Alternate Heresy - Index Astartes: Emperor's Children

[Aurelius Rex]

Following IA: World Eaters (with final changes) being accepted by the Librarium - links in my sig below - the spotlight falls on the second legion in the series, and what Fulgrim's Emperor's Children have been up to in this alternate timeline.

 

There were a spate of 'loyal traitor EC' chapters submitted when I was a liber mod (and since), and so not to be left out, here is my version. :lol:

 

Are there any comments or feedback on this before this also gets submitted to the Librarium?

 

Aurelius.

 

+++++

 

Index Astartes: Emperor's Children

 

An Alternate Heresy

 

Before the Heresy, Fulgrim proclaimed that his legion had achieved a state of perfection, and for their pains were targeted for destruction at Istvaan by the Ruinous Powers. Through their peerless abilities they survived and ever since have fought tirelessly against the entropy and decline that has afflicted even the Legionnes Astartes. With their meticulously maintained marks of ancient equipment and weaponry, they are the epitome of a small, but elite, mobile strike-force.

 

Origins

S

o concerned were the Ruinous Powers by The Emperor’s plan to create the Primarchs that they stole the infants away and scattered them throughout the galaxy. Not even this, though, could deflect Fulgrim from his fate. The planet of Chemos, like many before The Emperor’s reunification, had been settled during mankind’s first expansion into the cosmos, but having lost the gift of spaceflight, had become isolated over the ages. By the time Fulgrim fell to earth, the inhabitants of Chemos had slipped perilously close to extinction, clinging to survival by scavenging from deserted settlements and endlessly recycling their increasingly sparse stocks of food and water.

 

It was five decades later that The Emperor finally set foot on Chemos, and it is a testament to Fulgrim’s exceptional abilities that in that time he had risen from a foundling to become the ruler of the entire planet. What is more, he had transformed it from a faltering society in terminal decline to a powerful, resurgent world reclaiming the lost settlements and rediscovering long-forgotten knowledge. No longer were they living day to day: Fulgrim had given the population of Chemos hope for the future.

 

On meeting his father and hearing The Emperor’s story, Fulgrim was struck by the parallels between their lives. Both had risen to power purely through merit, and The Emperor’s Great Crusade to reunite the lost human worlds into a galaxy-spanning Imperium echoed his own achievements, and reassured Fulgrim of the truth of his father’s words. Back on Holy Terra, Fulgrim was introduced to his legion. Due to a catastrophe with their gene-seed the legion was only 200 strong, but the return of their Primarch would change this. In front of the massed Terran dignitaries and even The Emperor Himself, Fulgrim addressed his warriors, saying: “We are His children. Let all who look upon us know this. Only by imperfection can we fail him. We are the Emperor’s Children, and we will not fail him.”

 

The onlookers were shocked by the presumption of appropriating The Emperor’s name for the legion, but the Master of Mankind simply laughed, and further indulged His son. The newly named Emperor’s Children were allowed the signal honour of being the only legion to bear The Emperor’s Aquila on their armoured breastplates, a distinction that endures to this day. Thus named and anointed, the arduous process of building the legion to fighting strength began. In his eagerness to prove himself, Fulgrim volunteered his legion for duty at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately, they were so few in number that they had to accompany another force. Fulgrim chose that of The Emperor and His Praetorians, the Imperial Fists.

 

The first meeting between the brothers, Dorn and Fulgrim, was cordial, but this state of affairs did not last. The source of the hostility stemmed from a clash of personalities, and Fulgrim’s opinion, perhaps borne out by what followed, that he rather than Dorn should be The Emperor’s Praetorian. Fulgrim was certainly forthright when it came to criticising the performance of the Imperial Fists, and was the first to boast of his warrior’s achievements to The Emperor. Fulgrim clearly saw himself as the favoured son, and when the Emperor’s Children finally reached full-strength, a lavish ceremony was held on the newly compliant world of Pelthan. Expectations among the legion were that at this coming of age, they would take their rightful mantle as The Emperor’s new Praetorians. When they were instead merely granted their own expedition of the Grand Crusade, a palpable sense of shock and outrage at the injustice spread through the hall. Dutiful son that he was, Fulgrim stood, silenced his troops, and contritely thanked his father for the honour.

