Chapter 581: Dog-men, Danger!
When Hogg said he was leaving, all the Primarchs fell silent. Hogg had always been rather personable, and he enjoyed beating them up for fun, but hearing him say it still filled them with sorrow.
They ignored the high-ranking Imperial officials still waiting outside. They'd already been standing there for a week; a few more days wouldn't kill them. Their good brother mattered more.
After dismissing everyone else, the Emperor sighed. What was coming would come, sooner or later. He'd sensed this day was approaching, but hadn't expected it to arrive so soon.
Leading all his sons, the Emperor took them to a small room. The walls lacked the ever-present gold paint of the Imperial Palace, making it feel like an ordinary home. A crude wall clock ticked and clacked as its gears turned.
When he opened the fridge, Malcador smoothly handed each Primarch a drink: Horus's favorite black tea, Perturabo's beloved Reka Coffee, Dorn's lemonade, wine for the Phoenician and the Angel, milk tea with triple the sugar for Magnus, and, of course, a bottle of Nuka-Cola sealed in a lead case.
Each Primarch got the drink they liked best. As a few genuine Rick Cigarettes were lit, the Emperor spoke:
"Are you really sure you won't stay a little longer? You know I'm your father too. The Imperium is changing. Soon, we'll be able to..."
"I know." Cutting off the Emperor's attempt to persuade him, Hogg continued:
"Every journey leaves me with regrets: the fall of the Dog-man Empire, the deaths of friends, an apprentice waiting in agony for ten thousand years. Even when history's course is inevitable, I still hate that feeling.
"But these past thirty years have been different. They're not a fleeting dream, and they haven't ended halfway through, leaving me