34. Unbound from fate
The light cruiser Aramaic tore its way out of the warp at the edge of a newly conquered system, the ship sporting the colours of the Thousand sons legion moved towards the centre of the system. The Aramaic carried only a single space marine, ferrying him to his appointment. Ardashir stood on the bridge as he felt his two hearts pounding, he had requested this despite the protests from his battle brothers and primarch and as he drew closer to his destination he felt they might have been right but Ardashir was far too strong willed and prideful to back down now.
Ardashir looked out of the bridge viewport and easily managed to spot the planet the ship was heading for. The ships hanging in space around the planet were slightly harder to see, their pitch black hulls blending in with the void and only the light of the systems sun bouncing off the polished gold that ran across the hull allowed them to be somewhat visible.
This was a strange meeting that most across the Imperium believed was entirely impossible, the 11th and 15th legions were exact opposites of each other, the two had never enacted a compliance together or even communicated in anyway, no two marines of the legions had ever even met face to face but that was about to change. Ardashir had requested to be seconded to the 11th legion, he wished to document the traditions and tactics of the legion but also lessen his reliance on his psychic gifts and maybe bring something useful back to his legion.
The Aramaic pulled up alongside a great vessel that completely dwarfed the light cruiser, Ardashir took a short flight from one ship to the other. He had insisted on being seconded to the 11th because he believed that being surrounded by blanks would help lessen his dependency on psychic powers and help strengthen his mind, he had been resolute the entire trip through the warp but as soon as the transfer craft entered the 11th legion flagship he immediately reconsidered his decision. The null aura that surrounded and radiated from the vessel was so strong that Ardashir could feel his mind desperately straining to connect to the warp again, his blood was pumping faster and he felt he was going to throw up.
"Are you ok?" Ardashir hadn't even noticed that the transfer craft had landed and when he hadn't disembarked the 11th legionary send to meet him had entered looking for him
Ardashir looked up at the legionary that had come to greet him, his face instantly drained of all colour and he let out an ear-splitting scream, he tore off the harness that restrained him as he scrambled to get away from the legionary, he didn't seem surprised by Ardashir's reaction.
"Calm down and try to focus" he tried talking to Ardashir but the son of Magnus could barely hear him over the sound of his own blood rushing through his ears
Ardashir focused on the meditation techniques that all Thousand sons are taught to allow them better control over their psychic gifts, he slowed his hearts down and calmed the blood racing through his body, he could still feel the oppressive null aura and it was still painful but he managed to gather himself.
"Are you ok now?" the 11th legionary asked and Ardashir nodded, not trusting himself not to start screaming again if he opened his mouth, "Good, my name is Evis, 4th son of Ovis and you are?"
"Ardashir" Evis offered his hand and Ardashir hesitantly took it
Ardashir was hoisted to his feet and he finally got a sense of how much larger Evis was compared to him, towing over him in much the same way he towered over regular humans.
"Come on you should meet my father" Evis gave Ardashir a pat on the back and the two left the transfer craft
Ardashir felt a continuous grating feeling on his brain as he walked through the ship but the longer it went on the better acclimatised he became as the intense pain subsided in to a dull throbbing migraine across his entire brain.
By the time the Emperor had discovered the 11th primarch he already had a flagship of his own so the Gloriana-class battleship that had been assigned to the 11th legion wasn't needed and was instead left to protect the legion's new homeworld. The primarch's flagship, the Krake, was a monstrous thing, kilometres longer than a Gloriana-class battleship, it had been designed entirely by the primarch himself. For almost a century Ovis had used the ship to conquer and terrorise the systems surrounding Krake as he expanded his empire.
