Relocating the Blackstone Fortress to one of the production worlds, via a Force Storm, Dair positioned in orbit over the world and began repairing the facility. Using cloaking satellites to hide the station from prying eyes, for anyone outside my organization it would look like an ordinary asteroid that had drifted into orbit. Leaving Dair to do his work, I took the stasis chamber planetside to perform the surgery. Having all nonessential personnel vacate the area as a safety precaution, once my handpicked team was ready, I disengaged the stasis field.
"COME HERE AND FIGHT ME, YOU TRAITOROUS PIGS!!", Rogal roared, still believing he was aboard the Sword of Sacrilege, "I REFUSE TO DIE AT THE HANDS OF COWARDS!!"
Thrashing around like a madman, the medical staff backed away, leaving me to handle the situation. Pinning him down, I retracted my helmet and called out to him in a commanding tone to grab his attention.
"Primarch Rogal Dorn, calm yourself immediately! The battle you waged long ago is over; the Imperial Fists decimated the Chaos Fleet.", I proclaimed, looking into his eyes, "Listen to me carefully; several millennia have passed since that battle. You were kept in stasis by the enemy, but you are safe now. Please let us tend to your grievous injuries; I fear your natural regeneration will not keep you alive much longer."
"…Brother Aremus… You are… alive.", Rogal said, calming down as he looked upon me fondly, "Father… missed you dearly…"
"Rest now, Rogal; we can speak at length once your body has healed.", I promised as I put him into a coma with magic.
Allowing himself to fall into a deep slumber, Rogal went limp as his breathing settled down. Transferring him to the operating table, I quickly began removing his armor so the team could start assessing the damage. Using a camera scope to survey his abdominal and chest cavities, all of us were surprised that he was still full of life given his extensive injuries.
"Sir, how would you like us to proceed?", the head surgeon inquired, uncertain where to begin given the wide range of damage.
"Begin by removing the bone fragments and shrapnel first, then prepare artificial bone to replace what is missing or too damaged to repair alone.", I said, "Once both of those steps are completed, I will use healing magic to close the wounds up."
"If I may, Supreme Commander, what is the purpose of us being here? You could very easily handle this operation alone, could you not?", Commander Vaugh asked, with a confused look.
"There will be a briefing on this tomorrow morning, but from here on out we will be working in and out of the Imperium. Their Emperor has requested our assistance in rebuilding his nation; suffice it to say that your division will be quite busy in the coming months.", I chuckled, "Make sure you take detailed notes and document everything. What is learned here today will be shared with future medical team members."
Excited by the prospect of performing complex and intricate surgeries in the future, the medical staff began meticulously operating on Rogal. Using my magic to stabilize the patient as they worked, I silently observed from the sidelines as I took my own notes.
---An Hour Later---
Transferring Rogal to a private room, once the operation was complete, I lifted the spell I placed on him as food was wheeled in for him. Regaining consciousness a few minutes later, the old man blinked his eyes several times before letting out a yawn. Stretching his arms out, it took him a few moments to process everything that had happened. Looking around the room for a moment, when his eyes fell upon me, a faint smirk crept upon his face.
"Either my memory is worse than I thought, or you are not my brother Aremus.", Rogal said, still surprised how similar the two of us looked.
"According to your father, I am Klordius Aremus' blood descendant. Due to a civil war in my nation's past, any information we once had about the Second Legion and him was destroyed during the chaos of war.", I explained, "My name is Victor von Stark; I am a Duke of the Holfort Kingdom."
"So Armus joined Sanguinius in the afterlife…", Rogal stated, with a pained expression.
Looking out the window at the forested area adjacent to the medical center, Rogal let out a remorseful sigh. Aware that Rogal carried a great deal of regret for being unable to save the Emperor or Sanguinius, the realization that his brother Armus was deceased only added to the weight he carried. Giving him some time to collect his thoughts, the Primarch began to speak again a few minutes later.
"You mentioned earlier that my Chapter was successful in destroying the Chaos Fleet we were fighting, but what of their treacherous crusade? Did we repel it?", Rogal asked, watching the local wildlife scurrying around the edge of the woods.
"Yes, and since that First Crusade, Abaddon has led an additional twelve against the Imperium of Man. The most recent crusade led to the Imperium being split in half by an Immaterium rift. I am currently working on a plan to close the rift and make the nation whole again.", I explained, "Lion and Roboute have more details about what has happened while you were in stasis. They are working to inform your Chapter that you are alive and well."
