Dantioch and his squad had been volunteered by the Mournival to serve the captives dinner. It had been agreed before the war games started that any captives were to be treated with dignity, which included feeding them. The Iron Warriors had already agreed to take the night watch.
"If it helps, Lord Fulgrim cooked this evening, and you get what we got," he said as he entered the area where the Ultramarines were being held. The only answer he got was glares from them. Sighing, he signaled his men to dole out the meal kits.
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Ahzek and Ohrmuzd had been promoted to supervising the Alpha Legion initiates do the dishes. Neither of them had realized that Alpharius was rotating through the group, both to give each initiate time as the Primarch, and to have fun messing with Fulgrim. Joysepha had noticed, but kept it to herself, like most of the other Custodians she didn't understand why Alpharius did what he did with the initiates. At the request of both Alpharius and Omegon neither Joysepha, nor Pryskella, had been informed of Omegon. The twins wanted to reveal themselves to their Legion and their brothers before the Custodians, just to see how it would go.
Fulgrim was trying to work out a sign that he and Frederick could use. The hardest part was actually finding the right one again and relaying it. That was how he had found out that Alpharius was changing around each time the initiates came back. It was really hard when they all looked alike. He was using subvocalizations to ferret out Alpharius himself, which helped slightly. Omegon was happy that he had practice in pretending that he didn't understand subvocalizations.
Finally, they had eaten and everything had been cleaned up. The Iron Warriors and the Night Lords had been chosen for the watch. Skraivok wasn't too happy with the assignment, but Konrad made it clear that it was his idea. With the grumbling out of the way, everyone not on watch settled in to rest.
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"Pollux, you're up," the Lion said quietly. "Show us your distraction. Sergeant Aphkar, I will join your squad in getting Roboute. Dreadbringer, you'll get the others."
"Where is Lord Corax?" Pollux asked.
"Making sure that we're only dealing with the Iron Warriors here," the Lion said.
"Right," Pollux said. "Fists, with me."
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"Warsmith, look at this," Dantioch's auspex officer said, clearly suppressing his mirth. "The Imperial Fists may have more subtlety than we give them credit for most of the time, but I don't think this group has stealth among it's repertoire."
The auspex clearly showed a unit of Imperial Fists in the trees approaching the camp. There were some attempts at stealth, but it really wasn't much.
"They are trying," Dantioch said. "I guess we have to give them some credit. It's better than some of our other cousins." He stopped himself there, knowing that the World Eaters were one of those who would do worse. Despite the Iron Warriors reputation for being emotionless robots, Dantioch prided himself on his ability to feel, and hold empathy for others.
"What shall we do?"
"Gather the welcoming party," Dantioch said. "Turn on the alarm system before we leave our honored guests alone."
"Of course, Warsmith," the other said. The alarm system was a grid of pressure sensors around the Ultramarines. If any of them got up it would alert the Iron Warriors. The rest of the squad gathered quickly, and they approached the now obvious Imperial Fists.
"What have we got here?"
"Looks like a lost patrol."
"Very lost if the coordinates we have are accurate."
"Spies are more likely."
"You send the Raven Guard if you want spies," Dantioch said dismissively. "Yellow sticks out to much, especially at night."
"We are right here," one of Pollux's Fists growled. "We hear everything you're saying."
"And they are fighting words," another said. Pollux blink clicked a rune in his helmet, sending a signal to the Dark Angels.
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"That worked better than I anticipated," Zephyr said.
"Let's not waste the opportunity they've made for us," Zabriel said. "The Dreadbringer is already on the move."
"Right," Zephyr said, ducking his head in apology.
"Hey, Roboute," the Lion said quietly.
"There's a pressure net, cousin," Gage warned as Redloss approached him.
"Noted," Redloss said. "Brother Aphkar?"
"I see it," Aphkar said. "Looks like there's a redundant power source as well."
"Found it," Zabriel said. "How shall we go about it?"
