| Constantin Valdor POV |
The commencement of the Great Crusade had ended, and Valdor was currently in the main chamber of the Astronomican, standing guard a few feet away from the Emperor.
The Astronomican was being lit, allowing humanity to once again travel through the warp. It was a joyous occasion for many, for in the future, they would gain honor, power, and respect for the deeds they would soon accomplish.
However, for the War Council of humanity, this was a matter of great concern. The power needed to maintain the Astronomican came directly from the Emperor. Going forward, for every second that passed, the Emperor had to focus his enormous psychic might in this very chamber, creating a beacon that acted like a lighthouse through the darkness of the warp.
Valdor, who had been by the Emperor's side for a long time, could occasionally sense imperceptible changes in the Emperor's presence.
Right now, the Emperor, whose presence was similar to an insurmountable mountain, was now being chipped away by a chisel. It was very minimal; however, this chisel would continue its work endlessly until, over time, the mountain was completely gone.
Sustaining the Astronomican was now another burden added to the many burdens the Emperor had to bear, and to Valdor, recently he had been feeling like he himself had become a burden.
His sole purpose was to be the Emperor's spear, to serve his will and, above all else, protect him. Yet he nor any other Custodians were ever there when it came time to fulfill their duty.
All they could do was show up when it was all over, and now Valdor watched as a new burden cast itself upon the Emperor.
Mere moments ago, this chamber was filled with hums of power from the Emperor's psychic might. Then it was interrupted due to the intrusion of an unknown warp signature.
Valdor had readied himself to attack at a moment's notice, but the Emperor signaled for him to stay his hand. The Emperor then allowed the unknown presence to take form, and before both of them, a young man with coppery-red skin and a mane of thick, vibrant red hair took shape in psychic form.
During the creation of the Primarchs, Valdor was present and knew what each Primarch looked like and what their purpose was. It was for this reason that once this young man took shape, he instantly identified him as XV, the 15th son of the Emperor.
The 15th son was unusual even compared to his brothers due to the purpose the Emperor had intended for him. His purpose was to master the psychic energy of the Warp and sit on the Golden Throne to safely guide humanity into a new era.
To achieve that purpose, the 15th was created to be a very powerful psyker, one whose raw might would be second only to the Emperor.
The 15th's immense psychic energy was exactly what allowed him to sense the Astronomican's light in the warp and immediately trace it to Terra. It was also his immense psychic energy and understanding of the warp that allowed him to instantly see what others couldn't about the Emperor.
"FATHER!" the young man cried out in alarm, full of worry. "What happened?! Who… WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!!! I SWEAR I WILL FIND THEM AND I WILL SUR—"
The Emperor stepped forward, cutting off the worried but enraged young man, and pulled the psychic form of the young man, as if it were physical, into his embrace in a hug.
"Magnus," the Emperor said softly, tightening the hug. "I am glad to see that you are unharmed by the scheme of our Archenemy. My scars are nothing; the wounds you see on my soul will heal and make me stronger. If anything, I must apologize for my failure in keeping you safe and the worry I've caused you due to the sudden silence."
"But Father, I've never seen such—"
Magnus tried to retort, but was once again cut off by the Emperor.
"That is my concern that I will handle in the future, my son. As for the present, your return, even if it is not physical, must be celebrated. Your brother Alpharius, the twentieth Primarch, is the first found amongst you and your brothers. He can be considered the eldest, and soon you two will meet. Once I can, I will go to you and bring you to Terra so you may meet everyone, including your sons, the 15th Legion, in person."
Magnus's face visibly brightened, then it froze as he contemplated something. Moments later, he asked, "Actually, Father, with a bit of time and some help from a warp sprite I've made friends with, I should be able to properly create a stable enough warp rift to allow me to come here."
Valdor's face instantly turned into a scowl hearing that, and he thought, 'Just as I thought, the 15th, Magnus, is a danger to everything. He dares to view a denizen of the warp as a friend and even wishes to accept its so-called help in making a warp rift straight to Terra.'
As much as Valdor wanted to rebuke Magnus for the insanity of what he had just said, he stayed quiet and waited for the Emperor's judgment of this. Turning his gaze away from Magnus, he looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor looked at Magnus with a frown that held concern and disapproval, which made Magnus flinch and shrink back.
"My son," the Emperor said slowly in a reprimanding tone, "I recall repeatedly telling you to never interact with the entities in the warp, no matter how 'friendly' they may seem to you. Any interaction between you and an entity in the warp must be run by me first. I understand that me restricting you and your interaction with the warp may be frustrating.
