The return trip from the planet wasn’t as exciting as the descent. The Lion congratulated Corswain for how well the repairs had gone so far. Zephyr was also excited to tell him about their adventures on the surface. He was certain that the Hound would know more about the Watchers. Having seen one, he was interested to learn more.
Fulgrim was able to assure the Emperor’s Children that everything was alright between him and Ferrus, so there wasn’t any need to worry regarding the Iron Hands. Perturabo gave his approval to the repairs that Forrix had made while in control of the fleet. Torghun was proud to show his progress to Jaghatai.
Lord Gunn was happy to have Leman back, and had a surprise for him. It was a feast that they managed to assemble for the victorious return. Fafnir Rann had also organized a bit of celebration, but keeping it in the more stoic nature of the Imperial Fists. Konrad was very excited to be reunited with Sevatar, much to the disappointment of Skraivok.
*******************************************
“See, you survived,” Raldoron said with a chuckle as Sanguinius arrived on the Red Tear. Azkellon looked away hastily, he was still embarrassed by the way he had acted in the final fight.
“I technically didn’t,” Sanguinius said. “It… caused a problem.”
“Ah,” Raldoron said. “You can give me the details later.”
“I believe that would be wise,” Sanguinius agreed. *******************************************
Ferrus had his own announcement about the issues he and Fulgrim had had. Shadrak Meduson was happy to report about the nova cannon shell they had fired. While it hadn’t been the test they had wanted, it provided interesting data that none of the research team had thought of. Angron grunted that Delvarus had done a decent job at commanding the repair forces. He knew it was actually Shipmistress Sarin that had done the work, and congratulated her in private.
Roboute was pleased with Captain Corvo, as was Mortarion with Typhon. Uthizzar was happy to show the progress he had made to Magnus. Maloghurst found himself trying to cheer up Horus. Erebus was quite happy to have Lorgar back, partly because it meant he didn’t have to directly deal with Kor Phaeron anymore. Forgefather T’kell was busy, and sent his apologies for not being able to greet Vulkan. Solaro An greeted Corvus, and was curious about the friendliness between Sharrowkin and Pryskella. Pech was confused by the request to get all of the ships on the vox.
“What is this about?” one of the captains asked. “Shouldn’t we be heading to the rendezvous point?”
“We will, captain,” Alpharius said.
“There’s something we need to tell you first,” Omegon added.
“Why is one of the initiates with the Primarch?” another captain asked.
“That’s what we wanted to tell you about,” Omegon said. “We are both the Primarch. Twins, not a single person.”
“How did this happen?” the first captain asked. “When?”
“It’s how we were made,” Alpharius said. “Our father, the Emperor, chose to have us present as only one, but we have decided to come forward as individuals.”
“Why now?” the second captain asked.
“It seemed like a good time,” Omegon said. “It’s something I’ve been debating doing for a while. But this let us inform the higher echelons of the Legion, and possibly our brother Primarchs as well.”
“And what did you decide regarding them?”
“We have told them,” Alpharius said. “Turns out we were caught out anyway, so our hands were forced.” *******************************************
“That went better than anticipated,” Omegon said after the Alpha Legion had finished questioning them. “There were a few I feel could do well in the role.”
“If they’re alive when we’re adults,” Alpharius said. “But yes, I think there is a lot of potential to keep it going. Unless of course our brothers find some way of marking us again.”
“They’ll probably insist on it,” Omegon chuckled. “We’ll just have to adjust the Sheddings when they figure something out. Half as yours and half as mine?”
“That’ll drive them nuts,” Alpharius giggled. “But they ought to expect it from us. We’ve been doing this for years.”
“True,” Omegon said, then his expression became serious again. “We should come up with an actual way for the Legion to tell us apart. Both from the initiates, and from each other.”
“You’re right,” Alpharius nodded. “We’ll come up with something and share it with Pech and Herzog. They can tell the rest of the Legion.” *******************************************
How did I end up in this meeting? Joysepha wondered to herself. Erebus and Kor Phaeron were arguing about the fleet repairs. Lorgar had asked her to join him in case things got out of hand. Things were heated, but she wouldn’t consider it to be too far.
“That is quite enough, both of you,” Lorgar said sharply. “Erebus, you did the best you could. Kor Phaeron, as I recall you were confined to quarters for manipulating your transfer to this Chapter. What I do not recall is lifting that order when I left the ship.”
