There were literally tens of thousands of Marked who spent downtimes in MMO’s precisely designed to imitate Legionnaire armor and capabilities. They didn’t have the reflexes of true Legionnaires, but that was fine; they were there to generate ideas, new tactics, and strategies for them. The Bulls would line up a few thousand of them to take cracks at battle scenarios, and watch the results, learning from them before setting up their own attacks.

They were often doing that in real time in the Marks, having helpers feeding them all the intel they wanted enthusiastically, like towing along a line of gamers pointing out things of interest, double-checking all the details, presenting ideas, and so forth.

This heavy involvement with ‘normal’ people carried over to the other duties of Thunder Bulls, as I expected them to be able to command normal troops in both tactical and strategic scenarios, and to get experience in both. They routinely rotated in and out of armor, artillery, infantry, and even aviation units, gaining both personal and command experience, in and out of their power armor.

This involvement with normal militaries and even human civilians was basically unprecedented by Imperial Legions. Even at their height, they’d only been dominant over normal human forces, and considered them chaff compared to the full power of a Legionnaire. The natural arrogance this bred had created rifts with normal militaries, who were often leery of Legionnaires, even as they were awed by their power. Basically, the high-ends that were trusted the most were the Coronals, not the Legions.

The Thunder Bulls, however, could work seamlessly with most militaries, even if they weren’t subordinate to them, and could rather quickly all but take direct command of a local military theater if they had to, without much effort... or outright take it with some effort, and maybe a little shooting of the incompetent. Any battlezone that was mired in hidebound incompetency was something to be fixed, not worked around, and if that required shooting a lot of stiff senior officers who were more concerned about propriety and rules and conformity over winning the fight, that was a lot of senior officers who had to be removed.

All hail the Emperor, of course.

The Thunder Bulls still had a long way to grow, of course. They still had battle losses, were still building up and training their new Companies, and were still working closely with the Coronals and Umbrans in their small units, their We’re Not a Real Legion configuration keeping them free of many of the restrictions which bound their brother Legions.

But... they were getting good very quickly, indeed.

There was getting timely information, and there was being able to look out the eyes of someone dozens of light years away in real time to find out the situation. Marked were being seeded in on new worlds basically every day, the Map was growing swiftly and steadily, and we were aware of stuff going on all across the galaxy swifter and faster than the best of the Empire’s astropaths and diviners.

All this meant we had our constant pick of battlezones, and there was no downtime if you didn’t want to have it. Given that everyone knew what Karma did now, and how to apply it, battlezones were now places of opportunity, places to Level, to become Uber, and stepping stones to greatness. Fear? Fear what, a lifetime of irrelevancy and mundanity, when it was all right in front of you if you wanted to work for it?

That infectious energy was the core of the how and why the Markspace worked, the core of Good people that wanted something better and were willing to work for it. Those who just wanted something for themselves, and couldn’t see that contributing to the greater whole also helped them, just couldn’t progress very far, and would forever be relegated down below to the relatively safe and satisfying support positions and mundane jobs, collecting a regular paycheck and knowing they were slowly improving, without all the nasty dangerous shooting stuff.

Too, the Markspace did not differ on high or low born, it was a total meritocracy... which was a big reason why my kids and I were on top, of course. Everyone could see how ridiculously good we were at stuff, we literally were the best people at the jobs... but there was absolutely no way we could do everything, and really, except for the people with Talents in that area, bossing people around en masse was not in our personalities, and accumulating mad wealth and power so we could enjoy it while others starved certainly was not, either.

That said, we needed to command that level of power and wealth to get shit done. However, instead of ripping it away from the lower strata of people, we spread it out and got it cycling through the system faster and faster. Money spurred demand, demand spurred production, production generated money, spurring greater demand spurred greater production which required greater skill and tech levels and required more of the people, who had to Level to meet the challenge.

It was a simple and beneficial loop that the Mekkers flatly shut down because they ignored the ability of organics to improve constantly, relying instead on their own programmed elitism that was static and unchanging.

