Omnissiah, I Shrunk the Primarchs

"I wonder what he's come up with now," Ferrus said as the Primarchs followed their father to the workshop of Bellisarius Cawl. He insisted that they come with the Emperor to see his newest creation. It was an unusual request, but the Emperor had agreed to it.
"I don't know," the Emperor said. "He seems very excited to have you all see it though."
"True," Perturabo said. "I bet it's something he wants Father to approve of before he shows it to the Mechanicum."
"Most likely," Ferrus said. They arrived at the workshop and entered. Cawl himself waved them over to where he had set up the device. It was obvious that he was excited, which was quite unusual for a tech-priest. The Primarchs chalked it up to being able to show the Omnissiah something new.
"What is it?" Roboute asked Cawl.
"It's a shrink ray, lord," Cawl replied. He was always very courteous to the Primarchs because of their connection to the Omnissiah. Sanguinius was happy that it wasn't a  machine that made food out of the weather patterns on Terra. The idea of living through Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was something he didn't want to do at all.
"Interesting," Mortarion said. "How does it work?"
"It's fairly simple, lord," Cawl said, he took a screw out of his pocket and placed it ahead of the pointed end of the apparatus. Cawl flipped a switch, and there was a flare of sparks. When the sparks settled, the screw was still there, at the same size that it was before. The Primarchs however, were missing. They had gathered around the device to watch the screw shrink. Cawl emitted a startled squirt of binary cant when he realized that the Primarchs were missing.
"I do not know what has happened, Holy One," Cawl said in High Gothic. "This was not the intended result."
"I know," the Emperor said. "They are still in the workshop. I can sense them. Can you reverse the effect?"
"I have a device that returns shrunk objects, yes," Cawl said. "However, I haven't attempted shrinking living things before. Also the results of the reversal process are inconsistent, Holy One."
"You had best begin working on that," the Emperor said with a frown. Cawl bowed deeply and moved off to a different device.

*************************

"What just happened?" Fulgrim asked, looking at the others. 

"I think we've been shrunk," Vulkan said.

"We seem to be only 25 millimeters in size," Perturabo said after a moment. "Though Vulkan is 26 millimeters, and Alpharius is 24 millimeters."

"Well, at least that's the same," Vulkan said. He was looking for some level of normality to the situation. Omegon looked a bit sad that he wasn't the same height as the rest of his brothers, just once.

Magnus tried to adjust his size, but found that he couldn't. This distressed him a bit as it was a power he had had control of since before he had chosen his name. It had driven the Emperor nuts a bit, especially when Magnus would impersonate his brothers. 

"I can't make myself bigger," Magnus said, clearly concerned about that. "It seems to be connected to the shrinking."

"If that's the case you should be fine when Cawl gets us back to our normal sizes," Jaghatai said, trying to keep Magnus' spirits up.

"True," Magnus said. "But it's just weird."

"Being 25 millimeters tall is weird," Fulgrim asserted. The others nodded in agreement. They looked up at their father, and saw that he was looking down at them. 

"We should get up on the workbench," Ferrus said. "Our voices, even shouting, are likely to be too quiet for Father to hear us well from down here."

"Good point, Ferrus," Horus said, turning to look at the leg of the workbench. It looked simple enough to climb, but they all knew that it might not be so easy. Sanguinius proved that his wings still worked, taking off and flying up the side of the workbench. The others made it up, though at a much slower pace.

"Father!" the Primarchs chorused once they were all on the work bench. The Emperor had watched his tiny sons get onto the workbench. He crouched a bit so that he was more level with them.

"Can you hear us?" Horus asked. 

"Yes," the Emperor said in what for him was a quiet voice. Just as the Primarchs voices were very quiet to him due to their size, his voice was quite loud for them. "Cawl is working on a device to reverse the effect. You will just have to be patient."

"I think you skipped patience with me, Father," Angron said. The others chuckled, none of the Primarchs were known for having a great amount of patience. 

"It's not anything that I skipped," the Emperor said. "It's what you have been working on, or not working on."

