Hello dear readers. It's been a while since the last chapter. A lot of you have been asking when this one would come up.
I hope all of you managed without your regular fix of Prim-arc during this time because you're all going to have to get used to it. As I have described earlier, the updates will be less frequent from now on. That's just the way of things, sorry.
On an side note: this crossover now has over 300 favorites and over 400 subscribers! Who-hoo! So yeah, I feel pretty good about that and I would like to thank all of you for your appreciation for this story. Thank you, thank you all.
Now without further ado, on to a few words about the chapter:
In this chapter, Jaune gets an account of what has happened in the galaxy while he has been dead.
I will understand if you feel that the text is a bit dry and boring, deeming it to be more exposition. But as some of you admitted for the last chapter: it's needed. And do but keep in mind that I still decided to not touch upon a lot of stuff that has happened in just the 41st millennium.
Chapter 27
Augustus Arc was standing outside a hospital room with a thermos in his hand. Next to him stood Deon, the apothecary that had saved both Jaune's and Pyrrha's lives. Augustus had chatted with the marine a few times by now and he seemed to be easy to get along with. Especially compared to some of his battle brothers.
Now they were waiting outside Pyrrha's room. They had both been accompanying Jaune as he had wanted to talk to her for a bit. Sure, the lovebirds had seen each other the day before but had hardly talked at length back then, what with just having woken up after a month and all.
Augustus and Deon had both had a feeling that this day's talk wouldn't be as nice. Jaune had had a bit of a frown as they had walked along earlier. Augustus thought he knew why and he suspected that Deon had an inkling as well. Of course Deon, being a transhuman, seemed to have some difficulties understanding how 'mortals' thought and felt. That is why he seemed a bit concerned and confused when they heard shouting from the room.
Deon tilted his head as if to ask Augustus a unspoken question: 'Should we intervene?'
The huntsman shook his head. Deon might be among the better of his brothers when it came to dealing with mortals but he did not know how to handle a lovers quarrel. Well, that is what the primarch's mortal father had called it.
"Should we not intervene? Perhaps a summon a chaplain to-"
Before the space marine could go on Augustus cut him off.
"No, best to let them be for now. They need to get it out of their system so that they can get past it."
Deon nodded slowly. Augustus however shrugged and took a sip from his thermos. "Believe me, I've been there a few times. He is only angry because he cares so much for her. Once they have heard each other out and they have had time to think about it they'll get over it."
"I… see."
"Think nothing of it. We'll just keep an eye on it. Besides, if they can't handle it themselves, your 'father' has seven sisters that would be more than happy to help them out. Now, fancy a coffee, grandson?"
Augustus held up a filled cup of the dark liquid. Deon recognized it as recaff of a sort by the smell. Deciding to be gracious the marine accepted the cup. It seemed quite tiny in his hands as he began to ponder over their primarch's family.
They were a bit odd, he figured. Being so willing to see the descendants of the IX as their own relatives. After a fashion of course.
Pyrrha's room
Pyrrha Nikos was not having a good time. She was quite upset and angry. The object of her anger: Jaune Arc.
They were having their first fight in their relationship and it was about her decision to go up the tower.
She had known back then that he would have protested against her decision had he been awake at the time. What she had not expected was just how angry he would be with her afterwards.
"Why would you leave me!?" Jaune shouted at her.
"Because I couldn't wake you up!"
"That is not what I meant! Why would you go and fight Cinder when you couldn't win! Why would you leave me to mourn you?"
"I'm sorry!" she shouted back. "But I had to! It was my destiny!"
"No! You said that your destiny was to protect everyone! How would committing suicide protect anyone?"
"I couldn't let someone like Cinder have that kind of power! I had to stop her. I was the only one who could."
"Only you!? You could have called for help! You could have waited for reinforcements to come!"
"There was no time! If I waited she would have gotten away and the tower would have fallen. I couldn't let that happen."
"That's stupid! Stop being stupid, Pyr! You couldn't win! Cinder killed Ozpin for dust's sake! She killed one of the most, if not the most, skilled huntsmen on Remnant. And he knew what he was up against. You should have just waited for help to come. You should have waited for the astartes to come and let them deal with Cinder."
"They weren't there!"
Tears of anger rolled down her cheeks. Why wouldn't Jaune understand her and her reasons?
"They weren't there and I didn't have time to wait. Had I done so, she would have had free hands to destroy the tower."
"She was in the tower, Pyr! Who in their right mind destroys a tower that they are inside of?"
"Well, she could have just flown away and let the dragon destroy the tower instead! I had to stop her, no matter the cost. I had to fulfill my destiny! I had already failed once, I couldn't let it happen again."
"And you didn't stop to think on what would happen if you failed?"
"Why do you care? You were the one who told me to not get anything get between me and my destiny."
"I didn't know what was going on back then! You weren't making any sense when I asked what you meant. Had I known I would have taken you away from it all!"
"And keep me from doing-"
"Yes! I would have! What you did was stupid. And what's worse, had you told me about it maybe we could have asked the astartes for help sooner. Remember what I said down in the vault about Curze and stasis coffins? We could have put Amber in one of those! "
"I couldn't tell you! I wanted to, I really did, but Ozpin and Ironwood told me not to."
"And you went along with it! Why? Didn't you trust me? Is that it?"
"I did trust you! It's just- they just didn't know if your astartes could be trusted with knowing about the Maidens. Ozpin told me that if the power wasn't kept from Cinder then all of Remnant would suffer. That is why I went up the tower. The power had to be kept safe, along with all of Remnant. No matter the cost."
"The cost would matter! Didn't you stop to think of what would become of us if we had lost you? What of Ren and Nora? Wouldn't they miss you? What would have become of me if you had died? Did you even stop to think about us and how we would feel about it?"
"I-"
She stopped. She had thought about them, but only how it would be to lose them. She hadn't thought how they would feel about losing her. Nora and Ren thought of her as family and Jaune had been ready to give his life to keep her safe. For all his anger, it stemmed from his love for her. For all her laments of losing them she had completely failed to imagine if the roles had been changed.
"I'm sorry. I was just so worried. All that responsibility, the chance of losing everything, I- I'm sorry."
Jaune's expression softened a bit but he didn't respond immediately and instead he rose up and turned to the door.
"I'm sorry too. We will talk more later."
Jaune left as he had other things to deal with, but also to give Pyrrha some space and time to think. They would not done this talk yet. But for now they both needed a bit of space. Space that Pyrrha did appreciate.
