IA: The Bhramastras

[Hemal]

Arjuna was annoyed, but supressed the emotion. His 1st Compan had not yet arrived at the rendez-vous, along with the battlebarge assigned to them, and his small fleet was short of any heavy firepower with which to breach the oribtal defenses of the traitors and make a successful beach-head.

 

Arjuna looked across the bridge of the Strike Cruiser "Virat", his augmented vision taking in the details of the various controls, augers and sensoria littering the consoles on the deck. By his side rested his artificer-crafted combi-bolter, the might Gandiva, and in his command throne lay the different modules that would convert the Gandiva int an instrument of fiery death, molten hell or burning annihilation. He smiled at the thought of bringing about the demise of his enemies, but did not glory in it, seeing it as no more than his duty to rid the Imperium of these beasts.

 

The tenets of the warrior that he held dear to his heart even after ascending to be a servant of Vishnu were as clear as when he was a young princeling learning the warfare of ancients at the feet of his teachers, indeed even as celar as when men still wore bark and hunted in the wilds of ancient Ind on Terra.

 

Millenia had passed, Vishnu had been reborn once more as the Emperor and yet the ringing truth was that a warrior must protect the realm of Man, and uphold the honour of his station at all times.

 

The screech of claxons sounded, simulating the agony of a ship tearing the fabric of reality, and a huge battlebarge emerged from the warp, long tendrils of smoke and fire stretching across its hull, and dissipating back into the immaterium.

 

The Vox spat forward static and a voice, garbled at first, and then clearer, came through.

 

"Chapter Master Arjuna, Captain Bhima sends his regards and his apologies. The Battlebarge "Shiva Sena" is at your disposal. Bhimasena asked me to advise you he was still otherwise engaged with the Hrud infestation of Phalhax IV, but battlebarge support was no longer required."

 

Arjuna swore under his breath, then calming himself he formulated an alternate plan, one that did not need the Terminators. Runes bliked on his console as the power armour fed his plan to the other commanders and each acknowledged it.

 

"Very well, I will stay with the "Virat". Take the point Brother Captain Sadhev, and lead the fleet in system."

 

The ponderous ship vectored slowly, massive thrusters changing its orientation towards the small yellow sun in the distance. There the traitors had made their presence felt on the 3rd planet, and now Arjuna would bring the vengeance of Vishnu upon them. The Bhramastras would go to war once more against the interminable enemies of dharma and the Emperor of mankind would triumph once more.

 

 

The ancient system of Indraprashta was founded by inhabitants from an ancient and long disappeared district of Ursh during the Dark age of Technology. The first Terrans who had landed there, on the only planet orbiting a yellow star and capable of giving life, were fleeing persecution of their old beliefs, following as they did the religion of Jindoism (SILENT J...), beliefs that were regarded as ancient and dangerous in the time leading to the creation of the Men of Iron.

 

The principle tenets were that there was one supreme being, and his likeness was split into three - the B'rama the Creator, Visnu the Avenger and the Sova the Destroyer. When the Great Crusade started, Indraprashta was one of the planets first encountered by Roboute Gulliman and his legion. The first contact was peaceful and good natured, with the astute Primarch recognised the cultures and customs from his studies on Terra, and also signalled to his father that he had found several ancient data repositories from pre-Imperial times, though by this time the inhabitants had forgotten how to read or use these ancient devices.

 

When time permitted, the Emperor arrived with full pomp and ceremony and was greetd by the King of the system, which had regressed to post nuclear civilisation, barely capable of inter-system travel. Whilst the Emperor did not encourage it, many of the sages of Indraprashta saw some of the truth behind his nature, and revered him as an incarnation of the great bringer of balance and order in the galaxy, Visnu. Thus the Emperor was somewhat unwillingly deified, although in a way that recognised the flaws in a god as a man.

 

The system had been safe from teh ravages of Horus during much of the Heresy due to proximity with Ultramar and the vast reserves of loyalist troops, but this was to change after the internment, of the Emperor, marking the start of the current age, the Kali-Yog, the Age of Death. After the Ultramarines had splintered traitor legions across the galaxy, some of these smaller warbands roamed unfettered across what had previously been safe. The planet of Indraprashta was hit hard by a cruiser from the Hounds of Dalmire Imperial Army, one of the units that had declared for Horus. The locals could not muster adequate troops to beat back the technologically superior traitors. The cruiser blasted any resistance from above, levelling whole cities and killing thousands of people with each lance-strike, and they had no answer for the armoured might deployed against them save suicde attacks by zealots wearing explosives.

