Warhammer 40k: Shattered Steel Soul

The meeting with Sanguinius made Horus Lupercal feel strange. Although they were born under the same father, they were undoubtedly strangers and should have a certain distance, at least at first.

At least Horus was sure that before Mortarion actually met him, the Primarch did not want an additional fellow who would discipline him.

And he, at that time, followed the Emperor's order to go to Barbarus, until he found that the new brother seemed quite simple, at least easier to understand than the cunning guy Leman Russ.

But Sanguinius was different.

Horus looked at him and saw the curiosity and closeness of his kindness written on that noble and pleasant face. And everything was so natural.

When the angel of Baal walked towards him, the white wings fluttered softly behind his back with his footsteps, a rare need for cherishing appeared in Horus' heart.

His mind was introducing Sanguinius' identity and information to him, telling Horus how he would invite the Primarch back to the Crusade on behalf of the Imperium, but his emotions urged him to do something else.

"Alas," Sanguinius must have noticed his body language, he approached Horus, and then spread one wing in the wolf god's hand, each feather soft and white. "Is it really that attractive?"

Horus took off his gloves. Sanguinius suddenly folded his wings: "You haven't told me who you are, and neither have I."

Horus was stunned for a moment, then took off his glove and handed it to Sanguinius, smiling: "Forgive me for not having the experience of hugging a winged brother. From which angle should I hug you to your back? Well, let's shake hands first. I am Horus Lupercal, the Primarch of the 16th Legion's Luna Wolves, from Cosonia."

"I am Sanguinius, from Baal, probably the Primarch of the 9th Legion." Sanguinius said, holding Horus's outstretched hand, "Now you can touch my wings."

——

After a brief discussion with Horus, Sanguinius reluctantly left the living room that the Wolf God had carefully prepared for him on the flagship of the Spirit of Vengeance, and invited Horus to land on the surface of Baal II with him and live in the room of the Baal people.

He would miss the room, which was made up of exquisite artworks and a pleasant soft bed, and the tap with the Imperial Skyhawk carved on it could produce clear water with just one turn. The room was spacious and bright, taking care of the psychological needs of the Primarch, and it was a comfortable room that could not be faulted by anyone who did not have a dark quirk in design like Konrad Curze.

He stayed on the ground because he would meet his legion on his own land in the Triple Sphere of Baal - he couldn't go to the training ground of the Spirit of Vengeance to meet his Immortal Nine, that would be too weird.

In the sky, Curze's fleet had disappeared without a trace. When the Spirit of Vengeance appeared in the system near Baal, the Night King's Court evacuated overnight and returned to the stars without saying goodbye, just like when they came uninvited a few months ago. Morse, the black-robed man, left at the same time, and no one knew where he was.

All that was left for Sanguinius was a copy of the contract, a cart of wine samples, and a small bottle of finger-length, probably only big enough for a sip, tied with a dark blue ribbon, with a note that it was a special gift for Sanguinius.

As for the Emperor, he only showed up once in front of Sanguinius.

Sanguinius put away his small bottle alone and asked one of the members of the Council of Four Kings, Second Captain Tariq Torgaddon, to condescend and push the cart of wine to the place he designated in the sand plain.

After all, Torgaddon was the first one who was bold enough to ask Sanguinius if they could also have a sip of this wine.

Horus accompanied Sanguinius and shared with him the achievements of the 9th Legion so far.

The few prophecies of the Blood Angels and the nonsense of Conrad Curze - mainly the latter, had already given him a layer of understanding of the current situation of his Legion.

Under such circumstances, it was not difficult for Sanguinius to hear Horus Lupercal's careful choice of words and his unswerving maintenance of the reputation of the Ninth Legion.

"Have you prepared a speech?" Horus asked, "Although this sounds strange, if you need a reference, I still have my speech manuscript on my data board."

"I have prepared it, thank you. But you kept it for more than 40 years?"

"Actually, it was the video recording at the time. My legion asked for it from the camera servant." Horus lowered his voice, "Don't look at these little wolf cubs who joke with me every day. At that time, they were all crying."

Sanguinius cooperated and lowered the volume: "Do they know you kept the file?"

"Of course," Horus moved closer, "Because On my way here, they were still laughing and talking about how to share my video with you and introduce my speech - it includes the friendship within the Astartes, the mission of the Empire, the glory of mankind, and other different sections. "

"And you ran into it, Horus?"

"Talking about the father of genes behind his back is a serious crime that cannot be easily forgiven and should be punished..." Horus thought about it carefully, "When you meet with the legion, wear a full set of ceremonial armor as punishment?"

Sanguinius smiled briefly, and Horus keenly observed every change in his expression, and suddenly said firmly: "You are nervous. "

Before Sanguinius could deny it, Horus continued: "No, don't deny it in a hurry, just let me save others for a while. I guess you prepared the speech, and prepared many copies, but not one Make you feel satisfied. In Baal, you hold all positions, political, military, and religious leaders, but you have not played such a role."

He took a breath, leaving the angel some time to think and breathe, and then continued: "You will face your heirs, and not just your heirs."

"They are a failed legion that has repeatedly hit the wall, although they have never lived up to the Emperor's duty. They shed blood in desperate wars, and in the end because of their brutal mission of destruction, they had to be cut up and disorganized by the Ministry of War."

"They lacked guns and ammunition, and had to serve behind other flawless legions, like expelled ghosts. No one wanted to fight alongside the Immortal Nine, which caused them to lose their friendship with the Empire and their cousins, and even The love for oneself is just relying on the inherent will and command, like a stubborn beast, to survive those unlucky sufferings without any purpose. "

"But they are still a copy of you, a shrunken, countless, scarred version of Sanguinius. They share a similar appearance and a similar essence to you. The way they look at you is exactly the same. It’s the tens of thousands of rays of light that are reflected and split when you look at yourself in the mirror.”

He paused for a moment, blinked, and completed his conclusion: "So, what I mean is, you will have similar eyes, and they will definitely be more nervous than you, so that they won't notice that you are also nervous."

The gap caused by the conclusion made Sanguinius feel a sudden light in his heart. He laughed and cursed: "What kind of consolation is this!"

"I think I'm pretty successful," Horus said frankly. "But you just need to believe this, that is, when you meet them, the answer will appear naturally. On the throne, even Mortarion, who is not good at words, successfully completed the meeting with the Twilight Raiders not long ago. By the way, Rename them Death Guard."

"How did he do it?" Sanguinius asked.

"I was rushing towards you at the time and was not present. However, I heard that he relied on his knowledge of chemistry to develop a drink similar in quality to Barbarus poison wine, and then distributed it everywhere during the first meeting ceremony."

"Sounds a lot like what I would do."

"I don't think you are the kind of person who would poison wine," Horus touched his head. "Anyway, the Emperor told me that he wanted you to stay with me for three years first, but you turned him down, saying you wanted to see your Legion now - and when I brought the news to them, you I can’t imagine how surprised they were.”

Horus paused for a moment and continued to ask: "So, will you allow the Luna Wolves to fight side by side with your legion for three years?"

"Why not?" Sanguinius said, smiling. "I can think of no greater honor. But let me meet my warriors first."

He raised his head and glanced out the window, "Start early, I don't want them to still be standing outside at night."