She understood why Jaune was upset with her and her actions. But she was also angry that him for not understanding her, or not bothering to understand her. But then again, she had still not revealed the whole truth to him.
And he had called her stupid. That had hurt, even if she understood his reasoning. No one had ever done that before. And to have it be him to do it for her first time made so much worse.
But the more she contemplated her action, the less sense they made. A lot of her actions leading up to the battle didn't make sense.
So many decisions had been made that now baffled her. Her lack of focus when she fought Penny. Her blatant obsession with her destiny and need to go after Cinder without making sure help was coming.
She had told Weiss to call Goodwitch but she had completely forgotten that no one from Team RWBY would leave their friends in such danger without running in to save their friends themselves. There had never been any possibility of Weiss calling Goodwitch before she and Ruby made for the tower.
It was all so obvious now. There had never even been a chance for Goodwitch to get to the tower in time either even if Weiss had called the professor.
Stupid. She had been so stupid.
Jaune had left her room to leave her to calm down or simmer in her own impotent anger for a while. Pyrrha was so busy doing just that that she barely noticed the massive space marines enter the room, taking her by surprise.
Pyrrha found herself a bit awestruck. How such large individuals could move so quietly was beyond her.
She looked at them and tried to take in as much detail as possible as this was the first time she was actually seeing them properly. When she had first been in their presence she had been on death's door and unconscious.
She looked at their faces, now bare as their helmets were mag-locked to their hips. She thought she could recognized some features on their faces, features that Jaune had been developing for some time now.
'So these are the astartes?' she thought.
They wore armor of different colors and their heraldry differed but they all had one thing in common: a drop of blood.
One astartes, in the colors Jaune had said were those of his legion, spoke.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all."
Pyrrha recognized the words and without thinking spoke the rest of them.
"Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
It were the words she had spoken when she unlocked Jaune's aura. But how did they know them?
"You know the words." said the space marine and watched her closely. He looked as if he had just come across something that he recognized from somewhere else. But if so, what? Her voice?
"Yes. I said them when I unlocked Jau- I mean, Sanguinius' aura. That started his changes." she explained and watched the space marines' reaction. Their faces remain stern and still. Some nodded in acknowledgement or as if their own thought and ideas had been proven right.
Pyrrha's heart began to beat frantically when the astartes unsheathed their blades, eyes still on her.
Should she use her semblance to protect herself? Should she scream? Were they going to kill her? Why? For what?
Pyrrha's fear was replaced by confusion and the awe as the warriors moved, each of them putting one knee to the floor next to the points of their swords and kneeling in front of her.
"We thank you, Pyrrha Nikos of Remnant, for returning our lord and father to us. Please accept our thanks on behalf of all the sons of the Angel."
Pyrrha is almost without words. That they would be grateful she understood, but this? She had believed the astartes being too proud and mighty to bow to her.
Without thinking she spoke, years of her being a public persona taking over.
"You're welcome. You can get up now."
Hardly the grandest words she had ever spoken, but what was she supposed to say?
The warriors got up and turned around to leave.
"But there is one thing… If I may ask you something." Pyrrha said weakly, finding it almost difficult to muster the courage to speak to them even after they bowed to her.
Jaune had not agreed with her actions but maybe these warriors, with their centuries of experience, would see things differently.
The warriors stopped and turned to her.
"Ask." said the one who had spoken to her previously.
She told them of her decision for going up the tower, skipping over what had transpired in the vault as she didn't know if it was fine for her to tell them about the maidens.
She told them of her motivations for doing what she did and of the doubts that were currently plaguing her.
"So, I'm asking, did I do the right thing?"
The warriors were quiet for a while, throwing each other the occasional glance as if to convey that they were all in accord.
They agreed with their father. While they were all used to taking on deadly tasks in the service of the Emperor and the safekeeping of humanity, getting oneself killed doing something impossible was not sound strategy. Many of them had fought for honor, or to redeem themselves for sins not really their own, but to go off and die doing something that one couldn't pull off was another matter.
They praised her dedication and courage but imparted words of wisdom to her as well. Pyrrha listened closely to what they told her, learning from the more experienced warriors.
Being hailed as a prodigy her entire life, being rumored to not being able to anything wrong, and mostly living up to the tales about her had never really prepared her for this. She had never really learned how to deal with failure and the consequences of making a bad call.
And now she was being told, not only by her partner, but also by the astartes, warriors with supposedly centuries of experience, and even by her physician that she had done just that. It was a hard pill to swallow.
"I see. I thank you for your wisdom." Their words were heavy on her.
She laid down as the astartes left, being summoned to council with Jaune and a representative of Vale's council.
As the warriors left, the Arcs, Ren and Nora entered instead. Having heard the argument between Jaune and Pyrrha as well as what the astartes had told her, they decided not to speak too much of her actions. It cheered her up quite a bit.
Later - Jaune's room
Glynda Goodwitch was standing in front of her student, now essentially her ruler, Jaune Sanguinius Arc, and briefed him on Vale's situation.
She had gotten over her initial aversion to the astartes a while ago as she had been the one chosen by Vale's council to act as their liaison to the warriors. An understandable decision really. As acting headmistress of Beacon Academy she was arguably the only one from the council that could actually stand up to the warriors without flinching too much.
There had been those on the council that wanted the astartes gone but Goodwitch had shut them up quickly enough. While the astartes had essentially walked over Vale's laws and administration, they had also done the most in the fight against the grimm in decades. Not to mention that it would be foolish to piss them off when they were holding the guns.
Sure, there had been huntsmen who had considered fighting the astartes but that had only been cases of mental exercises, nothing that would lead to any attempts of fighting the armored giants. It was part of being a Huntsman or Huntress.
Even Glynda had thought about it for a bit.
She had arrived at the conclusion that she might put up a fight against a handful of astartes with her semblance, but it would only take one bolt from their guns to knock her off her feet, break her concentration, make her drop her aura and leave her defenseless against the next round that would come for her.
Thus, the bottom line was: a full-fledged huntsman could take on a space marine and maybe walk away from it. But there was never just one space marine.
Goodwitch started the meeting with a brief apology on behalf of general Ironwood, the now deceased Ozpin and herself for having allowed the situation to degrade like it had done on the night of Cinder Fall's attack on Vale.
It was quite obvious that Jaune was quite displeased with how the adults had managed things as they had not acted on his warnings.
The boy nodded in acknowledgment and decided to focus on the here and now.
"What's the situation in Vale? What of the grimm? What has happened while I was sleeping?"
The questions were intended for all in the room, space marine and mortal alike.