 

The voyage from Pelthan was a lonely one for the Emperor’s Children. There was a sense that their fate, and indeed the entire universe had been upended. Worse was to come as the demoralised legion suffered a succession of gruelling, drawn-out campaigns of compliance, the last of which left Fulgrim critically wounded. Lord Commander Eidolon immediately suspended the expedition, and the fleet returned to Chemos, fully expecting to lay their Primarch to rest on his home soil. Rather than succumb though, Fulgrim awoke reinvigorated, and demanded to address the legion. He spoke with eloquence and passion that they had collectively been blinded by doubt and fear, but on the brink of death he had been gifted an epiphany. Their path was to seek out and achieve perfection in the arts of war, and once they achieved it, they must hold to it fast.

 

Fabius Bile

Despite Fulgrim’s declaration that the Emperor’s Children had reached perfection during the Laer campaign, a small faction within the legion defied their primarch’s injunction. Most prominent amongst these conspirators were a group within the Apothecarion who covertly continued their experiments under the cloak of treating their wounded brethren. These perversions included re-wiring the pleasure centres of the brain and even using xenos biological material from the vanquished Laer in their blasphemous works. This unforgivable breach of discipline was swiftly rooted out on the voyage to Istvaan. The leader, a talented but misguided Apothecary by the name of Fabius Bile, took the coward’s way out rather than having to answer to Fulgrim for his crimes. By the time they were able to break into the apothecarion, Bile's body had been rotted to an organic stew inside his armour by powerful enzymes. If he had lived, Bile’s punishment would undoubtedly have been an order of magnitude worse.

Just as Fulgrim had done when he first came to Chemos, this second arrival brought hope to the population. Thus armed, the Emperor’s Children, with Fulgrim at their head, returned to the Great Crusade with renewed purpose, knowing that they would not fail again. After innumerable stunningly successful campaigns that brought countless worlds back into the burgeoning Imperium of Man, Fulgrim redirected the fleet from their assigned course, and turned them instead towards a xenos world inhabited by a hostile and powerful race known as the Laer.

 

Such was the threat posed by the Laer that Imperial planners had projected any force attacking them would be wading through rivers of blood for decades. As the Laer were seemingly content in their isolation, they had been left until now. Fulgrim, however, saw them as his legion’s greatest test. He would exterminate them, and furthermore achieve this task within a standard solar month. The Emperor’s Children found that rather than a single race, the Laer had adapted and specialised their bodies to such a degree that they were barely recognisable as the same species. The only traits they held in common were a mastery of their own sphere of combat and the desperate tenacity of those facing total extinction.

 

The war wrought a terrible toll on both sides as weapons of incredible power were unleashed. The skills of the legion’s apothecaries, long the guardians of genetic purity, shone as they performed miracles in keeping their brothers alive and fighting. From weightless conditions aboard orbital defence platforms to dog-fights among freezing clouds and lethal close-range meat-grinders aboard deep submersible habitats, the Emperor’s Children scoured the Laer from existence. The very last Laer was cut down in one of their blasphemous temples, three days before the allotted month was out. Arriving after the battle had ended, Fulgrim declined to tour the site despite being regaled with tales of its haunting beauty, saying he had no wish to so dignify the xenos or their superstitions. He instead had the fane pounded to dust by orbital bombardment, along with every other remnant of Laeran culture.

 

Back in orbit around the dead world, Fulgrim addressed his entire legion. He said the campaign had proved that they had indeed achieved The Emperor’s perfection. Driven to constantly change and adapt, the Laer had twisted their minds and bodies beyond all recognition, and yet the Emperor’s Children had defeated them through their unsurpassed skill and devotion to purity. Similarly, the legion must be wary of diluting their Emperor-given state of perfection in the guise of ‘progress’, as to corrupt the ideal in this way would be an unforgivable act of sacrilege.

