[3rd POV]
When Furina sees her sons, disappointment is the first thing she feels before anger courses through her body. She is disappointed in the conduct of her sons in war; they are more like feral beasts than an army.
She understands that there will always be innocent people killed in war. That is inevitable. However, it can be minimized. Sadly, what she reads and watches in the recordings of her sons' conduct is something she cannot accept.
They butcher anything that moves. They do not care if they are innocent people running away to surrender or enemies that need to be killed. In their eyes, everyone is nothing more than meat to be butchered.
So, she gathers them together on her new flagship, the Eternal Vigil. She gathers them in the arena where she trains alongside her soldiers. She stands in the middle of the arena, looking at her sons with a frown and an aura of disappointment.
The aura hits the twelve legions like a tsunami, amplified by Furina's innate psychic power, which reveals her true feelings to others. It makes them ashamed and regretful, a regret that comes from their very souls.
"I come here expecting warriors! I expect warriors who fight like warriors are supposed to! However, I see nothing but a bunch of barbarians! Is this the legacy that we will bring to the galaxy?! A sea of blood?! A mountain of skulls?! No! All of you are more than that! All of you are my sons! I expect better, and I will make sure it happens! So, let me show you! Let me show you how warriors fight! Here, right now! I shall take all of you on! All of the leading officers come to the arena in three minutes! I shall be waiting for you!"
And in three minutes, ten figures enter the arena. They are all high-ranking individuals of the 12th Legion, the War Hounds. All of them hold weapons ranging from chain axes to power swords.
All of them look at their Gene Mother and feel an unbelievable pressure emitting from her. Kharn, the newly promoted Equerry and Captain of the 8th Company, can feel his entire body creaking under the invisible pressure of his Gene Mother's release.
Like everyone in the 12th Legion, they are eager to serve their Gene Mother. They have seen what a Primarch does for a legion, and they are eager to meet her. Kharn is among the few who know that this will happen. He knows that his Gene Mother is disappointed in their conduct; he can feel it even before she arrives on Terra.
However, for some reason, he is eager. He is eager to fight his Primarch because he knows it will show her that he is a warrior, not a barbarian. Not only that, but he also knows that this will be a true beginning for them, a rite of passage that turns their legion into something new. Sadly, he also knows that the rite of passage requires the blood of the old people. He might not survive this battle, but he will fight and die happy, knowing that her mother knows he fought her with all his might.
So he musters all his strength and suppresses the shaking. It is something Furina immediately notices, and she nods in appreciation. With a graceful movement, she takes out her two swords and assumes a battle stance.
"I am here not as Furina, Primarch of the 12th Legion! I am here as Furina, the Warrior! Come at me! Show me your warrior spirit, my sons! Prove to me that you are more than barbarians!"
With a roar, she dashes forward. The ten battle-hardened soldiers start to move. They immediately greet her with their usual tactic: attacking without thinking about defense. They think their superhuman power will work against her. It is a mistake.
Furina uses their movement against them. She shows them no mercy. Her sword cleaves through their defense with ease, and blood starts to fly. Every weakness they show her, she exploits, and in their blind rage from being hurt, they open more weaknesses for her.
Only because of one person's timing does a single fighter not fall in the first exchange of combat.
The youngest and supposedly the weakest among them manages to control a small flow of the battle. Kharn does not fight like the others; he fights like a soldier. He controls the engagement and attacks only when needed. He watches and strikes when the opportunity opens up for him. He fights not to kill, but to win the engagement.
However, one person cannot win a battle when the others are consumed by their own bloodlust.
Furina attempts to connect with her sons using her Empath ability. However, what she receives is nothing but bloodlust and the need to kill. Only one of her sons can think for himself, and it truly disappoints her. With a heavy heart, she decides to end this madness.
With a roar of righteous fury, she charges forward and swings her sword. She ensures Kharn cannot interfere with her attack by striking him first, then immediately switching targets. With a swift and fluid motion, her sword meets its target and takes the head of the Captain of the 1st Company.
She is not done. With a twist of her body, she dodges two attacks and thrusts her swords at the Captains of the 2nd and 3rd Companies. Her first sword punches through the flesh of the 2nd Captain, and her second sword cleaves through the hand of the 3rd Captain.
