Another twist in Alpha Legion loyalities?

I skimmed through lexicanium AL article today and found out we appear in Age of Darkness more than once (I though we appeared only in Liars due). According to lexicanium:

"When Raven Guard Commander Branne arrived at Istvaan V to retrieve several of what remained of the Loyalist forces including his Primarch - Corax - the Alpha Legion played a pivotal part in letting Corax escape, going as far as killing the commander of a World Eaters battle barge to prevent it from destroying Branne's vessel."

Did anyone read that story? I am especially curious about motifs of AL. Whats the point of risking exposure to save unimportant force that in Heresy played no further role?

I've not read the story, but have heard something like that info before....

Yes the story deals with a World Eaters cruiser for the most part. The AL member is an "Advisor" sent by Horus to watch over the ship and crew. I think this another attempt by the Heresy crew to show that the AL is unsure of where it stands durring this war. By having 2 stories showing a fanatica agent of chaos, and then this one which is more leaning to the imperial side by allowing the Raven Guard to escape, it leaves the legion in that grey area of where our loyalties really lie in this war.

Currently I read short story We are one from John French and I really dont want to spoil you the story, because its... Well breath taking but there is one particular moment, which I would like to quote.

Its a moment when imperial inquisitor gets a chance to look in the face of an Alpha Legionnaire: "I expect to see the face of a monster, a monster that created me, that drove me to become what I am. But the face under the helm is that of a Space Marine, unscarred, dark eyes looking up at me from sharp features. He has a small tattoo of an eagle under his left eye, the ink faded to a dull green.

Well so far only stories from HH showed unclear loyalities of AL. Every story from 40k branded us as traitors, this might be first tidbid pointing in another direction....

Where can this story be found?

Its one of the last short stories in Age of Darkness. Its mostly about the World Eaters and Raven Guard but towards the end the "advisor" is revealed to be a Legionnaire.

I thin Eetion was talking about "We are one" by John French. It is included in Hammer and Bolter issue 10.
In the whole store we can see actions contradicting quote I posted here. There are several hints at AL being chaos, but in conclusion everything seems to be... Well, we can say different.

EDIT: There is also one interesting quote from extract of Aurelian (A D-Bs novella).

"Alpharius was the last of those present through long-range sending. He stood helmed, while all others were bareheaded, and his hololithic image was stable while each of the others suffered corruption from the vast ranges between their fleets. Alpharius, almost a head shorter than his brothers, stood scaled in crocodilian resplendence, his reptile-skin armour plating glinting in the false light of his manifestation. His salute was the sign of the aquila, the Emperor’s own symbol, made with both hands across his breastplate.

Lorgar snorted. How quaint."

I remember that quote. It certainly raises some questions about who was in the holo. I don't think that you can take anything at face value about the apparent stance the legion takes on sides. We fight for humanities future and in our own way for its soul. For a good corollary(extreme nerd moment inbound) think about the assassin from Serenity. He flat out says that he is the tool to make a better future, but in creating that future he has no place there.

We will do what must be done: pose/fall to chaos, work with the Xenos, move loyalists and traitors in a cosmic game of chess, hell we would sit down and play a game of go with Tzeentch, kick his ass and steal his Cheetos if it meant that humanity would have a glorious future. We are simply the ones who truly understand what it will take to complete our mission. It wont happen tomorrow, you cant beat it into submission, you must let your enemies undo each other. <\rant>



On a side note from that, how much of a badass do you have to be for your brothers to not know someone is standing in for you? I don't feel like Alpharius or Omegon are supposed to be that much shorter than the other primarchs.

By the way this is I found on BL site in synopsis of Deliverance lost:
"Corax and the few remaining Raven Guard escaped the massacre at Isstvan V but must now tend their wounds and replenish their numbers before they can return to the fray. Listless and distraught, the primarch returns to Terra to seek the Emperor’s counsel and is guided to the ancient genetech used to create the first Space Marines. While he seeks to rebuild his Legion and seek vengeance upon the Emperor’s Children for their betrayal, Corax is unaware that the shadowy agents of the Alpha Legion move among the Raven Guard, and that his own survival has merely been part of a far greater plan."

Any thoughts?

Perhaps the greater plan for the Legion includes modification of the gene seed to appear chaosy (a la dragons chapter with horns and whatnot) or perhaps....oooo what if we are the reason for the black founding? Straight up sneaky long term stuff there.

That's certainly a nice find
for you!

Thanks WW.

I just hope we will not fulfill role of a random carton evil guy....

I doubt it. This is one we could actually win. We all know coraxs attempts were flawed as well as the damage to the gene seed several monsters were created also.
This sounds promising.

Eetion it is not a victory what concerns me. Depiction is what I am concerned about... ("Let no evil deed go unrewarded, let no good evil deed go unpunished" anyone? )

Two sidenotes:
Synopsis of Deliverance Lost is slightly changed:

No major twists, but devil is (as always) in details. It seem that we acted on warmasters will and there is no "far bigger scheme" we just want to destroy RG. But why we didnt let WE do the exact same thing at Istvaan? Maybe we want some intel on creation of space marines?

And second one: Extract from Deliverance Lost is going out to be published in 13th issue (november) of Hammer and Bolter magazine and if there will be any tidbits about AL, I will inform you.

thanks for the update