'Fine work, Emperor's Children!' shouted Eidolon.
As one of Fulgrim's chosen, Eidolon had the honВour 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 the Emperor's Children and the antagonism between them had only grown on the fields of Murder in the war against the megarach-nids.
Despite Tarvitz's reservations, Eidolon carried a powerful natural authority about him, accentuated by magnificent armour with such an overabunВdance 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 had 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 cargo decks of the deep orbital were rapidly cleared of the greenskin dead by the Legion's menials for a portion of the Callinedes battle force to assemble. Tarvitz felt his pulse race at the thought of setting eyes on his beloved primarch once more. It had been too long since the Legion had fought alongside their leader. Hundreds of
Emperor's Children in perfectly dressed ranks stood to attention, a magnificent army in purple and gold.
As magnificent as they were, they were but a poor imitation of the incredible warrior who was father to them all.
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 presВence 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 perВfection 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 have been 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.
A line of heralds, chosen from among the young initiates who were soon to complete their training as Emperor's Children, fanned out in front of Ful-grim, playing a blaring fanfare on their golden trumpets to announce the arrival of the most perВfect warrior in the galaxy. A thunderous roar of applause swelled from the assembled Emperor's Children as they welcomed their primarch back to his Legion.
Fulgrim waited graciously for the applause to die down. More than anything, Tarvitz aspired to be that awesome golden figure in front of them, though he knew he had already been designated as a line officer and nothing more. But Fulgrim's very presence filled him with the promise that he could be so much better if he was only given the chance. His pride in his Legion's prowess caught light as Fulgrim looked over the assembled warriors, and the primarch's dark eyes shone as he acknowledged each and every one of them.
'My brothers,’ called Fulgrim, his voice lilting and golden, 'this day you have shown the accursed greenskin what it means to stand against the ChilВdren 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.
'Commander Eidolon has wrought you into a weapon against which the greenskin had no
defence. Perfection, strength, resolve: these qualiВties are the cutting edge of this Legion and you have shown them all here today. This orbital is in ImpeВrial hands once more, as are the others the greenskins had occupied in the futile hope of fendВing off our invasion.
The time has come to press home this 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 into batВtle with their primarch.
'But most of you, my brothers, will not be there,’ said Fulgrim. The crushing disappointment Tarvitz felt was palpable, for the Legion had been sent to the Callinedes system with the assumption that it would lend its full strength to the destruction of the invading xenos.
'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 63 rd Expedition at the Isstvan system. These are the orders of the Warmaster and of your primarch. Lord CommanВder Eidolon will lead you to Isstvan, and he will act in my stead until I can join you once more,’
Tarvitz glanced at Lucius, unable to read the expression on the swordsman's face at the news of their new orders. Conflicting emotions warred within Tarvitz: aching loss to be parted from his pri-march once more, and excited anticipation at the thought of fighting alongside his comrades in the Sons of Horus.
'Commander, if you please,’ said Fulgrim, gesturВing Eidolon to step forwards.
Eidolon nodded and said, 'The Warmaster has called upon us to aid his Legion in battle once more. He recognises our skills and we welcome this chance to prove our superiority. We are to halt a rebellion in the Isstvan system, but we are not to fight alone. As well as his own Legion, the WarmasВter has seen fit to deploy the Death Guard and World Eaters,’
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 that whenever the Emperor's Children had a chance to prove their skill and artistry, especially to the other Legions, they took it. Fulgrim had turned pride into a virtue, and it drove each warrior of his Legion to heights of excellence that no other could match.
Torgaddon had called it arrogance and on the surВface of Murder Tarvitz had tried to dissuade him of 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 cheerВing. 'Although Isstvan is not far distant, the conditions in the warp have become more diffiВcult, so we must make all haste. The strike cruiser Andronius will leave for Isstvan in four hours. When we arrive, it will be as ambassadors for our Legion, and when the battle is done the WarmasВter will have witnessed war at its most magnificent,’
Eidolon saluted and Fulgrim led the applause before turning and taking his leave.
Tarvitz was stunned. To commit such a force of Astartes was rare and he knew that whatever foe they would face on Isstvan must be mighty indeed. Even the thrill of excitement he felt at this opporВtunity to prove themselves before the Warmaster was tempered by a sudden, nagging sense of unease.
'Four Legions?' asked Lucius, echoing his own thoughts as the squads fell out to make ready for the journey to join the 63rd Expedition. 'For one system? That's absurd!'