Wars are ugly things, and wars of words are no different. At least not when Iron Lions Chapter Founder Wilheir is involved. On this particular day, his battle was fought with Space Wolves Founder Fenris. Fenris had arrived from Terra with orders from the Emperor, but Wilheir felt differently about the subject matter. Very strongly, in fact.
"I will not destroy an entire world, Fenris. Not for the Emperor or anyone else!" Wilheir yelled.
"You were not given a choice. If you refuse to occupy and cleanse Hectar III, you will be put under arrest for treason. You know the penalty for treason, don't you?" Fenris replied sweetly.
"Damn you and the thrice-damned Emperor. You will pay for this, your iron grip can only squeeze so tightly. I know you convinced the Emperor to do this because of the fact our PathFinders are trained there. You can't stand to have a unit of Scouts more effective than your own."
"Officially, it's because we have reason to believe that Horus has a stronghold there. We want his New Order Marines destroyed..."
"And unofficially?"
"Just follow your orders."
"Damn you..."
"You've said that before, and if you say it again, I shall declare war upon your Chapter."
"One day, Horus will exact his revenge, and I will be the one to save you."
"I should hope not! I don't want to be indebted to you... a mere jumped-up soldier... that wouldn't do."
Wilheir's history is not well known, but rumor is that he started as a Scout and later broke away from his Chapter to create a new one. There is little evidence to support this. But the rumor persists.
"I'll follow the orders, but I don't have to like them."
"No you don't."
The courtyard remained quiet after the order was read, but Wilheir could see hate and fear in many of his Marines' eyes. As he walked back into his tower, he could hear the murmuring behind his back. He turned back and spoke again "I will be taking volunteers first then a random choice by commanders. I would like those with the least amount of experience first... it shouldn't be too hard to massacre the civilians...."
"You should refuse to do this..."
"Ah, Olredge, my faithful second-in-command, I did try to refuse this but was threatened with a charge of treason."
"Perhaps, treason is the answer, is it treason to turn against a corrupt dictator?"
"I'll pretend you didn't say that, but the Emperor is the Emperor and remember your oath?"
The quiet on the command ship Lion's Den was deafening as Wilheir ran the events through his mind again on the way towards Hectar III. He looked at the planet on the viewscreen to see if there was a change, if they had scrambled defenses Wilheir would could have claimed the attack was retribution. Unfortunately, the planet remained quiet and undefended. No messages came up asking his intentions, no fighters were scrambled against his convoy. He finally gave his dropships permission to land his Marines and Terminators.
Wilheir was the last to land and disembark, he looked around the spaceport and saw Imperial Guardsmen corpses spread at irregular intervals. "Any casualties?" He enquired of the nearest Corporal.
"Wilkins, third company, took repeated lashots to the arm, one punctured the armor. The wound is slight."
"Good. Carry on. Seal the other ports and capture all craft on the planet."
"Yes, sir."
Suddenly a burst of lashots came towards Wilheir's command company. This was followed by the chatter of Assault Cannons of the Steel Pride, the chapter's Terminators. "Counter-attack halted, sir" Commander Dohle stated emotionlessly over the communicator.
"Thank you, Commander, please secure the perimeter." replied Wilheir with a shudder at the ice in the voice of his Head Terminator.
"Sir."
The battles across the planet were short and brutal, ending in the same way everytime. Leaving many native guardsmen and much fewer numbers of Lionsmen dead and dying in the streets. The PathFinders had already left planet and were waiting in orbit for the return of the Chapter.
Soon the few remaining spaceports and ships were captured and destroyed after brief stuggles. The Iron Lions then returned to their ships and returned to the sky, and fired of the missle that would begin the Exterminatus. Wilheir watched the weapon hit then turned from the screen and could be heard to mutter, "I saw no sign of Horus or his 'heretics,' only brave, foolish and desperate men...."
This remark failed to make it into his or any other report of the incident filed on the way back to Kourd, the Iron Lions Chapter homeworld.
"Sir! Ships orbiting the planet... Sensors tag them as New Order Cruisers!"
"That's why we found no rebels... they must have arrived soon after we left.. is there any signs of battle? Where are our Cruisers and Battleships?"
"Nearest we can tell, they are still in their docks, they were never given the order to unmoor, sir."
"Perhaps the rebels were here all along. Take us into the planet, all guns stand ready!"
After a clash between Horus's cruisers and the larger Lion's Hunt forces, in which two of Horus's cruisers were left behind by their comrades with their backs broken, and the loss of a squadron of destroyers on the side of Wilheir, the Lions dropped into the atmosphere in combat formation. After exiting their ship with weapons searching for targets, the Steel Pride found no threats, they found no living beings either. Corpses, however, were plentiful, men, women and children were spread across the tarmac. Some were found in defense positions, some were shot in the back, and worst of all, most were found dead in rows, one shot to the head each.
