Pallas Eugenesis
| Pallas Eugenesis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Title/Honours |
Mother of Heresy, Eclipse Queen of Luna, Self-proclaimed Gene-Empress of Mankind |
| Discovered (world) |
Luna |
| Discovered (period) |
late 8th Century, Thirtieth Millenium |
| Legion | |
| Great Crusade Command |
Advisor to Hektor Cincinnatus |
| Heraldry/Sigil |
|
| Distinguishing Traits |
Brilliant gene-wright |
| Flaws |
Vain, superficial |
| Horus Heresy role |
Pledges her aid to Hektor |
| Disposition |
Abandons the Siege of Terra and flees to the Eye of Terror |
This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.
You are the moon to my sun. Our union was foreshadowed by all of man's struggles to date; the long rise from a bestial state, the crafting of the first tools, the founding of what previously passed for golden ages. Now that we are finally together, humanity's true day can begin - and we shall be the heralds of its dawn!
- excerpt from Hektor Cincinnatus' wedding vows
Pallas Eugenesis was a genetically-engineered super-being who swore loyalty to the Imperium toward the end of the Unification Wars. She was particularly associated with the First Legion through her political marriage to their Primarch, Hektor Cincinnatus. Pallas was a brilliant geneticist and contributed her skills to the creation of the great Space Marine Legions of the Great Crusade. Her skills would also help to destroy the Loyalist Legions during the Hektor Heresy.
Early Life
To many of Luna's gene-wrights, Pallas Eugenesis was the pinnacle of their art. She embodied centuries of experimentation. As she matured, many of the gene-cultists pledged their lives to Pallas Eugenesis, seeing her as a living goddess. However, fractious Luna could not be united peacefully, and the Eclipse Queen (as she would be styled) would spend decades leading her armies against rival cults. Pallas also feuded with the warlords of Mars. The Magos Biologis Lyster Larrey sacrificed much to raid her gene-forges, but along with a bounty of gene-wrights and data-slates his forces also brought the crafty shape-shifting assassin Delphana to Mars. Pallas's agent would spend several years in deep cover on the Red Planet, copying Larrey's research and sending the fruits of his labour back to Luna. And so it went in the Age of Strife - petty lords exchanged petty insults and attacks.
The stalemate broke with the emergence of the Emperor of Mankind as the immminent unifier of Terra. Luna's warring factions did not mistake the implications: once the Emperor had finished on earth, he meant to claim the rest of the Solar System one way or another. In response, the Selenars set aside their differences and allied against the off-worlder. Initially, however, the Emperor sent only envoys, seeking to make a pact with Luna in the name of uniting the human race. Like the other gene-lords, Pallas Eugenesis rejected subordination to the Terran upstart. However, she was intrigued by an off-hand mention of the Emperor's genetically-created son and general, Hektor Cincinnatus.
Dispatching one of her agents to Terra was not easy, but Pallas was accustomed to having her will served. Delphana delivered a message signalling the Eclipse Queen's willingness to negotiate with Hektor Cincinnatus personally. The Primarch left Pallas waiting for a short time, but it cannot be said that he disappointed her. On first sight of Hektor, Pallas was awed by the gene-craft that had wrought him. She understood immediately that to harm such a perfected creature would be blasphemous, a far greater sin than abandoning her new-found allies on Luna. Although the talks were tense, the Hektor and Pallas found a certain pleasure in one another's company. Neither had spent time with any creature that could rightly be considered a peer before and the simple novelty of being understood kindled feelings of friendship. Seeing Hektor as someone she could work with and eager to maximise her gains, the Eclipse Queen proposed to make alliance with the Emperor. The price for her loyalty was Hektor joining her in political wedding - a symbol of the unity between the peoples of Luna and Terra. Once Hektor's reservations about the nature of the marriage were answered, the Primarch gave his assent, conditional on the Emperor's approval.
With the assistance of Pallas and her followers, the gates of Luna were opened and Hektor's Space Marines quickly conquered the satellite. The Primarch's First Legion secured Pallas's own territories, protecting her vassals from the vengeance of the other Selenar rulers. Meanwhile the Second Legion and Tenth Legion deployed and attacked. Though some of the defenders held out stoically, the matter had already decided. Pallas Eugenesis travelled to Terra to be crowned as the sole ruler of Luna by the man who would become her father-in-law and master, the Emperor of Mankind. The coronation was a brief, perfunctory affair, carried out with a small audience of clerks and notaries. Hektor Cincinnatus' absence was glaringly obvious, even if "the demands of our military efforts precluded his attendance". The Emperor spoke sparingly to Pallas. He was grateful to her for finally negotiating with the Imperium and impressed upon her the significance of Luna's genetic resources for His plans. When pressed, the Emperor conceded that he would honour the marriage pact once the unification of Terra had been completed, then insisted that He had to return His attention to that great work.
