A/N - And another chapter done and I reached for some things I thought I wouldn't reach, but I used them and it looks really good. Also some slight, minor modifications to the general lore happened, but unless one knows for what to look they'll miss it.
o-0-o
Harry came back to reality and then looked at the ship in front of him before getting up and grasping his axe. "This is where our goal is," he said, his voice growly, his fangs exposed and his hair flying behind him like an untamed mane. "We need to board it and find the Wolf King."
"Boarding it will be a relatively simple thing," one of the Custodians said and Harry sent a confused look at the warrior. "I was aboard this ship during the times of the Crusade and in front of us is one of the smaller landing bays. And from there we should be able to reach the command deck."
Harry nodded and they carefully made their way across shattered remains of various ships, landers and other vehicles that were lost in the Warp and formed this space hulk. There were also occasional Cultists and daemons that somehow managed to survive in the hellish atmosphere. Systems of Harry's armor showed the temperature spike from extreme hot to extreme cold at random, with an added bonus of fluctuations in the gravity so he only smiled as a malformed heretic with spindly arms hurled itself at him.
His axe flew through the air and severed the head from the rest of the body in a shower of blood and he completely ignored few more splotches of it on his armor. He then climbed on top of a Thunderhawk painted in green and gold and looked towards the hull of Hrafnkel that was now only meters away. As Harry looked at the hull the sensation of being with his pack and close to his leader was almost overwhelming and he felt as if he could grasp it with his hands.
"Captain-General," Harry asked and the Custodian looked at him with some curiosity. "You said that you were there in the times of the Heresy, do you know how many of my brothers there can be?"
"The records of your Legion and later Chapter were always convoluted and unclear," the Custodes said and Harry nodded. "However the data we have and is reliable suggests that there can be as many as fifteen thousand battle brothers, his bodyguards and most elite troops as well as any and all gear and equipment they had at the time."
"So more than two times the current strength of the chapter," Harry said quietly and Custodian shoot him a look. "When I left for Holy Terra, the chapter had over seven thousand and five hundred more training and passing the transformation."
"Obedience of the rules seems as not the strongest side of your chapter," the Custodian remarked and Harry nodded. "But for the moment it doesn't matter and what matters more is how we enter the ship."
"What's the issue?" Grand Master asked.
"The Wolves even if rash and brutal and crude also really hate giving up anything they own. So the whole ship is booby trapped and they can be disabled from inside."
"What kinds of traps?"
"Everything from silly to deadly," the Custodian said and shrugged. "I can disable most, bust most will only reveals itself in the presence of a Wolf."
"And if I'm right, they can be disabled from the bridge or the engine room," Harry said and all looked at him. "I'm a Wolf Guard of the Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane and I learned such things as this and we use it in our fortress and on our current ships."
"Good, even really good," one of the Custodians said and Harry then looked at him. "You should know some of the secrets that can let us pass through, relatively unharmed."
"I cannot reveal them unless in the presence of fellow Wolves," Harry added, subtle warning to his voice as he bared his fangs and a snarl built at the back of his throat.
"I know," the Custodian said and Harry sent a look at him, one that suggested him contemplating beheading the annoying warrior. "I don't ask you to reveal them as I was one reminded by the Primarch of your Legion not to think about it."
"I can live with that," Harry said and then paused when he saw a portal appear above their heads with a massive winged and horned form crawling out of it. "Did any of us asked a Bloodthirster to show up?"
"No," the Custodian said and then added. "But it is quite fortunate, after all we need something to trigger some defenses and this is as good as anything."
Before Harry could comment a familiar howling sound of the jetpack was heard and they saw a lone being separate itself from the ship and hurl itself at the daemon. What followed was a brief bout of combat as that someone hurled the daemon at one of the jagged spikes of metal and once it was impaled he leaped at the beast and easily severed its head from the rest of the body.
"That's impossibile," Voldus commented as the severed head rolled towards them. "No Space Marine can do that...Not even Grand Master Draigo."
"Because the one who did this was no Marine." One of the Custodes commented and then added. "This is most certainly the work of a Primarch, one of the more physically capable ones...The way The Primarch moved, the precision...I never had the fortune to serve with him, but I heard of him..." The Custodes would have snorted "He was a silent one. Stay alert brothers, be on your guard."
"Who are you? In my Father's name speak! Speak true, speak clear for your fate will not be as quick." The Primarch said silky, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere.
"Harald! Son of House Belisarius, sworn allies to the Wolf King. Wolf Guard of Wolf Lord Ragnar. Ragnar the Young Lord, Ragnar the Savage, Ragnar the Brutal. I serve as a part of his personal Wolf Pack, as Wolf Guard." Harry said, his Terran Fenrisian accent blurring thickly.
"You are an awfully long way from home young Wolf Guard. What has caused this fall from Grace? Step through...alone." Came the soft silky tones, this time less silky more the quiet wind that permeated the 'Halls of Valhalla' where true Sons of Fenris were entombed.
"Go...Follow his orders." Ordered the Captain-General.
Harry nodded and walked forward, airtight seals of his helmet released and letting him taste the air and as he walked into the darkness he completely ignored his sight and instead focused on his ears and nose to lead him to his target. "Show yourself!" he yelled. "Reveal yourself!"
There was a moment of silence and then Harry more felt than heard a rush of air as something or someone landed in front of him. "You are an awfully brash and courageous young wolf," the voice commented and Harry tensed. "Yet you are a true son of the wolf. Not many have the courage to shout at a Primarch. One that holds your light in their claws. So speak, what do you do here of all places? Your armor carries markings of the Wolf Guard and Wolfblades, yet is painted silver like the Grey Knights around you."
