The Primarchs
Lion El'Jonson
...And then came the Angels of Death, and from then we fled for they brought with them the destruction of darker times.
The Lion Roars
From the darkness of malefic science to the shadows of ancient woods, the Lion is more monster than man. Pray then, that his fangs seek the throats of your enemies, rather than your own.
As one of the Primarchs craft in the secret labs beneath the Emperor's Palace, Lion El'Jonson was a figure of awe and terrible might. Capable of physical feats that would have been myth in lesser times, the true art of the Dark Knight was his tactical acumen and strategic brilliance.
Unfortunately, though his mind was quick and his sons loyal, he was a troubled soul, secretive even to his closest brothers and uncaring of all the rest. All would fight harder when the Angelus Mortis took the field... but fear has always been an excellent motivator of men.
This shadow would plague those in his wake for years to come, his paranoia infectious amongst the Legion. Doubt gnaws at the soul and as the shadows grew voices, the Lion became more and more erratic.
Such weakness would be his downfall, this distance kept from even his most favoured sons. Abandoned at the final hour, the world burning around him, it would be his only friend whose blade turned black with treason. A tragedy perhaps, or inevitable from the start...
The Man Who Never Trusts Will Always Be Betrayed.
From Whence The Wild Things Came
The origins of the Lion is a carefully kept secret amongst the Dark Angels, for its truth invites questions about matters best left forgotten. Isolated during the tragedy that scattered all the Primarchs, he arrived upon the Death World of Caliban as a young child. This land, though full of knights and heroes, was home to dark forests and darker secrets.
Constantly at war with the terrifying beasts that inhabited the woods, much of Caliban lay unclaimed and abandoned. It was in these feral wilds that Jonson roamed as a child, surviving the briars that no man could endure. Such places were fraught with terrible danger, but he grew larger and larger, hunting and surviving in a place even the most armoured knights feared to go.
Eventually he was found by a band of Knights, the militant orders that protected humanity from the ravages of the fell creatures. At first convinced he was but a new breed of fiend, it was at the urging of one of the greatest men to ever live that he was taken back to their Castle intact.
Trained and equipped by his rescuer, Sar Luther, the newly named Lion El'Jonson soon began to hunt down the beasts as well. Quickly rising through both rank and fame within The Order, he soon eclipsed his mentor in both skill and courage.
With the death of a Great Lion of Caliban, one of the most feared beasts that roamed the world, the Lion was promoted to Grandmaster of The Order. In honour of a father he couldn't know, his first action was to call a Crusade against the Beasts of the wild, one that would see their rage extinguished.
The Rage of Nature
It did not take long for the Lion to see the fruits of his grand ambition, as one by one the beasts were slain or routed from their homes. Luther had proved the sage advisor and, against the Lion's belligerence, he provided an air of calm and diplomacy that won the hearts of many.
Despite this, there was one holdout against the vast extermination, one bastion of wilderness whose silence proved a mystery to all. The Knights of Lupus were their name, and they decried Jonson's hunt. Despite many overtures, war was declared in earnest, the Crusade relentless against Beast... or man.
A vast siege took place, engines of war produced on a scale yet unknown to the quiet of Caliban as men in their thousands readied themselves for battle. Days turned into weeks, then into months, but though the wait was long, the outcome proved immediate and expected.
Outnumbered and outmatched, the Knights of Lupus fought like madmen against the invaders as they fell one by one. Even the foul revelation that they had been keeping beasts in secret did not deter the invaders, who found themselves cut to pieces by the dozen against the fell darkness of Caliban.
Such ruin was short-lived however, for led by the Lion and Luther none could stand before them, none could succeed against their might. With the fall of the Knights of Lupus, peace upon Caliban was assured, the wilds no longer dark enough to threaten anything but dreams. As music once more filled the land, peace in riotous color emerged in the dawn. His work complete, the Lion rested...
And The Angels Came At Dawn...
A Lesson in Hope
Time had passed since the Great Crusade of Caliban had ended, and peace reigned fully upon the world. The Knights began to retreat from the importance of daily existence, relegating themselves to maintaining stability and easing tensions between local areas.
