Chapter Text
Perfection
Iterator
What we do best
PERFECTION. THE DEAD greenskins were a testament to it. Deep Orbital DS191 had been conquered in a matchless display of combat, fields of fire overlapping like dancers' fans, squads charging in to slaughter the orks that the guns could not finish. Squad by squad room by room the Emperor's Children had killed their way through the xenos holding the space station with all the handsome perfection of combat that Fulgrim had taught his Legion.
As the warriors of his company despatched any surviving greenskins, Saul Tarvitz removed his helmet and immediately recoiled at the stench. The greenskins had inhabited the orbital for some time and it showed. Fungal growths pulsed on the dark metal struts of the main control centre and crude shrines of weapons, armour and tribal fetishes were piled against the command posts. Above him, the transparent dome of the control centre looked into the void of space.
The Callinedes System, a collection of Imperial Worlds under attack by the greenskins was visible amid the froth of stars. Capturing the orbital was the first step in taking back the Callinedes System from the greenskins, and the Emperor's Children and Iron Hands would soon join forces to storm Callinedes IV
'What a stink,' said a voice behind Tarvitz, and he turned to see Captain Lucius, the finest swordsman of the Emperor's Children. His compatriot's armour was spattered with black and his elegant sword crackled with the blood sizzling down on its blue-hot blade.
'Damned animals, they don't have the sense to roll over and die when you kill them.'
Lucius's face had once been perfectly flawless, an echo of Fulgrim's legion itself, but now, after one too many jibes about how he looked more like a pampered boy than a warrior and the influence of of Serena D'Angelus, Lucius had started to acquire scars, each one uniform and straight in a perfect grid across his face. No enemy blade had etched them into his face, for Lucius was far too sublime a warrior to allow a mere greenskin to damage his perfect face Lucius would not of taken a wound like that by a greenskin so lightly this made it clear to Tarvitz that no ork was of cause of the wounds.
'They're tough, I'll give them that,' agreed Tarvitz.
'They may be tough, but there's no elegance to their fighting,' said Lucius. 'There's no sport on killing them.'
'You sound disappointed.'
'Well of course I am. Aren't you?' asked Lucius jabbing his sword through a dead greenskin and carving a curved pattern on its back. 'How can we achieve ultimate perfection with such poor specimens to better ourselves against?'
'Don't underestimate the greenskins,' said Tarvitz. 'These animals invaded a compliant world and slaughtered all the troops we left to defend it. They have spaceships and weapons we don't understand, and they attack as if war is some kind of religion to them.'
He turned over the closest corpse - a massive brute with skin as tough as gnarled bark. Its violent red eyes open and its undershot maw still grimacing with rage. Only the spread of entrails beneath suggested it was dead at all. Tarvitz could almost feel the jarring of his broadsword as he had plunged it through the creature's midriff and its tremendous strength as it had tried force him on his knees
'You talk about them as if we need to understand them before we can kill them. They're just animals,' said Lucius with a sardonic laugh. 'You think about things too much. That's always been your problem, Saul, and it's why you'll never achieve the dizzying heights I will achieve. Come on, just revel in the kill.'
Tarvitz opened his mouth to respond, but he kept his thoughts to himself as Lord Commander Eidolon strode into the control centre.
'Fine work, Emperor's Children!' shouted Eidolon.
As one of Fulgrim's chosen, Eidolon had the honour of being within the tight circle of officers who surrounded the Primarch and represented the Legion's finest artistry of war. Although it was not bred into him to dislike a fellow Astartes, Tarvitz had little respect for Eidolon. His arrogance did not befit a warrior of Emperor's Children and the antagonism between them had only grown on the fields of Murder in the war against the Megarachnids.
Despite Tarvitz's reservations, Eidolon carried a powerful natural authority about him, accentuated by magnificent armour with such an overabundance of gilding that the purple colours of the legion were barely visible. 'The vermin didn't know what hit them!'
The Emperor's Children cheered in response. It has been a classic victory for the Legion: hard, fast and perfect
The greenskins had been doomed from the start.
'Make ready,' shouted Eidolon, 'to receive your primarch.'
THE PRIMARCH OF the Emperor's Children was awe-inspiring, his face pale and sculpted, framed by a flowing mane of albino-white hair. His very presence was intoxicating and Tarvitz felt a fierce pride fill him at the sight of this incredible, wondrous warrior. Created to echo a facet of war, Fulgrim's art was the pursuit of perfection through battle and he sought it as diligently as an imagist strove for perfection through his picts. One shoulder of his golden armour was worked into a sweeping eagle's wing, the symbol of the Emperor's Children, and the symbolism was a clear statement of Legion pride
The eagle was the Emperor's personal symbol, and he had granted the Emperor's Children alone the right to bear that same heraldry, symbolically proclaiming Fulgrim's warriors as his most adored Legion. Fulgrim wore a golden-hilted sword at his hip, said to be a gift from the Warmaster himself, a clear sign of the bond of brotherhood between them
The officers of the Primarch's inner circle flanked him - Lord Commander Eidolon, Apothecary Fabius, Chaplain Charmosian and the massive dreadnought body of Ancient Rylanor. Even these heroes of the Legion were dwarfed by Fulgrim's physical size and his sheer charisma.
'My sons,' called Fulgrim, his voice lilting and golden, 'this day you have shown the accursed greenskin what it means to stand again the Children of the Emperor!'
More applause rolled around the cargo decks, but Fulgrim spoke over it, his voice easily cutting through the clamour of his warriors.
''The time has come to press this joke attack against the greenskins and liberate the Callinedes System. My brother primarch, Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands and I shall see to it that not a single alien stands upon land claimed in the name of the crusade.'
Expectation was heavy in the air as the Legion waited for the order that would send them to battle with their primarch.
