A/N: So, I have had this story hiding away in my PC forever and I thought 'why not?'. This story is based upon the Forgotten Primarchs, with an emphasis on the Eleventh because literally nothing is known about him. For the Second we have a few snippets about him, so going with the Eleventh gave me a lot more freedom.
Warning: There will be a few differences as opposed to canon, there are ways that the Eleventh will react to things so be prepared. Hope you guys enjoy and tell me what you think.
Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
The gene labs beneath the Himalayas were bolstering with the sounds of men at work, all striving towards the same goal that their project strived towards. The Primarch Project, the one which will guarantee the success of humanity as the dominant and rightful rules of the galaxy. Above all these men stood the great golden giant that led them all, the man known only as the Emperor or to those that truly knew him, Revelation. The old man that served as his eyes and ears stumbled as he barely made it out of the way of a bumbling tech priest, its robes breezing in the wind as it hurried to appease one of the many machines that were going haywire on the first pod station.
"Honestly, I do not understand how Revelation puts up with their kind." Malcador said, readjusting his robes back into their proper place.
He glared at the half machine abomination that had nearly run into him, the disgust that he felt at seeing it get down on its knees and chanting in binary to the machine made him agitated. Truly, these Mechanicum red robes did not get truly understand the meaning of their goals. They denied the Imperial Truth and saw the Emperor as their god made flesh, the only real reason that they tolerated them was because they understood technology better than anyone outside of himself and their 'Omnisiah'.
"Why we put up with their kind still astounds me, though I can understand their feelings towards the Emperor to a certain degree." Malcador said, straightened his robe.
Malcador sighed as he took one last look at the cyborg priest before moving on, having much more important duties than to reignite that old argument with his old friend. The Primarch Project was one where the utmost care had to take every step of the way lest the enemy catch on to what they were doing. Each Primarch was made with a separate goal in mind, filling an important role that they ever engineered to excel at past what any ordinary human could hope to accomplish. Thus, either Revelation or himself should be here to make sure that their attendants followed their instructions to the letter. Malcador followed the path from one end of the lab to the other, keeping tabs to see what developments the unborn children faced and thinking of ways to counter them before they became problems.
He stopped in front of the second pod, the air ominous almost immediately as he noticed that there was a pair of the Sisters of Silences, their trademark masks and bolt guns distinguishable from every other branch of their armed forces. 'What are they doing here?' Malcador thought, the two women eying him as he went forward to try and get a better feel on what had drawn him here, a pit like feeling that sucked away all psychic powers in its vicinity. The masked warriors were known to be all psychic Blanks put this feeling was entirely too powerful to come from them alone. A Pariah, the term powerful Blanks were known as, would be the only thing that would be possible to have this much effect on a psyker of his level.
He looked through the data slate that one of the attendants handed to him, the sense of dread becoming foreboding as he continued reading the logs, glancing repeatedly at the unborn child.
Subject: II
Designation: The Shield
Log 32: Recently we have introduced the Pariah gene to the Primarch in the hopes that he will develop the ability to cancel out psychic abilities on an unprecedented level. We hope that this will give him the edge that will help fulfill his duties as the head Psyker hunter that our Lord desires.
Malcador glared at the attendant, one Caldillus Nuyus if he remembered correctly, for what little he was worth. "What have you done?" He asked, he rage dripping from every syllable for the offense that this lowly genealogist had done.
"M-Milord, I am sorry, but these were the Emperor's order." Caldillus said, stuttered out as he saw the rage that the Lord Regent was possessed by. "I-I was only following His orders."
"Truly?" Malcador asked, scanning the man's mind in order to tell if he was telling the truth.
To his surprise the man was which only made the Regent even madder. He looked to the child and could not help but feel disturbed by its very being. True the status as Pariah would serve him well but at what cost? These were meant to be mankind's saviors; they should be looked up to with hope. This child would be hated and feared for this condition till the rest of his days. The Lord Regent sighed, turning to look at the twin guards that hadn't taken their eyes off him since he arrived. "Watch over him, tell me of any further developments. Preferably before this one tries to experiment any further with one of the Primarchs."