"We have safeguarded the kingdom as per your wishes. Vale is mostly purged but the grimm have become more active and hostile where they still have a foothold." said Furion.
"There have been rumors of Nevermores flying smaller grimm into the kingdom en masse but so far our scouts have not been able to confirm this. There are also still some packs of grimm hiding in the forests, hidden from our view from above. And the grimm at Mountain Glenn still remain. They are flocking there in ever greater numbers and with the ruins offering many hiding spaces we have no way of estimating how many grimm there are but the information from the professor Oobleck has provided would indicate a force several times larger than what attacked Vale. And that is not taking into account the tunnels underground."
Jaune nodded. Mountain Glenn would have to be dealt with but for now it was at least contained. But Nevermores flying grimm into Vale? That was new. He had always been under the impression that Vale's geography kept the number of grimm minimal, but if this about the Nevermores was true it might change soon enough.
"And what of the actual state of the kingdom? What is the council doing right now?"
"The council behaves for now." stated Goodwitch.
If anyone knew about the council it was her, seeing as she effectively was the liaison between the council and the astartes due to her position of acting headmistress of Beacon. It had been an easy task. The astartes had been telling Goodwitch what they intended to do and what they wanted the council to do in order to speed things up. Then she just made the council do what needed doing.
In a surprising show of competence for once, the council of Vale had not been stupid enough to refuse the astartes.
Vale has no standing military and the astartes were seen as heroes by the people. But the council was still be needed to run day-to-day business of the kingdom, but the council members had to be elected or granted office. And that meant they needed public support and thus they were playing along with the heroes for the sake of PR.
"With that being said, you're now effectively the ruler of the Kingdom, Mr. Arc. But if I may be so bold as to suggest leaving the day-to-day affairs of ruling to the council-"
"Done. I never found ruling in circumstances like these to be very pleasant." Jaune said and massaged the bridge of his nose. Indeed, he had never liked it. The memories from Guilliman's Imperium Secundus came to mind. He forced himself not to groan.
"What of the other kingdoms? I can't imagine they approve of this supposed power grab."
"They don't." admitted Goodwitch.
"None of them have yet accepted your rule and all of them are calling you an usurper. Most of the other kingdoms have closed their borders to keep the fallout from Vale to get to them. We have attempted to establish communications but with the CCT still down it is not going very well, not to mention that they do not wish to appear to acknowledge your authority by negotiating with you. But we have been able to establish some contact with the Atlas military."
"I see. I take it that this contact has been through Ironwood."
Goodwitch nodded and proceeded to talk about Atlas current policy in greater detail.
Atlas had closed their borders to calm down its citizens, and to demonstrate initiative of their council to make it seem like they were doing something to protect its citizens from all the nasty things that had happened in Vale.
General Ironwood had only agreed to this as it would let Atlas limit the dust supply to their enemies, even if they risked cutting off Atlas' allies.
Of course, this had not affected the astartes even in the slightest but the civilians of Vale might soon begin to notice the effects as many day-to-day commodities relied on dust.
Ironwood was trying to keep Atlas calm but it had been difficult as he had to reel in some of the more foolish and war hungry council members that wanted to retake Vale from the 'vile invaders'.
No doubt did the general know better than to pick a fight with the Imperium of Man after having witnessed the astartes in action himself. But the general could not afford to appear to lenient with the situation in Vale, lest he might be accused of treason and be replaced by someone less... agreeable.
Unfortunately, the militaristic kind of thinking that was going on in Atlas seemed to be echoing all across Remnant. All the other kingdoms were scared of being conquered by these great warriors that had showed up from nowhere.
It would take quite a bit of diplomacy to make Remnant cooperate with the Imperium peacefully and Jaune didn't like the idea of slaughtering or scaring the world into compliance.
All others in the room agreed, at least in principle. Why waste manpower and materiel when a world could be brought into the fold peacefully?
Indeed, it would be better to make Remnant see the benefits of joining the Imperium: law, a fair bit of cultural acceptance, trade, science, protection of the astartes and-
"My lord." Deon spoke up carefully. He doubted his lord would like what he was about to hear.
"The Imperium is not quite in the same state as you might remember. Even with Horus' heresy stopped, a lot has been lost."
Jaune noticed the worry in Deon's voice but gestured for him to continue.
Yes, he understood that things had changed. He recalled them telling him of how the legions had been split before but he had hardly gotten the full context.
"Ms. Goodwitch, you may leave if you wish. I do not want to keep you from your duties. And thank you for all your good work."
"Of course, Mr Arc. Beacon will not rebuild itself."
With Goodwitch gone the astartes began telling their father what had transpired while he had been dead. He was not happy to hear of the current state of the Imperium.
His Father, the Emperor, had been stuck on the golden throne for 10 000 years, and the astronomicon was flickering more and more, making travel trough the warp difficult and dangerous.
There were still traitors from the Heresy hiding in the Eye of Terror launching campaigns on the Imperium from there at times led by the old captain of Horus' first company.
And then there was the fact that several of his brothers had turned to chaos, were dead or missing.
"Do we know the fates of the loyal ones? I know Ferrus was killed at the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V by Fulgrim."
"Yes, my lord. But I am happy to tell you that his skull was supposedly returned to the Iron Hands by Rogal Dorn and Roboute Guilliman."
Jaune let out a small sigh of relief. Ferrus' skull was hardly a substitute for a living Ferrus but it was a comfort knowing that they had it at least.
"What of the rest of my brothers? Guilliman? Rogal? Vulkan?"
"Your brother Vulkan returned during the War of the Beast, but he perished fighting the Beast at Ullanor Prime."
"An ork manage to kill Vulkan?"
Jaune could hardly believe it. What manner of ork could manage that? And at Ullanor for that matter? Had the great crusade not but down an ork empire there?
Skoraen continued to speak of the War of the Beast as his chapter had taken part in it. He explained that the War of the Beast had almost managed to do what Horus' heresy couldn't.
Had it not been for the efforts of the sons of Dorn and Vulkan's return, the Imperium might have ceased to be. And it was the Beast, so much stronger than any other warboss, that had led that Waaagh.
And now the Imperium was facing something similar in the form of the Ork Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, the supposed prophet of the Ork gods, after his war on Armageddon. The greenskins had been driven off but the ork behind it was still at large. But wherever Ghazghkull went, commissar Sebastian Yarrick would not be far behind.
Rogal Dorn had supposedly perished during the first Black Crusade, leaving only one of his hands enshrined with the Imperial Fists. When they told him of the tradition of carving names into it, Jaune doubted that Rogal would even want it back were he still alive.