 

On that day, the Emperor’s Children became a bastion of constancy in an ever-shifting galaxy.

 

“And what of Fulgrim?” rumbled the first voice.

“He and his legion are ripe with pride, arrogance and jealousy,” said the second voice. “Even now they are walking straight into the embrace of my children, the Laer. By the time they reach Istvaan, they will be willing supplicants to -”

“No! I forbid it!” roared the Primarch through the pain.

“Forbid?” whispered the second, as silky and dangerous as an unsheathed blade.

The four paused. Could their control have slipped?

“They don’t deserve to be elevated like that,” said the Primarch more levelly. “They don’t deserve such a reward.” The poisonous animosity between the two was a livid wound upon his psyche. It was clear to the four that the outburst was motivated by loathing rather than mercy.

“Very well, my lord,” said the third in the phlegmy rattle that passed for a voice. “In any case, I know my brother has his eye on another morsel, the White Scars.”

“So be it – we grant you this boon,” said the fourth voice, “but you must make sure that you have sufficient forces to crush them utterly.”

“It will be my pleasure,” said Rogal Dorn as he deactivated the Pain-glove, climbed out, and strode rigidly from the empty room.

[clearfloat][/clearfloat]

 

The Heresy

N

o sooner had the Emperor's Children reached their apotheosis than they received an urgent astropathic communiqué concerning the Ultramarines. Guilliman’s legion had brought much of the far galactic east into Imperial compliance, but now by right of conquest had claimed the area as their own. Rather than showing dismay and disbelief that one of his brother primarchs could turn his back upon The Emperor, Fulgrim took the news with quiet satisfaction. It reinforced his feeling of superiority, and gave him the chance to put his legion to the test against the closest thing that remained to a challenge: other Astartes. The only thing to sour the moment was the news that the force sent to discipline the Ultramarines would be commanded by his adversary, Rogal Dorn.

 

The Emperor’s Children set course for the Istvaan system. It was the site of Guilliman’s latest addition to his ‘Ultramar Segmentum’, and both the rebellious Primarch and much of his massed legion were present on the fifth planet. Seven legions were called to Istvaan, with the Imperial Fists, Iron Hands, Salamanders and Dark Angels making planet-fall first to encircle, devastate and demoralise the defenders. The Emperor’s Children, World Eaters and Raven Guard were given the task of falling upon what remained to administer the coup de grâce. On Dorn’s command the three legions descended from orbit, only to find themselves caught in an ambush. Far from demoralised, they found the Ultramarines well dug-in, heavily armed and highly organised. Landing craft were torn apart by concentrated anti-aircraft fire and drop pods incinerated before their hatches were even blown. Under the peerless leadership of the Emperor’s Children, the mauled remnants of the three legions broke out to link up with their supporting legions, only to uncover the true depths of the betrayal, as their erstwhile allies also opened fire upon them.

 

The comm-channels were awash with pleas for their brothers to cease fire, and it was Fulgrim who first guessed the terrible truth. This was no accident: Dorn had betrayed them. The Emperor’s Children vented their frustration on the turncoats before them, and Fulgrim led what remained of his personal retinue against the Primarch of the Iron Hands. Fulgrim had considered Ferrus Manus to be a rare friend rather than a rival, and so the betrayal was all the deeper. Legion records tell that Fulgrim managed to mortally wound Manus, and even sever one of his fabled metal hands. Sadly, this account has been proved to be apocryphal as Manus was later seen on Mars, and personally commanded his legion in the Gothic Sector as recently as early M41.