"You aren't the most patient person either," Leman pointed out. "When Valdor and the others got trapped in Extinction Park you were struggling, Allfather."

"It was dangerous, even with Valdor to protect them," the Emperor said. "You are all safe here in the workshop."

"But what if it takes awhile?" Ferrus asked. "We're not going to have to stay in the workshop are we?"

"No," the Emperor said. "If he needs more time I'll take you back to the residence."

"How would you do that?" Roboute asked.

"Carry you," the Emperor said simply. "You should all fit in my hands I would think."

"Good point," Roboute conceded. Cawl looked over, having heard the conversation.

"It may be best for you to take them, Holy One," Cawl said. "I am aware that you have other things to do, and I cannot spare the attention to keep track of the Lord Primarchs while I work."

"Indeed," the Emperor said. He cupped his hands just below the level of the workbench. The Primarchs stepped over to their father's hands; it was a bit cramped, but they all fit. The Emperor then returned his sons to their residence. Several people saw him on his way, but none approached him. They saw his face, and shied away from him.

He arrived at his residence, and set his sons on a table in the living room. They spread out on the table, looking up at the Emperor to see what was going to happen next. The Emperor paused a moment before summoning Valdor. He was better suited than Malcador with the Primarchs being so small.

Valdor entered a few moments later. He was aware that he was likely being asked to babysit, so he expected the Primarchs to be there. This lead to his great confusion when they didn't seem do be there. He realized that they were standing on the table. 

"What happened?" Valdor asked, turning to the Emperor. 

"Cawl created a shrink ray," the Emperor said. "His demonstration didn't have the intended results."

"I can see that," Valdor said. "I assume he is working on fixing it."

"Yes," the Emperor said. "However, it seems it will be some time."

"Where are Freki and Geri?" Valdor asked, he didn't see them on the table.

"They are in Leman's room," the Emperor said. "You should keep them outside until the Primarchs are returned to their normal size."

"Allfather!" Leman pouted. He had wanted to ride around on one of his wolf brothers.

"No, Leman," the Emperor said, catching Leman's thoughts. "It wouldn't be safe to try and ride one of them."

"Besides, they might think you are a flea," the Lion said.

"We're bigger than fleas," Leman asserted. 

"A tick then," the Lion said smugly. Leman rolled his eyes. Valdor had headed to Leman's room to move Freki and Geri to the backyard. The wolf pups bounded into the living room, looking for Leman. They came over to the table, but seemed very confused by the Primarchs.

"Freki, Geri," Leman called to the pups, in the higher voice he was used to using with them. However, between that and being so small, they whimpered instead of looking towards Leman.

"Here," Valdor called, patting his leg as he stood by the door to the backyard. The two pups turned to him and headed out the open door. Leman looked a bit sad, but didn't object to the situation.

"Stay in the living room," the Emperor said, turning his attention to his miniature sons. "I'll get you once I've heard from Cawl."

"We will," Horus said. The Emperor departed. Valdor sat on the couch meant for him, and resolved to stay there unless he needed to move. He didn't want to risk stepping on a Primarch while they were so very small.

"Can we explore the living room?" Corvus asked Valdor.

"I do not see a problem with that," Valdor said. "Just remember to stay in the room. That includes you, Mortarion."

"Darn," Mortarion said with a chuckle. He had been thinking that he could sneak into to the kitchen and see if he was still immune to poisons. 

The Primarchs spread out through the living room, exploring all of the nooks and crannies that they weren't able to get into when they were their normal sizes. Freki and Geri were sitting by the door, wanting to get in. Leman wandered over to the door, but didn't try to let them in. He understood why they had to be kept outside.

"Hey look!" Corvus said, nudging Vulkan. He pointed to a piece of Monopoly money that had been hidden under one of shelves so they had missed it when picking up on game night. Corvus grabbed it, and headed to the table that the Emperor had set them on. 

"What are you doing?" Vulkan asked.

"I'm going to try and use it like a para-glider," Corvus said. "Think Legend of Zelda."

"That might work," Vulkan said. "If you don't rip it instead."

