Loken's Dream

"On the day Horus killed the Emperor, I was there."

"I saw with my own eyes as my father drove the Talon of Horus into his father's chest. Worldbreaker thundered, shattering the armor and bones of the Lord of Mankind."

"I saw a father weeping. His most beloved son had been murdered in the most despicable fashion. Even his son's body had been stolen by an evil will and used to destroy the work his son had loved most."

"I saw a child weeping. His soul shattered again and again, then clung together into an unrecognizable self. And the last fragment of consciousness he retained awoke only to witness himself killing his father."

"This was the cruelest tragedy in the world, and also the greatest, most delightful game in the eyes of the Chaos Gods—human joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were merely toys for Their amusement."

"The only thing worth celebrating was that I was not merely a spectator. My existence helped the Emperor seize that sliver of opportunity and ultimately strike down Horus."

"When Horus faced me, the little humanity he had left began to struggle, giving the Emperor an opportunity to deceive him."

"Of course, these were experiences I had once told others about. But there was one thing I told no one."

"There were not merely two participants in that battle between father and son."

"Behind the Emperor, I saw a shadow."

"A shadow formed from endless darkness, death, pain, and endings."

Garviel Loken awoke from his meditation and silently recalled his dream.

He had experienced this dream many times. Whenever he closed his eyes to meditate, memories of the past surged back into his heart like a tide.

Perhaps it was a dream. But perhaps it was not.

In theory, the Astartes, as war machines the