Cooling the Fury

The Jade General sat in his command throne, his eyes focused on the void in front of him. In the sea of tumult and fear around him, he was the eye of the storm, completely calm and unperturbed. He filtered out the beeping of the ship and the running of the fleet crew, focusing on one sound. The thunderous stomps heading for the bridge. The crew were already reacting to it, unconsciously trying to get as far from the door as possible.

The door slid open and a golden monster stalked in, the red glow bathing the whole room and a few small cries of terror coming from the crew. The General arose, not bothered by any of this at all.

“General, what do you mean by *this*?” The primarch Theoderaf growled, holding a data slate in his hand. The General did not need to read it to know what was in it.

“Theoderaf, you are overreacting, this was a logical line of philosophical thinking.”

“Logical? To say that the Emperor could be replaced? How many like Father have you met? You do not know him as I do, there is none like him and none who could replace him.” The General could feel Theoderaf holding back the urge to pounce at him, yet still he maintained a calm and relaxed posture.

“Brother, your thinly veiled belief in the divinity of the Emperor does not counter the arguments I…”

“Enough!” shouted Theoderaf, his bodyguards tensing and holding their weapons a little tighter. The Golden Mountains had formed a defensive circle around their Primarch, though the thought of either side attacking the other was anathema to everything they believed. “You have overstepped your bounds, General. The mere talk of replacing the Emperor is treason, and you will desist from mentioning it ever again and go back on your words, or I shall make sure your punishment will be severe.” His eyes burrowed straight into the General, the eyes themselves barely visible through the bright red glow.

The General shook his head. “I will not, brother. The argument exists whether I say it or not. It is a series of logical deductions that do not become untrue if I say that they are. The manner of your arrival tells me that the Emperor did not send you here to chastise me, this is a personal decision on your part. As such, it is you who has overstepped their bounds in assuming the ability to chastise without the command of the Emperor. If the Emperor wishes to counter my arguments, he is free to summon me to Terra and I shall talk the matter through with him. Until that time, I remain fulfilling the commands given to me by the Emperor. I hope, once you have calmed down and seen reason, that our relationship will return to its previous state and we may undertake another campaign together soon.”

Theoderaf ground his teeth, crunching the data slate in his hand as he clenched his fists. The atmosphere in the bridge was like ice, the cracking under the weight of two gods almost audible. He let out a breath.

“I shall contact the Emperor myself, General, and ask for permission to escort you to Terra personally. Until next time.” He stared at the General for one more second, and then turned and walked out of the room. Once all the Red Eyes had left the room, there was a collective breath as the crew and bodyguard relaxed. The General returned to his throne, as Shao Ziruan approached.

“What are your thoughts, Ziruan?”

“Your arguments were logical indeed, my lord. I believe that it will take Theoderaf weeks or months to come to terms with your argument, though he will never agree with you about it.”

“Yes, I agree. He is not a rational creature unfortunately.”