So. Time to properly introduce y'all to My Dudes™️/DIY project(s). 

 

Here's how this is gonna work. I'm gonna post a bit of a write up briefly describing each of My Dudes™️ and also briefly go over the inspirations (or, as I like to call them, "touchstones") for each. Ok? That sound good? Yeah? Then let's hit it. 

 

Starting off with...

 

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The Brotherhood of the Remnant Shepherds

 

After returning to their home of Prospero at the urgent behest of their Primarch, a cadre of Terran veterans from the XV legion discovered that their adopted home was burning, the Space Wolves were rampaging, and that Magnus had fallen to the Ruinous Powers. Treachery and horror gripped their home, and for a moment, they were unsure of what to do. Deciding to rescue who they could, they reorganized under the leadership of the sorcerer-lord Ifrit bin Sa'Nabaali (EE-free ben sah-NAH-ballee) of the Orison of the Wayward Wanderers, fleeing the burning planet with as many civilians they could feasibly bring with them, escaping across the stars, and consigning their fellow legionnaires to their fate. 

 

During their journey to find safe harbor, the former XV legionaries had come across the battered, bruised, and desperate survivors of the Istvaan III Massacre. Legionaries from the III, IV, VIII, and XVII legions described how they were betrayed by those whom they called brothers, whom just earlier had broken bread with them not a day before. The survivors sought refuge with the runaway veterans, who graciously accepted them into their ranks. Now, the decision had to be made:

 

Who to support during this time of struggle? 

 

Both candidates looked bleak. In one corner, the Emperor had just ordered the arrest of His own son and cared little for the collateral damage it would've caused, and this was saying nothing of the way He insisted that all of humanity must be brought to heel beneath His so called "benevolence." In the other, Horus had gone mad with power, hubris and rage blinding him in equal measure, visions of prophecy filling his mind with delusions of power and prestige. 

 

Neither party would have the wayward legionaries' best intentions at heart. Neither one would treat them (and those that they had rescued) with the respect and dignity they deserved. Neither one would care what would happen to the multitude of civilians caught in the crossfire of their titanic conflict.

 

In the end, the combined group of veterans and survivors chose neither. To hell with The Emperor. To hell with Horus. The newly reorganized Blackshields decided to kick their heels free of this madness and journey deep into the dark, rescuing who they could and bringing them along for the perilous road ahead. Across the stars, the Blackshields saved who they could, rescuing stranded Solar Auxilia units and shepherding as many civilians as they could on to their ships. All along the way, they were hunted by those who declared for the Emperor and for the Warmaster, chased across the galaxy by foes who wished to consign them to a futile struggle. 

 

If that were not enough, it was discovered that a cadre of legionaries from the XX legion had infiltrated their ranks, ostensibly to turn them to the Warmaster's cause. The infiltrators, however, were given the choice to either join the Great Journey or be cast into the void. Several XX legionaries had refused, having chosen "death before dishonor," being thrown out of airlocks en masse without their power armor. A significant portion, however, were swayed into joining, not merely to stave off death, but because they genuinely believed in the Blackshields' mission to find the one place that was untouched by the madness, unmolested by this insane war. In doing so, they were admitted to join the Blackshields and assist in any way they could with the Great Journey, helping their new brothers navigate the treacherous path ahead. 

 

The Great Journey was not without peril, nor was it without loss. Imperial forces hounded the Blackshields across the stars. The Warmaster's ilk chased them as well, demanding fealty in exchange for the opportunity to die for an ultimately nihilistic cause. Rations across the fleet ran low. Supplies could not be replaced in time. The pace of the Journey pushed all their ships, all their people (Astartes and mortal alike), to their breaking points. Ad-hoc repairs never held for long. 

 

And still, they voyaged. Still, they searched for a place to call home. Still, their odyssey flung them far afield, away from the war-torn places they knew. 

 

In the end, they did find a place. A place that was once hidden, but now could be entered. A star system, known only as J1623-BR235, on the trailing edge of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy; within it, a planet called...Out There. And, surprisingly enough, people. Humans. Humans who knew of the ages before Old Night. Who claimed to be from the ages before Old Night. A people who had previously had their homeworlds veiled by aetheric miasma, hidden just out of view of the Emperor's jealous and imperious gaze. 

 

People who were experiencing an influx of psykers and psychic phenomena, the majority of which manifested in children. People who were doing all they could to alleviate such a burden, but unable to truly comprehend the scope of what they faced.

 

Thus, the Blackshields did vow to protect these people. Thus, they did claim The Watchtower. Thus, they struck a pact of mutual defense with the inhabitants in exchange for teaching, shepherding, the youthful psykers. Thus, they found their new home. 

 

And so the Blackshields became The Brotherhood of the Remnant Shepherds, reorganizing themselves to better serve their new home and its people. And woe betide those who would attempt to scour their charges from the face of the galaxy. 

 

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Touchstones:

 

Battlestar Galactica 2004 (behavioral/historical; loss of homeworld, panicked journey across the stars, desperately trying to rescue who they can)

 

Babylon 5 (behavioral; attempting to fight/flee a fascist government and the toll that brings)

 

Mass Effect (historical/aesthetic; just couldn't resist adding some shades of the Quarians to them, even though I was already adding BSG to the mix)

 

Homeworld (aesthetic/historical; again, I couldn't resist; it just fits! Besides, I was already giving it an homage with Ifrit bin Sa'Nabaali, I might as well ape some more from it!)

 

 

 

 

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So those are my Blackshields. Basically, they're what you get when you decide to add sanity to a setting that is incredibly, almost ontologically hostile to it. They reject the nihilism of Horus.  They reject the narcissism of Big E. They choose the people, the common folk, the working class guy trying to keep himself alive. They choose those who cannot defend themselves. They're like the Salamanders...if the Sallies didn't hitch their wagon to a fascist government (currently) being run by a narcissistic edgelord who doesn't understand that maybe the reason why people traveled across the stars was to get away from clowns like Him because He was a fascist whacko who didn't like being told "no thank you, good sir, we'll be just fine without joining your fancy Imperium."

 

Next Time™️, I'll have you folks meet the United Remnant. And trust me, they're a bit of a doozy.