The one to the left, possessing long brunette hair and the dark eyes that Blanks were known for, signed to him in their manner of speech. 'Of course, Lord Regent. I swear that no harm shall come to young Lord Azrobath under my watch.' She said, a feel of protectiveness emitting from her eyes that even a blind man could feel.
"Azrobath?" Malcador asked, intrigued by the Sister's response, "You named him?"
'Yes milord.' The Sister said, a proud look in her eyes as she looked at the fetus, her hands flashing through so many different symbols that it was hard enough for him to follow. 'He is destined to be our Lord, the one that will lead us into battle when the time is right and smite the foes of the Emperor. He should of course have a name for which we are to call him by.'
"Hmm, if you insist so much then I do not see a problem with it." Malcador said, not really caring too much about it.
'Maybe I can see if we can tie the Sisters of Silence with the Second Legion. They would be a good anti-psyker weapon against our foes.' He mused, walking away as the two Sisters went back to their stations at the sides of the Second's pod and the attendants back to work.
Malcador marched on, looking in on the other Primarchs and making sure that they were all making the necessary progress that was required of them. Besides recent developments with the Second Son, ("Azrobath" he muttered under his breath as he tasted the word) all seemed to be progressing as planned. The old man proceeded on his way, ducking and weaving in between the numerous attendants that the Primarch Project required. He felt more comfortable being indistinguishable from the crowd, when people knew that they were being watched they tended to act more honorable but when they didn't, they allowed their true selves to emerge. Malcador stopped when he heard the mental grumblings of a rather displeased research head, his feet already heading in that direction before he had a second to truly think about it as he headed off.
'Damn useless ingrates, couldn't be trusted with a wrench let alone running any of these machines.' Malcador heard from the mind of a nearby overseer, his eyes scanning over the stout and bald man that had one of the most unpleasant expressions stuck on his face as he chastised one of the red robed priests before dismissing him with a dismissive wave of the hand.
Octavious Pious, one of the few genealogists that survived the cleansing of the religious cults on Luna. They believed that the key to immortality was locked within the secrets of genetics and committed horrific experiments in order to try and unlock them, some of the worst horrors of the Old Night were performed by them in this mad quest of theirs. Thankfully when Revelation had learned of their crimes, he gave them an ultimatum: either swear to never perform such acts again and swear loyalty to him, or they could be exterminated. Most chose the latter. With that the Sixteenth Legion was used to decimate their forces, killing most of their ilk and using the rest in numerous projects that could use their expertise.
"What seems to be the problem Pious?" Malcador asked, his amusement at the scientist's outburst given away by the smirk that he wore on his face. "There are no problems I trust?"
"All is going according to plan Lord Regent," Pious said, snarling at the Tech Priest he was previously verbally abusing and smirking as the little attendant ran in fear. "If I could get some better help than these stupid cog heads then I would be much better off, though I assume you have more important things to take care of." He said, picking up a data slate from his worktable and flicking through it as he checked the dozen, or so machines being used to mold the future superhuman.
"I am afraid that you are going to have to make do with the Genetors Pious." Malcador said, looking over the cloistered mess which was Pious's workplace.
The man might be a genius at his work but a clean individual he was not, it did not help matters that he kept on scaring off whatever aides they assigned to help him. "I trust that the Tenth is coming along as scheduled? I wouldn't want to have to start doubting the skill that you have been going on and on about that you seemed to possess in your field."
"The Tenth will be one of the finest of the batch Lord Regent." Pious said, his pride and hubris showing through as he looked at the pod which housed the vessel of his hopes and dreams as a true genealogist. "Despite what setbacks I have experienced thanks to those useless cyborgs I should have no further issues."
"If you say so Pious, I am trusting that you can make good on your word." Malcador said, "I would hate to have to replace you after all of your hard work."
He would if need be, their work was too important that the pride of a fanatic, but his replacement would surely not be as skilled.
