The Primarchs were very excited as they approached Epsilon Three. They loved going to the zoo. The menageries on Epsilon Three had some of the best zoos in the Imperium. The Emperor also enjoyed the zoo, especially Epsilon Three's zoos. They had many Terran animals, though there were fewer every time they went. Partially because of the Lion.
"I promise not to kill any of the animals this time," the Lion said as they boarded the Thunderhawk. The Emperor smiled and nodded to the Lion. They then went down planetside. The gates to the main zoo complex opened at their approach. Valdor had informed the zoo staff before the Thunderhawk had left the Imperator Somnium. The Emperor approached the ticket counter and proved money to the worker there.
The money was more to cover the special things that the Primarchs were allowed to do in the zoo. This included the Lion wrestling animals, Leman playing with the Fenrisian wolf pack, and Vulkan attempting to fight the drake from Nocturne. They then started the main loop around the zoo.
"Do they have any new animals?" Magnus asked. He was the most interested in the newest animals when they went to the zoo. He turned to the zoo map that was nearby to see if there were new animals.
"It doesn't look like it," Jaghatai said, having already read the entire map. Magnus looked a bit disappointed.
"There's still the aviary," Sanguinius said. Most of the Primarchs were fond of birds, so the aviary was always a popular destination. They usually left it for last though so that they could have the most time in it. Magnus nodded acknowledgement to Sanguinius, and smiled.
"Otters!" Ferrus called. He liked otters, finding it fun to watch them play in the water. When asked he usually said that the gleam of their coats was metalic in nature so it was like they were made of metal. They paused for a few moments and then they headed on.
They made their way through the zoo, going to everyone's favorite animals. They waited twenty minutes at the Fenrisian wolf enclosure so that Leman could play with the pack. They had left Freki and Geri back on the Imperator Somnium. He came back to the others with a big grin on his face.
They were looking at the beaver exhibit when an employee of the zoo approached them. She appeared to be a new member of the staff. The Epsilon Three zoo was a research facility, and the woman approaching them looked to be a research assistant.
"Excuse me, my lords," she said hesitantly. The Primarchs and Emperor turned to look at the woman. "I've been sent to make a 'standard offer' to Lord Jonson, and was told that he was with this group?"
"I'm Jonson," the Lion said. "What are the details of the offer?" It was standard procedure for the research arm of the zoo to offer the Lion the chance to fight against research animals that they were either finished with, or needed a strength test against. Often their research animals were not able to be returned to planets of origins for various reasons.
"It's a Calibanite Great Beast. A reptilianoid one," she said. It was about all she had been told to tell Lord Jonson.
"How did you obtain one of those?" the Lion asked. "They aren't supposed to be removed from Caliban alive."
"Rogue trader," the Emperor said. Rogue traders were allowed to work outside the law by decree of the Emperor himself. The research assistant nodded.
"Very well, that's definitely too dangerous to try and put in an exhibit here," the Lion said. Since the Calibanite Great Beasts weren't supposed to leave Caliban, they weren't allowed back if they were removed.
"Indeed, Lord Jonson," the assistant said. She then lead the way over to where they had been holding the Great Beast. The other Primarchs were getting excited. Since the Lion had promised to not kill anything in their visit, he had been trying to find a good opponent to wrestle with. The offer from the research branch was a release from his promise to not kill any of the zoo's animals. The purpose of this offer was for the Lion to kill the Great Beast.
They arrived at the holding area for the Great Beast. The zoo had to provide weapons for the Lion's use during these events. Another research assistant was already setting them out when they arrived. The Lion selected a long sword, his preferred weapon in any situation. He also took a bolt pistol. Then he entered the cage with the Great Beast.
The Great Beast paced forwards, the Lion brought his sword up into a guard position. The Lion let the Great Beast come to him, he didn't have long to wait. The Great Beast launched itself at the Lion almost without warning. He swung the borrowed sword, and connected solidly with the Great Beast.
The Lion shoved aside the Great Beast. There was no intelligence in the Beast's eyes, just the desire to kill everything that it could see. It was what made the Great Beasts so dangerous. They would kill everything until something else killed them. The Lion went on the offensive this time, leaping himself at the Beast.
The fight was over faster than Leman's romp with the Fenrisian wolves. It was a victory for the Lion, as it always was. There had been one time when a large Catachan specimen had seemed to have the upper hand. The other Primarchs had looked away, just as Frederick appeared and caused the specimen to falter. The Emperor had encouraged the other Primarchs to look again as the Lion was finishing the creature. Frederick had disappeared in that time.
Then it was time for the aviary. The bird loving Primarchs all rushed ahead of the others and their father. Jaghatai beat everyone else, and opened the door for the others to enter. It was much noisier in the aviary than elsewhere in the zoo. Fulgrim and Vulkan were probably the least excited. Fulgrim liked peacocks, which were allowed to wander the zoo. His other favorite bird was the pheonix, which the Epsilon Three zoo didn't have. Vulkan had nothing against birds, but found the drakes more interesting. Corvus liked getting ravens to land near him, he also found it funny when they landed on Vulkan. There were a few ravens that prefered to be by the Lion, but he was almost always next to Corvus anyway.
Sanguinius had another reason why he liked the aviary. He enjoyed flying about with the birds there. These were the only birds beside the peacocks that he could get close to that didn't have clipped wings. The peacocks weren't much inclined to flying, though a few of them also had their wings clipped. Sanguinius was always learning new ways of flying when he came to the aviary. It made him slightly sad that the largest birds in the aviary were the ravens. He wasn't allowed in the enclosure with the few unclipped hawks. He would have loved to learn things from them.
