Crimson Slaughter - Bargain with the Clonelord: From out of portholes and viewbays, the Crimson Slaughter gazed out upon a monstrosity of a ship. It looked more like a hive city hung in the void than any craft built for travel. The Lost Hope was dwarfed by the new voidcraft. Escape was impossible, for the Space Hulk had no Warp-Drive and could do little more than drift in the wayward currents of that region. Kranon was preparing an assault when comm-hailers picked up an incoming request. Fabius Bile wished to announce his arrival and he wished to meet with Kranon. An ancient and evil figure, Fabius Bile was one of the most legendary villains that had beset the Imperium. He was a living piece of history from the mythic age when the first Space Marine Legions betrayed the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. Bile was a renegade even amongst his own kind, and tales of his experiments and his altered creations were known to every Space Marine. The Imperium had even issued warnings to the Space Marine Chapters about the threat of Bile, for he was known to seek access to gene-seed, using ruse or deadly raids to snatch what he desired.Surrounded by his towering bodyguard, Fabius Bile strode the shabby decks of the Lost Hope. He was impossibly old, yet he moved with a sinuous grace, and an aura of menace surrounded him. Bile was incredibly powerful -- having sold his genetic experiments to rebel commanders for millennia, he had amassed his own armies. Bile's home -- reputedly an ancient Eldar Crone World deep within the Eye of Terror -- was rife with ancient technologies, genetic samples and the most successful of his abominable New Men. Bile's sunken eyes blazed as he mentioned his latest works and his lofty aspirations, saying today's growth-vat was tomorrow's victory. Fabius Bile -- the "Primogenitor" -- was the foremost expert on cloning and genetics in the galaxy. Yet despite burying himself in millennia of study into the esoterica of fleshcrafting, Bile was no less cunning a schemer. Through his network of alliances and promises, Bile had not just survived the power struggles that took place within the Eye of Terror, he had thrived. Bile had betrayed so many patrons that he should have been dead a thousand times over, but always he had secured the protection of some other, yet mightier, benefactor. With his army of enhanced warriors, Fabius Bile could simply seize what he was after, but the old scientist found he gained more through bargaining. What he wanted was gene-seed.Kranon was surprised by what Fabius Bile already knew about the former Crimson Sabres. With honeyed words, Bile congratulated them, praising their decisions. But Fabius Bile offered more than mere counsel, he proffered help. Without being told, Bile already knew Kranon's chief concern: the ability to create further Space Marines. Kranon's warband contained far less than half of the Crimson Sabres Chapter at full strength. With the loss of their homeworld, they had lost the ability and technology to create new troops. This, Fabius Bile could redress, but only at a price. Promises and pacts were easy for Kranon to agree to, but the rest was more difficult. When he handed over to Bile those Crimson Sabres that had refused to join him, he condemned them to a horrible and grisly fate. Kranon emptied his holds of those former comrades, sparing only his true brother. Even that tiny trace of compassion would not last for long.