Enforcers

[maquise]

I was flipping through an index of named-and-colored-only chapters, and found the Enforcers.

Seeing this color scheme, I wanted to DIY it, as I felt it was interesting in appearance. Mind you, I'm fairly new at this, and at this time, the chapter's not anywhere near fully developed. Here is what I'm thinking so far:

The Enforcers

*Founding Chapter: Iron Hands

*Specialize in urban warfare and space-bound boarding actions

*Make heavy use of bionic and cybernetic implants

*Cool and analytical. They are known to be very dispassionate in countenance, even in the heat of battle. Rather than shouting battlecries, they chant them without inflection, if they even deign their enemy worth the energy.

*Have extensive personality alterations, resulting in increased cohesion and coordination within the chapter.

*Place great emphasis on efficiency. Are known for their crisp, precise movements.

*When not fighting in urban conflict, prefer using armored vehicles and heavy firepower, then closing distance with the enemy to engage them after they are weakened.

*Chapter homeworld is a Hive world.

*Battlecry: "For the Emperor. For Omnissiah"(chanted in monotone).

[Destecado]

So, if you don’t mind me asking, what distinguishes them from the Iron Hands?

[maquise]

Their dislike of weakness emphasizes mental weakness more than physical, compared to the Iron Hands and other Iron Hands successor chapters. They especially view emotions as both a great hindrance and a potential pathway to Chaos. Therefore, they go to great lengths to suppress or remove emotions. As part of their recruitment, initiates of the Enforcers are implanted with a neurotransmitter regulator node at the base of their cerebrum.

 

Does this help to distinguish them more?

[Destecado]

So the recruits are not trained to control their emotions, they pretty much have a behvior chip inplaneted in theiir brain which inhibits emotions. What happens if the chip becomes damaged or the forces of chaos, knowing of the existance of the chip target it or forcibly extract the chip from captured Enforcers?

 

How also do they react to the chaotic minds of all of the citizens of a hive city…unless they have taken over and have made the hive into a city like Librium in the movie Equilibrium?

 

Maybe instead of suppressing emotions, the neurotransmitter relays information about brain activity, strong emotion is recorded and reported to one of the Chaplainss. It could be that part of their job is to councel marines and assist them with controlling their emotions.

 

They might be trying to a zen state of mind in both battle and everday life. (see Mushin)

[maquise]

That makes a lot of sense, and I'll consider it. They definitely place great emphasis on both thinking like a machine, but I'm still not sure exactly how I want to implement it.

 

ALTERNATIVELY: I could say they exhibit a very mechanical mindset, and their high-ranking members are known to have cerebral implants. Some outsiders have theorized that they implant initiates with emotion-suppressing devices, but no one outside the chapter knows for sure. Make it ambiguous.

[Destecado]

What about cloning? I work in the IT field. We have several programs which allow us to copy a template image to the new hardware. The template image has all of the programs and setting utilized by our company. Being that this is the grim future, maybe the psyche of the marines are all copies of one or several templates. This is several steps beyond indoctrination, to actually rewritting the very character of the individual. In this case, recruits are viewed as just another form of hardware. The chapter might lack psykers, because their abilities interfere with the "Synchrionizing" process.

 

The marines move, act and think alike (within certain acceptable levels of variation). This make them very effective. They hardly need to speak and sometimes talk in half sentences because the other marines already know what they are going to say. Such a level of familiarity is achievable naturally, over time, but with this process, the Chapter can effectively incorporate "new hardware" (new recruits) into a unit with little loss of productivity or learning curve on the part of a new marine.

 

The process is not without its drawbacks and not all minds react well to the synchronizing process.

[maquise]

I don't want to eliminate librarians, but this is an interesting idea. Recruits have their psyches overwritten by a template conscious. As they move up in the ranks, they incorporate their own experiences into the chapter's collective memories. This allows the Enforcers to act with unparalleled coordination, but is seen as disconcerting to outsiders.