This all changed with the coming of the First Legion, the Swords of the Emperor's Crusade and his most loyal weapons of war. How they found him was unclear but they arrived in full regalia bearing the entirety of their chosen host, the soon to be named Dark Angels of the Legio Astartes.
In friendship, unmarred by fear, he met them. Recognising both his kindred sons and father in kind, the display of power before him was overwhelming. Ships that darkened the skies, soldiers gleaming in onyx plate, the brazen eagle of the Imperium's might, all brought to heel before him in honour of their new master.
Integration into the Imperium of Man began at once, the similarities in technology and culture aiding the process immeasurably. Soon, word came of the Emperor's imminent arrival and Caliban rejoiced to meet so fabled a figure. The Lion grew impatient at meeting his long distant father and his temper became quick and sharp, fearsome to even those who knew him.
Despite a tragic encounter with a group of rebels who attempted to assassinate the Emperor, the meeting went well, and the Lion swore his sword to his father's crusade. He was placed in charge of the newly named Dark Angels and soon began his march to war, followed by both his Terran and Calibanite children.
The Seeds of Betrayal
Despite his initial success in the Great Crusade, the Lion still sought to leave his mark on the emerging Imperium. Put in charge of the 4th Expeditionary Fleet's "recent" acquisition, this seemingly endless ordeal with the relentlessly bureaucratic humans of Sarosh appeared the perfect chance for the Lion to prove his worth.
Quickly tiring of the eternal negotiations, he ordered his forces to scout the planet for any seeming irregularities, suspicious as he was of the seemingly friendly people who so long denied integration.
Such mistrust proved wise during a council with the Saroshi leader, who denounced the Emperor and the Lion personally. Enraged, the Primarch slew the errant fool where he stood and ordered an immediate assault upon the planet. All was not as it seemed however, for during the talks the Saroshi had smuggled a nuclear device onto the Lion's flagship with the intent of killing everyone aboard in a storm of fire.
It was during this time that Luther first wavered, so loyal a soldier, so caring a brother, jealousy found its home in his heart. A man who would have been a legend in any other time overshadowed by a chance encounter against the very odds of fate.
Even as he turned from such treason, saving his brother and friend, the Primarch's paranoia began to manifest. He suspected his closest friend of allowing it to board and the shadows of his doubt began to show.
Though Sarosh and its Daemonic masters were vanquished, the first signs of madness in the Primarch were revealed, and would only grow with time.
A Name
Well Earned
With Luther and his brethren
exiled back to Caliban for their
perceived failings on Sarosh, the Lion
continued the Crusade in earnest. Alas, without
the careful diplomacy of his closest friend, Jonson's
reputation grew darker throughout the Imperium, and
even his children found his paranoia unsettling and dour.
This continued well into the Great Crusade and reached a breaking point on the planet Dulan. Here the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels fought together to pacify a world resistant to the Imperium's demand for compliance.
After being called the "Emperor's Lapdog" by the rebel forces, Leman Russ grew enraged and began formulating a plan to take the citadel by storm. Unbeknownst to him however, the Dark Angels had already launched their strike successfully.
The Wolf King arrived on the planet to discover the leader of the forces slain by the Lion's hand and, furious that his revenge had been denied, immediately assaulted his brother.
The two fought for hours until the Lion finally beat down Winter's Woe. Suddenly taken with the humour of the two fighting, Russ relaxed but the Lion was incensed by his brothers apparent mockery. With speed and clarity, the First struck the Wolf hard and knocked him unconscious before leaving the planet, starting a long standing feud that would continue for ten thousand years.
Such a rift between legions was unwelcome in the courts of the Imperium, but would become but a shadow of the madness that was soon to follow. The darkness of the Lion was quickly a distant memory as the worlds of man erupted into chaos. Torn apart by the hubris of gods unleashed without restraint, the galaxy screamed as a war like no other arrived.
The Horus Heresy had begun, the Astartes lay riven and the Imperium of Man faced a choice between a great lie...
And The Only Truth That Mattered.
The Beginning of the End
Two hundred years into the Great Crusade, the Dark Angels had shown themselves to be a great and glorious legion. A message was sent to the Lion with dire tidings of betrayal and despair.
