Kislev.
Now, under the Emperor's decree, the entirety of the Fourth Legion had arrived at the homeworld of their Primarch, awaiting reunion and inspection by their genetic father.
However, these Astartes from Terra felt a gnawing sense of dread and unease regarding this reunion. After all, their current state was hardly something that would please a genetic father they had yet to meet.
Despite their worries that their father might be dissatisfied, these undaunted Astartes prepared themselves for inspection, striving to present their best front.
As one of the earliest Astartes Legions established by the Master of Mankind, the Fourth Legion was founded upon the ruins of a recidivist fortress in the Sek-Amrak region of the Xeric Plateau on Terra. This origin seemed to foreshadow the burden the Emperor would place upon them.
Naturally, the warlike, gun-toting tribes near the fortress ruins quickly became the Legion's primary recruitment source. These resilient techno-barbarians were perfectly suited for conversion into Astartes.
During the Unification Wars, the Fourth Legion proved they could transform any territory they conquered into the Emperor's most impregnable bastions—a trait that would define them even after they became the Iron Warriors.
Thanks to Perturabo's gene-seed, which possessed a significantly lower-than-average rejection rate, recruitment and augmentation surgeries proceeded with remarkable success. This allowed the Fourth to become one of the largest Legions in the early Great Crusade, rivaling the First and Fifth Legions in scale.
Because of their sheer size, they became one of the Emperor's sharpest spearheads. In the Solar War during the early stages of the Great Crusade, the Fourth Legion amassed a staggering list of battle honors.
Among these numerous victories was the Venusian Crusade. Under the direct command of the Emperor, the Fourth Legion ruthlessly suppressed the War-Witches who controlled the lethal Litho-Golems.
Due to their early record, the Fourth earned the Emperor's favor, granting them priority access to war machinery from Mars. Simultaneously, the Fourth Legion led the 8th Expeditionary Fleet—their official designation within the Crusade's naval hierarchy.
However, their early successes in the Solar System seemed to make the Legion's leadership dogmatic, refusing to adapt their tactics to new theaters of war. This led to a reputation among other Astartes for lacking imagination.
Yet, it was undeniable that the Fourth's tenacity left a deep impression on other commanders, including Horus Lupercal. This led those in command to assign the Fourth to unglamorous but vital wars of attrition.
Soon, because of their stubbornness, strict adherence to orders, and long-term engagement in bloody, overlooked meat-grinders, the Fourth Legion earned a dismal nickname: the "Corpse Grinders" or "The Leyland Corps."
Nevertheless, during this time as the "workhorse legion," the sons of Perturabo continued to expand, conquering many worlds for the Imperium and garrisoning their warriors across these new territories.
Yet, their rigid attrition tactics made them one of the Astartes Legions with the highest casualty rates. The most famous example was the pyrrhic victory they won just before Perturabo's return: the Battle for the Forge World of Incaladion.
When attacking this Mechanicus Forge World that refused to join the Imperium, the Fourth's stubborn leadership insisted on their traditional heavy artillery and armored assault tactics. As it turned out, such conventional methods only served to inflate their losses.
In a siege lasting a year, nearly twenty-nine thousand Legionaries fell. The accompanying Auxilia and Imperial Army casualties were beyond counting, and the 8th Expeditionary Fleet was virtually annihilated.
This was the Fourth Legion Perturabo was to inherit—a Legion hemorrhaging from a massive wound.
On the temporary parade grounds.
Now, tens of thousands of Astartes from the Fourth Legion stood in formation upon a parade ground carved out of the wilderness by Kislevite workers who had cleared the forests and leveled the earth.
Though this crude clearing in the wild seemed ill-matched for a reunion between an Astartes Legion and their Primarch, the warriors felt little resentment.
In truth, they had more pressing matters to worry about.
"Do you think our genetic father will find us... worthy? Our current situation is truly dire," Suslov asked, looking at his close friend Forrix with concern. Following that catastrophic victory, the Legion's high command had been entirely gutted.
Forrix had originally been a mere captain. Under a traditional promotion path, it would have taken years for him to represent the entire Legion. But the Battle of Incaladion had been so brutal that the previous Legion Master and a large portion of the senior officers had perished in the siege.
"I don't know. I only hope he can change the state of our Legion. We need change so badly right now. Perhaps our genetic father can bring it," Forrix replied, shaking his head and sighing. As the acting commander responsible for liaising with their Primarch, he knew their "reputation" all too well.
"The workhorse legion, the labor corps... from Horus to every other commander, they all think we are the ones meant for the thankless tasks. They feel entitled to send us into the most grueling campaigns, letting our men die pointlessly for a single objective," Suslov grumbled. As one of the few warriors from the northern reaches of Terra, he was as resilient as his brothers but had long been dissatisfied with the Legion's role in wars of attrition.
"But we recover quickly every time, don't we, Suslov? Almost every single time, after a horrific sacrifice, we can expand on a massive scale, turning more youths into Astartes to replenish our numbers," Forrix said with a bitter smile, looking at his friend.
"Yes, that is our strength and our curse. As long as our gene-seed remains this stable and easy to implant, those commanders will view us as something that can be replaced once spent," Suslov shook his head in disgust. Although as an Astartes he did not fear death, this treatment—as if they were not men but tools—repulsed him.
"The Tsar arrives!"
The shout of a Kislevite attendant snapped Suslov and Forrix back to attention. Their genetic father had arrived.
They turned toward the sound. A giant dressed in Kislevite attire, taller even than they were, approached with steady strides.
"You are the Fourth Legion? My sons?" the giant asked, looking at the two Astartes in iron-grey power armor before him.
Perturabo, High Tsar and Autocrat of all Kislev, genetic father of the Fourth Legion, had finally met his sons.