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

This probably sounds stupid...

 

But, what if each marine had a USB port (or the Imperial equivalent) that information could be transferred to and from the marine and to the whole chapter? Also, training would be so much faster when you can just download all the information on kung fu (or is that from a movie...).

[soddinnutter]

This probably sounds stupid...

 

But, what if each marine had a USB port (or the Imperial equivalent) that information could be transferred to and from the marine and to the whole chapter? Also, training would be so much faster when you can just download all the information on kung fu (or is that from a movie...).

 

The Dark Mechanicus would have a field day with that one. Direct access to an Astartes brain? You won't even need to hire psykers.

 

Also Windows 95 jokes.

[Destecado]

To paraphrase Thulsa Doom from the orginal Conan movie....Steel insn't Strong, flesh is strong. What is steel compared to the hand that shapes and weilds it? With his mind and will focused, man has levelled mountains and built new one (the great pyramids). The chapter can either beleive that such works are the work of man himself or the inspiration of the Omnissiah, but such visions can only be preceived by unclouded minds. A man with vision can instill this vision in others. Together they can achieve amazing things, miraculous things, so long as their purpose is not diverted by petty emotions. Emotions divide us, set us against each other. War, disease, famine exist only because the pettiness of men.

 

The purging / controlling of their emotions is an attempt to become better men, worthy men. Their goal is to restore this clearness of mind / singlenss of vision, so that man can once again achieve the heights of understanding that are his birthright. Not sure if this a direction you want to go in, but it could make for a very interesting premise for your Chapter. It also reminds me of another quote...

 

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy My brothers..."

[maquise]

The purging / controlling of their emotions is an attempt to become better men, worthy men. Their goal is to restore this clearness of mind / singlenss of vision, so that man can once again achieve the heights of understanding that are his birthright. Not sure if this a direction you want to go in, but it could make for a very interesting premise for your Chapter. It also reminds me of another quote...

 

I like this a lot. Do you mind if I use it?

[Brother Tyler]

You're asking Destecado if he minds you using passages from the Conan movies (not his) and the Bible (not his) for your DIY Chapter...? ;)

 

And where did you find this Chapter? I haven't found it in any listings of official Chapters. The only place where I've seen it is over at Phil Sibbering's 1,000 Chapters Project, and that's an MIA Chapter that is most likely someone's DIY. It's perfectly okay to use it, even if someone else used it as a DIY, of course. Your original post, however, implied that you found it somewhere official (i.e., from Games Workshop).

[maquise]

Edited the above quote to specify. Also, upon further review, it seems I was mistaken about the chapter being official. At least that means I won't have to worry about GW posting contradictory info in the future.

 

What do you think the best way to emphasize their specialty in urban/space warfare would be? I imagine in those environments, the standard assault loadout would be less effective. It seems what would make the most sense would be to give them a few more Terminator suits, which could tie in with their close relations to the AdMech. I don't know if this is a good idea though, as Terminator suits are incredibly rare and valuable.

 

Perhaps, at one point in their history, they uncovered a pre-Heresy cache of Terminator suits?

[Arkangilos]

I actually like your idea about them being forced out of emotions better than them controlling their emotions. Maybe have it to where the chip doesn't always work (glitches sometimes), and that is why the chaplains are there.

 

Part of the recruitment process could be controlling the emotions.

 

Also, that could add to the potential flaws to a chapter (sometimes the best part of a chapter is the flaws in it). It would help keep way the MISS concept. It just opens up so much you can do with your chapter.

 

You could even create a death company like unit, and just say that these are marines that the chip backfired in, filling them with so much emotion that they went crazy.

 

Just my two pennies ;)

[Destecado]

@ maquise: no worries if I post it, it's fair game.

[maquise]

The more I think of it, the more I'm leaning towards their emotional control being externally-imposed rather than the result of strict discipline. I'm thinking they basically have the reverse of World-Eater rage implants. I've also started to pen their history, which will help explain the origins of this practice.