Astral Guard IA introduction

[angryswarmofbees]

So here it goes...

 

 

The Astral Guard

 

Overview

The Astral Guardians are a codex adherent chapter known primarily as siege breakers. Whilst it is true that many of their most important engagements have been to break deadlocks and end sieges, The Astral Guardians regard themselves as tactically flexible and adpet at all manner of missions. They are mistrusted by a number of imperial institutions because they came into being as a result of a religious schism in a much older Chapter, His Right Hand.

 

Origins

The Astral Guard were originally known as His Right Hand and were a fleet based crusading chapter created in the 10th founding from the Imperial Fists in 221.M33. They were devout and zealous believers in the divinity of The Emperor and the Imperial Cult. Upon ascending to the head of the chapter the master would simply be known as His Right Hand out of reverence for The Emperor.

 

This would lead to some confusion on the part of scholars; it is not always clear when His Right Hand referred to the chapter or its master. The marines for their part cared little for an individual’s title or name, only in service of The Emperor.

 

Vanity and glory were considered distractions by the chapter and records of deeds and names were not routinely kept. So no one can now be sure who exactly was the master at the time of The Calverton Crusade. Whoever he was he was stubborn, zealous and defiant in the extreme.

 

In the early years of the 34th millennium His Right Hand embarked on a fresh crusade. The Calverton Sector had been subject to a massive Waaagh! and dozens of worlds were in danger of falling. The sector had raised Imperial guard regiments to fight the orks but after several years a stalemate had been reached. The sector commander had asked for outside help from other imperial forces but none was forthcoming.

 

Many planetary governors assumed that if their plight went unnoticed so too would their secession. Entire subsectors left the Imperium and stopped paying their tithes. To make maters worse corsairs, pirates and raiders descended on the system hoping to capitalise on the chaos.

 

Initially the arrival of His Right Hand proved decisive. The chapter’s fleet easily won critical naval engagements against the pirates forcing them to withdraw completely within a few weeks. The mere presence of space marine strike cruisers in orbit persuaded most planetary governors to reinstate their payment of tithes with back payments.

 

A few governors hoped to hold out against the marines and were subject to the horrifying ordeal of orbital bombardments, drop pod assaults and Astartes justice. In but a few short years all the planets that had rebelled were back under imperial control.

 

The early success against the pirates and rebels was echoed in the opening battles with the orks. The sheer speed and brutality of the initial assaults turned the tide of battle in the Imperium’s favour. After 9 years of fighting the orks were forced from half a dozen worlds. However the momentum of the space marines soon ran out. Shock and awe tactics gave way to a relentless hounding of a retreating foe. A more level-headed chapter master would have recognised that his work was done. The enemy had been broken and it was now a job for the imperial guard to fully destroy them. However His Right Hand were zealous and chose to stay waging a war they were ill equipped to fight.

 

As the orks fell back His Right Hand broke into smaller and smaller factions. Such a tactic may have worked but soon the marines outran their ponderous imperial guard support. And so it was that His Right Hand were embroiled in a long and bitter war against a far greater foe.

 

The near destruction of the chapter’s flagship, the battle barge His Will Be Done proved a pivotal moment for the foundation of The Astral Guardians. The mighty battle barge housed almost the entire stock of the chapter’s gene-seed and fearful for its loss, the Master of the Apothecarion founded a sanctuary on the nearby planet, Celdaor.

 

Celdaor was a feral world populated by a neolithic society. Traditionally His Right Hand recruited from various worlds with no particular preference. However the heavy toll paid by the chapter during the Calverton Crusade meant that large numbers of recruits were needed quickly and the feral warriors of Celador proved ideal. After decades of gruelling warfare the chapter was made up of a sizeable number of young recruits from Celador. Recruits who, because of the urgent need for fresh marines, were not completely purged of their old beliefs.

 

The peoples, nations and cults of Celador have many different religions and beliefs. Despite their differences, Imperial Scholars have identified aspects common to most, if not all, the different religions. Some versions of the stories contradict each other but below is what Scholars believe to be the ‘original’ creation myth based on reconstructing the different versions.

 

In the begininning there was The Monad; He was everything and nothing. His potential was limitless and His being was infinite. Everything He was, He was not. He was His own opposite and Creation was impossible.