The ship was designed to resemble the Krake for which it was named, a fearsome beast that could destroy worlds, and along its spine was a great causeway that displayed all the treasures Ovis had claimed with the ship. The tattered banners of fallen empires, mannequins sporting the armour and uniform of many forces that Ovis had fought against and with, statues stolen from defeated enemies or commissioned to display a specific moment in the primarch's life, strange and exotic weapons taken from alien worlds or raided tombs, paintings and art both given as tribute and taken as loot, all these things and more were put on display along the spine of the ship.
Ardashir walked along the spine with Evis, marvelling at the sheer size of the primarch's collection as well as the variety in it, "So the primarch is your father?" Ardashir asked as they passed through a vast gallery depicting the many conquests of the primarch before the coming of the Emperor
"Yes, most people seem surprised when I tell them that"
"Well none of his brothers had families, I'm sure the primarchs themselves didn't think about it or think they could do it, although it does make me wonder what kind of woman your mother is"
Evis looked at the paintings they were passing before pointing at one, "That's her right there"
The painting depicted a charge, the mass of people obviously painted to resemble a cresting wave about to smash in to a wall of what looked like Eldar and at the crest of the human wave was a woman with a sword raised above her head as she bore down on the Eldar.
"Looks like a charming woman"
The two continued walking down the spine; the mummified, skeletal and taxidermized remains of xenos on display like a museum exhibit. The spine eventually led in to a vast amphitheatre like space with a circular central area surrounded by rising step seats, on the other side of the amphitheatre were a great set of doors guarded by two marines, these were the doors to the primarchs private quarters.
"Are you ready to meet my father?" Evis asked
Ardashir had heard many rumours about the 11th primarch, that he was a savage brute and a null above nulls that could consume the souls of psykers to increase his own power, Ardashir doubted these rumours were true but official reports he had read did mention psykers falling dead in his presence.
Ardashir steeled himself and nodded. The two approached the door and the marines stood aside for them as they opened the doors. The first thing that hit Ardashir about the primarch's private quarters was a child. A literal child, a girl no older than 5 years old, ran in to the Thousand sons' leg and fell back on to their rear end.
Evis knelt down and picked the child up, "You should watch where you're going Lusia" he brushed her off and sent her running off without another word
There were a few dozen children in the private quarters, ranging from infants to teenagers, with several women tending to them. The private quarters of the primarch were vast and the children spread out; some were playing together, some were being tutored by the women that seemed to be their carers, others duelled or were competing against each other.
"I heard the primarch only had 20 children" Ardashir noticed all the children had silver eyes
"20 true children, its not unusual for the powerful on Krake to have some mistresses and bastard children" Evis pat him on the back, "Come on let's go see my father"
Doors slightly deeper in the private quarters led to the primarch's sanctum, the marines standing guard outside the door were as large as Evis and Ardashir quickly figured out why, they opened the doors and allowed the two inside.
It was much quieter inside the private sanctum, it was an intimate space lit by a chandelier made from scrap that hung in the centre of the room. On the dark wood panel walls hung several weapons and trophies. The primarch sat at a great wooden desk looking through papers, he was shirtless with a tube in his left arm drawing blood from him and a female attendant monitoring it.
"Evis" Ovis smiled at his son before turning to Ardashir, "Is this the Thousand son that wanted to second with the legion?"
Ardashir was frozen in place the second he laid eyes on Ovis, it was a thousand times worse than any null could ever be. With Evis and other blanks the warp was repelled like with a magnet, it was near impossible to draw on the warp as their presence pushed it away but with great exertion it could be done but only psykers on the level of the Emperor could achieve such a feat with reasonable results. Ovis on the other hand drew the warp to him, it wasn't pushed away from him it retreated in fear and Ardashir could feel that fear, if one were to draw on the warp in his presence it would just be drawn in to him no matter how hard one tried.
The Thousand son saw the 11th primarch as a gaping black maw ready to devour him, his instinctive flight response that should have been suppressed by his hypnotic training flared up and screamed at him to run but his feet were rooted to the ground in fear.
