"I am glad you have comrades to return to." The implication is he really doesn't, except for maybe Garro. The luna wolves are dead, and he is the last, taking revenge bit by bit.
"Yes. I have a father to fight, and brothers yet to slay."
For a moment it flashes to the iron-clad bridge and Throne of Horus on the vengeful spirit.
‘Garviel,’ said Horus, and he turned to see the Warmaster holding out his gauntlet. ‘Don’t hate me for what’s happened.’ ‘Why shouldn’t I hate you?’ said Loken. ‘You did the worst thing that anyone can do to another person. You let us believe we were loved and valued, then showed us it was all a lie.’ Horus shook his head, but his hand remained outstretched. Behind him, a crenellated warship passed over the face of the moon. The Eye of Horus adorned its prow, but it was a crude thing, painted on like graffiti. ‘Come back to me, my son. We can rebuild what was lost between us, renew our bonds of fellowship. I want you at my side as I reforge the Imperium anew.’ Loken looked back at the warriors on their knees behind him. Men he’d fought and bled with. Men he’d called brother in the darkest of times. He looked into their eyes, seeing their defiance and more. Rubio’s fists were clenched and the tension in Voitek’s neck was like a straining machine about to throw a gear. He saw the cold eyes of Bror Tyrfingr upon him and remembered the words he had spoken at their first meeting. If I think your roots are weak, I’ll kill you myself. He gave an almost imperceptible nod to his fellows and took a step away from the Warmaster, feeling the threads of loyalty and brotherhood that bound him to this moment pull tight. Horus rose to his feet as the passing warship completed its transit of the cathedral window. Dazzling moonlight poured into Lupercal’s Court once more. It haloed Lupercal, limned him in silver to cast the darkest shadow across the deck. The flared back of the Warmaster’s throne gave that shadow wings, like the faceless daemons from the lurid books Kyril Sindermann had loaned him. ‘Part of me wishes I could, sir,’ said Loken. ‘Believe me, I want the warmth that being part of something greater brings. I want to belong. I had that with the Legion, but you took that away from me when you stabbed us all in the back.’ ‘No,’ said Horus. ‘Garviel, no. That’s not–’ But Loken wasn’t about to stop now. ‘Turning my back on everything I knew, being cut off from the Legion that made me who I am? That was the worst moment of my life. It drove me insane. More than Tarik’s death or being buried alive on Isstvan, it was the heartbreak and yawning emptiness that finally broke me.’ ‘Then come back to me, Garviel,’ said Horus. ‘Feel that warmth again, don’t you want to be part of the greatest endeavour the galaxy has ever seen?’ ‘I already was,’ said Loken, turning his back on Horus. ‘It was called the Great Crusade.’
Loken bows his head at the memory. Horus is so large, but already ignoble somehow. Swollen by the ruinous powers, if only slightly, not yet the monster he would become by the siege, but somehow, notably dark and tainted.
"That is what I fight against, Kerrigan. That is all that awaits me."
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"Yes. I have a father to fight, and brothers yet to slay."
For a moment it flashes to the iron-clad bridge and Throne of Horus on the vengeful spirit.
‘Garviel,’ said Horus, and he turned to see the Warmaster holding out his gauntlet. ‘Don’t hate me for
what’s happened.’
‘Why shouldn’t I hate you?’ said Loken. ‘You did the worst thing that anyone can do to another person.
You let us believe we were loved and valued, then showed us it was all a lie.’
Horus shook his head, but his hand remained outstretched. Behind him, a crenellated warship passed
over the face of the moon. The Eye of Horus adorned its prow, but it was a crude thing, painted on like
graffiti.
‘Come back to me, my son. We can rebuild what was lost between us, renew our bonds of fellowship. I
want you at my side as I reforge the Imperium anew.’
Loken looked back at the warriors on their knees behind him. Men he’d fought and bled with. Men he’d
called brother in the darkest of times. He looked into their eyes, seeing their defiance and more. Rubio’s
fists were clenched and the tension in Voitek’s neck was like a straining machine about to throw a gear.
He saw the cold eyes of Bror Tyrfingr upon him and remembered the words he had spoken at their first
meeting.
If I think your roots are weak, I’ll kill you myself.
He gave an almost imperceptible nod to his fellows and took a step away from the Warmaster, feeling
the threads of loyalty and brotherhood that bound him to this moment pull tight.
Horus rose to his feet as the passing warship completed its transit of the cathedral window.
Dazzling moonlight poured into Lupercal’s Court once more.
It haloed Lupercal, limned him in silver to cast the darkest shadow across the deck. The flared back of
the Warmaster’s throne gave that shadow wings, like the faceless daemons from the lurid books Kyril
Sindermann had loaned him.
‘Part of me wishes I could, sir,’ said Loken. ‘Believe me, I want the warmth that being part of
something greater brings. I want to belong. I had that with the Legion, but you took that away from me
when you stabbed us all in the back.’
‘No,’ said Horus. ‘Garviel, no. That’s not–’
But Loken wasn’t about to stop now. ‘Turning my back on everything I knew, being cut off from the
Legion that made me who I am? That was the worst moment of my life. It drove me insane. More than
Tarik’s death or being buried alive on Isstvan, it was the heartbreak and yawning emptiness that finally
broke me.’
‘Then come back to me, Garviel,’ said Horus. ‘Feel that warmth again, don’t you want to be part of the
greatest endeavour the galaxy has ever seen?’
‘I already was,’ said Loken, turning his back on Horus. ‘It was called the Great Crusade.’
Loken bows his head at the memory. Horus is so large, but already ignoble somehow. Swollen by the ruinous powers, if only slightly, not yet the monster he would become by the siege, but somehow, notably dark and tainted.
"That is what I fight against, Kerrigan. That is all that awaits me."