The Thunder Bulls literally had the best support teams they could imagine. There were Null Psions who could help deal with Psions, there were Sources who could help bend the odds in their favor, there were Psion/Forsaken teams with incredible firepower or healing ability to take on stuff they had problems with, or fix them up or get them out of bad situations; and there was lots of bright shiny stuff for them to try out, see if it worked, and add to arsenals that their Brother Legions hadn’t really changed in millennia.

Their brains now literally were as important as their brawn. It was a remarkable shift.

The fact the Thunder Bulls were active in so many theaters, so effectively, and only getting better had not escaped their notice, especially with the Choral Lions talking about them constantly after they linked up with the Winged Lions, who were also stuck on this side of the Rift.

The Thunder Bulls were getting new toys, a really elite support team, the same level of funding they were, and doing all sorts of fun and crazy stuff that they really wanted to get involved in.

Word was spreading through the Legion system of these Not-A-Battalions, and some serious talk was happening over wondering if rotating some of their own people into such ‘Thunder Companies’ might not be a useful thing to do.

That such Companies might allow a Legion to grow bigger than its mandated size was not lost upon such Captains, although it all hinged on whether the Coronals and Umbrans would allow it. Captain Donnal was quick to inform them that his status was completely dependent on the approval of the Janus Dukes, and in the end his missions were determined by them... but, he also noted on the side, there was usually a whole slew of stuff to pick from that they might address, and the Coronals were not generally people to throw away their troops. Knowing what they were best at was part of what made the whole structure work.

The Lions went out, and then some came back. Soon, Panthers, Tigers, Hawks, Serpents, Eagles, Bears, Rhinos, and Wolves were drifting up in squads, and new Thunder Companies were forming of mixed Legions, generally veterans eager to try out the new shiny stuff and gloat to their battle-brothers about it.

These new Companies organized among themselves, their first challenge being to assemble themselves into viable combined-arms companies, and determine their own focus and the support elements needed to work with them. Never having had to determine their own support companies of mere humans to work with them at their tasks, the various Thunder Companies set to the task with glee, and soon names like Thunder Bolt, Thunder Cloud, Thunder Horse, Thunder Storm, and Thunder Hammer were forming as the Legionnaires of what soon became known as the Thunder Regiment began setting themselves up.

And they were still neither a Legion, nor a Battalion!

Of course, they had to learn how to work with normal human troopers in very skilled and inspiring manner, showing capability, control, speed, and understanding of what their people were capable of, and what avenues their tactical doctrine mandated they be trained in. The arrival of Nulls, Null Shields, and their Psion partners astounded the Legionnaires, who began vying with one another on how to outdo their comrades in cleverness on how to use these assets.

Those Legionnaires too cold of mind and disdainful of mere humans were sent back to their Battalions firmly. The Coronals had no patience for anyone who thought themselves above mere humans, or who disdained psions. Those with cold disregard and willing to spend their people to achieve objectives callously also were soon mustered out and sent back. The Thunder Companies were to come with elite supporting specialists, and Levels meant that these people could be very, very competent at their tasks. A Legionnaire who could not value them appropriately was not worth keeping.

All the Legions had different tactical doctrines, all of which they brought to the Thunder companies. They were actively refined and enhanced with the addition of Forsaken and Psionic support to a degree they had not had before, as well as dedicated companies of human units for their operations.

The local Imperial Marines structure started to shift and alter around the demands and needs of these motile companies. While it was minor, it began to proliferate rapidly. While previously the only human forces the Legionnnaires might work with were those on their Battalion homeworlds, soon specialist units were being drawn up all over the Sector and trained to standards expected of operating directly with Legionnaires, with the elite of those being brought up to join a Thunder Company.

Such men would be among the most elite of the Empire’s soldiers, and among the most active, rotating into war after war with even more regularity than the normal armies of the Empire. Coronals and even Umbrans were often attached directly to each Thunder Company, and the glory and prestige of serving with the foremost defenders of humanity meant there were no lack of volunteers ready to qualify for the status.

