The Legion of the Damned

"30 minutes to impact. No possible course deviations detected. May the Emperor have mercy on our souls." the Servitor announced over the wailing of alarms.

Iophan spat out a large glob of blood before opening his eyes. His vision was still hazy, unclear. Pain shot up through his left arm, causing him to grit his teeth.

He was a Astartes, one of the Emperor's Angels of Death. He would not succumb to his injuries until he had done his duty.

He had stared death in the face many times before, both in the Fire Hawks and the Legion; now would be no different. Except this time, there would be no escape, no armoured support courtesy of General Creed, no deus ex Imperator.

Turning his attention to the glass viewport, he gazed down at the planet below. So... Unlike the Imperium. Grass spread where there should have been craters, settlements where there would be ruins.

"27 minutes to impact."

He didn't know what warband the Traitors had come from or how they had found their way here, but they had. And he would...

"Brother, what is happening?" Centurius whispered into his mind.

"The Traitors took out the engines, set me on this course, I recommend you hurry, Brother. Our time is limited."

"Reactivate the engines, try everything to slow the Battle Barge down. The foul traitors will not escape with their prize and destroy this city as well."

"What do they seek?

"I do not know, but whatever it is, it can't be good. The Emperor protects."

If only he truly did... Iophan mused as he continued to stare at the approaching ground. "Servitors! Begin protocol Beta-Twelve-Nineteen. Overload the Warp drive, these Traitors will burn in the fires of the Emperor's Holy Engines."

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"Where is it? Tell me where it is, mortals, or DESPAIR before my wrath!" Magnus screamed as he smashed one of the Royal Guard into the ground.

"Tell me where IT is!" Magnus tossed the corpse out of his path. He observed the situation and the delightful chaos that had resulted.

There were crowds of screaming... Ponies? Was that what they were called? Whatever they were, they were streaming through the corridors of the castle like fire through a forest, trying to avoid his wrath.

The gate to the library was here, he could sense it. Ahriman had fallen, being beaten to death by small colourful ponies was a fitting end for the man that had damned his Legion, at least from Magnus's eyes.

He cast his mind into the Warp, and began to trawl through the eddies and currents for the faint but highly distinctive warp signatures that Webway gates left behind.

There was one through the door to his left, so he ripped the doors of their hinges and threw them behind him, eager to claim all the knowledge contained within, knowledge that would rebuild his Legion.

He stared down a long gallery, stained glass windows displaying various scenes, presumably of these creatures history.

"Hmmph." Magnus grunted as he strode down the gallery towards a door that he could actually walk through, before he stopped in front of the door.

Six circles were engraved into the door, magical wards? Traps? It didn't matter to Magnus, as long as his prize waited beyond.

Heaving his cleaver back in both hands, Magnus struck the door with a psychically-enhanced blow that would fell a Titan, pulverising the door into little more that a pile of wood shavings.

Magnus roared in frustration as he saw what lay beyond that door.

There was no delicate curved structure carved with the wisdom of the Old Ones, instead a lone blue wooden box sat inside.

"Where is IT!" Magnus roared down the corridor, the force of the shout shattering the windows and spraying glass outside onto the gardens below.

Below...

That's where it is! Magnus realised. Whatever these xenos built, it must be above the work of the Old Ones. I need a way down...

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"So where are we going?" Pinkie bounced alongside Centurius as they raced towards the castle. The sounds of bolter fire echoed through the streets as the Legionaries dealt with the remaining Changeling holdouts, oblivious to the greater threat.

However, Cenutrius left them carrying out the purge rather than calling them to aid him- they would be more likely to be killed for good during the battle against the daemon, and if that happened the other daemons would no doubt return and finish what they had begun.

"The castle, xeno. A traitor as lauded as Ahriman in the eyes of the Ruinous Powers would not have come here for the simple pleasure of killing. Something is driving him forwards, and I fear he may not be the only traitor in the service of the Dark Gods present upon this world..."

"Oh, goodie! Some other blue meanie pants like the other statue?"

"Yes, xeno." Centurius grunted. These strange and pathetic Xenos were beginning to wear on his nerves. He was a fighter, not a talker. Now be quiet, and let me be about my work...

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie said as she bounced ahead of Centurius, who had already begun to run through the rubble strewn streets.

"And now, little Xeno, we can get to the buisness of studying your insides, and those of these others." Magnus spoke as he cast his gaze across the ruined throne room. He'd been stumbling aimlessly through the Castle,  turning the few remaining ponies who attempted to stop him into piles of ash when he hit this.

He wasn't too sure what to make of the little blue pest from earlier, but she'd made a stand alongside a pair of the smaller ones; a purple horned one and a orange one. He could see a third yellow one cowering behind a pillar, nervously eyeing him.

"No, Daemon." Luna spat. "We are a Princess of this land, and we will not see it despoiled by the likes of you."

Magnus chuckled. "This world means nothing. You have a gate to a certain library, and I need a book from that library. You gain nothing by this stand, bar your own deaths and the feeling of satisfaction from trying. Move out of my way, and I might consider leaving all three of you alive."

"No." The purple one spoke. "Princess Luna won't let you, and neither with Princess Celestia. And neither will I."

Magnus watched with mild curiousity as a glow built up around the purple one's horn, before a beam of purple energy lashed across the room towards his exposed face.

He didn't even flinch, and merely let the beam smash into his wards, causing a blue shimmer to cover his armour.

Magnus smiled. "My turn."