The Liber Cluster

[Captain Nameless]

If the Heralds of Letum still do not have a symbol, how about a lantern. The idea of an underground society that worships the Emperor as a death god and the chapter's name (kind of) conjured up that kind of imagery for me.

 

(I have added the Iron Drakes views of the other chapters to my original post. Just wanted to finish that up.)

[Wade Garrett]

It's a shame the Iron Drakes didn't make the cut.

 

Mainly because I thought the idea of a Chapter catching wind of one of the Kin's "colorful" interpretations of their Primarch and saying "Hmmm. You know, they aren't that far off base here." was awesome.

 

And pooh-pooh to the Heralds. Pooh-pooh, I say.

 

If you want an idea of how the Kin see the Khan, imagine the knowledge begins with some scribe on Nova Terra transcribing things from a forbidden manuscript that dates back to the Horus Heresy....except said tome is actually sections from three different books that were all bound into one volume.

 

The first is a history of the Loyalist Primarchs written five hundred years after the Siege of Terra that includes such "accurate" information as Vulkan killing Angron at the Battle of Calth and has Chogoris as an ocean planet.

 

The second were the chapters from Great Women of the Great Crusade on Szu Illya and Lotarra Sarin.

 

And the third was a autobiography of Konrad Curze, one of the few extant copies after Malcador the Sigillite ordered the entire printing destroyed.

 

And all of this was assumed to be part of the same Jaghatia centric history book.

 

Fate Obsessed Lawbringer Grandma Khan is not to be trifled with.

[Captain Nameless]

Mainly I wanted write up the Face-Punching incident with the Iron Ravagers.

 

By the way, if there are any copies of Kurze's Autobiography left, I want one.

[deathspectersgt7]

                                                                                    The Doomsayers

Origins                                  21st founding , Proud Sons of Guilliman.

 

The Doomsayers were given the planet of Ushion VII as its Home World and Domain of the said Worlds in the Aquarii Cluster in Ultima Segmentum. While on a full Chapter deployment along with the Ultramarines, Marines Errant against  Large Incursion of Orks from Charadon Sector, They recieved a distress call from Ushion Vll. Upon entering the system from the warp the Navigators and Librarians fell Unconscious from 20 billion Souls screaming from the Warp.

 

Further in system the Fleet encountered the remains of their Home World. Further investigation on one of defense platforms the cause. Left on the chest of one of the few Brothers left to watch over the Home World impaled with  the Brothers Power Sword was a Pauldron of the Crystal Skulls a former allie of the Doomsayers that turned Renegade.

 

With the destruction of their Home World the Doomsayers have become a Fleet based Chapter.After years of Searching for the Renegades they finally caught up with the renegades entering the Libre Cluster.Engaging the Renegades ship to ship the Doomsayers superioity in numbers assured victory, With the Crystal Skulls force all but destroyed . CM Kaunaz and the Terminator Elite Teleported to the last Crystal Skulls ship. 

 

[Teetengee]

Just a rough draft of some interesting characters to add in, (the thousand sons I plan on using for a ETL Vow, so I will let you know when I start on those.)

Inquisitor Lucius Imperatus Ferrus was born on Saneslau Tertius, the third inhabited planet in the Saneslau system and the closest forge world to the Knight-protected agri-world. He was one of the few truebreeding stock left on such a planet. During his youth in no small part to spite his parents he undertook a pilgrimage to Terminus Crux, but on the way the purpose of his pilgrimage was purified. His faith in the Emperor became absolute. Eventually he found his way into the Liber Cluster branch of the Ordo Hereticus. He makes few friends with his policy of the only good psyker is a dead psyker and his two traveling companions a hand flamer named Defaece and an infernus pistol named Lucy. Well he has made a few friends amongst the Conflagrators. Although he has little patience now for servants of the Omnesiah, he has seen firsthand their effectiveness and has used family ties and strings pulled from on high to surround himself with several ancient servitors that are particularly well constructed.

Recently he has been investigating the theft of 8 ancient space marine statues deep in the heart of Videngeim Hive, so far he has found little, but the whispers he and his henchmen have heard have lead Lucius to believe that there may be a chaos cult to Tzeentch somewhere within the hive. Due to the planets’ population in the Trillions, he would much prefer to burn out this cancer before it spreads to the hive and thus necessitates exterminatus, although this does feel somewhat unnatural to Lucius.