Then, and only then, if their hearts showed silver or gold, were they Marked.

-----------

Captain Donnal held up his hand, and the assembled dozen Legionnaires, each from different Legions, gawked at the massive silver mindsword in his hand.

He had been seen wielding an enruned blade of adamant, shining silver, with efficient skill and poise, but they had not imagined at all that he could generate a mindblade!

He waved around the four-foot blade, just so that there would be no mistake to any of them that it was real.

Then he focused, and the Two Suns and Three Stars rose upon it as his psyche aligned, and power fed into it.

Every Legionnaire there knew what a Sun Strike and a Sun Shot portended. Their elite Null underlings and the psions with them made extensive use of them against their harder targets. Such firepower could easily overwhelm the defenses of a Legionnaire’s armor and kill them, and indeed, it had been such power that had finally broken the Traitor Legions long ago. They had been commanding people with such power, and now it turned out Captain Donnal of the Thunder Bulls could do the same?

Normally only the Ministers of the Legions were capable of such feats...

“I was brought into the Legions the same as all of you,” Captain Donnal said calmly. “I was not born with the Emperor’s Gift back then, or I would now be a Minister.” He snapped off his silver mindblade, and then restored it with a flick of his hand. “No, this gift, to the degree that I can use it, is here because we are all of the Emperor’s blood.

“As it was explained to me... the Emperor is the mightiest psion who has ever lived in the human race, an Exemplar of Humanity. Is there any possible way his most precious gift was not passed down to us, his greatest tools in keeping humanity safe?”

The Thunder Bulls captain waited, allowing all these very intelligent and pragmatic men to think all that over. Their faith and blood ties to the Emperor drove all that they were, and like he had, they came to the same conclusion.

“The difference is that we were not Awakened, and for that, we have to thank the Primogenitors.” Hostile looks flashed through the eyes of the men present at the thought of the Emperor’s own sons, going mad and turning to the Warp for power when they realized they could never succeed or exceed their father. Revolting against the Emperor, the Empire, humanity itself, all for jealous envy...

They were the greatest shame of all the Legions. Because of them, the Mentats, the Coronals, and the Umbrans had risen to places of power, and their own status had fallen as a result, both officially and in the hearts of the Empire. While the Legions were greatly respected still, they were no longer revered as once they had been.

“It is for that reason that only you in the room are here today,” Donnal said quietly. “I have been told that all of you have souls that shine silver or gold.” The eyes of the great warriors there blinked in surprise. They were far from unlearned on what the colors of a mindblade meant. “Awakening any and all of you is not difficult to do, if the person knows what they are doing. But those who can do so are very, very leery of allowing those of our brethren with the most ruthless mindsets the Gift, because we, above all, know where that led.”

There were grunts and nods all around. The temptations of the Warp were many, and this kind of power only drew its focus. Someone who had such power would be the subject of much attention.

“Because we were not born with the Gift, but it was given to us, there are strict limitations on what we can do. The manifestation of a mindblade is the most powerful aspect of what can be done... we are fully capable of wielding a mindblade to its maximum power in all aspects.” There were murmurs of anticipation at his words. The Nulls under them and their mindclaws could not do that. It took a full bladeboy or Coronal to fully display the powers of a mindblade.

“We are also capable of using psionic Feats. We are not, however, capable of psionic Techniques or Disciplines. Because we were not born with The Gift, we are not true Psions, but there are a great deal of things we can learn how to do regardless.”

He opened his hand to get rid of his mindblade, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of them, instead of standing. He waved them in closer, and taking the gesture for what it was, the officers of the other Legions scooted up in a circle around him eagerly.

“I’m going to tell you some of the things I have learned to do. There are many more, and given the breadth of humanity, there will always be more discovered. The Nulls and Sources especially are enthusiastic about learning new ways to use a psychic Nimbus without spending psionic power, for they are in the same boat that we are.

“But, before I do that, let me tell you another secret, about the armor we all wear, and the weapons we all wield...”