There were warriors in this world as mysterious as the Alpha Legion. No one knew whether they were loyalists or traitors; beneath the darkness, their hearts remained unknowable.
They were called the Fallen. After the Lion returned, he pardoned most of those who gathered beneath his banner again, making them Redeemed Angels, but many Fallen still wandered through space and time.
Among them was a band of lunatics.
These men had barely worked out that the Horus Heresy was a war between the Emperor's Imperium of Man and Chaos, but they had no idea how terrifying Chaos truly was.
All they saw was that evil warriors who worshipped Chaos gained immense power, and that set them thinking.
I'll swindle Chaos.
They would trick Chaos out of its power and use it to fight for the Emperor. The outcome was predictable.
These Fallen called themselves the Ascensionists, but they had already fallen to Chaos. A handful believed they still fought for the Emperor, but that was merely one of Tzeentch's little tricks.
Tzeentch twisted their vision, making them see loyal Astartes as Chaos traitors.
When the Red Corsairs summoned daemons into battle, they also summoned some Chaos Astartes. These warriors should have appeared inside the Imperial fortress below, assaulted the Imperial Fists' defenses, and plundered the fallen warriors.
But they refused.
Contrary for the sake of being contrary, they insisted on appearing on the altar inside the Blackstone Fortress. These fools believed they would never consort with Chaos.
They appeared on the daemon-summoning altar and immediately began slaughtering indiscriminately. Mysterious warriors entered the battlefield, and weapons fashioned from ancient beasts of Caliban appeared once more.
Blackhawk was about to raise his claws to block Huron's attack when a group of hooded Astartes suppressed Huron with ferocious gunfire.
Naturally, they suppressed Blackhawk