Alpharius

[Apothecary Vaddon]

For those of you trashing the author I suggest you read the book

Best Primarch book written

It would appear he's read and likely talked to Dan Abnett about his take as it feels linked in completely

 

Spoiler comment also contains spoiler from Alpharius

 

In Penitent

 

Valdor is the king in yellow running a pocket dimension massing an army

From Bequins comments about an alpha legion astartes being present with Eisenhorn then two pages on talking to Deathrow who is Alpharius

Is this the Primarch? Sounds like it is

She says twins talking about Alpharius and relates it to herself being cloned

I thought Dan pretty much confirmed it was Alpharius

 

Given he's alive and Omegon is dead as per Alpharius book confirmationing they swapped I felt it was him

Alpharius always lead important ground operations himself so its no surprise he is there himself

Most importantly psykers cannot read his mind

Malcador was unable to read his, Helped teach Alpharius to screen his mind

So Eisenhorn and Ravenor simply think its a general astartes when it's actually Alpharius himself

 

For those who were not aware Alpharius was the first Primarch found and was trained by Malcador

After finding Omegon he switched places with Omegon and lead from the shadows

Omegon led the legion during the heresy

Dorn killed Omegon

Alpharius knew Valdor very early on and it was Alpharius who started the blood games

It's fitting for him to be here in this book

Well done Dan

ngl this was 100% going through my mind. is abnett straight up marionetting everything to lead up to pandaemonium? hot damn.

[Matcap86]

Juist finished this book. Absolutely fantastic. Best book in the primarch series. Gives a unique perspective, ties lots of stories together, feels grounded in the lore. And I am not even an Alpha legion fan!

[b1soul]

This is really REALLY good...up there with (IMO) the best entries of the series, i.e. Palatine Phoenix, Warhawk, Perturabo, Curze, Great Wolf

 

It captures that pragmatism of the Alpha Legion first fleshed out in Abnett's Legion. Depending on your point of view, it's either heartless reptilian scheming for the sake of scheming or noble, self-sacrificing pragmatism that can achieve victory perhaps more humanely than the less subtle methods of many other legions. And neither the AL nor their primaries ever come across as over the top memes.

 

I've never been a huge AL fan but this is just great writing. Mike Brooks is one of the best in the BL stable IMO.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I might be misremembering, but I thought that in the older fluff the AL were criticized for the huge infrastructure damage they caused from a Harrowing due to all the assassinations.

[b1soul]

That happens in some cases, sure.

 

This is written from an early Great Crusade Alpharius' perspective...

 

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this story chronologically only reaches Alpharius finding Omegon and Alpharius/Omegon meeting Horus at latest

 

...so there is room for AL tactics to get more callous and extreme closer to the Heresy and of course, the criticisms are often coming from the AL's fraternal detractors (who often break or raze worlds themselves as well)

[Lucerne]

I mean, given Alpharius started his career by

murdering a custodian

and there's a reference to the Dorn incident that we saw in Praetorian, it's safe to say the sort of thing that annoyed his brothers was already well underway at this point. Assassinations, disruption, and "dishonorable tactics" were always sort of a thing, there was just more and more complaining about them stirred up by Guilliman as time went on. Edited April 14, 2021 by Lucerne

[SkimaskMohawk]

It wasn't so much the dishonorable part, more the sense that from the old fluff guilliman noted that the end result of their attack method left too many civil functionaries dead and disrupted the world too much compared to a faster traditional warfare; it was just inefficient showing off.

 

Now if it's just a classic bias forming a popular in-universe perception I'm fine with that. Guilliman has been hilariously wrong and shown to have bias when commenting on military strategy and tactics like how he views the night lords despite them beating his compliance metrixs according to curze.

[Lucerne]

It wasn't so much the dishonorable part, more the sense that from the old fluff guilliman noted that the end result of their attack method left too many civil functionaries dead and disrupted the world too much compared to a faster traditional warfare; it was just inefficient showing off.

