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	First 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.

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 saw Hektor was only a tool to be used and a work of art to be admired - and she ceased to see him as the latter after his injury on Cadia. 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. The Eclipse Queen's cruelty 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.

For all the bitterness of her character, she was a strikingly beautiful 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 colours, but her sense of fashion was ever-dramatic. Many of the court trends in the Great Crusade era were inspired by Pallas' fancies.

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.

The stalemate broke with the emergence of the Emperor of Mankind as the 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 Lunans 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. The crafty shape-shifting assassin 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 and abandoned the cause of Luna on the spot. The pact was quickly made. Pallas Eugenesis and her followers would swear their loyalty to the Imperium and assist the conquest of Luna. In return, she would be established as the Emperor's vassal and governor of Luna. For the rest of the time that they had assigned to the talks, the two made conversation and found a certain pleasure in one another's company. Hektor was taken in by finding an apparent peer for the first time and Pallas found his attention highly flattering. Seeking to further her gains, the Eclipse Queen suggested that the two seal their alliance with a political wedding. Once Hektor's reservations about the nature of the marriage were answered, the Primarch gave his assent, conditional on the Emperor's approval.

Nevertheless, 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 Lunan rulers. Meanwhile the Seventh 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 her 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 supervising civil reconstruction efforts as Luna recovered from its long civil war and the damage incurred during Pacification.

Yet the Eclipse Queen's ambitions could not be fulfilled on just one world. Her next step to power was affirming the marriage pact with Hektor Cincinnatus.