Laser Tag

The Emperor stepped back from the panel that he had just closed up. His newest project complete, he went home. The Primarchs were happy to see him. He had been working on this project in the evenings, so they hadn't been seeing much of him.
"How's your project going?" Magnus asked.
"I finished it," the Emperor said. "I'll take you to check it out tomorrow."
"Yay!" several of the Primarchs cheered. They always liked getting to see their fathers' projects.
They headed out the next morning, picking up Malcador and Valdor on the way. The Emperor insisted that the two other adults join them in this expedition. They came into a room that had twenty-one vests and several objects that looked rather like lasguns, but were clearly not lasguns.
"Everyone put a vest on," the Emperor said. "Then take a laser gun."
"These aren't lasguns though," Konrad pointed out.
"Lasers, not las," the Emperor said. "These aren't weaponized."
"What is this, Father?" Magnus asked as he put on a vest.
"Laser tag," the Emperor said. "Since the earliest forms of lasers weren't damaging, they turned it into a game."
"Interesting," Magnus said. Everyone now had vests on. They were a bit bulky, so everyone looked a little weird. Angron snagged an extra gun so that he could duel-wield. No one was surprised about that.
"Alright, rules, then you can try it out," the Emperor said to the Primarchs. "Last man standing wins, rounds are fifteen minutes. Magnus, no powers, this will go for Malcador and myself as well. Corvus, no shadow-walk. Your vest will vibrate when you are 'hit'."
"Right," the Primarchs chorused. They then entered the other room where the game was played. There was cover and a few landings that put people above each other.
"Begin!" the Emperor called out as he set the system to run. He showed Malcador and Valdor how it operated while the Primarchs took the first round.
Rogal dug in almost instantly. Perturabo laid siege to him. Angron was shooting wildly, just trying to get as many of his brothers as he could. That was ended abruptly when Konrad dropped from a landing right in front of him and got him point-blank. The guns made a cartoon-y "pew pew" noise when they were "fired". The vests also lit up so that it was more obvious when someone was out.
Leman got Magnus out, and was taken out a few minutes later by the Lion. Horus took out Sanguinius which was a bit of a surprise. Fulgrim took out Ferrus, and was so distracted by that that Lorgar managed to get him. Rogal ended up winning the round as it ground down to just Perturabo and himself. He stepped out of the room to be with the others before another game started.
The Emperor hefted his own laser gun and went in for the second round. The Primarchs were excited about that. It was more of a challenge. Leman got the Lion out before the Lion had taken a shot. Valdor and Malcador both hid their amusement as the Lion stomped out of the play room.
"You'll get him next time," Malcador said to the Lion.
"I guess," the Lion mumbled.
"You can try and get him before he gets a shot off," Valdor suggested. "That should be a good challenge for you."
"True," the Lion said, perking up a tiny bit. He was pretty bummed about being the first one out, and not even really getting a chance.
Horus and the Emperor took each other out at the same time. There was more amusement in the control room. Ferrus got Fulgrim back for taking him out in the first round. Sanguinius won the round.
Valdor went in for the third round with the Emperor sitting out with Malcador. The Primarchs teamed up to get Valdor out as fast as possible. They got him eventually, but he took out half of them in the process. The Lion was a bit sad that he couldn't get Leman out before firing a shot, but he did get his brother out. In fact, the Lion won that round.
"It's your turn, Malcador," Horus said when the Lion stepped out.
"No," Malcador said, putting his hands up.
"Come on, Uncle Malcador," Magnus said. "Please?"
"Alright," Malcador said, setting his staff aside and taking up a laser gun. The Primarchs cheered and ushered him into the play room.
They spread out in the small amount of time they had before the round began. Malcador settled in the center of the room, out in the open. The round began, and there seemed to be a mutual understanding of leaving Malcador alone. He did move aside a few times when others got close, but otherwise didn't move.