 

Through daring, skill and determination a tiny fraction of the three legions escaped back to orbit to spread word of Dorn’s Great Betrayal to the wider Imperium. Despite their brutish demeanour, the World Eaters had impressed Fulgrim on the field of battle, and genuine bonds of friendship were forged that persist to this day. Corax and his Raven Guard left, as was their way, silently and swiftly for their home-world. Though it pained Fulgrim to do so, it was agreed that their numbers were so few that the only option was to return to their home-worlds and rebuild their legions for the inevitable fight-back. The Emperor’s Children had risen from the ashes once, they would do so again.

 

After the Heresy

D

espite their betrayal and near-extinction at Istvaan, Fulgrim’s assertion that his legion had achieved the heights of perfection remained unshakeable. If anything, these events reinforced his view. They could not have been corrupted or defeated in a fair fight, so instead Dorn had tried – and failed - to obliterate them beneath overwhelming numbers. Dorn’s Heresy was brought to a bloody end before they could properly reconstitute their losses. Chief among the casualties was The Emperor Himself, who was left as little more than a ghost in the Astronomican machine.

 

Although Fulgrim never spoke openly of it, he clearly grieved for his father, and perhaps even regretted his choice to rebuild the legion rather than trying to fight their way back to Terra. Dorn, the Arch-Betrayer, was dead, and yet other traitor legionnaires still drew breath. The urge to track them down and mete out bloody retribution was powerful, yet Fulgrim never once compromised his principles to boost their numbers. Only the finest recruits were inducted into the Emperor’s Children, which meant that while their high standards were maintained, the legion remained pitifully small.

 

For this reason they deigned to fight alongside other loyalist legions, first with the World Eaters, where they saved the planet of Skalathrax from the Salamanders, and eventually took their place in Abaddon’s massed Crusades. To finally strike back was cathartic, but Fulgrim was horrified at the short-cuts the other legions had taken to replace their losses, in particular the new, inferior marks of war-gear being rushed into production. Though it significantly slowed the rate at which the Emperor’s Children could reconstitute their ranks, Fulgrim was confident he had made the right choice. They would not compromise their principles and their purity.

 

Ever since the dark days of the Heresy, the Emperor’s Children have been dedicated to the protection of the Imperium. However, while they do fight against xenos incursions and bring heretical regimes back into the Imperial fold, they rarely see such opponents as a worthy challenge. Their real passion is ignited by the chance to test themselves against the traitor legions, and especially those that betrayed them on Istvaan. It was Fulgrim who proposed a Crusade against Roboute Guilliman himself, that it was their duty to finally end the existence of the man who had triggered the Heresy. It was Fulgrim who led the nine loyal legions deep into the hostile territory of Ultramar Segmentum, and it was Fulgrim who met, and bested Guilliman on the blood-soaked world of Prandium.

 

Such a deed would have made Fulgrim the only person, bar The Emperor, to have killed one of the traitor primarchs, and yet he willingly forwent this singular honour in favour of a far more fitting punishment. Using their superior pre-Heresy technology, the Emperor’s Children placed the dying Guilliman within a temporal stasis field and returned it to Holy Terra so that his eternal torment might be witnessed by The Emperor. The body is housed within the deepest vaults of the Purgatory Falls Sepulchre, and although it should be impossible, it is said that the agonies of his long final second have been felt by generations of telepaths down the millennia.

 

Of Fulgrim’s own fate, nothing is known for certain. He disappeared without a word from the inner sanctum of his flagship, the Pride of Chemos. Much has been read into the physical evidence in the chamber, such as the etched adamantium wall-panels. Some speculate that it was caused by some unknown type of weaponry; others said that Fulgrim had ascended to another spiritual level, and that it was a physical manifestation of this transcendence. Few though, within the legion, truly believe that their Primarch is dead. They only differ over how and when he will return.

 

Homeworld

B

efore the arrival of Lord Fulgrim, Chemos was isolated from the wider galaxy, its inhabitants clinging to existence on their desperately polluted world. Fulgrim turned around this decline, reclaiming previously abandoned settlements and giving the population hope for the future. With the arrival of The Emperor and an influx of Imperial technology, this development leapt forward dramatically. Chemos became the site of the legion’s Fortress-Monastery, and extensive new mines and manufactories were built to arm the Emperor’s Children for their wars in the Great Crusade.