"However, I did so for good reason. There are many in the warp who seek to harm me, and the greatest way they can do it is through my sons. Until further notice from me directly, never again make friends with entities in the warp. I will personally train you on how to use your power, and I see now that I must show you the true dangers of the warp. I do not wish to see your ignorance of the truth and hubris of your abilities be your downfall. Do you understand, Magnus?"
Magnus nodded repeatedly and immediately stopped thinking further of his idea to create a warp rift.
Seeing this, the Emperor continued, "As for this friend you supposedly made, cease your interactions with it. For it only wants to lure you into a trap."
As the Emperor said that, the warp in the Astronomican increased a bit, and Magnus's eyes widened as if he had been shown something.
Valdor observed all these changes and internally nodded as he saw the horror appear on Magnus's face. It seemed the Emperor had shown him the true face of the warp sprite that he dared to call a friend.
With that matter over, the Emperor and Magnus continued speaking to each other until another presence made itself known in the Astronomican.
A psychic message from Malcador was shared, stating that Ollanius had signed the paper, meaning that he had agreed to meet the Emperor.
Valdor's hand gripped his spear tighter at the mention of the man who dared to betray and backstab the Emperor. To know such a person was still living and was even possibly going to be allowed to serve again greatly infuriated him.
However, nothing could be done about it because it was his lord's will. So all Valdor could do was silently accept and promise that should Ollanius dare to betray again, nothing would stop him from finding him and killing him.
"I must go now," the Emperor said. "I must go meet with Ollanius, and then later Magnus. I will let you know when to reform your psychic body so that you may meet your brother and some other people I want you to meet."
Magnus nodded and dispersed himself, leaving only the Emperor and Valdor in the chamber.
The Emperor looked at Valdor and said, "Take Jenetia and Alpharius with you to Malcador's tower and await my arrival."
With that last statement, the Emperor teleported himself to wherever Ollanius was. As for Valdor, he started making his way toward Malcador's tower. He first sent out a communication to Jenetia, informing her of the Emperor's command.
Then, as he finally reached Malcador's tower and entered, instead of going up, he moved certain items in a specific way and then walked through an illusionary door made from warp energies.
This illusionary door led to a pocket space that the Emperor acquired from Trazyn and then, at Alpharius's request, altered. This pocket space now possessed many psychic wards that greatly weakened whoever was inside if they did not possess the sigil that negated the wards' effects.
As for why he asked for this, it was because he felt the need to train himself in facing multiple opponents that would possess many strengths and abilities above his own.
So for the past few months, he had trained in a multitude of weapons, in anything that would give him an edge in a fight. During that time, he progressed greatly, especially since he received training in weapons mastery from Valdor.
The same Valdor who was currently observing Alpharius, watching closely as he wielded a double-bladed spear made from auramite. It was a replica of the original spear that was given to Alpharius, which was also acquired from Trazyn.
Valdor noted every flaw in Alpharius's spearmanship, maneuvers, and instances where Alpharius could have used his recently developed psychic abilities to confuse and disarm his opponents.
Alpharius was currently locked in battle with a wide assortment of powerful xenos who were being controlled by some newly made neural implants inspired by Necron mindshackle scarabs.
The fight was going well. Alpharius was perfectly predicting his opponents' moves and responding accordingly with almost minimal movement.
A massive red xeno with four arms, each wielding a sword, charged at Alpharius, swinging its bottom right arm in a diagonal slash.
Alpharius twisted his body to the left, dodging it, then raised his spear to deflect a swing from the xeno's top left arm that intended to decapitate him.
Before Alpharius could push the sword to the side, another one of the xeno's arms swung down vertically.
Jumping back, Alpharius avoided being cleaved in two and then sidestepped to the right, narrowly avoiding another xeno that tried to grab him with its barbed black tentacles.
Alpharius readied his spear to parry the hammer of a huge tree-like xeno, but then he faltered for a brief moment due to multiple mental psychic attacks from a group of humanoid frog-like xenos.
Within that brief moment, another xeno, a hulking grey hound with a wide mouth full of sharp fangs, lunged at Alpharius, intending to bite his head off.
Just as it was about to clamp its mouth over Alpharius's head, Alpharius grabbed the xeno with his left arm and hurled it to the side.
Then he lunged forward, catching the two right blades of the red xeno's sword between the two blades of his spear and deflecting the red xeno's swords to the side.
