Angron, realizing he'd been misunderstood, hurriedly tried to explain. "Hogg, it's not like that! Listen to me! I just happened to come across this book."
Looking at Angron, who was still a young man and probably younger than himself, Hogg was understanding. A few unusual hobbies were perfectly normal! It was just puberty. Back in his day, he'd been crazy about attack helicopters. Liking Necrons was nothing out of the ordinary—my foot!!
Never mind the many Eldar under his command. Thanks to his efforts, they'd at least been classified as Abhumans, and besides, they looked pretty much in line with human tastes.
But what was this about Necrons wearing sexy lingerie? They were nothing but hard metal skeletons now. Angron, even if you were a Primarch, you couldn't exactly get it up for metal!
Since Angron was still young, and Hogg was his older brother, Hogg decided to set him straight while he was still a kid.
"Little brother, even though I'm the eleventh-born, an elder brother is as good as a father. Today, I'm going to correct your worldview on Old Man Yellow's behalf and make you a useful member of the Imperium."
With that, Hogg took advantage of his massive size to grab Angron and pull him over, leaving his backside exposed. He pulled out a belt Emilia had prepared for him and brought it down hard.
"Argh!!"
Even as a Primarch, Angron yelped under Hogg's brutal assault. Hogg had been a little frustrated because of his physical condition, but as he whipped the belt until it smoked, he finally got to unwind—and the more he hit, the better he felt.
"Big brother, stop hitting me!! I won't do it again!" With nowhere to run, Angron was nearly in tears from the beating. The commotion drew a crowd, who gathered around to watch the spectacle (#`O′).
Once he'd had enough, Hogg put away the belt, dispersed the crowd, and began laying out his values for Angron.
"Cry! Cry again, and I'll smack you! We still have a while before we get to Terra. You can forget about resting in the meantime—I'm going to put together a packed training schedule for you. We went to all that trouble to save you, not to end up with a pathetic coward who only knows how to run away. You're starting to look like that kid with the Lion in his eyes."
Angron was still a far cry from the butcher he'd become after receiving the Butcher's Nails. He was gentle by nature, but far too gentle. Whenever he faced trouble, he thought about running away. That wouldn't do.
Over the next few days, Angron got a taste of Hogg's less-than-kind side. He'd thought he was finally free of suffering, but instead, he was plunged into a hellish training regimen. And since he'd been able to sense other people's emotions from a young age, he could clearly feel the disappointment coming from Hogg and Guilliman, who arrived later. It left him feeling deeply guilty.
To help Angron improve, Hogg taught him the sciences and how to manage a legion, while Guilliman taught him battlefield command and all kinds of administration.
Hogg had inherited Old Man Yellow's advanced technology and was an expert on the technology of the C'tan Shard. Among the Primarchs, he could be considered a genuine technical talent.
And despite Guilliman's teasing title of "strongest one-on-one fighter," the opponents he faced were all genuine monsters. His combat skills were no joke, and his techniques were first-rate—far beyond what a bruiser like Hogg could match.
Besides, if Angron could learn even a little of Guilliman's administrative skills, he'd be able to build up a decent foundation once he returned to his legion.
The fleet returned to Macragge and rested there for a few days, with Guilliman staying behind. In those final days, Lady Euten was blessed with another son. The Adeptus Custodes, who had been waiting for this moment, began escorting the two Primarchs to Terra.
To avoid disputes, some of the Blackwatch fleet returned to the Alicia Sector. With enough territory under its control, Blackwatch no longer took part in the Great Crusade and began a massive recruitment drive.
On the bridge of the Blacklight, Hogg laid out his plans for the future:
1. Expand the reserve of recruits: recruit on a large scale throughout the sectors under Blackwatch's control, while conducting strict political screening to ensure every soldier was ideologically sound and possessed strong moral character.
2. Improve the integration of the forces: Abhuman (Eldar) units would officially become Blackwatch soldiers, receive standard legion benefits, and be protected by the Imperial Truth and the Emperor's son, Hogg Menethil.
3. Establish Administratum offices throughout the territory. All civil servants would undergo screening, and each locality would set goals based on its circumstances, with performance measured primarily by how well they met them.
4. Install standardized Blackstone Devices on every planet. All technological research would have to take place within areas affected by the Devices, and backup copies of all data would be kept.
Not knowing how long he'd be away, Hogg had drawn up several requirements based on Blackwatch's current situation. Lynn and Cordelia were assigned to manage the army and oversee the recruitment drive.
Tech-Magos Candice Laza would return to oversee the construction of the Blackstone Devices, and work on analyzing and fully understanding the Xenos technology they'd scavenged.
Meanwhile, Yack was told to continue promoting the Blacklight Doctrine. After all, steadfast beliefs were the best defense against the corruption of Chaos—and the doctrine could also attract more Eldar Knife-ears to join him.
Yack immediately declared that Hogg was the only god in his heart. Hogg grabbed him by the collar in exasperation and once again emphasized, "You must never call me a god, under any circumstances."
The Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes escorting the Primarchs was stationed aboard the Blacklight. Looking at the earnest yet easygoing Corn Spirit before him, Hogg was curious. The Custodians who usually accompanied the Emperor were all terribly proud. Even when dealing with a Primarch like Hogg, they were strictly business. This Custodian felt a little different.
Growing more curious, Hogg couldn't help asking, "What's your name?"
"Ah! My lord, this is the first time a Primarch has ever asked my name. I'm honored to tell you that I'm Severus Chris Algenis Farias..."
Listening to the bizarre name, a long string of syllables mixed with numbers and titles, Hogg felt his scalp prickle. He hurriedly cut the Custodian off.
He'd almost forgotten that the Custodians were famous for having long names, containing the story of their lives, their accomplishments, and all sorts of annotations. This was still the era of the 30K Great Crusade. By the future 40K, a Custodian's name could contain thousands of words—long enough to make a short story.
"Stop, stop, stop! Do you have some sort of codename? I can't be expected to memorize that whole string of characters!"
The Captain-General regretfully stopped tormenting Hogg by reciting his name. "You can call me Kitten. That's what the other Custodians call me."
Hearing the Captain-General's title, Hogg rubbed his aching face. Given his long history of taking psychic slaps from the Emperor's Spirit, he had good reason to suspect that the universe he'd ended up in wasn't exactly a normal one.
No wonder Khorne's such an idiot, Hogg muttered under his breath.
"My lord, what did you say?" The Captain-General, Kitten, carried out the Emperor's mission with utmost diligence: escorting the Primarchs back to Holy Terra.
Judging by the responses, everyone seemed to be fine with the story. The only issue was my paragraph breaks and punctuation (`). As they say, if you've made a mistake, stand up straight and take your licks. I'm glad to see readers pointing them out. I posted these chapters from my phone today and adjusted the paragraph breaks a bit. (Д) I'll do my best to make them more enjoyable to read.
Before you continue