Fragment of the Emperor's Soul
The Fragment of the Emperor's Soul was a piece of the Emperor's soul that He cast out into the Warp, during the Horus Heresy's Siege of Terra.[1]
History
This was from aboard the Vengeful Spirit, after the Perpetual John Grammaticus‎ convinced the Emperor to cast off the massive warp energy He had gathered to defeat Horus with. This prevented the Emperor from becoming the Chaos God known as the Dark King, but He knew that in doing so, His chance of defeating Horus had dropped significantly. Now to be able to kill Horus and save the Imperium, the Emperor would need to call upon every single advantage He had left at His disposal. So as the Emperor dispelled the Warp energy, He also cast off a fragment of His soul that contained almost all of His hope, mercy, grace, loyalty, compassion and love.[1]
The Emperor knew these aspects of Himself would not only hinder His ability to kill his wayward son, but would also cause Him to become consumed by self-hatred and regret for doing so, if He still possessed them. If that were to occur, then the Emperor would condemn Himself to the same embittered path that had corrupted Horus. The Emperor also knew He would need to commit atrocities to rebuild the Imperium after the Horus Heresy had ended, which these aspects would prevent Him from accomplishing. However as the fragment entered the Warp, the Emperor hoped He would one day be able to reclaim it and become whole once more. This was witnessed by Malcador the Sigillite, as he sat upon the Golden Throne, and he believed that, just as the Chaos Gods did, the fragment would eventually grow larger by absorbing a coalescence of emotions and beliefs, that were drawn into the Warp.[1]
Sources
- 1: The End and the Death: Volume II (Novel), 8:xvi