Bora

The 12th False Primarch

Bora was one of the ill-fated “Primarch Secundus Project", designed to be a new generation of primarchs designed by the Mad Magos Clerval. Bora, also known as “The Sword in the Dark” was a mute omega-class blank who served as Clerval’s personal assassin, general, and dog of war. Bloodthirsty, cold, and ruthless Bora’s true nature is a mystery to even the most dogged Imperial scholars.

It is unclear if Bora was born a mute or if he lost his ability to talk though misuse. It is said that he could read and write but chose not to leave any messages in a permanent format (often writing in chalk). He communicated, on the rare occasions when he did so, via sign language. His gene-siblings recall his raspy laugh that left even those who were supposedly without fear unsettled. He was also an omega-class null and this upset everyone around him, unnerving all who laid eyes upon him except Clerval. It is said that psykers would go mad in his presence and he could (and often would) torment the ship’s astropaths from across the ship.

## Early Years

Like many things in his life, exactly where Bora grew up is a mystery. What is known about his early years is found only in Clerval’s writing. He grew up alone on an almost uninhabited deathworld and never saw another soul before Clerval. The plan was for him to have grown up under the care of a famous Tempestor Prime and his wife who was training stormtroopers on the planet but tragedy struck and Bora was left to his own devices in the wilds. It is unclear how he survived for so long alone as a child but was is clear is that he survived on his own until he was ten.

Bora was the first of the false primarchs that the Mad Magos retrieved (other than Hamish Morder who visited Clerval) but, as the story goes, even though Clerval knew which planet he was on he could not find him. Clerval reportedly send three squads of soldiers to go retrieve the child and all three returned with heavy casualties from the effort. It was not until Clerval himself and four Secundus Astartes response teams went down to the planet that Bora was able to be captured. Clerval educated and trained the false primarch but he was never quite normal, even when compared to the other Primarch Secundus. He was feral, uncommunicative, and bloodthirsty. Bora used to stalk the halls of Clerval’s Ark Mechanicus ship, making “nests” and stashing weapons. The crew lived in constant fear of being killed by the growing primarch. It is said that he killed over a hundred officers over the years and a dozen unwary Secundus Astartes. He took sick pleasure in inventing cruel traps that would torment those he was hunting before they died.

## The Axe of Clerval

Bora was a ludicrously good hunter, tactician, and a fighter the likes of which the Imperium has seldom seen. The Mad Magos sent Bora on many covert missions in the early years of his crusade. These missions were undertaken with the slavish devotion that Clerval had fostered in Bora and his missions were always carried out with brutal perfection. Most of these missions are thought to have been designed to silence Clerval’s detractors, hide his activities, and obscure information about him. For his efforts Bora was rewarded with a weapon that could only be designed by a mind as deranged and brilliant as Clerval’s; the Axe of Clerval. This massive two-handed axe acted not unlike a force weapon, though it channeled Bora’s powers as a pariah though it’s blade and amplified it. Those who laid eyes upon it found a sense of emptiness so profound and all-consuming that they laid down to be slaughtered even before a blow was struck. Bora used this and other tools to accomplish over a hundred missions.

## Doomtroopers

He cultivated a squad of hyper-dedicated assassins who were as fanatically loyal to Clerval as he was. Sometimes called the “Cult of Clerval” or the “Doomtroopers”, they are best described as a sort of precursors to Vanguard Primaris Space Marines of today. They were ruthless, sociopathic, covert operators, who penetrated deep behind enemy lines or into “friendly” (aka Imperial) agencies to secure whatever Clerval’s objective was. The number of Imperial deaths on their hands were high and there was a silent shadow war between Bora and his Doomtroopers and the Officio Assassinorum during Clerval’s campaign. The Doomtroopers communicated entirely non-verbally, as Bora did, and most were rendered mute either surgically or at the hands of Bora himself.

## Role in Clerval’s Crusade

**Main Article:** Clerval's Crusade

Bora was the general of Clerval’s forces and, for a time, his “favorite son”. All this changed when Pandu Hagar was retrieved and the priestly Primarch’s charisma overshadowed Bora’s worth to their “father”. Bora was given the position of general of the forces and would plan most of the engagements they fought in, though always under Pandu’s leadership. Ever bitter it was said that Bora constantly stalked Pandu when he was on Clerval’s Ark Mechanicus. The only defeat in single combat Bora ever suffered was at the hands of another of the False Primarchs when Bora attempted to assassinate Pandu (though history does not recall which one).

Bora was famous for his use of subterfuge, misinformation, misdirection, and the extremes he would go to for an advantage. Reports indicate that he faked his own death no less than three times, fooling even his gene-brethren (though Hamish Morder, being a time traveler, was aware of the deception).

On the battlefield Bora was peerless. He took to slaughter like a fish to water, taking particular delight in spilling the blood of his enemies upon himself. As the field commander he translated his hand symbols into vox commands to his lieutenants who executed them.

## Fate

Most information about Bora is obtained second or third hand and there is never a guarantee that the information gained about him isn’t one of his ploys. With that in mind, Bora surprisingly did not lead the troops at the Siege of Nar’Whin. He and his Doomtroopers all disappeared during the siege and told one of his brothers that he had a “secret mission”. He is officially reported as “killed in action” but there are people who say he and his marines are simply posing as other marines and carrying out Clerval’s secret orders to this day.

The only organization with confirmed information about him is the Officio Assassinorum who will only confirm that they do, in fact, have some kind of information about Bora though nothing more. Rumors abound and some of the most popular ones are that the Officio Assassinorum now employs the false primarch as an agent, that Bora was killed by a Execution Force and that he was able to match the four assassins (one from each of the major temple) alone but was overwhelmed when they focused their might on him, or that the Officio Assassinorum killed him and now utilize his Doomtroopers as a false flag Astartes kill team.

An interesting anecdote from the Siege of Nar’Whin was that it is rumored that Bora spoke with the aid of a translator to his brothers. He confessed that, while he loved and remained devoted to Clerval, he did not believe the Magos to be a reincarnation of the Emperor.

Accounts differ on Bora's reaction to the slaying of his father. Most accounts say he was not present while others say he was the one who slew him. Such accounts say that he was finally able to see his father's madness for what it was when he killed Dracon Silver and Pandu Hagar and killed him out of grief. Others say that he remained dedicated to the end and was killed by his siblings while protecting Clerval. This version has him slaying at least one other of his brothers before he dies.

## Possible Influence of Khorne

Scholars of the failure of the Primarch Secundus Project speculate that Bora was a cultist of Khorne and this so-called “Doomtroopers” were nothing more than Khorne Berserkers. This is backed up with his absurd prowess in battle, his proclivity to cover himself in the blood of his enemies, and his sadistic ways. Refuting this is his nature as an omega-class blank (which would be impossible for Chaos to control) and the subtlety he and his Doomtroopers were so famous for (Khorne is not that subtle).

A Secundus Astartes from Broa's Droomtroopers.