Editing Warhammer High (section)

==The Test==

Professor Ahzek Ahriman, former first captain of the Thousand Sons, master of the manipulation of the Great Ocean and now one of the foremost scholarly minds in the Imperium, quietly read through the test on Warp Storms he had planned for that afternoon’s lesson. A long time before he remembered telling a Remembrancer that when the Great Crusade was over, he and his fellow Thousand Sons would retire to write scholarly texts and memoirs and make fine wines. He still made fine wines; his wines were famous across the Imperium even if he hadn’t been back to his groves on Prospero for many years. No, at the personal request of his Primarch he was now a teacher, an instructor for the up and coming minds who would govern the Imperium in the future, and for nineteen of those minds in particular.

He remembered back to that meeting, shortly after the great triumph at Angelus on the very rim of the Galaxy, when the Great Crusade was finally declared over. The Primarchs now had new, more unintended problems to face above and beyond the end of the Emperor’s Crusade. 
“Ahriman, now more than ever we need minds who will train the next generation of leaders, those who will govern my Father’s empire when the memory of the crusade fades from the forefront.”
“My lord, I know the real reason you want me to be teaching there. How is she doing by the way?”

Magnus turned away, and when he spoke again it was with emotions that Ahriman had never thought possible for a primarch to have.
“Have you ever held something in your arms, and found it to be the most precious thing you have ever found, so precious you would willingly lay down your own life to protect it?”
Taken aback, Ahriman answered. “Sir, I wouldn’t know and if I may speak frankly?” 

“Granted.”

“I’m still amazed the Emperor gave you and your brothers such a boon.”
A deep, bass chuckle rolled up from Magnus. “Ahzek, always the one to question. To be honest, I have no idea either. My Father never gave mention of his full designs; I think he may have planned this all along, something to keep us occupied with no more wars to wage. Certainly I think it will do Angron, Mortarion, the Lion and Kurze some good to have someone to care for...” 

He stopped, noticing the way Ahriman was staring out over the cold, dead pyramids of Angelus. “If only Ohrmuzd was still here, to see this day. He’d have been so proud of how far we’ve come, how much we’ve done.”
“That dear Ahzek, is why you must teach those to come about what we sacrificed to give them this victory, this perfect new world. They will need to know about the dangers we faced, we still face. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, remember?” That evening, he set out for Prospero with the Legion, and a few months later, set out for the new Scholum built in the shadow of the Imperial Palace that was the last time he had seen many of his friends, Phosis T'kar and Uthizzar. They bade him farewell, T’kar joking about the hell he was about to throw himself into. If only he’d heeded T’kar’s advice…

The bell rang, snapping him out of his reverie. Sighing, he picked up his Hequa staff, a relic of his service in the XV Legion, and began to set the tests down upon the desks. They would be here soon, and he needed to be prepared. He wished he had a bottle of his wine with him, for he feared he’d soon need it. When he had first started, near fifty years ago, he had never expected that it would be such hardship, and when the daughters arrived, it became a whole lot worse. He didn’t regret his choice, he was doing a valuable service and his Primarch was proud of his efforts. But it was still hard work, and dealing with the nineteen was always an adventure…

A second bell sang out, and a few seconds later the doors slammed open as the students came in. he noticed Miranda giving him a little smile as she entered. Just like her father, that one. They got on very well together, she often staying long after school to learn from Ahriman’s personal library, or else hear tales of her father’s exploits in the Great Crusade. If there was one he was truly fond of, it was her. 
Behind her was Roberta, another top student and the very epitome of her father, the great Roboute. Fortunately she never inherited his somewhat inflated ego, preferring to help, not to lead. The true leader walked in next, looking somewhat relieved. Ahriman didn’t blame her. Isis had a bad habit of coming in late to too many of his lessons, infuriating not only him but also her father. Ever since that incident when he was wounded on Davin, he tried to ensure that everyone knew about the dangers of the Great Ocean, and he invested heavily in his daughter. Isis was very much like her father, charismatic and a natural born leader. Certainly there was a bright future for her.

Old Iron Gloves was next. When it came to the study of the Great Ocean, Farah had several failings in Ahriman’s eyes. Farah was too technical minded, she grasped the mechanics but couldn’t quite grasp the metaphysical impossibilities of the Great Ocean. However she was a good student, and he liked her direct way of doing things.
Behind her was trouble, plain and simple. Furia was nothing but a headache, that one. She was too much like Angron, used her head rather than her brain. Freya was the same, both were the daughters of the most uncultured, vicious of the Emperor’s sons and they inherited that trait in full. He was glad he had Yarrick’s office on line two, for he feared he might need it before the day was out. He was quietly relieved that she didn’t have one of those Fug-awful Cigarettes with her; she knew how he hated the stink of them. She sat down like a drop pod from orbit, and he was surprised the chair still held.

