The Liber Cluster

[Teetengee]

They mostly look pretty darn good. I agree that the circular alligator would be vastly better for the Blackjaws.

Additionally, did you intend to include the eye of horus in yellow as part of the all seers icon?

Some of them seem a little complex too.

Finally, you may want to play with the order of colours on the Eagles (or colors, as they would say it), as it kind of looks like a converse logo with the white circle.

[Nomus Sardauk]

@Lord Thorn: One thing I forgot to mention, the Serekei Lions already have a symbol, admittedly it was posted aaaaalllllll the way back in Hyaenidae's intro post for them back on Page 21, but nonetheless here it is:

Also, you seem to have given them a dark teal and salmon colour scheme? I'm not sure where you got that but again Hyaenidae describes them as "the color and texture of blackened cast iron, streaked with charred ash and carbon"

Edited June 21, 2016 by SanguiniusReborn

[Doctor Perils]

They mostly look pretty darn good. I agree that the circular alligator would be vastly better for the Blackjaws.

Additionally, did you intend to include the eye of horus in yellow as part of the all seers icon?

Some of them seem a little complex too.

Finally, you may want to play with the order of colours on the Eagles (or colors, as they would say it), as it kind of looks like a converse logo with the white circle.

I intended to include a rather simple eye symbol, but if you think it's too recognizable as the Sons of Horus eye, that can be changed.

I'll have a go at playing with the colours as you say. I think I saw Tiberius's banner for them had red and white stripes on the background, perhaps that could work ?

@Lord Thorn: One thing I forgot to mention, the Serekei Lions already have a symbol, admittedly it was posted aaaaalllllll the way back in Hyaenidae's intro post for them back on Page 21, but nonetheless here it is:

Also, you seem to have given them a dark teal and salmon colour scheme? I'm not sure where you got that but again Hyaenidae describes them as "the color and texture of blackened cast iron, streaked with charred ash and carbon"

I had no idea of where to look for the info on the Sereiki Lions, and the name had a vaguely japanese consonance to me, so I was looking for a cherry blossom colour, with teal because I thought it would be an interesting combination. The symbol is a japanese or chinese guardian lion head.

Of course, all that's going to change to fit Hyaenidae's original description because, although I say so myself, the one I created was rather ugly :P

[Wade Garrett]

*Casually wanders in hoping nobody notices he blew his deadline in a big way*

 

The Hell Tigers shoulderpad is a thing of beauty, but the Blackjaw Kindred were always meant to have...well, almost like the World Eater mouthful of fangs. But black. And not eating a world, obviously.

[Doctor Perils]

*Casually wanders in hoping nobody notices he blew his deadline in a big way*

 

The Hell Tigers shoulderpad is a thing of beauty, but the Blackjaw Kindred were always meant to have...well, almost like the World Eater mouthful of fangs. But black. And not eating a world, obviously.

That can easily be done (much more easily then the circular crocodile tbh :) ) I think SanguiniusReborn also suggested the Flesh Eaters' symbol (the "fanged tactical arrow").

 Which would you prefer among the a-Flesh Eaters, b-World Eaters (30k), c-World Eaters (40k), and in what colours ?

 

Glad you like the Hell Tigers Symbol :)

[Wade Garrett]

Assuming World Eaters 30k means something like this:

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/4/43/World_Eaters_Pre-Heresy_Icon.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20121009164521

 

That would be what I'd go with. If there was a way to arrange the Jaws in a smile that would be perfect, but if that's not doable just the black fangs is fine.

 

Color is trickier. I was going to have "standard" Blackjaw colors be white splashed with black and bronze (yes, they're the New Orleans Saints what of it) but the fangs on a bronze shoulderpad might look too World Eatery, and I'm not sure about the black on green.

 

I said white, bronze and black are the standard colors but the Blackjaws tend to decorate their armor up to show their devotion to one of the Nine, their membership in a particular Circle, to commemorate great deeds they've done...

 

So you could slap the symbol on almost any color shoulderpad and there's probably a Kindred out there sporting it.