 

The Chemos Curse

From orbit, Chemos was infamously compared with the face of “an aging courtesan, far past her prime but gamely applying rouge and powder to cover her pitted, pock-marked face.” Admiral Markovich, received orders to patrol the Ghoul Stars shortly after uttering this unflattering witticism, a tour from which his grand cruiser and escort cadre never returned. This has led to an Imperial Navy superstition that to speak ill of Chemos is deathly bad luck, and that anyone doing so is roundly flogged, be they the lowliest ship's rating or the commanding officer.

This increased level of production darkened the skies with pollution, an image akin to the desperate days before the coming of the Primarch. This, along with the desire for perfection and the call of his artist’s soul prompted Fulgrim to decree that they would turn the planet itself into a place of beauty: a world fit for the Children of The Emperor. Using influence that only a primarch could wield, Fulgrim ordered that the planet be terraformed. Pollution was scrubbed from the air and water, and Chemos was transformed into a wild, verdant world of azure skies, shining lakes and deepest forests. So as not to spoil this idyll, Fulgrim also ordered the manufactories, mines and main population centres be relocated below the surface in vast, hermetically sealed caverns.

 

Such a mighty task took many centuries to fully complete, interrupted as it was by the Heresy, the near-destruction of the Emperor's Children at Istvaan, and the dark times that followed. Eventually, Fulgrim was rewarded for his labours with a world to rival even the lushest pleasure-planet in its beauty. Only the Emperor’s Children themselves and civilians charged with the upkeep of the environment and for the production of fresh food for the legion are allowed access to the surface. The remaining population labours endlessly in the buried hive cities, producing the pre-Heresy era equipment and weapons demanded by the Emperor’s Children. The skill of these artisans in keeping alive knowledge of patterns and marks used during the Great Crusade is unparalleled even, so they boast, by the Adepts of Mars.

 

Sadly, despite their best efforts, the beauty of Chemos has faded over the millennia. In the absence of the Lord Fulgrim, entropy has taken a heavy toll upon the little-understood terraforming equipment, and catastrophic cave-ins have scarred the once-pristine world. In addition to the death-toll, these cave-ins have caused irretrievable losses of ancient technology. For instance, Persuai sub-hive was responsible for vital power generation systems used in mark 3 “Iron” pattern power armour. The catastrophic collapse that destroyed it in late M39 has meant that ever since, these suits have incorporated non-authentic elements cobbled together from later marks. To this day, search-teams still excavate the ruins of Persuai, ever-hopeful that the lost knowledge might one day be reclaimed.[/i]

 

Combat Doctrine

M

arines of the Emperor’s Children are expected to be proficient, nay, to excel in each and every battlefield role. This means that a battle brother would be expected to crew a vehicle as capably as they would fire a heavy weapon or fight in close combat. Although this is sought through endless training, as it is among the other loyal legions, the Emperor’s Children add a different aspect to their regimes – the incorporation of artistic pursuits.

 

The most obvious benefit of this is their approach to close combat. Where the World Eaters are coldly clinical and methodical, with each member of the force meshing together seamlessly, the Emperor’s Children have a fluid grace borne of the study of dance and poetry. They flow across the battlefield, darting aside from blows and bullets before sweeping past their foes to strike three more before the first corpse has hit the ground. Officers of the Emperor’s Children are renowned for their powerful rhetorical style, honed through intense study of the form and function of literature, poetry and the oratorical arts.

 

Their steadfast rejection of technological developments has meant that many vehicles commonly used by the other legions are absent from the armouries of the Emperor’s Children. For them the trusted, ancient marks of Predator, Rhino and Land Raider are more than sufficient. Modifications such as the Tilvius APC or the brutish Vindicator are looked upon as at best a corruption of the purity of the venerable Rhino chassis. Even smaller variants in weapon system such as the Predator Dominator and the Land Raider Incinerator are shunned.

