Olympia lay nearly a hundred light-years away from Kislev, Perturabo's homeworld and the administrative center of his domain.
This world, nestled within the Segmentum Obscurus, was naturally classified by the Imperium as a "Feudal World."
The reason the Imperium classified Olympia as such was straightforward: when Rogue Traders under the banner of the Imperium of Man first discovered it, Olympia was fractured into numerous warring city-states, each ruled by a tyrant vying for regional hegemony.
Olympia's rugged, mountainous terrain had allowed this chaotic political landscape of fragmented city-states to persist for millennia. Every Olympian city-state was perched atop these steep peaks. The palaces of the tyrants, in particular, were situated at the absolute summits of the mountain ranges.
In this way, living at a higher altitude than their subjects not only satisfied the vanity of the ruling tyrants, but also served as the ultimate defensive position in times of war. Even if the lower-elevation city fell, the citizens and garrison could retreat into the tyrant's mountaintop fortress to continue their resistance.
This complex terrain made offensive campaigns exceptionally difficult but was ideal for defense. This was one of the primary reasons for Olympia's perpetual division; the intellect and power of an ordinary tyrant were simply insufficient to unify the entire world.
After all, completely reducing a single city-state required an immense toll of time, not to mention the devastating impact a prolonged siege had on army morale. More often than not, such sieges concluded with mutual agreements of vassalage and cooperation; the outright conquest of a city-state was nothing short of a fantasy.
Worst of all, the political ecosystem of the Olympian city-states dictated that if a tyrant arose with the ambition to rule all of Olympia, the other city-states would instantly unite to crush them.
Consequently, since the onset of the Old Night, Olympia had served as a chessboard for its tyrants, with each mountain city-state using its people and territory as collateral in endless rounds of the game of power.
In this Olympian game of power, military victory was merely a bargaining chip for the negotiations back at court. In fact, even if a city-state was defeated on the field, it did not mean total destruction; sometimes, they could turn defeat into victory through backroom deals and secret treaties.
All of this was about to come to an end as the Great Crusade entered the Olympian star system.
Aboard the Iron Blood, the Gloriana-class flagship of the Fourth Legion, the massive fleet of the Iron Warriors translated out of the Mandeville point. The ringed world of Olympia immediately filled Perturabo's gaze as he stood on the bridge.
"Forrix, tell me of this world the locals call 'Olympia.' I wish to know if there is a local ruler here willing to cooperate with the Imperium."
"If such a person exists, I have no objection to installing him as the ruler of the entire planet, provided he is willing to serve as an Imperial Planetary Governor."
Gazing upon the breathtakingly beautiful mountainous world before him, the Iron Tsar of Kislev narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to Forrix, who had been waiting behind him for some time.
"My Lord, while you were observing Olympia's beauty, I ordered our databases to retrieve the logs compiled by the Rogue Traders who visited this system."
"We can confirm that this world is indeed a feudal world divided into city-states. The technological level of the populace is roughly equivalent to a medieval era. The leaders of these political entities, known as city-states, are called 'Tyrants,' and they rule these domains in perpetual conflict."
Upon hearing his Gene-father's inquiry, Forrix quickly reported his findings.
"Intriguing. It sounds as though we might find a tyrant among them willing to align with the Imperium in exchange for dominion over all of Olympia. If we offer him the position of Planetary Governor, I doubt anyone would refuse such an olive branch."
"So, tell me, did the Rogue Traders map out the names of these city-states and their power dynamics?" Hearing this, Perturabo nodded slightly and inquired further.
"My Lord, the largest city-state on this world is currently Lochos. Its ruler, Tyrant Dammekos, is said to be the most ambitious figure to emerge in Olympia in centuries. To establish Lochos's hegemony over all of Olympia within his lifetime, he highly values talented individuals and is extremely curious about new military technologies."
"Most interestingly, the Rogue Traders who visited Olympia spoke very highly of Dammekos's daughter, Calliphone. They lamented that because Dammekos refuses to accept a woman as the future Tyrant of Lochos, her intellect—which would easily make her the ideal successor—will go to waste."
Hearing Perturabo's follow-up question, Forrix continued to report the gathered intelligence to satisfy his Gene-father's curiosity.
Perturabo turned back to face the viewing port, staring at the ringed beauty of Olympia for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Excellent. We shall organize a formal diplomatic visit to Lochos, the greatest power on Olympia. I have heard that Horus and several of my other blood-brothers have achieved the miracle of bringing worlds into compliance without shedding a single drop of blood. I, Perturabo, shall achieve a similar miracle."
"I expect this Dammekos, upon witnessing my Legion, will choose cooperation over an absurd enmity."
Gazing out at Olympia, Perturabo slowly announced his decision.
"As you command, my Lord. I shall issue the orders immediately."
"Our visit will be a display of raw power. We will deploy several companies to accompany you before the Olympians. I believe that the sight of several hundred Astartes and their war engines will appear to the people of this feudal world as gods descending from the heavens. They will not dare harbor any thoughts of resistance."
Hearing Perturabo's command, Forrix nodded in agreement and outlined his initial operational plan for the Primarch's visit to Olympia.
"Splendid. Your strategic intellect truly matches my expectations of you, Forrix. Perhaps I will be able to entrust you with far weightier responsibilities in the future."
Hearing Forrix's proposal to showcase their military might to the Olympians, the Iron Tsar nodded in rare approval.
"I am deeply honored, my Lord," Forrix replied.