"Ardashir!" Evis snapped him out of his wildly running thoughts
Ardashir looked at Evis and in a strange twist of irony found the blanks presence to actually be comforting, at least compared to his fathers, he quickly focused his mind and found his voice, "I'm sorry my lord I didn't hear what your question was"
"I asked why you wanted to be seconded to the 11th? The Thousand sons and the World beasts aren't even on speaking terms"
"I wish to change that, the 11th and the 15th are two legions at the opposite ends of a spectrum but all the legions must work together to conquer the galaxy for the Emperor, including our two legions"
"I'm no fan of you witches but I recognise your utility in war so you can stay but do refrain from casting any of your spells, I've decided to quarter you with the navigators and astropaths, we unfortunately can't provide you with a surf but if you need anything just contact Evis"
The meeting with Ovis was short and Evis took Ardashir to show him his quarters aboard the ship, the Thousand son would be quartered with the ship's astropaths and navigators, since the entire crew of the ship were nulls the psykers needed to guide it through the warp and communicate with the wide Imperium were cordoned off on their own private deck.
Ardashir was taken to one of the lowest decks of the ship, it was completely deserted and the psychic marine finally felt the intense pressure on his mind lift, Evis' presence still pressed on his psychic senses but Ardashir felt a lot better than when he was surrounded by such presences.
"These are your quarters" Evis stopped at a bulkhead, "If you need anything then you have a direct vox to me, we'll be entering the warp soon so I have other things to see to"
Evis left as Ardashir entered his quarters. They were very spartan, they were almost identical to the ones he had with his own legion. There was only a bed, armour rack and desk, there wasn't even a porthole, the room was just a box lit by a single overhead light.
Ardashir would spend his secondment observing the 11th legion and their traditions, outside of combat he would spend much time in his quarters meditating or in the extensive library aboard the Krake. The legion would take anything they perceived as having value and that included knowledge, they reminded Ardashir of his own legion in that regard, the library was filled with books from both xenos and human civilizations containing both the original and translated versions, the knowledge on the ship almost rivalled that found on his own primarch's library.
Inside of combat Ardashir would accompany Evis and his company, both on the ground and during boarding actions. It had been tough at first to fight along side blanks, he found himself instinctively falling back on his psychic powers during combat but nothing would manifest and he had to train himself to rely more on his physical weapons, the constant migraine also subsided to a dull pain that was easily ignored but he still found himself instinctively fearful every time he was in the presence of the primarch.
The Thousand son even eventually found himself taking a liking to Evis, the anxiety his presence caused becoming just another part of his charm, and the two would spend hours conversing and playing Regicide or a Kraken game Evis had introduced him to known as Battlefleet.
It was a holographic game that was played on a specially made table that was divided in to three sections, two player fields and a single battle field in between. The game consisted of two players creating a fleet of ships, each class and tonnage being given a specific point value and each fleet having a maximum point value, the players would then command their fleet as they sought to destroy or rout their enemy, the players view of the battle was limited by their player fields and only showed what was in range of their ships but the battle field in the centre of the table displayed the entire battle for spectators, while Ardashir has managed to beat Evis in Regicide he has never managed to win a game of Battlefleet.
"So where are we heading?" Ardashir asked as he looked down at his player field, sending out scout ships to survey the battlefield
"An expedition fleet has come in to contact with a world but the leaders are saying that they will only deal with those unconnected to the warp" Evis had his ship sailing just outside Ardashir's scanning range, "They've held off the Imperial army for a year and a half and don't seem close to breaking so my father is going to deal with them, either with diplomacy or force"
"Why would they request a meeting with blanks most want nothing to do with people like you" Ardashir sent his main force forward
"Maybe the world is similar to Krake" Evis sent a light cruiser across Ardshir's line, briefly crossing his scanner range and diverting the Thousand son's attention
"From what I've heard of Krake that is a terrifying prospect" Ardashir's main force chased the light cruiser believing it was escorted by Evis' main force
"We're not that bad, actually quite friendly after you get to know us" Evis struck Ardashir's main force from behind, quickly stripping his shields and disabling his engines
"The friendly thing to do would be to let me win at least once" Ardashir forfeit the game as it became clear his fleet would be surrounded and destroyed
"We're not that friendly"
Lord General Harrol Karstan, commander of the Imperial army units attached to the 274th expedition fleet, sat in front of a large holographic table, the markers showing where his forces where and when enemy units had been spotted. The situation was dire, their gains had slowed to a complete stop and in some places the enemy was starting to push them back, reinforcements were being ferried to the front but his forces were forced to dig in and hold as much of the territory they gained as they could.