 

Their laborious production of older weapons and wargear mean that the Emperor’s Children are the only legion able to field appreciable numbers of jet-bikes, which they maintain, with some justification, are more than a match for the slow and ungainly Land Speeder. Another example of the superiority of the legion’s venerable war-gear is the Raptor jump pack. The complexity of manufacture and maintenance of these devices became prohibitive even for the Legionnes Astartes. When the STC for the simpler, but far less effective DH2 pattern jump pack was discovered, only the Emperor’s Children opted to retain the older form in service. Such rigid adherence to Fulgrim’s pre-Heresy vision of perfection, along with the luxury of limitless access to the manufacturing base of an entire planet is a defining feature of the combat doctrine espoused by the Emperor’s Children.

 

Organisation

W

hile other legions have increased in size and adapted their command structures over the millennia, the Emperor's Children have defiantly remained the same. They are composed of thirty grand companies, the same number that made up the legion during the ascension of the Laer campaign. Each grand company is led by a Lord Commander, an instrument of Fulgrim’s will, who through his subordinate captains directs upwards of a thousand marines. Respect for their superior officers is ingrained into the psyche of the Emperor’s Children, with each successive rank moving closer to Lord Fulgrim, and by extension, closer to an unquestionable ideal.

 

The excessive care taken over both gene-seed purity and the calibre of new recruits has meant that even in the aftermath of the Istvaan Betrayal, the Emperor’s Children have never compromised their standards simply to fill out the ranks. Similarly, given the degree of time and effort required to produce their venerated wargear, it is unsurprising that they are by far the smallest of The Emperor’s legions. What they lack in numbers, they say, is more than compensated for with their unparalleled skill. This is something which they are all-too eager to demonstrate to Astartes of other legions, be it in the duelling cages, or on the battlefield against The Emperor’s enemies.

 

Among Lord Commanders there is a strictly defined hierarchy. In the absence of Lord Fulgrim, what would elsewhere be called the post of Legion Master resides with the Lord Commander of the First Grand Company. Even before the Heresy, each grand company had its own favoured style of combat. This was a reflection of their Lord Commander’s personality, something encouraged by Fulgrim himself. This was reflected in unofficial, but enduring names for each grand company. For example, the Seventh Grand Company are informally known as the ‘Hawk Lords’ for their unmatched skill at aerial warfare with Raptor pack and jet-bike.

 

Beliefs

W

ith all their hearts, the Emperor’s Children believe in their own purity and innate superiority. They cling tight to Fulgrim's assertion that they achieved perfection just before the Heresy, and will do nothing to dilute this, be it with the new, inferior marks of weapons and equipment, or accepting anything less than the most pristine specimens of gene-seed. This obsessive attention to detail means that while the Emperor’s Children will never be a large legion, each member is a paragon of what it means to be an Astartes. They believe that the only being to surpass them is The Emperor, and while they do not view him as a god, their respect and admiration for him is unbreakable.

 

Fighting alongside allies, such as the Imperial Army or even Astartes from other legions is often a source of friction. Their superiority can sometimes be mistaken for arrogance or high-handedness. Despite this, the Emperor’s Children enjoy demonstrating their skills to others, but ultimately are most comfortable fighting alone, where they only have to rely upon their own trusted battle-brothers.

 

Gene-seed

S

ince the gene-seed disaster that nearly wiped out the legion in its infancy, the Emperor’s Children have taken obsessive care in the screening of implants. This solemn duty falls to the legion’s apothecaries. From the battlefield harvesting of progenoid glands from critically wounded brethren to the testing, culturing and implantation into new recruits, they are the guardians of Fulgrim’s genetic legacy. As such, the gene-seed of the Emperor’s Children is of unmatched purity, with all nineteen implants working as well today as when they were first gifted by The Emperor.