Kor Phaeron went rigid, there wasn’t any argument that he could make that would get him out of trouble.
“Since you disobeyed my orders to stay in your quarters, and interfered with Erebus’ repair operations, you will be moved to the brig until this group rejoins the Legion. Joysepha, please escort Kor Phaeron.”
“Yes, Lord Aurelian,” she said, aware that Lorgar had difficulties confronting his own legionaries.
“You’re having me escorted by a woman?” Kor Phaeron snarled.
“A Custodian,” Lorgar said firmly. “If you think you’re too low in status to be escorted by one, I can get some of the ship’s voidsmen to escort you instead.”
“The Custodian will suffice,” Kor Phaeron said, though it didn’t really sound like he liked the idea.
“This way,” she said firmly, gesturing him to go ahead of her. *******************************************
“Lion?” Zephyr asked, walking down a darkened hallway on the Invincible Reason. “Are you here?”
“I’m here,” the Lion called down from overhead.
“What are you doing up there?” Zephyr asked, looking around to see if he could get up to the same area that the Lion was in.
“I can come down,” the Lion said. “I’m pretty sure that you can’t fit up here. The area’s pretty small.”
“Then you probably shouldn’t be up there either,” Zephyr pointed out. “Pretty sure Brother Zabriel would have issues if something were to happen. I don’t think he’s been let off the task of being responsible for you.”
“Not officially,” the Lion said, landing on the floor next to his friend. “But I slipped away.”
“You do like to do that,” Zephyr said. “What were you thinking about?”
“Who said I was thinking about anything?”
“That’s what you’re doing when you hide from us like that, isn’t it?”
“You do know me too well,” the Lion grumbled. Zephyr laughed, and waited; sometimes patience really was a virtue. “I’ve been think about Alpharius, and his little surprise.”
“Lord Omegon,” Zephyr said quietly. It sounded weird to him to say it that way. Back when he first met the Primarchs they had been insistent that he address them informally. When he had joined the Legion and formality was required, he had been told quite clearly that it was Lord Alpharius. He had picked up the name Omegon somewhere, he suspected back at Galactic Horizons during roll call or something. However, that had been the only time he had heard it used.
“Yeah,” the Lion said. “It bugs me that I never caught on that there were two of them. Everyone feels slightly different.”
“Maybe it’s because they’re twins?” Zephyr suggested. “And Primarch twins at that.”
“Possibly,” the Lion said. It hadn’t really crossed his mind. Twins weren’t something that the Primarchs regularly encountered. Or at least knowingly encountered, the Lion thought. “The Primarch part is probably the bigger factor if that’s the case.”
“It might be a good question for your father,” Zephyr said. “He knows more about all of you than anyone.” *******************************************
“Do you know what Lord Magnus wants?” Ohrmuzd asked Ahzek.
“No idea,” his twin answered. “But it just seems to be us, so I doubt it’s a debriefing.”
“Agreed,” Ohrmuzd said. “Did we do something wrong?”
“In the fight? I don’t think so.”
“Hey, I didn’t miss anything on the dishes. If there’s a complaint it’s on you, not me.”
“I didn’t miss anything either,” Ahzek shot back with a chuckle. “We’re here.”
“Indeed,” Ohrmuzd said. The two paused just outside of the door sensor’s range, trying to make sure they presented a good image to their Primarch.
“Come in, both of you,” Magnus said. “I have some questions I think only you can answer.”
“What questions might we know that you don’t, lord?” Ahzek asked, surprised.
“I want to know about the experience of being a twin,” Magnus said. “Now that Alpharius and Omegon have revealed themselves to be such. I want to know what might have caused them to decide to be one person.”
“Oh,” Ohrmuzd said. “That would be something we have first-hand knowledge of.”
“Indeed,” Ahzek mused. “But I’m not sure if it’s something that is easily put into words.”
“Agreed,” Ohrmuzd said. “There’s also a chance that it’s different for Lord Alpharius and Lord Omegon because they are Primarchs. We wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“That may be true,” Magnus said thoughtfully. “However, I still want to know why they might decide to be one.”
“Maybe because it was easier?” Ahzek suggested. “For the Emperor, I mean. It’s my understanding that you were all born on the same day.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Ohrmuzd objected. “Why hide the other in this way? If He truly thought that He couldn’t take care of both, why keep the other around? It would make more sense for that one to be sent away.”