"I was sent to the Wolfblades as a part of an agreement between the Great Wolf and the Celestarch," Harry said and then grimaced, anger building up at the back of his throat. "The armor color is an effect of me being sent to the Grey Knights to keep me out of the claws of the Inquisition."
"You speak truth," the voice said and Harry could detect questions hidden in it. "What year it is? Warp makes one lose their feeling of passing time."
"998.M41."
"Almost eleven thousand years since when father was interred on the Golden Throne," the voice said and then paused. "And since the start of my banishment of penance."
Harry increased power of the auspexes of his helmet and was finally able to see the owner of the voice in any kind of details, he was huge, over ten feet tall, closer to twelve to be honest, his body clad in a matte black power armor. On his back jetpack with large, wing-like parts growing from it and spreading to the sides. His face was sullen with dark as night eyes and framed by long pitch black hair and it made some memories come out of the corners of Harry's mind. He quickly recognized the person or being in front of him as Corvus Corax, the Prince of the Unkindness and the Primarch of the Nineteenth Legion.
"My Lord," Harry said in some reverence as he dropped to his knees, pulling the helmet of his head and bowing it in a sign of submission.
"Be at ease, young Wolf," Corax said and Harry looked at the giant. "You are here to free your Primarch and there is no need for you to kneel before me."
Harry got up, his suit whirling, whirring and everything else "My Lord…Where are the armouries? Are you here alone? What weapons are on board?"
"Easy, one thing at a time," Corax said, some amusement in his voice. "No, I'm not alone as I didn't disappear into the Warp completely alone and had allies with me...Although I wish they didn't...But I am forever grateful for them...Anyway first things first and we need to get on board of that thing."
Harry nodded and following the Primarch made his way back to the Grey Knights and Custodes that seemed to patiently wait for them, yet Harry could smell that most was scared and wasn't quite sure if he would come back. The previously agreed plan was slightly modified to accommodate the Primarch and they made their way to the gates of one of the hangars.
"Opening it won't be easy," Harry said as he looked at some thirty meters tall, some hundred meters long and Emperor only knew how thick slab of armor that was generously called gate. It's surface bore scars of combat and was covered in chains of runes that formed powerful wards, however it also seemed completely undamaged.
"We can always use meltas and burn through the gate," one of the Custodians said as he looked at his spear that had built-in a weapon Harry never saw.
"That won't be necessary," Corax said and they looked at him. "I had a similar flagship and even if we had them modified to what we wanted or liked, the basic construction was the same. And fifty or so meters to one side there should be a small access hatch or door."
They spread out and using their weapons to feel the metal and find the place that could be door. Harry paused as he moved his armored hand over the smooth surface of the gate and then frowned as he felt a small chink, too straight and narrow to he caused by combat. He then trailed his fingers along it and something clicked under them and door slowly revealed itself.
"That was probably the hardest part," Corax said as they slipped into one of the cavernous hangars. "The traps are annoying, but we know where to go and I disabled some."
Harry ignored those words and instead looked around, the gigantic space was filled with hundreds of Thunderhawks, Land Raiders, Land Speeders and many, much more ancient crafts he couldn't even name. They stood in orderly rows, as if waiting to be used and deployed in some combat zone.
"Large ones are called Stormbirds," Corax said as they walked between rows of those gunships. "Relics from the times of the Great Crusade, we used them as Legions were larger and needed to move more men. The Thunderhawks were supposed to supplement the design, not completely replace it. And this is one of the smaller hangars, the main ones are elsewhere and would have been a better access point, but this one is good enough." Then he picked up a piece of scrap laying on the floor and hurled towards the corridor leading out of the hangar. It slammed into a some kind of a barrier and vanished in a flash of gold.
"Standard kind of a trap," one of the Custodians said. "The emitters and embedded in and around the doorframe and have enough of power to incinerate power armor."
"Find a different path?" Harry suggested. "Usually there are dozens of ways out of each room."
"Oh, there are," the Custodian said before focusing on the doorway and starting to inspect it. "But usually they are more trapped than the main road."
They watched in silence as the Custodians carefully examined the doorframe and then one of them slammed the blade of his spear into an innocently looking rune. There was a sudden explosion of light and Harry could see arcs of energy jump all over the walls and even cover their armors in dangerous discharges.
"That's not a thing I expected," Harry commented as he walked deeper. "We now use plasma or laser cannons to keep nasties inside of the hangar."
"Remember, this was a ship designed for a Primarch," Corax commented. "We got what we asked for and the best systems were made available to us. This bit was actually designed by one of my brothers."
"The Gorgon," one of the Custodians recalled. "The best designer out of all Primarchs."
Corax silently nodded and they walked down one of the massive corridors and Harry felt as if he was traveling down the corridors of the Fang. It all felt so similar, wolf pelts and hunting trophies adorning the walls, wooden supports along the ceiling, banners of companies in the alcoves and an overwhelming scent of the Wolves. Between all of this were hidden traps, some just silly and harmless, while some made them curse the ingenuity of the designers and their love for spiky and sharp things.
Harry dodged an axe that came hurling out of nowhere and then ducked as a hail of bolter rounds almost turned his head to bloody mist. He reached for a bolt pistol attached to his belt and fired it at the turret and smiled when the defense fell silent. Once it wasn't firing he got up and approached the door which it was defending. Two thick slabs of metal covered in carvings of wolves and Fenrisian runes that the moment he got close started to glow. He placed his hand on the wolf head that was in the middle and the door hissed before opening and revealing the bridge.
