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cleaning up the mess left for me
As the Lion's absence from Caliban increased due to the [[Horus Heresy]], Luther and his forces increasingly felt bitter and abandoned, left to deal with [[Unrest on Caliban|a rebellion by Caliban's disgruntled former nobility]] and [[Chaos]] affiliated [[Sorcerer]]s. The [[Warp]]-taint plaguing Caliban became apparent, and Luther and his followers became convinced that Caliban would be destroyed by the [[Emperor]] when this became known. They believed that The Lion had knowingly exiled them as a death sentence. Thus the seeds of Heresy were planted.{{Fn|5}} The Fallen degraded into even further treachery when an expedition to Caliban led by the loyal Dark Angels Chapter Master [[Belath]] arrived before Luther. Eventually, [[Astelan]] and [[Zahariel]] led a purge against those among Belath's forces who would be loyal to the Lion, including the Chapter Master himself.{{Fn|13}}
Eventually, Luther's Angels fully embraced treachery when they attempted to utilize the insurgents' own [[Chaos]] powers to halt the rebellion on Caliban.{{Fn|5}} At the end of the [[Horus Heresy]], when [[Lion El'Jonson]] returned to [[Caliban]], his fleet was met by a devastating barrage of defence laser fire. Stunned by the ferocious attack, Jonson withdrew his vessels from orbit and attempted to find out what had happened on his homeworld. A nearby merchant ship soon provided the answer; [[Luther]], second-in-command of the Legion and the Lion's greatest friend, had apparently ordered the approaching fleet fired upon. His reasoning for this action is unknown to the Primarch, it was suspected that Luther, like many of the Lion's brothers, had become influenced by [[Chaos]].{{Cite Marker EndFn|25}}
The fury of the Lion and his Dark Angels at what they perceived as a terrible betrayal knew no bounds; Jonson himself immediately ordered a sustained bombardment of the traitor positions and led an attack against Luther's position personally. In the resultant battle, the two adversaries struck blow upon blow against each other, tearing down the monastery around them until nearly the whole massive edifice had been leveled by their battle. Meanwhile, the massed guns of the Dark Angel fleet pounded the planet, until the very surface of Caliban began to crack under the strain of the bombardment. As the planet itself started to break apart, the battle between the Lion and Luther reached its climax. Luther, apparently aided by the powers of Chaos, unleashed a furious psychic attack that knocked Jonson to his knees and left him mortally wounded. But as the dying Primarch struggled to stand, his noble features wracked with pain, it was as if a curtain was lifted from Luther's eyes and he realized the full extent of what he had done. Devastated, the realization shattered his sanity and he slumped down beside Jonson, no longer willing to fight.{{Cite Marker EndFn|25}}
Soon after Luther's breakdown a [[warp storm]] of unprecedented fury engulfed Caliban. In an uncontrollable flood of psychic energy, the warp rushed into the physical universe. The immense strain these forces placed upon the planet, in combination with the tectonic shifting and cracking caused by the orbital bombardment caused the horrific end of the entire planet; Caliban itself shattered, breaking into countless chunks of dead and dying rock. The 'fallen' Dark Angels who had served under Luther were sucked from the face of Caliban into the warp and effectively scattered throughout space and time. None know of these events other than the Dark Angels, their Successor Chapters, and the [[Emperor]] on his [[Golden Throne]]. Even within the Chapters themselves, very few brother-Marines know the full story. It is only when Dark Angels gain entry into the [[Deathwing]] that they learn that many of the Dark Angels who followed Luther are still alive.{{Cite Marker EndFn|25}}