"On three," Redloss answered. "One."
"Two."
"Three," Zephyr said, popping out the battery back up. At the same moment Aphkar pulled the power cord.
"Let's go," the Lion said, sending a signal to Corvus and Pollux. Roboute hadn't said a word to the Lion, but signaled the Ultramarines to move out.
******************************
"Warsmith!" one of the Iron Warriors called out. Dantioch turned to see a Dark Angel at the edge of the trees, the other Space Marine paused long enough to give a jaunty wave, then vanished. The Ultramarines were gone as well.
"Well played, cousin," Dantioch said, turning back to Pollux and giving a dramatic bow. "A fine distraction."
"Not just a distraction," Pollux said with a grin. He took a swing at Dantioch, barely pulling the punch as it connected with the surprised Warsmith's head.
Dantioch tried to dodge, and stumbled into the Iron Warrior next to him. The Imperial Fists had been moving around, causing the Iron Warriors to shuffle as well. This lined them up, and Dantioch was the first domino to fall. Well played indeed, Dantioch thought with a chuckle. A tangle of Space Marine limbs wasn't easy to sort out. The last he saw of the Imperial Fist leader was a flash of yellow vanishing into the night.
******************************
"I wouldn't have even needed rescuing if you had actually linked up with the rest of us!" Roboute snarled at the Lion.
"I was hunting," the Lion shot back. "It's normal to be solitary for that. It's why we only watch when Leman goes hunting on Fenris, or Vulkan goes after a drake."
"Guys, keep it down," Corvus said, suddenly appearing between the two. "We're at best in no-man's land, and could still be in their picket lines. If you want to argue, at least do it over a private channel."
"Sorry," the Lion said quietly. "Let's get back to the others."
******************************
"Report," Perturabo said curtly, the other Primarchs waited a few paces back while he confronted his squad.
"We found a squad of Imperial Fists in the trees," Dantioch said. "They were a distraction to keep us occupied while the Dark Angels released the captives and escaped. The Fists then attacked us to make theirs."
"And you allowed them?" Perturabo pressed.
"There wasn't much of a chance. The attack was swift, and we were all taken down."
Perturabo glared at Dantioch. "I want you out of my sight."
"That would leave us uneven," Magnus said. "Perhaps there's another way you can punish them?"
"No," Perturabo said. "I don't want to see his face until after this war game is concluded."
"I have a suggestion," Omegon said. "We could still send Warsmith Dantioch away, and use him."
"How?" Perturabo asked.
"Using him as a double agent," Omegon said simply. "We send him and his squad out, they get picked up by Rogal's patrols, and they provide us with information."
"What will they say when they get picked up?" Mortarion asked.
"That they were sent off as punishment for failing to keep the Ultramarines here," Omegon said. "It's true, so it'll pass Lion's scrutiny."
"He's got a good point there," Konrad said. "And it shouldn't trigger anything from any Librarians they brought with them for the same reason."
"I'm certain that at least Yesugei is here," Magnus said. "I highly doubt that Jaghatai would leave him in the void for this."
"What about the Iron Hands?" Fulgrim asked. "They know every encryption the Iron Warriors do."
"Not all of them," Perturabo said, clearly thinking over the suggestion. "Though that is something else that we can use against them, reports to us that actually sound like they are trying to get back in my good graces. Warsmith?"
"This is an interesting challenge, my lord," Dantioch said. "I would be very interested to see how far we get."
"And if they are caught and held as captives, we can make our own rescue attempt," Konrad said happily.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to get that close to the Lion?" Mortarion asked. "He still wants to get you."
"I'm willing to take that risk," Konrad said. "No one has to go with me."
"It is decided," Perturabo said, pointedly looking at Konrad and Mortarion. "Go, you should be far enough behind our visitors that they won't think you're in pursuit."
"Yes, my lord," Dantioch said, and signaling to his men, vanished into the night.
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