Exul was a mineral rich world with a wide variety of biomes, it would have made the perfect forge world if the Mechanicum had found it, the world had survived the age of strife pretty much unscathed and had lost little of their technology. The Imperium initially tried to peacefully integrate the world but its leaders refused to negotiate with anyone that was "tainted by the powers of the warp" as they put it, so Lord General Karstan led an invasion of the world.
The Imperial army initially made large gains and spread from the initial landing site but the Exulites quickly mustered their forces and mounted counterattacks, grounding the war in to one of attrition.
"This is bullshit" Karstan complained as reports rolled in about engagements with the enemy and units being forced to retreat, "We need something to break this deadlock, something to break their line"
"The 169th Havalan armoured is moving to the western sector, they will be a spearhead to punch through the line there" Lieutenant-General Jalan Uras spoke as he moved unit markers to represent the plan, "When the enemy inevitable send forces to plug the hole we break out in the east"
"We should use the Kisvanti drop troopers to aid the Havalan armoured in their break out, put them behind enemy lines" another Lieutenant-General, Eliana Ren, made a suggestion
"That would tip them off to where we're going to break through" Karstan critiqued
"If we disperse them over a wide area then we can have them disrupt supplies and transportation, make it look like sabotage instead of a pincer" Ren further developed
"That does seem like a go…" Karstan was interrupted by a knock on the door
It opened and a young officer ran in, a colonel by the look of his rank insignia, he saluted Karstan and the other officers present in the war room, "My lord we have just received a message, the 11th legion is sending us aid"
Some of the officers seemed pleased but others remained grim faced, "This is great, with astartes aid this war will be done with quickly" Lieutenant-General Ren was one of the few pleased to hear about the aid
Lord General Karstan remained stone faced, "Tell them to divert themselves, we do not need their help"
"Sir!" Ren stepped up to her superior, "This war has ground to a halt now but if our break outs fail it will turn in to an Imperial defeat quickly, we need the astartes"
Karstan turned to his subordinate, "Have you ever fought with the 11th legion?"
"I've heard stories but their soulless nature is of little concern right now"
"Have you heard any recent stories of the 11th legion?" Karstan asked, "They are not like the legion of old that the Emperor, beloved by all, made on Terra, they are now violent monsters that butcher and slaughter all in their wake, they are nothing but animals and we don't need them here"
Karstan turned away from Ren and saw that the colonel that had delivered the message was still in the war room and hadn't run off to enact his orders, "Why are you still here? I know I have enough authority to turn back an astartes chapter, you're dismissed"
The colonel cleared his throat and seemed hesitant to say what he needed to, "My lord, the bulk of the 11th legion is coming to our aid, under the command of the primarch himself"
All the faces of the officers went pale as they heard about the imminent arrival of the primarch. Karstan swallowed as he felt his mouth and throat go dry. He had fought with astartes before but he had never met one of the Emperor's own sons, he had heard stories of the primarchs, giants of men who were literal incarnations of war and had never faced defeat.
What Karstan had heard of the 11th primarch was not good, he was not noble and good like many of his brothers but a soulless pirate who butchered entire worlds and ate the souls of his enemies for his own sadistic pleasure.