When they moved aside and revealed what was hidden behind, Harry had troubles believing his eyes. The space was huge and obviously belonged to the Wolves, yet at the same time it was practical and simplistic in design. The command throne for the Primarch and one for the captain of the ship placed on a raised dais in the middle and around them positions for other members of command staff and directly in front of the command thrones massive holographic projectors.
"It's massive," Harry said, his eyes slipping in wonder over the consoles and viewports hidden by the blast doors. "Bridge of a battlecruiser feels small compared to this."
"Even bridge of a battleship feels small after seeing this," one of the Custodians said as he approached one of the consoles and started to input commands, ignoring Harry's questionable looks about doing it without a Tech-Priest nearby. "Traps are disabled and now there's a question to answer. Should we wake up Russ from his hibernation or not."
"Why not?" Harry asked and Corax laughed, making Harry growl in the direction of the Primarch.
"My brother is… let's say rash and doesn't think before doing something," Corax said and then added. "If you haven't noticed, we are buried in a giant pile of scrap. And he won't help us with his rage too much as we try to get out of here."
"Indeed," one of the Custodians said and then pulled the helmet of his head, revealing a bald, scarred face with several service studs. "Time for me to stop hiding my true station and position."
Corax looked at the Custodian and Harry could see him smiling. "Why didn't you reveal you are Constantin Valdor?" Corax asked in wonder. "You would have made our lives so much easier."
"There was no need for it," Valdor said and Harry gasped as he realized that the man in front of him was like a living and walking legend, one of the few people that knew the Emperor and Primarchs. "But now there is a need for it." he then glanced at one of the other Custodians. "Activate communication systems and use them to pass a message to the strike cruiser. Have it be set for immediate transmission and request presence of several Arc Mechanicus in system in the next three weeks, have it contain the usual honorifics and titles of the Captain-General and the rest of the usual formulas."
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked in wonder.
"Wait, let the Grey Knights in to investigate and eradicate anything that may contaminate this holy ship…" Corax ordered, 'Yes, it felt good to command again...Now, to test the rancour of the Young Wolf...He looks and sounds so much like Fenrir.' "Might thin them out a bit..." He finished in such a tone that strained even the Custodes sensitive hearing. "Young Wolf, start waking your brethren from their dog naps and I'll storm the nests." Corax stated.
Harry snorted, "Sounds like you're expecting me to get punched."
Corax nodded "That's partially true. Your brethren...don't like being confined or intruders."
Harry nodded and got to work, his boots booming down the corridors, bulkheads following the Shadow Slipping Shadow Master. As he followed, he felt very much like a child again. He was in the presence of a PRIMARCH! Not his own, but still a Primarch is a Primarch. "Calgar and kiss my boots."
Corax turned "Calgar? Of whom do you speak? A name like that I hypothesize to be one of Robute's lineage."
"Aye, My Lord...He is the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines Lord Defender of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar and the Lord of Macragge...And completely insufferable."
Corax chuckled at that "Judge him harshly, fair, but do not hate him for his lineage. The children of Roboute, stout of heart and good cousins, true. It is their demeanour that turn most people against them. They are good men. Bit too rigid and honour Robute's Great Treatise of the Adeptus Astartes Chapter...I forget the name. I believe it was meant to be a Guideline, not a Gospel."
Harry could only nod. He fought by a few Ultramarines mainly Uriel Ventris. A good marine, kept his head, always by his side or few steps behind. He had a cockiness to him but it was well placed. Harry remembered being stuck on a hill, repairing his jammed bolter in his young and foolish times as a Neophyte of the Wolves when Ventris handed him his own and swiftly repaired jammer one. Then he braced himself and he began to in an old Macragge Term 'Akimbo' and 'Potshot' orks in the head, he had even cleared a path for Harry to rush the Mega Armoured Nob Squad of the Warboss. Then they had been joined by a Blood Angel named Rafen. Rafen...was an interesting one.
They locked their eyes, when the Blood Angel pulled his Terminator clad frame from underneath the Warboss. Harry had seen Rafen clad in gold, a wrist mounted pistol of some sort, an Axe Mortalis, the Badge of Office of Chapter Master of the Blood Angels and a spear with a teardrop blade and he was standing over another Golden Figure, in front of a Golden Door with yet another figure clad in Gold who seemed to be floating off the floor.
Harry snapped himself back to the present and looked at Corax. "Some are less inclined to follow the teachings of the Codex Astartes."
"There's at least some hope for them," Corax muttered and Harry chuckled. "Anyways, the pods containing your brethren should be up ahead, don't touch the biggest pod, as much as I want to meet my dear brother, he won't help us."
Harry nodded and walked into a massive chamber filled to the brim with stasis pods, pods containing the Space Wolves, one of the most restless Legions and Chapters of Space Marines. Harry approached the console placed at the beginning of the chamber and then looked at the displayed data. The data displayed was in a way familiar and he didn't have too many issues with understanding what it showed. There were some five hundred pods in the chamber and Harry's eyes widened a bit as he recognized some as the greatest heroes of the Legion from the times of the Heresy.
He deactivated the stasis systems and watched as the pods slowly opened and revealed waking up and very, very angry looking Space Wolves. He contemplated for a moment if he should get himself out of the chamber, but ignored this instinct and braced himself for whatever was to come. The only miracle in the moment was that there were no real weapons in the chamber and he had his trusty axe, a thing that gave him some kind of safety.
