The Labyrinth

The Emperor noted the Primarchs' excitement when they boarded the Thunderhawk after school. Horus was nearly bouncing in the co-pilot's seat. He was able to wait until the Emperor had gotten the Thunderhawk back up into the mostly clear lane back to the Palace before spilling though.
"We learned about this maze on Magna Crete that is supposed to be the hardest maze in the Imperium," Horus said.
"Can we go try it?" Magnus asked. He looked like he wanted to take on the maze as a personal challenge.
"Please?" Perturabo added. He also looked like the maze was aimed as a challenge to the Primarchs.
"I'll look into it," the Emperor replied.
"So that's a maybe?" Leman asked.
"A maybe," the Emperor said. He knew better than to say yes. The Primarchs were all certain that the Emperor would take them once he had learned more about the place.
They arrived back at the Palace and the Primarchs set about doing their homework. The Emperor pulled up information about the labyrinth that they had mentioned. The advertisement material he found on the Magna Crete Maze looked geared towards children. However, it was billed as fun for the whole family.
"Are we going to go, Father?" Jaghatai asked as they ate dinner.
"Yes," the Emperor said. He had also found the maze to be an interesting concept.
"Can we bring Uncle Malcador?" Magnus asked.
"If he wants to come," the Emperor said. "I won't force him into it though."
"That's alright," Magnus said.
"What about Valdor?" the Lion asked. "Can he come too?"
"I'll ask him when I ask Malcador," the Emperor said. "It's likely that he will want to come though."
"True," the Lion said.

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

The Emperor told Malcador and Valdor about the maze the next day. Valdor said that he was interested in going, just as the Emperor had predicted. Malcador seemed to think about it a moment before agreeing as well.

"Magnus will like this," the Emperor said. "He was the one who asked if you could come."

"I think I'll like it too," Malcador said. "A nice change of pace for a bit. Besides, I like puzzles."

"It's a complete family outing," the Lion said when they set out that afternoon. The other Primarchs agreed with him, even Angron. 

It took most of four days to reach Magna Crete. They went down to the planet and met with the tech-priest who had designed and built the maze. He bowed in a manner befitting a tech-priest meeting the Omnissiah. 

"It is the greatest honor to have you here, Holy One," the tech-priest said. "I am called Rot." The way he said his name sounded like "rote", though it was spelled as "Rot" on all of the advertisements.

"It is a pleasure to be here," the Emperor said. The Primarchs gathered around all announcing their excitement to try the maze out. 

"Well, we can start your runs through the maze," Rot said. "Do you all wish to go through the maze?"

"Yes," the Emperor said for the whole group. "Is it large enough for that?"

"Yes, Holy One," Rot said. "You can all go into the maze at the same time. I have seven portals into the maze, so there will be three waves of you."

"Excellent," the Emperor said. "We can have some spacing between the waves so that we can all attempt the maze as individuals."

"I like this idea," Malcador said. He wanted to test the maze out for himself instead of being helped through it by a Primarch. Magnus also seemed to like the idea, as he wanted the same thing Malcador did. 

"Very well then," Rot said, as he lead the group to the entrances to the maze. He then paused before letting the first wave in.

"There is one rule I should bring up before I let you in," Rot said. The Emperor indicated for him to continue. "I have a null field surrounding the maze, it is just enough to halt the use of psychic powers while causing the least amount of discomfort for the psyker."

"Understandable," the Emperor said. He wouldn't want people just scrying their way through the most difficult maze in the Imperium.

"That is it," Rot said. "Who is entering first?"

The Emperor, the Lion, Perturabo, Jaghatai, Konrad, Magnus, and Horus went in first. Valdor, Fulgrim, Leman, Sanguinius, Ferrus, Vulkan, and Corvus made the second wave. Malcador, Rogal, Angron, Roboute, Mortarion, Lorgar, and Alpharius made the last group. 

The portals were arranged in a wide arc, so that they couldn't see each other once they entered the maze. Everyone spread out, looking to get through the maze as fast as possible. There was also the chance of meeting up with one of the others with so many of them in the maze at once. 

Angron chose to only make left-hand turns. He ran into Roboute after a bit. He continued on his way, and spotted Roboute again, seemingly ahead of him. Roboute was giving him a strange look.

"How did you get in front of me?" Angron asked.

"You just went in a circle," Roboute said. Angron realized that Roboute was correct, and joined forces with his brother.

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

Malcador had encountered a problem he wasn't expecting. A panel had opened in the floor in front of him, filled to the brim with live snakes. He stood back, glaring at the snakes. With the null field he couldn't just kill them. There was no bridge, and he would have to back track quite a ways in order to go around. 

He was about to turn around, annoyed at this unexpected obstacle, when he heard a distinct sound behind him. It was the sound of scales scrapping against the floor, clearly a snake. To make matters worse, it was behind him. He hadn't been aware of any large creatures in the maze, and this snake sounded gigantic. 

"Why did it have to be snakes?" Malcador muttered to himself, and vaulted the pit of smaller snakes just as the larger one's head came into view around a small curve. 

Malcador ran, unsure if the larger snake was following him or not. He quickly became lost as he began to make random turns. He ran into something while looking over his shoulder to check for the snake. The thing he had run into was large, and wearing golden armor.

"Valdor!" Malcador gasped. "I am happy to see you, there is a massive snake behind me."

However, it was not Valdor that he had run into. Malcador quickly became aware of that as the thing he had run into gave a bovine-esque snort. Checking again, Malcador realized that the armor was not auramite, and very much less decorated than Valdor's armor.

"Sorry," Malcador said, looking up into the bull face of a minotaur. "Thought you were someone I know." 

        With that he took off running again, this time acutely aware that the minotaur was following him.  He tripped when his foot caught on the hem of his robe and he went sprawling to the ground.  Rolling over with a groan, Malcador's eyes widened as the minotaur stepped up to him, and raised the great axe that it was carrying. Malcador closed his eyes, unable to protect himself with the null field, and waited for the axe to fall.

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

Fulgrim and Ferrus had met up with each other, and were now facing a very large white rabbit. Neither of them had the disgust that Malcador had at the snake pit, but they were both just as surprised as he had been. 

"I didn't know there was Alice and Wonderland influences," Fulgrim said.

"I didn't either," Ferrus said. Fulgrim then went to edge around the rabbit, knowing that for the most part they were docile creatures. Neither Primarch could see any other rabbits, so there was even less risk as it wasn't trying to defend its young.

The rabbit snapped at Fulgrim, revealing predatory teeth instead of the grinding teeth that rabbits were supposed to have.

"Run away!" Fulgrim yelped as he turned and headed back down the pathway that they had come.

Several minutes after the two Primarchs had left, the Emperor encountered the same creature from a different direction. He turned around and left without approaching it, the only thing he said was "no" as he turned away. It made him a bit concerned as he had kept his sons from watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so they were unaware of what it was. He was certain that most would have the sense to run from it. The Lion, however, was likely to engage it without weapons. 

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

The axe blow never came. There was the distinct sound of adamantium hitting auramite. Malcador opened his eyes, and found the actual Valdor standing over him. Valdor forced the minotaur's axe aside, spun, and picked up Malcador before running from it. He did not have the Apollonian spear with him, that was back on the Imperator Somnium. Malcador grabbed his staff just before Valdor picked him up. 

"Are you hurt, Malcador?" Valdor asked.

"Just a few scrapes from when I fell," Malcador replied. "You are a welcome sight though."

"No complaints about being carried?" Valdor asked. "Sure you are not hurt?"

"I am quite happy to be carried this time," Malcador said. "I was being chased by a snake, and then nearly had my head taken off by that minotaur. Did you know about any creatures being the maze?"

"No," Valdor said, he paused as he came around a corner well away from the minotaur and set Malcador down. "Hopefully the others are well away from these things."

"Hopefully," Malcador agreed. "I am staying with you."

"I was going to suggest that," Valdor said. He considered Malcador as a friend, and there was no doubt that the Emperor thought very highly of Malcador. These both meant that Malcador was as much a person to be protected by the Custodians as the Primarchs, or the Emperor himself. Valdor would be better able to protect Malcador, now that a risk had been ascertained, if the Sigillite remained close to him. 

"You can carry me again if anything shows up," Malcador said. Valdor chuckled at that. He was also hopeful that he could find something to use as a weapon to fight the minotaur if it came to that. The idea of fighting it bare-handed wasn't appealing to him. 

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

The Lion paused as he heard footsteps behind him. After a moment he determined that there were two sets of footsteps, and that it was Vulkan and Corvus. He waited for his brothers to catch up to him.

"Hey, Lion," Corvus said as they approached. 

"Hey," the Lion replied. The three continued together, pausing to make marks when they reached intersections. 

Everyone in the maze had found ways to scratch a marking in the walls to mark which way they had gone in case they had to back track. They were all simplified variants of their Legion sigils, the aquilla for the Emperor, a pair of crossed lightening bolts for Valdor, and Malcador's own "I" sigil. It was easy to pick out Malcador's not only because the sigil was unique, but also because it was the lowest to the ground. He made his marks with the butt of his staff. 

The three Primarchs discovered the Emperor in an intersection, taking the time to make his own mark, they joined him and added their marks in a line below his. They were all quiet for a bit as they went on the path the Emperor had chosen. 

"Have any of you had to back track?" the Emperor asked eventually.

"No," the three chorused. 

"It's weird," the Lion said. "I would think that there should be dead ends somewhere in this."

"It also feels like we haven't really gotten anywhere," Corvus said. "For all the progress we make, no one seems to have found the way through."

"But we haven't gone in a circle," Vulkan said. 

"True," the Emperor said. They reached a four-way intersection and began to look down each branch.  The Emperor noted a blood spot on the floor. He knelt to get a better look. It was old enough to be dry, but not old enough to be brown or black. The Primarchs came up, noting what their father was looking at.

"Is that human blood?" Vulkan asked. The Emperor spat on the blood to re-wet it, and after a moment nodded.

"I believe it is," the Emperor said. "Human normal blood."

"Malcador's?" Corvus asked.

"Most likely," the Emperor said. "It hasn't been here long enough for it to be someone else's."

"It's not a lot of blood," the Lion said, sounding almost like he was trying to reassure himself as much as the others. "Maybe it's just a scratch or something."

"Possibly," Vulkan said, sounding unsure. 

"There's a cut on the wall here," Corvus said. He had started looking for other blood spots.

The Emperor stood from the blood spot, the Lion and Vulkan following him over to the wall that Corvus had indicated. There was a deep cut on the wall, clearly made by some bladed weapon. 

"It looks like an axe cut," the Emperor said after a moment. he was the only one tall enough to get a good look at it.

"That doesn't make any sense," the Lion said. "There was nothing about hostile creatures in the maze."

"I encountered a mutated white rabbit earlier," the Emperor said. "From what I saw of it, it was hostile."

"That doesn't sound like the thing that made the axe cut," Vulkan said. "Unless it was mutated like the turtles were."

"No," the Emperor said. "It was mutated to be predatory. The question of the axe wielder is still open."

"So there's more than one hostile," the Lion said. 

"This cut is pretty high on the wall," Vulkan said. "That implies that the wielder is tall, Custodian or Space Marine sized I would guess."

"Agreed," the Emperor said, pleased with Vulkan's insight, but also distressed at what that might mean for Malcador.

"Malcador couldn't take on something the size of a Custodian," Corvus said, echoing his father's worries. 

"It's not very likely, but still possible," the Lion said. "Human normals can do amazing things if they are scared enough. We also know that Malcador isn't as frail or weak as he appears."

"True," the Emperor said. "However, I would still like to find him, and make sure that he is alright."

"But which way do we go?" Vulkan asked. He looked to the Lion, who shook his head. The null-field was affecting his ability to sense people. 

"Malcador favors going to the right when possible," the Emperor said. He then led them across the intersection to the hall directly opposite the hall they had come from. 

They headed down the hallway for a ways before they heard the noise. It was a rhythmic thudding sound coming from ahead of them. They quickened their pace as they approached a hard corner.

"Angron! You are going to hurt yourself before you dent the wall," Roboute said in an exasperated voice.

"I'll dent something," Angron growled.

"Your head maybe," Roboute muttered. The Emperor and the others came around the corner in time to see Angron launch himself at Roboute. 

"Angron," the Emperor said sharply. Angron swiftly got off Roboute, and looked at his feet. 

"Sorry, Father," Angron said. He hesitated a moment, and then offered his hand to help Roboute up as an apology to his brother. Roboute took the hand, and allowed himself to be pulled back to his feet.

"Why were you ramming the wall?" Corvus asked Angron.

"We aren't going anywhere following the rules," Angron said. "I want to get somewhere."

"Roboute was right though," the Emperor said. "You weren't going to get through the wall that way."

"You could," Angron said. The Emperor shook his head.

"Did you see Malcador?" Vulkan asked Roboute.

"No," Roboute said. "You guys are the only ones that we have seen since we entered.

"Why?" Angron asked.

"We found blood in an intersection," the Lion said. "We think it's his."

"That's not good," Angron said.

"Agreed," the Emperor said. "We will go back to that intersection and try one of the other branches." He found it more important to find his friend than to complete the maze at that moment.

They headed back down the hall where they had found Angron and Roboute. The Emperor put a line through the aquilla that he had scratched into the wall, the Lion, Vulkan, and Corvus followed suit. They then moved to a different hall and made their marks. 

Angron was the first to notice another blood spot on the floor. It was smaller than the first one, and almost as old. There was also the fact that it was shaped, like whoever had left it was moving quickly when the drop fell.

"He can't be that hurt then," Roboute said as he noted the shape. "He wouldn't be going fast if he's really hurt."

"True," the Emperor said. "This also means that we are on the right track."

"There's a scuff mark here," Vulkan said, pointing up a decent way up the wall. 

"It could have come from Malcador's staff," the Emperor said as he took a look at the scuff mark. "There is paint transfer."

"That's really high up for Malcador," the Lion said uncertainly. "Maybe he was being carried?"

"Probably," the Emperor said. "Hopefully he's alright."

"Maybe Valdor's with him," Corvus said. "Valdor's carried Malcador before, and the scuff mark came from Valdor taking the corner too fast."

"That makes sense," Roboute said. "We haven't seen anything that looks like Malcador's sigil, and if he was running, or being carried to safety by Valdor, neither would stop to make marks."

"We'll continue," the Emperor said, and set off down the hall.

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

"Someone is coming," Valdor said, stopping and looking back the way that they had come. Malcador stopped, looking a bit relieved. They had been in the maze for over two hours by Valdor's estimate, and Malcador was beginning to tire.

"It is the Emperor," Valdor said after a moment of listening. "And he is not alone."

"I think I hear Vulkan," Malcador said. He could clearly tell the Emperor's tread. "Possibly Angron as well."

"You are right, both Angron and Vulkan are with him," Valdor said. "I can also hear Lion, Roboute, and Corvus."

The Emperor and the Primarchs that they had named appeared around a curve. The Primarchs all rushed forward when they spotted Malcador. They slowed enough to not knock Malcador off his feet when they got to him. 

"Are you alright, Malcador?" Corvus asked.

"I'm alright," Malcador answered, a bit bemused.

"You have a massive bruise on your head," Angron said with his typical level of tact.

"It's nothing serious," Malcador assured the Primarchs. "I just tripped."

"That's good," Vulkan said. The Emperor also approached, he kept his relief quieter, but it was still obvious to Malcador.

"We all agreed to do this as individuals," Malcador said. "I'm fine."

"What of the axe-wielder?" Angron asked, axes were his favorite melee weapon.

"A minotaur," Valdor said. "It is nearly the same size that I am."

"It also wears gold armor," Malcador said, "I mistook it for Valdor when I first ran into it."

"You didn't notice the bull head first?" Roboute asked.

"I literally ran into it," Malcador said. "There's also a giant snake in here somewhere, I was running from that first."

"Can I fight the snake, Father?" Vulkan asked, looking excited. "I can skin it and give that to Malcador."

"I would rather you didn't do that," Malcador said.

"You can fight the snake," the Emperor said. 

"Can I fight the predatory rabbit you mentioned earlier, Father?" the Lion asked. The Emperor looked at the Lion for a long moment, as if he was assessing something.

"I can't stop you, can I?" the Emperor asked in reply. The Lion smiled, and shook his head.

"Not really," the Lion said. 

"Monty Python?" Malcador asked. The Emperor nodded.

The eight continued down the hall. It was quite a long time before they encountered anything else. When they did, it was Magnus' voice.

"I thought this was a get-across-the-room maze," Magnus was saying. "Not a find-the-middle maze."

"Agreed," Horus said. "However, we have all come in from different directions."

"No one's come from that way yet," Leman's voice came. "Maybe that's the way?"

"Not everyone is here yet," Horus said. "The others could still come from that direction."

"True," Leman said. 

"I can hear people coming this way," Mortarion said. "I'm certain I hear Valdor."

"You do," Valdor said as the last eight entered the center of the maze. 

It was a large, round room with ten entrances. Malcador got swamped by concerned Primarchs when he entered. The Emperor chuckled quietly, though he was still watching Malcador closely himself. 

"I'm alright," Malcador said gruffly. "I'll be just fine."

"You're sure, Uncle Malcador?" Magnus asked, he was still hugging Malcador and had only pulled back enough to make eye-contact and to speak clearly. 

"Yes," Malcador said, squirmming a bit to get Magnus to let go. The red Primarch caught the hint, and released Malcador. 

There was the sound of stone grinding on stone, and large pillars began to rise from the floor, blocking the entrances to the room. The Primarchs all gathered together, unintentionally putting Malcador in the middle, the Emperor and Valdor kept to the outer edges of the group. Everyone was on high alert, Malcador forgot his weariness as adrenaline kicked in.

"What is the meaning of this?" Valdor asked, not sure if he would get an answer.

"Oh, this is just the trap that you have sprung by all making it to the center of the maze," came Rot's voice, distorted a bit from the small voxmitter that was mounted on a wall. 

"Trap?" the Emperor asked. "Why?"

"To kill you, Deceiver," Rot said.

"How have I deceived you?" the Emperor asked.

"Not me," Rot said. "Just the majority of my brother tech-priests, who believe you to be the Omnissiah."

"I make no claims to that," the Emperor said. "The Mechanicum is far too powerful for me to have made them an enemy on the galactic stage. If allowing them to call me the Omnissiah makes for peace, your brothers are more than welcome to do so."

"So you say you are not the Omnissiah?" Rot asked with disgust in his voice.

"I am what the people need me to be," the Emperor said. "To the people of Terra, and the rest of the Imperium, I am their leader. The Mechanicum has a leader in the form of the Fabricator-General, I cannot fill that role, so I have taken the role offered to me."

"Which is it then?" Rot demanded. "Are you the Omnissiah or not?"

"Does it matter?" the Emperor asked in return. "Why have you endangered my sons if your quarrel is with me?"

"Because I don't just intend to take over the Mechanicum," Rot said. "The Imperium is too important to the Mechanicum's survival now. I will rule both, so I need your pesky sons out of the way so I can make my claim."

"And what about me?" Malcador asked.

"You are oil on the hinges," Rot said. "You and the Captain-General would of course have needed to be taken out before I could be secure. Though you aren't very much of a threat are you?"

"I'm more of a threat than you think I am," Malcador said. 

"Not anymore," Rot said. "You will not get out of this maze alive."

As he said that three of the pillars sank noisily back into the floor. The snake, rabbit, and minotaur were revealed. Malcador paled even further than he normally was. Valdor squared off with the minotaur without thought. The Lion approached the rabbit, while Vulkan nearly jumped in front of the snake. The Emperor stepped through the other Primarchs, blocking Malcador's view of the snake.

"Uncle Malcador?" Magnus asked, also standing next to Malcador. 

Malcador didn't seem to register that Magnus has spoken at all. He was staring blankly ahead, trembling slightly. It was like his mind was somewhere else. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"Father," Malcador finally managed, just barely a whisper. "I don't want to. I'm scared."

Vulkan rushed the snake, quickly grabbing the base of its head. He began to smack its head into the ground until it was nothing more than mush at the end of its body. The Lion danced over and grabbed a fang that had scattered out of the snake's mouth. 

"Malcador," the Emperor said in a gentle voice. "Focus on my voice, Malcador. You are not a child anymore."

"The snake is dead, Uncle Malcador," Magnus added. "Vulkan killed it."

"My lord?" Malcador asked and blinked, eyes finally taking in the Emperor. He seemed confused, and slightly lost. "Magnus?"

"Yes," the Emperor said. "We are both here. Magnus is right, Vulkan killed the snake."

Malcador sighed in relief, just as all of his strength left him. He slumped forwards against the Emperor, who held him upright. Magnus caught his staff when it slipped from his fingers. 

"What happened?" Magnus asked, he had never seen Malcador do that before.

"Flashback," the Emperor said quietly. He had been with Malcador for other flashbacks, but had been able to reach out psychically the other times.

"I'll be alright in a moment," Malcador added. "There's always a bit of a crash after a flashback. It's a large adrenaline rush."

Magnus nodded, he understood the crash after an adrenaline rush. He wasn't as sure he understood the flashback part of things, though he was happy that it was over.

"Is Vulkan skinning the snake?" Malcador asked the Emperor.

"No," the Emperor said, glancing quickly over his shoulder. "Vulkan, it's dead, you can stop now."

"Yes, Father," Vulkan said, finally releasing the snake's body. 

"What about the Lion and the rabbit?" Malcador asked. He didn't want to straighten just yet. 

"Lion snagged a fang from the snake," Magnus said. "He just put it through the rabbit's eye."

"Good idea," Malcador said. "Valdor's got the minotaur?"

"That's a closer fight," the Emperor said. "It does have the axe, and Valdor doesn't have anything."

Valdor was having a struggle with the minotaur. It was quite strong, but wasn't as skilled. He disarmed it, the axe skittering away. The minotaur dropped Valdor to the ground, clearly intending to stomp Valdor's head in. It didn't get the chance though. Valdor rolled away, grabbing the axe before leaping back to his feet. The minotaur charged, right into the swinging axe blade. Its head sailed through the air and landed with a wet thump on the body of the white rabbit. 

"Well," Rot said. "That was unfortunate. Though it seems I did something to the Sigillite without getting any of my pets anywhere near him."

"You did something alright," Malcador said, now standing on his own again, staff in hand. "You've made me angry."

"I'm terrified," Rot said. "However, I do have a back up system." Explosions started to rock the maze.

"Let's get out of here," Horus said, the three entrances were still open, they just needed to pick one. Valdor snagged Malcador, who passed his staff off to Magnus. They picked the entrance that seemed the furthest from the explosions. 

"Stay together," the Emperor called, assuring that all of his sons had gone through the same entrance before bringing up the rear.

They raced through the maze, Valdor well in front despite carrying Malcador as well. The Primarchs were spread out in a ragged line behind him. The Emperor kept to the rear, making sure that Mortarion and Alpharius didn't fall too far behind. 

"Keep going, Mortarion," the Emperor said as Mortarion tried to pause. An explosion went off very close to them. Mortarion kept going, needing no further encouragement than that. 

"I recognize this place," Valdor said as he spotted his own mark on a wall. "We are getting close to the entrance I used."

"Good," Malcador said. He was looking forward to getting out of the maze, and then going home.  The Primarchs closer to Valdor relayed the news to the ones farther back. The Emperor was also looking forward to getting out of the maze and away from the null field. 

Another explosion rocked the passageway that they were in. It caused a wall to collapse in front of Valdor, blocking the hallway. The Primarchs swarmed ahead of Valdor, who had paused to put Malacador down. They all began to dig their way through the blockage, knowing they couldn't back track. 

They had the way clear within moments, Perturabo and Rogal going for the weakest points of the rubble wall, making the work faster. Valdor picked Malcador up again as they took up running again. They made it out of the maze, just as the final explosions were going off. 

