[h3]Kaldun’s Stateroom, After the Trial on the Edict of Tolerance[/h3]

Kaldun slammed the door to his stateroom behind him, only narrowly missing Chandrian as the Astarte hurried into the room behind him. The Primarch was in a fury that was notable, even for him. They would have to do their best to keep it behind closed doors, or as much as they were able too. Chandrian opened the door and spoke to the two Spears that had followed them. “Guard the door, stop anyone you can, alert us to those you can’t.” They nodded their understanding, and Chandrian closed the door and turned to face his Primarch.

Without a word, Kaldun put his fist through the desk that had been left for him and smashed it violently on the ground until it broke in two. If Chandrian had been human, the sudden cacophony of violence would have been startling. As it was, he simply counted how many blows it took for the desk to break in half (Six smashes. It seemed they had built the desk for sturdiness. A pity.) Kaldun threw the one half that remained on his fist towards the wall and kicked the other soon after. The two halves shattered against the wall with a deafening crash.

“I see you’re taking today’s events well.” Chandrian noted, stepping back and to the side slightly. It would be best to get the fury out of the way now, before trying to address anything that had happened during the Trial. Not that there was much to talk about aside from the accusations Eiohsa had made. 

“MONSTERS. BASTARDS!” Kaldun shouted, lightning bolts sparking off of him in fury. They struck against the walls, tearing out chunks and leaving burn marks all along the office. “We knew! We knew what they were all along and we let them get away with this!” He grabbed a chair but it disintegrated in his hands as lightning raced up it from his grip. With an unintelligible growl, he shot out another lightning bolt at the wall, setting the tapestry there alight. 

“Well, [i]we[/i] didn’t let them get away with anything.” Chandrian pointed out, watching another bolt of lightning whisk by. The Lurkers were always a sore spot with Kaldun, and today’s events only threw fuel on the fire. A lot of fuel on the fire. “As soon as you discovered what the Lurkers were, you refused to work with them and actively hindered their attempts at gathering humans for ‘research’ when you were in the same sector.”

“I should have killed Sarghaul as soon as I met him! Then purged his foul spawn from the galaxy! It would have improved the Imperium! It would have saved Eiohsa’s daughters!” The words came out with such fury that for a moment Chandrian was afraid Kaldun would unintentionally ignite the air in front of him. When that, fortunately, did not happen Chandrian simply shook his head. It was a pretty dream, but nothing more than that. 

 “No, you would have gotten yourself and all of your sons killed by the Imperium as they took down the rogue Primarch that killed his brother.” Chandrian realized his mistake almost as soon as the last word left his mouth, but it was too late by then. Kaldun let out another furious shout, more akin to a roar. In a flash, faster than Chandrian could comprehend, the Thunder of Labrys was drawn and flung at the wall next to him. With a thunderous crack it embedded itself almost a foot into the wall, lightning crackling off of it. 

 “That [i]thing[/i] is not my brother! It is a monster that my father should have killed in the cradle!” Kaldun’s voice seemed to shake the room, and another bolt of lightning tore off of him and destroyed a chunk of the wall.  He picked up a piece that landed next to him and threw it back at the wall, sending smoking shards scattering everywhere.  Chandrian nodded, stepping another foot or two away from the embedded spear. Brother had been a poor choice of words, but his point remained the same regardless of Kaldun’s feelings. 

 “Be that as it may, attacking Sarghaul then,” he hurried as he saw an idea enter Kaldun’s furious mind, nipping a problem in the bud. He was too angry to trust with sudden, impulsive ideas. “or [i]now[/i] will only turn the vast majority of the Imperium against us. Even if the Daughters of Iron take our side, that is not a battle we will be able to win without destroying ourselves or crippling the Imperium at large, at a time when we need to keep it together with the Emperor stepping back. As much as we trust Eihosa, we have no [i]solid[/i] evidence that the others are willing to go off of. Patience is required, and [i]then[/i] we can mete out the justice that is so long overdue.”

“And,” he added helpfully, “we stopped them from turning over the Edict of Tolerance. Which not only would have crippled the Imperium and cost a massive amount of resources to enact, it would have crippled the Golden Legion in particular. So it wasn’t all bad news today.” 

Kaldun stood for a few moments, seeming to not have even heard Chandrian,  breathing heavily. Then he let out another bellow of frustration, destroying another part of the room with lightning. Chunks scattered against his armor, smoking from the heat. A few more moments of silence followed before Kaldun had mastered himself enough to speak. When he did, something else had entered his mind. Chandrian could tell.  “Fine. We will wait. For now. But we won’t be idle. What was that planet that had the altered Ogryn?” 

“Trandashar. They had altered the Ogryn so much through cyborgs and chemicals that they were able to put up a fight against the Spears.” Chandrian looked over at the destroyed room before turning his attention back to Kaldun, confused by the question. His Primarch had never cared to think back on former enemies before. They were all the same to Kaldun. “Why?” 

“I want you to have the Golden Legion start carrying a significant number of them, in reserve. In addition, I want the Spears to start studying combat footage of all of our fellow Legions. If anyone asks, we are increasing the combat capability of our Auxilia and hoping to increase the Spears' knowledge by studying other Legions.” Kaldun began to pace back and forth, crushing debris beneath his feet.  Chandrian’s eyebrows rose with concern, and a dawning realization that they were heading into dangerous territory.  as the Golden Conqueror continued to speak. “Also increase the recruitment of the Golden Legion. I want their numbers to increase as fast as possible without sacrificing too much training.” The Primarch continued before Chandrian could interject, waving a hand to stave off any warnings or attempts to divert his mind from this train of thought. 

“Even if we assume that the Lurkers allow the Custodians to search through their den of monstrosities without any trouble, we can’t assume that they’ll just accept the Emperor’s punishment without a fight. I want the Spears to be alert for when the Lurkers try to escape justice, and I do not want them to be unprepared.” 

Kaldun paused, looking over at Chandrian. “Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps Sarghaul is correct, and he has lost control of his spawn and he will allow them to be exterminated as they should be. Perhaps this will all be for nothing more than increasing the combat effectiveness of the Spears. But if I’m not, I don’t want it to be a drawn out battle.”Kaldun clapped his hands on Chandrian’s shoulders. “If they ever tell the history of a Civil War in my Father’s Imperium, it will not be a history of months and years, bloody battles and bitter victories.  It will be a history of days and weeks, swift justice and merciless executions. All because the Golden Spears were ready.” He gave Chandrian a small shake on the shoulders. 


“And we will be ready.”