His brothers, Horus, Angron, Mortarion and Fulgrim, had spat on their oaths to the Emperor, turned their banners against him and reduced a once vibrant world to ash with the most heinous of weapons. A battle between blood had already begun, the sins of the father had quickly fallen to their sons.
Caught up in the Shield Worlds, a deployment the Lion suspected was designed to keep him distant by Horus, the Primarch was unable to extricate himself quickly to help deal with the new threat facing mankind. Instead, he relied upon a small number of teams to take the effort up against the Warmaster, deploying them immediately towards Diamat, a vital Forge World that Horus would rely upon in the coming war.
Led by the Lion, the small strike force headed towards the Forge World in secret, hoping to secure the terrible ordnance it had been producing. Quickly defeating the Warmaster's contingent in orbit, Jonson gave the weapons to the recently arrived Iron Warriors, unaware of their new allegiance and ignoring the whispers in his mind.
The Sins of Neutrality
Though grateful for the gift, Perturabo inquired as to how the Lion had learned about these weapons. Somewhat relaxed around his brother, Jonson revealed that he had uncovered their existence in a number of dispatches from Horus, who had requisitioned their use for a large siege against an alien world many years ago.
Despite the heroics of the Dark Angels, the Lion asked Perturabo to keep his involvement here a secret, careful to ensure the Emperor did not suspect ulterior motives. Jonson, ever doubting of the truth in others, could not understand trust given, nor received.
He also requested that the Iron Warrior support him in his bid to become Warmster, after Horus' rebellion was crushed. The Lion saw no chance of victory in the errant Primarch's rebellion and knew such time would be perfect to secure his rise.
Perturabo agreed to both, perhaps amused by the shadows of ignorance the Lion found himself in. This lord of secrets unaware of the truth around him was a delicious irony to the Master of Iron, and so he wished the Lion well in his ventures as he left. Jonson returned to the Shield Worlds in glory, having given the traitors that which they needed most.
Once more in the field of battle, Jonson led his troops to victory before making his way to the Thramas System, an area of space closely held by the Mechanicum and of vital importance to the Warmaster's efforts against Terra.
Deployed against him were the Night Lords under Konrad Curze, and for the next three years the two would be locked in struggle, the Dark Knight against the Monstrous Beast.
In the wilds of deep-space, unsure of whom to trust or where the enemy may come from next, the Lion found himself home once more. The fell forests of Caliban had finally returned, and within the twilight, the Lion would not be bested.
The Eve of War
Though the battles that followed were brutal beyond any imagination, it began as all great conflicts do... A clash of ego's.
Invited by a stray beacon from the Night Lords to the world of Tsagualsa, the Lion arrived with his honour guard to meet with the madling prince of the 8th Legion. Trying to undermine to Lion, to break his spirit and bring him to the Warmaster's fold, the Night Haunter baited and mocked the Dark Angel.
Unsuccessful in his attempt to bring low the Lion, the two fell into battle, foes of old tearing at the other like the animals they both truly knew they were. Despite his martial prowess and extensive training, Jonson was outmatched by the Night Lord's erratic style that left no time to recover. Saved only by the actions of his guard, who injured Curze, the two retreated from the field to begin the war in earnest.
Fire Against Fire
Three years into the war and with no end in sight, the Lion grew frustrated at the shadow strife fought across a hundred worlds. A communique from the Perditus System promised a breakthrough in the relentless war of attrition however. Moving swiftly, they arrived to catch an ongoing conflict between the Iron Hands 98th Company and the Death Guard led by Calas Typhon.
It was soon revealed that both sides fought over the Tuchulcha Engine, a strange and sentient device capable of altering the very fabric of reality when used in conjunction with its brothers. Alone, however, it was capable of engineering incredibly precise and immediate Warp Jumps, a power that could tilt the balance of power in the region completely.
Unsure of who to trust and desiring this engine for himself, the Lion ordered both sides to stand down. In the face of overwhelming odds, both sides agreed as the Lion then requisitioned the device for himself. Soon leaving, only a warning that the others stay out of his way was left as once more the Knight trod the shadows.