"Who are you, Wolf Guard?" one of the Wolves asked, its mane almost snow white and his fangs looking like a pair of daggers. However it was not what made Harry's hearts pause, this title fell to the massive pelt of the wolf covering the back of the Marine and the markings of a Wolf Lord.
"Harald of the House of Belisarius," Harry said proudly as he met the challenging gaze of the weathered veteran. "Wolf Guard to the Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane."
"You seem awfully young for being a Wolf Guard," the veteran Wolf said as he slowly approached Harry and looked him over. "What year it is and where are we?"
Harry hurriedly explained and saw the Wolf Lord growl and show his fangs in obvious anger before quickly calming and then accepting Harry's explanation before helping in waking up others and directing those that woke up to arm and start to scour the ship for any threats.
o-0-o
Torin smiled as he heard the roar of assault cannons, shredding sound of lightning claws and the impossible to miss heavy step of Terminator clad warriors that stomped down one of the streets, suppressing the zealots and letting Skitarii that accompanied them to pick them one by one. He raised his own hand into the air and then brought sharply down before leaping onto one of the Sororitas directly below him.
A power sword Torin held came alive as he pressed the rune built into the hilt and the blade covered in a sheet of invisible energy pierced the power armor and the flesh below it. He roughly pulled the blade out, even before she was dead and slammed it into the head of another, splitting the helmet and head protected by it.
"Meet with the Terminators," he barked into the vox and then fired his bolter at the point blank range at one of the Sororitas that tried to attack him and then beheaded a Stormtrooper. "Terminators, cover us and once we meet up, slowly retreat out of the the underhive."
He heard the acknowledgment of his orders and then charged down the street and for the allied positions, disciplined fire of Skitarii and the crude brutality of the Terminators making not many zealots willing to come closer and risk getting killed.
o-0-o
Next six weeks passed quickly as they checked the systems of the ship and then once the Mechanicus arrived with their ships they started to dig it out, a process that was greatly accelerated by the usage of melta and volkite weapons to shatter the hulk into smaller, easier to manipulate and move away from the hull of Hrafnkel. The time was also used by the Wolves and a surprisingly large number of Ravens that was on board to familiarize themselves with the current events of the universe and the situation in which the universe was. Harry did many weird things when he was a Wolfblade or even when at the Fang, but telling the Primarch what had changed since the times he was last in the Imperium was the strangest thing.
Six weeks passed and in his power armor now finally painted in the proper Space Wolves gray and light blue and with a massive pelt of a wolf draped across his back and over his shoulder Harry walked into one of the chambers where the stasis pods were and looked at the sole one that remained closed. It was a far bigger one than those around it and could only contain a Primarch, he could see that everybody in the room was tensed and waiting for the moment when their lord would wake up and join them.
"Wake him up," Corax said, his voice silky and smooth, putting most of them at ease.
"You should do it," the Wolf Lord said, his name Berek Daemonbane, and Harry sent a look at him. "You claim to be a Wolf Guard, let's haze you and see how good of one you. He shouldn't kill you and it is as good of a test as any."
Harry smiled ferally and glanced at the Wolf Lord. "Of course, My Lord, I shall see it done." He then approached the pod and the console to the side of it, looking at the readings he slowly inputted the commands and watched the pod hiss and open.
The time dragged for him as he watched the metal door of the pod move aside and reveal the giant of a man that was inside, a man that was easily towering even over the biggest Astartes and made Harry have a reaction of dropping to his knees in respect and awe. Even if he was clad in an armor that looked like a crude and primitive one, Harry knew well enough that it was a person not to be underestimated and he slowly moved away at the same time preparing for the very angry wolf attacking him.
"Where am I?!" Russ roared and Harry tried to make himself as small as possible, facing a furious Primarch was not a thing he wanted to do. "Answer me!" Russ roared, his gaze slipping over the silent ranks of Astartes. Then the Wolf King sniffed the air and Harry knew that he was screwed when the nostrils of the Primarch flared and he turned to look at him. "You!" Russ roared and leaped at Harry.
Harry knew a Primarch was fast, he had seen Corax move, but Russ made Corax seem slow. Harry was taken off guard and hardly expected such a strong, precise and lethal jab. The was almost instantaneous, there was the unmistakable sound of flesh and bone, connecting with the adamantine plasteel plating encased in ceramite. It sound like a butcher carving meat on a granite surface. However, a crunching sound was heard as Harry dared to look down, his power armour had been ruptured! By a punch!
A second blow was coming, this time a massive kick. This one on a direct collision course with his unprotected head. Harry saw it coming so he rolled underneath the kick, came to his feet, spun out of the grabbing, clutching hands of his Primarch, barely avoiding his grasp. Harry, knew he had one shot, grabbed Russ's arm and with two hands on the arm, augments in his armour straining, he yanked the arm around. Russ came off balance and Harry brought his head downwards with savage headbut and shoved. Russ grunted as his teeth crunched, jaw cracked and his nose shattered as the insolent but effective fighter sent him to the floor. Russ smirked and scrambled to his feet "Going to need to do more than that pup." He growled, eyes glinting with amusement.
Harry backed away, his eyes searching for the Custodians or Corax to save his hide and let him escape the wrath of his own Primarch. Russ growled as he got up from the deck and then turned around to face Harry. "Don't run away like a scared pup, face me," he snarled.