Malcador nodded to the man, making ready to leave before he thought back on what Pious had said and what it truly meant '" No further issues" he said, I didn't hear anything about that.' "What did you mean by no further issues, have there been any new developments?" Malcador asked, he already had one surprise today with one of the Primarchs. He truly did no need another issue. He didn't doubt that Pious would fail to mention something, the man's pride was too strong at times that it would override what little sense was in the man's head.
"Well there was one problem but as far as I am aware it's been taken care of." Pious said, brushing off Malcador's concerns though he quickly cleaned up his attitude when he saw the Sigilette narrow his eyes at him, angering the old man was paramount to suicide, one he meant to correct immediately. "It was probably just a hiccup in the system, nothing more."
"If it was just a technical error then you should have no problem showing me." Malcador said, narrowing his eyes at the man. He did not appreciate being blown off in such a manner, like some useless imbecile that did not know what he was doing like Pious thought of everyone around him. He was the voice of the Emperor and would not take such an insult lying down.
The man shrugged, picking up a separate data slate and pulling up numerous charts on it. "We had a few problems with the brain activity of the Tenth, as you can see that it was experiencing a lot of unusual activity around two weeks ago." Pious said, pointing to one of the graphs to make his point clear on the subject. The reading was off the charts at some points, the lines that represented their activity all over the place. This was not a good sign; this would normally mean that one of the Primarchs was being psychically manipulated which did not bode well for them, be it from one of the own or the Great Enemy themselves.
"Why did you not mention this sooner?" Malcador asked, glaring at the charts and then at the man himself who did a bit worried at his anger, as he should be. 'Of course, he doesn't understand. He couldn't possibly comprehend what this could mean for us.' Malcador thought, scoffing at the idea that this arrogant man had neglected to share information that could prove vital to the success or fail of one of their Primarchs, his pride in his work overriding what little sense the man had.
"If things had progressed this way, I would have been forced to Lord Regent." Pious said, admitted once he saw the ferocity in the older man's eyes. "But as they stood, the activity disappeared as soon as it arrived." He said, pulling up another chart for Malcador to look at. This chart was a little less hectic than the last, the activity being within more acceptable deviations than before. "This was one week ago, as you can see things have went back to normal and as far as we can tell it will not be a problem again."
"What makes you so certain of that?" Malcador asked, pleased that things were finally looking up. 'Perhaps it was nothing, just a common mechanical mistake.' He thought, though even with the incompetence of some of the Tech Priests even he found that to be unlikely.
"I did my own investigation into the problems, asking around the other project heads." Pious said, eager to please him to avoid a true confrontation. He wouldn't want to join his lost comrades after all. "The only other Primarch who seems to have had similar issues is the Twelfth, everyone else seemed to have no idea what I was talking about."
"Hmm, and what of the Eleventh?" Malcador asked, trying to piece together what could have caused this conundrum to have occurred. 'It might be tied to this part of the labs, if so then figuring out exactly where it is located is key to rooting it out.'
"I tried asking Anatarius, but you know how he can be." Pious said, shrugging at the Sigilette's question. "He gave me some vague answer, claiming that he would take care of the problem before it got too out of hand. Based on the evidence I say that he made good on his promise."
"What can you tell me of this 'Anatarius'?" Malcador asked, his unfamiliarity with the man not too surprising when you consider that not all the heads were completely loyal to the Emperor. The last head of the Eleventh son was 'removed' because of personal complications, apparently, she didn't take too well to the fact that they had killed many of her former colleagues and were 'abusing' her knowledge for their own personal gain. 'Some people just cannot see the bigger picture, allowing their petty squabbles overtake their senses.'
"Not much to say about him," Pious said, the disdain clear to see as well as the contempt that he seemed to hold this Anatarius in. "He's a Genitor, one of the best that those cog heads in the Mechanicum have but I have heard some nasty rumors circulation around him. Apparently, he was exiled from the Bio-Genetic branch because he was delving too far into what they call 'techno-heresy', seemed to have a personal vendetta against psykers apparently."