[Nomus Sardauk]

I thought the Kindred wore forest/swamp camouflage as their colours?

[Wade Garrett]

When their image was first put up...but there's a long series of posts where Conn and I jaw back and forth about it...somewhere in the murky depths of the thread...and it was changed to "No, they look like three Mardi Gras parades collided and it all got stuck to their armor."

[Nomus Sardauk]

So would you be able to whip a new version of the Kindred's heraldry in the Painter so we can update their profile when Thread 2.0 goes up?

[Wade Garrett]

There's a picture of the White, Black and Gold color scheme I made in the Painter somewhere in these 107 pages. Commerce trawl...

[Olis]

There's a picture of the White, Black and Gold color scheme I made in the Painter somewhere in these 107 pages. Commerce trawl...

 

Do you mean this one?

[Doctor Perils]

I've updated iconography for the Blackjaw Kindred and the Eagles of Glory, and I've made some minor changes to the All-Seers (change of eye) and the Black Judges (made the scales thicker)

 

EDIT: also given the Sereiki Lions a go, with added oil stain

 

EDITY EDIT: What do you guys think of the Kukri for the Knives of Guilliman? And have you got any idea of colours? I was thinking a kind of khaki could work, but looking back at the symbol I'm not so sure ? I'm also thinking of crossing the Kukri rather then having them form a U.

I'm also quite pleased with the helm for the Chevaliers, and the sword and scales for the Black Judges, but I'm open to any other suggestions. Also also, I'm not quite sure of the Black Falcons' pose, how should/could I change it for best effect?

 

EDITIER EDIT: I've also tried the Heralds of Letum

Edited June 21, 2016 by Lord Thørn

[Wade Garrett]

 

 

There's a picture of the White, Black and Gold color scheme I made in the Painter somewhere in these 107 pages. Commerce trawl...

Do you mean this one?

Olis...you're a God Emperor among men. And yes.

[Wade Garrett]

I've updated iconography for the Blackjaw Kindred and the Eagles of Glory, and I've made some minor changes to the All-Seers (change of eye) and the Black Judges (made the scales thicker)

 

EDIT: also given the Sereiki Lions a go, with added oil stain

 

EDITEDIT: What do you guys think of the Kukri for the Knives of Guilliman? And have you got any idea of colours? I was thinking a kind of khaki could work, but looking back at the symbol I'm not so sure ? I'm also thinking of crossing the Kukri rather then having them form a U.

I'm also quite pleased with the helm for the Chevaliers, and the sword and scales for the Black Judges, but I'm open to any other suggestions. Also also, I'm not quite sure of the Black Falcons' pose, how should/could I change it for best effect?

Thumbs up on the revised Kindred AND the khaki and crossed kukris for the Knives. Because this means the Kindred are basically 1/3 Ultramarine descended Gurkhas, and that has my approval. Edited June 21, 2016 by Wade Garrett

[Nomus Sardauk]

If I may, I have a few suggestions to put forward that might improve some badges. Firstly I'd say the Kindred symbol needs to be modified to further differentiate their logo from the World Eaters, I'd suggest the best way to do this would be to remove the circle section and move the jaws slightly closer together.

 

Second, the Black Falcons logo's head needs to be more visible from the rest of the body, as currently I can't make out much of the head at all. Maybe you could move the head up off the body slightly, or you could photoshop out the head and replace it with the one from the Raven Guard logo as it sticks out more from the body.

 

I'm not keen on the Eye of Horus being used on the All-Seer symbol, it's too recognisable, plus the other one looks better I think. Also the assymetry of the pyramid also takes away from the overall look, so I'd suggest fixing that.

 

I like the look of the new Eagles symbol, the white border looks good around the blue star, although I'd suggest thickening the border a little, that make look nicer.

 

Finally, I agree with Wade, Gurkha smurfs FTW. Ya'll don't :cuss with Gurkhas,

they will carve. You. Apart.

Edited June 21, 2016 by SanguiniusReborn

[Olis]

While we're tweaking things, I'd like to ask if the olive green backing for the Raven Brotherhood's pad can be changed to gold? (I'd also like to know the hex code for the gold that you'll use - it'll help when I make a colour scheme for the hell of it).