Leman Russ had gone into the warp, presumably to find a cure for the Emperor in the form of the Tree of Life.
Jaghatai Khan had disappeared as well in 084.M31 after Dark Eldar attacked his home world.
Corvus Corax sealed himself in his tower for about a year for his failings to restore his legion before disappearing as well into the warp.
Lion El'Jonson was presumed dead with the destruction of Caliban during the Horus Heresy. Now the Rock was the single largest piece of that world remaining and served as the Dark Angels base.
Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines, after splitting the legions apart and taking part in defending the Imperium, was struck down by Fulgrim, now a deamon prince of Slaanesh.
"The blade the traitor used was venomous and now your brother's body is kept in a stasis field on the world of Macragge."
Jaune nodded. This was all a lot to take in and it weighed heavily on him to know what had befallen his loyal brothers.
"And the rest have fallen to chaos."
That was a heavy burden to know. He recalled the changes he had seen on Horus during their final confrontation, how he had been twisted by chaos. And that could perhaps be seen a petty compared to what had happened to Angron.
Through Sanguinius' memories he recalled when the primarch turned deamon prince had shouted Horus' demands for the Emperor's surrender from outside the imperial palace. And now even more of his brothers had become like that? Terrible, just terrible.
Feeling the need for a change in subject he asked about the second founding.
Jaune knew already that it had been Roboute's idea with his Codex Astartes. He understood the reasoning behind it, preventing anyone from commanding such a large force in revolt against the Imperium again. But he was skeptical of the implementation.
For starters, there was a constant lack of cooperation and contact between the new chapter, leading to many being scorned by the rest of the Imperium. The fact that so many chapters had turned to chaos or begun to mutate was truly worrying.
"Someone get me a copy of the Codex Astartes. This needs further study."
"By your will. It shall be done."
Jaune eyes drifted over to Furion and the heraldry on his armor. He recalled that the Lamenters were a 21st founding chapter. It made him realize just how many new chapters that had been founded.
Dust, how many chapters hailed from his legion? How was he to manage them all after such a long time of division between them?
Skoraen had been quite blunt about the tension between the Flesh Tearers and the other successor chapters of the IX. Of how the Flesh Tearers were angels no more.
And the 21st Founding had been an attempt to create marines without the flaws of their gene-fathers. And overall it had been an epic failure with chapters mutating or turning to chaos.
And the Lamenters had been of his genestock? Someone had deemed it necessary to meddle with his genetic material in such a way. What did that say of how his legion was faring?
There had been attempts to fix the Red Thirst and the rage that resided in all his descendants but there had also been attempts to fix the Black Rage caused by his death. jaune asked about it and felt his heart sink when he was told of the visions his sons all witnessed of his final moments during his confrontation against Horus.
And then there were the Death Companies, those of his sons that had been lost to this dreadful fate.
"Father, it might seem dark but there is hope for them." said Amaretto.
"And that is why we are here, why we came. Your awakening at the hands of Pyrrha Nikos stirred something in them. For a moment they seemed to come out of their state and spoke with us. Father, I believe they can be brought back."
Jaune smiled. Yes, there was a chance that he could help his sons. He had failed to save them from the Red Thirst, but he would be damned if he didn't try to help them with this Black Rage.
"You are right. We must at least try for the sake of your brothers. We will seek a cure for our afflictions. This I swear."
"For Baal and Terra," his sons called eagerly, hearing their father's promise to them. "For Sanguinius and the Emperor!"
But Deon remained silent. He smiled with his brothers, sure, but he seemed worried about something. Jaune gave him a nod and gestured for him to speak.
"Something is on your mind. Speak, I would hear your thoughts."
"If you are going to help the Death company then you will probably end up clashing with Mephiston, the chief librarian of the Blood Angels, and the only one to ever best the Black Rage."
There was quite a bit of worry in Deon's voice as he elaborated.
"Not because he wouldn't wish the afflicted to return to us but this is not the first time someone has claimed to be the Angel reborn, and Mephiston played a role in exposing the fraud Arkio."
Jaune crooked an eyebrow at this and looked at Amaretto for confirmation of what he had just heard. The librarian nodded, albeit reluctantly. Having to touch upon the subject of Arkio to those from outside the chapter was not something he enjoyed.
"It is true. Mephiston has come through the Black Rage, if changed, and he was there when the pretender Arkio attempted to usurp control of the chapter. He questioned Arkio's claims and in the end the touch of chaos was revealed."
"Good." said Jaune.
"But Amaretto, Deon, do not assume I know who this Arkio is, for I have been dead for a few millennia."
"Apologies, my lord." said Amaretto with a curt bow.
"During a mission to reclaim the Spear of Telesto, a traitor using the guise of an Inquisitor and ally of the chapter engineered the event that would lead a battle-brother to change. And not entirely unlike how you seem to have, my lord. He grew wings and became stronger and the spear recognized him at first. But in reality he was mutated and warped, made to think he was Sanguinius reborn so that the rest of us would believe the same and then follow him into the abyss. Had he not been slain, the chapter might have fallen to chaos."
"And that is why you fear that Mephiston might become a problem?"
"Yes. That is why The Lord of Death will be test you, to verify if you indeed are our father. He might be a bit harsh in his methods, I fear."
Jaune contemplated this for a moment, then shrugged.
"Then I will let the Lord of Death carry out his tests. Better that we know the truth than you and your brothers following a lie. And no, do not tell me how he did it. I must go into it blind, lest Mephiston have cause to doubt the outcome and suspect me of manipulating the test and being a lie."
"You are not a lie, father!" Skoraen burst out in protest.
"I have felt it! The others have felt it! We have all felt it in our hearts and blood. We felt your thirst as we traveled the warp here. We felt your anger, and your struggles. You are our father and not some chaos trickery!"
Jaune raised his hand, signaling for quiet.
"Well, you certainly are of Amit's line. I think your straightforwardness would've made him proud. But you are testing the limits of my patience. As for me being real or not, I think that I am a, but I guess these you two might know if I am Sanguinius of not." he said and looked back at the Blood Angels apothecary and librarian.
Deon and Amaretto nodded.
"We have done tests of our own. We found no signs of chaos or corruption like those found in Arkio." Amaretto hesitated for a moment.
"But chaos is crafty and might have found another way to do it."
"Yet more reason for Mephiston to test me. Once contact with the Imperium is established, I want him summoned here to do just that with no delay."
"By your will."