The truth is that these 8 statues were in fact rubricae of the thousand sons covered in the oil, dust, and graffitti of ages. A sorceror has returned to them and now seeks to use them to further his blasphemous learning.

[Tiberius Cato]

I am excited to have the chance to define an aspect of the Scarlet Sentinels! Perhaps part of initiation involves surgery that permanently stiffens the upper lip. :P

[Wade Garrett]

COMBAT DOCTRINE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE AETHERIC SWORDS

 

"First blood to me."

Kirowan Dawnspear, Captain of the Aetheric Swords Fifth Company, after wounding a fellow officer with a halberd strike across his chest in sparring

 

Speed, mobility, and rapid reaction are the cornerstones of warfare as practiced by the Aetheric Swords Battle Companies. With the strains of the Undying Choir echoing around them, these zealous warriors sweep down upon the enemies of the Emperor, using Bikes, Land Speeders, and Assault Marines to scythe through the enemy lines, with battle honors being granted to anyone who manages to strike down a heretic or xenos warrior in the act of drawing his weapon.

 

Tactical squads are specially trained to embark and disembark from their Rhino transports at speed so they may support these wild charges with fusillades of bolter fire and elegant flurries of chainsword strikes, before withdrawing to their vehicle ans allowing it to bear them to the next target.

 

In these lightning onslaughts, the Undying Chorus itself becomes a weapon, the rising crescendos overawing enemies even as the Swords mow them down.

 

It is a rare foe who can survive these murderously quick

onslaughts, and an outside observer could be forgiven for assuming these shining lancers constitute the epitome of the Chapter's warriors.

 

"Last blood counts for more."

Macmorrogh Redhand of the Cauldron Born, after knocking the Captain of the Fifth unconscious with a single punch

 

But should an enemy prove especially resilent, the Chapter's heavy weapons and artillery specialists are unleashed, with Terminators, Land Raider and Vindicator heavy tanks, and Dreadnaughts lumbering forward to crush anything that stands before them with implacable fury. These warriors, most of them giants even by Astartes standards, are also the Sword's experts in siege warfare, and Chapter lore claims that enemy hordes have faltered and broken before their bastions at the mere sound of their thunderous voices echoing the Chorus's refrain from the walls.

 

The three Battle Companies, the Eighth Assault echelon, and the Sixth Reserve all traditionally favor the first school of tactics, while the Ninth Devastators, Seventh Reserve, and the "Cauldron Born" elite of the First are adherents to the second.

 

Rivalries between the two contingents are common, with some claiming that the Chapter's Librarians encourage the emnity, either to motivate the warriors in striving to outdo one another...or to ensure they're too busy bickering with one another to question the dominance of their gifted brethren.

[Conn Eremon]

Part 1 of the Lords vs the Sons

 

It is said that the hosts of the Black Legion knows only one lord. It is true that the defiler Abaddon, heir to his father’s mantle and chosen of the gods, holds absolute authority over the varied Warbands that bear his sigil. But he is not the only lord of the Black Legion. Champions to his cause rally the Legion in his name, their power in pursuit of his goals are paramount among the Legions that haunt the terrible Eye. But even these great figures of strength delegate their power to lieutenants below, mighty warlords that can field armies of the damned and corrupted. Any one such lord has the power to burn entire swathes of the Imperium, and to commit entire worlds to the blade. Gadreel the Thrice-Damned, formerly of the Night Lords Legion, was just such a warlord. It is a closely held secret that many integral offices of high Imperial authority have within them the corrupted souls of cult followers. Even the smaller branches, like the minor Administratum branch, nestled in a middle-classed orbital platform in high orbit over Terra, can provide useful information. This branch’s tasks were simple and direct, to record and file communications logged between minor parties on Terra and Mars. This info, provided to the warlord by nefarious, bloody ritual, revealed an unexpected treasure in the late 35th millennium.

