News of the Grey Knight's swift victory spread across the Legions. While they had helped out other Legions occasionally before joining Baldur on Feluc, they were always somewhat like loners, only being beaten out by the Star Hunters and Space Wolves. With their success and sudden disappearance, many were curious about when the Grey Knights would officially resume the Great Crusade under their Primarch.
But to their surprise, Baldur had yet to move out his men after 3 years of having them on Feluc. It had gotten so bad, that the Emperor had finally decided to intervene in the matter.
Which is why when Baldur heard the message, he was in disbelief.
"He is sending my brothers," Baldur repeated as his brows creased, showing just how much the matter bothered him. "Did he say who he was sending?" he asked the Astropath.
"It seems that..." the Astropath paused, not sure how to break the news. "It appears that The Emperor is planning to send all 3 of your brothers as well as some Legions he expects you to lead temporarily."
Baldur already had to lead the 2,000 members of the Thousand Sons when he went into battle along with his 30,000 Astartes and all the Knights under him. The fact that he also had to babysit at least 2 more Legions was worrying.
"Just what is that old man thinking?" Baldur thought aloud. He couldn't understand what his father was planning, but he knew he could only accept his new responsibility.
Baldur had heard of all 5 of his brothers that had been found, one of whom he was sure that the others didn't even know about, and that was the 20th who sent spies into his Legion.
Hours, the XVIth. Horus was the first one that their father had found, barely even two years old at the time. He had been practically raised by the Emperor his entire life and was therefore his favorite. He led the Luna Wolves, whose prowess was known to all the Legions.
Leman Russ, the VIth. Leman was little more than an animal in Baldur's opinion. From how his Grey Knights described their limited interaction with him before they deployed to Feluc, the man was a great warrior, but he was not much of a thinker. He seemed to have also quickly buttered up with their father, the duo becoming awfully close in the short 5 years that they had met each other. Leman led the Space Wolves, who mostly fought like their Primarch, wild yet orderly.
The last sibling that was supposed to arrive was Ferrus Manus. Besides being the Primarch of the Xth Legion, the Storm Walkers, Baldur knew little of his 10th brother. He had only just been found a few months prior, so his Grey Knights couldn't bring Baldur any information from the time before they met him.
But there was nothing he could do to prepare for them other than set aside a few rooms in the castle for them and their Honor Guards. After he ensured that those would be clean and ready for them, he went about the next few days as normal, training with all of his Knights and going over his war stratagems.
When the 3 Primarchs arrived 5 days later, their ships emerged from the Warp above Feluc. The trio descended with drop-ships along with their Honor Guards and bringing the 3 Legions that Baldur was supposed to be watching over.
"Little brothers," Baldur greeted the three, immediately noticing the differences between them
Horus was a bald man with a barely noticeable tan to him. It made a nice contrast with his white armor.
"Baldur. Nice to meet you in person," Horus greeted Baldur with a friendly smile
Leman looked exactly as Baldur had imagined him. He was a blonde man with unshaven facial hair. His fangs were overgrown, his lower ones being noticeable even with his mouth closed. His armor was covered in unknown runes as well as fur. He had two massive wolves by his side that were taller than Selene.
Leman sniffed toward Baldur and let out a small growl, causing many of those behind Baldur to frown. They were all about to take a step forward when Baldur shook his head slightly to stop them. He didn't feel like battling his brother the first time they met. He had already sworn to do that with a different one and didn't want to be the difficult sibling.
Ferrus was different from them both. He had a buzz cut similar to Baldur, but his hair was black and his skin was much lighter. He was the only one who didn't wear armor, wearing a sleeveless black shirt and gray pants. But the unique thing about Ferrus were his arms.
Both were silver, as if they were made from pure metal. But they also looked very alive and nothing like what cybernetics were capable of.
"Hello, Baldur," Ferrus greeted neutrally in a tone similar to Baldur. Hearing this, Baldur immediately decided that Ferrus was his favorite among the brothers that he had met.
Baldur nodded and turned to the Legions that he was supposed to be take with him during his battles. And, well... Legion was actually a strong word to use for 2 of them.
The Dragon Warriors of the 18th Legion numbered less than the Thousand Sons, only having about 1,500 members among its ranks.
The other Legion was even more pitiful. They were not even given a name due to how few of them there were. Their original Gene-Seed was either sabotaged or became corrupted somehow, preventing their members from growing in numbers. If that wasn't bad enough, the backup Gene-Seed supply was hit by a virus, corrupting the very little remaining Gene-Seeds that they had left.
The 3rd Legion numbered only 300 members when they were brought to Feluc. Even worse, the Emperor had confiscated their entire fleet and accompanying vehicles, since he figured they would not have use for them while they were with the 2nd Legion.
The last Legion that accompanied the 3 Primarchs was at least a functional fighting force. The 12th Legion, the War Hounds, had around 12,000 members strong and a full fleet under them.
All in all, Baldur was given 1 Legion that could support him, another he was watching over at the request of Magnus, and 2 more that were in an even worse shape than the Thousand Sons. Baldur was even considering just leaving them behind so he wouldn't be blamed if anything happened to them.
5 men stepped forward and gave Baldur a small bow before introducing themselves to him.
"Greetings, Lord Primarch. My name is Thrallas. I am the current Legion Master of the 3rd Legion," a man with blonde hair and blue eyes greeted Baldur with a bow. "I know that we may not number the most but do not be afraid to send us in for any mission that needs to be done. We shall not fail you."
Thrallas then grabbed the man beside him, who had blonde hair and purple eyes.
"This is Fabius Bile. He is our best Apothecary and will prove useful to you if you put him to work," Thrallas introduced their Apothecary, wanting to show that they were not just showing up to take up space and were willing to work
Baldur nodded to both of them before turning to the next person in line.
"Greetings Lord Primarch. Cassian Vaughn. Legion Master of the 18th Legion. We shall obey your commands as if they were our father's," Cassian greeted him. Cassian had charcoal colored skin.
"Hmm," Baldur hummed in agreement, appreciating the man's size. He could tell that Cassian was a powerful warrior from the look in his eyes
"Ibram Ghreer. Legion Master of the War Hounds. We are ready to follow you into combat," the man greeted. He wore his white helmet that matched the rest of his armor, causing Baldur to be unable to tell what he looked liked. Next to him was another War Hound who was wearing his helmet but he had a chain wrapped around one of his arms.
"Kharn, Sir. I wish to join your Honor Guard during my time here. I am sure to do my part," the marine greeted politely, wishing to show proper respect to his superior while also requesting for the position of his choosing.
Baldur nearly smirked when he heard the man while Ibram was fuming under his helmet. He silently swore that he would bea-, that he would punish Kharn later for speaking out of turn like that.
"That's fine. My men have been complained about my Honor Guard being too small. Having one more should get them to quiet down," Baldur agreed, much to the chagrin of the Grand Masters. This was an issue that they were constantly pushing on him but they didn't want an outsider to join!
Baldur didn't pay attention to the looks they were giving him behind his back and turned to his three brothers.
"I have prepared about 30 rooms in the castle. You and your Honor Guard may stay in them," with the greetings done, Baldur planned to bring them to his home instead of the barracks to show that he was not looking down on them even though this was his turf. But alas, things don't always go the way.
"He!" one of Leman's guards let out a laugh. He tried to stop himself, but it was obvious to everyone around. And that was all that they needed.
"What's so funny?" Zane asked, his tone giving a slight warning. But it seemed that the Varagyr either didn't hear it or didn't care.
"I just thought it was funny that you think we have so few men among, advising and protecting our Primarch. After all the time you guys sat here, we thought you would have at least properly grown your forces and not be using outsiders," the man laughed at his own words, a few more of the Varagyr laughing with him
"Pft!" Selene let out a laugh herself when she heard him. "So you're saying because you're incompetent and need more men to assist your Primarch while we don't, that makes you better?"
Selene had the most venomous mouth among the Grey Knights, and they could spit acid. The men around Leman felt insulted, as did those around Ferrus and Horus who had been caught in the crossfire. Though most of them blamed the Space Wolves, as they were the ones who started the fight.
The man who had been taunting them felt especially angry since he had caused his Primarch to be insulted. The man stepped forward and was about to unsheath his axe when three identical Astartes jumped in front of Selene, each one weilding a different weapon.
"If you wanna pull something out," Ross Grimes started while swinging around his battle-axe
"Then how about the three of us entertain you?" Isaiah Grimes finished the sentence, holding his twin falchions ready to cut the man apart
Two more of the Varagyr stepped forward, unsheathing their axes and spears at the triplets.
"If you're gonna pick fight, why not make it a fair one?" one of them asked
"Then bring out another 6 of you," Thomas Grimes flourished his glaive. "Cause that's the only way you're gonna last longer than you do in bed."
The tension began to rise rapidly on both sides. The Grey Knights easily outnumbered the Space Wolves but latter were not backing down. And to make matters worse, neither of their Primarchs were stepping forward to try and ease the tension.
Instead, their eyes were focused on each other. Ready to act in the case the other one made a single move. Each one was looking for any opening or weakness that they could find and use to take down their brother in as few moves as needed.
On the side, Farrus looked calm but his eyes were burning with desire. He wanted to join the battle and see how powerful his two brothers were himself.
Horus saw all this and knew that he needed to intervene before they actually killed each other.
"Enough!" Horus and his Justaerin stepped between both groups, ready to stop them if a battle broke out. "Leman, take your men back to your ship," Horus commanded the Primarch.
"Now!" he yelled when he saw that Leman didn't move
Leman let out a huff before turning around and returning to his dropship. Baldur watched his everystep until he got on the ship and it clearly left Feluc's atmosphere. Only then did he relax and turn his gaze to his other brothers.
"Apologies," he spoke coldly like he usually did. "Let's proceed to the castle now."
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