Spinning on the ball of his foot, Alpharius spun left, ducking under the two left blades of the red xeno.
Taking advantage of his new position, he jabbed the butt of his spear into the back of the red xeno's right knee, causing it to fall to one leg. Alpharius grabbed the red xeno's right shoulder and pulled on it to position the red xeno to his right.
The grey xeno hound that intended to attack Alpharius while he was distracted ended up crashing into the red xeno.
With one swift movement, Alpharius impaled both xenos through the skull with his spear. Then, lifting the spear with the two dead xenos on it, he hurled the two bodies at the frog-like xenos, disrupting their focus and causing a psychic backlash.
Taking advantage of this, Alpharius ran full speed at the frog-like xenos, dodging their attempts to strike him with their warp lightning. Once he closed the distance, they stood no chance. By the time someone could blink twice, all of them were dead.
After confirming they were all dead, Alpharius walked over to Valdor and asked, "Any suggestions, teacher?"
For months now, Valdor, at Alpharius's request and the Emperor's silent urging, had been teaching Alpharius how to wield a spear, along with teaching him other weapons and combat techniques.
Alpharius had been split into two separate people during the scattering, which weakened his strength compared to the other Primarchs. There was also the fact that he was never a combat-oriented Primarch; his purpose was covert intelligence and counter-insurgency.
So it became imperative for Alpharius to make up for these weaknesses of his. From Malcador, he learned history and the uses of psychic power. From the Emperor, he learned how to lead and lessons on much-needed fundamentals.
Lastly, from Valdor, he learned martial skills of all kinds in order to become a weapons master, and occasionally he received pointers on his fighting and how to make use of everything, like now, as Valdor pointed out his lack of creativity.
"The point of this training was to make you use everything at your disposal," Valdor said, then pointed at the swords of the red xeno on the ground. "Your ability, Veil of Anonymity, is supposed to make you become inconspicuous, and under Malcador's guidance you can extend that to objects not on your person."
Valdor then pointed his hand at the dead frog-like xenos and said, "So why didn't you grab these blades and apply that to them and hurl them at the Bullfrag psykers? Why didn't you apply it to your own weapon alone, or even just your fist? You are underusing your ability, which can easily confuse many and instantly change a fight in your favor."
Alpharius nodded and replied, "I will work on mixing my psychic abilities and martial combat together more."
Valdor then turned around and beckoned Alpharius to follow him, then spoke again as they walked out of the pocket space together.
"It is great that you favor a spear, but do not forget to practice and master the other 343 weapons you must learn. I will check back on your progress later. As for now, we are going up to Malcador's study. The Emperor is in a meeting with Ollanius. Later, the Emperor will return with news on what happened, and shortly after, you may have a meeting with your newly found brother, Magnus."
Valdor observed Alpharius, who was walking next to him as they made their way up the stairs to Malcador's. He noted the displeasure on his face at hearing about Ollanius, then how his face changed at hearing about the appearance of one of his brothers.
There was no happiness or jealousy, only a cold, contemplative look, and Valdor could guess what Alpharius was thinking. He was mostly running scenarios in his mind on how quickly he might be able to suppress and take out Magnus should he ever betray them.
Alpharius, during his studies, learned what each Primarch's purpose was, and he took it upon himself to develop contingency plans for all of them, including himself. This was a paranoia, a remarkable sense of duty that Valdor appreciated, and it showed briefly on his face as a faint smile.
However, the smile was brief and disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Very soon they made their way to Malcador's tower and entered. Inside was Malcador, sipping tea at the table, while ancient music of a bygone era of humanity played.
Malcador looked up, observing both of them, then chuckled as he could easily tell what had happened a few moments ago. Malcador found it amusing how Valdor, who once held dislike and distrust toward Alpharius, was completely unaware that he was slowly warming up to him.
Keeping quiet about this realization, Malcador beckoned them to sit down, and then a short while later, Jenetia appeared and also sat down.
Valdor waited patiently together with everyone else, listening to the melody of the piano being played. It was a piece that Valdor was secretly fond of. It was called Symphony 7. Allegretto, and it was made by a great musician long ago named Ludwig van Beethoven.
From the beginning of its symphony, Valdor could relate it to the struggles of humanity, the countless perils that humanity faced that threatened to destroy it. Soon, the symphony transitioned toward a lighter-sounding melody.
