apologist Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Hesitantly, the rubricist coughed. His overseer looked over, lenses coiling as his vis-spectacles adjusted. His expression was irritable – more so than usual, the rubricist thought to himself, glumly. 'I have told you more than once not to disturb me,' began the overseer. He raised a finger to stop the rubricist interrupting, and continued. 'There is little in these archives as-is; and even less that requires me to hold your hand. Make the decision, rubricist.' With that, the overseer turned back to his own datascroll. The rubricist, clearly agitated, remained for a moment, until the overseer dismissed him more angrily. As the rubricist travelled slowly back to his station deep in the under-cellars, his mind was turbulent. He wished he'd never thought to check the deleted remnants. Old files shunted here were – in principle, at least – unreadable, unusable; at least without skills unknown to the Adeptus Mechanicus in these benighted days. He drew his stool up the his writing desk and took a deep breath before striking the rune of ignition on the recovered dataengine. Lambent runeglow from the dusty slate gave his face an unhealthy and sinister under-lighting. These files were different. The encryption had prevented them being accessed; even by the machine spirits intended to destroy them. Like an airtight travel chest taken down in a shipwreck, the contents had lurked unmarked and unnoted for centuries. Perhaps longer. The rubricist raised a finger, then hesitated. He bit his lip, then depressed the rune of resurrection. The files spooled. They were incomplete, patchy, but as he began to read, his mouth hung open as wide as his disbelieving eyes... + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] + + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [datalog] [spooling] [inload traction located] [exloading] + It is the 30th Millennium. For more than twenty-five centuries, mankind has been bound in unceasing genocide, struggle and atrocity. Contact has long been lost with worlds beyond the solar system, and the so-called Dark Age of Technology is an irrelevant myth to the barbaric wretches that grub a living amongst the ruins of Terra. Since time immemorial, cruel masters, inspirational madmen and monstrous warlords have arisen and burned the world and boiled away the oceans with forbidden arsenals of dirty atomic, biological and alchaemical agents. Each sends their ignorant armies marching across the haunted dustbowls that make up the hostile planet to victory and eventual defeat. Humanity battles for Terra's meaningless territory, meagre resources and thin glory, their lifeblood wetting the dead soil over and over again in forgotten battles. Mars and Luna have looked away, wracked with their own civil wars, and the cradle world has slipped into irrelevance, a dusty and ruined jewel. Against this, a New Man arose. Long-hidden, he names himself the Master of Mankind. Leading his bio-engineered super-warriors – the dread Thunder Warriors – the warlord conquered one techno-barbarian tribe after another, until the cry was taken up that an Emperor had arisen; an Emperor of blood and steel – and hope. Building and refining his nascent empire tirelessly, the Emperor's foes gather their strength against this new threat. The Thunder Warriors have been superceded by his new creation, the twenty Legiones Astartes. With this advanced army of elevated post-humans, clad in the finest armour and bearing the best weaponry the Emperor's scientists can craft, the Emperor intends to stare down the jealous eyes of Mars and Luna – and look beyond to the sea of stars itself. His ambition is boundless, his conviction complete. His vision is as inspiring as it is terrifying – nothing less than casting back the shroud of Old Night and unifying humanity in a mighty galaxy-spanning Imperium. Before he can strike for the stars, however, Terra must be pacified. Humanity will kneel before the Emperor – or it will be crushed. To be a man in such times is to dwell in terror and ignorance. It is to live in a time of great change; of terror, brotherhood, fear and ambition. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for the struggle to survive allows no such luxury. In the darkness of these last days humanity stands at the brink of creeping extinction. These are the tales of those times. + [terminax: file ends] [spooling] [proceed?] + + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [pictcapt file] [spooling] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [pictcapt file] [spooling] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [pictcapt file] [spooling] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [pictcapt file] [spooling] [inload traction located] [exloading]+ + [terminax: file ends] [spooling] [proceed?] + + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [spooling] [proceed?] + + [spooling] [proceed?] + + [spooling] [proceed?] + Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoLats_McGee Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 There aren't enough likes in the world. I've waited so long to see someone tackle this, I cannot wait to see where this goes. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266069 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calas Typhon Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 WELL.. THIS COULD BE INTERESTING. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266089 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skalpynock Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 One of the most talented fluff-smiths and craftsmith, and the single most interesting part of Imperial history. I'm looking forward to the warriors in storm cloud clad. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266095 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangaman Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 YES! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266224 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luna707 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 New Apologist project? Boom followed Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266265 Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeatTheBeat Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Yes. Yes yes yes yes. Pre-Unification is to me now what Pre-heresy was a couple of years ago. So much unexplored wonder. Incredibly glad to see this!Cheers,BTB Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266354 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosjetka Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 A non-truscale Apologist Unification project? Mh. Interesting, to say the least. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266492 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFlutterPie Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Very excited for this. I love the era of the Unification Wars maybe even a bit more the the Hersey itself. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266742 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kastor Krieg Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 /sub Also, I remember "SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT"! All the love, gorgeous linguistic detail. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266743 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Always a pleasure to see a new Apologist thread. ^_^ Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266751 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legionary Pallas Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 After seeing your SoH & your Praetors of Calth, I can't afford to not follow this closely. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4266994 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgoff Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 First you got my interest. Now you have my sign. Make us proud. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4267331 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apologist Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Coo, thanks for the votes of confidence! I'll be doing my best to recover what we can of Pre-Unity Terra, and I'm glad to have you all along. To give you an idea of the plan, our Remembrancer shuttle will join the Nine-week march over the Futusan Steppe to glittering Hi-Vishtari, before swooping over the Gunma Deadsands. + Genebrute of the Cythine Hills + If the Gynomachy of Mazon will let us pass, we'll watch all seven Legions break the Yukatani Whip-warriors' hold over the Fortress of Chicxulub. If we survive that, it's on into the world-spanning Gunma Deadsands. + Mazonine Intraster Mesanglyite + Statistically speaking, ninety-five per cent of us will not survive, but perhaps some of us will find the fabled Alvuatu Sea, withered daughter of Old Pasivic. We may even be able to spool forward to find the Coral Nomads, Ikinori Peak and Taiohe'a Outpost... and then; we'll follow the XIth into the skies to Luna, Mars and beyond... + Hollow man of the Alvautu Stalk-kin + Before we begin, of course, we'll look, like every good Rubricist should, at the files in place. One particular file recovered from the databank is covered in digital-dust; but I think it'll be of interest. +++ + [datalog] [spooling] [inload traction located] [exloading] + + Bellator Tonitro + The Astartes' face buckled like leather as he smiled; a far-away look in his eye. It was a peculiar expression for a Legionary. My only previous experience with the Legionaries had left me with the impression of rigid, unfeeling automata. The expression seemed oddly human; uncomfortably so, somehow. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, and motioned to the officer to continue. 'It was told later, that the Emperor's warriors struck like lightning; that their victory was as inevitable as the storm. It was told later that their name was mere metaphor. I was told this by one such as you; a hundred years after the last of their kind met their unkind end. That moemoae-caipan – my apologies; your word,' he coughed, and I realised as he continued that he was slightly embarrassed. Another expression that I had not – and would not – see on the other Legionaries I met. 'Apologies again; our word, of course, would be 'bard'. I have been on the frontiers too long, perhaps. I have not yet adjusted to Imperial Gothic.' That much was clear. Even the words themselves seemed awkward for him to phrase; his tongue tripping heavily over the syllables. To put him at his ease – reading that back, I find the concept oddly comic – I interrupted. He listened to my clarification, head tipped, then he continued, with an eyebrow raised quizzically and a smile on his voice. 'Is that right? I hadn't heard that term. 'Remembrancers', is it? Well, well. So no more poets or bards to sing our stories? Just Remembrancers to report.' I said nothing, unsure of what I could say. It didn't seem like a question to me. I was reminded, strangely, of my grandfather. His mind had wandered. His pauses had become attenuated. His gaze had grown misty. As the silence stretched, I wondered just how old the Legionary was. That I was talking with him attested to his having lived through Unity. Had he been born before the rise of the Emperor? Could any Legionary be so old? +++ 'I was there, Remembrancer. I saw the Thunder Warriors, and I tell you that their name was nothing so abstract as simile. They rolled over my father's forces without breaking stride.' 'I found later that our ten thousand-strong caravan was not even a target. We were merely in their path.' He smiled again. I detected no sadness, no regret. Perhaps his Ascendance had scoured or altered his emotions. Perhaps it was simply because he could not connect with the child he had been. 'I was not yet of the Legion, so my memories are patchy. You might excuse a frightened child of omitting certain details. Nevertheless, I see you wish to know all you can of the... first forces.' I dutifully jotted down his notes on his impressions – huge ogres that emerged from the blackness; fire-lit and bloody-toothed. Great roars that shook his thin chest, and the booming weaponry that burst his eardrums and left him screaming noiselessly. He talked spottily of the stench of sweat and salt-dirt; outlining his primitive memories in the enlightened frame of our more modern ideas, pausing to answer my prompts on how his humours were balanced or the relevance of the astromantic signs. +++ After the report was made, he paused again. His face grew dark. 'We never knew them as Thunder Warriors. That is a later label, added to put something strange and terrifying in a box. Just as you were once a recordist, or a journaller – and now you and your kin are all Remembrancers. It is the same'. He brought his hands up, the fingers together, then opened them in a motion like a blooming flower. 