 

Now if it's just a classic bias forming a popular in-universe perception I'm fine with that. Guilliman has been hilariously wrong and shown to have bias when commenting on military strategy and tactics like how he views the night lords despite them beating his compliance metrixs according to curze.

I mean, Guilliman was clearly being a pedant with a bad case of sour grapes there, given the context about wanting to showboat his own tactics and refusing to acknowledge the merits of how the AL handled that invasion, namely minimal casualties to their own. (Also keep in mind that that particular world was always going to be a mess due to the rigid caste system and them having every intent of going down swinging) Dishonorable is an accusation Guiliman and Dorn have thrown at them.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Lucerne

[b1soul]

Judging by what happens in the book itself...

 

The AL's CIA-style operations to back the opposition and/or "destabilize" the target can result in "regime-change" (or whatever objective is desired) with considerably less blood spilled than would have been spilled in a conventional invasion...or result in a failed state torn apart by internal strife, which would require yet another regime-change or a conventional invasion. It all depends on how well the AL manage blowback from their operations.

 

We get a taste of something like this in the book:

 

On one occasion, the AL actually backs local insurrectionists against an Imperial planetary government so that their initial success results in the leaders going public (or at least making themselves easily identifiable by AL operatives). The plan is for AL headhunters to assassinate the leaders before the insurrection mushrooms out of control. The leaders are put down, but the insurrection has caused a lot of pent-up anger among the mostly pro-Imperial general public, despite the insurrectionist leaders having just been quietly eliminated. The public starts to blame the foreign refugee population (huge numbers fleeing from the Rangdans) for damage and violence which was actually perpetrated by the local insurrection: the pro-Imperials just need someone to blame and take out their anger on. The AL have to reveal their presence, stepping in as Imperial Space Marines to avoid a local vs. refugee bloodbath.

 

On another occasion, the AL revive a local planetary insurrection which was successfully suppressed by local planetary authorities (non-Imperial) several decades ago. This is to weaken the planet's ability to resist an incoming Imperial Fists compliance force. Idea is that once pro-government and insurrectionists forces viciously duke it out for a while, normal citizens will just want peace and stability (which the Imperials will offer). That would of course depend on local strife not becoming so total that society at every segment is thrown into chaos and drawn into hatred and bloodshed. The nature of the old insurrection (used as an AL tool this time) and the timing of the IF arrival would be key. It is later revealed that the insurrection revived was Khornate in nature (Alpharius doesn't seem aware of the Chaos connection), with the implication being that this would not help the IF or a productive compliance, as they'd now have to deal with a society in the throes of a revived Khornate blood-cult.

 

Edit: Definitely some thought-provoking real-world analogies to be made here, which I think makes this some great writing

Edited April 15, 2021 by b1soul

[rookie40K]

Several chapters in on audio and so far the book is fantastic. All primarch books I am least interested in are great. Leman, Perturabo, and now Alpharius are all great books, while the primarchs I’m most interested in are not so good.

[godking]

Finished it this morning.

 

Loved it 

 

Minor quible is that Alpharius for all his so called intelligence makes some horrendously bad calls about his fellow primarchs

 

Perturabo humble ?

 

And underestimating Dorn cost him his life.

[Daemon Prince Marbas]

I'm reading all these spoilers and cheesing so hard. Alpharius is officially my new favorite primarch.

[1ncarnadine]

He's his own special kind of jerk and it permeates everything he says. I really like him on a certain level, and at the same time he's kind of insufferable and I want to punch him? It's a tight rope that I think Mike Brooks has walked really well here.

Early on, Malcador seems to suggest they had another role in mind for Alpharius and the XXth..

 

He trailed off, and sighed. "This was not intended to be your destiny, but it is the hand that fate has dealt you. Has dealt us all, in fact."

