1st Lesson

Baldur and Fulgrim greeted the officers of the group, the latter giving them a bright smile while the former had his usual indifference. Still, Baldur made sure to pay the appropriate amount of respect to each of the leaders since they would prove crucial to the success of this campaign. 

Baldur has dismissed most of his Knights and all the Psykers in the 1st Fleet, switching them out with the standard Grey Knights. Since Baldur was teaching Fulgrim, he had to teach him in a way that Fulgrim could replicate to some degree, even if their overall strategies and combat styles differed. 

Baldur had elite warriors from his home world and his Legion was filled with powerful Psykers which meant that he would have a very different approach normally. But since Fulgrim's Legion did not have powerful Psykers and his home world lacked the additional warriors that Feluc could provide, the 2nd Primarch could only change how he would wage war with Fulgrim under him.

This would slow down his speed at conquering planets but he was hoping that the additional manpower in the other fleets would be able to make up for it. 

Baldur thought about sending the Isenlyth to another fleet or even leaving them on Feluc but the twins insisted on accompanying him since he was in dangerous position. 

With the officers of both groups picked up, Baldur and the rest began to deploy through the Warp. All the Isenlyth felt uncomfortable, as always, not liking that they were so close to their greatest enemy. The Warp was where the Chaos Gods dwelled and one which had consumed most of their race. 

But even as they felt fear, the Isenlyth knew they were safe within the field. Still, each felt as if there were billions of eyes on them, Slaanesh and her Daemons watching, hoping for an opportunity to take them. 

The fleet took another 3 days to reach their first destination. This was a spot that the Imperium had some information on, so Baldur had some idea of a strategy. 

"Before you ever engage in a battle, you must be sure to scout ahead, Fulgrim. To send your entire fleet ahead when there is a chance of an ambush is dangerous and foolish," Baldur advised as Spencer ordered for the one of the Imperial Naval vessels to go ahead of them with a few Grey Knights on it. 

"That ship has one of the most important and dangerous roles in a campaign. They will act as our scouts to see how dangerous the civilization is and get a good of their strength while also acting as our diplomats to let the others know about our mission and get an initial feel for them.

They won't tell them that it is surrender or die but instead they will instead inform of the Imperium and how mighty it is. If they seem like they will go along with the idea or consider the notion of joining, the men will leave peacefully and report back to us either way. If they seem like they will outright reject us, we will keep them there and have them act as spies to search for weaknesses when we invade," Baldur continued to explain as their ship slowly moved through space

Informing the others of the Imperium willingness to kill others to get them to submit would make the negations very hostile and chances of bloodshed would increase. If they wanted to maximize their chances of bringing the planet under compliance peacefully. 

As they traveled toward the planet, the scouts reported that the planet seemed to be willing to negotiate with them and interested in joining the Imperium. 

"Perfect. Thank you for your hard work. We should be nearing the planet in 3 hours," Spencer replied to the scouts 

"That means we have the next easiest and hardest jobs. They have already set the stage for us so we need to act our parts and let them know what else the Imperium can provide that they have not informed them about," Baldur continued to tell Fulgrim

"And how do we do that?" Fulgrim asked

"A show of force and show of power," Baldur told him simply, not willing to explain it anymore. The best way to teach Fulgrim from that point forward was to simply demonstrate everything in person. 

The fleet eventually reached the atmosphere of the planet and amazed all those that saw it. The massive size of the ships as well as the numbers in the fleet surpassed everything that the planet had. Even their largest ship could not match the smallest escort of the Imperium. 

Baldur, Fulgrim, and their honor guards descended onto the planet in one of the few Dragons that Baldur had kept in the 1st fleet. The mighty ship was painted in red and gold to represent the Emperor. 

As they landed, the Primarchs and Astartes stood much taller than the humans of the planet that looked small. They were skinny and small from malnutrition. Fulgrim looked at the city and scrunched his face, having been reminded of his home planet when he first arrived. 

Luckily, Baldur was speaking with the leader of the planet so few noticed Fulgrim making his funny face. 

"Greetings, Sir. Are you the leader of this planet?" Baldur asked while speaking respectfully. Though the planet was small and the people were not healthy, they were still alive. That meant that the man before him was at least trying his best to keep his people together, even on such a desolate planet. 

"Hello, Sir," the older man tried to hold his back up straight. "Indeed, I am."

He felt glad that Baldur was showing him respect even though they were so different. At first, he felt nervous when the scouts first arrived to speak with them. They were a small planet that had little to them with only a small amount of their planet being fertile land. 

"Then you are the man I must speak with," Baldur informed him. "We wish to bring your planet into the Imperium of Man. Our leader's, the Emperor, wish is to unite the Galaxy under a single banner of humanity."

The older man wanted to accept the offer but he felt nervous. He had to think about what was correct for his people.

"I may sound rude, but why us? We are small and weak, with little to offer," the old man asked

"Because you are humans. That is all the reason that the Imperium needs to request for you to join us," Baldur told him. "As for this planet, our scouts have actually found an important material when they probed the ground. It can be used to help build some of our powerful weapons and will be highly valued. 

That, along with the fact that you are humans, the Imperium will help make your world prosper so that your children can live instead of just survive."

The man nodded along with Baldur, already agreeing mentally but knowing he had to tell his people and inform them before he made a final decision. 

"Do you mind giving us a few days to consider it?"

"Of course. As long as you don't mind that we send a few ships down with some basic supplies such as food and clothing," Baldur offered, sweetening the deal even more

The man agreed with a smile on his face. Not even a full day later, he came back to Baldur and signed the agreement that put the world under the Imperium's rule. 

With their task completed, Baldur and his fleet left some supplies behind for the planet to last them until other Imperial Forces came to support them. As for the 1st Fleet, they left to head off to their next destination.