I think everything would have been easier, had we been able to involve the Lord Commander in the process. Bloody old moron.

I pointed out that at this point that all my prior information had indicated that the head officer of the Imperial Army assigned to Angron's fleet was a woman and it had been often remarked she got on surprisingly well with him.

I'm not talking about Lady Commander Briggs. She was promoted to her current rank about… fifty years after Angron was discovered? The previous Lord Commander wasn't really that bad, just far too set in his ways. His disagreement with Angron was about the ex-gladiators.

I'd told you there'd been trouble with them, didn't I?

The Lord Commander thought they were being treated too leniently. He actually told Angron that he was taking their side far too often. That went over as well you might have expected. The Lord Commander only survived due to sheer dumb luck.

I suppose you want know what I mean by that?

He was introduced our Primarch when the Emperor was still overseeing the operations and when he had left, he was to be involved in explaining how the Crusade works. At first it had been going well, until the matter of discipline had risen. It was shortly after several soldiers were nearly killed by some of the former gladiators in a brawl. Or maybe they were killed? It's been quite a while.

The Lord Commander brought this to Angron's attention and demanded the people in question be executed as an example. Next thing we know, the table was flying and the Lord Commander was on the floor. To this day, I have no idea how he managed to trip at the most fortunate moment, but he did. Since he was partially hidden, he managed to get out before Angron got to him.

Which left me with a very angry primarch to whom I had to explain why he shouldn't do what he wants. It's not like there was any way to stop him. Not really. If he wanted to, he could have killed me and probably half of the ship, while he was at it. The problem we were facing was that… the High Riders had taught him how to fight and kill, but no restraint.

Will you stop giving me that look?

I was perhaps incredulous, since the First Captain is remarkably unaugmented for someone who apparently dealt with a Primarch who lacks restraint. Naturally, the Captain was not pleased with being eyed like that.

Maybe we'll take a break and I tell you how I got each and every scar?

For the full list of scars, please refer to Appendix 3. Incidentally, you will find there the information on how to best remove the appendix of an Eldar. It took us a while to get back on topic, though I must admit that I must have started getting used to hearing gory tales at this point. However, we did finally return to why the War Hounds took so long to move onto conquest again.

True enough, only three or four were the result of Primarch Angron's lack of restraint and one left by a display of fondness.

Nevertheless, as I was saying, the problem wasn't just that the previous Lord Commander had angered our Primarch. It was bigger than that: Angron was not prepared for this situation. We did not share the comfort of the Imperial Fists or the Ultramarines, who had a commander who was capable of leading a Crusade from the start.

That is why I had to explain that what the Lord Commander was advocating was not favouritism. It went about as well as you might have expected.

"He wants me to sanction killing my people!" Angron snapped.

"No, my Lord," I said. "He wants you-"

I'm really glad I'm a Space Marine. That's why I still have a head.

"-to punish those guilty of killing his people."

"Explain," he growled at me.

"It's… we're talking about soldiers my Lord," I said. "Unaugmented soldiers. They're trained to be aggressive and one needs to maintain strict discipline, so that they remain under control. Part of it is showing them that nobody is above punishment. At least in theory."

"Continue," he urged me.

"If discipline is not maintained they might start to riot or fight among each other," I replied. "We generally prefer to avoid it. It tends to damage a lot of things, them included."

Our Primarch gave me a blank look and asked, "So, he wants me to sentence my brothers and sisters, so that his soldiers don't start fighting amongst each other and breaking things?"

"Because it's the thing that works," I answered.

I don't think he was satisfied with the answer and I was about to start explaining in more detail, why it works. I was going to tell him about unstable environment and how it creates the need for stability-

Yes, I actually do know those things. You don't get to the rank of Captain by bashing your head against ork skulls.

Well, not only by bashing, anyway.

As I was saying, I was about to explain, when he simply cut me off and told me I was to go and keep the Lord Commander away.

"If I'm to be your general, I should start making my own decisions," he said.

There wasn't much for me to do, but wait and wonder what he would decide. I certainly didn't expect what would come. He simply sent the guilty back to the planet.

I was rather surprised by such a mild punishment, naturally.

No. It wasn't mild—it just looks like that because you're used to thinking death is the worst thing that can happen to them. I'm not sure what the gladiators have thought, but if I'd be them and be sent back to that planet…

They couldn't control themselves, and as unwilling as our Lord had been to enforce discipline, he did see they couldn't be left to their own devices. They would disrupt too much. So he left them somewhere where they couldn't disrupt the orderly functioning of society.

It caused quite a panic with the clerks. I think they never got over it, either—even now their reports are actually written in human language and not in that… cipher-like gibberish they normally use. I think some of our Lord's brothers are still trying to figure out why. I'm not even certain why they panicked in the first place.

Be as it may, it seemed to have worked. The other ex-gladiators started making an effort at controlling themselves, so we had less opportunities for exercises in military discipline.

The next week was rather uneventful. Then the 78th Expeditionary Fleet appeared at the edge of the system.

Three companies of the XIth Legion had been scheduled to join with our fleet: the First, the Second and the Ninth. That was not all, however. The Emperor, in his wisdom, had decreed that the Primarch of the Celestial Griffons was to join us and help Angron acclimatize to his new role.

While it is common knowledge, I'm quite certain that a lot of our honoured readers will nevertheless find this choice puzzling. I admit that I found the logic behind it quite unfathomable to my mortal mind. The Celestial Griffons specialize in precision strikes, whereas the World Eaters prefer close combat. Certainly, a Legion specializing in similar wars, like the Blood Angels or the Space Wolves, would appear to be a more intuitive choice.

Nevertheless, it was Primarch Janos who was to advise Angron on how to lead a legion.

AN

The Unknown Primarch from One did get better between his and Angron's discovery. The question is, does his life still suck?