 

Despite the stability of the Fulgrim gene-seed, the stringency of the screening process still results in a relatively high proportion of rejections. Although this is in part compensated for by an implantation success rate unmatched by the other legions, it does mean that the Emperor’s Children are slow to replace brothers lost in battle. The legion has been brought twice to the brink of destruction, and twice they have emerged triumphant. They see this as a testament to the strength of their gene-line, and a vindication of their zeal in guarding its integrity with terminal intensity.

 

By long tradition, the progenoid gland in the chest is surgically removed as soon as it matures, while the second is harvested only upon the marine’s death. The early elective removal of one progenoid minimises the chances that it will be damaged or subjected to contamination. In the event that some catastrophe should destroy the legion’s stocks of gene-seed, surviving battle brothers carry within them the means to continue the Fulgrim line. As a legion that has faced extinction on more than one occasion, the Emperor’s Children are acutely aware of the need to consider such things.

 

Battlecry

T

he legion has, of course, kept its Pre-Heresy battlecry - "Children of The Emperor! Death to His Foes!"

[Ferrata]

Just a few small new comments of this version, I enjoyed this read better than the first, the few changes here and there really make it. :blush:

 

small, but elite, and mobile strike-force.

Wouldn’t this sound better as ‘small, but elite, mobile strike-force’?

 

Abaddon’s massed Black Crusades.

I’m still not a fan of naming them Black Crusades, it reeks too much of the norm ‘verse. I'll have to think of a suitable replacement...

 

knowledge might one day be reclaimed.[/i]

 

By long tradition, the progenoid gland in the chest is surgically removed as soon as it matures, while the second is harvested only upon the marine’s death

I always presumed the neck-gland was removed as it matured, being more accessible without causing damage to the marine, whilst the chest-gland was removed at death because it required the fused rib-cage being shattered in order to retrieve, an act that almost condemns the marine to death.

[Codex Grey]

I really enjoy reading these articles, Rex. I have not read the 'History and Legacy of Dorn's Betrayal', yet, so reading these IA's is like watching a movie where a story is being told several times from different perspectives, and I can't wait to see why Dorn went traitor. Keep up the good work.

[Aurelius Rex]

@Ferrata - Thanks for those notes. I will definitely be incorporating the changes (and the ones you sent me before :tu: ) before it goes to the Librarium. I certainly agree that the Black part of 'Black crusades' needs to be dropped for the reasons you mention.

 

On geneseed I don't have IA:Rites of Initiation to hand, but from when I read it in preparation for that section it seemed that the progenoids could be removed electively when they reach maturation and it didn't say the removal was fatal - despite what I was initially thinking. Considering the skill of the apothecaries in re-plumbing the Astartes body (and perhaps the skill of the alt-EC medics) I didn't think it impossible that they could safely remove the implant. I will have to put the GW quote up when I find it and review the wording.

 

@Codex Grey - Glad you are enjoying them. I had not considered it not being read without reference to the overview article. :P As you read them you will see different perspectives on the same events - IA:UM has a very different view of Guilliman's capture - and there are a number of things that pay off in later IA's for the alert reader. :tu:

[Ferrata]

On Gene-seed: T'is I who is wrong. 'A gland may be removed any time after it has matured.' I believe I was taken my idea from 'the other [progenoid] deep within the chest cavity'

[Mr.(Space)Marine]

Looking forward to the rest of the IAs! I myself would like to know what the Iron Warriors were like as loyalists.

[CantonWC]

Hey there,

 

this is kinda late, but I just want to put in a good word for you; your talents as a writer are quite pronounced, and this Alternate Heresy is shaping up to be better and better with every article. so which Legion comes next?