Rot was waiting for them at the entrance, he had a squad of skitarii and a volkite pistol for himself. Valdor set Malcador down and stepped in front of the group. The Primarchs bunched up around Malcador again. Now away from the null field, the Emperor manifested his own armor. Malcador encased himself and the Primarchs in a kine shield.

Rot shot at the Emperor while the skitarii came forward to attack Valdor. He had cast aside the minotaur's axe so that he could carry Malcador, which left him in a bad position. The Primarchs looked around, not quite sure what to do to help.

"There's a control panel over there," Perturabo said, pointing to a console on the other side of the room. 

"I can't extend the kine shield that far," Malcador said.

"I can make one for Perturabo and myself," Magnus said.

"Let's go then," Perturabo said at Malcador's nod. "I can try to shut down the skitarii at least. It's possible there are other systems in the building that I could use to help."

  Perturabo and Magnus made their way over to the console where Perturabo began examining it. He quickly determined that he could not access the noosphere, but there was a button labelled "weapon stash" that seemed promising to even the odds for Valdor.  Perturabo pressed the button, and a panel below the control panel itself opened, revealing a few pistols and a single longer gun. They were all sized for Rot, and he was much more the size of a human normal. Magnus grabbed the long gun and hefted it.

"Valdor!" he called out, just before throwing the long gun towards the Custodian. Valdor caught it one-handed. He started going through the skitarii with ease now that he had something to work with.

Rot put up a decent fight against the Emperor, but he was very much out-classed. The fight was over before Valdor had finished with the skitarii. The Emperor held himself back from killing Rot though.

"Will you not finish me?" Rot asked, several of his augmentations were ruined, and he could no longer stand. The volkite pistol had spun away and Fulgrim now held it. 

"No," the Emperor said. "Perturabo, is there a vox system on that control panel?"

"Yes, Father," Perturabo said. "Do you want me to contact the planetside Arbites?"

"Yes," the Emperor answered. Perturabo's fingers danced over the console, activating the vox and requesting the swift arrival of the Arbites elements on planet. 

"Is this the fate of belief?" Rot asked, still looking up at the Emperor.

"This is the fate of heresy," Lorgar answered. "Belief should be a tool of unity, not division."

"This wasn't unity, little monk?" Rot asked.

"No," Lorgar answered. "Father denies that he is divine, but the people put their faith in him anyway. He unites them against the actual threats of the galaxy: the xenos, the witch, and the mutant."

"Lorgar has a point," Roboute said. "Even if he makes it in religious way, Father unites humanity. The people do believe in him to some degree."

"Oh, that's just what you let yourselves believe," Rot said. Malcador came up to the heretek and hit him in the back of the head.

"Shut up," Malcador said as Rot slumped face-down onto the floor.

The Arbites arrived within moments. They picked up Rot, realizing that he was not going to be able to walk on his own. There was a pause as they waited to see if the Emperor had specific instructions for them.

"Inform the Mechanicum temple of Rot's arrest," the Emperor told them. "I will have a group from Mars come and retrieve him. In case he has corrupted the temple here."

"At your command," the leader of the Arbites said and they trooped him off. Valdor had killed the skitarii. Perturabo had found a way to summon servitors who were now clearing away the bodies of the skitarii. 

"Not exactly the change of pace that I was thinking when I agreed to come," Malcador said. He looked quite drawn, and was only standing because his staff kept him upright. Magnus quickly made his way back to Malcador's side. 

"You'll be alright, right?" Magnus asked in a worried voice.

"Of course I'll be alright," Malcador said. "Though the idea of sleeping the entire way home sounds nice right now."

"Let's go then," Horus said. "I don't think there's anything else keeping us here. Father?"

"Not that I can think of," the Emperor said. "I also don't want to keep Malcador away from his bed, he can get quite cranky when he's tired."

"I'll show you cranky," Malcador muttered to the amusement of the Emperor. The Primarchs also giggled at the exchange, happy that everyone would be alright. They returned to the Imperator Somnium and headed back to Terra.