"Fair enough," Corvus said. He had made it to the top of the table, and then he jumped off the edge of the table. Holding the piece of game money, he glided a decent ways before landing. 

"That was fun!" Corvus called up to Vulkan when he made it back to the table. Valdor had noticed Corvus' flight. He then motioned Corvus over to him. Corvus went, hoping he wasn't in trouble for what he had done. However, when he reached Valdor, Valdor picked him up. Valdor held his hand flat just before his face. Corvus caught on then and moved to the edge of Valdor's hand. Valdor blew his breath out towards Corvus, who leaped off, and caught the current. He glided about half way across the living room before he landed, giggling the entire time.

The door opened, and Valdor looked over. He had not been expecting anyone, and started to warn them of the tiny Primarchs. The words died on his lips though, it wasn't a person, but the janitorial servitor. The servitor came over once a week to tend to things that the Primarchs weren't able to reach, along with a few things the Emperor didn't have them do. 

"Hide," Valdor said quietly to the Primarchs. He saw that they were already heeding that advice. They were just as concerned as he was that the servitor would consider them insects and dispose of them. The servitor took insects to an incinerator for disposal. 

The servitor went about its duties. Valdor wasn't able to give the servitor orders. It didn't take commands off of the noosphere, which he didn't have access to. The Primarchs crept around it, trying to keep away from the servitor. It turned, and spotted the Lion trying to get to a new hiding spot. It snatched him up, placing him in a plasti-glas container. 

"Lion!" Leman and Corvus called out. All of the Primarchs broke from cover, and a brief race occurred between the servitor and Valdor. Each trying to snatch the Primarchs, the servitor placing them in the container with the Lion, and Valdor tucking them about his robes.

The servitor departed after there were no further Primarchs to be found. It had the Lion, Jaghatai, Leman, Konrad, Ferrus, Roboute, Mortarion, Horus, and Lorgar. Valdor had Fulgrim, Perturabo, Rogal, Sanguinius, Angron, Magnus, Vulkan, Corvus, and Omegon. Corvus still had the piece of game money. Making sure that the Primarchs he had were secure, Valdor set off after the servitor.

***********************

"What are we going to do?" Jaghatai asked. The servitor had had a head start on Valdor, and was moving through hallways that were not meant for a Custodian. 

"First, we need to escape," Horus said. The others nodded, and started looking around.

"There's a chip in the plasti-glas here," Ferrus said. He had just barely moved aside so the others could see it before Leman slammed into it. The chip widened into a crack. Leman backed up and ran into it again. The crack widened, but only slightly. The Lion joined him on the third attempt. There was some spidering, but it didn't break.

"Let's all hit it together," Horus suggested. They all ran at the weak point and broke through.

"Tuck and roll," Mortarion called as they fell from the container to the floor. Following that advice, they landed safely. 

"Now we make our way back to Valdor," Horus said. "Can you sense him, Lion?"

"Of course I can," the Lion said. "He's trying to get to us, but he has to use the other halls."

"We can get over to him," Ferrus said. "There's connecting halls."

"True," Lorgar said. 

"Let's go then," Horus said. They followed the Lion's lead as they headed through the hallway.

"I should try to prank someone while I'm tiny," Konrad said.

"They'd probably just call you cute," Mortarion said. The two would never admit to being friends, but they were. They certainly liked egging each other on in doing things. 

"You'll get your chance in a few moments," the Lion said. "There's someone coming." 

Konrad looked excited, but he didn't really have anything other than himself to use. He figured that would be good enough though. The Lion indicated when they were near to the person he had sensed. Konrad then jumped around the corner and tried to look scary. It was another tech-priest, heading to help Cawl. She halted, and then peered down at Konrad.

"Are you Lord Curze or Lord Corax?" she asked. Konrad deflated, but then perked up.

"She didn't call me cute," he said as he rejoined the group without answering the tech-priest. "She just mistook me for Corvus. That's reasonable with us so small."

"Fair enough," Mortarion said with a chuckle. They continued on, looking for a hallway that would lead them to Valdor.

************************

Valdor found his way blocked by maintenance. It was one of the annoyances of the Imperial Palace. It was very difficult to maintain and often large areas had to be shut down in order to properly fix issues. 

"Can we go around?" Angron asked. Valdor shook his head.

"There are no other hallways around here that I fit in," Valdor said. Angron nodded his acceptance. None of the Primarchs were taking it well, but they couldn't really help the situation.

"I could try to contact them," Magnus suggested. He had attempted to reach the Emperor when they first started the pursuit, but couldn't make it. He was thinking that maybe it would work better with the other Primarchs. He also found connecting to Jaghatai to be easier than his other brothers.

"Alright," Valdor said. He didn't see anything against it. Magnus closed his eye in concentration. 

************************

+Jaghatai?+ Jaghatai stopped. "I hear Magnus," he said to the others, who all stopped and turned to him. +Magnus?+

+Good, you can hear me+ Magnus said. +What's your situation?+

+We escaped the container+ Jaghatai said. +We're trying to get to Valdor. Are you with him?+

+Yeah+ Magnus said. +We're in a hallway that's blocked for maintenance.+

+We might be able to slip through the work zone+ Jaghatai said. +Can you tell how far away we are from you?+

+Not as well as Father could+ Magnus replied. +You're close, maybe a hallway over from us.+

+Alright+ Jaghatai said. +I'll tell the others. Lion might be able to tell better where we are.+

+True+ Magnus said. +See you soon.+

"What does Magnus say?" Lorgar asked.

"He says that we are a hallway over from Valdor," Jaghatai said. "However, there's a maintenance work zone between us and them."

"We should be able to get through it," Horus said. "Especially since we are so small."

They arrived at the work zone. It blocked the whole hallway, though it was easy enough for the Primarchs to slip under the curtain that was being used to block it. Once on the other side it became obvious why the hallway was cordoned off. The maintenance was being done on piping under the floor. This meant that a large slab of flooring had been removed and was replaced temporarily replaced with a grate flooring.

"We can walk on the framing," Horus said. "Lion, you lead; I'll take the rear."

"Alright," the Lion said. They all fell in behind him. Lorgar wobbled early on, but Leman snagged him and corrected him.

"Thanks, Leman," Lorgar said. 

They moved on, noting that the maintenance crew was working on a valve attached to a water pipe. They got closer as it was in the middle of the room. In fact, they had to pass right next to where the workers had the valve exposed.

"Let's go one at a time past it," Horus suggested as they paused. They agreed and the Lion went first. They slowly worked their way across. Mortarion was the fifth to cross. He was halfway across when they heard the workers say they were going to turn on the valve.

"Hurry up, Mortarion!" Konrad called. He had been fourth to cross. Mortarion tried to speed up, but nearly fell off. The workers turned on the valve, and Mortarion fell off in a spray of water.

"Mortarion!" Konrad cried out. The Lion snagged him. Horus was leading the others still with him over a stack of data slates that had forced them close to the pipe.

"We need to get him," Konrad said to Horus once they were all together.

"We need Valdor," Horus said. "He'll be able to help us get Mortarion." Konrad hung his head, admitting defeat. They rushed the rest of the way across the room. 

Valdor spotted the missing Primarchs rushing towards him. A quick count saw that there was one still missing. The Primarchs climbed up Valdor as soon as they reached him.

"Where's Mortarion?" Valdor asked Horus.

"He fell into the pipe that they were working on," Horus said.

"Were any of you able to identify the pipe?" Valdor asked.

"It's 67-J-92," Ferrus said. "He was sent in the direction we were headed."

"Thank you, Ferrus," Valdor said. He stopped at a cogitator unit to trace the path of the pipe before setting off after Mortarion.

**************************

Mortarion was having a rough time in the pipe. There wasn't much space at the top of the pipe for him to keep his head above the water. He had to settle for keeping his nose above the water more often than not. It felt like a very long time before the pipe opened into a reservoir. He realized that it was one of the semi-decorative pools that were scattered around the Palace. 

