"Alright, my Thunder Warriors, I have news to share with all of you!"
I stood atop a high platform, my voice echoing across the parade grounds. Arrayed in front of me were all twenty legions of my Thunder Warriors, standing in rigid formation.
"So then... firstly, I have made a breakthrough!" I announced proudly. "I managed to create a Gene-seed using my own DNA with a little bit of... convincing from Malcador."
I paused, my mind drifting back to how that conversation had actually gone.
[Flashback]
"So let me get this straight," Malcador sighed, rubbing his temples. "You want to create your very own Space Marine Legion because and I quote 'it would be fun'? Come on, mate, that's not nearly a good enough reason to make—"
"They'll all be girls, though," I interrupted.
Malcador went silent for a long moment.
"...Fine," he said.
[End Flashback]
"So!" I continued, snapping back to reality. "You guys won't be replaced, and I still love you all. But now... you have sisters!"
With a grand gesture, two thousand seven hundred and fifty-five *Uma Musume* Space Marines lined up in front of the hardened veterans. Each of them wore modified Space Marine power armor specifically tailored for an *Uma Musume*.
"Make them feel welcome and get along!" I shouted before immediately sprinting off the platform.
Silence fell over the parade grounds.
"So... you—" one of the Thunder Warriors began, taking a step forward.
Before he could finish his sentence, a brown-haired Uma Space Marine charged forward with a terrifying battle cry.
Then, all hell broke loose.
"Brothers! Run! They all act like the Lady!" screamed a Thunder Warrior as he was dragged away by two laughing Uma Marines.
"Everyone panic!"
"Brother, save me—!" another cried out right before he was hoisted into the air and hurled like a bowling ball directly into a cluster of his fellow soldiers.
Within ten minutes, the 2,755 Uma Space Marines had completely manhandled the entire force of Thunder Warriors. Some were dropkicked, others were subjected to bizarre lab experiments—as it turned out, every single one of these new Marines shared my Agnes Tachyon personality. It ultimately took a full deployment of the Adeptus Custodes just to stop them from bullying the Thunder Warriors any further.
--
Walking down the metallic corridors of the flagship, I paid no mind to the lingering chaos. As I headed back to my lab, I caught sight of a figure waiting by the entrance.
It was Lorgar.
"Mother," he greeted softly.
"Horus, what brings you here?" I asked absentmindedly.
"I... I have something to talk about," he said, staring at me intently.
I blinked. "Mother...?"
"Would you be willing to listen to my proposal?" Lorgar asked, gesturing toward the lab.
"A proposal? Do tell," I said, opening the door and taking a seat at my desk.
"I heard that you suffer from an illness—one that even the Emperor will not be able to fix," Lorgar began, his tone dripping with earnest concern. "But the Chaos Gods can. They can guide humanity better than the Emperor ever could, and they hold the power to cure any affliction... including yours."
I leaned back, eyeing him. "...I don't know where you heard that I have an illness, but as you already know, I won't interfere with—"
"Mother, I care for you!" Lorgar interrupted, stepping forward. "To see you growing weaker hurts my heart. I just want you to be better."
I stared at him for a long moment before sighing. "I will think about it, Lorgar."
"Thank you, Mother," he said bowed his head, then turned and left the lab.
Once the doors hissed shut, I crossed my arms and muttered to myself. "Well, anyways... I still need to save the traitor Primarchs from their fate. Magnus, Horus, Fulgrim... Fulgrim can probably still be saved."
"Lorgar tho ehh... Maybe not."
It was time to move.
I clicked on my radio comms. "Deep Sky, call the Thunder Warriors and the Agnes Legion. We are going to war."
"Yes, Mother," Deep Sky's voice came through instantly. "Relaying the order now."
A few hours later, everything was prepared. My Thunder Warriors and the Agnes Legion were fully boarded. My capital ship a heavily modified UNSC Infinity-class vessel upgraded to be exponentially stronger and vastly superior—was primed for launch.
I had named her the Tachyon.
"We march!" I declared over the ship-wide comms. "Towards the location of Warmaster Horus!"
The *Tachyon* and its escort fleet engaged their engines. We didn't use standard Imperial Warp travel; instead, we engaged an advanced FTL drive modeled after Halo's Shaw-Fujikawa technology, slipping smoothly through slipspace without touching the realm of Chaos.
"My Lady, we have reached our destination," a crewmate announced as the stars smoothed back into pinpoint lights. We had re-entered real space directly above the Warmaster's fleet.
"Contact the Sons of Horus. Inform them I am boarding their flagship," I commanded, turning toward my honor guard. "Deep Sky, Admire Aura, and Little Amapola you're coming with me."
We boarded a modified Thunderhawk and made a swift descent into the hangar bay of the Vengeful Spirit.
Inside the Sons of Horus flagship, word had spread quickly.
"The Lady is requesting to board the ship! Do we let them in?" a legionnaire asked urgently.