With another twist, she swings her sword upward and cuts the 2nd Captain in two.
With a roar, she throws the rest of the fighters away and puts distance between them. Three combatants lie dead, and to her disappointment, the remaining fighters, other than Kharn, do not care about them.
She knows that sadness or emotion can compromise a fighter in battle, but she cannot feel anything other than the bloodlust emanating from them. In their minds, their comrades are nothing but more bodies to step over. This is not what she wants for her sons. She wants them to feel emotions other than bloodlust. That is what makes a warrior; it is having emotion and knowing how to control it. A fighter without emotion is nothing more than a machine. They are no longer warriors, but rather machines. She does not need machines in her Legion.
She can feel Kharn's sadness and anger at his fellow Captains' stupidity, and that is enough for her to know that he cares and is a proper warrior. In her mind, he is the only person who deserves the title. She makes up her mind; it is time to end the fight.
Just like that, Furina decides to go all out. Her body becomes a blur of red and gold. Each time she moves, a mist of blood appears. All the fighters struggle from the beginning, and now they are completely overwhelmed. The instincts of the Astartes that allow them to butcher their enemies do not work against a Primarch at full power. Even their superhuman strength cannot handle what Furina gives them. Their instincts cannot comprehend the speed she shows them; their bodies are barely able to block or dodge, and even that lasts only a moment.
Slowly but surely, they are overwhelmed and killed one by one. Blood and gore are all that remain. In a matter of three minutes, Furina kills all nine Captains who were supposedly the strongest among the War Hounds.
Kharn, panting on the ground, looks up and sees something that mesmerizes him. Instead of fear, he feels something surge from his soul. The image before him is the pinnacle of beauty. There, Furina is surrounded by blood, looking at him with proud eyes. In his mind, she is not a butcher, but a Red Angel.
"Stand up, Warrior! Out of the nine, you are the most worthy of the title. From now on, you are my Equerry and the 1st Captain of the Legion. Tell me your name, Warrior!"
With a new surge of power, Kharn stands up and gives his Gene Mother a proper salute.
"My name is Kharn, My Primarch!"
"Then Kharn! I welcome you to my legion!"
"Yes!"
== Line Break ==
While Furina is busy reorganizing her legion and building it from the ground up, Kassandra walks through the dark streets of Terra. She has individuals to approach, namely, those who share her genes.
The Eighth Legion is in the field, not quite socializing but present in accordance with diplomatic exchanges, at least half of all those currently alive. There is an irregular number in the field, indicating battlefield losses or other circumstances she is not quite aware of.
She sees her legion in her visions. She even receives answers to all her questions through them.
They are recruited from the children of Terran prisoners, among darkness, death, and suffering. They are pale and unused to bright light. They are prone to any number of unprofessional habits, and utterly loyal to the one who has raised them up.
They are crude and grim, indulging in drink, smoke, and betting. They are rough in training and demeanor. They aren't particularly pleasant to look upon. The only thing that actually matters is that they are the Eighth Legion. They are hers, and she is content with that.
She walks through the dark corridor, ignoring the watching eyes of her sons who hide in the shadows. She enters a massive, bar-like building where her sons gather. She walks through the messy hall and sits in front of a man she knows as the Legion Master of the Eighth Legion.
The man looks at her, and she can feel that he knows who she is. Their connection is deeper than that of a regular Mother and Son.
She can see he needs time to greet her, but after a few seconds, he is able to speak.
"You stand before the Eighth Legion—chief killers in the service of the Lord Emperor. I am Legion Master Raynor. What business do you have with us?"
She has seen this interaction, and she knows what she needs to do. She gives him a grin, a wide grin that matches the image of a rogue leader. This is the image that allows her to worm her way through their defense and become a proper leader for them. They are still rough around the edges, but she will hone that edge and turn them into a proper blade in the dark that delivers justice.
"I am the Eighth Primarch."
She flares her aura and watches them tense up, ready to fight or at least flee. However, in the next moment, their tension turns into confusion and relief as she takes a massive barrel from her pocket space ring.
"I bring a drink."
Raynor looks at his Primarch for a second before grinning. He shifts the cigar in his mouth and speaks.
"It's about damn time."
The first step to turn her legion into something worthy of her brother is complete.
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