The astartes acknowledged the order but there was a hint of worry in all of their voices. They had just gotten their father back so the thought of losing him yet again was terrible to them.
"Now, what of my sons? The flaw has grown worse, I understand?"
The Blood Angels told him of the Tower of the Lost, where those taken over by the Black Rage and the Red Thirst were held under guard. When Jaune heard what had become of those that had fallen the farthest, he felt a tear run down his face.
As Sanguinius he had dealt with the afflicted himself if they didn't fall in battle. He understood why his sons kept the afflicted ones sealed away, rather than to put them down. But to have his sons suffer such a fate didn't sit well with him.
Then, with even greater reluctance they told him of the events involving Fabius Bile, the primogenitor of Chaos Undivided, Master of Pain, Lord of the New Men.
The level of foolishness and disregard for common sense regarding that particular event spoke volumes of how bad the Blood Angels' problem with was. The Blood Angels chapter was dying, simple as that, as more and more fell to the flaws each year. And then there were battle losses.
"The Blood Angels have grown weak and conceited." said Skoraen bluntly, earning the ire of the representatives of the aforementioned chapter.
"Their numbers dwindle and they hide away in their fortress monastery chiseling stone and cutting cloth. The fraud Arkio's insurrection took a heavy toll on them. So heavy that they had to seek aid from the rest of us, asking us to give of our warriors to them."
"At least we have not lost our way as you barbarians!" retorted Deon, fangs flashing.
"We follow the edict of our father, protecting and enjoying art while also protecting the Emperor's realm. Our father gave us many gifts, one being a sense of aesthetics!"
"Peacock!" spat Skoraen.
"Savage!"
Before either of the warriors managed to take their dispute further or shed blood, Jaune raised his voice with a clear trace of anger in it.
"Enough! You are all my sons, battle brothers to each other, but that does not mean I will have you bicker like children in front of me!"
"But Dante allowed his chapter to-" Skoraen tried to say but the glare he got from his primarch shut him up.
"No more of that! I should have known that Amit's followers would rub shoulders with the rest of my sons but this is simply petty! You will cease your slandering of your fellow brothers or else I will have your entire chapter put on rearguard action indefinitely!"
That shut the Flesh Tearer up. The Flesh Tearers would fight, of course, but there are few tasks less kind to warriors than the rear guard.
The other astartes smiled smugly at him but soon corrected themselves when their father glared at them as well. He would deal with the division of his legion, starting at grass root level if he had to.
"So the Blood Angels chapter is in dire straights? We will have to address that issue at some point. What of the Lamenters and the Flesh Tearers then? I take it they are going through the same ordeal."
He could have asked of the status of all the successor chapters of the IX but decided to stick to the ones represented right there and then. He suspected that these few alone would give him one hell of a headache.
Furion told him of how the Lamenters were stuck on a penitent crusade, during which they couldn't recruit new aspirants or back away from a fight. Even the small force they had sent to locate him could have been considered a violation against the edicts of the penitent crusade they were on.
And the reason for why they had ended up there was because they had stood up for their rights as astartes and for their allies back then.
As for the Flesh Tearers, they were small in number and seemed to embrace the wrathful savagery that lurked in their father's nature, believing it to be a strength given to them. The Black Rage seemed to have a much stronger hold over this chapter than any other descended from the IX and their blood thirst had drawn the ire of many Imperial forces.
Jaune sighed heavily. "Dust dammit."
He was going to have a lot to do to make things right with his sons. But he had other responsibilities as well.
"We have gotten off track." he said.
"What of the Imperium? It has been ten millennia after all. How has it fared, apart from the state of the astartes?"
"With the Emperor indisposed the ruling of the Imperium has fallen to the twelve High Lords of Terra. Who is a High Lord varies but one can mostly be certain that some individuals will always count among them."
"Such as?"
"The Masters of the Administratum and the Astronomican, the Inquisitorial Representative, The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum, The Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus, The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites, The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators, The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum and the Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica."
"Grand titles all. But that still leaves three seats and I do not know of many of these institutions. Enlighten me."
What followed was a brief account of the various factions that held power in the Imperium.
The astartes told Jaune of the rise and legitimization of the Adeptus Ministorum, the now state religion of the Imperium, and its centralization of power that lead to the Age of Apostasy and Goge Vandire's Reign of Blood.
To know that he now was revered as a martyr of the Imperium did not sit well with Jaune and he cursed Lorgar for ever writing his damned book.
Jaune could only scream when he heard of what had become of the Imperial Truth, now replaced by superstition and fanaticism.
"Dust dammit Lorgar!"
It was a shout from his very soul and it echoed through the whole building, making even the astartes flinch.
Through clenched teeth Jaune told his sons to continue with their briefing.
They talked about the creation of the Inquisition, Malcador's creation. Supposedly the foundation laid out by the Sigillite had not been enough so the Inquisition had been branched into several ordos, all having absolute power when it came to fighting the xenos, the heretic and the daemon.
The purpose of the Inquisition was something Jaune agreed with. The Inquisition was very much needed. What he did not agree with was the blatant disregard for humanity some Inquisitors seemed to have.
And then there was the return of several kinds of xenos that had first been considered neutralized during the great crusade. Like the Orks.
Not to mention the appearance of new kinds of xenos like the Tau and the Tyranids. The Tau seemed like a manageable threat but the Tyranids...
The tyranids were troubling. All the major wars against them had required the involvement of major Imperial forces and all had led to heavy losses in terms of manpower and war gear.
Losses like the Emperor class battleship Dominus Astra. Jaune feared that it was still floating around in the warp, risking being salvaged by chaos at some point.
Jaune would turn to Furion in the future for more information on the Tyranids, as his chapter was stuck fighting Hive Fleet Kraken.
The more he heard, the more he feared that as Sanguinius he had had a vision of them coming to Baal and eating his sons and growing even stronger. Efforts would have to be made to prevent that.
And then there was the awakening of the Necrons.
Jaune had a faint memory of Necrons having been encountered during the Great Crusade but back then the Necrons had not been of great note. Now though, they were. More and more Necron Tombs were opening all over the galaxy and the situation just kept on getting worse.
The Eldar were still around and working for their own interests. But really, they were only hanging on by a thread and were fighting to stay alive.
Their dark cousins, the Dark Eldar, were also still around and continued to raid Imperial worlds for slaves. Jaune did not want to think of the terrible fates those taken were suffering in the pits of Commoragh. The dark desires and pleasures of the Dark Eldar was among the worst fates anyone could suffer.