Using the device, the Dark Angels were able to transfer immediately and rapidly, but doing so did not go unnoticed. Intercepted by the fell inhabitants of the Warp, the Lion found himself facing off against the Daemons of old. Marshalling the Librarians into battle against them, he proved successful, personally slaying the Lord of Change who led the assault. His decision to abandon the Emperor's Decree Absolute of Nikaea did not sit well however, with many of the loyal Dark Angels furious at this treason.
Led by Chaplain Nemiel, a staunch and devout follower of the Emperor, they decried his actions as treasonous and in a fit of rage the Lion cut him down. Father had turned against son as brother had turned against brother. The Lion stood now in the battleground of hope and rage, between two sides, as the future wrote itself in kind.
With this dark stain eroding the morale of the Astartes, the Lion ordered the Tuchulcha Engine to use once more. Orchestrating a masterful ambush, they caught the Night Lords unaware and devastated their fleet, leaving countless scores of their vessels in ruin. Even Konrad Curze was captured, wounded heavily in a duel with the Lion as his insane clarity abandoned him. A great blow against the Warmaster had been struck, but the Lion did not wait...
The Hunt Had Just Begun...
A Subtle Treason
Despite the success of the ambush, the Night Lords were able to launch a counter-attack that succeeded in freeing Konrad Curze from his prison. Though they were incapable of inflicting anything greater than minor damage, a great and terrible warp storm promised retribution of a darker kind. Tearing across the fabric of reality like a maelstrom and engulfing whole sectors in madness and carnage.
By Daemons it was known as the Ruinstorm, and it proved impossible to navigate, filled with the screaming voices of the damned, teeming with the incarnate beasts of Chaos. The Imperium was split, caught between the madness of hell and war. Somehow, however, the Dark Angels were able to locate another beacon within the Warp, an enigmatic light unknown to them but bright enough to follow.
With no other option the Lion ordered that the Legion set forth, homing in on this bastion within the storm. During this journey to parts unknown, Jonson hunted throughout the vessel for Curze, who spent the weeks and months brutalising the ship. Hundreds died to his depredations and each time the Lion came close to catching him, the Night Haunter's visions saved him from his grasp.
Eventually the fleet arrived, and to the shock of all it had taken them straight to Macragge, the home world of the Ultramarines and thriving stronghold against the Warmaster's treachery. There they were greeted by Roboute Guilliman and Sanguinius, his brothers of the Ultramarines and Blood Angels.
The Imperium Reborn
Though relieved to see friendly faces, their meeting was marred by the Lion's typical paranoia. After finally determining that his two brothers were aligned with him, a conversation began regarding the future of the Legions, the Imperium, and humanity itself.
A hard choice was made, a terrible bargain in truth and one that would reek of treason if not for the dire circumstances they found themselves in. A new Imperium was declared, a home for humanity while Terra's fate remained unknown.
Sanguinius was declared Emperor, for his nobility and kindly nature were easily rallied behind, while the Lion was named Lord Protector, commander of its armies and general of its crusading efforts.
Such a time of hope was broken however, as the skies above rained fire. Thousands of drop pods, filled with Dark Angel troops ready for war, were spat from the orbiting vessels and tore down into the atmosphere. Chas had always been the Night Lords favourite tool after all...
Sanguinius and Guilliman turned on the Lion, furious that he had planned such deception without telling them. Defensive and put on the spot, he retaliated with the cynicism and suspicion he had become famed for, and Imperium Secundus showed its first cracks. Still, the attack was halted without hostilities and peace was once more returned to home of Guilliman.
That is, until the Lion revealed what else was aboard his ship...
The Night Haunter had arrived.
Prey Turned Predator
With the Night Haunter unleashed upon Macragge, a world-wide hunt began for the madling god. Terrorist attacks ripped across the entirety of the planet as thousands fell to his reaving blades, the blood of innocents flowing free like a river. Finally, within the capital of Macragge, Guilliman and Jonson cornered Konrad only to discover that they had played directly into his hands.
Fending both of them off at once, claws crashing against blades, the Night Haunter detonated the entire building while fading from view. Collapsing the structure atop the two Primarchs, only the actions of Barbaras Dantioch, Warsmith of the Iron Warriors, saved them as he pulled them through the Pharos; The same strange empathic device that called the Dark Angels here the first time.
