After the premiere of Hamlet, the Grand Theater went dark for a time.
As the stage was prepared for the next performance, the nobles left the magnificent theater, still savoring the experience, after the two Primarchs had departed.
Kozubal said to Yelena Kournikova, the Chancellor of Vostroya's cabinet.
"I never imagined the Monarch would have such artistic talent. If not for Lord Perturabo's visit, we would never have seen this masterpiece from a bygone age."
Yelena's hair was grey. Even with life-extending treatments, she was inevitably aging.
"The whole Imperium says Lord Fulgrim is a true artist."
"The Monarch is his equal. Paradigm City is a perfectly planned, symmetrical city."
"Shadowhold is an asymmetrical, unrestrained, unbounded work of art. Few know how to appreciate it."
As the nobles marveled at the Grand Theater and the unforgettable performance, in the palace at the hive's top, a unique soup made from beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, and cream from Terrican was served as an appetizer.
Dishes from other worlds followed: raw whale from the Symphony of the Sea, Ovjan steak from Attila...
After a glass of White Vosvoth, his mouth tingling, Perturabo spoke.
"The redesigned and rebuilt stasis device I made for you has arrived at your starport."
Nareth raised his glass to Perturabo.
"Perturabo, I thank you. With your creation, I can counter the Hrud's entropic fields."
"The Hrud's distortion effect is strange. It can age an Astartes." Perturabo said with feeling.
"No one knows you are fighting such a powerful xenos race, waging a difficult war in silence."
In the past, at war councils, Perturabo had always heard Father praise Nareth, while he was rarely mentioned.
Now, he understood. Nareth's Legion not only completed the many campaigns Father assigned them, but also fought hard, silent battles unknown to anyone.
'Father, you told Nareth to rest, but how could he stop?'
As Perturabo admired Nareth's loyalty, Arsena's comm buzzed. He answered, listened, then reported to the Black Emperor.
"My Lord, Lord Ferrus Manus's fleet has arrived at the realspace anchor point and is approaching from the Mandeville point."
"The fleet is estimated to reach orbit in three days."
Nareth was surprised. Ferrus had arrived sixteen standard days earlier than expected.
He thought with feeling. 'Ferrus Manus is in a hurry.'
'Hmm, he has always sought perfection. And the way he seeks perfection is through failure.'
'On Medusa, though I beat him in a competition, I didn't defeat him in combat, like the Emperor did.'
He recalled that among the Primarchs Ferrus had challenged, only Rogal Dorn was confirmed to have fought him.
'Ferrus has the Iron Hand, a Void Dragon fragment. Setting me aside, he is the ceiling in physical combat.'
''He shouldn't have lost to Dorn. That means, until now, he hasn't suffered his first defeat.'
'I have defeated Russ. In his mind, I might be able to defeat him.'
'That is, Ferrus Manus eagerly seeks his first defeat!'
As he thought, Perturabo's ice-blue eyes gleamed.
He looked at Nareth, smiling.
"I was planning to leave for the western galaxy, to complete Father's trials."
"Now, I will stay a few more days to witness your battle with Ferrus Manus."
"I believe you will be the victor." He thought of Magnus's words, that Russ had been badly beaten, making it known to his other brothers at the war council. He spoke.
"Only the Purple Phoenix would favor the Gorgon."
Nareth nodded slightly. He knew Ferrus, completely opposite to Fulgrim, who feared failure would shatter his perfection, wouldn't care about losing, nor would he refuse Perturabo's presence as a spectator.
He smiled. "I have prepared many performances for you. Now you have a chance to see them."
Over the next few days, Perturabo watched performances from various worlds in the theater he had designed and Nareth had built.
Besides tragedies and comedies, there were also war dramas.
The noble opera company from Elysia presented Death from Above, the actors descending on special gliders, depicting nobles leading airborne troops in landing operations, defeating Aeldari and human pirates.
The Rogue Trader Lewis von Valancius's company presented a drama about the Coronid New Zone, depicting the Mitu's atrocities and Nareth's epic liberation of hundreds of billions of enslaved people.
What touched Perturabo most were the dramas about his own campaigns: fighting the Squat League with Nareth and Magnus, and fighting the Rangdan with Nareth.
Three standard days later, the Iron Fist entered Vostroya's orbit.
Ferrus Manus stood before the viewport, looking at the moon.
When he had last visited, Vostroya's shipyard had been a modest facility, capable only of building destroyers. Now, it had grown into a massive shipyard capable of constructing Ramillies-class Starforts.
Orbital docks, shipyards, maintenance facilities, and various other structures around Vostroya's moon were linked by a vast space station complex, forming a massive aggregate.
Within the shipyard, the framework, both horizontal and vertical, divided the area into a cross, the nascent form of a Starfort's four quadrants visible.
Workstations, formed by pipes and cables, were scattered throughout. Hundreds-of-meters-long cables connected them like spiderwebs, forming a complex network, suspending attached platforms between the main structures.
'Not as good as top-tier shipyards like Mars or Cypra Mundi, but it can now rival those of most Forge Worlds.' He commented silently.
As he thought, footsteps sounded behind him.
"Gorgon, we will enter Vostroya Prime's orbit in ten minutes."
Gabriel Santar, Captain of the Iron Hands' 1st Company, commander of the Morlocks, the Primarch's bodyguard, of House Avernii, walked to his Primarch and reported.
"I have the auspex scan results from the officer in charge of the Simulus Chamber."
"A Shadows of Order fleet is in orbit, along with a smaller White Scars fleet. The latter must be the Khan Lord Nareth is training, sent by Lord Jaghatai."
"Also, a large Iron Warriors fleet. Lord Perturabo must be at Vostroya."
"I see those iron-grey ships." Ferrus's silver-coin eyes flickered. "He wants to be a spectator."
"Many of my brothers are watching this duel."
Santar recalled that on Medusa, Lord Nareth had bested their father in a competition to excavate technological ruins.
He had fought a golden metal bird in the air.
Many Medusans had witnessed that battle. It had become a legend on Medusa.
Its fame was second only to their father's legendary defeat of the silver dragon, Asirnoth.
Santar clenched his gauntlet and shouted.
"The Gorgon will win!"
.....
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