Chapter Two

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"That which causes us trial shall yield us triumph and that which makes our hearts ache shall fill us with gladness. For the only true happiness is to learn, to advance and to improve. None of this could happen without rejecting error, ignorance and Imperfection. We must pass out of the darkness to reach the light!"

-Primarch Fulgrim, Attainment of Perfection

…

Fulgrim tries not to flinch too hard at the accusing eyes of the Aeldari at the opposite cell of him. Apparently after the "check-up" of the Tech Priests, they label him as an anomaly of some kind and immediately imprisoned him alongside his companion. Of course he could have cut through them, he could have bashed his way out of them and killed them in the process. He did not did any of that however. He swore that he would not be like the original Fulgrim who is currently a Daemon Prince. Murdering innocent Tech Priests who are just a little wary of him and his companion due to the fact that they are indeed anomalies compared to a regular human seemed to be not the very best way of "being different" from the original daemonic mania.

Of course that means suffering the injustice of being in a cell that seems a little bit too cramped especially with the Eldar who is glaring at him accusingly. He has to give it to her, she has patience and he's mentally thankful that she has not gone in a killing spree when the tech priests decide to "imprison" them. He has seen her fight and he knows that she could have cut through them like wheat-stalks. The Tech Priests have graciously thrown their weapons inside with them, the war scythe of the Aeldari and his borrowed ceremonial blade. Thankfully they've also thrown a bodysuit for him to wear. Fulgrim is in every way proud of his physique, perfection as far as he's concerned, he inherited the pride of the original Fulgrim after all and his vanity. He has no desire to be half-naked in front of a woman, alien or not in a long period of time. The original Fulgrim for all his faults later is actually quite the respectable figure and is quite the gentleman before he fell to the powers of Chaos.

Now here he is, dressed in a blood red bodysuit, courtesy of the Martian Tech-Priests and a toga sash of purple over his waist. Not the best mix he has to admit but it is all he has at the moment which is more than what he has before. Frankly he has no possessions in this universe, being a clone and all, and this clothes and weapons are the first ones he has which are quite humbling to be precise. It is an alien feeling. His memories of the original Primarch have mountains of stuff that belongs to him. It is almost a dream of a dream having such memories of great quantities of wealth but not having one iota of it.

"I thought we are guests Mon-Keigh," the harsh vibrating tone of the female Eldar brings Fulgrim back to the present as his focus turns from his thoughts to his "companion".

"We are guests," Fulgrim replies sagely leaning back his head to the metal bulkhead. "In a way,"

His answer gets a hiss in reply from the Aeldari. "This is unacceptable Mon-Keigh,"

"I have to disagree with you on that Jain Zar," answers Fulgrim. "This is a step-up from where we are before. Considering that we are trapped in a Necron stasis prison ship with no idea how to get out. We should be thankful for these folks for even allowing us in their ship,"

"They told us we are guests,"

"And we are, until they scanned me. Frankly I am not surprised. I am a perfect clone of a Primarch after all. I would be an anomaly even to the most basic of scanners," shrugs Fulgrim before looking at her pointedly.

"And I have a name. It is Fulgrim, clone of the original Fulgrim who is currently a Daemon Prince of the Warp, servant to the chaos god Slaanesh," he finishes mockingly in a flair with his hands before looking back at her. "And it is not Mon-Keigh, or other more Aeldari derogative that you can come up on that mind of yours,"

"As you wish…..Mon-Keigh," Fulgrim grits his teeth as he can literally feel the smirk emanating from the Aeldari's face even through that horrible war-mask that she's wearing.

Their discussion however is brought to a halt as without warning a banging sound comes from the bars and a metallic hand shoved some "corpse starch" through the metal grills. The Eldar takes one sniff at the food before hissing once more and shoving her meal at the direction of Fulgrim who only snickers at her reaction before tasting the food. He immediately turns metaphorically green before spewing the food out of his mouth. For someone who tries his best to attain perfection, the food is at the below negative when it comes to rating. This time it is the Eldar's turn to look smug as Fulgrim tries to spit out the taste of the acrid meal. Deciding that it is better to stay hungry than to risk getting food poisoning from the "corpse starch", Fulgrim shoves out the bars the bowls full of it back before returning to lying down at his cot. He can feel the stare of the Eldar for a few minutes pinning at him before she relaxes also by lying down on her own metallic bed. He takes notice however that she does not take off the war-mask of the screaming face off even when she rests. He has no idea whether she's asleep or not. Either way, Fulgrim closes his eyes and he dreams.