 

Secondly, the Conflagrators symbol needs to move over to the right a little bit. The off-centre candle-stick makes the whole icon look off-centre.

 

Lastly, looking at all of the other 'clean' pads, the smudge on the Sereiki Lions' one looks out of place to be honest. I think a 'clean' version would be more suitable. :)

[Doctor Perils]

Okay, I've given it a go. I haven't done the All-seers symbol yet and I haven't tried the Falcon Head from the raven guard, but I have given a try in a different colour, just to see what it would look like.

 

And yes, Ghurka smurfs was an idea just too good to miss out on :D

 

Olis, I'm afraid the candlestick might be offer too much to the right now no ? And the Gold I've used for the Raven Brotherhood is #f0c30f.

 

 

 

Anyway, this is just the kind of feedback I need, great :)

[Olis]

https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/292767-the-liber-cluster/page/107/#findComment-4425687

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[Nomus Sardauk]

@Lord Thorn: Sorry to be a pain but I just remembered why the Eagles' symbol was a plain blue star on the red field, it was from a discussion I had with TiberiusCato about Veterancy markings for the Eagles with the idea that Veteran Sergeants gain vertical white stripes on the red field of their shoulders pads (to recall the Ol'Stars & Stripes) with the Blue Star over them both.
As such, could you redo the simple Blue Star version of the Eagles pad please? If you're still concerned about the Blue Star not standing out well on the red perhaps you could brighten the blue a little to compensate?

 

I've looked over the badges again (I was on my mobile beforehand) and I'd suggest moving the head of the Black Falcon logo up away from the body, maybe extend the chest up slightly so you don't leave any gaps between the two.

 

The Blackjaw logo is really coming together I feel, the removal of the ring works great in distancing it from the original WE logo. It may be worth removing the exterior spikes as well, but I'll leave the decision of with or without spikes to Wade.

Edited June 22, 2016 by SanguiniusReborn

[Olis]

Hmm. I've found an oddity. While looking up who fought where it seems that the Iron Ravagers and the Angels Exultant fought together throughout the entire campaign. 

 

I don't believe for a moment this was intentional but they were together at Nimobia, Glavor and Cenicika. All three waves. That's interesting...

 

 

Edit - Actually, I could be wrong. It depends on whether or not Nimobia and Cenicika are both a part of the first wave... (man, trawling is hard work :P) 

Edited June 22, 2016 by Olis

[Olis]

I've discovered Harlan Skorus's post from two years ago with a link to info on the Liber Cluster. I believe it would be prudent, seeing as Harlan has not been on B&C for two years, to transcribe the writing there to a post here. My apologies to Harlan for this but it is for the best if we are not to lose a nice chunk of lore contributed to the project should the google doc suddenly disappear...

Hidden Content

A NEW FRONTIER

Existing below the galactic plane lies the Liber Cluster, a tight group of stars that mark to date the first and only of the Imperium's major efforts to colonise areas of space outside the boundaries of the known galaxy. First colonised early in M35 after prolonged fighting with the Orks that were found in the cluster, the Imperium later lost all touch with the settlers in the middle of M35; only with the cursed founding at the very beginning of M36 did the Imperium once again allocate resources towards a concerted effort to bring the Liber Cluster back into it's fold.

The Second Liberite Invasion was launched, one of the largest fleets in the known history of the Imperium. With no less than fifteen Chapters of Space Marines and countless regiments of the Imperial Guard alongside the millions of colonists, Rogue Traders and Chartist Captains, the High Lords of Terra left little to chance. The mass voyage to retake the Liber Cluster did however bring 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 in the sheer number of new settlers heading 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 out of control aboard the long voyage. It quickly came apparent that without direction or purpose the gangs would fall to crime and infighting, which became an extra burden on the already heavy shoulders of those in charge of the fleet.