Wilheir was appalled, "This was execution, pure and simple... I see none of ours among the dead, though I do see New Order Marines... where could they be? Let's move towards the palace, quickly! Into the transports! PathFinders deploy your screen, bikes only."
The Marines arrived at the palace without incident, they saw nobody in the city. They saw no patrols, only corpses, and still no dead Lions. The palace walls were empty and the gate was smashed open. The number of dead Horusites grew quickly, but the first dead Lion was found in the courtyard. He was not the only one in the courtyard, some of the Marines had painted a single black line through their emblems. Most of the dead, however, had not and many had painted the symbol of the Imperium over their left breast.
"Sir, we've found a group of survivors holed up in your tower. They wish to talk with you, they keep repeating, 'We're still loyal...'"
"I'll be up shortly, find out what you can, then leave a guard and move on."
When he arrived, the depleted squad of loyalists in the tower almost wept with joy. It seems the Horusites had told them that Wilheir's force had been ambushed and destroyed. The majority of the more experienced Marines and almost all of the newer recruits had turned towards Horus. The remnants became a hated minority, they attacked and forced the rebels to abandon the palace. Days later, reinforced companies landed on the planet and began a campaign of terror while putting the palace to seige. After three weeks the heretics broke down the gate and a battle for survival began. The ones in the tower are the only survivors. No, they didn't know why they left. They did hear talk about destroying the iron grip's fingers by cutting off the head.
It dawned on Wilheir, "Terra, they plan on attacking Terra... we must warn the Emperor. Gather all loyal and battle ready troops. We must leave now."
"Terra, jewel of the Imperium," Wilheir thought, "but will this jewel be crushed beneath the hammer of heresy? Perhaps the fruit is rotten, maybe it is time for it to fall from the tree... it is not my place to decide, I will do my duty and hope that it is enough, and that it is right move..."
The planet hung beneath their ships, the clouds hovering over the plains of the planet. Wilheir looked once more at the planet before walking towards the Communications Station.
"Who would you like to speak to?" chimed a slightly female voice.
"The Emperor," was the reply.
"Who is calling?"
"Chapter Head Wilheir, Iron Lions Space Marine Chapter."
"Verification?"
"The pride of the prides shows his prowess on the fields of the glorious hunt."
"Thank you, connecting... connecting... connecting... connected."
"Wilheir, what are you doing at Terra, I have not sent for you..." a gruff male voice broke in on the line.
"I'm sorry my Emperor, my planet has fallen to the heretics and I believe Terra to be the next target. So I came to offer the remnants of my forces to your defense."
"I already have the Blood Angels and Space Wolves in full strength here, though I don't believe we are at that much risk. I have sent the other chapters to search for the rebels. We will have warning of their attack..." The Emperor then cut off the connection.
His ending words echoed in Wilheir's head. If Wilheir's trusted troops could turn against him and catch his forces by surprise, how could he rely on men he never met? He'll keep his ships on standby to drop.
It turned out Wilheir was right, and his readiness paid off. When one of the patrol groups headed by the Death Guard returned to system it turned it's guns on the Imperial ships in system. The Iron Lion dropships quickly placed their troops on the plains outside the Imperial Palace then jumped out of the system. The other Chapters had to fight their way to the surface and out again, resulting in moderate losses. The Marines on the ground formed up and began creating defensive lines, with the Iron Lions stuck in the very center. The heretics ships landed on the other side of a small forest and disgorged their troops. The ships seemed to continue forever, at least five seperate chapters gathered behind the wall of trees.
After hours of building up forces, the heretics sent scouts through the forest followed closely by the main body of troops. The lines clashed and blood, screams, and the crack of weapons filled the air. The loyalist forces were slowly forced back by sheer numbers. The only group of Marines still fighting over the same patch of ground was the Iron Lions and the 24th Home Guard Imperial Guard Regiment. Originally, the Lions found themselves across from the Night Lords, a newer chapter. The Lions finally broke the enemy creating a short lull on their part of the field. The Lions and the 24th then found themselves pressed on three sides by the Iron Warriors and the Alpha Legion. This struggle stalemated in a little over an hour, and the heretic forces moved back to regroup and attack elsewhere.
The Lions were tiring quickly, and dying almost as fast, the 24th was little more than a ghost of its former strength. Then the third wave struck the unbreakable troops and they found themselves facing their own traitors. Blood boiled and was spilled on the field as the anger at the betrayal of their brothers in arms surfaced and turned into a blood frenzy. This battle would have continued until the annihalation of one of the two groups.
This was prevented by a counter-attack by the Blood Angel and Ultramarine Chapters. The heretics were routed. When the others turned back, both the 24th Guardsmen and the Iron Lions were gone. Whether they were wiped out is unknown. Rumors persist about a Chapter of Space Marines patrolling the outer edges of the galaxy, along with a group of volunteer guardsman, whether this "Lost Chapter" has descended from the forgotten heroes of Terra is up to debate. It would explain some of the passages in the Emperor's Tomes, however, like this one: