Show and Tell

The Emperor entered his residence, and was a bit surprised to find Angron's axe sitting by the door to the Thunderhawk. Angron was always insistent that his axe be well cared for, and go in its assigned place.
"Angron," the Emperor said. "Why is your axe here?"
"I'm taking it for show and tell tomorrow," Angron said.
"No, you're not," the Emperor said. "I believe we've discussed not taking weapons to Nova."
"But it's for show and tell," Angron whined. "I wouldn't use it against anyone."
"It's not just you who would have access to it," the Emperor said. "What if someone else got a hold of it?"
"Then I'd make them give it back," Angron said.
"You just said you wouldn't use it against anyone," the Emperor pointed out.
Angron froze, mouth open, as he tried to come up with a response to that. He closed his mouth again, and trotted off to his room, grabbing his axe along the way. The Emperor sighed, hoping that was the end of it. He was wrong however, Angron returned from his room with a jar that held a preserved servitor head in it.
"You are not taking the head of your first kill," the Emperor said sharply.
"But, Father," Angron whined. "They said to bring something that has meaning to us."
"You'll have to find something more appropriate than your axe or a preserved head," the Emperor said firmly.
"I guess I'll find something," Angron sighed, and headed back to his room.
"Does this mean that I can't bring Freki and Geri?" Leman asked into the silence of the living room.
"Yes," the Emperor said.
"Alright," Leman sighed. "What about the fishing pole I use for fishing kraken?"
"That should be alright," the Emperor said. Leman looked excited by that.
"So none of us can bring weapons?" Vulkan asked. He had been thinking of bringing his forging hammer, but was aware that it was very similar to a warhammer.
"Correct," the Emperor said. "You'll have to find something else to take if that was your thought."
"Alright," Vulkan said.
"Can we bring things we've made?" Perturabo asked.
"As long as it's not a weapon," the Emperor said. "Or something inappropriate, like a head in a jar."
"Nothing like that," Perturabo said. "I was thinking of the augmetic prototype I've been working on."
"That would be a good idea," the Emperor said.
"Can I have a few servitors help bring my support column I've been building?" Rogal asked. The Emperor found himself laughing at that.
"I guess," the Emperor said. "It's not a weapon."
"Thanks, Father!" Rogal said with a broad smile.
Dinner time arrived and a very sullen Angron came out of his room for food. He did his chore in silence and went back into his room. It was clear that he was angry, and the other Primarchs looked at anxiously at each other.
"Father," Roboute said after Angron had been back in his room for a few minutes. "I'm not sure Angron has anything he can bring that isn't armor, or maybe a body glove."
"You might be right," the Emperor said, then an idea came to him. "I'll be right back. Horus is in charge."

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

The Emperor returned almost an hour later. He went directly to Angron's room and knocked on the door, he was holding something in one hand.

"Angron?" the Emperor asked when he didn't hear an answer. "May I come in?"

"Yes, Father," Angron called. He still sounded angry. The Emperor opened the door and stepped inside. 

The room was quite bare. Angron seemed to like it that way. Most of the decorations were drawings of axes and fights, often with axes. There was a pair of chainaxes in a weapons stand in the corner. That was the only other furnishings besides the desk and the bed. The jar with the head sat on a corner of the desk.

"I found something for you to take for show and tell," the Emperor said, holding out the object in his hand. It was set up to look like a square, roped off arena with two blocky humanoid shapes standing in it. One was blue and the other was red. There were handles that clearly controlled the figures on two of the sides.

"What is it, Father?" Angron asked. 

"This is the last working 'rock 'em sock 'em robots'," the Emperor said. "You use the controls on the sides to cause the robots to fight each other. The fight is decided by who knocks the head off of the other."

"That sounds like fun," Angron said, his anger melting away. "Can we play it? So I know how it works."

"Alright," the Emperor said with a slight smile. 

He set the game on the floor and they both settled in to play. Angron took the red one, this didn't truly surprise the Emperor despite blue being a color of the World Eaters. There was little strategy to the game, mostly just mashing the control buttons until someone won. After a few moments Angron defeated the Emperor.

"Hah!" Angron said triumphantly. The Emperor chuckled and reset his robot. They went again and the Emperor defeated Angron that time. 

