39. 20 sons

The space above Terra was always crowded, thousands of warships moving between the worlds of the Sol system like schools of fish while long trains of freighters carried goods to Terra and left with empty holds. Nothing stood still over Terra except for today.

Directly above the continent spanning Imperial palace a number of ships hung in geostationary orbit, 18 massive battleships each of a slightly different design and sporting wildly different colours. All other ships stayed well clear of them as they circled around an even larger golden ship.

The Eternal mist exited the warp at the edge of the Sol system, immediately setting course for the throne world. After the Gloriana-class battleship had crashed in to Korselos during the 2nd war with the Rangdan it had been recovered by the 11th legion and towed to a shipyard where it had been worked on nonstop to bring it back in to service, it took about half a decade but the ship had been brought back to its former glory along with a number of upgrades.

The 2nd legion continued to fight in the conflict and it eventually ended with the 4 legions invading the xenos' homeworld and destroying them entirely. The Rangdan homeworld had been a strange place, the entire surface had been converted in to a city but Rangdan cities were made of the flesh of their defeated foes so the entire world was covered in a fleshy patchwork layer, making it look like Frankenstein's monster. The fighting had been hard and thousands of marines along with millions of regular soldiers were lost but eventually the last Rangdan lay dead at the feet of Aeoran and his brothers.

The ship fell in to orbit with its sister ships as the primarch prepared to be ferried to the surface. Aeoran sat in a stormbird with Tatin Erstwal on his right and Casis Thal on his left. The former legion master had been removed from his post as 1st captain due to his disappearance during the mission to save Sotris, he retained the position as the primarch's equerry but Erstwal had been promoted to 1st captain and effectively became the legion's second in command although Thal's word still held significant pull.

The stormbird launched from the Eternal mist and headed straight for the centre of the Imperial palace, burning through the atmosphere and spearing towards the large mountain that the palace grew out from. After a violent atmospheric entry and a smooth glide towards the palace the transport landed in one of the many hangers in the inner palace and the primarch disembarked with his 1st captain and equerry.

A single golden warrior of the Custodes stood to meet the primarch, conical helmet ending in a plume of crimson hair on his head and spear in hand, he simply turned without a word and marched off, obviously wanting the primarch to follow.

"Quite the warm welcome" Erstwal commented as they followed the Emperor's guard

The primarch was taken through the twisting halls of the palace, the serfs and adepts that had the pleasure of working in the inner palace froze as he passed them before they caught themselves and fell to their knee before one of the Emperor's sons. The Custodes took them to a pair of great golden doors guarded by two golden warriors in terminator armour, the two hunched guards opened the doors much more swiftly than someone in terminator armour should be able to, allowing the primarch and his sons through.

Beyond the doors was a truly massive room. It was an amphitheatre like space with a domed ceiling that was held up by 21 guardians carved from flawless marble, each of the 20 foot tall statues held a golden pole and from them flew the heraldry of one of the 20 legions with the 21st statue standing directly before the doors flying the Imperial aquila. In the centre to the room was a great round table with 21 seats, each positioned in front of one of the statues. The room was occupied by the other primarchs, the brothers talking and intermingling.

"Aeoran!" Horus was the first to greet him, breaking off a conversation with Sanguinius to do so

"Horus" Aeoran embraced his brother, "Is what I heard true?"

"It is, I've met the 20th myself although he is speaking with the Emperor right now"

Aeoran scanned the room and could see all his brothers were present except for Ovis and the newly found 20th. Sanguinius approached the two, both his golden armour and unblemished white wings seeming to glow with inner light.

"I am glad to see you alive Aeoran, when I heard about what happened to your legion during the 2nd Rangdan war I had wanted to join the war effort but unfortunately I was across the galaxy at the time"

Aeoran embraced the Angel, "It was my own fault, I was too confident in the power of my legion and we paid the price luckily Ovis cut the lesson short, I fear what would have become of me and my sons if he had not been there"

Sanguinius seemed to suddenly grow solemn, "It is something that doesn't bear thinking about"

"But it is not something that came to pass" Horus chuckled to lighten the mood, "We only have one more to come, will he arrive soon?"

"Knowing Ovis he will purposefully make us wait another week for him" Aeoran laughed along with his brothers

Aeoran looked over Horus' shoulder and spotted his brother Magnus talking to Perturabo, "Excuse me but I should greet our other brothers"

The mist king slipped away from the favoured son and headed to his two brothers who were deep in conversation, as he got close Aeoran could hear what they were discussing, Magnus was talking about some ancient artifacts he had recently rediscovered and Perturabo seemed interested in aiding with more digs to find more artefacts.