 

The defenders were forced back to an underground temple complex, dedicated to the Emperor, with the intention of drawing the enemy upon them and collapsing the entrances. The commander, whose own firearm was spent, spotted the ancient bolter than had been mounted in an alcove for many years. The weapon was fitted with a melta gun, and whilst being far too big for a normal man to carry unaided, with two of his comrades, the commander raised the weapon and fired it at the Baneblade that was supporting the advancing infantry. The shot sent plumes of super-heated metal to shoot into the surrounding guardsmen as the tank died. Already demoralised by the destruction of their most fearsome tank, the traitors were suddenly caught in a murderous cross-fire as Thunderhawks screamed from over-head, disgorging hundreds of elite Ultramarine assault troops. Fresh from the Iron Cage debacle, the Ultramarines were vengeance incarnate and put the traitors to the sword.

 

Gulliman himself supervised the systematic eradication of the traitor cruiser from the bridge of his battleship. Impressed by the resistance to Chaos of the population and also by their bravery, Gulliman made sure that the planet was adequately prepared defensively to handle threats in the future, and also took the Gandiva with him as he left, promising to return it some day, but with one-thousand fold interest.

 

Time passed and the second founding occurred on Terra, with the newly formed Black templars basing themselves in Indraprashta during a xenocidal campaign against the so-called Raksas, the Ind name for the Orks who had encroached on the neighbouring Najima system. At the time of the fourth founding, with the Imperium being stretched thinly by the forces of Chaos and the resurgent ork empires, the High Lords mandated a the creation of many chapters to help protect the Imperium from foes both within its borders and without.

 

As a result of some unknown standing order from Roboute Gulliman communicated to the Adeptus Terra, the Bhramastras (literally weapons of God) were created with the base of operations as Indraprashta. And true to the Primogenitor's word, each was armed with a gold-plated boltgun, with their chapter master wielding the Gandiva.

[Hemal]

Culture and Beliefs:

The marines of the Bhramastras chapter draw their aspirants from the warrior tribes who survive in the jungles of the southern continet of Indraprashta V, the more advanced citizens of the northern continent being regarded as too peacful to make a successful transition to the marines. All inhabitants of the planet revere the Emperor as the incarnation of Visnu, and many secretly see his incarceration in the Golden Throne as an abomination, breaking the cycle of reincarnation preached in the Vedas. The tribes of the southern continent also revere minor deities such as Kali, the Death Mother, to the engimatic Indra who is the patron deity of the Princes and Kings of the tribes. They also worship the great jungle cats and elephants that are thought to be native to ancient Terra.

 

The Bhramastras recruit novitiates from the ruling Kshatriya class, princelings and Kings. The eldest sons are normally chosen to succeed their fathers to the throne, but many younger princes seek glory or death in battle against other tribes. It is from these doughty warriors that the bulk of the chapter is drawn, their prowess with arms and knowledge of the Vedas from a young age making them able candidates for the transformation to marine. To have a brotehr or son become a warrior of the Gods is a great honour and boon on the family, for aside from a worthy warrior

 

The Bhramastra chapter reconciles the belief in the Emperor as an Avatar of the supreme God Head with the typical Astartes view that the Emperor was a Man and Father to the Astartes. Their reverance of other incarnations of Visnu, notably Krsna, has led to frictions with adherents to the Imperial Cult and the Ministorum, but as is the norm for Astartes, these beliefs are tolerated as they recognise the dominance of Man and the dvinity of the Emperor to rule.

[voi shet magir]

Arjuna was annoyed,

 

Start with that, so it seems like a story instead of some guy looking at the same spaceship deck that everyone has. The writing generally could generally be streamlined.

 

There are different ways to handle cultural inspiration. Arjuna is a good choice, for the opposite reason that some Indians in the west may prefer the form of Arjun, which does not sound feminine in the west. Arjuna puts the reader on notice that his particular cultural context does not apply here. It is also euphonious and not at all awkward.

