Emperor's Dark Past

Guilliman regained his composure, though the food dampened by his tears was no longer fit to eat. Euten, overjoyed at having gained a son, also left the table to rest.

As a guest, Hogg was invited by Guilliman to soak in the hot springs; after the recent "reunion," the bond between the two had grown significantly closer.

Sipping fruit wine, the two continued their conversation until Guilliman suddenly asked about the purpose of Hogg's visit.

"My main reason for coming is to ask for a hand! Guilliman—ah, no, my dear brother. You might not know this, but the Alicia Sector I manage is sparsely populated, and the Space Marine numbers in Blackwatch are far too low. It's nothing like your situation! You have the 500 Worlds as a logistics base to support your Legion."

What the hell is a 'Guilliman'? Don't think I didn't hear that! The ever-composed Guilliman grumbled internally.

"Are you suggesting you want to recruit from Macragge?"

"Is that possible?" Hogg asked, eyes wide and pleading as he looked at Guilliman.

"No. Don't look at me like that. While the area around Macragge is off-limits, I can grant you a territory—a sub-sector near Alicia. Though it consists entirely of Death Worlds, the humans there are incredibly resilient, enough to sustain the recruitment needs of a Legion."

With his eidetic memory, Guilliman recalled the reports on that sector. While it fell within the sphere of influence of Macragge, it was too remote and held no special value. Ceding it to Hogg would cost him nothing and would only serve to deepen the friendship between their two Legions.

Having secured what he wanted, Hogg was delighted, and as they chatted, the conversation drifted off course.

"Hogg, you mentioned earlier that every Primarch has a special ability. How did you know that?"

"Good question! I'm actually a bit different from you lot. I was born way back in the 3K era, but then I kicked the bucket, only to be remade as a Primarch by our Father. That's why I know Emperor so well; we were practically brothers!"

"Brothers?"

Guilliman expressed his skepticism. Based on his observations over this period, he had figured out what kind of person Hogg was: a total goofball who, while not malicious, was always prone to pranks.

Guilliman's expression practically screamed doubt, which annoyed Hogg.

"I'm not making this up! Don't let Emperor's cold, aloof exterior fool you. He's actually a total shut-in experimenter. And let me tell you—don't tell anyone else, this is Emperor's little secret."

Gossip is human nature, and given that it concerned his own father's secrets, Guilliman felt a surge of excitement and leaned in closer to Hogg to get the full story.

After carefully checking that no one was nearby, Hogg began to recount the dark history of Emperor: "In an ancient city-state on Old Terra—a place with a style much like Macragge—Emperor once disguised himself as a woman and engaged in [REDACTED] within the city..."

"What? [REDACTED]?" Guilliman couldn't believe his ears; this completely shattered his worldview.

"Don't doubt it. Emperor really did [REDACTED] on Old Terra, and there's even more shocking stuff."

"There's more?"

Checking the surroundings once more to ensure privacy, Hogg continued his exposé. "You know the Sigillite, Malcador, right? He looks like an old geezer who'd drop dead from a single blow, but he's actually a Perpetual, and his true form is a little boy. The reason he's so fiercely loyal to Emperor is because, back in the day, Emperor..."

"BOOM!!!"

A violent psychic surge erupted in the void. Hogg, who had been mid-sentence, was blasted directly into the ground by a golden light, his words cut short by the massive explosion.

Staring at the crater where magma was now bubbling up, Guilliman swallowed hard, feeling nervous for the first time. I could have died! Even as a Primarch, I would have died! I was a hair's breadth away from saying goodbye to this world.

Guilliman was now certain that what Hogg said must be true; after all, that golden radiance was unmistakably his father's psychic power.

The massive golden explosion startled Lady Euten, who had been preparing to rest. She arrived with a crowd of Ultramarines to find Guilliman sitting aimlessly beside a pool of magma.

"Child! What happened? Where is Hogg? Why is there a pool of magma here?"

"Hogg?... Yes, Hogg is inside this hole."

Regaining his senses, Guilliman immediately called for help. The efficiency of the Ultramarines reached its highest mobilization speed since the Legion's founding; numerous machines were airlifted into the courtyard, and drills began boring into the earth.

"Hogg!!!! Are you still alive? Damn it! Don't you dare die! Your fleet is still in orbit; if you die, I'll never be able to explain this!"

Guilliman was completely at his wit's end. With no other options, he paced back and forth, watching the slow progress of the drills and ordering his scribes to send an urgent message to Blackwatch.

In orbit, the Blackwatch fleet erupted into chaos upon hearing that their Primarch had been attacked and his fate was unknown.

Ginny, the Captain of the Fourth Company on the bridge, let out a furious roar: "That damn Guilliman dared to plot against our Father! Let me down there; I'm going to declare Exterminatus on Macragge!"

The others scrambled to restrain the madwoman. If she actually launched an Exterminatus, the Blackwatch and the Ultramarines would be locked in a war of total annihilation.

At this moment, the level-headed Lynn took command. "All ships, prepare for combat. Warp engines, begin pre-heating. Void shields, full power. Do not fire without my orders. Ginny, get back to your station—someone drag her away!"

"Ross, take the First Company down to Macragge to investigate. Report back immediately. Bring medical teams; prepare for heavy-drop deployment."

"Acknowledged!" Ross received the order and bolted from the bridge, briefing the First Company warriors on the mission as he ran.

Three minutes later, a rain of meteors slammed into Macragge from orbit, accompanied by transport craft carrying Knight Mech units.

"Everyone else, return to your posts and stand by. The rest depends on the intelligence from the surface."

By now, the hot springs had been completely destroyed. Many Ultramarines had taken over the excavation, digging frantically into the soil as more reinforcements were pulled to the site.

Watching the meteors in the sky perform erratic maneuvers, they slammed into the nearby Administrative Hall with a thunderous crash, reducing the building to ruins. Black-armored warriors emerged from the wreckage, weapons leveled at the crowd.

The Space Marines of both sides stood in a tense standoff. Ross stepped forward to face Guilliman, who was still wearing nothing but a bath towel. Removing his helmet, Ross looked at him with bloodshot eyes and demanded an explanation.

"My Lord Primarch, I am Rossmanderson, Captain of the Blackwatch First Company. Where is our Primarch? What happened here?"

Even Guilliman could not rebuke the Blackwatch for their lack of decorum, given their concern and rage. He turned and pointed to the crater. "Hogg is down there. Don't be hasty; he should be fine. This was an accident. I would never plot against my brother."

Before Guilliman could finish, the excavation team encountered a new development. The drill bit was pushed aside by a foreign object, and a massive tremor shook the ground. With a spray of flying debris, a colossal monster burst from the earth. A single, earth-shaking roar revealed the creature's identity to the standoff.

"I KNEW you were spying on me, you yellow-skinned bastard! You really went through with it, didn't you?!" The frenzied monster—Hogg—cursed wildly at the sky.

A mortified Ross wished he could crawl into a hole, but he couldn't. He turned to Guilliman and said, "My Lord Primarch, this is all just a misunderstanding."