'But most of you, my sons, will not be there,' said Fulgrim. The crushing disappointment Tarvitz felt was palpable, for the Legion had been sent to the Callinedes System to destroy the xenos with full strength.
'The Legion will be divided,' continued Fulgrim, raising his hands to stem the cries of woe and lamentation that his words provoked. 'I will lead a small force to join Ferrus Manus and his Iron Hands at Callinedes IV. The rest of the Legion will rendezvous with the Warmaster's 63rd Expedition at the Isstvan system. These are the orders of the Warmaster and of your primarch. Lord Commander Eidolon will lead you to Isstvan, and he will act in my stead until I can join you once more.'
Tarvitz stared at Lucius, having mixed feelings of reuniting with the XVIth Legion: aching loss to be parted from his primarch and excited anticipation at the thought of fighting alongside the honourable friends of the Legion he had made on Murder.
'Commander if you would please,' said Fulgrim gesturing Eidolon to step forwards
Eidolon nodded and said, 'The Warmaster has called to our Legion for aid in battle once more, he recognises our skills and we welcome this chance to prove our skills further. We are to halt a rebellion in the Isstvan system, but we are not to be alone, we will march with the XIVth and XIIth.
A muttered gasp spread around the cargo bay at the mention of such brutal Legions
Eidolon chuckled. 'I see some of you remember fighting alongside our brother Astartes. We all know what a grim and artless business war becomes in the hands of such men, so I say this is the perfect opportunity to show the Warmaster how the Emperor's chosen fight.'
The legion cheered once more, and Tarvitz knew whenever his fellow Emperor's Children had the opportunity to show how they fight they took the opportunity with utmost importance. Fulgrim had turned pride into a virtue, and it drove each warrior to a new level of perfection. Tarik Torgaddon of the Sons of Horus had called it arrogance on the surface of Murder, Tarvitz tried to dissuade him from that notion, but hearing the boastful cries of the Emperor's Children around him, he wasn't sure that his friend had been wrong after all.
'The Warmaster has requested our presence immediately,' shouted Eidolon through the cheering. 'Although Isstvan is not far distant, the conditions in the warp have become more difficult, so we must make all haste. The strike cruiser Adronius will leave for Isstvan in four hours. When we arrive, it will be as ambassadors for our Legion, and when the battle is done for the Warmaster will have witnessed war at its most magnificent stage!' Eidolon had said in such a tone that everyone present, even Fulgrim himself began to cheer
The Emperor's Children chosen for the meeting with The Warmaster had already prepared themselves among these few were Lord Commander Eidolon, Captain Lucius and Captain Tarvitz accompanied by a squad of Phoenix Terminators. Their elegant Stormbird landed in the bay of the Vengeful Spirit allowing them to begin their way to the Lupercal's Court. Many Sons Of Horus stared at the Emperor's Children, their elegant purple armour was unlike to the sea-green of the XVIth. Tarvitz had noticed a few familiar faces none he could name fully due to the short time on Murder. On the way to the Lupercal's Court Tarvitz looked in awe at the many trophies the Warmaster had claimed in his battles including a weapon from the Megarachnids. Once they had reached Lupercal's Court the Phoenix Terminators stayed by the door and the Lord Commander and two captains entered. Tarvitz first noticed Loken and Tarvitz on the side of Horus with Abaddon and Little Horus on the other, he knew something was going on between the 4 members of the Mournival.
'My Warmaster, Fulgrim has sent me in his place as he is at Callinedes IV to assist the Xth'. Explained Eidolon before anyone was to ask why Fulgrim was not at the war table. 'I see the World Eaters and Death Guard are yet to arrive' muttered Eidolon
'That would be correct, Eidolon,' spoke Horus 'the XIIth and XIVth are yet to arrive to Isstvan. We await them, then we can begin.'
Not long after Eidolon had arrived both Mortarion and Angron made their way towards Lupercal's Court. Mortarion arrived before Angron, the lord of the XIVth was accompanied by two Deathshroud Terminators alongside the captain of the first grand company of the XIVth, Typhon. The silence of Mortarion made his entrance to the war table almost unnoticeable if it wasn't for Typhon's presence. Once Angron arrived, accompanied by the lord of 8th company Khârn the briefing could begin
'Brothers, friends!' spoke Horus in a charismatic tone. 'I ask you here today to join me in the illumination of the people of Isstvan 3, they think they can betray the Emperor without consequence. Soon we shall teach them they can't.'
The surface of the shimmering globe above Horus resolved into continents and oceans, overlaid with the traceries of geophysical features: plains, forests, seas, mountain ranges and cities.
Horus held up his arms, as if supporting the globe from below like some titan from the ancient myths of old Earth.
'This is Isstvan III,' he repeated, 'a world brought into compliance thirteen years ago by the 27th expeditionary force of our brother Corax
'And he wasn't up for the job?' snorted Angron.
Horus shot Angron a dangerous look. 'There was some resistance, yes, but the last elements of the aggressive faction were destroyed by the Raven Guard at the Redarth Valley.'
The battle site f,seed red on the globe, nestled among a mountain range on one of the Isstvan III's northern continents. 'Thw remembrancer order was not yet foisted upon us by the council of Terra, but a substantial civilian contingent was left behind to begin interrogation with the Imperial Truth.
'Are we to assume that the truth didn't take?' asked Eidolon
'Mortarion?' prompted Horus, gesturing to his brother primarch.
'Four months ago the Death Guard received a distress signal from Isstvan III,' said Mortarion. 'It was weak and old. We only received it because one of our supply ships joining the fleet at Arcturan dropped out of the warp for repairs. Given the age of the signal and the time it took for it to be relayed to my command, it is likely that it was sent at least two years ago.'