 

That is kind of superficial concern. When you get to the meat of beliefs and culture, it gets awkward. You can directly port Hinduism, it would be sort of shallow if you just took some aesthetic inspiration and left it at that. The way that is handled is important, it should sound like some sort of anthropological report by a conventional Imperial, and everything should be an incidental curiosity about the locals' traditions.

[Hemal]

Cool thanks for the feedback - had to choose Arjuna as that is the interpretation I have read in anglicised versions of teh appropriate texts, my son is actually called Arjun....

 

I'll try and polish the background a bit, but this is a chapter I have had brewing in my head for a while and wanted to expand on it with a view to doing a small DIY element for my army. Regarding the influence of hinduism and porting it directly, I wanted it to behave in a way that was somewhat more "lost in time" - after all hinduism and related religions may have been around in teh pre-Indus civilisation for severeal thousand years BC, but this is set 30-40 thousand years into the future....

Cheers for the feedback!

[Hemal]

Combat doctrine, chapter organisation and geneseed:

The Bhramastras are typical of an Astartes unit, with a preponderence of tactical marines, supported by Devestators, Assault and veterans deployed in Tactical Dreadnaught or power armour. Their number is rarely above 1000 combatants in active duty, as there are detachments fighting in various cursades almost continuously, only returning home to face a larger threat or to recover battle losses.

 

Combat doctrine tends to focus on preservation of Battle Brothers through more complex strategies such as the Chakra (wheel) formation, and there is a focus on using teh marines as dragoons, their armoured personnel carriers used to carry them to more advantageous firing positions rather than to conduct frontal assaults. The Terminators, however, eschew most ranged weaponry in favour of thunder hammers, fashioned like ancient maces. Lightning claws are also often seen, resembling as they do the claws of the hunting cats from Indraprashta.

 

The company organisation,has evolved over time, most notably when the chapter was involved in the massive upheavals of the Age of Apostasy. Chapter records indicate a broadly Codex organisation before the conflict with the Frateris Militia, but post-Apostasy entries show an organisation of only 5 companies, the first company holding the veterans of the chapter and numbering 100 marines at full strength, with each of the other companies focussing on a single aspect of warfare: 2 Tactical companies, 1 Devestator company and 1 Assault company. Each company may number upwards of 250 marines plus support staff.

 

Detachments from these companies are formed as needed by the mission in hand, but it is thought that this peculiar organisation came about with some military disaster, causing the Battle Companies to be destroyed or rendered inoperable. These company numbers were withdrawn, regarded as ill-omens by the surviving marines.

 

Each of these companies is led by a Brother-Captain, as is the small star fleet held by the Bhramastras for planetary assualt, with one amongst these captains being the Chapter master. Traditionally, regardless of what names they have been given upon inception to the Bhramastras, these Captains have taken up the names Arjuna, Nakula, Yudhistir, Sadhev and Bhimasena, in the tradition of the 5 Brother-Captains who led the Chapter from tragedy after the Age of Apostasy, and all took their names from heroes of legend. Arjuna is the current Chapter Master and commands the Devestator company.

 

There is a 6th company, the Gurukul, where Novitiates learn the arts of being a marine whilst undergoing their gene-therapy and indoctrination, but this company is commanded, uniquely, by the Master of Sanctity , the Dronacharya, who imparts deep wisdom and purpose as well as military knowledge to the recruits.

 

The apothecarion, Librarium and Techmarines all form seperate organisations to the main companies, but are allocated to each detachments at the request of the captains.

 

The geneseed, as can be expected for a chapter so linked to the history of Roboute Gulliman, is thought to come from the Ultramarines bloodline. However, notable mutations have occurred in the millenia since the founding, including an occassional darkening of the skin from an overactive melanochrome gland in older or more battle-hardened marines. The biscopea is also degraded, with an impact on the capability to maintain muscle mass. Bhramastra marines must intake a minimum amount of protein in order to sustain their muscle integrity, unlike other Astartes who can sustain themselves for periods even on minerals - without the supplements, the marines will weaken.

[Hemal]

This is my first draft for a colour scheme - I am going to start painting a Golden Demon "company of heroes" entry so would appreciate feedback..

