Random Omake in response to the update. Isn't this the way things are done in this thread?
Timeline wise, about right after things settle down from this debacle:
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Adam, after getting an earful from his sons, his best friend, and his wife, of which the last one made his mind still hurt, had finally found peace in a chamber that one of his Marines used for training.
He had asked to be alone, for a moment, to give himself time to meditate about the whole debacle that had happened. He had been reckless; perhaps pulled by the hormones that getting a body once again that wasn't a husk, perhaps pulled by the bloodlust that his Marines had in them, perhaps he had been too used to leading his people at the front.
Regardless, he had been reckless. Also, he had put too much trust in his capabilities that had been too long in lack of use. There were many mistakes that he had made, though he was content that his men he lead had suffered little due to the timely help that the Krork had given them. Thanks to a creature that had once been an anathema, but that was the new age, the new world that he now inhabited. His wife was much the product of this new age as well, for that matter.
Adam stood, taking a stance, his grip on the training sword firm. He swung into motion, a steady dance of blades, confirming the whole slew of skill he had to come back into form. That the Power Sword failed at that moment was worrisome, but in a way it confirmed that he needed to heal more before he would do that level of recklessness again; he had almost died to Horus after all, and indeed that was a painful memory.
He relished the moment as he clove down another imaginary enemy, remembering the long gone past where he was but one man. One powerful man, but still a man.
Still, as he flew across the motions, he felt a presence enter the chamber.
Adam turned to see a Space Marine, clad in a simple cloth alike how Adam was now clad with, holding a training sword. The Space Marine stood firm. While his head was inclined in the manner that showed reverence, his form showed that he had a word to say to the Emperor, even though his sons had said it for them.
Rodrick Wilhelm was the name of the Marine, the High Marshal of the Space Marines as Adam remembered.
Adam heaved a sigh. Too long he had slumbered in his Throne, too long he had suffered in the state of limbo, to have shamed his own Marines in such a manner.
Words were unnecessary. Adam took a stance, facing the Marine, and the Marine understood the motion as he himself took up a stance facing the Emperor.
Adam greeted Rodrick's assault upon his person, facing blow for blow with his own, understanding each and every word that the blows delivered, facing yet again the anger that his people felt of his reckless actions. Yet, a part of him relished such emotions from his people, since they were directed at a Man, not a God, and Adam was once again humbled by his own humanity.
It was good to be human again, in a way. That he could be held responsible for his own actions, not a being that was believed to be always successful in everything. While he knew that the people he sought to protect would never see him that way, and he knew well that if they did he had failed them, but that he could now lower his guard in the way he now did, as he faced the Marine, his own son in one way, in this manner relieved him greatly that he now had flesh of his own again.
Soon, they stood facing each other, neither making a move. They stood, their swords crossing each other, locked in a stasis due to both men exerting their power. But it only held for a moment, as both men disengaged the melee by stepping back.
The Marine bowed deeply, then after kneeling and making the sign of the Aquila, turned to leave the chamber.
Adam saw him leave, again with the Chamber silent beyond his own breath. Again, he was now the Emperor, a symbol of his people, not a Man, in that short moment of action by the Marine. But this time, he welcomed it, for even when he sensed doubt in that Marine, it was eased away by such simple interchange, a crossing of blades.
It hurt his heart to remember that he failed his sons in that manner, leading to the fall from grace that included himself in that fall. A simple heart to heart would have done wonders, perhaps...
Yet Adam looked forward, as he went around to tidy the chamber as was customary, as this was a new age, a new world, an exodus. He would come around and aid his people, then when the time was right, go back to the universe he left with all the might of an angry God, as was the role he now accepted.
He left the Chamber with his resolve firm.
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