"I like this game," Angron said after he defeated the Emperor again. "Thanks for allowing me to take it."

"Try not to break it," the Emperor said. 

"I'll try," Angron said with a hint of a smile.

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

They did show and tell as a special grade assembly. This brought everyone together, but still allowed them to see the objects that people had brought. The Primarchs were excited to be able to show off their items. All of them had found items that the Emperor approved of. 

The teachers had decided that the Primarchs would present their items last. It didn't bother them. They knew that it was only fair to the others. There was almost nothing that any of them could have brought that wouldn't outshine the other students. It was finally their turn to go.

"I brought the pelt of a Calibanite Great Beast," the Lion said. He had originally tried to convince Frederick to show up, but wasn't successful. "This is the first one that I killed without assistance."

"This is a painting of a sunrise from the Palace," Fulgrim said. He had working on it for his flagship, Pride of the Emperor.

"This is a prototype augemtic I've been designing," Perturabo said, setting his model on the provided table. He was using it to try and improve the systems already in place.

"I brought a saddle from Chogoris," Jaghatai said proudly. It had been presented to him by the people for bringing them into the Imperial fold.

"This is my kraken fishing pole," Leman said. "I use it to fish on Fenris when I go there."

There was a pause between Leman leaving the front of the assembly room and Rogal taking his place. This was filled with a pair of industrial servitors bringing his support column. 

"This is my support column," Rogal said. "I plan to use it as a cornerstone for an expansion to the Palace if it gets approved."

"This is the mask that a babysitter used to scare me," Konrad said. He didn't mention that the babysitter had been Malcador. "It inspired me to prank people, but never to harm people."

Sanguinius had brought a harp. He performed a song from Baal that he really liked. It was one of the few points of similarity between his Legion and Fulgrim's.

"This is my prototype for a new vox-caster," Ferrrus said. "It has an extended range from the ones that the Army is currently using."

"I need a volunteer to help demonstrate mine," Angron said when he set rock 'em sock 'em robots on the table. Perturabo came back to the front to assist. "It's an ancient game my father found recently." They played the game, Angron taking the red one again, and winning both times they played.

Roboute had brought Cuddles Maximus. He couldn't think of anything better, and it was appropriate for the idea of Show and Tell. 

"This is a new design of rebreather that I'm working on," Mortarion said holding up a model of his rebreather design.

"This is a copy of a children's book that we found on an archaeology dig," Magnus said. "It warns children of a colony about raiders from a different planet that might try to abduct them."

"This is Luna," Horus said. He had taken his idea from Roboute bringing Cuddles Maximus. It made both feel less awkward.

"This is a cult pamphlet that I picked up on a trip off world," Lorgar said. He was hoping that the Emperor hadn't figured out that he had brought a cult pamphlet instead of the meditative work he was supposed to have brought.

"This is the hide of a deep drake from Nocturne," Vulkan said. He was well pleased with his item. Like Lion's pelt, it got a lot of awed reactions. The Emperor had allowed those as they weren't human in origin, like Angron's servitor head.

"I brought a figurine I got on Deliverance," Covus said. One of the prisoners who had been helpful to Corvus in freeing Lycaeus had been a sculptor. It wasn't very large, but Corvus liked the details of it.

"This is my Hydra mask," Alpharius said. He didn't mention where he had gotten from, but it had come from a recruit to the Alpha Legion from off Terra.

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

Everyone got a better chance to look at some of the smaller items during lunch. Angron's was quite popular. It made it a bit difficult because he couldn't tell the other students who his father was and why he was allowed to bring such an artifact. Eventually he came up with the idea that he and his father had "special permission" to have it.

"We do have to be very careful with it," Angron said as Ithen sat in front of him to play.

"Alright," Ithen said. He still wasn't completely sure if the Primarchs were the Emperor's sons or not, but trouble with the Palace wasn't something he wanted.

Their match was surprisingly even. It eventually ended with a loss for Angron. He had lost a few times at that point, including basically allowing someone to win.  The issue with this round was, the head of his robot came all the way off.

"Oh no!" Ithen cried out.