Something I've wondered is if the original purpose of the Alpha Legion might have been as a sort of Scout Company/Training Operations Legion who mainly focus on strategic wargames, with both Primarchs playing simulations out against each other constantly. It could be said that without his opposite number, Alpharius simply starts playing out wargame exercises on absolutely everyone and everything that he can. Passing as a regular legionary would allow the Primarchs to participate in different roles in their exercizes, and gain experience and perspective without causing that Primarch-level trans-human dread & awe. Ideally, maybe the legionaries of the XXth would have functioned more like tactical advisors and be distributed through the Crusade fleets, thus their inherent decentralized thinking. Think the Mentors but by the Emperor's original design?

The darker take on this is that they would mostly be playing simulations against themselves, Astartes, so maybe they were really meant as more of an anti-Legion secret/military police watchdog in lieu of the Space Wolves? They're both a part of the Trefoil along with the Salamanders, so there's something there. Fun to speculate on, though there's plenty of contrary evidence to these ideas out there too.

[b1soul]

All the primarchs are insufferable to an extent.

 

In this, Alpharius/Omegon actually came across as semi-reasonable...preferring to avoid unnecessary civilian or Astartes fatalities, for example, when he spares and recruits the mortals who sighted Omegon and carries his wounded librarian, later acknowledging his librarian's sacrifice in his very pragmatic way.

 

However, Alpharius/Omegon very much have a preferred style of warfare. They basically practice the modern concept of hybrid war to destabilize enemy states, and have a tendency to insist that this style of warfare will produce results optimal for the Imperium.

 

Brooks also does a good job highlighting Alph's ego, without being too on-the-nose.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Just one thing continuing to bother me...

 

 

Did Horus and the Lion just NEVER compare notes about Alpharius after he (actually Omegon) was "found" by Horus' fleet?

 

Because much earlier, when Alpharius meets the Lion (while pretending to be simply an officer in the Alpha Legion), he tells him "I am Alpharius" with the reasoning that the name would mean nothing to the Lion and so it was one less lie he had to tell in front of a brother who had no small ability to detect untruths. There's no attempt at trying to handwave this away with the idea that the Alpha Legion somehow knows their primarch's name and are using it respectfully until he is actually found. Nope, "Alpharius" to the Lion is simply a member of the Alpha Legion, albeit a high-ranking one.

 

So what does the Lion think later on when the Alpha Legion's primarch shows up and - coincidence of all coincidences - HIS name is actually Alpharius, a fact that the Alpha Legionnaries he had met with years earlier would have had no way of knowing?

 

Does the Lion just assume that Alpharius adopts that name AFTER meeting with his legion? And does he simply never ask Horus what name their brother gave him at the time of their meeting (assuming it must have been something OTHER than Alpharius?)

 

Unless I missed something, this is a glaring indictment of the Lion's intellect, as the second he heard that the primarch of the twentieth had been found and that he called himself Alpharius, he should have been hearing alarm bells going off in his brain and asking himself how it was possible that the primarch shared the same "unique" given name as a low-ranking member of his legion who had never met his primarch or knew what name he would be going by.

 

DID I miss something?

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Lord Nord

[b1soul]

The Lion keeps his thoughts very close to his chest. He likely had his suspicions or even knew that

 

the "Space Marine" trying to parley with him about the Warmaster position was a primarch or something much more than an SM. Note that primarchs have a knack for recognizing their brothers and the Lion is described as being one of the most perceptive among the fraternity.

 

Before that parley, when the Emperor found the Lion and he met some Dark Angel SM (Alpharius was posing as one), the Lion sensed something was off...though we don't know what exactly the Lion suspected.

 

After that parley and after the "discovery" of Alpharius by Horus, the Lion would've come into contact with Alpharius and/or Omegon in their primarch capacities. He could've then again suspected that Alpharius was posing as one of the DA marines shortly after the Lion met the Emperor and as one of the AL marines during the "Warmaster parley" and that Horus' discovery was not really genuine. But the Lion doesn't have to say all of this and let the Alpha Legion know what he suspects.

[Beren]

Another matter is that there's no way that a Primarch was operating with their Legion in secret without the Emperor's permission, and as someone both heavily loyal to the Emperor and with his own tendency to secrecy and byzantine organisation, he may have just assumed he was supposed to keep his mouth shut, or just kept it and his knowledge of the whole war master business as an advantage.