"Of course we let her in!" First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon barked back. "She is the mother of our father, which makes her our grandmother!"
"Yes, Brother!" The legionnaire saluted and rushed off to signal the bay.
Moments later, the heavy ramp of our drop-ship hissed open. A massive honor guard of the Sons of Horus stood waiting in formation.
"My Lady! Our father has been critically injured!" Abaddon blurted out the second I stepped down. "We request your help!"
"Bring me to him," I ordered.
Abaddon quickly led the way to the medical bay. Horus lay motionless on a massive stone slab, surrounded by a group of shifty, robes-wearing cultists chanting dark incantations.
I frowned instantly. "Kill them."
Before the space marines could react, Little Amapola drew her weapons and executed every single robed figure in a fraction of a second.
Abaddon gasped, drawing his weapon instinctively before freezing. "My Lady—!"
"You brought suspicious people to care for Horus?!" I snapped, my tone sharp with anger. "Did you even use your brain?!"
Abaddon dropped his head, sweating beneath his armor. "I... Forgive me, my Lady."
"Leave," I commanded coldly.
"Yes, my Lady," Abaddon bowed quickly and ushered his men out.
I turned to my three bodyguards. "You three as well."
"Yes, Mother," they chimed in unison, taking up positions outside the sealed doors.
Now alone with the fallen Warmaster, I approached the slab. "Well then, Horus... let's fix you up."
I pulled out a Medi-Gun from my personal stash and blasted him with the healing beam, instantly closing his physical wounds. Next, I pulled a glowing, all-curing Miracle Pill from my system shop and forced it down his throat.
Physical body healed. Now for the real problem.
I scanned his soul it was heavily corrupted, rotting with the taint of the Warp.
"Tsk..." I muttered in annoyance.
I pulled out a C'tan Shard and a Chaos Emerald, channeling their raw, cosmic power directly into his spirit to burn away the corruption. Yet, no matter how much energy I poured into him, the deep-seated taint refused to dissolve.
"If this won't work, then I'll just have to pull it out," I grunted.
I whipped out a Soul Extractor and activated it. A ghostly, ethereal version of Horus's soul was drawn upward out of his chest not completely removed, but pulled out far enough for me to physically manipulate it.
"Well then... I'll just cut it out."
I retrieved a set of hyper-precise surgical tools and began meticulously slicing away the black, corrupted sections of Horus's soul. Once the taint was gone, a gaping hole remained in his spiritual essence.
"I need a patch..." I muttered, digging through my inventory for a compatible soul fragment to fuse with his. "Well, I just hope this works."
I carefully injected the replacement soul piece into his spiritual frame, watching the energies weave together seamlessly.
"Alright, let's fix everything up."
I pushed the modified soul back into his body, sealed his chest, and leaned back with a sigh.
"Now we just wait."
--
Meanwhile, deep within Horus's mind...
"Argh... Where am I?"
Horus opened his eyes, rubbing his head as he looked around the strange, unfamiliar room. He froze. His voice sounded surprisingly high-pitched and light.
"Ahhh...? Why does my voice sound so weird?"
He pushed himself up and caught sight of a full-length mirror across the room. He walked over, stared into the glass, and his eyes went wide with sheer horror.
"...No!"
Reflected in the glass was not the towering, imposing Warmaster of the Imperium. It was a young girl.
Knock, knock.
"Edmin, are you in there?" a voice called out from the other side of the door.
"Edmin?" Horus blinked in confusion.
The door swung open, revealing a strange, mutated woman.
"Aha! Die, mutant!" Horus roared, charging forward to smite the creature.
However, his new, uncoordinated body betrayed him. He tripped over his own feet and face-planted straight into the woman's chest.
"Eh?! Edmin, are you okay?" the woman asked, startled.
"I am Horus! Not this 'Edmin' you speak of!" she yelled, flailing her small arms.
"Oh, Edmin... you must have hit your head really hard," the woman sighed pityingly. Without another word, she swept the former Warmaster into her arms, carrying her easily toward the medical bay.
"Let me go!!!" Horus screamed, kicking her legs in utter humiliation as she was princess-carried down the hallway.
--
Back in the physical world
Outside the medical bay, Abaddon was pacing back and forth anxiously.
"So... Father will be okay?" Abaddon asked as I stepped out to give him an update.
"Yes. It will take some time, though," I said, placing a comforting hand on his giant shoulder armor. "Horus is strong. He will pull through you must not lose hope."
Suddenly, a blinding flash of golden light burst from inside the room. Abaddon and I shielded our eyes as the radiance filled the entire corridor.
When the light finally faded, we looked back onto the slab.
Horus was gone. Sitting in his place, wearing oversized armor, was a strikingly cute, small girl.
Abaddon stared, his jaw practically hitting the floor. "F-Father...?"
I stared at the girl, a sweatdrop forming on the back of my head.
'Edmin...?' I thought to myself.