He dreams of a battlefield full of carnage and full of dead. Space marines are everywhere, he remembers this part. He sees his old self roaring in anger as it faces off against a figure armored in splendid ceramite of violet with the symbol of the Aquilla blazing on his chest. He observes the snakelike figure battle the figure at the hill in a storm of blades like a whirlwind. The figure at the hill however holds his stance holding a fiery duelist blade blocking, while dodging and weaving the strikes of the snake-like figure of Fulgrim. Behind them the background of Terra comes to be seen glistening gold, brown and red. This near the place where the Emperor resides and one can feel his psychic might encompassing all yet the two continue to fight. Then their blades meet one final time and there is a great explosion.

"BOOOOM!" the sudden abrupt sound and the lurching of the ship they are in is enough to throw Fulgrim off his cot and straight above his Eldar companion who also sits up. As it is, he flattens her. Instinct takes over and Fulgrim tries to find leverage to get up and be in a defensive pose. He has a second or two to realize that he's holding a pair of something soft before his brain realizes too late what he is holding as leverage.

There is an ungodly screech from his Eldar companion and Fulgrim finds himself being thrown off. He flies a second or two mid-air before crashing to the ground seeing triple. The banshee screech is still at full power and his ears are ringing. He blinks as tears appear on his eyes and he uneasily gets up with wobbly feet before staring at the Eldar who is glaring daggers at him. He does not need to see the war scythe at her hand ready to disembowel him and he gulps at the realization that he is a second or two from having his guts spilling out of him.

"I am so-," he never finishes his words as without warning another explosion rocks the ship and this time it is the Eldar which is thrown off her cot straight at his arms. Normally one would find himself lucky holding a woman at their arms in such a way. However Jain Zar is as tall as him and in her full wraithbone armor. The result is that Fulgrim is almost flattened at the wall where they are thrown at ignoring the fact that his chest gets introduced to her own fun bags in a very intimate way just like his hands did. He does not have that luxury as more explosions rock the ship and Fulgrim grabs the war scythe of the Eldar, ignoring her protests and with two powerful whacks, cut through the bars of their cell as if they aren't there.

"Come on or do you want to stay here?" he asks as he limps outside as the ship rocks non-stop. The Eldar does not move for a second or two before acquiescing as the two of them shakily wobbles through the corridors.

The hallways are a mess as they get through. Everywhere, wires and couplings are exploding and Tech-Priest corpses can be seen alongside floating servitors and mecahnicum servants. Tables are also upended along with chairs and other tools, machine parts and many more. The entire ship it seems have been upended like a child's toy with how much everything is moving.

"The hangar is this way," says Fulgrim as he looks outside. Everything is ablaze the moment he looks out the mirror. There are ships everywhere and they are firing at one another salvo after salvo, with some ships he is not aware of. They are smooth and look like aquatic creature in design as they duel with the simpler but broader Imperial designed ships. Lasers, torpedoes and missiles can be seen streaking everywhere and Fulgrim knows that the ship they are in is in trouble. He can see the basilica through the window being torn apart to pieces by a barrage of missiles which explodes in a blue color removing the structure as if it's a piece of paper.

"Wait, Mon-Keigh," the Eldar suddenly pins him and Fulgrim for a moment wonders if she plans to do something inappropriate to him which is not the right time or place in his opinion. It all starts to change however as she begins singing.

"Beautiful," is the first thing that comes to his mind as he witnesses her voice. It is like water flowing through a stream of rocks, a bubbling brook that seems to calm the mind. He does not understand the words for it is not words she is singing but more like a strange tongue that he does not understand. Then he feels it, something starts to cover him. For a second or two he panics thinking that the Eldar is planning to cocoon him or something like a spider would its prey as something white and violet at the sides starts to cover him. Only when it starts to follow the structured form of his body does he start to realize what it is.

"Wraithbone," he mutters as she continues singing through her war-mask ignoring his wonder and his beholding expression to the thing that is slowly covering the entire bodysuit he is wearing except for the robes at his lower extremities. It continues on for a minute or two before she stops panting a bit.

His entire body is encased in wraithbone. Despite looking form-fitting it does not feel restricting or stuffy. No, in fact it feels as if Fulgrim is in the most comfortable armor that he has ever worn. He can move freely as if he is moving his own skin and flesh, the wraithbone bodysuit conforming with his movement. He is not hot or bothered, no. He is warm and fuzzy like he is covered in the warmest bedsheets.

"It is a rough job but it would do for now Mon-Keigh," says the Eldar looking at him up and down.

"Rough job? I feel great!" Fulgrim simply replies not caring that he is acting like a child. This wraithbone armor is beautiful and he loves it. For someone who enjoys being a perfectionist, this is probably one of the best armors that he has ever worn, even comparing them with the original memories of Fulgrim who has worn different sets of armor for different occasions.

"Yes, of course you will. It is made by me after all Mon-Keigh. What did you expect?" asks the Eldar sourly though her voice is lacking heat.

"Stop calling me Mon-Keigh, I have a name that you already know," snaps Fulgrim at her feeling irritated at the uppity attitude.