Plus, saying you've been in secret conspiratorial meetings with secret conspiratorial people about obtaining a position of power over other Primarchs may not be the best look.

[Imren]

I just finished the book, I couldn't put it down once I started! It is among top three HH novels/stories I have read (around 20 HH novels, first two SoT and various HH short stories).

 

It is very well written! Definetely worth reading! I find his story unique; Almost all other primarchs are found on some world that the subdue and rule over and then to some extent transfers that world's traditions and culture onto their legion when found by the emperor, so almost all other primarch stories have a common principle of their story outline. But this one fundamentally different in that regard. Love it!

 

Alpharius is depicted in a very sympathic and pragmatic way. He does have a lot of esteem and consideration for his own legionnaires and humans in general, but so lightheartedly kills other imperial elite (custodes and other legion's astartes that guards doors and such), it feels strange that he would just kill custodes and astartes for the sake of passsing a door or hallway, he could just knock them unconscious in a spec-opsy way.

 

A significant amount of 30k novels are way long for their story, many I feel could be cut down by half in lenght, however this one is the only one I felt that should be longer! Then is good but I was abrupt and I feel I wanted more.

 

I think the that the bottom line of Alpharius and his legion is that the emperor don't feel a complete trust in all of his primarchs and their legions, he sees a need for one of them to corvertly be the ear and eyes (and sometimes the little secret ladle that stirs the soup pot of the great crusade) and therefore creates Alpharius wit that that specific gene-seed that makes him the most covert-opsy/psyopsy primarch.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Imren

[mc warhammer]

i think those are all plausible rationale for the lion's take on the situation. if anything

 

it just makes me wonder what alpharius is playing at. if he soft launches himself to the lion years before his orchestrated discovery, why not have omegon just claim the "omegon" to avoid confusion/suspicion relating back to the meeting with the 1st primarch?

 

this might circle back to the original interpretation of the alpha legion psyche: it's not enough to be cleverer than everyone else; they need everyone to know it too. like a serial killer who can't help but leave clues, maybe alpharius wanted to leave this nugget as a nod and a wink to the lion?

 

reading the excerpt from the lion novel, it seems even an standard astartes of the dark angels can feel an uncanny resemblance between "alpharius" and the dark angel primarch. it does seem as though alpharius is being both practical and dangerously flamboyont

Edited April 19, 2021 by mc warhammer

[Imren]

i think those are all plausible rationale for the lion's take on the situation. if anything

 

it just makes me wonder what alpharius is playing at. if he soft launches himself to the lion years before his orchestrated discovery, why not have omegon just claim the "omegon" to avoid confusion/suspicion relating back to the meeting with the 1st primarch?

 

this might circle back to the original interpretation of the alpha legion psyche: it's not enough to be cleverer than everyone else; they need everyone to know it too. like a serial killer who can't help but leave clues, maybe alpharius wanted to leave this nugget as a nod and a wink to the lion?

 

reading the excerpt from the lion novel, it seems even an standard astartes of the dark angels can feel an uncanny resemblance between "alpharius" and the dark angel primarch. it does seem as though alpharius is being both practical and dangerously flamboyont

I think Alpharius (and Omegon) wants themselves to be completetly each other redundancies, really be the same role in two persons. This is extended to their legion, several captains/harrowers are trained to be able to lead the legion themselves as if they themselves where the primarch, hence having the hydra as their symbol (genius, you cut of the head and another grows right back!)

[godking]

We know that the AL stole the genetic material to create space marines and we know that Fabius Bile was able to clone primarchs.

 

A good idea for a future novel set in 40K would be a still alive Alpharius  having struck a deal with Fabius Bile To clone himself/Omegon.

Edited April 19, 2021 by godking

[Petitioner's City]

We know that the AL stole the genetic material to create space marines and we know that Fabius Bile was able to clone primarchs.

 

A good idea for a future novel set in 40K would be a still alive Alpharius  having struck a deal with Fabius Bile To clone himself/Omegon.

