The Hunt

Baldur sat on the Iron Throne with his various Grand Masters and high-ranking members of the Grey Knights such as Selene on one side while the various Barons under him were on the other. 

There were currently 7 planets under Baldur's rule, including Feluc. These were collectively called the Lord Scions as they had different titles based on their culture. On their side of the room, they were all standing with two guards next to them, each acting as their personal protector. 

"How is the progress of the ships coming along?" Baldur asked Mathew Pyre, the Lord Scion of Gothea.

They were the most technologically advanced of his planets as they used to be a Forge World for the Adeptus Mechanicus until their world had been attacked by Orks. Unable to fend them off, the remaining members could only die as they refused to abandon their world.

Even when the Mechanicus members had died and the Orks began to tear apart the tech, they left much of their technology. Several noble houses from the surrounding worlds migrated there in order to not only gain independence but also take control of any tech that had been left behind before the Orks could take it for themselves.

House Pyre ended up becoming the best as they were able to take the former Mechanicus headquarters and kill the Warboss. 

Gothea was a Force World so they ended up becoming a trading hub with the other 6 worlds, taking in materials and rations in exchange for them building vehicles and weapons.

Mathew was actually the first to submit to Baldur. After Baldur had turned over the STC that he had found to him, he was more than willing to become a vassal in exchange for the chance to gain many more from Baldur's campaign in the future. 

"We have 2,000 of them ready to be deployed with the Grey Knight fleet. All the pilots and gunners have come from Yoter while the engineers are deployed from Gotea to help maintain them," Mathew reported

"Excellent. Then that settles those matters. I guess the only thing we have left to discuss, is The Hunt."

All of the Lord Scions and Selene suddenly turned serious, causing the Grey Knights to look at them puzzled. They saw how tense the room got from those few simple words. 

"Selene," Sarius, the 4th Grand Master whispered into the smaller woman's ears. "What just happened?"

"It's a competition," Selene whispered back. "I've been on Baldur's team for the past 3 Hunts and we have gotten first place each time. He won't let someone steal one of his lucky charms. But this year should be interesting as we now have a bunch of Astartes who can take part." Selene was just imagining how many invitations the Grand Masters and higher-ranked members of the Grey Knights would get.

The Feluc System had 15 planets within it. 8 of those planets were inhabitable while the other 7 were simply used to gather resources. Of the 8 inhabitable planets, 7 were ruled by Imperial Knights and their households as well as the various knights under them. 

The last of the inhabitable planets was simply called Game World. It was a world filled with countless creatures that could kill a normal man with ease. Dragons filled the sky, giant tigers ruled the mountain, with massive fish and eels eating anything that would enter the water. 

The Hunt occurred every 5 years and it was something Baldur did to unite the planets under his rule with a friendly rivalry. They would each 'invade' it at the same time and the one who hunted the biggest creature using nothing but close combat weapons and bows would be the winner.

This was a challenge of epic proportions and few could resist the allure of it, especially knights. In every Hunt, the competitors got more and more creative with how they would nearly cheat to win, just tiptoeing the line.

Gothea had created a 'crossbow' in the previous Hunt that was actually a lasgun hidden inside of a crossbow shell. If not for someone catching them in the act, they may have won with the hidden weapon.

Baldur 'hinted' at using Psykers since they were not against the rules, promoting Psykers among the other worlds who were still weary of them. This was one of the reasons why they were no longer feared among their worlds as who could fear a champion of their people?

Baldur held up his hands to calm the leaders down, not wanting there to be bloodshed in the middle of his throne room. 

"I know that some of us can get a little... tense during this time. So I will add the two new rules. Anyone who is a member of the Grey Knights is no longer allowed to participate in The Hunt, to keep it fair. 

We will also make participation in The Hunt mandatory for anyone from the military academy who wishes to become a Grey Knight. If they can't survive there, then we can't bring them along to help us conquer the galaxy."

"Does that mean you will no longer take part?" Fei Roh, the leader of House Roh asked Baldur nervously. She was afraid that he would answer negatively. 

"Yes, it does," Baldur agreed, causing all of the Lords to cheer before their eyes grew even brighter. That meant that the competition would truly be between the 7 planets and they wouldn't have the monster named Baldur slaying dragons by himself. 

Baldur kept his expression calm but those who knew him could see the air around him had become slightly colder and damper. It was obvious that he was upset about no longer being able to participate. 

"We will take off in a week. Gather your best and make sure you get all your weapons prepared," Baldur gave them their order before turning to the Grey Knights. "Have the Grey Knights be prepared to take off in 6 days. They are to land ahead of time and start clearing out landing zones."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" "Yes, Primarch!"

The Lord Scions returned to their planets to get ready while the nobles of Feluc also started to prepare their forces. Alliances began to form in the dark, everyone ready to play their cards in order to come out on top. 

As word spread about The Hunt officially taking place in 7 days, the towns and cities across all 7 planets were in celebration. Plays were put on reenacting stories that the survivors had told, special pastries were baked, musicians and singers filled the streets, and many were given days off of work. Everyone was in a festive mood, even when they were celebrating such a dangerous occasion. 

For they lived on Knight Worlds. To them, to die in battle was glorious, especially as they tried to earn favor for their kingdoms. 

Even though each of the worlds had different cultures, they were all Knights. And for them, The Hunt was the best way to show their skills to the other planets in the system as well as earn respect from them as well. And with Baldur making it a requirement for knights if they wanted to join the Grey Knights, it was sure to be even more active that year than the previous 3 Hunts beforehand. 

After a week of celebration, the different planets sent their champions to the Game World where the Grey Knights had cleared out landing zones for each of them. And with their arrival, The Hunt had officially begun.