History Literature / BlackLegion

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Lampshaded and deconstructed as part of Khayon's explanation of Chaos Legions to the Inquisition. Despite the enormous power given by sorcery, god-blessings, daemonic allies, experience, and corrupted technology, Chaos Astartes are... well, chaotic and this has huge disadvantages - they have no formal supply lines, no dedicated manufacturing ability save for Dark Mechanicus forge-worlds that tend to serve single patrons or themselves, and very little ability to build, repair, or rearm their fleets within the Eye. This is all before you take into account that practically all Chaos warbands in the Eye of Terror have longstanding grudges or feuds with each other, and are usually fighting and stealing from each other. Khayon emphasises this by saying that the Chaos Legions can't even feed their forces because they don't have any real agriculture or food production.
** Although Space Marines age more slowly and feel the effects of aging less than normal humans, [[spoiler: Sigismund is nearly a thousand years old, is no longer in his physical prime and has already been in the thick of battle defending his flagship when Abaddon confronts him. Although he's able to hold his own for a time against Abaddon, without the latter's Chaos-enhanced physiology, Sigismund soon begins to tire and is ultimately forced into a last desperate gambit to try and kill Abaddon, [[TakingYouWithMe knowing full well it will cost him his own life]]. Khayon also notes that this trope would have played out regardless of how the duel ended; either Abaddon would have slain Sigismund or the Black Legion forces in attendance would have gunned Sigismund down even had he managed to win]].

-->'''Khayon''': I know why.\\
-->'''Lheor''': You do?\\
-->'''Khayon''': It is because she speaks like a Primarch. Everything she says is wreathed in certainty and inevitability and dripping with righteous invicibility - the same deluded cries of our failed fathers. My patience for that kind of preaching ran out around the time we were fleeing from Terra with our tails between our legs.\\
-->'''Lheor''': She ''does'' talk like a Primarch. Though she drools less than Angron ever did, [[DamnedByFaintPraise I'll give her that]].

-->'''Khayon:''' Some deaths resonate. They are more charged with emotion than others, and force a ruthless communion between slayer and slain. Few deaths resonate as much as cutting a man’s throat. There is no feeling, and no sound, quite like it. The wet gargles that try so hard to become gasps. The way the throat still aches to work, lungs quivering and straining for breath that cannot come. The ruthless, hateful intimacy of him dying in your arms.
The desperate panic in his eyes, as his quivering limbs begin to collapse beneath him. The pleading within that panic, as the brain’s final functions scream that no, no, this cannot be, this is not fair, this cannot be happening. The limp, pathetic fury as he realises it is, and he is helpless to change it. It is done. He is dead. All that remains is for him to die.

-->'''Lheor:''' [Moriana] makes my teeth itch. I can't decide why.\\
-->'''Khayon:''' I know why.\\
-->'''Lheor:''' You do?\\
-->'''Khayon:''' It is because she speaks like a Primarch. Everything she says is wreathed in certainty and inevitability and dripping with righteous invicibility - the same deluded cries of our failed fathers. My patience for that kind of preaching ran out around the time we were fleeing from Terra with our tails between our legs.\\
-->'''Lheor''': She ''does'' talk like a Primarch. Though she drools less than Angron ever did, [[DamnedByFaintPraise I'll give her that]].\\

-->'''Lheor''': She ''does'' talk like a Primarch. Though she drools less than Angron ever did, [[DamnedByFaintPraise I'll give her that]].

-->'''Abaddon''': [[spoiler: Sigismund]], this claw has killed two Primarchs. It wounded the Emperor unto death. I would have spared it the taste of your life as well, if you could only see what I have seen.

-->'''Abaddon''': He is the embodiment of all we are fighting against. He is ignorance incarnate, a puppet held up by strings of blind loyalty to the deceiving Emperor. But I cannot hate him. Is that not insane, Khayon? There stands the avatar of all we seek to destroy- an Imperial legend- and yet I admire the man.

-->'''Lheor''': [Moriana] makes my teeth itch. I can't decide why.
-->'''Khayon''': I know why. [...] It is because she speaks like a Primarch. Everything she says is wreathed in certainty and inevitability and dripping with righteous invicibility - the same deluded cries of our failed fathers. My patience for that kind of preaching ran out around the time we were fleeing from Terra with our tails between our legs.

* AntiVillain: Khayon is a lot nicer than most other Chaos space marines and even loyalist Astartes. He's troubled by the memories of the Burning of Prospero and his goal is not as much domination as it is to find a cause - and brothers - worth fighting for.

* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Khayon loses his left arm at the elbow in a duel with an Iron Warriors champion loyal to Daravek. It is replaced with an augmetic prosthesis that gradually mutates into something more Chaotic by the time he is an Imperial prisoner]].

* SoldierVsWarrior: Discussed by Lheor and Iskandar.
-->'''Khayon''': '' 'Soldiers,' he made an insult of the word. 'Once we were crusaders Khayon, and now we're warriors, but we were never ''soldiers'', keep that foolishness to yourself.

-->'''Nefertari:''' ''(genuinely confused)'' What is wrong? What is it?\\

* FiveManBand: Done twice:
** The creators of the Black Legion:
*** TheLeader: Abaddon, whom everyone obeys.
*** TheLancer: Falkus, who lobbied among others to have it done and was Abaddon's NumberTwo in the Great Crusade.
*** TheBigGuy: Lheor, who carries the biggest gun.
*** TheSmartGuy: Khayon, the sorcerer with extensive knowledge of the Warp.
*** TheChick: Sargon, who leads the others to the ''Vengeful Spirit'' and whose visions convince the entire team to join up.
** Khayon has his own FiveManBand in the beginning of the story:
*** TheLeader: Sekhandur, as the commander of ''Tlaloc''.
*** TheLancer: Gyre, his faithful daemon.
*** TheBigGuy: the Ragged Knight, insanely powerful Khornate daemon. Later replaced by Lheor.
*** TheSmartGuy: Ashur-Kai, who runs the ship for Khayon.
*** TheChick: Nefertari, Khayon's "bloodward".

* AnAxeToGrind: Khayon's signature weapon is a Fenrisian axe named ''Saern'' (Truth), taken as a trophy during the Battle of Prospero. [[spoiler:The clone of Horus end up breaking it apart.]] Lheorvine and his World Eaters warband make use of chain axes.

* TwoGirlsToATeam: The only female members of the {{Villain Protagonist}}s ensemble are Gyre and Nefertari.

--'''Khayon''': The Imperium loathes aliens with a veneer of shallow hypocrisy as rogue traders, void explorers and desperate generals have dealt with the galaxy's xenos breeds on the imperium's frontiers since our species first left Terra. But in the Empire of the Eye, inhumans are truly loathed beyond all else.