Rather than gratitude, the Lion showed only anger and disdain towards Guilliman for his tinkering with xenos technology. Ignoring the hypocrisy of his own contempt, and keeping the warp device he possessed secret, the Lion chastised what he saw as the foolish actions of a desperate man.
Perhaps more angry at himself, they returned to Macragge and the Lion left at once, driven beyond rage to capture the Night Haunter and bring him to justice. The next two years were spent in search of the fugitive Primarch, until finally a single lead brought him to the Zepath System. The Lion, torn between his administrative duties back home and his desire to capture his brother, sent the elite Dreadwing who were charged with bringing Konrad Curze back... dead or alive.
Caught By Design
The Dreadwing proved successful in repelling the traitor forces but were unable to locate the Night Haunter. Back at Macragge, the Lion and Guilliman continued to feud, their disagreements falling into dislike and even hate. This all culminated with the mass suicide bombing of an Astarte's convoy, the results of which lead to the Lion declaring martial law across the entirety of the planet.
Determining that Curze was hiding with a part of Macragge known as the Illyrium Region, the Lion advocated for the total orbital bombardment of the area, to use the ships in orbit to annihilate everything that stood in place. Sanguinius and Guilliman, enraged, refused to countenance such a choice and so the Lion sent his Dreadwing to flush out the Night Haunter.
At the city of Alma Mons, the Lion uncovered the Night Haunter, preying on the citizens and driving the rebels onwards against the Imperium Secundus. The two once more engaged in battle while Jonson tried to discover why the Night Haunter had turned from the Emperor, how he had become such a monster... "Why Not?" Was the only answer he received.
The Lion eventually bested Curze, breaking his back and wounding him violently in the process. Incapacitated and shattered, the Night Haunter's forces were demolished and he was brought back to the Triumverate to face judgement for his crimes.
But Whose Crimes Were To Be Judged?
A Fate Deserved
Before the three Primarchs, Curze admitted his actions but denied any guilt. Claiming he did nought but follow a nature designed not born, he called himsef a tool of the Emperor's craft. These words perhaps struck too close to home for the Lion Prince of Caliban, the monsters he now faced too similar to himself.
But Curze was ever at his finest when backed against the corner, and he began to turn the Primarchs against each other, accusing the Lion of ordering the orbital bombardment contrary to his brothers commands.
Guilliman and Jonson turned on each other without hesitation, and the Lion drew his blade to slay Curze in fury. Fury at himself or the Night Haunter, we will never know, but at the last moment he was ordered to stand down and the Lion Blade was taken from him and shattered.
Abandoned, as he was in the woods of home. Alone, as he was in the wilds, the Lion's heart turned black as night. Seeing the monster he was becoming, Sanguinius stripped him of his title and banished the Dark Angels from the Imperium Secundus, to never return on pain of death.
Leaving within hours, the Lion secluded himself to think upon his actions. The death of Nemiel, the banishment of Luther and a thousand other choices made by his fear and mistrust. Finally, as the ships readied to depart towards Caliban, the Lion turned to the Tuchulcha Engine and teleported himself back to Macragge, to where Sanguinius stood ready to execute the Night Haunter for his heinous crimes.
For the first time, the Lion prepared himself for honesty, and went before his brothers in hope of redemption.
The Last Night
Standing before his brothers, the Lion begged that Sanguinius let Curze live. Shocked at this recent turn of heart, Guilliman and Sanguinius demanded to know why.
The Lion explained of Curze's visions, most importantly the one pertaining to his own death at the hands of the Emperor. If such were the case then the Emperor must still be alive and to slay the Night Lord would be to jeopardize his success on Terra against Horus. Though Guilliman doubted such claims, Sanguinius relented, for he to possessed the power of clairvoyance and knew well their temperamental nature.
Taking it upon himself to guard the Night Haunter, the Lion once more departed from Macragge, this time with his brothers in tow. Hurtling into the Ruinstorm, the three Primarchs witnessed hell itself as the Sea of Storms awoke in gaudy horror.
From the Harrowing of Pyrrhan, where the Lion faced off against Daemon and traitor within the halls of a vast station, to the barren surface of Davin where the night was first born, Jonson battled in desperation against the end.