"Psykers?" Malcador asked, not taking too well to what he was hearing. While the stigma against psykers was common enough that he wouldn't consider it a true problem, the man's history of skirting the line and questionable ethics were not the cornerstones that they were looking for regarding those they trusted with the Primarchs. 'I'll have to look into this priest, I doubt that I will like what I find out either.' He thought, thanking Pious for his help before bidding the man good day and setting off to investigate their recent problems.
Malcador did not know when he first heard it, a meek and frankly weak whimper that called out to him in the direction of the Eleventh pod. He was on his way to check further into this Anatarius character, from what he had been able to gather the Tech Priest was excommunicated completely from his former colleagues in the Bio-Genetics department and for good reason. Anatarius was trying to figure out the secret to perfecting psychic potential into an individual's genetic structure, while this may not seem to be particularly bad, he didn't just stop there.
The long list of experiments and research that the mad priest had conducted on his subjects were horrific in the eyes of the Sigilette. 'No wonder the Mechanicum were willing to turn him over to us, while his knowledge might be of use to us the risks that he might try something is too great to simply be left alone.' He thought, strutting down the halls, still hearing the quiet whimpers that resonated within his head. A pair of Custodian guards were flanking him, there in case his worst fears were confirmed, and they had to remove the man before he could do any harm.
Malcador thundered down the hallway, the sound of his staff hitting the cold hard floor the only sound that the attendants could listen to as they fearfully went about their work. They had seen the look on the Regent's face and the pair of gold armored guards at his side. This made the normally stoic old man even more intimidating as he forced his way into the section of the lab dedicated to the Eleventh Son. None dared stand in their way, the poor mortals jumping and scurrying to get out of the man's way, they did not wish for the man to turn his rage unto them and they had to live with the aftermath of what was to come.
The old man approached the sealed off area which contained the laboratory of the Eleventh, storming past the gates with all due haste. The pounding sound of the whimpers all too powerful for even the second most powerful human psyker. 'I do not know what this mad man might have done but if he has jeopardized us then I will unmake him.' Malcador thought, scanning for the filthy traitor with all due haste. The lab seemed relatively normal at first glance, attendants running about doing their menial work while their overseer was scrunched over his table as he was writing one report or another. Once Anatarius saw them he had a look of surprise on his mechanical face, dropping his quill and walking over to them, the heavy sounds of his metal footsteps shaking the ground. Malcador tapped into the man's mind, searching through it for any relevant data as they began their conversation.
"Lord Regent, what a surprise." Anatarius said, bowing deeply to the significantly smaller man, his cheerful expression not leaving his face for a moment. "If I had known that you were coming then I would have cleaned up a bit more for your inspections." 'What is he doing here? I did not expect that the Regent himself would make an appearance, hopefully he doesn't catch on.'
"No, that is quite alright." Malcador said, smiling back at the man though there was no cheer to be found in it. This was the expression of a man that was doing his best to restraint himself to the best of his ability. "I find that people are shown to be much more honest in regards in their work when they are not aware that they are being observed. I am sure that you can state the same when it comes to your workers."
"I suppose that that is true to a certain extent, though I feel that I would have been able to show you more relevant data if you had given me time to write up a formal report." 'Oh if only this fool would just shut up and leave me to my work, we are in a very delicate state right now and I cannot afford to humor this old flesh bag.' Anatarius said, humming regarding what his counterpart said and crossing his shoulders. "I am afraid that my personal notes are not too well written, lest of all for someone of your position to be forced to go through them. I am not the greatest at writing them when I get all caught up in my excitement."
"No, I assume that you wouldn't. I heard as much from some of our Genitor friends in the Bio-Genetic branches, they had a lot of interesting things to say about you." Malcador said. The tech priest instantly froze up at his comment, letting a little of the unease that Malcador wanted to see in the man's face lit up as he saw where this conversation was going.
"W-What are you talking about Lord Regent?" 'How does he know about that? Why? I didn't do anything too obvious; does he know what we have been trying to do?' Anatarius asked, finally taking true notice of the golden Custodes that were flanking his superior's sides. They had their hands firmly gripping their power glaives, if their faces could be seen then he was sure that the both would be glaring at the tech priest for what little he was worth. "I surely do not know what you mean, you must be mistaking me for someone else."