"Alright everyone, it's time to go," the Emperor said after most of an hour. Several of the Primarchs groaned, but they followed their father as the Emperor left the aviary. They then proceeded out of the zoo and returned to their Thunderhawk.
"I promise not to kill any of the animals this time," the Lion said as they boarded the Thunderhawk. The Emperor smiled and nodded to the Lion. They then went down planetside. The gates to the main zoo complex opened at their approach. Valdor had informed the zoo staff before the Thunderhawk had left the Imperator Somnium. The Emperor approached the ticket counter and proved money to the worker there.
The money was more to cover the special things that the Primarchs were allowed to do in the zoo. This included the Lion wrestling animals, Leman playing with the Fenrisian wolf pack, and Vulkan attempting to fight the drake from Nocturne. They then started the main loop around the zoo.
"Do they have any new animals?" Magnus asked. He was the most interested in the newest animals when they went to the zoo. He turned to the zoo map that was nearby to see if there were new animals.
"It doesn't look like it," Jaghatai said, having already read the entire map. Magnus looked a bit disappointed.
"There's still the aviary," Sanguinius said. Most of the Primarchs were fond of birds, so the aviary was always a popular destination. They usually left it for last though so that they could have the most time in it. Magnus nodded acknowledgement to Sanguinius, and smiled.
"Otters!" Ferrus called. He liked otters, finding it fun to watch them play in the water. When asked he usually said that the gleam of their coats was metalic in nature so it was like they were made of metal. They paused for a few moments and then they headed on.
They made their way through the zoo, going to everyone's favorite animals. They waited twenty minutes at the Fenrisian wolf enclosure so that Leman could play with the pack. They had left Freki and Geri back on the Imperator Somnium. He came back to the others with a big grin on his face.
They were looking at the beaver exhibit when an employee of the zoo approached them. She appeared to be a new member of the staff. The Epsilon Three zoo was a research facility, and the woman approaching them looked to be a research assistant.
"Excuse me, my lords," she said hesitantly. The Primarchs and Emperor turned to look at the woman. "I've been sent to make a 'standard offer' to Lord Jonson, and was told that he was with this group?"
"I'm Jonson," the Lion said. "What are the details of the offer?" It was standard procedure for the research arm of the zoo to offer the Lion the chance to fight against research animals that they were either finished with, or needed a strength test against. Often their research animals were not able to be returned to planets of origins for various reasons.
"It's a Calibanite Great Beast. A reptilianoid one," she said. It was about all she had been told to tell Lord Jonson.
"How did you obtain one of those?" the Lion asked. "They aren't supposed to be removed from Caliban alive."
"Rogue trader," the Emperor said. Rogue traders were allowed to work outside the law by decree of the Emperor himself. The research assistant nodded.
"Very well, that's definitely too dangerous to try and put in an exhibit here," the Lion said. Since the Calibanite Great Beasts weren't supposed to leave Caliban, they weren't allowed back if they were removed.
"Indeed, Lord Jonson," the assistant said. She then lead the way over to where they had been holding the Great Beast. The other Primarchs were getting excited. Since the Lion had promised to not kill anything in their visit, he had been trying to find a good opponent to wrestle with. The offer from the research branch was a release from his promise to not kill any of the zoo's animals. The purpose of this offer was for the Lion to kill the Great Beast.
They arrived at the holding area for the Great Beast. The zoo had to provide weapons for the Lion's use during these events. Another research assistant was already setting them out when they arrived. The Lion selected a long sword, his preferred weapon in any situation. He also took a bolt pistol. Then he entered the cage with the Great Beast.
The Great Beast paced forwards, the Lion brought his sword up into a guard position. The Lion let the Great Beast come to him, he didn't have long to wait. The Great Beast launched itself at the Lion almost without warning. He swung the borrowed sword, and connected solidly with the Great Beast.
The Lion shoved aside the Great Beast. There was no intelligence in the Beast's eyes, just the desire to kill everything that it could see. It was what made the Great Beasts so dangerous. They would kill everything until something else killed them. The Lion went on the offensive this time, leaping himself at the Beast.
The fight was over faster than Leman's romp with the Fenrisian wolves. It was a victory for the Lion, as it always was. There had been one time when a large Catachan specimen had seemed to have the upper hand. The other Primarchs had looked away, just as Frederick appeared and caused the specimen to falter. The Emperor had encouraged the other Primarchs to look again as the Lion was finishing the creature. Frederick had disappeared in that time.
Then it was time for the aviary. The bird loving Primarchs all rushed ahead of the others and their father. Jaghatai beat everyone else, and opened the door for the others to enter. It was much noisier in the aviary than elsewhere in the zoo. Fulgrim and Vulkan were probably the least excited. Fulgrim liked peacocks, which were allowed to wander the zoo. His other favorite bird was the pheonix, which the Epsilon Three zoo didn't have. Vulkan had nothing against birds, but found the drakes more interesting. Corvus liked getting ravens to land near him, he also found it funny when they landed on Vulkan. There were a few ravens that prefered to be by the Lion, but he was almost always next to Corvus anyway.
Sanguinius had another reason why he liked the aviary. He enjoyed flying about with the birds there. These were the only birds beside the peacocks that he could get close to that didn't have clipped wings. The peacocks weren't much inclined to flying, though a few of them also had their wings clipped. Sanguinius was always learning new ways of flying when he came to the aviary. It made him slightly sad that the largest birds in the aviary were the ravens. He wasn't allowed in the enclosure with the few unclipped hawks. He would have loved to learn things from them.
"Alright everyone, it's time to go," the Emperor said after most of an hour. Several of the Primarchs groaned, but they followed their father as the Emperor left the aviary. They then proceeded out of the zoo and returned to their Thunderhawk.
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