The vast training ground echoed with the clash of steel and bestial roars.
Two bare-chested, heavily muscled giants were locked in a brutal fight.
One was a champion of the Space Wolves, his body covered in runic tattoos that marked his glory.
The other was... bald, pale-skinned, his muscles built for explosive power. Beside his opponent, his physique still looked somewhat immature.
Branded into his chest was an emblem of... a world being devoured.
It was... the symbol of the World Eaters.
He was a member of the First Penitent Legion. A... recruit selected from the local orphans of Zelanis and implanted with Angron's gene-seed.
On the other side of the training ground, Horus and Alcato watched in silence.
"...No corruption." Alcato's voice was low and laden with conflicting emotions. "It has been fifteen years. The first recruits implanted with the traitor legions' gene-seed have all reached adulthood. We screened them with the strictest Psychic Power tests and the most brutal trials of will. Not a single one has shown signs of Chaos corruption."
"I told you. Genes are not original sin," Horus replied calmly.
He had devised an entirely new training regimen for these Penitent Legions. Rather than suppress the "flaws" in their genes, he had... guided them.
He taught the Emperor's Children to elevate their pursuit of "perfection" into a craftsman's dedication to skill and honor.
He taught the Iron Warriors to turn their obsessive "tenacity" into a "shield wall" that would never concede defeat.
The results proved him right.
These "Redeemers" displayed a greater hunger for battle and stronger loyalty than their Loyalist brothers. For they bore the heavy burden of erasing their forefathers' shame.
Alcato fell silent.
He looked at the "Redeemers" sweating through their training, then at Horus's calm profile.
At last, slowly, he bowed