'The Great Crusade will do this, too. All the myriad languages that have flowered over Old Night will be recorded and put aside; replaced with Imperial Gothic. We will establish a single culture, a great Imperium across the stars. The Emperor, beloved-by-all, will rule over a humanity united.' He seemed to sit straighter, the cot beneath him creaking at his animation. 'I bear witness to the Imperial Truth. I am an ambassador of what is to come. My kind will journey to the galaxy's edge to bring all humanity together.' His smile returned and he continued. 'We will learn everything. We will encompass the whole of human knowledge. Think of it! Every song, every story, every scientific or mathemagickal principle from a million worlds – at the hands of everyone. It will be a golden age.' He paused, his eyes glittering. 'But I will not be part of it. The scythe does not share the bread.' Did I detect a note of frustration beneath the conviction? Before I could ask, he began to speak again. 'But part of this is the past. We must not forget what has happened. The Thunder Warriors were a brutal necessity. Let me tell you more of them...' + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [pictcapt file] [spooling] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] + + [pictcapt file] [spooling] [inload traction located] [exloading]+ + Baru Karnean, Thunder Warrior + + [terminax: file ends] [spooling] [proceed?] ++ [spooling] [proceed?] + Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4267838 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriegriss Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I think you must be an escaped piece of Allan Blighs mind that he should recapture when this forgeworld heresy project ends. Can you imagine how cool of a skirmish style game a pre unification terran setting would be . Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4267979 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuskRaider Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I like the Thunder Warrior... only thing I have a question about is... are his legs supposed to be bare or will there be fabric? I'd suggest making chainmail for the legs otherwise. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4267983 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I have that Reaper mini you used for the Thunder Warrior. Good job dressing him up, but I agree with DuskRaider that the legs would look better with some kind of armor on them. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4267996 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apologist Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 I think you must be an escaped piece of Allan Blighs mind that he should recapture when this forgeworld heresy project ends. Can you imagine how cool of a skirmish style game a pre unification terran setting would be . Cor, that would be awesome. To be honest, it'd work nicely with the Rogue Trader rules – all you'd need is the background :) I like the Thunder Warrior... only thing I have a question about is... are his legs supposed to be bare or will there be fabric? I'd suggest making chainmail for the legs otherwise. I have that Reaper mini you used for the Thunder Warrior. Good job dressing him up, but I agree with DuskRaider that the legs would look better with some kind of armor on them. Yes, I did toy with chainmail. In the end, though, I wanted to preserve the 'Conan-in-space' feel, so bare legs it is (plus the horror of sculpting decent chainmail on a tubular surface...). I'll explain a little more on why in the blurb to accompany the painted version. :) (Thanks for the heads-up on the original fig, BCK – he's been sitting in my bits box for a while, and for the life of me I couldn't remember where he was from.) +++ I have received a big ol' pile of parcels and bits with which to get the Legionaries started. I'm really looking forward to building some pieces (virtually) straight from the kit – it'll be a novelty not to be using Terminators as the basis of marines; and it'll let me use all teh bits that (for one reason or another) haven't fitted into my other projects. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4268429 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I feel your pain on the chainmail thing, and those Reaper minis are easy to spot from their built-in bases. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4268459 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athrawes Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 This looks wonderful Apologist, I look forward to see you tackle all the odds and ends of unification. Did I see a mention to the XI Legion? Is that the unification era Legion you'll be creating or will there be many different legions? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4268511 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skalpynock Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Statistically speaking, ninety-five per cent of us will not survive, but perhaps some of us will find the fabled Alvuatu Sea, withered daughter of Old Pasivic. We may even be able to spool forward to find the Coral Nomads, Ikinori Peak and Taiohe'a Outpost... and then; we'll follow the XIth into the skies to Luna, Mars and beyond... Ah, I guess that's why I didn't recognize the livery of the Astartes in the first post, despite keeping a notepad full of stuff on (pre-) Unification. Stellar work on that fluff, from the abhumans at the top to the conversation with the legionnaire. You really captured the difference between pre- and post-imperium. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4268515 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 A pleasure to read, brother. :tu: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4268545 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgoff Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Gueil. Oh Sorry, that was my native tounge. Roughly translated it means: Uh yeah. ;) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4268614 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apologist Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 + Legionary Olvidar Nonnatus + + [spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling] ++ 'The turquoise of the ocean; the rose of morning'. Such was Iterator Veil's description of the Eleventh Legion's heraldic colours, when it came to the time to demarcate and honour the warriors as a true Legion in their own right. + + In truth, none of the artificial oceans on Terra had turquoise shallows any longer; and the only hints of rose that crept into the bleached white sky above Taiohe'a Outpost were the chem-drenched clouds at dawn and dusk, swiftly burnt away by the merciless sun. + + inscriptor: Ali Yaqtest, extract from The Open Mind of Mankind; an Ongoing History of the Emperor's Victories vol I ++ datum:[datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] ++ [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] + Marquetry of the [REDACTED], Pre-compliant Terra [inload datum scrubbed – spec. three years prev. Fall of Luna?] + [spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling] ++ Operam: Military Adepts; New Imperial Order ++ Epigram: [summo Secretam – Eyes Only] Legions project; pre-prep. ++ [spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling] + examples of the the Urshine, Pansylvanian and Neo-Germaine militaries – if such a blanket term can be applied to those roaming and shiftless masses – are warriors who share cultural ties or common ideals. Whether we like it or nor, such concepts serve to bond the men and women into a fighting force – but in this they become brittle; and this is yet another subtlety that we must avoid. Weaknesses can be found in such a homogenous group; they may stand together, but they also break toget+ [spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling] +s the Perandor <Editrix: spec. trans. 'Emperor'? I'm not sure he'd like that, whatever the marshals say. Use his formal title 'Master' – or 'Warmaster' if you must – at least until we have confirmation of the Medi tribes surrender> has stated already, his Thunder Warriors will not suffice for his vision of world domination: and so we are tasked with the creation of seventeen groups; his 'Legio+ [spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling]et to be formed will be made up of previously unaffiliated individuals; drawn from [spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling]ith relish – and no little pride – I can foresee these groups conquering not just the Dominions of Ursh, but perhaps the planet itself. <Editrix: Scribe, strike all following paragraphs before sending; I don't want to find myself explaining Demmet's grandiloquent hubris to the Master once more> Indeed, at the risk of sounding overly sanguine, I dare dream we will one day find a way to send these Legionaries into the heavens, as I am told humanity did in those lost days. We might just dream that our glorious warmaster will one day extend his hand over the whole Solar System; thereby bringing every human in existence under his protection. What lofty is +SCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPTSCRIPT++ [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] + +++ Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4280762 Share on other sites More sharing options...
apologist Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 +++ + [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] was not, of course, the case with the Astartes, who were as different – as 'Other' – from base mankind as was the Emperor himself. Even the Thunder Warriors, monstrous figures who seemed quite inhuman to the Emperor's foes – and, indeed, to those like us, who bore witness to their conflict – had been created from human warriors. They had human minds inside their gene-bulked bodies, albeit altered and twisted. In contrast, the Astartes were elevated; their genetic code altered and partially subsumed beneath the pattern dictated by the Legion's unique genesperm. + + The Astartes' stature and physical alterations were the least of the differences from their previous selves; their mental and spiritual alterations – or as the Emperor's jealous enemies came to say 'mutilation' – creating something quite different. As a result, while Astartes might have memories of their families or places of birth; the changes wrought upon them, in concert with their training and indoctrination, rendered these memories ghostly and vague. + + inscriptor: Hammurabi, Ovidem et al., extract from The Three Legions, late M31 reprint 44. ++ dat+ [datalog terminus] [proceed] [spooling] + + Armour rad-bleached Pacific Basin Theatre; chromatically unreliable ++++ + [spooling] [spooling] [spooling] ++ How then, one might ask, could such a force be created? Who would shape the tabulae rasa of these new Legions? In the instance of the First Legion (and to an extent, the Second and Third), the answer was the Emperor himself. It was from his example that his 'perfect soldiers' learned to fight. With none of the considerations of their opponents – no emotional investment, no fear, no homes or cultures – they presented a terrifying blank slate to humanity. It is not for nothing they were labelled with terms from mythology – 'djinni', 'spirits', 'angels' – by their enemies. + + Prior to their Investiture in full operational warfare, the later Legions were deployed alongside other Imperial Forces, both as integrated warriors within Astartes squads, and as observers. Their command cadres were initially made up of experienced alien warriors from Legions I, II and III, who led small forces of the nascent Legions until native command could be taken. In this way, the hard-won lessons of Unity – as recorded in The Three Legions by Ovidem and Hammurabi the Wordsmith – were impressed upon the raw clay of the Legion. Some of the Fourteen Legions took to these lessons more readily than others. Neverthel[spooling] [transcript unclear] [spooling] +.+ [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] + + + The Mark of the Legionary; Imperator Vincere + + [spooling] [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] [spooling] ++ Redirect channel ++ [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] + + 'Thunderheads' designate: Stormbreaker specialist ++ [datalog] [spooling] [transcript unclear] [fatal error] + + Manhide boltgun strap – post Pan-Pacific campaign, judging by stylised bolt on belt. + Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317749-the-unification-wars/#findComment-4280769 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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