"The Dark Eldar should just be kink shamed with cyclonic torpedoes." muttered Jaune.
Unfortunately, that might not be easy to pull off. Amaretto told him of how the Salamanders had launched an attack on Commoragh after the Dark Eldar had stepped up the frequency of their attacks on Imperial vessels.
But despite taking a heavy toll on the Dark Eldar, the Salamanders' attack did not seem to have been very productive as the Dark Eldar had continued with their depraved actions after that.
Commorragh would remain a problem for some time still and any serious attempt to destroy that infernal city would leave the Imperium weakened to attack from other fronts.
Attacks like the Black Crusades. There had been several of them already, all led by Abaddon the Despoiler. Jaune could remember the face of the former captain of Horus' first company. Jaune's hands twitched as he imagined ripping that traitor's head off by his topknot. But in truth death would be too kind a fate for the Despoiler.
Jaune sighed heavily, taking in all what he had heard. They had not even touched upon half of what had happened during the time he had been dead but it was enough to leave him tired. So much knowledge took a toll on his mortal head, leaving him with a need for rest.
"You are dismissed. I must meditate on these matters."
The astartes saluted and left him to his thoughts.
He sighed again and let himself slump a bit. Despite all his changes, he was still very mortal and what he had just learned was heavy for him.
Things were not good with the Imperium. Not good at all.
The bright and enlightened future he had fought for in the Emperor's name had been replaced by a grim and dark one that knew only war. And so many would look to him to solve it.
But looking at his body he knew that he wasn't ready. he wasn't strong enough for that.
He got up and exited the room. He needed rest. He needed company. He needed strength. He needed his friends.
In Pyrrha's room there was talking. Nora and Ren spoke with their teammate along with Jaune's sisters. Blende, the youngest, had asked if she could do Pyrrha's hair and was now combing away at it, carefully undoing any knots she came across.
The patriarch of the Arc family was there as well along with his wife. With Jaune awake once again it would only be a matter of time until the Arcs would go home again. Thus, they decided to spend quality time with Jaune's friends while there was still time.
Pyrrha appreciated it all, getting to take her mind of her injuries and what had happened with Cinder. She was still a bit upset about her quarrel with Jaune but she was trying to see the matter from his and her teammates' point of view.
True enough, her teammates had not been to happy about her decision but they were forgiving.
"You did what you thought was right. Even if it was..." Nora began.
"Stupid?" Pyrrha offered.
"That's the word! Do you have any idea of how we felt when we saw you die for a moment on the landing area?"
"I- I'm sorry."
She had been saying that a lot recently.
"I just didn't think about it from that angle."
"Good!" said Nora with a grin and promptly changed the subject.
"Then let's talk about something else. Who wants pancakes?"
"Nora, no." said Ren.
"Nora yes."
Before Pyrrha could support Ren Jaune's voice echoed through the room, the thick walls notwithstanding.
"DUST DAMMIT LORGAR!"
Jaune's sisters tilted their heads up when they heard their brothers clearly angry voice.
"Lorgar?" said Thulite. "Who is Lorgar?"
"I think Jaune mentioned him back then. One of his brothers in his past life." noted Rosinca.
"Yeah, Ii think he was the one who tried to worship that Emperor-guy." said Virdine.
"Either way, our little brother is not happy with the guy."
"Boo." said Morganite. "Here I was hoping big bro would be happy after all this."
"Why would he be happy?" asked Blende as she kept working with Pyrrha's hair.
"Well, he's got his kids back. That's something to be happy about." offered Desmine.
"Girls, I don't think the astartes like being called kids." said Augustus. He might see the successors of the IX legion as his grandchildren in a way, but he knew better than to make fun of them.
"And remember, the astartes bring new problems for you brother to deal with."
"Like being stuck ruling the whole kingdom?" Iolite ventured. It was no secret who was really in charge of Vale these days. And now that Jaune was awake he would might have to take up the reins.
"Yeah! Bro is basically king now!" exclaimed Morganite as if it meant she had won the lottery.
"We are princesses! We are princesses!"
"Calm down and do not let it go to your head, young lady." chastised Livia and made her daughter calm down.
"This is still a hospital so keep your voice down. Besides, we don't know how he will handle that matter. Now, Pyrrha, how do you feel? How is the leg?"
"Better." Pyrrha answered.
"Surgia said I still have a bit to go before he will let me out of the hospital."
As if to prove the good doctor right she flexed her leg carefully, making sure not to aggravate the injury too much.
"Supposedly I'll have a slight limp after this, but given what happened I think I got of lightly."
"That you did." said Livia and stepped closer to inspect the limb, letting years of motherhood guide her actions. Not that she believed herself to be a physician of any kind but after raising eight kids she had gotten an rather good idea of how scars and body parts were supposed to look like.
"Looks good, indeed. Would you show me the patch on your face? I believe it is due for a change of dressing."
Pyrrha nodded and let Blende remove the dressing from her face. It was a quite unnerving knowing what had happened to her face, but Pyrrha took comfort in still having a face. Cinder had almost melted her skin away with her brief touch. Had Ruby showed up a moment later, it would have been nothing left of her face. Not to mention nothing left of her.
Still, she was okay with letting Blende take off the dressing and let Jaune's mom have a look at it along with her teammates and Jaune's family.
The dressings game off easily enough and Pyrrha could see Jaune's sisters wince slightly at the sight.
Pyrrha didn't take it as a bad sign as she remembered that out of all the Arc children, only Jaune had decided to become a huntsman. The rest of the Arc children were simply not prepared to see this sort of thing.
Jaune's mother seemed sorry to see the the damaged skin on Pyrrha's face but but took the sight a lot better than her daughters. After all, she was married to a huntsman and had probably seen worse a few times, but that didn't make it okay for her. With a steady hand Livia began to tend to Pyrrha.
Nora and Ren smiled though.
"It so much better already! Look Renny, it looks nothing like it did back then!"
Ren nodded and handed Pyrrha a mirror so she could see her face.
"Yes Nora, I see it. It has healed up really well."
It really had. Pyrrha could feel it.
"Well, I have been trying to speed it up with my aura." Pyrrha said.
"And I have been getting good care while I've been sleeping."
Nora shook her head.
"Nah, Don't believe it. Your face has gotten waaaay better in one day since you woke up than when you were sleeping for a whole month."
"Hmm, quite." said Ren. "You really got better once you and Jaune woke up."
"Oh! Oh! Do you think Jaune did this? Did Jauney do something to you, P-money? Did he do some primarch-mumbo-jumbo?"
