"Look what we found, guys!" Leman called the following morning, leading Dantioch's squad of Iron Warriors. "Roboute, isn't this the squad that was watching you?"
"It was," Roboute said, nodding a greeting to Dantioch. "Warsmith."
"Lord," Dantioch said politely. After a moment he chose not to say more, hoping to avoid giving himself away.
"This wasn't our intention," the Lion said. "The plan was to leave you there, where you belong."
"Lord Perturabo decided differently," Dantioch answered. "He cast us out for the duration of the war game."
"I'm surprised you weren't sent back to your fleet and replaced with someone else," Rogal said. "We shouldn't be between you and your dropships."
"You aren't," Dantioch said. "We wanted to preserve fuel, and Lord Perturabo didn't say we had to leave the planet."
"Technically right is the best form of right," Leman said with a chuckle.
"Allexus," Rogal called. "The warsmith is your responsibility while we debate what to do with them."
"We meet again, cousin," Pollux said as he approached Dantioch.
************************************
"What should we do with them?" Roboute asked. "I don't trust them."
"I don't either," Ferrus said. "It doesn't make sense for Perturabo to send them away without replacing them."
"Manual labor," Sanguinius said. "Rogal, you had a whole system of earthworks planned out, didn't you?"
"But that gives them information about our defenses," the Lion objected before Rogal could speak. "I don't trust them either."
"That's true," Rogal said, nodding to the Lion. "However, we have them, and it makes sense to put them to some work. Pollux can watch them. Ferrus, can you disable their vox units?"
"I can jam all of their frequencies," Ferrus said. "Maybe Iron Father Wayland can come up with something."
"He did well last night," Corvus said. "Sharrowkin was also impressed with the modifications made to his gun."
"Good," Rogal said. "I'll tell Pollux his new assignment."
************************************
"Shall we wait for the Iron Hands?" Pollux asked.
"I'm not sure how long it will take," Rogal said. "Get them started, this ground is stony, so it'll be slow going."
"Very well, my lord," Pollux said.
"Don't hurt them," Rogal added. "But we don't have to be light on them either."
"That can be arranged," Pollux said with a grin as he signaled his squad.
************************************
The day passed slowly, the Iron Warriors were joined by everyone not on sentry duty, including the Primarchs. Rogal had been spot on about how long it was going to take to dig through the ground at any appreciable level. This made for slow going, which Jaghatai wasn't happy about.
"We need to go faster," he said. "Horus isn't going to give us a lot of time."
"There's only so much we can do with this ground," Rogal said, looking up from where he was working. "We'll have to work with what we get out of this."
"How long to we think Horus will give us?" Vulkan asked.
"Probably one day?" Leman suggested. "They want to have a challenge. Or at least Perturabo does."
"Fulgrim will want to delay," Ferrus said. "I don't think he wants to face me yet."
************************************
The area Rogal had designated as the command center was set in a deep cleft of the butte. This meant that Horus's side had only one direction they could reasonably come from. Dantioch was impressed by it, and the defenses spreading across the mouth of cleft and up the sides. He was aware of the vox jamming, and how it was targeted towards him and his squad.
"They're using adaptive jamming," one of the Iron Warriors growled. "The whole contingent must be working on it."
"Or Lord Manus," Dantioch said.
************************************
"Let's see what we can find for dzira," Omegon said. After watching Fulgrim flounder he made a "secret" hand gesture to use with Fulgrim.
"That's a good plan," Fulgrim said. "I don't know how long Perturabo and Angron will let us wait."
"I thought-- Perturabo was known for patience?" Omegon asked. Angron was a known thing, even outside of the Primarchs.
"He usually is," Fulgrim said. "Unless fighting Rogal is on the table. Then he just wants to go."
"What about the challenge?" Omegon asked. "If we rush them, they won't have time to make anything interesting."
Fulgrim shrugged, it was hard to tell sometimes with Perturabo. He kept himself isolated from the other Primarchs, except for fighting with Rogal. It was something that actually confused Omegon. He often felt a little isolated from the others when he was out as Alpharius. Of course he and Alpharius had each other which helped, and made it harder to understand that how Perturabo did it.
"Oooh, what about this purple berry?" Fulgrim said, breaking Omegon's train of thought. He was holding a vibrant, multi-lobed berry. "Do you have an auspex?"
"Why?" Omegon asked, but pulled it out anyway.
"Because I want to make sure it's safe for you," Fulgrim said. "You're helping me, and deserve to share in the product."
"That's very... thoughtful," Omegon said. "They're safe."
"Good, they're tasty," Fulgrim said.
"How do you know?" Omegon asked, surprised.
"I had two, and ate one," Fulgrim said simply. "There's more over here, they should be a great base since they're really juicy."
"What about these?" Omegon asked, pointing out the leaves of a plant. "The auspex says that they are similar to mint."
"Hm, mint might go well with these," Fulgrim said. "They're like boysenberries, so that wouldn't be a bad flavor profile. Let's try some."