"No, I am quite sure Anatarius." Malcador said, walking forward into the tech priest's space as he back tracked with the gracefulness of a coward. "I heard that you were excommunicated for experimenting with psykers, ripping what little Navigators and Telepaths that were given to you into little bits. I even heard this nasty little rumor that you were trying to clone some psykers of your own, that was what finally got you caught." He pressed on, the man sprinting away with all haste until he had no more room, his back to the wall next to the pod. "I didn't want to believe this of course, you seemed like had upstanding individual and your knowledge would prove useful to us, but I can't risk you butchering all of our hard work by dissecting one of our Primarchs now can I?"
"Please milord, I was just trying to make a few improvements." 'How dare this old coot get in the way of my progress, there had to be sacrifices in order to progress the field, but they were acceptable.' Anatarius pleaded, knowing what fate that would be awaiting him if the Sigilette found judged and found him wanting. "My knowledge in regard to how psychic powers manifest has proven invaluable to the project, I have done no wrong truly."
"I will be the judge of that Anatarius," Malcador stated, pointing to the lab deck which was clustered with papers. "Go fetch me your notes, they will hold the truth of what you have done here. If what you say is true then this should be no problem and we can just forget all about this, if not…well I think that I'll let you think quite hard on that." He said, pushing the priest into the table's direction.
The tech priest scrambled to get what he needed; paranoia so clear to all around them. The attendants stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the exit, the two gold guards guarding it made the option not advisable as they turned to the menials and one of them slowly shook his head, none daring to push the guards.
"H-Here you are milord, my personal notes in regard to the project." 'Thank the Machine God this is just my backup data slate, nothing incriminating there so all should be fine.' Anatarius said, thrusting the data slate into the man's hands before bowing deeply. "I think that you will find that everything is in order."
Malcador scanned the slate, looking it over for any faults before handing it back to the tech priest and smiling to him. "Everything seems to be in order, except that there is just one problem."
"W-What would that be Lord Malcador?" Anatarius asked, relieved that he was in the clear now. The relaxed look on his face lasting for but a movement before the Sigilette knocked him over the head with his staff, the psychic power radiating from it made it clear that the man was not pleased.
"Do you think that I am an idiot you fool?" Malcador sneered, grabbing the man by his robes and pulling out another data slate from within, the tech priest shocked that he was able to check on to his treachery so easily.
"H-How did you-?" Anatarius asked, shocked that the man was able to know that the data slate that was given did not hold the true research notes that he had taken.
"You are talking to one of the greatest telepaths in existence you imbecile." Malcador said, glaring at the researcher for what he was worth. "I simply have been reading your mind from the moment that I first started speaking to you; you shouldn't be so surprised. You should be aware of what a psyker can be capable of, we re your expertise apparently."
Malcador ignored the shocked and enraged look upon the man's face as he scanned the correct data slate, it was no fault of his that his mind was not the perfect sanctuary that he believed it to be. He was simply paying the price for toying with powers that were beyond his control, this was the first step in many and the rest would be even more painful before this was all through.
Subject: XI
Designation: The Watchman
Log 33: Once we had inserted Xenos DNA (designation Aeldari) the subject started to show signs of irritation and started to lash out with his mind. We have been forced to set up more seals on the pod, using what knowledge I have come to understand of the psychic arts they should hold. The child has taken to screeching at the workers so this was proven to be the correct choice, while any psykers looking in on him will not be hindered he will not be able to communicate at all outside of his pod. More tests will have to be done in order to maximize the psychic potential of the subject, while humanity is lacking in this department, I feel that by introducing additional Xenos races into the mix that the subject will be the better for it.
Malcador had to hold himself back as he continued to read the log, the rage at this man's irresponsibility was enough to make him want to mind strip him. 'We were lucky to get here when we did, if I had waited then the situation would most likely be unsalvageable.' Malcador thought, going through several scenario so that he could try and make the best of this horrible situation.
