that."
Tony looked up.
"What event?"
Gaius answered immediately.
"The Eternity Gate."
The name alone changed the mood.
Even without context, it sounded significant.
Gaius continued.
"It was one of the final defensive positions of the Imperial Palace during the Siege of Terra."
The workshop remained silent.
"The traitor forces had broken deep into the defenses."
His voice remained steady.
"The fighting had become desperate."
"The walls were collapsing."
"Entire battalions were being wiped out in minutes."
Naruto frowned.
Mindy's expression became serious again.
"There was no longer a front line."
Gaius looked at the table as he spoke.
"Only survival and delay."
Nobody interrupted.
The picture forming in their minds was becoming increasingly grim.
Earth itself under siege.
Defenders falling back.
Positions collapsing.
Entire armies dying just to buy time.
"According to most accounts," Gaius continued, "a Daemon Primarch known as Angron led part of the assault."
Naruto frowned immediately.
"Daemon Primarch?"
Gaius responded.
"A Primarch who had fully fallen to Chaos."
He paused.
"Not just corrupted."
Another pause followed.
"But reforged by it."
Halsey's expression tightened slightly.
"And Sanguinius fought him?"
"Yes."
Before the Eternity Gate.
Tony slowly exhaled.
"Let me guess."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Alone again?"
A brief glance passed around the table.
"Not always alone."
That answer earned a small nod of understanding from Tony.
"But where the fighting was most critical, Primarchs often led personally."
That sounded more reasonable.
At least by the standards of Gaius's universe.
Then Gaius continued.
"All accounts agree on the outcome."
Everyone listened.
"Sanguinius defeated Angron."
Silence.
Naruto blinked.
"He beat a Chaos Primarch?"
"Yes."
Gaius finished calmly.
"Despite exhaustion."
"Despite the siege."
"Despite everything."
His voice remained calm.
"And despite Angron no longer being fully human in any meaningful sense."
Nobody spoke.
The achievement sounded absurd.
Even by Primarch standards.
Halsey's mind immediately processed the implications.
"Then he was among the strongest of them."
Gaius did not answer immediately.
"Many would say so."
A brief silence followed.
Then he added quietly,
"But strength was never the reason he was remembered."
That immediately drew Tony's attention.
"What was?"
Gaius looked at him.
His voice lowered slightly.
"Because even after that battle."
The room remained silent.
"Even after everything he had endured."
Another pause.
"Despite being battered and exhausted."
Nobody spoke.
"He still continued forward."
Naruto frowned.
"Forward where?"
Gaius paused.
"To Horus."
Silence filled the workshop.
Everyone understood the meaning immediately.
A warrior who had fought throughout the Siege of Terra.
A commander who had helped hold one of the final defensive positions of humanity's capital.
A Primarch who had just defeated a fallen brother transformed by Chaos.
And after all of that,
He kept moving.
Toward Horus.
Toward the center of the war.
Toward the enemy everyone feared.
He did not retreat.
He did not stop.
Mindy finally spoke.
"Why?"
The question came quietly.
Gaius remained silent for several seconds.
Then he answered.
"Because someone had to."
The simplicity of the answer somehow made it heavier.
No grand speech.
No legendary declaration.
Just necessity.
"He knew Horus had fallen."
Gaius's voice remained steady.
"He knew what awaited him."
A brief pause followed.
"Yet he went regardless."
Halsey studied him carefully.
The answer fit everything she had heard so far.
Then she spoke.
"And he lost."
"Yes."
Gaius nodded.
"He was killed."
Silence filled the workshop.
Nobody spoke.
For a moment, the room seemed frozen.
Then Gaius continued.
"The details vary depending on the account."
"Some records are incomplete."
"Others conflict with one another."
The familiar limitations of history returned.
"But all agree on one thing."
Everyone listened.
"Sanguinius died fighting Horus."
The statement settled heavily across the room.
"And when he fell, Terra lost one of its greatest defenders."
Nobody disagreed.
Even with only a fraction of the story, they understood that much.
Gaius's gaze moved across the group.
"Even ten thousand years later, he remains one of the most revered figures in the Imperium."
As the words left his mouth, something stirred within him.
A faint pulse.
Brief.
Subtle.
Yet unmistakable.
The fragment of the Emperor that resided within Gaius reacted.
Not violently.
Not visibly.
But it reacted.
The moment Sanguinius's sacrifice was spoken aloud, something ancient seemed to stir for the briefest instant before settling once more.
Gaius remained outwardly unchanged.
The others noticed nothing.
But the pulse had been there.
Gone as quickly as it appeared.
Naruto looked down briefly.
"That sucks."
The simple statement carried more sincerity than usual.
Tony gave a small nod.
"Yeah."
For once, neither of them had a joke.
There simply wasn't one to make.
The room remained quiet for several moments.
Then Tony looked back toward Gaius.
"So after Sanguinius died..."
His voice was calm.
"What happened next?"
Everyone focused on Gaius again.
The story clearly wasn't over.
Not yet.
Gaius's expression became solemn.
"The Emperor boarded Horus' flagship."
Nobody spoke.
The significance of that statement alone was enough.
The Emperor himself.
The figure who had created the Primarchs.
The ruler of the Imperium.
The father of the man who had started the war.
A brief silence followed.
Then Gaius spoke once more.
"And then father faced son."
The workshop fell completely silent.
~~~
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