Karstan gathered himself from his shock, "We'll put all plans for offensives on hold until the 11th legion arrives, the entire general staff will travel to the surface and meet the primarch there"
The message had reached the 274th a week before the 11th legion arrived. Lord General Karstan and his general staff travelled down to the only city they had managed to capture on the planet, with an honour guard of 5,000 Wesfallan shields.
The Wesfallan shields were an old regiment from Terra, originally said to have fought against the Emperor during his expansion through Europa and managed to hold off his thunder warriors longer than any army before and since, impressed the master of mankind pardoned them after their defeat and allowed them to serve him.
The honour guard stood statue still in parade formation, forming a column before the Lord General, they each stood tall in their heavy crimson coats with their plumed helmets adding an extra half foot to each man, each of them carried a large red shield painted with a pale white horse rearing up on its hind legs.
Lord General Karstan stood alone in front of the former city administration office that had been converted in to a field command headquarters. His officers were lined up behind him, all dress in immaculate parade uniforms, the medals from many compliances pinned to their uniforms breast. The uniform felt tight on him for the first time ever and he could feel his sweat pooling in certain areas, he watched as a single transport came through the atmosphere like a meteor and his high collar felt like it tightened around his throat.
The transport circled above the administration office before coming in to land behind the assembled Wesfallen shields. Karstan felt his breath quicken as his collar felt more like a noose, the transport lowered its ramp and the Wesphalan shields snapped to attention in perfect unison, turning in so their shields formed a corridor for the primarch to walk down.
Karstan felt his officers pull back as the 11th primarch exited the transport. Twice the size of any man with muscles that were barely contained in his clothing, Karstan would admit he looked handsome but he exuded a predatory aura even from afar. Behind the primarch came astartes of his legion, some almost as large a him.
The Lord General didn't have much time to process seeing a primarch for the first time before one was standing before him, he had been so struck by fear and awe that he didn't realise the primarch had already made it to him.
"Uhh..Um.. Welcome to Exul, my Lord" Karstan fell to his knee and lowered his head, his officers soon following suit
"You've been here for over a year and you've made such little gains, why is that?" the primarch's voice was cold and his aura was even more terrifying up close, like having a hungry predator breathing down his neck, knowing at any moment it will snap its jaws down on his throat
"The Exulites have fearsome technology, the Mechanicum believes they have many intact SCTs, our men have not been able to make any significant break throughs" Karstan could see the sweat falling from his forehead and on to the stone as he kept his head bowed
"What about the witches?"
"My Lord, we've not encountered any psykers amongst the population, we had started to believe they had purged the population of them"
He heard a low growl come from the primarch and could tell he was smiling, "There are witches on this world, powerful ones, I can smell them" Karstan felt the primarch's aura become even more oppressive, he could almost hear the predator he imagined breathing down his neck letting out an ear splitting roar as it called for a hunt, "Stand up, tell your forces to break out due west north west"
Karstan shot up and snapped a salute at the primarch, "Yes sir" the primarch waved a giant clawed arm and Karstan almost let out a sigh of relief as he turned to march away but just as he was about to get away a runner sprinted up the steps
The young man was out of breath and had a message in his hand, "Message from the front, from Major General Ijanti" the runner pulled himself up and read the message his was carrying, "The enemy has requested to parlay, their leaders are willing to meet with ours"
Karstan furrowed his brow, "Why are they willing to talk with me now, they were adamant before"
"They don't want to talk to you" the primarch spoke, Karstan had be so desperate to forget him that he had as soon as he was even a little relaxed, "Send a reply, requesting a time and place"
The leaders of Exul requested to meet in the city of Kakli, it was a city directly on the front with Imperial forces fighting in its outer edges. Karstan was forced to travel to the front lines with the primarch, this was the first time he had seen the squalid conditions the soldiers had to endure; trenches half filled with stagnant water, rations that kept them a hair's breadth away from starvation and the never-ending boom of artillery.