 

Alas by posting that story idea @godking it is pretty impossible it will see print, as you could sue the publisher...

Edited April 20, 2021 by Petitioner's City

[Doghouse]

I'm getting near the end now and have really enjoyed the concept of his discovery and a lot of his insights into his brothers as he's always been a favourite of mine.

 

But...

 

There is this little voice in my head telling me this is a first hand account from Alpharius himself, who has told me throughout the story that he is the master of lies and I find myself questioning if any of this is true.

[mc warhammer]

thing is though, this stuff needs to be cleared with the IP gods etc etc so there is at least the intent that some, most or all of it can be taken to be true by the fanbase. while you could argue it's all a lie, the argument that it's all true also has to hold weight or its a totally meaningless work (unless the sum total of the lies reveals some truth about alpharius to the reader).

 

if everything was simply meant to be taken as a lie, you could just go nuts with the writing. no need to get anything approved: "i am alpharius, the lone sister among a fraternity of primarchs".

[b1soul]

The Alpharius entry is essentially an in-universe document by a narrator of questionable reliability. Not that much unlike the Forge World Black Books really...and probably subject to the same level of IP scrutiny, i.e. anything too silly "shall not pass".

It's interesting to note the two versions of the parlay over the Warmaster position in First Legion by Wraight and Alpharius by Brooks (both nicely done). Does this mean Wraight's version is the true one?

First Legion

'Declare yourself,' Arnaid said, blink-clicking an order to the gunnery captains to remain on alert.

 

'A friend,' came the reply, with perhaps a hint of a smile audible in the helm-hidden words.

 

'There are no friends in the void,' said Arnaid, initiating the pre-firing cycle and moving his gauntlet back to his blade-hilt. 'Your final chance.'

 

The hololithic head bowed a fraction. 'Your reputation for bravery is not misplaced,' he replied. 'Even given the odds here, the condition of your ship, I believe you might actually fire. Very well. This is the strike cruiser Perseus, nine weeks out of Raf Deep-Anchor. Forgive the lack of identity - we do not as yet truly have one. The Twentieth Legion will do, if you insist on such things. And as for me, Captain Arnaid of the Forty-Fifth Company of the Eighth Order of the First Legion, you may call me Alpharius.'

 

[First Legion, written from the DA perspective, is more ambiguous regarding who "Alpharius" really is, and involves the character Captain Arnaid of the DA Forty-Fifth Company and his ship, the Nightsward. "Alpharius", without an escort, is brought from his ship (the Perseus) to the Nightsward to the Invincible Reason. 

 

In Alpharius, Arnaid and the Nightsward are not present. Rather, Brooks has an Alpharius and his companions go directly from the Alpha to the Invincible Reason where they are initially met by Holguin]

...

'Tell me why you are here,' said the Lion.

'I bring a ship, containing a company of our finest warriors. There are others coming, all apt to be placed under your command. They will serve faithfully and without question. We have studied your war against the Rangdan, admiring it from afar. The xenos will not prove a surprise to us. Take the offer, and this will be over far more swiftly.' 'A generous gift. It comes from my father, does it?' 'It comes from ourselves. We have a certain… licence, in this, at any rate.' 'There are many Legions fighting in this crusade. No others have offered us help. Why should you?' 'We wish to see the crusade completed.' 'So do all my brothers.' 'We wish to see the Rangdan destroyed.' The Lion's visage hardened. 'Let me advise you a little, ghost,' he said. 'There are those of my esteemed brotherhood who possess warm hearts and ready humours. They are tolerant men, who will listen to the tales of travellers with indulgence, enjoying such discourse just as they enjoy their plays at combat. I am not like them. My heart is not warm, my humours are sour. I have seen my Legion bled to the marrow by this war, and now spend every waking hour striving to preserve what is left. We have killed so many in these charnel-systems that our hands may never be free of the stain of it, so if you value your neck then start speaking the truth - I do not keep this sword at my belt for idle show.' Alpharius' eyelid twitched, just a little. The serene visage frayed at the edges, just a little. But he held his ground, and he held the primarch's gaze.