Pyrrha looked at her friend like she had just sputtered a week's worth of her nonsense in less than a minute. How could Jaune have done that? She was quite certain that if he could do that, then he would have mentioned it before. But with all that had been going on recently with Jaune's changes, the astartes and the Maidens, Pyrrha couldn't really be certain anymore.
"I don't know. I was falling back to sleep when you left us alone yesterday."
"Whatever Jaune might have done there will always be a bit of a mark." commented Augustus, earning nods from his daughters.
Livia nodded as well and began to apply new ointment and dressings on Pyrrha's face. She smiled gently when she noticed Pyrrha enjoying the cool feeling of the substance on her face.
"True, there will be a mark. I would suggest you avoid too much sun in the future or else you will get a very uneven sunburn."
"I will keep it in mind but it doesn't really bother me that much. I accepted the possibility of getting hurt when I decided to become a huntre-"
As the words left Pyrrha's lips did she feel a sting on the top of her head. All others in the room gasped as Livia had just slapped the girl's head.
"Do not take this lightly, young lady! Just because people decide to become huntsmen doesn't mean they are allowed to make their friends and loved ones worry like you did yours. That includes getting hurt when it isn't necessary. My little boy faced down that terrible woman for your sake on his own and almost died. Is that what you want to bring about? Well, is it!?"
"I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again."
Livia patted her on the head gently.
"I swear, no wonder you and my boy fell in love. You are both too eager to get yourself hurt or killed for others."
With a steady hand the woman finished the change and smiled at her handiwork.
"I am impressed." admitted Ren. "I must ask, when asked how did you learn to do this? Jaune said you were not a nurse or a doctor."
"Well Ren, when one raises eight kids one does pick up a few things. You have no idea how often my little ones get themselves hurt. And Jaune, good dust, he was always hopeless when he was little small. Oh, speak of the grimm and they shall appear."
As if on cue Jaune entered with a scowl on his face, clearly upset and unhappy with the world. The sight of his friends and family did cheer him up a little as he walked up to Pyrrha.
She gave him a smile, letting him know she was getting better but he seemed to stay miserable.
"Hug?" asked Pyrrha and opened her arms for him.
"Hug yes." were the only words Jaune said as he closed the distance between them and hugged her. She brought up her hands and patted his head gently, letting him slump down as he groaned loudly against her.
After a while of comforting him Pyrrha spoke up.
"I take it things aren't all that well with the Imperium then?"
"No, they aren't." he muttered into the crook of her neck. She could feel his fangs glancing over her skin but knew that he would not bite her. Not now.
"Care to talk about it? I think we have learned by now that things work out the best if we talk about them."
He sighed, but obliged.
"Everything has gone to shit. I've been dead for ten thousand years since I died, Father is stuck on the Golden Throne of Terra, all my brothers are either missing, mortally wounded, dead or turned traitor and there is only war in this galaxy."
He sighed again.
"I'm the only one left of the primarchs and I don't know if I can fix it on my own. The Imperium needs Sanguinius the Angel, not Jaune Arc the idiot."
"Jaune, you are being to hard on yourself again."
"But I'm not! It would have been better if it was Guilliman that had come back! The Imperium needs someone to change it, to fix it. Guilliman was always the organizer and statesman, not me. He could sort it all out, just as long as someone would keep him from doing something too stupid. But that idiot got himself wounded by Fulgrim and is now stuck in stasis on Macragge!"
"I'm sensing a bit of aggression against your brother there, Jaune. Why?" asked Jaune's dad, doing into papa-mode.
"He split the legions, my legion, my sons-"
Jaune's mouth opened and closed as he searched for words strong enough for his feelings.
"Father's bulwark against terror, divided and scattered with the winds. What was he thinking?"
Virdine, deciding to be the big sister stepped up to him and gently lifted his head from Pyrrha's shoulder.
"There, there, little brother. I'm sure he had the best of intentions. Now, how about I go get you a hot chocolate to calm you down? Would you like that?"
*sniff*
"Yes, I would like that, please."
"Very well. I'll fetch one for you as well Pyrrha."
"Thank you."
As the tension seemed to leave Jaune, Nora spoke up.
"Fearless leader, I have a question."
"Ask away."
"Are these astartes really- I mean- are they really your kids? I heard one of them saying that they are only a few centuries old but you just said you've been dead for ten thousand years."
"Nora!"
"But what, Renny? It's a illegitima- I mean, legitimate question. I sure would start to wonder if someone showed up and said they were my kid like this and I was dead when they were born."
Jaune was quiet for awhile and then he chuckled. The chuckle then became a laugh. He laughed so hard that his injured heart hurt but he laughed anyway.
Finally after having been helped up from the floor by his dad and Ren he regained control over himself.
"Ho-ho-hooo my… Thanks Nora, I really needed that."
"A heart attack?"
"No, a laugh. I guess I never really told you of how a space marine is made."
"Made?" Morganite hang herself up on that word.
"Are they made in vats or something?"
"It's been tried in my absence but that ended in a huge failure. But no, no son of mine will be grown like that ever again. Not after that incident with Fabius Bile."
"Then how are space marines made? I can't imagine giving birth to one of them." said Iolite and put her hands on her own, not so modest, hips.
"Goodness no. Besides, I'm quite sure that I would never have had time to actually lead my legion if I had to breed all of my sons." he joked.
"No, an astartes is born human and then made into what you've seen."
"Wait, what? These guys used to be like us?"
"Yep, apart from being male they all started out as you guys."
"Explain." ordered Rosinca.
"Well, you basically take a piece of me and put it into a guy and then…"
After a rather shocking account of how astartes are made from her son Livia Arc spoke up with a shrug.
"Well, I still suppose they count as grandchildren of a sort."
Her husband nodded but her girls were not as calm.
"Mom! Are you really going to see this guys as your grandchildren? What the hell?"
"Mind your language! And yes, I will. It's not like I got much choice, seeing as none of you girls are getting me any grandkids the normal way."
"MOM! Could you not!?" said all the Arc sisters a once, except for Virdine who had returned with the hot coco.
She leaned down and whispered into Pyrrha's ear and gave her a light pat on the shoulder.
"Well, that sure took the pressure off you, didn't it?"
Pyrrha blushed so hard that it was hard to tell her face and hair apart and forced herself to focus on the warm drink in her hands instead of answering. In the corner of her eye she noticed a fresh bandage on Virdine's hand with a small spot of blood on it.