 

He created from aspects of Himself two siblings: The Zoroaster and The Demiurge. The Zoroaster created a world of energy, life and emotion. The Demiurge created a world of matter and substance. The Zoroaster’s children were ethereal and non-corporeal whereas The Demiurge’s children were of flesh and blood.

 

Though their intentions were pure and their powers great, the siblings were each but a part of the Monad; incomplete and imperfect. So too were their creations. So it came to pass that the children of The Zoroaster were restless and fickle and the children of The Demiurge knew suffering and death. The siblings were distraught and abandoned their creations.

 

The Monad saw what had happened and was sad. He knew that whilst the two worlds were separate neither would be perfect. So He created the Perfect Being to unify the two worlds. He would be as full of life and energy as any of The Zoroaster’s children and physically mightier than any of The Demiurge’s children. He named his creation Themp Ror and sent him forth with great knowledge…

 

It is clear from archaeological findings that Celdaor was once an advanced and industrial world with technology predating the Great Crusade. What catastrophe befell the planet is unknown but clearly the people degenerated into a feral existence. When His Right Hand first encountered the Celador they were hunter-gatherers primarily but had just started to rediscover agriculture and animal husbandry. The central tenants of their religions were that this world is imperfect because The Demiurge created it, but that The Monad had sent Themp Ror with secret knowledge of how to lead a perfect life.

 

Some tribes sought this secret knowledge amongst the ancient ruins of their world believing them to be clues left by Themp Ror. Some thought meditation and self-reflection would reveal the secret knowledge. Some thought that Themp Ror had once visited their people and would one day return. Perhaps the most extreme cult believed that to gain Themp Ror’s secret knowledge one had to transcend normal consciousness. Only with intense physical exertion and the threat of death could the mind be free enough from distraction to learn of the secret knowledge.

 

The transcendentalists fought ceaselessly to perfect their martial prowess. They lived ascetic lives in the valleys of the high mountains all in an attempt to purify their minds. Naturally it was from this hardened cadre that His Right Hand chose their first recruits.

 

Eventually His right Hand triumphed over the orks but at a terrible cost. The chapter had been shattered and suffered casualties of over 80%. The majority of the chapter’s marines were now the recruits from Celador and not one of them was over 50 years old. Because of their hasty training and indoctrination this new cadre of marines still held onto their original beliefs and this would ultimately split the chapter in two.

 

Upon learning of The Emperor the new recruits immediately recognised him as the Perfect Being; Themp Ror. The secret knowledge He had was of the webway and how He could use it for humanity. The Emperor’s scientific rationalism became their new faith and they saw themselves as His servants. Their quest was to establish The Imperium as He had intended it; free, fair and prosperous. This sat at odds with the chapter’s historic character.

 

While the chapter was at war the tensions such belief caused were easily ignored. But the tensions were there. The chapter argued amongst itself, with the older marines struggling to assert their views on the new recruits. Frequently brothers would come to blows over dogma but no one was ever killed. When the business of rebuilding the chapter was discussed the older brethren wanted to relocate from Celador viewing the new recruits as subversive and dangerous and fearful that even with time to properly induct new recruits their blasphemous ways would infest the chapter.

 

When Captain Cursor of the 8th Company denied the divinty of The Emperor, the differences between the two factions became irreconcilable. For the first time blood was spilt and marines died at each other’s hands. Some of the older marines cried heresy and swore a new crusade. Ironically some of the newer cohort were equally zealous in their belief that superstition and god worship was against The Emperor’s wishes.

 

As full-scale war seemed inevitable an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus arrived to requisition forces. It seems likely that he had known about the conflict and some have speculated that he deliberately intervened to stop the war in a way that would save face for both parties. Claiming not to know of the conflict he requisitioned only the original members of the chapter for a holy crusade against a recent daemon infestation. The remnants of His Right Hand took what ships they needed and left Celador never to return.

