As Patrocles sat beside his Primarch in his office, his was only half-listening to the debate going on between various Chapter Masters of the Angelic Chapters and the soft spoken Sanguinius.
"A new Warmaster is an insult!"
"The former one killed Lord Sanguinius!"
"I still taste the blood of your death, Primarch!"
Patrocles just sighed inward, and focused on the data-slate. A Personal_Energy_Shield would change the face of warfare, since no personal weapon could penetrate it, yet cheaper and easy to mass-produce. The new Grav-Cutter will make fighting on foot a thing of the past, and turn any Astartes or Tech-marine into a fast-flying killing machine. And a weaponized Servo-rig like this Arachni-rig with five combat variants will make even regular humans able to stand up to far stronger creatures like Orks, or Chaos Marines.
How did his father came up with so many STC templates? It was impossible, even if he suspected the origins of a few such discoveries. Then again, Archmagos Cawl 'discovered' hundreds of new templates as well, some of them rather similar with what the current Lamenters used. The Emperor will decide what to do, with these STCs and the priceless Federation-grade data-core inside his tesseract.
Patrocles glanced up, to the wall where the head of the Norn Emissary hanged now, with a plaque commorating the hero who killed the beast and took his head. His name, written for all to see inside the Primarch's office!
"What do you think, Tech-marine? Is your father worthy to be called a Warmaster?" the Chapter Master of the Angels Resplendant asked him directly.
"If my father accepted the title, then yes. Otherwise, it doesn't matter." he offered with a careless voice.
"Impudent little..."
"My sweet Angels! You're very brave now, once Lord Lancefire is out of range. But I can still turn the Blood Salvation around, and let you express your displeasure to his face." Sanguinius offered in a kind voice, making the room fall silent.
"My father has proven his loyalty in his years of service, and with the blood of his enemies. We, the Lancefires are Blank, which means Chaos cannot touch us. It is for that reason the Emperor chose a Blank to become the Warmaster of the Imperium, and not any of the Primarchs. Is that right, Lord Sanguinius?" Patrocles spoke in a respectul voice, while storing the priceless data-slate inside his tesseract.
The Angel spread his wings and made everyone kneel in awe of his aura, everyone but Patrocles himself. "Young Patrocles is somewhat right, but for a completely different reason. Yes, the Warp is a danger we strive to avoid. But, we can deal with Chaos, we have dealt with the Chaos spawn for millennia and we beat them back at every occasion. There are other threats now, like Necrons and Tyranids which can exterminate humanity far sooner than the Warp."
"It did take far longer to deal with that Tyranid monstruosity than even the huge Warp Daemon, who died in a few minutes. The Tyranids are growing stronger every day, while Chaos incursions have decreased to a small fraction since the Eye of Terror was closed." Another Chapter Master admitted with a deep voice, but Patrocles didn't look at him, instead meditating on the deep wisdom of his Primarch.
Tyranids, yes they were powerful. But still only flesh, and thus vulnerable to advanced tech like his Necron tesseract. The Necrons instead, were soulless automatons, wielding advanced weaponry that could shatter planets and stars at their whim.
The Necrons had barely begun to awaken from their long sleep, and already they were wiping off entire sectors of the galaxy, including the Tyranids they encountered.
And only his father managed to wipe out the Necrons in every single battle. Including several Necron Crownworlds and the Necron World Engine, far larger than anything the Tyranids ever had.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The Emperor didn't give the Warmaster title to someone who was a Blank, but to someone who would win. And accidentaly a Blank as well.
"Anyways, this doesn't concern me or you directly. Primarchs Corax and Khan have been detached to the Warmaster's command for their failure to maintain their posts after the Scouring. I expect Leman Russ will receive the same penance, if and when he is found. As for myself, I died with honor and got nothing to be blamed for in that regard. Should other dead Primarchs be restored, I also expect a clean slate for them. Like Ferrus Manus or Rogal Dorn." Sanguinius continued with a sad grimmace.
"Of course you are blameless, Primarch! Your sacrifice was the cornerstone of..."
"Enough, go back to your Chapters and oversee the healing and repairs of my Space Marines and their gear. And transport the ones lost to bloodlust to my Fortress." the Primarch commanded with an irresistible voice. Patrocles sighed, as he didn't have any Chapter Brothers to repair.
"I'd guess that data-slate holds some dangerous and unexpected technology that will change the face of the Imperium." Sanguinius proposed with a thin smile.
"That's for the Emperor to decide, sire. It may be important, or hidden in some vault for a century, who knows?" Patrocles spoke with a tired voice.
"Ah, that type of tech. Then it won't be used for a century for certain. Your father can't move Mars away, I would think. He still gets tired easily." the Angel wondered with a deep frown.
Patrocles began to nod, then halted. "Yes, but no. My father would find a way to bypass his own weakness. He always does."
"Hmmm. Yes, you are right. Pef Lancefire would drag a planet with a harness of Narwhal bioships, or might create a giant engine of some kind. And then feel very tired for achieving the impossible again." Sanguinius mused with a faint angelic smile.
"Do you know if my sister, Teresa is fine?" Patrocles asked instead.
"I would know if Roboute died in his quest, and he did not. But I can't trace Blank people, or not very well. You said she was very lucky?" the Primarch asked with a curious voice.
"The type to trip on a flat road and avoid a bolter round, then find out she fell into an ancient crypt filled with dangers and treasure. Or just danger, to be fair." Patrocles muttered with a shiver, remembering the rain of snakes they barely avoided on the route to Terra.
"Haha, the Solitaire Luck. Roboute should have an interesting quest to obtain his Plus Ultra Fortress." Sanguinius quipped in a lighter tone.
"Or more likely, your brother will stumble upon Yvrainne again, and have to rescue the Eldar princess from another cruel fate. " Patrocles added for no reason at all.
"As I said, an interesting quest. You didn't let out anything about your grandmother, correct?" The Primarch asked in a warning voice.
"I understand the danger, sire. Nobody wants my father rushing into the Black Library, not for a year at least. I don't think Lord Lancefire will abandon his duty, but his love for my grandmother Justine is certain. He even got both Isha and Ynnead to help, impossible as it seems." Patrocles admitted with sad sigh.
"I might get beat up for this, when he finds out. Pef punched Dorn's clone just for raising his voice..." Sanguinius muttered in a wary tone.
"And I will hold your legs when he does, Primarch. The Emperor will fail, and all will be for nothing. You can't clone him, they tried a thousand times already. His siblings are nothing like him either. Only his children, nobody else. Isha told you already." Patrocles spoke in a lamenting voice.
"You're probably right, Patrocles. But we still have to try. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance." Sanguinius concluded with a grieving tone.
Patrocles frowned, but didn't answer. There will be a reckoning when Pef Lancefire found out. A pair of Gods have died already, and another pair might follow.