"That's not good," Angron agreed as he caught the head. "Father's not going to be pleased about this."

"I'm sorry, Angron," Ithen said. "I can make it up to you, somehow."

"There's no need for that," Angron said, though it was clear he was trying to not be angry. "It's not really your fault. That was an intense match and it's been getting a lot of use today."

"That it has," Ithen said. "Can somebody fix it?" 

"Maybe," Angron said. "Ferrus? Can you help me?"

"I can take a look," Ferrus said, holding his hand out for the head. He began to examine the connection points inside. After a moment he turned his attention to the rest of the apparatus. "There's nothing I can do, Angron."

"What?" Angron asked, his voice rising several notes at the end of the word.

"It was all one piece of plastek," Ferrus explained, trying to keep his own anger down. Answering Angron's anger with anger never worked out. He could out anger everyone, save perhaps the Emperor. 

"So you can't just stick it back on?" Ithen asked, looking guiltily at his feet.

"No," Ferrus said. "It gets hard to fix plastek that was all one piece before."

"That's also supposed to make it stronger," Angron growled.

"Right," Ferrus said. "However, everything has it's limits. Father did warn us that it was old."

"He did," Angron said, hanging his head. "He also told me not to break it."

"But I'm the one who broke it," Ithen said. "I beat you, and it was your robot's head that came off."

"I had it out of the Palace," Angron said. "Damage to it is my responsibility."

Ithen nodded, unsure what to do. Fulgrim motioned for him to go, there was nothing that he could do. With a quick glance towards Angron he went. It didn't seem to matter too much, Angron was still upset, but Ithen couldn't be a target. 

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

The end of the school day came, and Angron was beginning to get distressed. He didn't know what to tell his father. The breaking had been an accident. It was clear, even to Angron, that Ithen hadn't intended for the head to come off. Angron could have done it at anytime himself. Master Jeccar had played it and had determined that the controls didn't respond more to increased force or pressure. 

The Thunderhawk was piloted by a servitor, this made Angron relax a little bit. He had a bit more time to prepare for the Emperor's annoyance at the loss of the rock 'em sock 'em robots. 

"He'll understand," Roboute said. Angron's anger made it so that many of his brothers tried to avoid him. Roboute was close in number order, so ended up near him anyway. This meant that he was the most interested in keeping Angron stable. 

"Are you sure?" Angron asked, he had kept the head in a pocket until they got home. He was determined to at least not lose it in case the Emperor could fix it. Ferrus said that it might be possible with the right tools. 

"Of course," Roboute said. "It was an accident. You recognized that, even at the time."

"True," Angron said, though he still sounded doubtful. "Maybe I won't be in too much trouble."

"I don't think you'll be in any trouble," Roboute said. 

"We'll see," Angron said. They were landing just then. They entered the residence, and set about doing their homework. There weren't any adults around, so they knew the Emperor would be home soon. Angron did take a moment to set the rock 'em sock 'em robots on the table, and put the head with the rest of it.

Angron lept to his feet when the Emperor entered, trying to apologize before the Emperor could even ask about it. The Emperor then noted the state of the rock 'em sock 'em robots. He sat, and beckoned Angron towards him.

"How did it break?" he asked.

"One of the older boys and I were playing it," Angron explained. "He won, and the head just popped off. He didn't mean for it to happen, he apologized right away for it."

"Then why were you apologizing?" the Emperor asked. "You were not the one who broke it."

"Because I promised not to break it," Angron said in a rush. 

"You didn't break it," the Emperor repeated. "You didn't know that it had a weakness there. I didn't know it had a weakness there."

"You didn't?" Angron asked, surprised. 

"No," the Emperor said. "If I had, I would have fixed it before I let you take it for show and tell."

"That makes sense," Angron said. "Can you fix it?"

"Maybe," the Emperor said. "I'll have to look for the right glue to use."

"Alright," Angron said. He visibly relaxed as it became clear that he wasn't going to be in trouble. He scratched at his head, his hair was beginning to grow back. He kept it shaved because it was very wiry, which he found hard to deal with. 

The Emperor smiled, and then stood. He began looking around to see if he could find the glue that he wanted. He eventually found it in the project area that had been the home of the ill-fated universal remote.