“Father would never send any of us away,” Magnus said sharply. “What would you suggest instead, Ohrmuzd?”
Ohrmuzd thought about it a long moment before answering. “It could be that He views them as the same person, or wanted them to see each other as the same person. It’s not uncommon with identical twins. Ahzek and I often had themed outfits and the like, but there was another pair of twins we knew before joining the Legion. They were dressed identically every day.”
“I remember them,” Ahzek said. “No one could tell them apart. I got the impression that they hated it.”
“That’s what I remember as well,” Ohrmuzd said. “They wanted to be their own people, but didn’t know how to go about it. Everything was picked by their parents, and it didn’t help that their names were similar.”
“Yeah, they were like variations of the same name,” Ahzek mused. “There was one time where I think they got confused with each other.”
“Interesting,” Magnus said. “So it wasn’t as bad with you as it was with others?”
“Correct, lord,” Ahzek said quickly. “Our parents viewed us as a set, but not a mirror. So matching things, but not identical.”
“I’ve never had any issues telling the two of you apart,” Magnus admitted. “But never realized that Alpharius was sometimes someone else.”
“We aren’t completely identical,” Ohrmuzd said. “It makes it easier to tell us apart. Though I have heard of identical twins who swap places as either an attempt at humor or a test.”
“And it is my understanding that Lord Alpharius and Lord Omegon have been doing this for years,” Ahzek added. “They’ll have done everything in their power to make themselves seem like the same person. If I understand correctly, Lord Jonson and Lord Russ only caught it because they even smell the same.”
“Correct,” Magnus said. “The discipline of their minds is also the same, at least I’ve never caught them that way.”
“That actually isn’t too difficult,” Ohrmuzd said. “Ahzek and I can tell each other apart telepathically, but we have been confused for each other when others of the Legion are reaching out psychically.”
“I didn’t know that,” Magnus said. “We’ll have to try and work harder on telling you two apart psychically. Why didn’t you bring it up before?”
“We’ve tried to keep it quiet,” Ahzek said. He found the situation a little embarrassing, as it seemed that most people appeared to default to Ohrmuzd, and not him.
“I still should have been informed,” Magnus said firmly. “You are each your own person… Just like Alpharius and Omegon are. Thank you, both.”
The twins shared a look, quickly realizing that Magnus’s thoughts had turned elsewhere. They saluted their Primarch, and departed.
“That was… an odd interaction,” Ohrmuzd said once he thought they were far enough away to not get in trouble.
“Agreed,” Ahzek said. “But very interesting. It’s not often that we are the ones teaching anyone anything.”
“Especially the Primarch,” Ohrmuzd said, he was clearly very pleased with having had that privilege. *******************************************
“How do we report this to Lord Valdor?”
“They implied that he already knows about the two of them, so we aren’t revealing anything to him.”
“We should have asked if they wanted the rest of us to know.”
“Perhaps. However, we have the trip back to Terra for that discussion. It may even be that it hasn’t crossed their minds yet. I get the impression that they were far more focused on revealing themselves to their brothers and Legion.”
“I get the impression that they only meant to do one group, not both.”
“Agreed. Though that leaves me wondering what they had meant to do about Lord Jonson and Lord Russ. They were always likely to figure it out with them both together.”
“Especially since they were on the defense with the Alpha Legion on the offense. They really are just as human as our master.”
“Ha! Good thing we’re on our own encryption. I don’t think any of them would be happy to hear us say that.”
“Perhaps, but some might need the reminder.” *******************************************
To the Primarchs surprise, the Imperator Somnium was waiting for them at the rendezvous point. They had been informed that there was a strong likelihood of the Emperor being delayed with a last minute adjustment needed to sorting out the finder’s dispute.
“Maybe Valdor tried some negotiations,” Roboute mused. Gage gave his Primarch a sharp glance, unsure if he was allowed to laugh at that one or not.
“It must be a relief to not have to wait, lord,” Thiel said tentatively. “Everything was resolved on schedule.”
“It is,” Roboute agreed, causing Thiel to relax a little. But it means we have to face what we learned faster, he added in his head. At the twins’ request the other Primarchs had not told their Legions about Omegon. Maybe we can get some answers.
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