A quick solution was sought for this problem, and out of this, the Void Jumpers were created. Originally trained by the Arbites 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 battalions of armsmen in case of mutiny. Initial recruitment was taken only from those born aboard the fleet, giving rise to the regiment's early nickname of the 'Bastards of the Void' – a nickname that did not last long once a sizeable body of Commissars were assigned to the regiments, and their new name was taken from the inter-ship boarding actions that new recruits were trained in during their time aboard the fleet. Recruitment continued throughout the voyage until, by the time the fleet reached the Liber Cluster, four entire regiments had been founded, with a fifth on the way. To this day the origins of the Maccaran Void Jumpers live on through their rank titles – Navy titles are used for all but the highest ranking officers, who use more conventional titles so as not to alienate their peers.

Upon reaching the Liber Cluster, the Void Jumpers were officially given the Shrine-World Maccaran as their home, although they were slow to take to it after years aboard navy ships. However, as the cluster was settled, the need for standing regiments on-board the fleet was reduced, and the Void Jumpers were increasingly used in infantry operations. Their training in boarding actions and close-quarters engagements made them ideal for urban warfare, or operations within hostile environments. Despite their comparatively small number compared to other regiments in the area, the Void Jumpers participated in many of the early battles of the invasion, playing a significant role in battles such as the Purging of the Nabaretti.


IRON DISCIPLINE

There has always been a close link between the Adeptus Arbites of the Liber Cluster and the Maccaran Void Jumpers, stemming from the regiment's earliest days aboard the fleet of the Second Liberite Invasion. Originally intended to be an inter-ship boarding force with an emphasis on controlling any potential riots among the ship's crews, it was a natural fit that they be trained by the Arbites attached to the invasion fleet. The crowd suppression techniques of the Arbites were a natural fit for the tight confines of an Imperial Navy starship, and the two organisations forged a close bond during this formulation period for the Void Jumpers.

When the Void Jumper's role shifted from an entirely space-bound role to a combination of naval and infantry actions, their relationship with the Arbites did not ebb away; if anything, it only grew stronger. The Void Jumper regiments often came to the aid of the Adeptus Arbites within the Liber Cluster when serious civil disobedience broke out, and were an invaluable force in upholding the law on Imperial worlds during the wild early years of the Liber Cluster's re-colonisation. If large-scale riots broke out that were too widespread for the Arbites alone to control, there would always be a contingent of the Void Jumpers moving to aid them; their naval-warfare training was put to good use in the similar environment of great hive cities.

Joint training operations between the Arbites and the Void Jumpers were held on a regular basis, and although they have become less common in more recent years they still have a place within the training structure of the Maccarans. The Void Jumpers are still happy to sent detachments to help out beleaguered Arbites wherever necessary, and the Arbites often return the favour. Indeed, during the first year and initial invasion of Rhyn-Majoris during the War of the One Truth, battered groups of Arbites provided the only reinforcements to the surrounded Void Jumpers against the tide of heretics that assailed them, and the Precinct Houses of the Cathedral World were highly commended following the conclusion of the war for their steadfast faith and resolute determination that was matched the Void Jumper's own.

A496 - MACCARAN

Erest Maccaran, captain of the Winged Runner, was a Chartist Captain in the first attempted colonisation of the Liber Cluster. At the forefront of the Exploratory Fleet, his was the first ship to enter the cluster, and raced immediately for the first planet they could detect to claim it in the name of the Emperor – or so Erest thought. What he actually claimed turned out to be a planet-sized asteroid, devoid of atmosphere and life, and airless rock floating on the edges of the first system the fleet had reached. Regardless, Erest Maccaran lay claim to his rock, planting the flag of the Imperial Aquila over the planet on a rise subsequently named Erest's Peak.

Erest Maccaran's ultimate fate is unknown, all trace of him disappearing after the first attempt at colonising the cluster failed. When the Second Liberite Invasion fleet arrived, however, they discovered Erest's flag, still hanging limply on the asteroid. Soon the spot became a site of pilgrimage, the first site of the God-Emperor's claim on the Liber Cluster; although it later became eclipsed in importance by other, grander seats of the Ecclesiarchy (such as Terminus Crux), this has not stopped the asteroid's interior being hollowed out and giant enclosed cities of pilgrims springing up within the rock. Naming the asteroid after the man who first discovered it, Maccaran was designated a Shrine-World (despite not truly being a world), and was gifted to the Void Jumpers as their home; fitting, that the first of the cluster's regiments should have stewardship over the first of it's prizes.

