Laur Lancefire from the Lamenters Chapter had gone through a lot of things in his life.
He was born and raised in the Lancefire House, and got to play with a giant wolf as a child. Then he went to school, and more school, mostly with tech-priests and Order Dialogus Sisters of Battle. Then more school and indoctrination training with the Chapter's Librarians and Apothecaries and a few Tech-marines, until he had enough of learning things for no reason. But when Laur got his armor and joined the fight as an Astartes, only then he realized he didn't know anything.
Nothing in the books or even the Codex Astartes matched what the Lamenters were actually doing, how they were winning at impossible odds and often with little losses or none at all, most often.
Only when he climbed the ranks and became father's second in command, things began to clear up. Technology, advanced technology beyond his wildest dreams, was the answer. Sometimes, there were old weapons brought forth in unexpected ways. Other times archeotech and impossible STCs that nobody had heard of. And lastly, crazy xenos tech, like the tesseract Laur had received from the Zone Mortalis campaign.
Laur didn't have father's skill at using the dimensional pocket, even with a training manual. Not even father's twin called Peffy could match the original. His own twin Elar, with his own copied tesseract, was just as unfortunate. Move a crate of ammo or food? Yeah, not so hard. Rescue a tracked tank, or a squad of Battle-Brothers from a tight spot? Harder to do, and took quite an effort. Move ships and asteroids? Entire armies and Titan Legions? Space Hulks? Nobody can do that!
Except it could be done, and father proved it every day, although he complained constantly and even sometimes fainted, from too much hard work.
Valerian the Second also complained, because the Damocles affair almost failed when the traitor Inquisitors fought back and refused to be executed like any faithful followers of the Emperor should have. It came down to bitter street and tunnel fighting, and the 40000 prospective Blank Inquisitors got their share of it, hunting down their former future colleagues.
The Custode killed a fair share of the Inquisitor warbands by himself, but when he got injured and had to be extracted and injected with healing nanites, Valerian was quite upset.
And now, when waiting in line to reach Mars and the presence of the Emperor, the Custode was still upset. Because Laur wasn't as capable as his father.
"You fucked up, boy! Not the first time, either. At Boros Gate, you lost a hundred Cruisers to a bunch of degenerate anarchists! At Damocles, you lost 4000 Blanks to a coterie of old men with underhive gangsters as their armies. Are you sure you want to meet the Emperor of Mankind?" Valerian the Second expressed his anger in quite loud words.
Laur clenched his fist. "You are an idiot! Who ordered my young Blank siblings to go in the tunnels to fight Inquisitorial Agents and Assassins? Who disregarded my warnings of traps and melta bombs? Who fired on the main spire and collapsed it on my family? You did!" he yelled in outrage.
"It was the right choice to make. The Emperor's currency is lives!" Valerian countered with an unrepentant voice, and Laur almost struck him with his fist. Almost.
Sister Minerva stepped between them, and hugged him with her Centurion armor. "Sacrifice is how we repay our debt, Laur. And the good Custode is certainly greatful to had been rescued and healed, so that he could complete his mission. The Emperor will decide who is right."
Space froze and shifted, as their party moved down into the gravity well, and inside a marble room lined with hundreds of Custodes.
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Laur wisely unclenched his fist and moved his left hand behind his back. Nothing to be remotely threatening to the Emperor.
"Valerian? Did you return by accident...you're not my Valerian!" A booming voice made the Custode beside him fall to the floor, locked in place by the Master of Mankind's psychic presence.
"Sire! Valerian the Second is a copy. My father still has the original with him." Laur spoke and bowed his head towards the Emperor, who strolled forward with Sister Janice on his arm.
"I see. And the same with this young Blank woman beside you. Minerva?" The Emperor asked while he measured the three of them with glowing golden eyes.
"Yes, Sire! I am the twin copy of Athena Lancefire, Centurion Auxilia, Lamenter Chapter. But I volunteered to join Adepta Tertia as a Sister of Battle. And I am not alone." Minerva answered in a measured voice, and bowed to the Imperial couple in front.
"I already like her! You boys figure it out, but the Blank Sisters are mine. Come Minerva, show me what you brought me. Daddy is such a thoughtful guy, even sent me a gift..." Janice commented in a wry voice, and departed with Minerva holding hands, like they were...they were step-sisters after all. With an extra step of Monolith duplication, but close enough.
"Your Adrathic pistol is detained, Valerian the Second. And you know the way to the Dark Cells." the Emperor demanded in a cold voice, and a cube flew from the Custode's belt into the Emperor's hand, where it vanished.
Valerian nodded and walked himself to prison with a single mutter of "...by your Will!"
"Satisfied now, son of Lancefire? Do you want to run after my Custode and punch him in the mouth? Shove something down his ass, perhaps?" the Emperor asked with a teasing voice, and several Custodes nearby smiled.
Laur thought for a minute. "That idiot caused thousands of my siblings to die before they could reach Mars. He is already dead, when father finds out." he answered in a polite voice.
The Emperor frowned for a second, then shook his head. "Valerian the Second is dead, that's true. But that's because he is a Custode I did not make. You are Blank and cannot perceive this, but all Custodes share a part of my soul. All except this one."
Laur sighed. Father was right again! The second Custode did come out wrong from the Monolith. "Anyway, I was tasked with delivering a few data-slates..." he began to say when his tesseract crystal dislodged from his left glove and flew into the Emperor's hand.
A tense minute followed, as the Emperor closed his eyes and got covered in a blue haze. "Pef Lancefire....your father is still a genial moron with giant balls instead of brains. Come, Laur Lancefire! Sanguinius is also here, and will want to hear of the million Blank recruits that have just arrived."
"...And the STCs!" Laur argued in a lame voice as they got displaced again and arrived on another planet filled with boiling volcanoes and red magma rivers.
Nocturne, the homeworld of the Salamanders and of Primarch...oh no!
"Don't hug the little one! You'll break something!" Sanguinius yelled at his larger brother, who was already crushing Laur in a bear hug. Space Marines were tough as nails, and Primaris ones more so, but Vulkan was a beast among Primarchs.
"...it's fine. I have medical nanites in my blood." Laur mumbled weakly as his fused ribs cracked.
"You hear that! He is fine!" Vulkan boomed and patted his right shoulder as encouragement, breaking a few more bones.
"Sorry, Laur. You'll hear the rest when you wake up. I wanted to operate on you anyway" the Emperor spoke in a careless voice, as Laur fell asleep.