The soldiers were surprised to see someone of his rank at the front but they were more surprised to see the primarch, most men froze in shock and awe while others simply fell to their knees as a sign of respect but the primarch ignored them all. He passed over the trenches that divided Imperial held territory from Exulite held territory, walking through the no man's land with several marines following close behind.
Ovis walked over the shell poxed ground, the shattered ruins of buildings covering the desolate expanse. He could see the Exulites in their own trenches, their heads just popping out to train their weapons on him. In the middle of the wasteland was a tent that had been set up to act as a meeting place, he took a deep breath as he approached the tent, turning to his son a few feet behind him.
"Smell that?" Ovis had a smile on his face, "Witches"
"All I smell is spent munitions" Atris eyed the Exulite trench for any sign of movement
Ovis chuckled as they reached the tent, turning back to his children, "Wait outside, I'll speak to them alone"
"Are you sure that's wise?" Atris asked, "Witches aren't to be trusted"
"I don't think there is a witch alive that can harm me but it is still fun when they try" Ovis moved aside the tent flap
Ducking, he entered a large tent, surprisingly it was large enough for him to stand up in, there were a dozen or so men and women and Ovis could immediately tell they were all psykers. They all wore boxy robes that had little colour on them and on their heads they all wore crowns with thick cables running in to their heads and from the metal circlet to a collar that just peeked out of their robes.
They all looked at him and for the first time ever didn't seem utterly terrified of him, "It is you, the one unbound by fate" the closest psyker to Ovis spoke, a bald man with a greying beard and a head so filled with cables it almost looked like dreadlocks, reminding Ovis of Angron and his nails
"Unbound by fate?" Ovis looked at them confused, "I'm here to discuss your surrender"
"And we will get to that but first we must warn you"
"Warn me of what?" Ovis could tell these people knew something and they had been waiting for him for some time, "I do not trust you witches and your tricks"
"This is no trick, we are the exiled, that is what our worlds name means" the witch had a melancholic look on his face, "One of the wretched gods took our original world from us, he corrupted the populous and drove it in to anarchy, those before us stood no chance against him and his minions and so they fled"
"Is this story going somewhere?"
"They travelled through the turbulent seas guided by those that came before but the changer's brothers started corrupting them too and by the end of the journey few survived but those that did knew what must be done. They combined their power and peered deep in to the warp and all the possible futures, searching for one where the dark gods were felled but as they looked they only saw the wretched beings ascendance until they found a future that showed nothing at all, a fate that was unseeable and maybe held the hope to stop the enemy, we have waited generations for the one who is unaffected by the warp and is unbound from fate and now you are here" the witch and his comrades all fell to their knees before Ovis
Ovis looked down at the witches kneeling before him, "I only came to accept your surrender, I have no interest in your tricks and prophesies, say you'll surrender so I can leave or I'll butcher every living thing on this world"
The lead psyker stood, "We will surrender, we'll command our men to lay down arms right now but please listen"
Ovis sighed, "Fine, go ahead"
"The dark gods of the warp will destroy all life if they are not stopped, they will twist all things in to their sick idea of perfection, the four gods cannot be allowed to succeed"
The last comment finally got Ovis' full attention, "Wait? Four dark gods?"
"Yes, the four dark gods of chaos; Tzeentch the weaver of fate, Khorne the blood god, Nurgle the father of pestilence and Slaanesh the prince of pleasure, they will bring this galaxy to ruin if they aren't stopped just like Tzeentch did to our world"
"And how can I do that?"