A transition that gave off the feeling of rebirth, a recovery of what was lost, and a hope of a new future. Then, as if the symphony had been made manifest into reality, the Emperor teleported into the room with an old, bulky, and rough-looking man.
Valdor recognized right away that this must be Ollanius, and as he looked closer at this perpetual who dared to betray the Emperor, he was astounded at what he saw in his eyes. He saw a man weathered by far too much; it was as if this man had seen everything.
To Valdor, Jenetia, and Alpharius, Ollanius felt like the crystallization of human history. They had never expected to encounter a human who felt older than even the Emperor, and then their guess was confirmed shortly later.
The Emperor was first to speak. "This is Ollanius, and Ollanius, respectively, this is Valdor, Alpharius, and Jenetia. Ollanius here has decided to once again serve at my side as the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition."
After the brief introduction, everyone said their piece. Malcador greeted Ollanius with a chuckle, saying, "You've returned just as I suspected you would. I welcome you back and know that your only farewell in your renewed service will be death."
Following suit, Valdor said, "I will never trust you, and I will always have my eyes on you. Never again will you backstab my liege."
Jenetia communicated through thoughtmark signaling, "Welcome, betrayer. If you ever harbor even a stray thought of betraying our liege, you will be hunted, and you will be killed for good by my blade."
As for Alpharius, he made no threats. He only asked, "After this meeting, I would like to converse with you privately about things you may know."
Hearing the threats, Ollanius merely grunted in acknowledgement, and then he looked up to his right at the Emperor, waiting for what was going to be said next.
"The first stage of the Genesis Project has begun," the Emperor said while projecting a hologram in the middle of the table. "The 1st Legion has begun performing their role in the Paradigm Shift plan. Very soon, the second stage must begin. It will require the 20th and 15th Legions to work together, with Alpharius as their commander."
On the hologram, a sector of space was highlighted, and then the Emperor continued, "Your goal will be to secure the surrounding area and lay out hidden traps in the warp. The 1st Legion will link up with you later to confirm that the Mechanicum of Mars has picked up the trail they left. The goal is to prevent the Mechanicum of Mars from continuing further and incite them into launching an attack on you all. Further instructions will be given later."
The hologram then changed to what was occurring in the space above Terra. It showed formations of a large variety of space ships, each with a different heraldry of a department of the Imperial Army or of a different Astartes Legion.
There were even massive, continent-sized Ark Mechanicus ships of the Mechanicum of Mars; these large ships served as mobile forge worlds, data-vaults, and manufacturing hubs.
However, in the middle of this formation was a ship much larger than the Ark Mechanicus. It was the Bucephelus, a massive, golden battle barge of unknown classification that served as the personal flagship of the Emperor of Mankind and his personal guard, the Custodes and Sisters of Silence.
The Emperor then spoke again. "The remaining Legions, Imperial Army, Techpriests, and the other branches of the Imperium have assembled together, forming the 1st Expedition Fleet. I will take the lead as its commander and reclaim our Sol system and the surrounding sectors, bringing them into compliance under the name of the Imperium of Man.
"During the time I am away, Malcador will be officially known as the Imperial Regent. He will effectively become second only to me. He will serve as my voice, holding the power to command the entire Imperium, including the Primarchs, Custodes, Sisters of Silence, and the Inquisition."
Seeing that everyone present nodded in agreement to Malcador's position being officialized, the Emperor then dispersed the hologram.
"Now then," the Emperor said, while channeling warp energy, "it is time for the second-found Primarch, Magnus, to be introduced to everyone present. Watch your words, because I have not informed him of the Genesis Project as of yet. He requires a lot of training first in his psychic gifts before he can learn of our plans."
Malcador sighed aloud, knowing that this training would require him to work overtime, especially since he could guess that Magnus was most likely someone with far too much curiosity.
A few moments later, it could be felt that a new presence was being allowed into the room, and that presence took shape in psychic form as a young man with coppery-red skin and a mane of thick, vibrant red hair.
The young man greeted everyone, saying, "Hello, I am Magnus, the 15th, I recognize some of you; as for the others, who may you be?"
-To Be Continued...
(A/N: Going to start including more fight scenes and astartes perspectives soon, I need to get used to writing them so that the eventual Emperor vs Chaos fight will be as legendary as possible.
Also what would be the cheapest option to get a bunch of Warhammer books? I want to get my hands on every book where the Lamenters appeared and on a bunch of blood angels and deathwatch books. So, that I can try and mimic the writing and be lore accurate whenever I start my Lamenters fanfic.)