Harry rolled his lips back revealing his own fangs. He had seen Corax had vanished. Harry knew he had to do something drastic. Russ howled and charged forwards, Harry waited, crouched and with a snarl of defiance of his own launched himself into a savage elbow drive. Harry wasn't a massively built Astartes, maybe just a few inches over the average height, he was however pretty bulky...these facts didn't matter. Primarch or Astartes, enough weight, mass and momentum into a concentrated spot, everything can go down. That is exactly what happened, Harry slammed his shoulder into Russ, the Wolf King jack-knifed and hit the ground with a colossal thud, Harry went to capitalise only to find himself being casually manhandled and sliding across the room, stopping at the feet of a Custodes.
"Maybe you should fight with someone else," a silky, smooth voice spoke and Russ paused. "Someone who actually has a chance of beating some reason into your thick head."
Russ growled and his attention was focused on the voice, his eyes sweeping the room and Harry smiled when he saw beacon of Corax's armor come alive just in front of Russ. "I know you!" Russ growled. "Show yourself!"
Corax emerged from the shadows and Harry smiled when he smelled the shock and surprise of Russ, both of those feelings growing when he noticed the four Custodians flanking the Primarch of the Raven Guard. For a moment there was complete silence as Russ looked at his brother, too shocked to do much.
"Now, brother, since you have gotten over the shock," Corax said and Russ looked at him. "Can we talk like civilized people? There is a campaign to plan and your sons need help in a war of their, also the Imperium needs some housekeeping."
Russ grumbled, but nodded and Harry breathed out in relief as he got back to his feet and looked at the shattered, cracked and quite frankly ruined breastplate of his armor, a thing that would need a lot of attention from a Techmarine or two. He watched his own Primarch and Corax talk quietly before slipping out of the room and wandering Emperor knew only where.
o-0-o
Corax led Russ to one of the numerous rooms that could be found inside of Hrafnkel and locked the door before turning and looking at his brother. "You know that you almost killed the one that made it possible for you to be found and rescued?" Corax asked and Russ frowned. "The same one you called pup, a Wolf Guard of one of your Wolf Lords, and one that can actually think and use the thing called brain."
"I've been asleep for how long?" Russ frowned.
"Almost eleven thousand years," Corax said and scoffed. "I know that you are restless and reckless, brother, but even you weren't as temperamental as Angron."
"He would have killed whoever disturbed him," Russ said, his voice dangerous and threatening. "I only wanted to test him...I guess I went a little overboard. By our Father, he hit me harder than I thought, he would."
Corax didn't say anything for a long moment and simply looked at Russ before reaching out and hugging him. "Good," Corax said and patted Russ on the back. "It is good to have you back as the Imperium at large needs a lot of housekeeping."
"How bad it is?"
"Bad," Corax said and shook his head. "I feel like they forgot all the things we fought for and will need to be reminded about our existence."
Russ growled and clenched his fists, metal of his gauntlets cracking and groaning under the strain. "They will pay for it in blood," he slowly said shook his head. "But that needs to wait for a moment."
"Aye, there are more important matters we need to deal with, now."
o-0-o
Harry looked at his repaired and once again painted armor and nodded to himself before clasping his helmet to the belt and nodding to the pair of the Grey Hunters that stood by the doors of the throne room of Russ. They nodded and opened massive doors engraved with images of wolves and Fenrisian runes revealing the spacious room and the assembled Wolf Guard of Russ, senior officers of the Wolves present here, Custodians, Voldus from the Grey Knights and several senior members of the Raven Guard.
Harry slowly walked down a corridor that led towards the throne on which Russ sat with Corax at his side and he smiled as he felt the respect and some kind of hidden challenge sent his way. As if the Wolf Guard and Jarls wanted to see if he would buckle under the pressure or not. He schooled his features as he approached the throne and then kneeled right in front of his Primarch and then casted his gaze downward. "My Lord, you called me and here I am," Harry said, carefully pronouncing the words in perfect Fenrisian.
"Do you know why did I summon you here?" Russ asked and Harry could feel some curiosity bubble under the surface of the very formal atmosphere of the chamber.
"No, My Lord."
"To reward you for what you did for me and for my brother," Russ said and Harry looked up. "As you know I have my own Wolf Guard, also called Einherjar and some spots need filling. And you are one of the most capable warriors that I saw with my eyes and thus I think you deserve that post."
"My Lord?" Harry asked, a bit confused.
Russ laughed and rolled his eyes. "Simply, I'm making you one of my Wolf Guard."
"I understand, My Lord," Harry said and then he fell forward, his body going limp as his consciousness was drawn somewhere else.
Harry saw himself land in the same icy landscape that was so common to his dreams and he was there with the same stranger he saw there since his first vision and he noticed the stranger smile. "Well, you did your task," the stranger said and pulled the hood off his head, revealing long black hair and an almost ethereal, golden glow. "You freed two of my sons and did it without too many questions and too much knowledge on your part."
Harry blinked and then looked at the stranger. "Your sons?"
The stranger smirked and snapped his fingers, where once stood the small stranger now was an over three meters tall giant clad in a golden armor, his whole form shining from power and majesty. There was so much power and majesty in him that Harry instinctively dropped to his knees.
"My Lord," he whispered in awe.
"Don't kneel in front of me," the Emperor said and then looked at Harry. "You are one of my warriors and one that freed my sons and there is no need for that groveling. Now go and let me use your body to speak with my sons."
Harry nodded and when his consciousness returned to his body, he felt something else join it.
Corax and Russ caught the young Wolf Guard and the pair of them exchanged a shocked look as they felt their worlds dissolve.
When they came too they saw saw Harry kneeling to someone "Don't kneel in front of me. You are one of my warriors and one that freed my sons and there is no need for that groveling…" They didn't hear what happened next but soon enough the Stranger turned to them.