"So I am not the only one still alive then.", Rogal remarked, a hint of relief in his tone, "When can I see my brothers?"
"Recently, Lion has taken to operating solo, so we are having trouble reaching him. As for Roboute, I can arrange a meeting right now via a teleconference call.", I said, dialing Roboute's number.
Broadcasting the call to the television in the room, I engaged the built-in camera so Roboute could see us. Answering the call before the first ring stopped, Roboute immediately began asking me for a status on Rogal. Letting out a hearty laugh, hearing his brother's voice again, Rogal looked like he was about to cry for a moment before hardening his expression.
"Is that Crybaby Roboute I hear?", Rogal asked him, "It will take a lot more than that to kill me!"
"Several thousand years have passed since we last spoke, and this the first thing you have to say to me?", Roboute replied, with a smirk, "While you have been off taking a nap, some of us have been struggling to keep the Imperium intact! When you are back on your feet, I have many projects I need you to start working on."
"How could you say such a thing to your bedridden brother?!", Rogal commented.
"Do not pull that crap with me, Rogal. No injury has ever kept you down for more than a day's time.", Roboute refuted.
Looking at one another, the two men began to laugh heartily as if no time had passed since they last saw each other. Happy that I could bring these brothers back together, I excused myself and began walking toward the door. Wanting to give them some privacy so they could catch up, both asked where I was going when I reached for the handle.
"I assumed the two of you would like some privacy to catch up.", I said.
"There are a lot of things that both Rogal and you need to hear about the Imperium of Man's current state. It would be easier to just tell you both now instead of separately later.", Roboute stated, "So you are aware, Rogal, in our absence the nobility and populace have come to treat father as a deity."
"What utter bullshit is that?! He was vehemently against religion and preached the necessity of following innovation and science!", Rogal spat, "What moron allowed this to happen!?"
"It is a very long story…", Roboute groaned, sinking back into his chair.
Walking back over to my seat, Rogal and I listened to Roboute's explanation intently. Giving us an overview of events that led up to the Emperor being named a God, he then proceeded to tell us everything that was wrong with the current Imperium. Having been unable to vent to anyone else, as he was the one running things, he took this opportunity to vent to us, as we were family. Throwing in his own two cents in every so often, I was honestly looking forward to working with the two men.
---Evening---
Returning home, after a several-hour-long meeting, I let out a sigh as I walked up from my laboratory. Finding my wives in the middle of cooking dinner, everyone ran over to greet me as I entered the space. Giving them all a big hug and kiss on the lips, it was honestly nice to be back with the people I cared most about in the universe. Helping them finish preparing our meal, we sat down to eat together and catch me up to speed.
"We are all now officially Gold Rank bounty hunters!!", Olivia proclaimed, showing me her ID with a proud smile, "By the way, we have a newfound respect for your piloting capabilities, Victor. We tried flying Yamato like you do and nearly crashed her several times. Working as a team, though, we can pilot her almost as well as you do."
"While you can certainly pilot that way, Yamato should be controlled by a single pilot. During high-speed engagements, having multiple people controlling various aspects of her systems can cause problems. Handing off firing controls is one thing, but all the flight systems should be controlled by one person.", I remarked, not wanting my wives to kill themselves out there.
"There are too many gauges and readouts for us to monitor though…", Deirdre pouted.
"Oh dear lord… Did Cleare and Yamato not explain to you that most of that stuff is unnecessary? I like to see it because I like total manual control; you do not need to worry about anything other than monitoring G-forces and speed.", I told them, "Everything else is supposed to be monitored and maintained by the crew."
"Is that why they were looking at us like we were crazy?!", Clarice shouted, slamming her hands on the table, "Why did they not tell us that from the beginning?"
Turning my head to look at Cleare, the AI unit began silently floating away from us. Noticing where my gaze was, Aela, Angelica, Clarice, Deirdre, and Olivia all looked at her with annoyance.
"Cleare, I know it was you. Why did you withhold this information from them?", I pressed her.
Irritated that they had been made to look like fools, the five women leapt out of their chairs and raced after Cleare. Promising to turn her into scrap once they caught her, Cleare just laughed and sped around the house.
"Yeah… I think it would be best not to add more wood to that fire.", Serana giggled, watching them blitz past us, "So anyways, Mother and I have made great progress on our research. While they are preoccupied, let me tell you all about it!"
Listening intently to her update, while Aela, Angelica, Clarice, Deirdre, and Olivia continued to pursue Clear, I was certain that nothing beat being home with my family.