"So, I guess we know what happened to those Eldar corpses that were lost." Malcador said, glaring down at the kneeling tech priest. There was a recent discovery of some Eldar scouts on Mars, most likely they were looking for any new data on what the 'mon'kiegh' were doing here and were promptly killed for their efforts. Their bodies were secured by the Mechanicus but soon went missing. 'It appears that they have shown up in Anatarius's hands, not surprising given his scientific interests.' Malcador thought, going on to verbally abuse the man a bit more. "While I can condone the research of both the xenos and psykers in general. I can not allow you combining the two, the risk of you making some abomination of man and Eldar is too high." He grasped the man's head, forcing him to make eye contact, showing the pure unbridled rage that he was to unleash upon this fool. "Do you have any last words before I strip you of the mind that you seem to cherish so much?"
"I have committed no wrong." Anatarius said, glaring at Malcador, not a shred of remorse to be found in his eyes. "Everything I have done; I did for the betterment of our race. We need to have the knowledge of how psykers manipulate and control the Warp and the only way to do that is to conduct experiments. Any scientist will say that the way to new knowledge is through experimentation, I have only bettered the Eleventh with the gifts that I have given him!" Anatarius yelled, hysterically screeching before one of the Custodes drew forward and blew what functioned as brains from the cyborg's head, hearing enough of what the mad man had to say.
"Why did you shoot him?" Malcador asked, rounding on the Custodes who did not flinch when he saw the anger that was emitting from the Sigilette's form. He of course already knew what the Custodes thought of his course of action and allowed him to act, sometimes he allowed his rage to overtake him and that has led to some unfortunate choices. 'Still, say what you will but that man has guts to defy me in any manner.'
"There was no reason to let him live and torturing him for the sheer sake of it would do us no good." The Custodes said, bowing to Malcador. "Besides, I think that we have quite enough on our plate before we go any further."
"You are quite right." Malcador said, sighing as he looked at the corpse of the overseer before turning and regarding the attendants, shocked at seeing their commander dead. He could feel the shock and alarm radiation off of all of them so he felt it best that they occupy themselves with something. "I want you all to clear out so that we can clean this up, come back in but an hour to await further orders."
The workers ran out the room in an orderly fashion, not willing to risk the Regent's wrath and seeing no reason to fight for a dead man's case. He didn't go out of his way to try and know any of them, so they saw no reason to put their necks out for him. Good riddance as far as they were concerned.
"First things are first," Malcador said, inspecting the pod as well as the new seals that were on it. They were rudimentary and lacked most of the components of a proper abjuration seal, the fact that they worked at all spoke levels of the tech priest's skill. Though it might have more to do with how many there were as opposed to any true skill on his part. "I have to say that he did have a basic idea of what he was doing, if nothing else."
Malcador tapped his staff against the pod, the weak and inferior seals that were keeping the young Primarch confined were released, ripped into a thousand pieces while keeping the original ones designed for his protection in place. This would be extremely difficult for most psykers, the minute level of control needed was one in which most did not focus on, but he was the second most skilled psyker for a reason. "Now, how does that feel little one?" Malcador asked, putting his hand on the glass and reaching out with his mind towards the child. He was instantly meet with a sharp wail that rung throughout his head, the sound was so powerful that he almost lost contact almost instantly but was able to hold on. 'Now I am seeing why Anatarius put those on there.' Malcador thought, rubbing his temple in order to help get rid of the pain.
Malcador send some calming thoughts through his bond, hoping to get the child to stop before he had to take more drastic measures he would rather avoid. 'It is alright, the bad man is gone now. You are safe young one so please be quiet.' He said, hoping that his psychic charged thoughts would be basic enough that the child would be able to easily understand him.
Malcador could feel the pain and anguish that the child was going through, the only recourse that he had was to simply wail, Primarch or no he was still but an infant. He tried to calm the child down, sending calming thoughts to him so that he could try and placate the boy to some avail.