"Corvus, Leman...My sons...Oh my wonderful sons. It warms my heart to see you both." The Primarchs could only stare as they recognised the figure.
"Father! You...We...The...last time we saw you, you were being interred into that hellish seat!" Growled Leman, as he remembered the hellish fighting of the dying days of the Heresy. Corax shed silent tears.
"I...am...so sorry. I had no idea...I had no idea...There is much to say but most of it I know not how. But rest assured my Wild Wolf and Silent Raven, I am proud of you. Proud of everything, even that quest into the realm of the Great Foe to restore me. My sons, rest assured those who no longer inhabit your realm are at peace with me...You have much work to do. You must restore Roboute, wake Lion, rescue Rogal and Jaghatai...Leman, Jaghatai and you, I swear are the most troublesome of all you. Worry not for your Firebreathing brother, Walker He'Stan has that in hand. I care and love you all, even those numbskulls who lost their way. I must go, my strength wanes. Leman, Corax, Harald is key...Hearken to him if he requests it...He...is...my...voice...I...for...give...you...for...everything."
Harry groaned as he came back to his senses and his consciousness returned to his body. He looked at the Primarchs and saw them shocked and shaken by what had happened.
"Did we just?" Russ asked, his voice growly and shaken at the same time.
"Aye, we did," Corax said as he straightened and looked around the room. "Everything that happened here, stays here and we will decide when something needs to be revealed.
o-0-o
Several days later Corax sat in a room he requisitioned for himself and looked at a Magos of Adeptus Mechanicus that was one of the most troublesome of all of them. Cawl was a massive construct of metal and barely any organic tissue, all wrapped in rust red robes and Corax wondered for a second how this being survived for so long.
"Belisarius Cawl," he said, his voice soft and silken, making the Magos focus its mechanical eyes on him. "I know of the plans of my brother, Roboute, and know that he gave you a task."
"Lord Guilliman indeed gave me orders and I carried them out to the letter," Cawl said formally and Corax narrowed his eyes.
"What were they? I can tell a lie from truth and for the first one I will punish you."
"He saw the events when he would get injured and asked me to develop a suit of armor to sustain his life and prevent his death in case of such an event," Cawl said, his voice mechanic and not revealing any emotions. "He also gave me samples of genetic material of you and your brothers and tasked me with creation of new breed of Marines."
"What do you mean?" Corax asked, his eyes narrowed. Russ's eyes narrowed, his dark brown almost black eyes flickered momentarily yellow at the thought of his genetic material being manipulated by anyone.
"Lord Guilliman told me, he saw Dark Days ahead of the Imperium, the Eye of Terror would expand cleaving the Imperium in twain. He saw that the Adeptus Astartes, noble and valiant warriors of the Imperium being beaten, battered, reduced in numbers and in some cases driven to extinction. So he gave me your genetic material and that of his other loyal brothers and told me 'Breed me a force warriors that are above and beyond an Astartes' and that is what I have done." Cawl stated.
The two Primarchs looked at one another and they both nodded "What else have you done?"
If Cawl possessed more organic matter, he probably would have shit himself "I have managed to create a variant strand of the material, akin to the Augmentation Process some of your erstwhile brethren used to bring their father figures into the Astartes ranks. I, however have perfected to augment a normal Astartes into something more. Something superior an Adeptus Astartes Dominus if you wish."
Russ's eyes narrowed "What's the difference? Between these Superior Marines and this Adeptus Astartes Dominus?" He growled his fangs becoming more pronounced.
"They are one and the same. The Adeptus Astartes Primaris is the Aspirant to Marine path. Adeptus Astartes Dominus is the amplifying and augmenting an already functioning marine…The process as a more organic subordinate of mine said 'This will hurt like a motherfucker...no matter what.'"
"So it is very similar in a way to my original Raptors," Corax said. "An improvement of the design of father and an answer to the problem of facing Chaos Space Marines."
"Indeed, My Lord," Cawl said and then added. "I also designed or improved upon existing weapons and armor to provide them with a new panoply of war."
"I don't like the idea of using my own genetic material without my permission," Corax said quietly and Cawl looked at him. "But a new gear is a thing I will gladly take as from what I heard the Imperium became stagnant."
"Indeed, it became, most of the new generations of Tech-Priests is focused on preserving the knowledge instead of innovating and those that try to get hunted down for being hereteks."
"Seems like Mars might need a bit of change in power," Corax muttered, making a note to himself to get some ears and eyes in proper places. "Anyways, what did you create?"
"I think it would be better if it was shown, speech is a very imperfect tool and none of you can use binaric," Cawl said and then added. "Also if you have any Astartes in mind that should pass further augmentations, I can task my Tech-Priests with carrying them out while I show the new gear."
"If it is a trap, your head will end on a spike," Leman growled and Corax sent a calming look at his brother. "I don't trust you very much and you smell to me of plots and treason."
Cawl seemed not affected by the outburst and only inclined his head, as if he was looking at a very interesting being he needed to examine. "I assure you, My Lord, that I am not a traitor and I assure you that my ship is perfectly safe and no harm will happen to you."
Corax nodded and silenced Russ before the Wolf King could say anything. "It will be acceptable," Corax said and then smiled. "However, I will take some safety measures." He then looked at one of the corners of the room and smiled. "Nykona, step out of the shadows and show yourself."
A Raven Guard Marine stepped out of the shadows, his pitch black armor not sending a single reflection and even the red lenses of his helmet dulled as not to reveal his position. In his hands was a sniper rifle and to his legs were strapped two power swords. "My Lord," Nykona Sharrowkyn said and then looked at Cawl. "Should I kill him?"