"Of course… Mon-Keigh," she replies snarkily making Fulgrim hiss at her. Unfortunately his displeasure is cut short as another explosion rocks the ship and he is reminded of what the two of them needs to do.

"We need to get out of the ship. To the hangar we go," Fulgrim grimly says leading the way as the Eldar followed behind. The scene that greets them at the hangar is one of chaos as like before materials, ships, shuttles, Tech-Priests and humans are scattered everywhere. Explosion and fires are also present and the entire area is ablaze in different parts. One does not need to be a farseer to know that the ship is fucked seven ways to Friday.

"We need to move, that jumper," points out Fulgrim to a fast attack craft parked only for it to explode without warning.

"I changed my mind, we take a shuttle," he says instead heading to the next ship which is a random Mammoth Shuttle, the ones being used by Imperial citizens for their daily use on transporting goods.

"Are you sure that this will hold in a battlefield Mon-keigh?" asks the Eldar looking none too impressed as they boarded the shuttle. He can almost see her face beneath the mask pursing in disapproval. "I don't want to die in the vacuum of space,"

"It will hold," Fulgrim boldly lies as he jumps into the controls. Like before, the controls are standardized and Fulgrim finds it easy to take control of it as he jettisons its controls forward. They zoom past the fires of the hangars, the shuttle wobbling like a three legged elephant before escaping the hangar just in time as it explodes loudly engulfing all inside in a fireball of flames.

"And we are out," whoops Fulgrim as he looks back to see the ship that they are just in actually being surrounded by three of the aquatic ships moving in the dying imperial ship like sharks blazing blue plasma over it before it explodes with an ear shattering sound that shakes even their own shuttle. Around them more weapons are firing and blazing as Imperial navy ships duel with the aquatic looking ships and Fulgrim bobs and weaves through them as he pilots the shuttle.

"Where are you going?" asks the Eldar as she holds on for dear life as Fulgrim dodges squads of fighters chasing one another.

"To the planet below, that is our best chance," answers Fulgrim diving straight towards the blue and green planet that is growing bigger by the second. "We would not survive if we stay in this space battle,"

"You are landing at the planet? And then what?" asks the Eldar as she struggles her way to the cockpit holding on for dear life as Fulgrim navigates through the wrecks of different ships.

"Then I connect with the Imperials and fight for them, get rid of these enemies that they are having. I will fulfill my oath of being a servant of the Imperium and right the wrongs that the original me has done," answers Fulgrim.

"I don't understand what in Khaine's name you are talking about. What about me Mon-Keigh?" asks the Eldar in an indignant manner.

"What about you? You can go your own way after we make planetfall Jain Zar. I recommend that you do not do so and instead stay with me though. You are a sanctioned Xeno if you are with me and I plan to earn the people's trust by winning here. If you're with me, they will also accept you despite reluctantly and only as a war asset," proposes Fulgrim.

"So you're planning to use me like a weapon, only useful until it is no longer necessary?" hisses Jain Zar obviousy displeased by the answer that she manages to wriggle out of Fulgrim.

"Not exactly, but the attitude of the ordinary Imperial citizens is being hostile to any Xeno. At least if you prove yourself useful and powerful, which you are. I saw you fight, I saw you bring down those Necrons before as if they are nothing. You can fight and you can fight very well. If you aid them in their war, they may not be able to accept you but they will tolerate you, especially since I plan to build my reputation one area at a time as I fulfill my oath. You would be safer with me instead of wandering around and hoping that you have a way to get home instead. Better if you are with me. We have history and I would never abandon a fellow warrior, we have history and we are both prisoners. We are fated to find one another,"

"Please don't state it like that," the Eldar makes a gagging sound making Fulgrim scowl at her.

"I do not mean it like that Aeldari. Trust me, the last thing that I want is to get in bed with a proud, homophobic, non-tolerant, xenophobic being like you,"

That seems to irritate her a lot. "Trust me Mon-Keigh, if you see me and know me. Then I am someone you would kill to get in bed with," she sniffs.

"Either way!" Fulgrim snaps wondering how in the world their discussion turns from making a deal of fighting side by side to who wants to get in bed with who?

"So we have a deal? You fight with me and the people below and I make sure your safety until you find a way home?"

"Deal! But still, how dare you insinuate that I am not someone worthy to get in bed with you pathetic- AAAHHHHH!"

Fulgrim screams alongside her as they enter the planet and then they are beset by blue fighters looking like Manta Rays in the sky at every direction.

…..

Author's Note:

So another chapter done. Hopefully I did not disappoint anyone. So our boy Fulgrim and Jain Zar is jumping into a battlefield. Guess who they are fighting? Anyway I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I did justice to Fulgrim as best as I can. Hopefully I did it right.

See ya next time readers. As usual please review for your reviews are the song to this writer's heart.