He rolled onto his back, happy to be able to breathe normally. After a few moments he struck out for the shore of the reservoir. He angled to be close to a door that he had spotted. When he arrived, he got out of the pool and looked around for something to help him open the door.

He was getting frustrated with the lack of helpful objects, when the door opened. Valdor, covered in tiny Primarchs, entered. After a quick scan of the room, he spotted Mortarion and stepped over to him. Mortarion climbed up Valdor's robes, leaving tiny wet spots as he went. 

"Are you alright, Mortarion?" Valdor asked as he settled in next to Konrad.

"I'm alright," Mortarion said. "Just a little battered from going through the pipe. That's not a ride I would recommend for any parks."

"That bad, huh?" Konrad asked.

"Yep," Mortarion said with a giggle.

"It's good to have you back," Horus said. Mortarion nodded to him. Valdor carried them back to the residence. They began to get off of him almost as soon as they were inside. Corvus and Sanguinius were the first two off, Corvus gliding to neatly land on the ledge next to the fish tank. 

"I think I have a better understanding of Two and Eleven," Mortarion said. Konrad chuckled at that. 

"I don't think it's as rough in the tank as it was in the pipe," Perturabo said. "Though I've never gone in there to find out."

"That would be one way to do it," Konrad said. "If you're actually thinking of doing it, I'd hurry up."

"Good point," Perturabo said. "And I'm not leaving the living room." He then climbed up the wall next to the tank and jumped into the opening in the top of the tank they used for food. Valdor glowered at Perturabo in the tank. He quickly got out of the tank, though he had the experience that he wanted.

"Now two of you are stuck in wet clothing," Valdor muttered. Perturabo realized that Valdor was right, and he hadn't thought about it at all. He and Mortarion were unable to change clothes because of their size. 

"We can dry off though," Mortarion said. "Even if we can't change clothes."

"That is true," Valdor said. "Everyone stay here, I'll be right back." He returned a moment later with a towel for the two to use. 

They were startled by a loud thud sound from the door into the back yard. It was Freki, slamming the door to try and be let in. Valdor located a rope toy that the two pups could use together. He opened the door just enough to throw the toy out to them, and then slammed the door closed before Geri could try to get in.

"I wish they could be inside with us," Leman said sadly. He was near the back door, but had not made an attempt to get outside himself. 

"There's too high a risk that they might mistake you for insects, or treats," Valdor said.

"I know," Leman said. "It's why I want Cawl to hurry up and get back to normal size."

The Emperor arrived most of an hour later. Perturabo and Mortarion were now dry, which they were happy about. Being stuck in their wet clothing had been annoying while it was drying. The Primarchs all quickly assembled on the table. Corvus brought the piece of game money, setting in on the table so that he could put it away when they returned.

"Where did that come from, Corvus?" the Emperor asked.

"I found it under one of the bookshelves," Corvus said. "We couldn't get to it the other night."

"That's understandable," the Emperor said. "We will need all the pieces in order to play again."

"That was my thinking," Corvus said as he stepped onto the Emperor's hand. They headed through the halls, back to Cawl's work shop. The Emperor entered, and knelt to set the Primarchs on the floor. 

"You will need to leave a lot of space between yourselves, lords," Cawl said to the Primarchs. "It will not go well if you are too close together when your return to your proper sizes."

"That does sound like a bad thing," Roboute said. They spread out, forming a loose circle with wide spaces in between them. Cawl and the Emperor did have to move a few things so that they had the space required. 

When they were arranged, Cawl activated his un-shrink ray. The Primarchs returned to their original sizes within moments.

"That was an interesting experience," Magnus said. He almost instantly changed his size, just to prove his powers were back to normal.

"Indeed it was," Perturabo said. Mortarion's experience hadn't been anticipated, so he didn't completely agree with his brothers. Cawl was pleased that nothing terrible had happened to the Primarchs while they had been shrunk, and that he had been able to fix the situation. The Emperor was pleased that his sons were back to the sizes they were supposed to be.