Virdine noticed Pyrrha's concern and nodded towards Jaune who was drinking his coco, also blushing after hearing his sister's comment. His coco seemed to be of a different shade than Pyrrha's. Pyrrha realized what Jaune's sister had done and gasped.
"I won't have by little brother roam around the hospital like some vampire." explained Virdine calmly.
"Even if it means I have to make a small sacrifice."
"But I could've-" Pyrrha began but was shut up by Virdine.
"You are in no condition to help him with that yet. Pay it now mind for now. I am his sister so I will look after him once in a while."
Deciding to spare Jaune and Pyrrha more embarrassment and saving the Arc sisters from their mother's pestering them with bearing children, Ren spoke up and fished out a letter from his clothes.
"Jaune, I just remembered that you have a letter from Ruby."
"From Ruby?"
"Yes. It has been waiting since soon after the Fall, but since none of us wanted to intrude-"
"We wanted to!" interjected Nora an about half of Jaune's sisters.
"Well, since most of us didn't want to intrude, we decided not to open it."
Jaune accepted the letter and tore it open with a finger. Tilting it as to let Pyrrha read it as well he began to read. As he did he began to smile.
"Well, since she is asking so nicely how could we possibly refuse."
He handed the letter over to Ren to let the boy read it with Nora.
"Ren, care to see if you can get to RWBY's dorm and get some of Ruby's stuff?"
"Certainly." said Ren with a smile. Oh yes, he liked where this was going.
"What about me?" asked Nora. She wanted to find Ruby's hidden stash, and maybe, just maybe, sample it a bit. Actually, she would sample it a lot. Just to make sure her friend's stash hadn't spoiled since before the battle.
"Hmm. Go see if you can't get hold of Amaretto, Furion and Skoraen. Tell them we got work to do. Oh! And get hold of a techmarine as well. Some of our weapons are in need of a do-over."
"Right-a-rooney!"
"And me? Surgia has ordered me to not strain myself for a few more days." said Pyrrha and pointed at her bad leg. She exercised it, certainly, but it would still take some time for her to get back to full strength.
"That's okay, Pyr. It will still take us a bit of time to prepare for our trip to Mistral."
Meanwhile in the Warp
"Dust dammit Lorgar!"
The words went by as less than a whisper but one still felt it as he sat on his throne of living velvet. Someone was angry with his brother it seemed. Maybe he should have a word with Lorgar about that if he ever came across him again.
"Hmm?"
His form coiled as he tried to figure out from where the voice had come from. It was familiar and yet unknown to him. Oh well, he had heard so many voices during his existence. Most of which didn't really matter in the end. And here the voice could have come from anywhere.
"Are you well my lord?" asked the Primogenitor, Fabius Bile, of the daemon prince in front of him. He hadn't expected to be here ever again.
The very fact that he had been summoned, had the bounty on his head removed for this meeting and given safe passage was rather curious. He and his old master had hardly been on the best of terms for quite a while. Not since his escape from the Canticle City where the Despoiler had set back his work by centuries.
"I'm fine!" snarled the daemon and struck the floor with its long and serpentine tail, the motion was like a purple blur in the air and Fabius' enhanced eyes could barely follow it as it happened.
"Then why have you called upon me? I am very busy with my research and every moment spent here costs me time better devoted to that."
"Still as full of bile and unpleasant as ever. You are here because of this!"
A body was tossed to the floor. It was large, larger than any regular astartes. Fabius could see the metal glistening on its arms.
"You made it wrong! Again! He was imperfect. How many times now is it that you have failed me, Fabius? I lost track millennia ago!"
Fabius held back a sigh. Fulgrim had killed yet another one. What was it lesser men said about madness? Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results? Fabius was tempted to voice these thoughts in front of Fulgrim, but thought better of it. If anyone knew how to deliver pain, it was the daemon once know as the primarch of the Emperor's Children.
But at least Fabius now knew why he was there. The question was: just how many times had Fulgrim done this by now to run out of clones of his brother? Fabius had made over a hundred of them as one point.
"As I have said before, it is difficult and corrupt samples yield imperfect results."
"I know what you said! Now do it right! You have repeated it often enough to get it right at least once already."
"Very well. I shall correct the mistake in the next one."
"See that you do!"
Fabius turned to leave, leaving Fulgrim to dispose of the failure on his own. The spidery limbs of his harness made a motion on its own. Perhaps it too was glad to be leaving this place?
Once alone, Fulgrim shifted his immense form and took the body away almost gently.
"Why brother? Why must you be so stubborn and not see reason? Why do you have to stay in the shadow of that imperfect corpse like the others?"
Yes, why did his brother have to side with that brute Leman or that simple minded Vulkan? Why did Ferrus feel the need to stay alongside Roboute and Rogal?
Could he not see? The only reward service to their father gave was death. Oh, if only Fulgrim could show him how Sanguinius loyalty had cost him. Sanguinius, so loyal, so noble, and so very dead.
Instead of returning to his throne Fulgrim went to the table where a game of regicide had been set up and then discarded. How many times had it been no? Not even Fulgrim's inhuman mind could keep track of it.
But soon enough it would be for the last time, he told himself. But until then he would just have to find something else to occupy his time with. Maybe he would find some of Sanguinius' sons and pluck their wings? That might just kill some time.
"Just wait, brother. Soon we will play again. Until then, you may keep our angel brother company in death."
In truth, Fulgrim wouldn't mind meeting the Angel again himself. They had never been the best of friends but it had been so long.
What is this? Fulgrim? Bile? Bet you didn't see that one coming, now did ya?
Okay, a big thank you to the ones who mentioned Arkio in the comments for previous chapters. That was very helpful and interesting to read about.
But now I guess a few of you can guess a few things regarding the continuity of this story. This is clearly not taking place at the same time as Guilliman's return. In fact it is before the third war for Armageddon, but for now I won't get into more detail. This gives me a bit of leeway and an excuse for deviating from canon in the future.
But one thing that I'll have to come up with is which companies my OC space marines belong to now that I am starting to take on the Imperium at large.
And we get a hint of Fulgrim. Oh boy, he will be a real challenge to write.
Some of you might take notice of how I've decided to tackle Pyrrha's decision to go up the tower. You may disagree with what I've written and I'm fine with that. Just be polite about it, that is all I ask. I have tried to put my take on her actions into words: Selfless and noble perhaps, but dumb. Still, I can't imagine the show having her do anything else. Why? for the plot, I guess.
Anyway, time for me to have you wait for the next chapter. Please don't ask when it will be up too often. Not even I know when it'll be up.