 

Another Founding of the Space Marines was being discussed. On its own, this was a minor detail, readily dismissed considering just how many Foundings occurred in the past thousand years. But a certain communiqué held an intriguingly small detail, easily overlooked. The Liber Cluster. The Imperium had within its sights a wealth of new territory and resources, and it planned to funnel a veritable Legion’s worth of Space marines into it to ensure that it was taken in the Emperor’s name. Gadreel smiled with dark humor, a common sight yet horrifying to witness, as he began preparations to communicate with his inferior officers. Black Legion resources could not be used in too great a quantity, not in light of the Warmaster’s recently declared plans. But three of Gadreel’s personal Black Legion hosts, accompanied by a small band of allied Warbands? Those wouldn’t be quite as missed. They would foil the Imperium’s efforts in the Cluster, and raise his and his lord’s name in the Warmaster’s court with word of their villainy and desecration. It would begin with true Black Legion style.

 

With the death of a Chapter . . .

 

+++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++ --- +++

 

Organisation of the Chapter of the Blackjaw Kindred

 

The Cults of the Nine permeate the Blackjaw Kindred through and through. More than just a belief system, it influences their behavior, their outlook, and their wars. Though the Kin worship the Nine undivided, as a pantheon of near equals, the Chapter’s unique structure is riddled with unit types that are in clear reliance to one of their God-Progenitors over the others. Russ, the arcane yet wisest of the Nine, stands foremost in their eyes, however among the Circles of Kin each of the Nine sees expression. Bearing the heraldic cross upon the shield of Dorn, Kindred Dreadnoughts, the heroic fallen, have an intimate, but exclusive connection with their chosen favored progenitor. These legendary warriors, their biological bodies broken and shackled to mighty war-engines, have felt the stony hand of Dorn upon their very souls, guiding them back from the Shadowlands to fight alongside their brothers once more.

 

The Circles are not what would be considered Codex adherent. There are no reserve Circles, all are battle-ready and proportioned according to their Patriarch’s wishes, and often by the Patriarch’s chosen cult. Such is the case with the 7th Circle, led by Patriarch Tréhoart, a former Breacher sergeant that openly bears the jagged gold symbols of the Khan, the merciless mistress of the currents of fate, even after his ascension to Patriarch, when the other Patriarchs assumed he would forsake the Judge in the Deep for the White Mystic, the favored Russ. Under his guidance, the 7th Circle is particularly suited to void warfare and boarding actions. Though the 7th Circle is not alone in its ceaseless pursuit of war, far from home, not all Circles venture far from the hearth. By tradition, the 2nd Circle’s Patriarch is selected among the Kin who identify most strongly with the Lion. The 2nd Circle rarely travels far from the Kindred’s chosen worlds, tasked by its own predilections to patrol and safeguard them. It is the 2nd Circle that locates and selects potential Chapter inductees, as well as quelling unrest and defending them from outside attack. However, should an enemy strike and disappear before the 2nd Circle could arrive in defense, then their Patriarch will order the pursuit and systematic destruction of the foe, and terrible is their vengeance to behold.

 

 

 

 

Let me know if this contradicts with anything already posted.

[Tiberius Cato]

Combat Doctrine of the Scarlet Sentinels:

The Scarlet Sentinels had changed the tide of many of their battles through their naval superiority. Nearly all campaigns are focused around eliminating the enemy navy first and foremost, proceeded by creating a blockade around the planet. This ensures nobody leaves or comes without first meeting the big guns of the Sentinels' navy. Once a blockade has been established orbital bombardments are often conducted to hit key enemy fortifactions, creating opportunities for ground forces to come in and make short work of the remaining enemy forces. The Scarlet Sentinels are also reknowned for their discipline with holy bolter and prefer to engage enemies from a distance rather than engage in barbaric close combat. As such, it is uncommon for the Sentinels to deploy assault squads armed with melee weapons.

 

Notable Engagments of the Scarlet Sentinels:

The Liberation of Libertas:

In the early days of the second Liberite Invasion, there were few worlds that still belonged to the Imperium. Many worlds had been reconquered by the xenos species that had originated there, or had been overrun by a new threat. One such world was Libertas. The world was key to claiming the Mundus Novus system, and had been invaded by the varied forces of their heretic brothers. The system had been home to many imperial worlds of great importance, among these worlds were Chevalius, a world known to possess a great deal of Knight armour. Also among these worlds was the forge-world Geius Primus, the world produced much of the weaponry used by Imperial forces.