'You must be Warmaster, my lord,' he said. The word lingered in the shadows, an unfamiliar echo in those grey and sombre halls. 'What do you mean?' the Lion asked, warily. 'The day will come,' said Alpharius. 'The last primarch - ours - will be found, and then this pretence at equality must end. An emperor does not lead his armies once his generals are in the field, and this one will be no different. Do not feign ignorance, my lord, for you cannot be unaware of what has long been talked of among your brothers.' 'You bring danger on yourself, with these words.' 'I merely state what must take place,' Alpharius said. 'You were the first. Your Legion was the greatest and the most numerous. You should be preeminent still, the first choice for the station that must come in time. In conception it was you. It still can be.' 'You speak as if the decision has been made.'

'You are destroying yourself in this war. The Thirteenth Legion is now more numerous for the first time, though its master is a pale shadow of you. If you continue to absorb this rate of attrition, you will never overtake them again. Others have risen in favour, too - the Tenth, the Sixteenth. There is a crown ordained for you, lord, but it is slipping from your fingers [i.e. the upcoming position of Warmaster].'

'And you can restore it to my brow.'

'Yes, if you withdraw your strength now. Let us complete what remains of this task, while you recover your numbers. None could doubt your valour for what has already been done. Return to Caliban and build anew, and none will also doubt your right to rule.'

The Lion thought on that. His steep brow furrowed for a moment, and armoured fingers drummed across his knee. 'And you would be kingmaker,' he said.

'No obligation would be placed on you.'

'Then why make the offer?'

Alpharius smiled, in what seemed like almost embarrassment. 'Because we have been created the same way, your people and ours. You know what it is to keep both a promise and a secret. You know what it is to carry the blade on your belt and the one under your cloak. If Guilliman is made master, none of this will survive. That is why.'

The Lion smiled for the first time then, as chilly and hard-edged as any of his gestures. 'One day, if the fates allow, your own primarch will be found. Why not place your hopes in him?'

'We are not what you are.'

'And what are we?'

'The First.'

The Lion did not respond for a moment. He seemed to withdraw into himself, as if those two words were as much a curse as an honour. 'Go, now,' he said, grimly, pulling the cloak a little closer about himself. 'Return to your grey ship and your empty flags. You will have my answer within the hour.'

...

'A Warmaster,' he said, musingly. 'A first among equals. The ghost is no doubt right - something like that will surely come. And, if we persist in fulfilling our oaths here, we damage our chances of taking it. Every creature of temptation, it seems to me, comes out of the shadows bearing words of truth. That is why they are dangerous - we are used to lies, on a world made of them. Only truth imperils the soul.'

'Then, should we…' Arnaid ventured.

The Lion looked back towards him, a flicker of dry amusement lingering on his face. 'Should we what, captain?'

'Should we accept the offer?'

The Lion sat back in the throne. 'The offers change,' he said. 'The answer never does.'

...

[flashback to pre-Imperial Caliban]

The knight dismounts, comes closer. He leans in, like a conspirator. 'Yes, eventually,' he says, softly. 'But while we purge these forests, the other Orders grow more powerful. You know my counsel. Turn aside from the hunt, my liege, just for a season.'

He [the Lion] does not look at the knight. He looks at the people making their way towards the safety of the war-keep. They give no thanks for what is done on their behalf. They were not party to the oaths that bind their protectors, even though their future depends on them. 'We made a promise, brother,' he says.

'You think the others will keep theirs?'

'What does that matter to me?'

'Because this world will one day have a single master. It must be you.'

He starts to walk again, his boots sinking up to the spurs in mud. Every movement is ponderous, freighted with ingrained fatigue.

'Have a care for destiny!' the knight calls out after him. 'An oath can be forgotten. Power cannot.'

He keeps walking.

'Then what do you wish to be known for, my liege?' the knight asks, a final plea. 'When the annals are written, what do you wish them to say of you?'