"No," Corax said and focused his gaze on Cawl. "You know his fame? The only Space Marine that managed to put a bullet between the eyes of a Primarch."
"I have heard of him," Cawl said.
"Good, I don't have much trust for you and even less for your Primaris idea," Corax said and then indicated Sharrowkyn. "He, is my safety measure. You step out of line and a bullet will land between your eyes. So even if we have some prospective candidates to receive those augments, he will be there for the whole time, his gun aimed at your head and ready to fire when needed."
"Of course, My Lord."
Corax nodded and then looked at Cawl. "Let's see what new you created."
o-0-o
Harry followed a pair of lesser Tech-Priests as they guided him through the corridors of the Arc Mechanicus belonging to Cawl. He glanced at their backs and then at the walls of the corridor before finally stopping on a pair of Skitarii that stood on guard, flanking massive door emblazoned with the cog of Mechanicus. The door opened, groaning loudly and Harry felt am irritating smell of antiseptics slam into his nostrils.
"Leave your armor, here," one of the Priests said as a pair of servitors approached him, their lifeless gaze focused on his armor.
Harry gave them a look, but then nodded and locks keeping plates of his armor together clicked and were released. Then the Tech-Priests approached him and carefully, with some reverence for the tech removed his armor, leaving him only in a black body suits that revealed dozens of interfaces of the Black Carapace, bundles of nerves that connected to his armor and made it feel to him like second skin.
"Come with us," one of the Priests said and Harry nodded, feeling a bit weird without his familiar plate and protection provided by it.
Harry nodded and followed the Priest into something that could be only a medical chamber with several more Tech-Priests and Servitors waiting for him, as well as Cawl himself. The last thing unsettling Harry deeply as he looked at the ancient Tech-Priest he felt as if he looked at a terrible fusion of flesh and metal.
"Lay down on the table and don't move," Cawl said as he circled a heavy, adamantium table reinforced to withstand the fury and anger of whatever was chained down to it.
Harry nodded and laid down on the table, the moment he did it he felt heavy restrains be placed on his limbs and over his chest. More or less making him motionless and unable to escape whatever would be done to him. The next hours were for Harry a blurry moment as he felt his body ripped open and new, additional organs were added to the already numerous additional organs a Space Marine possessed and it brought the total number to twenty-two.
As Harry got off the table and got over the pain he narrowed his eyes and looked at Cawl with some anger and grim determination. "Better be it worth it or your body might not be enough to shield your brain from the fury of a Space Marine," he growled out, his muscles flexing as he tried to get used to what was done. "I know that the body you have is armored and a shell to hide your brain." Cawl at this moved away and Harry smiled. "So I am pretty sure enough of bullets will do the trick and kill you."
"I can assure you that they will be worth," Cawl quickly said, his mechanical voice showing some hints of emotions. "Now however there is new gear for you to see and train with."
Harry nodded and followed Cawl down a short corridor into a small armory with several suits of armor waiting ready and a large stash of various types of weapons and ammunition for them. On their way into the chamber they were joined by Corax and Russ who were mostly content with standing out of the way of the Magos. Looking at them he frowned and then sent a look at the ancient Tech-Priest. "None of them looks like something I saw in the past."
"That's because these...are the future," Cawl said and Harry arched an eyebrow. "They are redesigned, perfected and improved compared to what you used and most of Marines uses."
Harry nodded and approached one of the armor stands before letting his fingers slip over the ceramite and plasteel of the armor. "I like it," he said as he took the helmet off the stand and then took a closer look at it. "It looks familiar, yet not quite, I know that I saw it in the armories of the chapter, but cannot recognize."
"You most likely saw Mark IV Maximus," Cawl said and Harry nodded. "The most perfect and most advanced pattern of the power armor ever deployed, later patterns were designed to be fielded in great numbers at the expense of quality, until the one you see. Mark X Tacticus." There was a brief silence and then Cawl once again spoke. "It can be customized to fit what you desire and now the lesser adepts of mine will arm you."
Harry nodded and watched several Tech-Priests walk towards him and then help him put on the new armor, an armor that felt different than the one he used to wear and then he turned to look at Cawl. Wanting to learn more about the gear he would use.
Cawl gestured with a cluster of his many cybernetics and two Tech-Priests with a larger than normal entourage stomped in. What caught Harry's attention was the fact that the Priests were armed with plasma guns and there were twenty servitors armed with heavy bolters, plasma cannons and missile launchers.
Cawl smiled, well as much as 99% robotic humanoid could. With that 1% still being his brain, or more properly, parts of his brain. "Why, you wouldn't think I'd allow the newest fighter of the God...Emperor...The Emperor to go with inadequate weapons," he corrected himself, he should have remembered not to refer to the Emperor as a 'God' especially in front of a Marine or even a Primarch. Primarchs had killed Remembrancers for that transgression and even less.
"He is no "God", we will admit he has 'Godlike Abilities', but he has no wish to be one. Tread carefully Cawl," Russ growled.
Cawl nodded "Understood, my Lords. Now...let's start with these…" With that his tendrils reached in and brought two power fists with underslung weapons, reminding them of the Power Gauntlets of Roboute Guilliman and Harry of Marneus's Gauntlets of Ultramar, yet they didn't realize they were thinking of the same thing. "Bolterstorm and Flamestorm Gauntlets...Don't be mistaken, the bolterstorm gauntlets make for excellent suppressive fire against mass bodies of troops and light vehicles with the powerfists able to punch through all but the hardest and robust of armours. The flamestorm, well I managed to achieve the temperature and searing effect of the Inferno Cannon and managed to condense it into a portable man sized form...Equip it with this." This appeared to be some sort of launcher weapon "This is a Fragstorm Grenade Launcher and it goes onto this suit known as the 'Aggressor' built for city fighting and taking care of hordes."