 

From amongst those that remained on Celador, Captain Cursor became the de facto leader. At first their future was uncertain but in 500.M34 the High Lords of Terra announced the 16th Founding. And so it was that the marines of Celador became the Astral Guardians. Their numbers were augmented by new recruits using the gene seed of The Imperial Fists as well as experienced officers of that chapter. A mighty complex of fortresses, Lux Eterna, was constructed around the original Apothecarion created decades before and Captain Curosr was named as the first Grand Master of the Astral Guard.

[NightrawenII]

My thoughts:

 

They are mistrusted by a number of imperial institutions because they came into being as a result of a religious schism in a much older Chapter, His Right Hand.

- 'His Right Hand' sounds like name of warship or tank, not Chapter of Emperor's Finest.

 

They were devout and zealous believers in the divinity of The Emperor and the Imperial Cult.

- It is quite unusual for Astartes to follow the Imperial Cult.

 

Initially the arrival of His Right Hand proved decisive. The chapter’s fleet easily won critical naval engagements against the pirates forcing them to withdraw completely within a few weeks. The mere presence of space marine strike cruisers in orbit persuaded most planetary governors to reinstate their payment of tithes with back payments.

- One must wonder, what was doing Sector fleet during such time...?

 

He created from aspects of Himself two siblings: The Zoroaster and The Demiurge.

- Demiurg is alien race in W40k.

 

The secret knowledge He had was of the webway and how He could use it for humanity. The Emperor’s scientific rationalism became their new faith and they saw themselves as His servants. Their quest was to establish The Imperium as He had intended it; free, fair and prosperous. This sat at odds with the chapter’s historic character.

- All of this will be forgotten at the time of 10th Founding. Where did they get this informations?

[Ecritter]

Initially the arrival of His Right Hand proved decisive. The chapter’s fleet easily won critical naval engagements against the pirates forcing them to withdraw completely within a few weeks. The mere presence of space marine strike cruisers in orbit persuaded most planetary governors to reinstate their payment of tithes with back payments.

 

Marines aren't really known for naval engagments ... they're marines. They land on a planet and kick butt. I'm not saying that a Battlebarge or Strike Cruiser isn't an awesome ship, but facing a real naval combatant I see them as falling short. They are more designed around planetary bombardment in support of the marines.

[angryswarmofbees]

Thanks for the replies. The Demiurge (as opposed to demiurg) is a real world term in gnostic religions, which is pretty much why I wrote the whole thing! I guess it's easily changed though. And the naval thing can be easily removed too. I understand that most marines don't follow the imperial cult but its hardly unheard of either is it? The name His Right Hand was sort of a joke; a subtle ridicule of the whole 40k name thing. I even alluded to it being confusing but I think you're probably right.

 

What I'm really interested in is the scientific rationalism espoused by The Emperor. I love the irony that the whole Imperium was founded in his name and yet it's a total perversion of what he actually wanted. I was under the impression that chapters 'remembered' the Emperor's original intentions and that is why they (mostly) ignore the imperial cult. Does no one remember this early history? Was it all lost?

 

PS

Thanks for the specific replies but what did you think in general?

[NightrawenII]

I understand that most marines don't follow the imperial cult but its hardly unheard of either is it?

You are using exception, because the "plot demands it".

 

What I'm really interested in is the scientific rationalism espoused by The Emperor.

then play T'au...

 

I was under the impression that chapters 'remembered' the Emperor's original intentions and that is why they (mostly) ignore the imperial cult. Does no one remember this early history? Was it all lost?

Well, your Chapter 'was not there', so they cannot remember by default. Yes, the Space marines 'do' remember the Great Crusade, but even their views and knowledge has deteriorated.

 

Thanks for the specific replies but what did you think in general?

In all fairness? The schism is unnecessary. You could write the Astral Guard without it and nothing would change.

[Olis]

I honestly think this needs a rewrite. What does this mean for what you've written? Well, the effort is there but the execution is not so hot. My advice would be to take second, independent crack at it without keeping bits from the first attempt. Once done add pieces that would still fit in from the first attempt but only if they 'feel right'. From there? We can help the finessing from there.

 

Don't feel put out because this attempt hasn't met our approval - it's YOUR story. If you still think this passage is worth salvaging, tell us. All we can do is help. Remember, our advice is ultimately influenced by our opinion so never take it personally. You took the chance by showing others your work, so be prepared for flak.