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Pride of the Emperor

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The Pride of the Emperor

The Pride of the Emperor was a Gloriana Class Battleship and the Flagship of Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor's Children.[1]

Overview

Richly decorated inside and out, with armour plates inlaid with gold being its most obvious extra-normal feature. Built in the shipyards of Jupiter, it was a little over 160 years old at the beginning of the Horus Heresy. Hand-crafted to exact specifications, its construction took twice as long as that of comparable vessels, and was overseen by the Fabricator-General of Mars himself. Such honour was paid to it as it was seemingly intended to be the Flagship of the Primarch of the III Legion from the moment it was laid down.[1]

The main passageway of the vessel was the Triumphal Way; a wide processional, tiled in cool marble and supported with onyx columns. The columns were inlaid with gilt lettering that recounted the victories of the Legion, and statues of Legion heroes lined the walls. In between the statues were later added paintings created by the remembrancer contingent present with the 28th Expeditionary Fleet. Interspersed with the statues at fixed intervals were an honour guard of Emperor's Children Space Marines, each armed with a throwing spear. The Triumphal Way terminated at the Phoenix Gate; the main entryway to the council chamber known as the Heliopolis.[1]

The Phoenix Gate was a large bronze gateway guarded by more Emperor's Children. Upon the doors was engraved a mural showing the Emperor presenting Fulgrim with the symbol of the Imperial Eagle. Passing through it, one arrived in the Heliopolis, a large circular chamber designed as the main meeting room of the Legion officers. Also lined with pale marble walls, black terrazo flooring and supported by pillars and bronze statues, the Heliopolis also featured a heavily mosaiced ceiling that dripped purple and gold banners. The centre of the domed roof featured a window port that allowed starlight to penetrate the room when the illuminators were doused. Oil-burning censers were spaced throughout the room. Rows of benches were arranged in a circular formation, in a banked series that provided seating for two thousand. A chair of black marble sat in the very centre of the room; the seat of the Primarch. The closer one sat to the floor and the Primarch, the higher one's perceived rank and status. Fulgrim typically gave his speeches here and, on the days before a battle, a feast as well as celebration was held within the Heliopolis. [1] Fulgrim's personal chambers were located near the top of the vessel and held two busts of his foster-parents of Chemos, Tullea and Corrin.[5]

A century after the Heresy at the Battle of Thessala the Pride of the Emperor had been grotesquely transformed by the corruption of the Warp. The vessel was a sick intimidation of what it had once been in the Emperor's service.[3]

History

Serving as the flagship of the Emperor's Children throughout the Great Crusade, the Pride of the Emperor saw numerous actions including the Cleansing of Laeran. Later in the early stages of the Horus Heresy when Fulgrim attempted to turn Ferrus Manus to side with Horus and the two sides came to blows, the Pride of the Emperor managed to badly damage the Iron Hands' flagship Fist of Iron. The Pride of the Emperor then led Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children into the Eye of Terror alongside Perturabo and the Iron Warriors to the Crone World of Iydris.[2] The Pride of the Emperor reappeared during the final phase of the Solar War with Fulgrim himself aboard the vessel.[4]

During the Great Scouring, the Pride of the Emperor was at the forefront of the Emperor's Children fleet led by Fulgrim against the Ultramarines. The vessel engaged in a vicious duel with the Ultramarines Battle Barge Gauntlet of Power and was ultimately the site of the battle between Fulgrim and Roboute Guilliman that saw the loyalist Primarch mortally wounded. During the battle, the Pride of the Emperor was crippled by loyalist forces.[3]

See also

Sources