Chapter 33 — Peerless General Abaddon
"For promotion and glory, go elsewhere.
Those who fear death, do not enter."
Horus paused beneath the massive stone archway bearing the inscription:
ASTARTES MILITARY ACADEMY
Beyond the gate, another motto was etched into the wall in austere High Gothic:
Obey the Emperor's command.
Win wars without fail.
Maintain honor in all things.
Horus studied the words in silence.
Yuki clapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"Well? Impressive, isn't it? Everything standardized. Everything intentional."
Having resumed the Great Crusade, the Emperor, Yuki, and Horus had traveled to Colonia to receive the first cohort of newly modified Astartes candidates.
Had the Emperor followed traditional methods, recruitment could have been delegated entirely to planetary governors. Suitable youths would be selected, implanted, indoctrinated, and assigned directly to operational units. Combat experience would refine them.
Yuki refused.
She insisted that the Legiones Astartes were not merely soldiers, but exemplars of Imperial will. Their development had to be comprehensive — physical, tactical, psychological, and ethical.
Primarchs would fight beside their gene-sons. If those sons were undisciplined, unstable, or morally compromised, they would become liabilities rather than assets.
Even more critically, Yuki believed loyalty and mental resilience must be cultivated deliberately. Not every Primarch would emphasize those qualities.
Thus, the Astartes Military Academy was founded.
Terra now hosted a centralized training institution serving all Legions. With Horus's return, a separate academy for the XVI Legion had also been established on Kosonia.
The academy's instructors were Thunder Warriors — veterans who loved torment— ahem — educating Astartes recruits. Only Yuki could command them, and they found conventional garrison duty intolerably dull. Assigning them to training duties solved both problems.
Meeting an Old Veteran
"Your Highness. Primarch."
A Thunder Warrior approached and offered the aquila salute.
"Singali," Yuki greeted warmly. "It's been a long time."
Singali, once commander of the Sixteenth Thunder Legion, scratched his chin.
"It has, Your Highness."
Although Thunder Warriors now carried the gene-seed of their corresponding Primarchs, most refused to use the term Father. During the Unification Wars, they had known only commanders and comrades. Old habits remained.
Fortunately, Horus took no offense. He valued their experience deeply and had relied heavily on their guidance when assuming command of the Legion.
"Singali," Horus asked, "I hear the first Kosonian intake has completed training?"
"They have, Primarch," Singali replied. "Written assessments are finished. Combat trials are nearly complete."
The written tests verified doctrinal understanding and tactical reasoning. The combat trials determined battlefield readiness. Any recruit who applied himself during training could pass.
Yuki's Training Doctrine
Yuki had designed the curriculum to be exhaustive:
close combat mastery
ranged combat proficiency
battlefield decision-making
vehicle and armored warfare operation
trench and urban combat tactics
squad coordination under stress
Equally important was character evaluation.
Thunder Warriors observed recruits continuously. Violence against fellow trainees, cruelty, or abuse of status resulted in immediate penalties — or expulsion.
Yuki permitted recruits to use their status to elevate themselves socially or economically.
She absolutely forbade using it to harm humanity or exploit Imperial citizens.
The Emperor privately suspected she possessed an obsessive rigidity regarding ethical conduct. In his view, even rogues could be useful tools so long as they fought for the Imperium and did not overstep.
Yuki disagreed.
She leveraged her authority as Vice-Emperor to standardize conduct expectations across all Legions — an order that would remain binding even after all Primarchs returned.
Horus, an ardent admirer of his sister, considered the policy brilliant.
Recruitment slowed.
Quality soared.
Most importantly, shared academy training fostered brotherhood among Astartes.
Who else but his sister could have conceived such a system?
(Somewhere in the warp, Roboute Guilliman felt an inexplicable urge to raise his hand.)
Horus: "Sit down."
The Combat Trial
"Sister, shall we observe the combat trials?"
"Of course."
Word spread instantly. Recruits awaiting evaluation trembled with excitement. The Princess and their Primarch were watching.
Those who had already completed their trials cursed their misfortune.
On a raised observation platform, Yuki and Horus surveyed the training ground.
The field simulated trench warfare conditions. Each recruit was tasked with holding a fortified position alone against a three-man Thunder Warrior assault team for three minutes.
With defensive advantage and Astartes physiology, survival was expected.
Singali handed Horus the assessment roster.
Horus scanned it, then passed it to Yuki.
She skimmed it briefly — then paused.
Her gaze fixed on a single entry.
Top Candidate: Ezekyle Abaddon
She returned the slate.
Horus raised an eyebrow.
"Something wrong?"
"No," Yuki said calmly. "But there may be a surprise."
Enter Abaddon
The surprise arrived in spectacular fashion.
Abaddon did not merely hold his position.
He broke formation, counterattacked, and disabled one Thunder Warrior outright while absorbing simultaneous strikes from the other two.
Horus blinked.
Why was his endurance so absurd?
Even the Thunder Warriors exchanged impressed glances.
Horus could not hide his smile.
He had found a war captain.
Abaddon was summoned immediately.
The Boy Who Killed His Father
Abaddon's past was as violent as the world that forged him.
He had been the son of one of Kosonia's most powerful gang lords. During the brutal coming-of-age ritual required by gang law, his father ordered him to kill his closest friend.
Abaddon instead killed his father.
He fled.
A Thunder Warrior encountered him soon after.
"What is your name?"
"Abaddon."
"Why are you running?"
"I am being hunted."
"Where is your father?"
"I killed him."
"…Want me to find you a better one?"
"Idiot."
The Thunder Warrior knocked him unconscious.
When Abaddon awoke, he learned he had been selected for Astartes transformation.
Becoming a giant superhuman warrior seemed preferable to being hunted.
He accepted.
Within the academy, his talent and relentless drive quickly elevated him to the top of his cohort. Instructors described him as:
Exceptional in all respects — except for a tendency toward impulsive aggression.
Horus Meets His Champion
Horus studied the towering warrior before him and felt immediate approval.
They spoke briefly.
Within minutes, Abaddon was drawn to Horus's magnetic presence and pledged loyalty.
"Excellent!" Horus declared. "With Abaddon at my side, no enemy of the Imperium will escape destruction!"
Yuki leaned closer, examining his hair.
"By the way… why the topknot?"
The hairstyle was fashionable among certain Terran warrior cultures and even among the Silent Sisterhood. Few Astartes adopted it.
Abaddon hesitated.
"Well… it looks intimidating."
He also believed it made him appear taller.
He did not say that aloud.
Yuki opened her mouth to tease him further—
A psychic transmission cut through the moment.
The Emperor's voice echoed in her mind.
Return immediately.
Ork spoor has been detected at the Empire's frontier.
The Great Crusade was about to face a new kind of war.