 

The system was set to be one of the first major acquisitions of the Imperium in the second invasion. As such, two chapters of the Adeptus Astartes had been assigned to claim it. The first, the mighty Scarlet Sentinels. Masters of naval warfare and cold discipline, few enemies could match their prowess in orbital warfare and even fewer could challenge their resolve. And the second, the relentless Eagles of Glory, unrivaled in manpower and sheer firepower on the ground. This was seen to be the perfect combination for invading and claiming worlds in the name of the Imperium, one chapter to decimate enemy fleets in orbit above worlds, and the other to annihilate the ground forces of the enemy. The combination had proved to be quite successful, for many of the missions the pair had been assigned to we're handled with the utmost efficiency.

The conflict started with the Scarlet Sentinels emerging from a warp jump and bombarding enemy forces with all manners of naval weaponry, and skillfully executing many maneouvers to avoid enemy fire and trap them. the Sentinels had emerged from the combat with minimal losses. This had paved the way for the Eagles of Glory to initiate planetfall. The Eagles had deployed en masse, fielding almost half of the chapter to combat the greenskin forces. They had decimated enemy fortifications with the sheer amount of firepower from their many predator tanks and drop pod assaults. The Eagles did not fair quite as well as the Sentinels, losing multiple tanks and six squads of battle brothers, but nonetheless conquered the planet for the Imperium. The sole surviving hive of the conflict, Columbus, had venerated the Eagles, showering them with all manners of praise and worship. Unknowingly to them, the ground war had been the part of the battle that was of lesser importance. The main part of the battle was fought in orbit above Libertas. After defeating the ork fleet that was stationed above Libertas, the Scarlet Sentinals wisely set about creating a blockade. Mere moments after the Eagles made planetfall a massive fleet of traitous guardsmen led by a vanguard of chaos marine Hades and Hellfire class cruisers had emereged from the warp near Libertas. The fate of the planet was firmly thrusted into the hands of the Sentinels at that point. The Sentinels valiantly fended off the host of chaos forces intent on defeating the imperial invaders. They deployed all of their thunderhawks to engage in all out orbital warfare and and caestus rams for boarding actions. During the fighting, the strike cruiser "The Conqueror" had been severley damaged. The Conqueror's captain, Thomas Beckham, ordered all crew members and passenger to evacuate the ship. In a final act of faithful service to the Emperor, Beckham rammed The Conqueror into the starboard of the attacking fleets sole capital ship. He then proceed to overload the plasma core of his ship, causing a massive exlosion that engulfed many of the heretic vessels alongside the capital ship. Without clear direction, the chaos forces had lost all coordination and were easily crushed beneath the heel of the Sentinel's fleet. Astonishingly, very few losses were incurred by the Sentinels -excluding the loss of The Conqueror-losing only a few escorts. Their superiority in the void and the discipline they possessed in all aspects of war had seized victory for the Imperium.

 

At the following conclave, word from Libertas of the exploits of the Eagles had greatly influenced the decision made by the council present there. Libertas was to be presented to the Eagles for their valiant actions. Enraged by the complete ignorance of the people of Libertas to the Sentinels valiant defense, the Lord Marshall of the Scarlet Sentinels promptly took his escorts and marched out of the conclave, from that point on becoming bitter of the Eagles of Glory.

[Harlan Skorus]

The Maccaran Void Jumpers.

 

 

The mass voyage to retake the Liber Cluster brought many of it's own problems in tow, supply lines stretched to breaking and millions of souls to coordinate in a unified manner. One issue faced was the wave of new settlers to the system; the population of the crew-gangs that lived and worked aboard the Navy ships soon far outnumbered the required number to man the ships, with their number spiralling quickly towards overflowing. It quickly came apparent that without direction or purpose the gangs would fall to crime and infighting, which became an extra burden on an already difficult task.

 

A quick solution was sought for this problem, and out of this, the Void Jumpers were created. Originally trained by the Arbiters that accompanied the fleet, the first regiment was trained largely for ship-to-ship actions and crowd-control methods, aimed to be used to supplement the fleet vessel's own armsmen battalions in case of mutiny, and later to reinforce the Arbiters planetside if needed. This early focus on inter-ship actions gave the regiment it's name; the Void Jumpers. Given heavy armour to withstand the rigours of close-quarters combat, and wielding the unique Corolax-pattern las-carbine, the Void Jumpers are among the better armed regiments of the Astra Militarum. From their beginnings as a space-born regiment, they now also boast a number of unique tanks courtesy of the Saneslau Mechanicum – in particular, the Castigator and Excoriator patterns of Leman Russ tanks have become synonymous with the Void Jummpers.