[The Quarian]

first of i love the colour scheme.

secondly correct me if im wrong but isnt hinduism the worship of one supreme being that takes many aspects? if so then why not worship the Emperorin many aspects/forms such as how the astartes follow as Indra the destroyer and the adeptus mechanicus' machine god as the hindu god of knowledge and power through it , Ganeshe. just an idea

[RagingGriffon]

I love the color scheme as well. I have to be honest, I am overly tired right now and I did not do justice to critique your IA. However, it seems long. Maybe that is because I am tired and I just can't look at a computer much more, or maybe it is indeed long. Maybe consider putting it on a treadmill and make it lose a few extra pounds of weight. I will read tomorrow and give it a good tongue lashing :D

[Hemal]

first of i love the colour scheme.

secondly correct me if im wrong but isnt hinduism the worship of one supreme being that takes many aspects? if so then why not worship the Emperorin many aspects/forms such as how the astartes follow as Indra the destroyer and the adeptus mechanicus' machine god as the hindu god of knowledge and power through it , Ganeshe. just an idea

 

Hi thanks for the feedback!

 

I agree that in a way Hinduism is really a monotheistic supreme being religion - however, there is still two layers of gods- the supreme being is Bhrama, Vishnu, Siva and his/their consorts NB Ganesha is Siva's son, whilst there is a second layer of gods, the older gods, Indra, Surya, Vayu, Kali etc who predate the Aryan invasion of India - in a way the Hindu religion we see today is an amalgamation of the Aryan and Dravidian faiths...

 

Every great intervention on earth by teh supreme being has been through the use of an Avatar of Vishnu - Rama to destroy the demon king Ravana, Krishna to ensure that the war-like Ydava race was extinguished (through the Kurukshetra War and events afterwards), Narasimha to destroy a demon who had become all but invincible. So in a way the Emperor is a

 

I like the concept though - might try to bring this on board!

 

@ Raging Griffon - its not a problem - I can certainly look to lighten the amount of text - but the concept was really driven by my need to do a Golden Demon entry with a unique marine colour scheme - which will be a Sternguard unit Counts As Wolf Guard... I'm glad that the colour scheme has had good feedback..

 

The golden bits represent armour and finery, the blue bits are like the skin of Krishna, who is depicted either as a dark blue or black, and the white is like robes...I'm toying with whether to do the gold as NMM, gold or yellow, the design is just plain yellow which is what I'm veering towards atm....

 

The faces of thebare-headed marines will evidently be wheatish brown to chestneut - fortunately the features of a typical Indian aren't too dissimilart Caucasians which is what most marines models appear to be based on (not that surprising really!!)

[Brother Daeger Helsir]

These guys are interesting, but just thought I'd let you know, TigerRaja's well-established Fighting Tigers chapter is also very heavily based on Hinduism, in much the same manner that yours is. If it's okay with you for your chapter to be very similar to another, that's fine by me, but if it's not, then I would suggest altering their concept to make them distinct, or else finding a new concept to develop ideas from.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Looks good so far. I'd personally simplify the color scheme- paint the armor blue from the waist up, white from the waist down, and use golden highlights instead of bronze- to unify its look. Otherwise I see only one glaring flaw:

The biscopea is also degraded, with an impact on the capability to maintain muscle mass. Bhramastra marines must intake a minimum amount of protein in order to sustain their muscle integrity, unlike other Astartes who can sustain themselves for periods even on minerals - without the supplements, the marines will weaken.

Does this mean the Marines will regularly consume the bodies of fallen enemies? (This practice HAS caused problems with the Inquisition, as the Sons of Malice learned.) And considering how important physical strength is to a Space Marine- they often find themselves in hand-to-hand combat with an Orc, Tyrannid, and other foes able to destroy a battle tank with its bare hands- those in authority will probably ask for new batches of gene-seed, and start over from scratch, if so vital an organ has degraded. (Chaos Marine Legions who have similar difficulties often resort to using captured gene-seed, as the Avenging Sons learned in the 'Let the Galaxy Burn' anthology.)

[Hemal]

Its not the bodies of their enemies, but rather than being able to sustain themselves on any environment, they have to have logistics to ensure that battlebrotehrs are supplied with sufficiently high quality proteins to maintain their strength - its a flaw but one which can be managed. Its also a bit of a play on Indians in generaly - it seems that genetically no matter how much protein we eat, there is not as much tendency to bulk up (there are of course notable exceptions...)