"They are gods of the warp, all living things are connected to them, all except you, you are the only living thing sheltered from them and you can undermine their schemes without their notice"
"So you want me to fight a pantheon of gods" Ovis scoffed, "I am arrogant but not that arrogant"
"Not fight them, we ask you to do one thing, when the angel's sons call for help from their murder you must stay by the favoured son's side until the traitors blade strikes" the psyker sighed and his shoulders relaxed as if a weight was lifted, "That is all we can tell you, whether it will work is up to you now"
"I have always hated you witches and your cryptic messages but I am a true man of Krake and I will even ally with my enemies to fight the dark gods"
The psyker smiled, "Good" his smile dropped as he looked around at his fellow psykers, "It seems the work of our order is done and we have no more reason to live, you hold the flame now"
A smile spread across Ovis' face, "That's good to hear" the primarch's hand appeared over the lead psyker's head, "I can't have people knowing I conspired with witches and I need everything you have on the dark gods"
In the blink of an eye the other psykers watched as their leaders bright soul was drawn in and snuffed out by Ovis' pitch black abyss. Some turned to escape but in the next second the rest of them had their souls devoured by the primarch.
Ovis left the tent to find his children waiting outside, "They said they would lay down arms but then attacked me"
Atris raised his eyebrow at his father, "Really?", they both knew Atris and his siblings could hear what was being said in the tent
"That's what you'll tell everyone besides when have you ever needed a reason to loot and butcher"
Lord General Karstan watched in horror as the World beasts charged across no mans land. He had received reports of enemy forces surrendering their arms and allowing Imperial forces to enter cities and towns, he had hoped that the war would end bloodlessly but that hope was shattered when the first marine let out an ear splitting war cry.
The legion crossed the desolate waste with the speed of trucks and the enemy forces in the middle of disarming were caught off guard by the sudden ferocious attack. Karstan was frozen as he looked for a way to stop the black tide of death that was the World beasts.
"General" his vox came to life and the voice of the primarch came through
"My lord, the enemy was surrendering, you need to call off this attack" Karstan felt himself panicking as he watched the marines rip through the enemy, "We can still salvage this peace"
"The Enemy commanders tried to kill me, this is a trick, commit your forces"
"That can't be, Imperial forces have already been welcomed in to many cities, they are throwing down their weapons"
"You'll commit your forces general or you'll be a traitor and suffer the same fate as the Exulites" Ovis' voice made it clear there was no room for argument as he closed the vox link
Karstan turned to his adjutant, "Commit all forces to the world, focus on the cities and pacifying any forces that remain armed"
"Yes sir" the adjutant went to relay the order as Karstan watched the marines butcher the pretty much defenceless enemy
The butcher of Exul would be enacted in typical World beast fashion, all who tried to resist were butchered, even if they surrendered and threw down their arms, and those that tried to flee in their wake that didn't get caught up in the legion's bloodlust were forever scarred by what they witnessed.
It would be 2 weeks before all military forces on Exul were destroyed. Karstan watched as his men were used to cart treasures from the cities in to the transport holds, long trains of treasures stretching for miles. The legion seemed to need no real reason to take something; libraries were emptied, museums looted and buildings disassembled brick by brick.
All of it was flown to the legion's ships and once their greed had been sated the fleet left, the primarch simply telling the general to see to the formal compliance himself, despite the fact his forces had done very little the world of Exul would be recorded as having been brought in to compliance by the 274th expeditionary fleet.
The great battleship Krake had large cargo holds, not just to store all the food and munitions for the crew and battle but also to store the obscene amount of loot that was taken with each compliance the legion enacted, an army of serfs sorted, categorised and catalogued every single item the legion took.
The primarch always had first look at what was taken and he would choose what he wanted to add to his personal collection after the primarch were his children then the officers of the legion and then finally the rank and file battle brothers were allowed to claim any loot they wanted to keep as battle trophies, the loot that remained after would either be sold to rouge traders or sent back to Krake to be dealt with later.
Ovis looked on as serfs sifted through a mountain of books taken from Exul, working in pairs, one would pick a book and relay the important information to another who would catalogue it before it was put on the relevant near by shelf.
Ovis watched from a platform high above the work being done, listening to the serfs read out book titles, noting every one that sound like it would be relevant to what he had been told. As he watched the work being done his daughter approached him.