Sun and Moon
Following her coronation, Pallas returned to her domain and set to work organising Luna's genetic laboratories for the production of Space Marine gene-seed and bringing the world into compliance with the Imperial Truth. Many of her followers found it difficult to refer to the Eclipse Queen as merely a scientifically superior being, endowed with great abilities but not a focus of veneration. Pallas showed great patience with these apostates, shielding them from Imperial Iterators until they had time to come to terms with the new reality. She was also vigorous in supervising civil reconstruction efforts as Luna recovered from its long civil war and the damage incurred during Pacification. Perhaps her greatest scientific achievement in this period was repairing the radiation damaged gene-seed of the Second Legion. This feat earned her considerable prestige among the War Council and the loyalty of the Second's Legion Master, Orend Ymoro.
Yet the Eclipse Queen's dreams went well beyond her homeworld. She saw clearly that her security and influence in the new Imperium of Mankind required the fulfillment of her marriage pact with Hektor Cincinnatus. Carrying out their respective duties had kept the pair apart since their unorthodox engagement, but regular correspondence bridged the physical divide. Although their upbringings were quite different, Pallas and Hektor found certain peripheral common interests. For example, both were highly sensitive to the importance of fashion and appearance, and the primarch was as much an aid to developing his betrothed's wardrobe as she was in establishing the uniforms of his soldiers. But mostly their conversations dwelt upon the banalities of the day and their hopes for a brighter future. Even successes, be they Hektor's military victories or Pallas's scientific breakthroughs, were framed as mere steps on a road to an indefinite but glorious goal.
The Emperor's final victory in the Unification Wars brought that goal one great step closer. All of Terra and Luna celebrated their union in late 798.M30, with the wedding of Hektor Cincinnatus and Pallas Eugenesis the symbolic highlight of the pageantry. With the Emperor presiding, the couple spoke their vows. Hektor was bombastic and hailed the marriage as an historic event in itself. Pallas felt the gaze of her new father-in-law and solemnly pledged her dedication to husband, master, and realm - earning a small smile from the Emperor.
Although the marriage was a political alliance rather than a physical liaison, it still provided Hektor with new sons. The First Legion were granted exclusive tithe-rights to Luna's teeming Hives and under Pallas's supervision the process for creating new Adeptus Astartes was streamlined. Her role in the expansion of the Legions extended the Eclipse Queen's prestige, especially among the veterans of the Sacred Band. As Hektor himself was drawn to the fighting at the edges of the expanding Imperium, Pallas's court at Luna became a locus for influence-brokering among the Legions of the Great Crusade. Those in favour with Pallas Eugenesis could expect to see their Legion's increasing needs for genetic work met swiftly, while those that she disliked often found that "unexpected delays" occurred. Antoine Antonelle and the rump Fifth Legion suffered the most. Although this system of patronage distorted the growth of the Space Marine Legions, the War Council generally looked at the overall picture of success and smiled upon Pallas's work.
Appearance and Personality
Pallas is poison.
- Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence
Her upbringing as a goddess did not incline Pallas Eugenesis to concerns for the well-being of others. Inferiors were to obey her will or be disciplined, often by death or worse. Even among the Primarchs, she only truly respected Johannes Vrach, a fellow genewright. The others were seen as assets or dangers, not people. Despite the affectionate terms she lavished on him, Pallas's infatuation with Hektor lacked a solid basis and she abandoned him at the Siege of Terra. For a time Pallas Eugenesis recognized the Emperor of Mankind as her social better and followed His laws, but she was never a convert to His vision of a united human Empire or the furthering of the Imperial Truth. For all her cynicism and aloofness, Pallas was an asset to the Imperium. Through most of the Great Crusade, she was a willing ally of the Emperor who expected to rise along with him, and a scientific genius whose prodigy greatly accelerated the growth of the Space Marine Legions. The Eclipse Queen's cruelty only rose to the surface after the Hektor Heresy began. She advocated the use of atrocities to disorient the Loyalist cause and carried out chilling experiments on captive Space Marines and mortals alike.
Despite the bitterness of her character, she was a strikingly beautiful and charming creature. Pallas stood much taller than the warriors of the Adeptus Astartes and despite her slender, almost fragile appearance the Eclipse Queen was incredibly strong and resilient. Befitting her style as the monarch of Luna she favoured black and silver schemes, but her sense of fashion was ever-dramatic. Many of the court trends in the Great Crusade era were inspired by Pallas' fancies.