"Magnus, Perturabo" Aeoran greeted the two

"Aeoran" Magnus smiled while Perturabo simply nodded his acknowledgment

Perturbo wore his massive terminator armour, only his head was exposed but even that was nearly entirely covered by cables connecting his brain directly in to his armour. Magnus wore his horned armour, the tusk sprouting from his back and chest engraved with psychic runes and wards, his forehead and cheeks were protected by a stripped gold and azure crown embedded with psychically resonant crystals.

Magnus turned from Perturabo and focused entirely on Aeoran, the lord of iron leaving the two soon after, "Do you have any more insights to share brother, your revelations about the warp are always enlightening"

"Unfortunately I don't have anything to share, my visions have not been very potent recently" Aeoran shared his concerns with his brother, ever since the disaster during the 2nd Rangdan war he had felt his precognitive abilities waning, while he could still enter a battle trance he no longer heard the guiding voice and he could no longer enter deep trances

Magnus thought on what his brother had told him, "The warp is a reflection of the mental state of all life in the galaxy so it is a sort of mirror, you will only get from the warp what you put in, I think you might have subconsciously blocked off these abilities, you may have to delve deep within yourself to regain them. Meditate and listen to the warp, then you may hear the voice again"

Aeoran listened, Magnus' advice seemed sound. It was the voice that encouraged him to invade and recover whatever artefact was on the planet, he never found it but he knew there had been something potent and powerful on that rock. It could be his guilt over the failed invasion blocking his powers.

"You might be right brother, thank you"

"Well I have a vested interest in you continuing to peer deeper in to the warp, the two of us together can unravel all its secrets"

Aeoran laughed with his brother, "Now lets talk about something more upbeat"

"I know just the thing, my legion recen…." The crimson king froze mid-sentence, his wild mane of blood red hair standing on its ends

Magnus fell to his knees as he threw up, acidic bile pouring out of his mouth. Aeoran kneeled next to his brother who had broken out in to a cold sweat, the mist king could see that a few of his other brothers seemed to be having minor episodes of their own but nothing compared to Magnus.

"What is happening?" Magnus heaved

"Just breath and relax" Aeoran could feel what was making Magnus react like this and he knew exactly what it was

The doors swung open and Ovis strolled in. He wore his long black scale coat and his power arm, on his head he wore a three cornered hat with a plume of large white feathers sticking out of it, his hair was cornrowed with threads of gold and gems tied in at the ends.

Magnus looked up and as soon as he saw the 11th standing in the door he let out a soul tearing scream, his face draining of all colour as he scrambled away. Aeoran grabbed his brother and tried to get him to focus but Magnus was pretty much catatonic, Perturabo also came over to try and pull the cyclops back to reality.

Horus approached Ovis, "Please could you cease your assault on Magnus, you have not met before and I don't think this is the best first impression"

Ovis smirked and the oppressive aura, that had saturated the room to such a degree that even the non-psychic brothers were starting to feel it, vanished in an instant. Ovis walked over to the primarch who was still on his knees, catching his breath.

"I don't believe we've met before, I'm O…"

"What are you?" Magnus looked him over with his third eye but all he saw was a void of infinite nothingness

"I'm your brother, Ovis Nelson; pirate king, Emperor of Krake and lord of the 11th legion" Ovis stuck his hand out to Magnus, "Now get up"

Magnus pulled away from his hand, instead holding on to Aeoran and pulling himself to his feet, "I am fine" although he said that he clearly wasn't, his face still pale and his eyes looking everywhere apart from directly at Ovis

"Quite the show you put on Magnus" Leman let out a booming laugh as he approached his brothers

An aura of cold preceded the wolf king his ice blue armour generating a thin layer of frost around his feet and in the fur of the stark white wolf pelt he had over his shoulders. Russ' long hair was braided, the blonde having a tinge of red that could have been blood yet to be washed out or streaks of ginger.

"Russ" Ovis pulled Leman in and the two embraced in a way that seemed like they were trying to crush each other

"I knew it was you as soon as I saw the cyclops's reaction"

The 6th and 11th legions had similar reputations for barbarism and the two had fought some brutal campaigns together. The wolf and pirate kings also had quite similar personalities and along with their distrust of psykers that made them fast friends.

"I didn't know he would be such a push over, even Kurze endured better than him" the two brothers laughed

Magnus' colour returned as his unease and nausea turned to rage, he lit his fist with psychic fire, "I'll show you endurance, abomination, my son has told me much about you and your legion" Magnus challenged Ovis

The pirate king seemed surprised by the challenge, "We are not here to fight each other brothers" Aeoran got between the two, attempting to defuse the situation, "Magnus, Ovis is just trying to provoke you, it is what he does"

"Well he has succeeded"

Aeoran turned to Ovis, "Ovis please back down"

"Don't worry this won't take long" Ovis snapped his fingers and Magnus' flame went out

Magnus' hand went to his khopesh and Ovis' went to his sabre but before either could draw Horus appeared between them, grabbing their wrists and stopping them.

"Enough of this!" the favoured son had a stern tone, "Magnus you know better than to lose your head and Ovis you could try not attacking everyone you meet"

The two primarchs released their grips on their weapons and Horus released their wrists. Magnus didn't say anything and simply walked away from Ovis and Horus went to talk with some of his other brothers, leaving him there with Aeoran who gave his brother a disappointed look.

"Do you have to do this every time you meet someone new?"

"How else am I supposed to get to know people better?"

Aeoran sighed, "Of all our brothers you are somehow the worst"

Ovis smiled at that comment, "Why don't we talk about something more upbeat, how is your ship treating you?"

"It's better than before, it's a miracle you managed to get it back in service"

"Well my personal shipwrights are just that good"

The two brothers spoke for hours, about the worlds they conquered and the civilisations they encountered, several of their other brothers came to greet them and also talk of their own victories. They did this until a clap resonated through the room and the brothers fell silent. The Emperor entered the room, he wore his masterfully crafted golden armour and lightning claw, his flaming sword sheathed at his side. The Emperor walked with a slow and purposeful gait, his expression almost completely lost behind his golden halo. Most of the primarchs fell to their knees at his appearance, Ovis and Angron standing as exceptions.

The Emperor walked past all his sons and behind him came the 20th one. He was much shorter than the other primarchs, standing only slightly taller than a regular space marine, he wore a suit of power armour completely covered in turquoise scales and lined in silver, the helmet was adorned with a crest that sported a bronze serpent. The Emperor took his seat in front of the statue holding the Imperial aquila and the primarchs followed suit, each taking their respective seat, the order going by legion number from the Lion to the newly discovered 20th with the Emperor sitting between Ferrus and Ovis.

The Emperor was the first to speak, "I thank you all for coming to Terra so quickly, you have not all been in the same place since your gestation, the great crusade was originally about securing humanity's place in the stars but after the accident it became a quest to find you all, I knew you were all out there and I used all the resources I had to find you and now you are here"

After the Emperor finished his speech Horus spoke next, "Is there some revelation you wish to impart father? Is that why you called us all here?"

"No, I wish to celebrate this moment and mark it as a milestone in our crusade, the moment all my generals were found"

"So this is it?" Ovis asked, "You didn't make us any sisters?"

"Well we still have Fulgrim" Russ commented earning laughter from a few of his brothers

"Did our mother not want a daughter? Do we even have a mother?" The Emperor looked to his left, giving Ovis a side glare until the pirate cracked a smile, "I'm only joking, only the existence of gods would explain you being able to seduce a woman and they definitely don't exist, right?"

The Lion scowled at his brother, "Do you always have to stir things up?"

"We were all made different brother, it is not my fault I was made better than most of you" that earn sarcastic jeers from the other primarchs

"You are a brutish raider who cares only for slaughter and loot" Lorgar struck back

"Yes I am and I fully accept that unlike you who can commit atrocities as easily as any here but you still try to deny that is your nature, no one is making you enjoy it" Ovis smirked as he watched Lorgar fume slightly

"While that is all true being better than Lorgar isn't much of an achievement brother" the Khan voiced his opinion earning a few chuckles amongst the primarchs

"Fine, I'll go in order so its easy for you, the Lion is emotionally stunted and completely unable to understand the feelings of anyone else" Ovis pointed to the 1st son, "Although he did punch Russ out that one time, so not all bad"

"Aeoran's only fault is that he becomes too focused on one course of action once he has set down a path, he's too insistent to see things to the end" Ovis immediately rounded on the mist king, "And he needs to cut it out with those fog machines, that stuff somehow sticks to you"

