Perturabo – Smartest of Equals – Part 11

Title: “The Iron Lord’s Deception: A Tale of Two Primarchs”

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. The setting for this tale is none other than the Warhammer 40,000 universe, where the Iron Lord, Primarch Perturabo of the Iron Warriors, finds himself in a reluctant alliance with his brother, Fulgrim, the Phoenician and Primarch of the Emperor’s Children. While the two primarchs were not known to be close, they shared a unique bond formed from their relentless pursuit of perfection.

Perturabo, a strategic mastermind, initially assumed Fulgrim sought his cooperation in a grand plan to conquer Mars. The planet’s forge cities and the support of the Mechanicum were crucial for Horus, their Warmaster. However, Fulgrim, the enigmatic Phoenix, had a different proposition in mind: a quest for a legendary xenos weapon, Angel Exterminatus. He insisted that this weapon held the power to breathe life into Perturabo’s most ambitious designs.

The Phoenician’s proposal was met with skepticism from Perturabo. Yet, when Fulgrim revealed that the weapon lay within the warp storm, Perturabo’s interest was piqued. He had always been haunted by a terrifying phenomenon known as the Eye of Terror, a vortex so powerful that the stars themselves shifted around it. This warp storm had been a constant presence in his life since his earliest years, appearing in the sky above every world his forces conquered.

And so, their journey led them to the Eye of Terror’s boundary, a place where Perturabo felt the echoes of swallowed worlds and their tragic fall. Their destination was Idris, an ancient Eldar crown world, untouched by the warp storm. Here, Perturabo led a precision bombardment, destroying everything around the Citadel, where the Tomb of Angel Exterminatus was believed to be located.

As they ventured deeper into the Eye of Terror, Perturabo began to notice an unsettling change in Fulgrim. His once vibrant aura was replaced with an eerie, almost deathly glow. Perturabo’s trust in his brother dwindled, but he was determined to see their mission through to its end.

Their path was not without resistance. They were unexpectedly ambushed by numerous Eldar automatons. However, in the midst of battle, Perturabo noticed Fulgrim slipping away. He pursued his brother, descending an endless staircase toward a bright point of light. And then, the shocking revelation – Idris was a hollow planet, its core replaced with a bright sun, and the Angel Exterminatus was nothing but a lie.

The realization of Fulgrim’s deception filled Perturabo with rage. He attempted to strike his brother, only to be brought to his knees by a monstrous word that shattered his mind. The precious stone on the clasp of the cloak gifted by Fulgrim was revealed to be a tool of treachery, draining Perturabo’s strength to fuel Fulgrim’s ascension to godhood.

In this moment of betrayal, Perturabo sought remorse or shame in the eyes of Fulgrim, but found only the insatiable desire for power. In a final act of defiance, Perturabo threw the treacherous stone, symbolically rejecting Fulgrim’s deceit and reclaiming his place in the unforgiving universe of Warhammer 40,000.

Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *