The Third Legion's Primarch, Fulgrim, recognized the Emperor as his father as soon as they met and swore his allegiance, becoming yet another Primarch to return.
It was worth noting that after rejoining his Legion, Fulgrim immediately delivered an exceedingly generous—and even deeply moving—speech before the Emperor and all the Legion's warriors.
The speech moved even the Emperor, who promptly bestowed upon the Third Legion the name Emperor's Children. He held the Third Primarch, Fulgrim, in exceptionally high regard.
He believed Fulgrim would become a pillar of humanity, fighting for the Imperium of Man. After returning to Holy Terra, he even told his chancellor, Malcador, about it.
"Malcador, do you know? I saw the light of perfect humanity in that child. He is exceptionally handsome, and his every word and gesture is noble and graceful. He is the very model of perfection," the Emperor said.
The Emperor was exceptionally fond of the Third Primarch.
"I hope he lives up to your expectations, shines for humanity, and fights for it."
Malcador smiled and said no more. After all, he hadn't met Fulgrim, so he couldn't judge him.
"He certainly will. His speech moved even me! By the way, how are Axis's recent modifications and studies progressing?" the Emperor asked.
"Very well. His body is highly resilient, and I've adjusted the pressure inside his Incubation Tank to more than ten times that of Holy Terra, as he requested. The child seems to develop better in an environment with ten times the gravity," Malcador said, watching Axis inside the tank. He was over two meters tall, with a stern face.
"By rights, he should have grown to over three meters. Why is he only two?" the Emperor asked, gazing at Axis in the tank.
They had been cultivating Axis for ten years. At this rate, even an ordinary Adeptus Custodes would have grown to two and a half meters!
As someone undergoing Primarch modifications, Axis should have stood at least three meters tall. His height of barely over two meters was strange.
"I find that strange, too! But I asked Axis about it. He said that once his people reach adulthood, their appearance, build, and even physical abilities never change unless they enter old age. Even their hairstyles stay the same," Malcador said.
The Emperor nodded at that. What an unusual human ethnic group: once they reached adulthood, their appearance never changed—not even their hairstyles!
In the eleventh year, Axis continued developing his artistic talents, but this time Malcador began focusing on cultivating his talent for military strategy.
In the twelfth year, Malcador began assigning Axis various military command exercises, tasking him with leading troops against the enemy.
At first, Axis's forces matched the enemy in numbers, equipment, and weapons, and the enemy were human as well.
Once Axis could reliably defeat opponents of equal strength, Malcador assigned him new challenges, placing his forces at a disadvantage in terrain, intelligence, or numbers.
That year, the Emperor left Holy Terra once more and traveled to a place called Nocturne.
There, he met the Primarch of the Eighteenth Legion, Vulkan, whose massive frame stood nearly four and a half meters tall.
The two competed in a hunt. In the end, the Emperor threw his own prey into the lava to save Vulkan. Though he lost the contest, he moved the Primarch deeply.
Vulkan, Primarch of the Eighteenth Legion, returned to the Imperium. He named his Legion the Salamanders, after the prey the two had hunted.
In the thirteenth year, Axis received more advanced tactical training. He led squads on decapitation strikes and infiltration missions.
In the fourteenth year, Axis began learning to pilot spaceships, along with the responsibilities of a competent captain and how to coordinate with navigators in the perilous void and the Warp.
In the fifteenth year, after a year of study, Axis became a fairly competent captain in the Emperor's Navy. Malcador then gave him a new assignment: to pilot a warship in simulated space combat against the enemy.
That same year, the Emperor left Holy Terra once again, traveling to the ice world of Inwit, where he found another Primarch.
He found Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Seventh Legion, and appointed him to lead the Imperial Fists Legion.
He also acquired a battleship from the Dark Age of Technology, the Phalanx. Dorn presented the colossal Star Fortress to the Emperor.
For the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth years, Axis continued to train in simulated space warfare, practicing boarding actions, ship-to-ship combat, and assaults.
During that time, the Emperor traveled to Macragge and found Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Thirteenth Legion. The Ultramarines were named, and their Primarch returned to them.
The Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar had always been a highly developed industrial region, remarkably well preserved.
Its addition greatly increased the Imperium's industrial strength, making it more powerful than ever. The Great Crusade pressed forward in full force.
In the nineteenth year, Axis completed all the studies Malcador had assigned him two years ahead of schedule, making him nearly a master of every discipline.
Over the following years, Axis's learning speed became astonishing, thanks to his superbrain.
By then, Axis's physical modifications had also entered their final stage. In the twentieth and twenty-first years, he began studying some of Malcador's biological transmutation techniques, commonly known as biological alchemy.
These were also the key techniques the Emperor used to modify the Adeptus Custodes.
By the twenty-third year, Axis had learned nearly everything Malcador knew, aside from the practical experience he lacked—and the things the old man hadn't taught him.
That same year, in 842.M30, the Imperium encountered a powerful alien life-form unlike any it had ever seen: the Rangdan Xenos.
The vile Rangdan Xenos invaded the borders of the nascent Imperium. They possessed corrupt technology on par with the Imperium's and utterly ruthless ambitions, as well as powerful mind-control abilities.
In just a few months after their first encounter with the First Legion, five thousand Space Marines of the First Legion died in the war against the Rangdan.
During that time, something else happened that enraged the Emperor beyond measure: the Second Primarch had rebelled.
The Emperor awakened Axis, whose modifications were now nearly complete.
After twenty-four years, Axis awoke. He slowly opened his eyes and took control of his body.
"Axis, your first mission is to eliminate the Second Primarch."
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