'Tell me what hurts, what did he do to you?' Malcador asked, hoping to gain a bit of insight into the problem to resolve it. 'I cannot do anything to stop the pain if I do not know what the problem is.'
The child stopped wailing if for but a moment, sending a series of images into the Sigilette's head. There were several of them involving Anatarius, injecting the pod with a series of substances and probing the child with needles repeatedly. Attached to these images were the emotional connections that he had to them, most prominently pain and a sense of unease and terror at what the tech priest had done.
'Hm, we'll have to make sure that the Eldar DNA was able to properly connect with the child's structure to avoid any complications.' Malcador thought, pondering the situation for a bit while keeping the child calm.
Though the Eldar DNA no doubt was the main reason was as developed, both psychically and emotionally, there was the risks that Anatarius had failed to consider in administering it so late. The problem with this scenario was that while what Anatarius had done would normally not be too big of a problem, if it was done in the earlier stages of the project. In the latter stages any change, no matter how big or small, could have disastrous consequences. The only way to salvage this was to have a powerful biomancer, which Malcador was not, to into the child's structural makeup and either remove it entirely or make it fit perfectly in the child's DNA makeup.
"Alright, I think that I know what I need to do." Malcador said, nodding to himself before diving back into the 'conversation' ('could one truly have a conversation with an unborn child?').
'I fear that what the bad man has done is outside of my ability to fix child.' Malcador thought, noticing the sense of unhappiness surfacing in the child's thoughts and moving to ease that lest there be another wailing fit.
'Do not fret, I will go and fetch your Father child. He will know what to do in this situation, do not fear.' He was about to take his hand off the glass before he felt the child's presence tense up and scream out at him, the panic clear to see.
The child whimpered in his mind, the sound was weak and showed the amount of agony that the child was in along with the need to not be alone. It was a pitiful sound which made even Malcador feel sorry for the creature for but a moment, steeling his resolve and ready to break off from the connection. This did not go over so well as the child latched on even further, he was powerful to be sure in the ways of telepathy even at that age, but it was nothing compared to the strength of the Sigilette.
'If I break off from him forcibly then that could bode ill for the child.' Malcador thought, sighing at the childish nature of the young Primarch. It could very well cause irreversible damage if he were to do so, someone at that age was still developing their powers and he could very well damage that. He returned to looking at the unborn Primarch, chuckling to himself at his stubbornness before relenting to his demands. 'If that is your wish then I will stay here until your Father arrives, you are quite the stubborn one it seems.'
The child beamed at this, taking his mild scolding as praise. Malcador smiled at this, nodding in response before turning to look at the Custodes, looking at the ready to spring into action if the need arised.
"Is something the matter Lord Malcador?" The one on the left said, looking at the sight with a bit of unease. Though it was common for them to see either their Lord or the Regent display their psychic prowess the fact that one of them could be stopped in their tracks if for, but a moment was a cause of concern. Though the fact that the Sigilette was truly smiling was a good sign that things were under control.
"Yes Custodes, I want you to go and fetch the Emperor with all due haste." Malcador said, not taking his eyes from the pod as he issued his orders. "Tell him that there has been a recent development with the Eleventh that requires his attention, mentioned that this is a problem that I do not feel completely confident in doing myself."
"Yes milord, it will be done." The Custodes said, bowing before the Regent and making all due haste in fulfilling his orders.
Malcador pulled up a seat next to the pod, "Well it seems like that I will be here for a while." Malcador said, pondering his situation. 'Do you have anything else that you would like to show me young one?'
This seemed to be the correct thing to ask as the child beamed at him through their connection and then proceeded to bombard the old man with image after image, asking questions all the way.
"This is quite the perplexing situation Malcador." Revelation stated, looking at his sleeping son. The child had long since run out of energy from the experience, sharing all that he had observed during the small span that he had been conscious. The powers of a telepath were ones that were both simple and yet some of the most dangerous. A telepath can make a playground of someone's mind, they can root throughout all their thoughts and feelings, messing with their perception of the world and everything that they to be true. Therefore, telepaths were scorned by the populace at large, while their strength does not show itself as directly as say a pyromancer, they are perhaps more deadly thanks to their subtlety. "I see why you called for me, this procedure escapes your set of skills old friend."