He keeps walking. He never looks back. 'That I was ever, and only, thus,' he says, tasting the raw, frigid air of another Caliban dawn. 'The hunter. The slayer of beasts.'

Alpharius

'We bring greetings to the Lord of the First, and an offer of aid in his campaign, should he desire it,' I [Alpharius] said.

This was going to be tricky. The Lion would not react kindly to any implication that his performance was unacceptable, or that he required assistance. However, it would be far harder for me to achieve my own objectives if the Dark Angels made it clear they did not wish for us to be anywhere near them. Passing up reinforcements might seem foolish, and indeed almost certainly would have been foolish, but that didn't mean the Lion wouldn't do it if he was approached in the wrong manner.

. . .

[Alpharius (hiding in plain sight) and his escort visit the Invincible Reason]

'So what brings you here, with this offer of assistance?' the Lion demanded. He settled back against a cogitator bank and folded his arms.

'We are newly able to take the field against the Imperium's enemies,' I said. 'We know the rangdan to be vicious foes, although we have not faced them ourselves. How better to serve the Emperor than to help protect and reclaim the worlds that are His, and how better to prove ourselves than by fighting this foe alongside the Angels of Caliban?'

'The Emperor did not send you to me?' the Lion demanded. 'Malcador?'

I shook my head. 'No, lord.' This was true as well, since I had not sought consent from either of them. I thought I could see the line of the Lions questioning, though: he didn't want to be reinforced by order of our father, or of the Sigillite, because he was failing. His ego might be more willing to accept a new force wishing to fight alongside him due to his reputation. Also, since I had suggested that my Legion sought glory by facing the rangdan, this implied that his presence here was itself worthy of glory.

'This is a brutal theatre,' he said, 'and a thankless one. Why begin your legend here, Alpha Legion? Why not strike out for the unconquered stars, and forge your own path?'

I paused, and made a show of looking around the war room at his assembled commanders. 'Permission to speak freely, lord?'

The Lion eyed me carefully once more. 'You are no legionary of mine, to be disciplined by me for speaking out of turn. Unless you intend to besmirch the honour of my Legion in some manner, what might you say that could bring censure from me?' I waited, and the Lion waved a gauntleted hand. 'Permission granted, within the conditions I have already mentioned.'

...
And there it was. Lion El'Jonson wanted glory and recognition, and to be at the forefront of conquest. Pride and duty held him here, not dedication to the welfare of the Imperium as a whole.

'Lord Guilliman's manner of war has brought him success, but it is not one we favour,' I said. This was true as well. 'As a young Legion, we would not wish our development to fall under his hand.' Definitely true. Always seed your lies with as much truth as possible. 'If your victory here was hastened, it could re-establish your pre-eminence amongst the Emperor's sons. Should the mantle of Warmaster then come to you, we would feel more secure in our future.' Truth once more. The Lion's flexible, dynamic approaches to war appealed to me far more than did Guilliman's rigid orthodoxy. I was blending flattery with self-interest, but the self-interest was important. The Lord of the First needed to be convinced that my Legion had a good reason to be proposing this alliance, or he would suspect manipulation, and that could end in a most unpleasant manner.

The Lion neither moved nor spoke. Instead he fixed me with a long gaze, which I held to the degree I thought best given our supposed differences in standing. Even that stare from my brother caused me to question how effective my gift was. Did he see through me? Was he aware of my true nature, and playing his own game with me? I had only had the briefest of interactions with my brothers before now, for precisely this reason. The Lion's spirit was like a candle next to the raging fire of our father's, but he was my equal in many ways, and undoubtedly my superior in some, just as I was in turn superior to him in others. The company of my own warriors was in no way the same as standing face to face with a brother forged from the same genetic alchemy as me.

Finally, the Lord of the First nodded. 'Very well. I accept your offer. The Alpha Legion is hereby considered part of the Third Rangdan War. I will require comprehensive information regarding your capabilities, supply situation and manpower.'

'You will have it, lord,' I replied, with another bow.

Edited April 22, 2021 by b1soul