"What is it?" he didn't look away from the work being done below, listening to both that and his daughter
"We have received an astropathic message" Asla looked down as well, tuning her ear in to what her father was listening to
"We receive many astropathic messages"
"This is from Aeoran, he requests an urgent meeting, apparently Sotris has caused some kind of offense during the legion's latest compliance"
"How far away are they?"
"Not far, a route opened up recently so barely a week by the warp"
"Fine, let's go see my brother"
The two fleets exited the warp in the middle of the void, a place that was barely out of the way for both of them. As the two flagships neared each other a transport launched from the Eternal mist and headed for the Krake.
Ovis stood in the launch bay waiting for the transport, the stark white craft flying through the open bay doors, it fired its retro thrusters and slowly lowered itself to land in front of the primarch. The loading ramp lowered and the first one out was Aeoran himself, with his first captain following close behind and then his guard and finally Sotris came out last.
"Brother" Ovis welcomed Aeoran with open arms
The two hadn't fought together much since the Castri but their relationship had become friendly, "Ovis" Aeoran chuckled as he hugged his brother
Ovis chuckled as well, "We just finished a compliance, do you want anything; weapons, art, half a library?"
"No, I'm fine" the two parted and Aeoran's smile dropped, "We need to talk about something serious"
"Why? What did my son do?"
"He interrupted negotiations and forced an invasion, we were close to a peaceful compliance"
"And he did this!" Aeoran's first captain pulled off his helmet, revealing a face half covered in cybernetics, the right half of his face was metallic with an angry red cybernetic in place of his eye
"Casis!" Aeoran shot a warning look back at his first captain and the astartes backed down, putting his helmet back on, "He did reveal that the world was led by mutants but he still stepped out of line"
Ovis looked over to his son, who didn't seem ashamed or sorry, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"That world was filled with worshippers of the dark god Tinch" Sotris didn't back down, "I did what you taught me to do, kill heretics"
"You need to rid your people and children of these ridiculous beliefs, there are no gods in the universe, dark or otherwise" Casis' outburst earned another glare from his primarch
"Come with me, I'll speak with you alone" Ovis grabbed Sotris by the scruff of his neck and led him to a private corner of the hanger
"Father, I can't sit by and watch heretics co…"
"You'll listen!" Ovis quieted his son before lowering his voice until he was sure Aeoran wouldn't be able to hear, "I have recently learned a secret of this universe, the dark gods are real, they exist and pose a threat to all life, just as we had been taught"
"Then I was right, we need to inform everyone else, the Emperor and the other legions"
"I suspect the Emperor already knows about the dark gods, he's too powerful in the warp not to"
"You think he's corrupted?" Sotris asked
"No" Ovis had seen how people reacted to the corruption of the dark gods and all of them were horrific, the Emperor didn't fit that description
"Aeoran was engaging in some ritual with the heretic priest" Sotris informed his father of what he had seen
Ovis looked over his shoulder at Aeoran waiting with his guard, "Do you think he's corrupted?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen a change in him like with those in the grip of Tinch"
"Then stay close and if you find evidence that he is without a doubt corrupted by the dark gods then…" Ovis sighed as he looked at his brother, "Then kill him without a second though but be 100% sure first"
"Yes father"
"Keep a lower profile this time and keep me updated"
Ovis dragged Sotris back over to Aeoran, putting a charming smile on his face, "I am sorry about my son but he has proven his use to you so I would suggest you keep him"
Aeoran thought for a second, "He has been a great aid and this is the first incident, if you can promise it won't happen again then I'll accept him back"
"I have spoken to him, he won't interrupt your talks like that again"
"Fine"
"Good, now lets find a planet to conquer, its been far too long and you seem like you could use a nice new palace" the two brother's laughed as they went in to the ship
"I can't tell if you're joking or not"
Next time: Darkened skies