Cawl moved on before revealing three almost identically looking bolters "A Primaris Adeptus Astartes or Adeptus Astartes Dominus main staple. The Mark II Cawl Bolt Rifle, Auto Bolt Rifle and Stalker Bolt Rifle...Much like the standard bolter of your smaller cousins, the Bolt Rifle and its variants are simple, precise and devastating pieces of gear, best designed for what Lord Guilliman calls the Intercessor Tactical Squad. They shoot further than the standard Bolter, have bit more stopping power and a much higher chance of ricocheting and causing further damage. Stalker is longer range and slightly quieter and the Auto is a modernized version of the storm bolter."
The next thing that appeared were two pistols, one of them was a plasma pistol, however Russ was much more curious about the second. "Behold the Assault Bolter and Exterminator. The Assault Bolter, your Heavy Bolter now in a compact pistol size and yes Lord Russ and Lord Corax they do come Primarch sized. The Exterminator is in essence the new Plasma Pistol for Assault Marines and Sergeants. It no longer overheats unless you want it."
"Finally as the Terrans of old would say 'The Piece de Resistance.' These are the Plasma Incinerator heavy and assault. All of the advantages of the Plasma weaponry but none of the weaknesses. Oh and for you young Harry, an arm mounted Assault Plasma Incinerator, for when you truly wish to shoot and fight with your new axe."
Harry grinned as he looked at the last weapon and quickly grabbed it and almost immediately replaced the basic plate of armor with the new one. He looked at it and then smiled when systems of his armor detected the new weapon and information about it appeared in the back of his mind.
"There is a firing range overseen by one of lesser Magos Dominus down the corridor where you can test your new gear," Cawl said and Harry nodded before walking away, looking at his new gear and armor as his body healed from the damage suffered by it.
o-0-o
After over two more weeks of preparations and manning the massive flagship of the Wolves, a task that devoured thousands of the most skilled servants of the Machine God, its systems ancient and advanced and requiring the best possible staff to properly use and maintain them. However once the time passed the Warp drives of the ships were charged and the fleet set the course for Baal, the desire to reunite with the rest of the pack was strong in the Wolves aboard the ships and was shared by Leman Russ so any other choices were discarded.
Harry smirked as he towered over the other Wolf Guard around as he entered the war room of the Hrafnkel and nodded to Jarls, Pack Leaders and senior warriors that were there, then he bowed to his liege and gene-father and looked at the projection of Baal. "The last reports we received told of a siege, massive Hive Fleet of Tyranids attacking the fortress of the Blood Angels," he said and then added. "The fortress is defended by thirteen chapters of Blood Angels descent, our brothers and Ultramarines were reported leading an armada to try to break the siege."
"An impressive amount of forces… just to kill some bugs," Russ said and Harry barely controlled himself from laughing, loudly.
"Bugs that can carve Terminator plate as if it was wet paper, My Lord," Harry said and then Russ looked more seriously at him. "They're driven by the collective Hive mind and don't know fear and other emotions, fighting them more often than not ends in a war of attrition and killing them faster than they can grow new warriors."
"This Hive mind," Corax said and Harry looked at him. "It is a single being?"
"No, My Lord," Harry said and then added. "The tactic you think about, kill the mind and see them kill themselves is a thing that was tried and failed. The most common tactic is to develop a toxin and inject it into their main ships and see it destroy them. However here we cannot afford it as it means sacrificing the planet."
"So we need to defeat them in the good old way, with a bolter in one hand and a chainsword in the other," Russ said, laughing loudly as other members of the council joined him.
o-0-o
Harry sat in one of the numerous drop pods and awaited the moment when it would be blasted away from the ship. Around him were eleven members of Einherjar, all of them warriors that saw the bloody days of the Heresy and the Great Crusade and had an uncountable amount of experience and knowledge about war.
Icons blinked at the edge of Harry's vision and then the pod was blasted away from the ship and towards the planet below it, they were supposed to land almost directly on top of the Ultramarines and Nova Marines that were defending a mountain ridge south of the fortress. Harry smirked under his helmet as he recalled the moment of arrival in system and the shock that was almost palpable in the messages coming from the ships already in system. However after a moment of explanations the shock turned to joy and hope.
"Twenty seconds to impact," Pack Leader called and Harry looked at the ancient Wolf Guard. "Prepare for landing."
Harry nodded and braced himself for landing, then the shock of it came and the next second the drop pod opened and he rolled out of it, already aiming his bolt rifle at the first Tyranid Warrior that showed in his sight. He pressed the trigger and seconds later the head of the beast turned to mist and ichor splattered all over the ground. Then Harry briefly looked up and he could see hundreds more of drop pods pass through the atmosphere on their way to their landing zones.
To be continued…
o-0-o
A/N - Primaris Marines and Cawl - I dislike them because in canon there is no good explanation and they just drop out of nowhere and no reasonable backstory is given. The general idea and gear, I adore and want more. Second issue is that old Marines cannot be upgraded to something between or just typical Primaris. Also en masse deployment of them, that won't happen, quite yet.
Big E being so nice - he is shown to adapt his personality to his speaker and appearance. So here he played the safe and cautious and careful card as Wolves hate being ordered around and there was a decent chance Harry would kick and say no to whoever playing with his mind.