Chapter 2.8 There Are No Psykers In The Alpha Legion

"So the events on Nikaea seem to have gone as predicted," said John Grammaticus, reading from a data pad he held.

His audience consisted of 10 Alpha Legion Astartes, at least one of which John was pretty sure was the real deal. He couldn't tell which one, but he had narrowed the 'real' Alpharius down to 1 of 2 individuals sat before him. The problem was the 2 in particular were considerably more indistinguishable than the rest, even from their psychic aura. Almost like twins. But that wasn't exactly unusual for the Alpha legion, their entire tradition was to make all of their warriors seem identical. How they'd pulled off this trick though even John couldn't figure out. The one thing he could be certain of was the Astartes giving off a psychic aura wasn't Alpharius. The Primarch was not reported to have any abilities in that regard, and this was a fact John was almost certain was true.

"This means every legion now has to disband their librarians," continued John, "meaning there are effectively no psykers permitted in the Legiones Astartes."

John turned to the one Alpha Legion warrior that gave off a strong psychic aura, saying comically, "Probably not the best day for you, ey buddy?"

The Astartes cocked his head as if in confusion.

"Why would you say that John? I am Alpharius. I am not a psyker."

John looked over at one of the figures he thought could be Alpharius and winked.

"He's pretty good, isn't he?"

"Tell me something John," said the accused psyker Astartes, "Can auras be manipulated by a sufficiently strong psyker?"

John nodded his head slowly. He didn't like where this was going. This was going to be another one of those conversations where an 'Alpharius' turned his understanding of the universe on its head and make a game of it.

"It is possible for a psyker to hide their aura, or externally alter the aura of an individual with enough training… yes…"

"Then all you really know John," said the Astartes, "Is that you are seeing an aura registering to you as a psyker. It might not be mine. Any one of the individuals here may actually be a psyker, and is both suppressing their own aura, whilst manipulating your view of mine so that I might appear to you as a psyker."

"That's possible…" admitted John, "But it takes a REAL high level psyker to be able to both suppress their aura AND perform some other trick at the same time. I've never seen an Astartes level psyker do that."

"But you admit it is possible," pressed the Astartes, "And further more, you assume only the individuals in this room could be responsible for my aura. There could be a psyker outside the room, one who isn't even an Astartes, one of many agents who serve the legion that are also a psyker, could be responsible for the manipulation of my aura."

"It's possible," said John behind clenched teeth. Once again, the universe was made of shades of grey, nothing but possibles and maybes without a single known fact in sight.

"Then you will please to know John," concluded the Astartes, "That there are no psykers in the Alpha Legion. We do make use of psykers as agents of our legion, but they are not forbidden under the Edicts of Nikaea. So as you can see, we are compliant with the Edicts."

John glanced around the room, at all the different Alpha Legion Astartes, resting finally on the last 2, his suspected Alpharius possibilities.

"Sure, keep telling everyone that. Makes no difference to me," he grumbled, resuming his attentions back to the data pad.

"What does this do to our future predictions?" asked one of the figures suspected of being Alpharius.

John thumbed through a few pages of notes to bring up some relevant information and winced. It wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Well with Sanguinius as Warmaster, and the Edicts of Nikaea being as predicted… We've got some pretty nasty possible futures here," said John gesturing to his data pad, "The Cabal are still weighing up options about whether to try and back the Emperor's plans before they fall apart, though the time on that is running very short so its unlikely to be enough. Failing to do something will probably result in the collapse of the Imperium and the destruction of Terra itself."

This caught a lot of attention. Plenty of exchanged glances and considerations. John nodded at the consternation and tapped the data pad onto the next page.

"So it depends how you want to play it. We can try and reinforce the Emperor's plans. Running the data through your prediction models gives us a chance of success at thirty one percent. Not impossible, but it might be a little late to get ourselves into that game. A less than a third chance of success."

"What about the original plan where Horus destroys chaos through victory? Does that path still exist with the new Warmaster?" asked one of the other Alpha Legion Astartes.

John shook his head.

"No. If Sanguinius falls to chaos as Warmaster he becomes something far worse than Horus. He becomes, and I believe the term that was used was 'a rolling storm', more like a reoccurring weather pattern which ebs and flows."

"So we can no longer count on that future."