"Unfortunately, you are correct." Malcador said, looking at the man that the world (and soon the galaxy) knew as the Emperor of Mankind. He had chosen to forgo his regular gold-plated armor in lieu of a simple tunic, his attire not taking away from his impressive from. "Though I feel that this situation could have been resolved if you had not seen fit to grant them such dangerous powers Revelation."
"How so?" Revelation asked, gesturing with his hand towards the sleeping child, "While it is true that the Eleventh has great telepathic powers, I do not see how the situation would have been different if he did not have them. The tech priest would still have tried to experiment on him and we would still be in this scenario, the Primarchs are psychic beings by nature and they all display this in numerous ways."
"True, but I still believe that you are putting too much stock in your psychically gifted sons." Malcador said, the distrust he had towards them clear to see. "You of all people know what the Enemy can do to them, what they have the potential to do if they got out of hand."
"And for that very reason I chose to give the Eleventh his powers." Revelation stated, that all knowing looking in his eyes one that the Sigilette had come to loathe at times. It was a look that meant he could not be persuaded to change his mind on the subject, even Malcador could not hope to do so.
"What is the difference between us, Malcador, and the Primarchs?"
"None truly, except that we are the ones that hold their reins." Malcador said, his belief in his statement paramount. They were all weapons of mankind to use against their enemies, be they the foul xenos races or the forces of Chaos that threatened the universe at large.
"The key point old friend, is that the difference in power between us and them is the bridge that separates us." Revelation said, nodding at is companion's thoughts on the matter. "While we may act as guides and mentors to them, there will always be a difference of trust between us and them. They will be willing to tell their brothers thoughts that may seem traitorous to our cause and that bond of brotherhood is what keeps them on the same level with one another."
"Are you saying that the reason you gave him such dangerous power is your fear that one of them will turn on you?" Malcador asked, hating the thought of such an act.
The forces of Chaos were terrifying in the way that they turned the most loyal among your ranks to their cause. The taint of Chaos is such that few things in this universe could hope to remove it, Revelation's touch being the only true way that he knew of.
"I dislike the thought as well but we much admit that it is a possibility." Revelation said, shaking his head and then pointing at the pod. "That is why the Eleventh is skilled in the ways of telepathy as well as in the ways of empathy. His eyes shall be the ones that shall uproot all those within the ranks of our Astartes who would fall to their hands, he is the watchman that will be on the lookout for the great Enemy."
"I hate to admit it Revelation but you are correct, as always." Malcador said, looking at the child with untrusting eyes.
The thought of psykers beyond the two of them was not a pleasant thought though they could be trained to be loyal and not abuse their powers. "What of the Eldar DNA inside of him? What should we do about that?"
"That is a small matter, as far as I am concerned this might have been a blessing in disguise as they say." Revelation said, holding out his hand and allowing the power of the Warp to channel through him. As soon as he touched the pod there was a flash of light and the pain that the child was in was gone, replaced with tranquility and peace as Revelation fixed the failed merging and allowed the two to become one as was the intention. "The Eldar are known for their skills in the mystic arts. This can only be a boon."
"I think that you are showing a little favoritism to those among your children who happen to be psykers rather than treating them with the suspension that is due to them." Malcador said, shaking his head at the Emperor's words.
"If you are so afraid that they are going to turn on us old friend, then I trust that you will make the precautions to make sure that such a thing does not happen." Revelation stated, showing the little bit of trust he had in the Primarchs. If they were trained and conditioned correctly, they should be fine, but they could never be too careful.
"Gladly old friend, I will make sure that nothing will threaten the future of mankind." Malcador said, looking at the pods that lined the halls of the lab. His eyes glazing over them as if scrutinizing them for some crime that they have yet to commit, stopping once at the Eleventh before turning his back and leaving. The sound of his staff echoing throughout the halls. "No matter the cost."