Unbeknownst to those at the time, the Warp storm on Caliban and the subsequent scattering of the Fallen throughout time was the result of a [[Wikipedia:Causal loop|causal loop]] in the [[41st Millennium]]. After [[Cypher]] surrenders himself to the [[Inner Circle]], perhaps in a desperate bid to change history, Cypher reveals [[The Rock]] has been host to an ancient device known as the [[Tuchulcha]] which when combined with two others (the [[Ouroboros]] and another held by [[Typhus]]) can create a bridge through time. Cypher warns that [[Astelan]]'s Fallen are seeking the same devices in cooperation with Typhus, and that the two plan to create a new "Death Angels" legion by combining the [[Plague Fleet]] with the original army of Fallen. It takes the [[Watchers in the Dark]] supporting Cypher's mission for the Dark Angels to agree to aid him, and eventually all three devices are brought within proximity to Caliban and a time portal is opened. But as enemy Fallen [[Battle of the Caliban System|close in on the portal]] [[Ezekiel]] convinces [[Azrael]] to destroy it, arguing that history should not be rewritten and the Fallen may bring catastrophe on mankind by changing history. Azrael commands Tuchulcha to scatter all those near the rift, inadvertently including the Fallen ten thousand years previous.{{Fn|12}}
==The Testimony of Astelan==
A record of the apparent motivation for the actions of those Dark Angels who would become the Fallen exists: the confession of [[Astelan]], once a Dark Angels [[Chapter Master]]. This testimony, extracted by Interrogator-Chaplain [[Boreas (Dark Angel)|Boreas]], contains the following claims: Astelan himself is supposed to have ordered the attack on the Lion's approaching fleet, with the approval of Luther, because the Dark Angels on Caliban believed that El'Jonson had fallen sway to the powers of Chaos. Astelan claimed that while the Lion had been lost in the woods of Caliban as a child, he had had a brush with Chaos and had never quite lost the taint of darkness from the incident. He pointed out that while El'Jonson had moved through the Warp towards Terra to join the defence of the [[Imperial Palace]], he had moved at what was believed to have been a deliberately slow pace; a pace slow enough to determine who the true winner of the conflict would be before committing his forces. In other words, Astelan believed that El'Jonson would not have hesitated to join Horus if it had seemed that he would have been the ultimate victor in the Heresy. Why else would the Lion, a man renowned for his strategic brilliance and speed of attack, have waited so long before leading troops to [[Terra]]? Astelan believed that by attacking his fleet, the Dark Angels stationed on Caliban were doing the work of the Emperor.{{Cite Marker EndFn|2}}
Astelan further claimed that Luther never fell under the sway of Chaos but was driven by his duty to the Emperor, fearing the traitorous nature of El'Jonson. Also, he revealed that, apparently, the majority of the men who had been garrisoned on Caliban were original members of the Dark Angels, Terrans who had been inducted before the arrival of El'Jonson as Primarch. This existing form of divide may have also contributed to the conflict on Caliban. Finally, he claimed that, in the ensuing battle between the seemingly loyalist Lutheran Angels and the possibly suspect Lionite Angels, Luther attempted to negotiate with the Lion before any more were slain. Refusing to talk, the Lion hastily ordered the bombardment of Caliban and descended to crush the Fallen in combat. Luther then apparently fought the Lion only as a last resort and mortally wounded him only when he had no other choice. The only thing that Astelan could not explain was the Warp-Storm that flung the Fallen far across the [[Galaxy]].{{Fn|2}}
This entire point of view, as told by a member of the Fallen, should be considered suspect at best and complete fabrication at worst; it could simply be a series of malicious lies or just a warped, inaccurate view of the entire incident. Often, those who fall under the sway of Chaos do not even realize that they are serving its ends, except that at the end of 'Angels of Darkness', Boreas asks for a tranmission to be sent to a solitary cell in the rock, saying simply: 'You were right'. This cell is believed, by readers, to be that of either Astelan or Luther himself. This coming from a loyal Dark Angel throws into question the loyalty of the Dark Angels, The Fallen, and Lion El'Jonson himself.{{Cite Marker EndFn|2}}
==The Risen==
*{{Endn|23}}: [[Black Legion (Novel)]], Chapter 6
*{{Endn|24}}: [[Warhammer Monthly 21]] — ''[[Bloodquest]] II: Episode Three''
*{{Endn|25}}: [[Index Astartes]] - ''The Unforgiven: The Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter''
{{ChaosForces}}