"He isn't guaranteed to fall yet either," John continued, "There are a number of other possible futures that see the instigator as someone else. Magnus is one of the big possibilities, obviously as a result of Nikaea, as is Konrad Curze and possibly even Vulkan. You may be pleased to know that Alpharius is at the bottom of the list, along with Angron and Rogal Dorn. The probability of Rogal being the instigator was actually pretty high for a while, but that changed the moment Sanguinius was made Warmaster. In most futures where Rogal is not the Warmaster he ends up on Terra where he manages the defence. But Alpharius… we're beyond the point now where he is the instigator in a greater than zero point zero one probability. Through your choices, we have become a reactive force instead of an active one."

All the Alpha Legion Astartes nodded in unison. This always creeped John out, but he was not in the habit of antagonizing his hosts.

"So really our only choices is to examine the best places to react," concluded John, "We don't have the resources to protect every Primarch in every possible situation where chaos may reach them. We either wait to see who is the first to fall and react accordingly, or we try to push someone specifically to fall and hope we can catch the rest."

"What happens if we push a fall, and another falls due to other factors?" came a question to John from an unknown source.

"Then we just make the situation worse," said John flatly, "We increase the probability that the number of legions that fall is ten or greater. If the number of 'Loyalists' is out numbered by the number of 'Rebels' by any measure the probability of defeating chaos drops to below four percent. This is what I like to call the 'Cabal influence' decision and the 'Cabal Fuck Up' outcome."

"How can we best protect Primarchs to prevent their fall? Which Primarchs are most vulnerable?" asked one of the 2 Alpharius individuals.

John tapped his data pad a few more times again until he found the data.

"Well Leman Russ just became a significant risk factor, though not so much in falling to chaos. The probability he gets assassinated recently skyrocketed since Nikaea. So if you want to start saving Primarchs, that's a good place to start. Angron is always a risk, but the effort put in to try and save him usually only ever ends up with his death. He's a goner I'm afraid, one way or another. You might want to put a watch on Vulkan, something is causing his numbers to creep up and I don't know why. Also Corvus is predicted to have a 'Rebel' faction emerge from his legion regardless of what he chooses, he's got some very angry and upset Astartes in his ranks apparently. Also there's this weird quantum probability thing with Fulgrim and Jaghatai. It seems every time I examine the numbers their probabilities switch, so I can't say for certain which is in more danger. You could put a watch on both, but you'd dilute your reactive abilities. Also Mortarion has a dark shadow stalking him. That one could cause some serious trouble if we don't watch out for it. But that's about all I have for now."

The figures all stood up and started to file out of the room. A trio of them approached John and each shook his hand. The last, one John had pegged as possibly being the true Alpharius held his hand for a little longer.

"Thank you for your work John. Your insight has been invaluable to us."

John looked deep into the eyes of the Astartes, trying to read some subtle sign, some signal that would reveal a hidden truth. There was something there, something unique, something different. He definitely stood apart from the others in the room.

"You're him, aren't you," said John, "You're the real Primarch."

The Astartes shook his head.

"No John," he said quietly, "I am not Alpharius."

John was stunned. Even if he hadn't been Alpharius this was the first time any of the figures had given any other kind of response.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to say you are? Even if you're not?"

"What can I say John," smiled the figure, "All I can say is I am not Alpharius."

"Who are you then?"

"Omegon."

"Well that's new," said John, reeling with surprise, "A pleasure to meet you Omegon I guess. Why are you different than the others? Why are you allowed to share your name and not just call yourself Alpharius?"

"It's a secret, John," said Omegon, smiling, "One I cannot reveal just yet, but perhaps in the fullness of time I shall share with you, along with other secrets of our Legion."

John raised his eyebrow, saying, "I thought we weren't keeping secrets anymore?"

"This one is personal, John," said Omegon, "A powerful secret. As powerful as a true name."

"Because true names hold power, don't they?" said John, understanding, "The old stories said you could control a person if you knew their true name."

"And true names would only be shared by trusted friends and confidants," said Omegon, nodding, "Whilst we cannot be controlled by names in this age of rational enlightenment, there is power in keeping your name secret. In the games we play, every individual who knows our true identity is another risked liability."

"Well I thank you for your trust," said John, gratefully, "I do hope you are really Omegon and this isn't just another game you are playing. It would be nice for us to be on first name terms at last."

Omegon smiled, and simply replied, "Perhaps I am Omegon. Or perhaps I am merely Alpharius."