"Fulgrim is too in love with himself, everything has to be perfect for him" Ovis pointed to the Phoenician, who didn't seem that offended by the criticism, "Also I am 100% sure he has a mirror on him right now and 80% sure he's looked at himself in it at least a dozen times since entering this room"

"Perturabo is too obedient he won't speak up despite it being obvious he hates everything he's doing even though he's so good at it" the lord of iron had his usual scowl as he was critiqued, "He's also mad that no one knows he hates his life despite the fact he never tells anyone, we're not mind readers apart from the literal mind readers but that's just Magnus being lazy, leave the rest of us out of your self loathing"

"The Khan…." Ovis paused as he pointed an accusing finger at his brother, "Is actually a very principled man, he does his job without complaint and if he doesn't like something he changes it, really one of the best here"

"Russ refuses to accept anything outside his narrow vision, it keeps him from learning horrible truths but also useful ones" Russ didn't seem to be listening, still laughing at his brothers' critiques, "Also way too in to wolves, reel it in they don't need to be everywhere"

"Dorn is too immovable, he plants himself somewhere and will not move, it'll get him killed one day" the praetorian remained as stoic as ever, "And he has no sense of humour, the day Dorn tells a joke or laughs is the day I stop stealing everything I can get my hands on"

"Curze has a twisted sense of justice, unable to let go of a slight and forgive, also he lets his visons have more control over his actions than he should" the night haunter bared his teeth, "And he needs to wash his hair"

"Sanguinius has no faith in himself and believes himself much more of a monster than he actually is" Sanguinus seemed slightly touched by the compliment at the end, "Although he does get feathers everywhere and that is annoying"

"Ferrus has no concern for the mortals around him instead pushing them to match him and his sons and getting them needlessly killed" Ovis looked past the Emperor to the brother he was talking about, "But those metal arms are cool"

"Angron has no control and charges at the slightest provocation" the red angel let out a low growl, "But you can't deny the fun you have when he's on the battlefield"

"Guilliman would rather file reports about agri yields than actually lead a legion, he's really got a stick firmly stuck somewhere" if Guilliman was offended by the comments he didn't let it show, "Also blue is not your colour besides that you call yourself the Ultramarines but your armour is cobalt blue not ultramarine blue and that is the most heinous transgression to date"

"Mortarion has a need to prove he's tough and he drags everyone else on his masochistic quest" a puff of gas from pale king was the only acknowledgment given, "And he needs a shower, seriously try it more than once a year"

"Magnus is too reliant on his powers and has no way to really fight without them, he trusts the warp too much" the cyclopes scowled as he looked away from Ovis, "And he spends too much time with his nose in a book"

"Horus is actually the most decent of all of us"

Ovis stared at Lorgar for a few seconds, "Have you not already chastised me?"

"Yes but there is more, quickly summed up the real problem is Logar exists, I know everyone makes mistakes but you don't normally make them all constantly stretch out over a lifetime"

"Vulkan feels for regular people too much, he's hesitant to sacrifice them when needed" the lord of drakes seemed to take the criticism on board with a nod of his head, "But besides that he's one of only three decent people here"

"Corax has no hope and is far too easily discouraged" the raven lord remained silent and barely acknowledge what was being said, "He's also in to ravens like Russ is in to wolves"

"And I know absolutely nothing about the 20th, don't even know his name"

"Alpharius and you would have learnt that if you hadn't gone on that little rant"

"And Alpharius is a dumb name" Ovis finished his rant

"If you are done" the Emperor glared at Ovis, "This is meant to be a celebration of the success of the great crusade, all my primarchs together at last as intended"

Horus stood, "Ovis is right, even though he expressed it less eloquently than many of us would have liked, despite how far removed from humanity we are we still hold many of their flaws and we should be aware of them"

"Easy for you to say brother, you were praised instead of scolded" Lorgar spoke, "Apparently my existence is a flaw"

"I will always stand by that" Ovis commented

"I am just saying we shouldn't believe we are beyond humans, we are a part of them not apart from them"

"Horus is right" the Emperor agreed, "We shouldn't dwell on Ovis' cruel words and instead prove them wrong, now lets move on to celebrations"

The Emperor clapped his hands and surfs appeared carrying trays with goblets of wine, going around the table and placing one in front of each primarch. The Emperor stood and raised his goblet with the primarchs following soon after, some enthusiastically and others reluctantly.

"To the Imperium and to all humanity" the Emperor tipped the goblet back and drank deep with the primarchs following him

Next time: The triumph