They continued, making sure to stay relatively close to the camp. It had been agreed that Rogal hadn't likely sent the Raven Guard back to spy, but with the Iron Hands making an appearance the previous evening it couldn't be ruled out that there was something that was. They found another berry bush with Fulgrim's purple berries, then Fulgrim found a bright, almost neon orange one. When Omegon held the auspex up to it, it made an angry beeping noise.
"That's no good for dzira," Omegon said. "It might not be safe for Primarchs, and certainly isn't safe for humans."
"Noted," Fulgrim said, then carefully tucked it into an ammo pouch he had emptied earlier.
"Why are you keeping it?" Omegon asked.
"Because I want to see Mortarion eat it," Fulgrim replied. Omegon tilted his head in confusion, prompting Fulgrim to continue. "He can tell us how bad it is for Primarchs, and possibly if we can use it against the others."
"Isn't that a little underhanded?" Omegon asked, trying to sound appalled.
"Maybe a little," Fulgrim admitted. "However, it's important to have an edge when fighting against another Primarch. Using something slightly underhanded can be the difference between victory, and a total slug fest like when Lion and Leman brawl."
"I've been told about that," Omegon said. He had seen it once as well, but naturally couldn't tell Fulgrim that. "Is it really that bad?"
"Depends on who's watching us," Fulgrim giggled. "It's worse when Malcador is watching, especially if someone else is distracting him. Father can get them to stop, and Valdor holds them apart."
"Strategy meeting in five minutes," Perturabo's voice came in suddenly over the vox, cutting their conversation short.
"Darn," Fulgrim said. "I was hoping we could actually start on this tonight."
"If you have a set up where your Legion is billeted, I could go there as myself to work on it," Omegon offered. "Alpharius himself should of course be going to the meeting."
"That's a great idea," Fulgrim said. "I have a brewing stand set up for it. It may not be properly Medusan, but it should work."
"None of this is properly Medusan," Omegon giggled. "Isn't it the thought that counts?"
"True," Fulgrim said, looking towards the other camp. His face froze for a moment, leaving it clear to Omegon that he wasn't ready to face Ferrus just yet.
"Let's go, we'll need to stop by both of Legion billets," Omegon said, looking to distract Fulgrim. "Yours first, then the Alpha Legion?"
"Yeah," Fulgrim said, blinking and turning towards Omegon. "Mine is closer to where we are right now. And yours is on the way to our meeting point."
"Perfect!" Omegon said.
They re-entered the camp, pausing at the Emperor's Children's billet so Fulgrim could advise Lucius that an Alpha Legionnaire initiate would be arriving in a while to assist with a joint project between the Legions that was to be kept secret. He also showed Omegon where the brewing stand was as they dropped off the ingredients they had gathered.
Fulgrim hung back as they approached where the Alpha Legion were staying. Omegon went in, signaling to the other initiates that there was to be a change out. He was finding it kind of nice to be able to do that semi-openly, instead of having to carefully coordinate with Alpharius, or taking advantage of circumstances. The others gathered around, and he noted the adult Legionnaires watching with some amusement. Alpharius was certain they were trying to keep track of which ones were the real Primarchs, especially now that they knew there were two.
"Who's going to the strategy meeting?" Omegon asked.
"I will," Qayle said. "How is Lord Fulgrim?"
"Better," Omegon said. "He's asked Frederick to go to the Emperor's Children's area and work on dzira. We've been gathering ingredients, and he knows I'm not Alpharius."
"But only as Frederick?" Chathyn asked.
"For now," Omegon said, giving Alpharius a pointed look. Now that they were out to the Legion, at least in part, he wanted to be out to his brothers as well. It felt freeing somehow to be himself instead of Alpharius. "I agree with Alpharius that it'll be best to wait until after the war games are over. We haven't even really come forward to the rest of the Legion that's here."
"True," Matreus said. "Qayle, you'd better join Lord Fulgrim and get going, you don't want to be late."
************************************
"We're secure, Ferrus?" Rogal asked.
"We are," Ferrus said. He had been surprised at how well things had gone between him and Rogal. They had discussed the nova cannon incident when he had arrived with the others. It had been a lot calmer than if the roles had been reversed, with Rogal stating he understood why it happened, but was a bit disappointed that Ferrus had been trying to use this as a testing opportunity, when he knew they were dangerous.
"I'm certain Lady Pryskella has already alerted Valdor," Rogal had said.
"Undoubtedly," Ferrus had said. "I understand that she was assisting in directing Raven Guard forces while Corvus was trying to get to me."
"Why weren't you answering your vox?" Rogal had asked.
"Shock," Ferrus had admitted quietly. "I froze, like Sanguinius on Pimalia."
"Ah," Rogal had grunted, nodding. Since it was so rare for the Primarchs to be rattled like that, freeze was a surprisingly common reaction, like their brains had to process the situation before an actual response could begin.
"You haven't totally blocked them, Ferrus?" Roboute's question pulled Ferrus out of his head and back into the conversation.
"The Iron Warriors?" He clarified, Roboute nodded. "No, they have a way to communicate with Perturabo if they want, they just haven't found it yet."
