004.M31.
Olympia, Lox Royal Palace.
Perturabo seized his sister Calliphone, his iron-pincer grip clamped tightly around her aged, withered neck.
"You will regret this."
A low, familiar voice entered his mind.
Perturabo's hand recoiled as if struck by an electric shock. Nimrod? How could that be possible? How had he appeared so suddenly?
Beep, beep—
The communicator buzzed. Perturabo answered, and the Vox Master's voice came through.
"My lord— a warship has appeared in realspace out of nowhere."
"The keel signature has been identified. It is the Shadow of the Throne."
It really is Nimrod. Perturabo was stunned.
His warship was equipped with an Auspex array he had personally modified, including Warp detectors. It could never have missed the wake of a Gloriana-class Battleship.
A golden light streaked past the corner of his eye, trailing an afterimage.
"Nimrod—"
Obsidian's eyes fell upon Perturabo. "Are you truly going to kill your sister?"
Perturabo turned his head, his gaze wholly fixed upon the aged figure.
"She is too old to serve the Imperium."
"I can keep her alive. Forever," Nimrod said.
When he learned that Perturabo had returned to Olympia without responding to the communication requests from his territories, he knew Perturabo did not want others to know the shame of his homeworld's rebellion.
Using the Tuchulcha Engine, he came to Olympia and happened upon Perturabo about to strangle Calliphone to death.
Nimrod decided to save Calliphone, because he still had no way of fully ensuring Perturabo's loyalty.
He hoped to have a card that could influence Perturabo.
Though Perturabo had strangled Calliphone, there were very few people he truly regarded as family deep within his heart. Calliphone was one of them.
"You... can make me immortal?" Calliphone stared in astonishment at the giant before her.
From the reports sent back to