Russ truly deserved his reputation as a staunch loyalist. No matter how Mordred tried to sweet-talk him, he refused to get involved in this so-called Second Imperium. Even when Mordred promised to make him Warmaster, he did not budge in the slightest.
He kept saying things like, "You're dragging our brothers into misery. Our Father Emperor isn't even dead yet—how can you commit such treason? The two of us alone can't amount to anything," and so on...
Yet despite saying all that, Roboute Guilliman still signed a whole series of alliance agreements with Mordred. After all, the other side was offering far too much.
After some negotiation, the two ultimately agreed that Atlas would take responsibility for all infrastructure construction across the Fenris system, while guaranteeing the Space Wolves' military supplies until Fenris's independent industrial chain was up and running.
The Space Wolves, meanwhile, were to guarantee fifty years of resource supplies, let Atlas have first pick after conquering planets, share any heretical technology unearthed during their expeditions, and protect Atlas's transport and supply routes.
There were over a hundred agreements of all sizes. What began as a negotiation between two men eventually became a group discussion between two Legions.
It would have been a lie to say Russ did not covet Atlas's prosperity. As a son of Fenris, he had long wanted to improve the harsh living conditions of his homeworld, but he had never had the opportunity.
And it was not just Russ. Nearly every Primarch cared deeply about his homeworld, but very few were actually capable of changing its circumstances.
After all, not everyone was like Guilliman, with the Ultramar 500 Worlds—a nation within a nation, in all but name—at his back, capable of instantly pulling together two hundred thousand Ultra-blueberries as if refreshing NPCs.
Before long,