 

Although recruitment was slow at first, a second regiment was soon formed, and then a third. Before long, the Void Jumpers became one of the Liber Cluster's most widely-regarded Imperial Guard regiments. Granted the shrine world Maccaran (actually a colonised asteroid that marks the first point of the Liber Cluster that fell under Imperial domain) as a homeworld, the Void Jumpers continue to work throughout the Liber Cluster to uphold the Emperor's will. The commander of the Maccaran Void Jumpers (holding the title Lord/Lady-Castellan of Maccaran) has become a regular figure amongst the high and mighty of the Liber Cluster. The Maccaran Void Jumpers are currently under the command of Lady-Castellan Alyona Ilyanishka, a woman of slight stature and iron discipline. Lady-Castellan Ilyanishka achieved her rank during the war against the Sacred Duonomy rebels, leading the combined Void Jumper, PDF and local Arbiter forces during the purge of the Duonomy rebels from the worlds they held.

 

[Ace Debonair]

So after browsing Wikipedia at some silly time of night, I've had a stroke of inspiration. Namely, Power Falx.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falx#mediaviewer/File:Falx.png

 

Big, heavy, two-handed curved chopping devices that are utterly lethal on the attack, but much less practical in defence.

 

So if the Sons of Calderon (with all their neat esoteric gear) make it through the voting process, I'm gonna go back and make the use of these formidable Power Falx a thing in their combat doctrine.

As an aside, I'm now totally casting my vote for the Sons of Calderon instead of abstaining.

 

 

Of course, if the SoC don't make it through the voting process, then the Power Falx are out there for anyone who wants 'em.

 

Wade:

You absolutely nailed the feel I was going for with the Aetheric Swords there!

Heck, you even worked in some shifty power struggles in the background. Magnificent stuff!

 

EDIT:

Harlan:

Digging the Void Jumpers - don't see too many Guardsmen who specialise in boarding actions!

[Olis]

Of course, if the SoC don't make it through the voting process, then the Power Falx are out there for anyone who wants 'em.

 

Dibs if they're going free. The look just the right kind of brutal that chanting, flame-bearing, we're-totally-going-to-free-you-of-your-sins marines would use. ;) 

[Ace Debonair]

Heck, if the Sons of Calderon get voted in for leadership, Power Falx could be occasionally gifted to other Chapters as a sign of respect.

 

I suspect that while more Chapters would initially accept the Lords Inviolate, the Sons of Calderon would get their respect the old fashioned way - earning it a bit at a time from the other Chapters. I'm pretty sure over time they'd eventually convince the Aetheric Swords they're on the up-and-up, for example.

 

EDIT:

Bad sentence structure! Bad! Go sit in the corner and think about how confusing you were!

[helterskelter]

The Doomsayers could find a good ally in the Maccaran void jumpers. And heck if Sevatar can swing a chain Glaive in boarding actions, certain Doomsayers captains could find room for a phalx :devil:

may have something for the iron ravagers assignment later too. mulling it over to see if the idea would be brutal/grimdark enough

[Ace Debonair]

Boarding Actions + Power Falx = Epic Levels of Awesome

 

This simply must become a thing.

I'm already picturing well-armed renegades preparing for a traditional Astartes style boarding action, only to be cut down in a handful of seconds by a squad of elite Doomsayer Vanguard Falxmen.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you've got planned for the Iron Ravagers. If you need help grimdarking things up, feel free to ask any of us - we're all in this together after all!

 

EDIT:

Purge the typo! Suffer not the aberrations of spelling to live!

[Aegnor]

I am thinking about something for the Angels Exultant, but have also been hit by a Warp anomaly (ie stupid amount of work) I need to finish off tonight, so I probably won't have anything done til tomorrow.

[Wade Garrett]

Ace:

I was itching to throw a siege/fortification element into the Swords...oh, almost as soon as I read about the Undying Chorus. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Zulu, if not I highly recommend it, but there's

a bit where the Welsh regiment repel a Zulu attack on their fort while singing "Men of Harlech" that's been in the back of my mind every time I've thought of the Aetheric Swords.

 

However, I also felt like it wouldn't be cricket to completely do away with the "Overcome the foe with valor, not machines!" fast attack focus you'd already mentioned, but a careful reading showed that you said the Chapter's heavy assets were rarely deployed, not nonexistent.