 

Um, I hardly have the time to do any extensive review of your work. Um, I'll just go ahead and say that I didn't like this one as much as the World Eaters IA. Maybe it's just the way the EC are - Fulgrim is still pretty much a prat :P i'd have to say you captured pretty well what the EC might have been if they had not turned. I'm having to remind myself that you're not really going for "Loyalists and Traitors flip flop" - It's more like figuring out the good and bad of every Legion, and how each can be inspired to not only take an opposite tact, but even fluidly take on new guises and roles.

 

The only thing I didn't really, honestly like was the sudden disapperance of Fulgrim. I don't like loose ends - since it already happened with Loyalist Vulkan. I don't have any suggestions for you sadly.

 

Did a quick flip through of your Dorn Heresy, and remembered what you said about the Raven Guard - you're not planning any laurels for them are you :( I only ask because I'm at a slight impasse for my own Dark Swords (RG Successor) and would love any inspiration for giving my brain a jog. Also, I don't think you have pointed out which of the Alternate Traitors haven given themselves over to Tzeentch?

[Aurelius Rex]

@Mr.(Space)Marine

Looking forward to the rest of the IAs! I myself would like to know what the Iron Warriors were like as loyalists.

I don't know when I will get round to writing the Iron Warriors IA, but the overview article makes mention of Perturabo's battle against Sanguinius, and their post heresy campaigns to dislodge the former Imperial Fists from their Iron Cage worlds (plural!).

 

@CantonWC:

 

so which Legion comes next?

The Ultramarines is next. Although it is complete, I can't say when it will be posted as something special is in the works. [Fingers crossed]

 

Um, I'll just go ahead and say that I didn't like this one as much as the World Eaters IA. Maybe it's just the way the EC are - Fulgrim is still pretty much a prat i'd have to say you captured pretty well what the EC might have been if they had not turned.

Fair enough. :) I went on the basis that Fulgrim's search for perfection, and the overbearing arrogance that they were undoubtedly the superior legion left them wide open to a fall. In fact, Fulgrim only dodged it due to Dorn's insistence that he wanted Fulgrim dead rather than corrupted (on the colourpiece) shows how close it was in this Alt universe. :rolleyes:

 

I'm having to remind myself that you're not really going for "Loyalists and Traitors flip flop" - It's more like figuring out the good and bad of every Legion, and how each can be inspired to not only take an opposite tact, but even fluidly take on new guises and roles.

Thanks, that was exactly what I was intending to do. I have intentionally tried to avoid direct transfers, so that the Tzeentch cult legion in this 'verse (hehe, yes, there is one!) takes a very different slant than the Thousand Sons.

 

The only thing I didn't really, honestly like was the sudden disapperance of Fulgrim. I don't like loose ends - since it already happened with Loyalist Vulkan. I don't have any suggestions for you sadly.

Keep reading. :jaw: There are only two IA's published so far, but there are things set up in one IA that pay off in others for keen eyed readers. :lol:

 

Did a quick flip through of your Dorn Heresy, and remembered what you said about the Raven Guard - you're not planning any laurels for them are you I only ask because I'm at a slight impasse for my own Dark Swords (RG Successor) and would love any inspiration for giving my brain a jog.

I am writing IA:RG at the moment, and hope I am doing them justice. I am trying to avoid the word 'Nevermore' though at any costs. I will have to look in on your Dark Swords IA.

 

Also, I don't think you have pointed out which of the Alternate Traitors haven given themselves over to Tzeentch?

You are the first to mention this. ^_^ It was intentional to leave this out of the overview to see if anyone would guess who becomes the Tzeentch cult legion. I have also laid in something in the first two IA's which will pay off for them later, rather than just having it come out of the blue.

[CantonWC]

Well then, maybe I'll indulge in a little guessing game :P

 

Now, first you mention that the Iron Hands now have the Rubrics of Paullian, which is an obvious nod to the Thousand Sons. But they're obviously not Tzeentch, because they have given themselves over to another master... Of the eight listed Traitors, I would nominate the Dark Angels for the Cult of Tzeentch - because they're the least obvious choice. That is, unless one of the ten listed Loyalists is not actually Loyalist. That's all I got though.