Chapter 4:
The Serpent's Bite
Five years ago...
Fabius wanted to die. He had made a mistake when he'd incorporated Vulkan's DNA into his clone body. When he had been on the brink of death, he'd assumed that the regenerative properties of the Primarch of the Salamanders would aid his body and extend his life. If it had worked, he could have incorporated it into the Fabius Clone template. Then there would have been a legion of immortal Fabius clones, having beaten the disease that had threatened to wipe out the Emperor's Children during the Great Crusade. Instead, two things had happen. The first was that he still died before regenerating and it seemed to be happening quicker and quicker. His body would look like it had from before the Great Heresy before degenerating rapidly. The second was that he was a prisoner of the Alpha Legion.
Since his extraction from the Phalanx all those years ago, he had been held captive by Primarch Omegon. In the almost six years of captivity, Fabius had learned much about the Alpha Legion and how he had been fooled 10,000 years ago. All his work on improving the work of the Emperor, his creation of the Terata, the Homo Novus, and the Gland Hounds, had been based on faulty and corrupted data.
"You switched the Primarch Genome Template for the Tainted one... Didn't you," Fabius asked one day after reviewing the data for Omegon's project.
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because we lie. We use people. Our enemies, our allies, everyone. It's what we do."
"But what did you do with it?"
"We used it to sustain our ranks. The Template did contain the Genetic Data of the Alpha Legion. How else would you explain our continued existence to this day?"
"But you swore allegiance to Horus... Or was that a lie as well?"
"Alpharius swore his allegiance to Horus. I swore mine to the Emperor. The Alpha Legion has always been faithful to itself and to the Imperium as a whole."
"So what was the point of your involvement?"
"To make sure Horus won and that in the long run Chaos burnt itself out."
"That makes no sense!"
"You are right. In the end, the Xenos Cabal that recruited us to aid them had based their predictions on faulty data and the belief that they themselves would be above corruption. Such is the arrogance of the old races like the Eldar. They believe themselves to be above the corruption of Chaos, but they are pawns as well as us in the game of the Gods. In the end, Chaos manipulates even the most well-intentioned of us."
"So you struck out on your own?"
"In the end, there have always been two Alpha Legions. The ones that betrayed the Imperium and the ones that have stayed loyal. I stayed loyal until I lost my brother to Rogal Dorn. Then I was forced to become Alpharius."
"I see. So you want me to bring your brother back to life?"
"To an extent. I want a clone. But I want it done to these specifications."
Omegon handed Fabius a data-slate. The Manflayer looked it over for a few seconds before looking back up at the Primarch. "Are you sure?"
"If you use the proper Primarch Genome template then it will. And I will need you to make its mind malleable. I will need you to imprint several layers of conditioning on it."
"Why?"
"You ask a lot of questions, Spider."
"I am a scientist. It's what I do. And don't call me that. Answer the question. What do you want it for?"
The last Primarch of the Alpha Legion looked up at the ceiling of the laboratory Fabius had been held captive in for nearly six years before answering. When he looked back at the Manflayer, Fabius saw many emotions in his eyes. Anger, sadness, hope, and despair. Then he answered.
"Revenge. I want revenge."
Author's Note:
Another short chapter where the oh-so smart Fabius Bile learns that his entire existence was based on a lie. That he had been fooled and his life's work was all for naught. Having finished the Fabius Bile Trilogy a few months ago, I was glad to have the material I needed for Fabius's current status in 40K. Given how pompous Fabius could be about his intelligence, it feels good to write a story where he learned he'd been suckered.
Omegon's character, I find, is a tragic one. He was born half a soul, if you believe the story of Alpharius: Head of the Hydra, and had lost the closest brother he'd ever had. In the end, he's trapped with the knowledge that his path had been decided for him when Rogal Dorn killed Alpharius in Praetorian of Dorn. Now his revenge on Dorn will be complete. Oh... I have plans, dear readers.