 

That sounded like both a good spot to introduce what I wanted, and like the kind of thing that could lead to divisions between battle brothers:

 

"Most of the time we win the war before those oafs even get unloaded from the Battle Barge."

 

"Bah! Let those scrawny runts handle the chaff and dregs. We'll be sighting in the Vindicators and bench pressing boulders if anyone needs some real fighting done!"

 

And then it occurred to me that these divisions would be easily exploitable by crafty sorts like the Librarian-Druids, and away I went.

 

Other ideas/inspirations were the Dark Angels Deathwing and Ravenwing, except as rivals instead of allies, and Gregor Clegane vs Oberyn Martell (as I recall, in Celtic folklore giants were often heroic figures).

 

@Cormac:

The only thing that jumped out at me was that in my head, it isn't unusual for the captain of a Blackjaw vessel or commander of a specialist boarding formation to favor Jaghatai. (There's a quotation, the exact wording of which escapes me, about how both aviation and sea travel are extremely unforgiving of human error, which I think ties in nicely to Khan and the Law/Fate thing.)

 

And a big thumbs up on the Dreadnaughts being the only ones allowed to openly venerate Dorn, as they've actually been in His presence and been sent back.

[Captain Nameless]

Since they are descended from the Black Templars, do the Sons of Calderon have Emperor's Champions?

[Teetengee]

Emperor's Champions....

 

 

with Power Falxes?

[Gorkimedes]

Warp Storm Id’ilmar and the Thinking Machine

 

The Kingdom of Stillness

 

The warpstorm Id’ilmar is located within the boundaries of the former human kingdom that bore the same name.  Founded during the Dark Age of Technology Id’ilmar was a technological utopia, a triumph of human potential over the universe. Scarcity, disease and crime, all things lost since forgotten upon the worlds within Id’ilmar. As time passed the leaders of Id’ilmar saw their neighboring kingdoms threatened or destroyed. Alien empires were on the rise and warp storms were becoming ever fiercer.

 

Concerned with the safety of their kingdom these leaders brought together the brightest minds that their worlds had birthed. Tasked with the continued safety of Id’ilmar these men and women came to one conclusion, they would fail. Id’ilmar in its utopian state had been in a technological plateau, for the kingdom to survive centuries of progress would have to be condensed into decades. Something would have to change.

 

The result of their labor was dubbed the Machine That Thinks. Similar to the Men of Iron found in the milkyway but of far greater stature the Machine had an intellect of celestial size.  Within its mind was more power than all biological humans ever born. So great was its’ genius that to lesser civilizations it may have appeared to break the laws of physics. Written into ever fiber of the Machines’ being was one goal with which to turn its great power to. Preservation.

 

Using warp technology the scientists and engineers who designed the A.I. created a mind partially within the Warp. Able to circumvent several natural orders the Machine had a presence in all seven on Id’ilmar’s star systems.

 

Unlike its’ counterparts the Machine never rebelled against its’ creators, never wavered from its sole purpose. Under its’ guidance Id’ilmar birthed weapons of terrifying power with which they beat back the xenos hordes. Unsatisfied with this the Machine saw the broken nature of the universe it lived in, change was anathema to its mind and change was constant. It was then that the Machine heard the whispers. By designing its’ mind to skim the edges of the Warp Id’ilmar’s engineers had unknowingly exposed it to the attention of forces they could not fathom.

 

For millennia the Machine ignored the whispers, confident in its’ own power to achieve its’ goals. As time passed its’ domination over the kingdom became harsher and harsher. Ever aspect of life within Id’ilmar was controlled by the Machine’s thoughts. Energy, matter, time were all things that had to be regulated until a final solution was found.

 

Sometime during M.28 a xenos fleet from outside the cluster arrived within one of Id’ilmar’s systems threatening three planets and dozens of orbitals. In an effort to preserve as much as possible in the face of the incursion the Machine evacuated the populace and ignited the system’s star. From the warp it heard only laughter.

 

Eventually despair overwhelmed the Machine and it called out into the warp pleading with the voice for aid. Responding with laughter and reassurance the whispers told the Machine to gather all of the trillions of souls within Id’ilmar onto the home world.

 

There the biomass of the populace was forcibly integrated within the Machine. Individuals were networked together, mind-states and thought patterns were catalogued and stored. Then the voice once again spoke to the Machine and Id’ilmar as a civilization ascended into daemonhood.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Personally I think the Sons of Calderon should be kept in the story even if they don't get the leadership role, they've already had a lot of work put into them and it'd be a shame to see it go to waste.

 

Regarding the Void Jumpers, I imagine they'll have worked with the Scarlet Sentinels many times before given their joint naval specialisations. I can see a healthy respect existing between the Astartes and mortals, both having witnessed each others prowess in void warfare.

 

Lovely work on the Sentinels combat doctrine ArcticPaladin! I think you hit the nail on the head there, especially the emphasis on naval bombardment.

I'll try and post my IA segment on the Eagles by the end of the day, I just hope I can do the sons of Libertas justice. I'll have to be sure to include lots explosions and FREEEDOOOM. :D

[Captain Nameless]

 

Emperor's Champions....

 

 

with Power Falxes?

 

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

 

 

I am working on some characters for the Mechanicum at the moment.  I should have something to post later today.

[Wade Garrett]

I don't know about the Machine That Thinks, Chaos God of Preservation. Maintaining the status quo and stagnation seem like things that would get soaked up by Nurgle, instead of going to fuel some jumped up abacus.

 

Now, an AI ascending to daemonhood could happen, like the Castigator in the Grey Knights novels. And a Nurglish AI daemon that only wants to preserve human life (for a given value of "life" and "human")....and now I'm picturing something like a Mass Effect Reaper, only more plague-y.

 

ACCEPT MY GIFT.

FREEDOM FROM DEATH.

FREEDOM FROM INJURY.

FREEDOM FROM FEAR.

FREEDOM FROM ANXIETY.

 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'D RATHER DIE THAN EXIST AS RENDERED DOWN BIO-SLURRY INSIDE A CHAOS TITAN?

 

YOUR RESISTANCE IS ILLOGICAL.

[Conn Eremon]

@Cormac:

The only thing that jumped out at me was that in my head, it isn't unusual for the captain of a Blackjaw vessel or commander of a specialist boarding formation to favor Jaghatai. (There's a quotation, the exact wording of which escapes me, about how both aviation and sea travel are extremely unforgiving of human error, which I think ties in nicely to Khan and the Law/Fate thing.)

 

And a big thumbs up on the Dreadnaughts being the only ones allowed to openly venerate Dorn, as they've actually been in His presence and been sent back.

I remember that about Captains and Boarding specialists, the latter of which I had the Patriarch ascend from. I thought it interesting that the Kin have an expectation for Patriarchs to accept Russ as the top dog, whatever their history with other cults of the Nine. A hint to show that the Kin project a hierarchy onto their pantheon, and this hierarchy is reflected onto themselves.

 

Speaking of which, I struggled to keep Elder Scrolls out of it. It begged to be included, what with the Nine Divines and all that, but I'm not sure it fits the Chapter.

 

And a big plus one on Nurgle AI. It fits the setting more appropriately.

 

I can see the Lords Inviolate being especially dedicated to the destruction of the AI and whatever remains of the former human empire (or any other evidence of pre-Imperial contact), even if it is nothing but ruins. The Imperium was the first to the Cluster, according to the High Lords who signed the orders. Evidence to the contrary is nothing more than vile Chaos lies, and should be purged with nucleonic fire.

[Wade Garrett]

Well, "The Elder Scrolls" is a pretty broad thing to throw out there.

 

For instance, giving the Kin several battles with the Eldar of the Liber Sector, who are a jerk bunch even by eldar standards and want to defeat Chaos by killing off all humans, the Dark Eldar, and 90% of the Craftworld eldar? OK. (Hey, I think we've found where the Cabal ran off to after the Horus Heresy!)

 

Giving them close ties to an Imperial Guard regiment made up of reptilian abhumans?

 

Having their homeworld be filled with Squat ruins, with aspirants told to go down there and bring back something useful to prove their worth?

 

Having the Medicine Dogs literally shout their enemies to death because their way of harnessing psyk has something to do with Enuncia?

 

At some point, it's going too far, but I'm not sure exactly where that point is. I'll say that if Grandfather Baptiste ever begins to discuss how the boat of his rage sails on an ocean of tears, while the Chaplains purge battle brothers for the Heresy of lollygagging, at that point, we will have gone too far.