Breezing in, with Petra, Athena and Morticia in tow, her own little circle of fans, for lack of a better word, was Victoria. As beautiful, perfect and vain as her father Fulgrim. To most of the girls, she appeared to be cruel and cold hearted. But he could see past the façade, and knew that deep down inside her was a part of her she shielded from plain sight, a piece of her only her father and Grandfather ever got to see. If the others knew what he knew, they wouldn’t be so quick to judge.
More and more flowed in. Angela, Venus, Athena and Lyra joining the expanding class. Two pale, dark haired females came in joking to one another. Cora and Kiara. Those two were practically inseparable, the two almost mirroring each other with their, what was the term? Emo, a strange phrase if ever there was one, behaviour. He didn’t quite understand what it was all supposed to mean, but he didn’t try to anyway. You could understand more about the Great Ocean than you ever could about females of their age.

Finally everyone was in place, and Ahriman addressed them.
“Right. Before we begin, I must block off the room from the Waaarp, so none of you will try cheating again.’ As he said that he stared straight at Furia, who returned his stare with one of angry amusement. The last time he had been forced to call upon the Great Ocean to keep her from starting a fight. That had got him a very angry message from Angron, and he’d rather not ever get another one of those. “If you please…”
He hefted his Hequa staff and began a complex series of movements, chanting the higher ennumerations as he did. A psychic block to prevent any form of cheating. He still felt slightly miffed that his powers which once smote enemies all across the galaxy from Aghoru to Heliosa were now reduced to this. However he had to smile as the students watched his every move with astonishment. Even Furia couldn’t take her eyes off his fluid movements.

Finally he finished, and hefting his Hequa Staff, he addressed them.
“Now Class, as you all should know today we have our test on the effects of Waaarp Storms on Realspace.” 
A slight smile crossed his face as he saw Cora’s discomfort. Once again he felt glad that he still wore his helmet, although he suspected Miranda knew exactly what he was doing.
“I trust that you have all studied long and hard.” Yes, rub it in why don’t you. “Now begin!”
Inwardly he cringed. He could never get used to the term ‘Warp’. It felt like an artificial word that could not contain the true majesty and mystery of the Great Ocean.

For nearly an hour there was nothing but silence, along with the scratching of mnemo-quills. For once, everything went well, no hint of cheating, tampering or trying to worm out of it. Even Furia was busy staring furiously at her paper as the mnemo-quill tore across it with lightning speed. After his latest report to her father, Furia was actually doing some work for a change, her slipping grades taking a turn for the better. Ahriman could only guess at the confrontation that must have happened between Angron and Furia, and even that guess made him wince.
Already Miranda sat back, a small smile on her face and her test completed before her. Ahriman didn’t need to check to know that she would get yet another A+ from him.
A few minutes later both Isis and Roberta were also done, and one by one the others finished. As the clock ticked on the final few still yet to finish became more and more worried, Cora and Morticia in particular.
Finally the bell rang, and straight away the silence was shattered by the scraping of chairs and rustling of paper as everyone hastily packed up and exited. Cora scribbled down several last second sentences before exiting with Kiara. He hoped for her sake those final sentences would boost her score a bit.

As she left, Miranda looked at him, and words bred inside his mind, asking if he was staying late that evening. He shook his head regretfully. Replying in the same manner, he told her he now had thirty tests to mark, and that would take all night. However he was free tomorrow and he had finally found his untranslated copy of a book on Enuncia, the ancient language of magic. What he didn’t tell her was that her father had given it to him after Angelus as a going away present. She waved at him as she left, and his heart soared. He now understood somewhat about what his Primarch had meant that cold day on Angelus, as the celebratory fires burned into the night, and the Crusade faded into history.

Once everyone had gone, he began to type out his report on the lesson, knowing that his master and his brothers read the reports regularly, keeping tabs on their daughter’s behaviors even when they were offworld. And many of them were offworld. Angron was wiping out a Greenskin Waaagh!, Mortarion was training a new levy of troops on Barbarus and the Warmaster was engaged in trade talks with the Interex, a race he had established contact with near the end of the Great Crusade. Finally he finished, picked up his Hequa Staff and books and turned to leave. As he left he turned and smiled as an idea came unbidden into his mind. If he truly wanted to teach them about the Great Ocean, why shouldn’t he show them first-hand its true face, the true danger and beauty facing them? Mulling over that thought and how he could make it work, he left the room in darkness.