Each day that passed, every night that followed, the brothers found themselves clashing against the very foes of reality itself. Closer and closer they came to the end, each moment clawing at their immortal souls as they fought against the shadow.
It soon became obvious, however, that the forces arrayed against them were too much. Sanguinius had to make it to Earth, must survive to fight besides the Emperor and so the Lion and Guilliman seperated, distracting the traitors from the true mission of their voyage. Here he would remain until the Warmaster's death, once more a guardian in the shadow
A Home Not Remembered
With the Heresy over, he returned to Caliban to refresh, to prepare himself for a war without end against foes whose hatred grew every day. Arriving in orbit for the first time in over two hundred years, the Lion had finally come home...
And was promptly fired upon by the surface batteries that appeared to care not what they hit. Retreating from the deadly fusillade, the Lion learned to his horror that Luther had fallen, completely and utterly. Spitting on his oaths to the Dark Angels and to the Emperor, he wanted nothing more than to see Johnson dead and Caliban free from the relentless grasp of the Imperium.
An Ending Inevitable
After unending war, betrayal after betrayal, and the collapse of all that he loved around him, the Lion snapped.
Gone was the noble knight, the distant lord, the aloof prince, now was only the beast that survived the woods those centuries ago. He ordered Caliban to burn and his ships opened fire in their entirety, reducing the planet to ash and flame.
Jonson led his men into the ruins personally, to find that Luther had not fallen to madness... He had fallen to Chaos. Powerful beyond belief and elevated by the treacherous powers of the Warp, he challenged Lion to battle as the world died around them.
But after centuries of success, of battles won from the edge of defeat, the Lion was bested. Wounded by the dark powers Luther wielded he fell to his knees, broken. Luther, however, fell too, as though a veil lifted from his eyes. He realised what he had done, the depravity of his crimes and he surrendered, releasing his blade to the ground.
But the Gods would not be denied a second time, incensed that their chosen would betray them so, they sent a vast warp storm to the planet. Bombed, ruined and demolished, Caliban collapsed, leaving only the void-shielded Fortress monastery behind.
Those Dark Angels still in orbit, who had witnessed the impossible, descended to the remnants of the world and found no sign of their Primarch, or their fallen kin.
And fallen they were, and the Fallen they were so named, scattered throughout the galaxy by the powers of Chaos. The Dark Angels recovered, turning the remnants of their world into a titanic ship and set forth to battle, to forever hunt down those who had betrayed the Lion, and to expunge the greatest sin of their past.
Within the Depths
The Lion, however, did not go far. Mortally wounded as he was he remained asleep, slowly healing the terrible wound dealt to him by his oldest friend. Deep within the Rock he remained, guarded by the Watchers in the Dark, those strange entities who dwelt in the forests of Caliban, regaining his strength for when the Emperor once more calls him to battle.
None know this secret, not even the Grandmaster of the Dark Angels, for to reveal him too soon would risk his safety at the ends of the Great Enemy.
The time comes soon however, when the Lion will roar once more, his angels will fill the heavens with their wrath.
And the woods shall march once again to war...
The Lion Helm
A sacred object of the Dark Angels, this helmet was worn into battle by the Lion and elicited great fear in those who stood across from him. Possessing an intricate and miniature force-field generator, it was capable of deflecting shots from even the most deadly of weapons.
The Lion Sword
The great and terrible blade of the Primarch, it was broken at the hands of Guilliman and left rent even after his death. Now in the hands of the enigmatic Cypher, it is said that upon its reforging the Emperor will rise and the Lion will once more return to battle.
Art
1: Warhammer 40K - Lion El'Jonson by Koh LJ
2: Angels of Caliban Cover
3: Concept by hammk
4: Dark Angels Codex (Unknown Edition)
5: Dark Angel by hammk
6: Lion El'Jonson: Lord of the First Cover
7: Unknown
8: Warhammer Community
9: Paul Dainton - Ravenwing
10: Unknown
11: Diana Martinez - Cypher
Afterword
I hope you all enjoyed this installment of the Primarch's Lore by Jackeyblob. If you have any feedback or criticism, please don't hesitate to let me know. The next chapter will be about Fulgrim so I'll look forward to hearing from you then.