“The Lion and the Wolf” is a tale of Lion El’Jonson and his command of his Legion during the Dark Crusade that led to the fighting of two Primarchs!
Via our good friends at Lexicanum
Eventually a unit of the Emperor‘s forward scouts arrived at Caliban. Jonson was immediately given command of the First Legion when the Emperor realized he had found a lost son. Luther and the other members of the Order who passed the Astartes‘ trials were formed into First Legion soldiers, either as fully fledged Astartes if they were young enough, or through genetic manipulation to increase their abilities if they were too old for the process.
The new direction of Caliban did not sit well with many older knights of The Order, and they attempted to assassinate both Jonson and the Emperor but were foiled by the psychic Zahariel. With his powerbase secured and the new Astartes ready, Jonson publicly re-named the First Legion the Dark Angels after an old Caliban myth. Luther, too old to be a Space Marine, was the first to be genetically modified and became Jonson’s second in command, as he had been during the crusade. Jonson then left with the Emperor and the newly re-named Dark Angels.
During the campaign against the Sarosh, Luther was able to foil a detonation of a nuclear weapon aboard the Lion’s flagship. However due to his own deep-buried jealously he had initially hesitated, something the Lion somehow discovered. As a result the two had a falling out, and Luther along with a force of mainly Caliban-native legionaries were sent back to their homeworld. This was ostensibly to accelerate the recruitment of new Legionnaires, but Luther felt they had been exiled, particularly after his scolding in the Zaramund Campaign.
Lion El’Jonson gained notoriety for his leadership and combat capability in the Great Crusade, but was too secretive and stoic to be considered Warmaster. Indeed, the Lion himself admitted he had difficulty understanding the emotions of others. Horus was instead appointed Warmaster by the Emperor, and the reaction among the other Primarchs was mixed. Some supported the appointment out of affection for Horus, and others opposed it.
The Lion and Leman Russ were, ironically, alike in their attitude, cynically accepting the appointment as the final sign of Horus’ status as their father’s favorite son. Fifty years later, and following great success in recruiting, training, and equipping new Dark Angels, Luther and his lieutenants were faced by a widespread rebellion on Caliban. Following investigations on the part of the Librarian Zahariel, it was revealed that Caliban was plagued by a resurgence of monsters; and that the insurgency raised against them included former Knights of the Order who felt that the Lion had betrayed them.
At the center of the entire affair was a mysterious cabal of Terran sorcerers somehow linked to the emergence of warp-monsters and twisted undead corpses. Having learned of Horus’ rebellion against the Emperor, Luther declared the independence of Caliban and his opposition to Terra and the Lion alike.
Who’s the Traitor now?
Find out more about The Lion and the Wolf
About the Author: Zeb Barrett
