Purest Intent

The ***Purest Intent,*** flagship of Bartosz of the Palatine Wings, was the smallest of her kind, yet also the fastest, boasting an extended engine housing and far lighter armour than her kin, focusing on shields and energy weapons to cut down on solid ammuntion weight. For years, the vessel flew at bartosz's command, but eventually would be struck down, destroyed at the Siege of the Ring, the third of her kind to be destroyed.

## History

The *Purest Intent* was a Gloriana-class Battleship of the Palatine Wings Space Marine Legion that served as the flagship of Primarch Bartosz during the Great Crusade and briefly during the Almire Apostasy until the tragedy at Istvaan saw it ripped from the legions grasp. One of the last of her kind to be built, the *Purest Intent* was a beautiful vessel to behold, a shipwrights work of art, many sublime craftsmen working on its construction at the behest of Bartosz himself. And yet for all its majesty, Bartosz never loved the ship. Bartosz never felt like the vessel was truly his, despite being made based on his exact specifications,and nothing the Imperial Sagittarius did could quell those feelings within him. Despite all this however, the *Purest Intent* was a powerful force within the Palatine Wings, both on and off the field of battle.

Unlike the Palatine Wings themselves, the *Purest Inten*t was not sparsely decorated, instead bedecked with the very best the Imperium had to offer. Palatine Aquilas, works of art from the very best of the Imperium’s Remembrancers, all had their place within the flagship as she brought the Light of Truth to the wayward sons and daughters of Terra, her very presence demonstrating not only the might of the new Imperium, but also her artistry. Many worlds were brought into compliance by the majesty of the vessel and the people who were responsible for its forging, its nigh unmatched might unneeded, its guns remaining locked and silent.

When she was called to war however, the *Purest Intent* was just as capable in a fight as any of her sisters. Engineered for speed, the ship was the fastest of any of the Gloriana-class, though had comparatively thin armour to allow this. Instead of armour, the *Purest Intent* boasted an enhanced and bolstered shield array, her voids able to stay active for far longer than others. If they should ever collapse however, she was by no means defencless, still boasting armour to rival that of a Battleship, but it was a far cry from the strength of other vessels armoured hide, such as the *Mordu* or the *Herald of Destruction.*

Further cutting down on the weight was the small number of solid shot weaponry the vessel carried. Just like on the ground, where the legion favoured energy weapons above projectiles, the *Purest Intent* was a lance ship, the maws of directed energy weapons covering her flanks, while a pair of massive lance weapons ran almost the entire length of the ship, creating a weapon with the destructive capabilities of a Nova Cannon, without the need to carry the massive shells to load the guns. With the speed and pinpoint accuracy, the *Purest Intent* is a deadly foe, though if a foe could neutralise her shields, she is vulnerable, far more so than any of her sisters.

The *Purest Intent* served the legion for a century and a year, gaining a reputation as all its kind did. In M31.055 however, it would make its final voyage under the Palatine flag to the Istvaan system. There it would be present when the traitorous IInd and XIIth legions would launch their surprise attack, catching the fleet off guard and scattering the XIVth to the stars. The *Purest Intent* was one such casualty, captured by traitor boarding parties at great cost, but captured all the same. From here it would fly a different flag for a time, the machinations of the Dark Gods seeping into the vessel, turning it from a shining beacon into a weapon of the Archenemy. When it made its final flight to the Hydra Sector, it was a crippled machine, launched at the Star Guardians home-station before finally coming to an end in a ball of expanding warp energy, tearing a hole in reality for the Neverborn to pour through.

## Notable Features

### The Chamber of Shame

The most important part of the flagship however was not its weapons, nor its speed, or even its effect on the minds of mortals. Nestled deep within its armoured core, protected more than any other single system was a huge, cavernous stone chamber. This was the Chamber of Shame, and it was the legions most important relic. The chamber itself was crafted from stone from an unknown world, only Bartosz and a handpicked cadre of techmarines knowing its origin. A constant musical sound filled the room, sometimes it was magisterial and loud, and other it was just a quiet whisper, like a buzz, like tinnitus. None would speak of what the music was, many and Iterators scrutinising the sound, finding it to be some form of communication, one based on the universal constants of mathematics that transcended traditional boundaries of language. None understood it however, even those who did know of its origins, save Bartosz himself, the Primarch not only able to understand the sounds, but replicate them perfectly, the sounds flowing forth like a song more than words. He would teach none the mysteries behind those sounds, his last secret.

All of this however was a shrouding for the true purpose of the chamber, dozens of auto-quills surrounding the room, diligently inscribing the stone walls with tiny inscriptions. Each military compliance of a human world was recorded within the chamber, the date and time hostilities erupted, reasons why diplomacy had failed, and the names of the dead on both sides, as many as could be recovered. The task was insurmountable, and yet the quills never tired, even as new data poured into the chambers hidden cogitator banks, fed from the Palatine Fleets around the galaxy. Those stones that were filled were rotated backwards, the chamber stretching on and on with full stones, a testament to glory in other legions, but in the XIVth there was little honour to be found in the room.

Members of the Palatine Wings would often visit the chamber, some to read and remember the dead, others to simply listen to the scratching sounds, allowing the legions history to wash over them. Bartosz himself spent far more time within the room than his own chambers, sitting cross legged for days at a time during warp translation, silent and unmoving, or softly adding to the Aria that filled the room, his Perun ensuring that none would disturb his remembrance.

## Technical Specifications

* Length: 19 Kilometers
* Role: Diplomatic Meetings and Pinpoint Accurate Destruction.
* Date of Construction: M30.954
* Date of Destruction: Approximated M31.055 -M31.056 - Siege of the Ring