Konrad tried to get him, only to be eliminated by Magnus. Soon it was just Malcador and Corvus. Corvus went to make his move to take out Malcador. He never made it. Malcador saw him, and almost casually lifted his laser gun, and took Corvus out without truly looking. It was also clear that he wasn't using powers.
"That was impressive," Perturabo said to Malcador.
"Indeed," Valdor said. It was easy to forget that Malcador had participated in some of the earliest battles of the Unification Wars. This had stopped before Valdor had become a Custodian, the Emperor having determined that Malcador was better at the negotiating table than the battlefield.
"Let's do one where everyone goes in!" Angron said. He was still very hyped up on the game.
"Yeah!" the other Primarchs chorused. Malcador didn't seem too pleased with the idea, but agreed when the Primarchs turned pleading eyes on him. The Emperor set up a remote starter for the round and they all went into the play room.
"Alright," the Emperor said. "The round starts now."
There was the sound of two laser guns going off and a pause as both Leman's and the Emperor's vests lit up. The Lion gave a shout of triumph as he had gotten Leman out as Leman had gotten him out. Malcador chuckled and then ran from Valdor. This started an intense game of cat-and-mouse between the two.
Mortarion climbed up to one of the higher landings and began snipping his brothers. Angron charged as was his tactic. Roboute got both of them out. Lorgar got him out, only to be taken out in turn by Sanguinius.
The Primarchs whittled themselves down while Valdor remained focused on Malcador. The Sigillite was remarkably fast for someone of his age. Valdor was also restraining himself in the name of fairness. Malcador was under no such restrictions and was a bit surprised to find himself enjoying the game.
Konrad tried to get Valdor as he had gotten Angron in the first round, but failed. Valdor noticed him and got him while he was still in mid-air. Konrad pouted a bit, but headed out of the room.
In the end it was just Valdor and Malcador. None of the other Primarchs had been brave enough to interfere with the two remaining adults after Valdor got Konrad out. Malcador was still evading, and the Primarchs were taking sides.
"Valdor will get him," Leman said.
"Malcador's fast though," Corvus said. "I didn't know that he was that fast."
"True," Leman said. "However, Valdor's faster."
"Valdor's trying to be fair," Roboute said. "Malcador might use that to his advantage. He wasn't very fair to Father at the beginning of the round."
"The round had begun," the Emperor reminded Roboute. He had personally found it quite funny that Malcador had gotten him so quickly.
In the end neither was victorious. Valdor caught Malcador in the open and they both fired at the same time. Both shots connected, causing the vests to vibrate and light up at the same time. The Primarchs all giggled with their amusement. The two adults started laughing themselves and joined the others in the control room.
"Not bad for an old-timer," the Emperor said jokingly to Malcador. "You won a round and forced a draw on another."
"Who are you, of all people, calling an old-timer?" Malcador said, glaring at the Emperor. "You are quite literally older than dirt."
The Primarchs seemed a bit confused at the exchange, though they all recognized the truth of Malcdor's statement. If the Emperor truly had been born when he claimed, he was literally older than what was currently dirt on Terra. The Emperor held Malcador's glare, and then began to chuckle. Malcador followed suit a few seconds later. The tension released the Primarchs also giggled.
"This was fun," Angron said. "Were there other games like this?"
"There was paintball," the Emperor said. "I could work on that next."
"Paintball?" Angron asked.
"Air-powered guns were used to throw balls of paint at high speeds," the Emperor explained. "We'd need padding to avoid injury as that was quite common when paintball was popular."
"Count me out then," Malcador said. "Though I think I might enjoy watching you all cover each other in paint. Perhaps repaint Valdor's armour?"
"No!" Valdor said with a hint of dismay. Malcador started laughing again. Valdor a moment later when he got the full nature of the joke.
"I like this idea of paintball," Angron said.
"Why am I not surprised?" Magnus said. Angron just grinned in answer.
They all took off their vests and replaced them on the pegs. The laser guns went in a rack set in the wall. It was only then that Roboute realized that the Emperor had made enough guns to allow Angron to duel-wield. The Emperor lead them back out, assuring Angron that they could come back a different day to play more.