"So that's what's frustrating them," Jaghatai giggled. "Is it a specific timing thing?"
"In a sense," Ferrus said, not wanting to give it away. They were as secure as he could make the area, but there were always ways for the determined. "A sense of rhythm, or maybe pacing, is needed."
"Alright," Rogal said, nodding in approval. "Do we want them to specifically to tell him anything?"
"They're going to report about the earthworks they've been working on," Sanguinius said. "That much makes sense."
"But they don't know everything about the earthworks," Rogal said.
"We could tell them that we're going to flood some of the trenchworks," the Lion said. "Like a moat."
"Aren't those supposed to have stakes in them?" Corvus asked.
"They can have stakes, water, or both," the Lion said. "There's stories of keeps on Caliban that have sword blades in theirs, like the stakes, then covered over with water. It's supposed to prevent things from swimming in them."
"That is no way to treat swords," Vulkan grumbled.
"Stakes it is," Rogal said. "And make it sound like we're going to flood them."
"We could add a layer and put stakes in ones not the ones we say we are going to flood," Jaghatai said. Corvus nodded, happy to see one of his brothers recommending a tactic he would use.
"That's a good idea," Rogal said. He briefly toyed with the idea of setting the stakes on rolling platforms and moving them around, but decided that would be a logistical nightmare he didn't need. "Lion, you're in charge of getting those set up."
"Why me?" the Lion asked.
"Because this is closer to a castle, which you are more familiar with, along with your Dark Angels," Rogal said. "Don't worry, Archamus can help you with them. Pollux will stay in charge of the Iron Warriors, unless someone else wants them for a bit?"
"No," Roboute said. "However, Gage and Thiel can also assist the Lion with their men."
"Alright," Rogal said. "We still haven't received anything from the other side about an attack, but we know it's coming soon because we only have a few days left of the scheduled games."
"Wait, I thought that was the space portion, and the ground portion had it's own time table?" Jaghatai asked. "We moved up the ground war because of... events."
"Pryskella?" Corvus asked, turning to the Custodian who was observing from the sidelines.
"Lord Valdor didn't indicate a change in the games time table," Pryskella said. "In fact, he was concerned that there would be delays on his end."
"The Mechanicum doesn't want to cooperate?" Ferrus asked. He was certain it was them, and not the Crusade Expeditionary fleet as the Mechanicum was noted for it's stubbornness.
"Both," Pryskella said. "Or at least that's how I understood it."
"We had three more days of void warfare scheduled," Vulkan said. "Then four for ground warfare, so eight days total. We've lost two of the extras from void war, so that's five days left?"
"That's what I come up with," Jaghatai said.
"And Perturabo is probably in the other camp arguing for starting the siege as soon as possible so he can make it last as long as possible," Leman said.
"Probably," Sanguinius giggled. "And Horus just wants to spear tip like he always does."
"If it's not broke, don't fix it?" the Lion asked.
"Exactly," Sanguinius said.
"If they agree on anything, they won't want to give us the time to finish our defenses," Roboute said. "We should probably get going."
************************************
"How's the dzira going?" Tarvitz asked, approaching Omegon.
"Messy," Omegon said sheepishly. He was covered in purple berry juice, hiding the iridescent coloring of his armor. "I may have had one too many berries in the press."
"Well, we better get that cleaned up before it gets sticky," Tarvitz said gently. He didn't want to embarrass the initiate. "It'll gunk up your armor joints and seals."
"Alright," Omegon grumbled. He was embarrassed, it was something he felt he should have been able to avoid. Alpharius is going to love this, he thought.
"It's good to know that they're that juicy now," Tarvitz said thoughtfully as he assisted Omegon. "We'll probably have to move camp, especially with the other side knowing where we are."
"If we move, I would expect it to be towards the other side," Omegon said. "I would think that's what Lord Perturabo is looking forward to the most."
"He certainly is," Fulgrim said, surprising the other two. "What happened here?"
"Berry apocalypse," Omegon said.
"I didn't realize it would be that bad," Fulgrim said apologetically. "However, you are both right, we are moving camp, towards the other side."
"Then it's probably good that I didn't get very far in the actual brewing process," Omegon said. "We can seal the bottles that have juice, and put the other ingredients in containers."
Fulgrim nodded in agreement, though he had wanted it to be farther along in case the other side broke the siege. Perturabo was certain that it wouldn't do that, but Fulgrim wasn't so sure. He didn't think that Perturabo was taking Ferrus' likely anger into account.
"I'm not surprised about that," Tarvitz said. "Especially since the timing for everything got... altered."
"Yeah, Perturabo managed to convince Horus of something," Fulgrim said. "And it was that we didn't want to give Rogal too much time to get set up, and we all know how fast he is at building."
"I should get back to my Legion," Omegon said awkwardly. "We'll need to make preparations if camp is moving. Unless you need me to help pack up dzira?"
"Saul can help me with that," Fulgrim said. "Thanks for helping with this, Frederick."
"You're welcome, Fulgrim," Omegon said with a grin. He waved and headed away from the Emperor's Children.
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