The significance of Maccaran as a holy site has influenced the growth of the Void Jumpers, who over the millennia since their humble beginnings aboard the cramped ships of the Second Liberite Invasion have changed from a group of passably-trained, uncouth warriors to an elite force of soldiers, among the best drilled in the cluster. The Void Jumpers are devoutly religious in the main, and detachments often include ranks of fanatics and zealots eager to spill blood for the Imperium's cause – the Maccaran Priesthood is largely unique in it's very militant focus, with Maccaran Battleprists a common sign within Void Jumper forces. The Void Jumpers and Maccaran Priesthood both work closely alongside the Ecclesiarchy of Terminus Crux in order to spread the Imperial Truth throughout the system, and both are always among the first to volunteer their participation in any Wars of Faith that occur in the cluster (the most recent example being the War of the One Truth, fought from 989.M41 to 995.M41).


The Battle Prayer of the Maccaran

Let my arm be strong and my strength be true

Let my legsbe swift and my will renewed

Let my mind be pure and faith absolute

Grant me victory or hold me with you

Ave Emperor.



THE MEN AND MACHINES

Having risen to ascendancy alongside each other, the Void Jumper's relationship with the Saneslau Mechanicum was close during the years spanning the Second Liberite Invasion. Being the Cluster's first regiment of 'home-grown' guardsmen, the Saneslau instantly saw value in encouraging a good relationship between the two. Thanks to the Saneslau, the Void Jumpers found themselves equipped with plentiful heavy armour, suited to withstanding the rigours of close-quarters combat, and were granted a large number of the experimental Corolax-pattern lascarbine, making the Void Jumpers among the better armed regiments of the Astra Militarum. As the Void Jumpers became utilised in an increasing number of ground and urban based conflicts, the Mechanicum futher augmented them with a number of unique tank designs – in particular, the Castigator and Excoriator patterns of Leman Russ tanks have become synonymous with the Void Jumpers; the Pegasi, a variant on the Aquila lander, is also is used extensively as a troop transport. The Maccarans were happy to receive help from the Saneslau, and in return they could be counted on to promote the interests of the Mechanicanum where necessary.

This bond has been eroded somewhat over the years, with the Maccaran Void Jumper's increasing role as a tool of the Ecclesiarchy, so often at odds with the goals of the Saneslau. While the relationship between Void Jumpers and Mechanicanum has certainly cooled, the Maccarans never entirely cut ties with the Saneslau, and many emissaries from the Mechanicum can still be found embedded in Void Jumper regiments. Impacted as much as their burgeoning numbers as this more distant relationship, the Void Jumper regiments are not entirely as well armed as they may have been thousands of years ago – although the level of their armour and arms is still far in excess of all but the best-equipped of the Astra Militarum.

Although the Sanslau now concentrate more on other means of influence within the Liber Cluster, the Void Jumpers have not lost their attention entirely. New models of the Corolax-Alpha lascarbine, boasting an increased strength over the original model, are filtering their way through the regiments (albeit currently limited to only the most elite of troops). The Saneslau also have taken once more to fielding units of bio-augmented 'Adherant' warriors as attachments to Void Jumper regiments, and ensure their value to the Maccarans through maintaining the aircraft and vehicles employed by the Void Jumpers. It is no stretch to say that should the Saneslau Mechanicum ever come under serious threat, the Void Jumeprs would be among the first to spring to their defence.

ONE RULER, UNDISPUTED

Liber Conclave and the Astartes

A HUNDRED WORLDS, A HUNDRED HEROES

In a area of space beset by such a variety of heretics and aliens as the Liber Cluster, it is little surprise that the Maccaran Void Jumpers have participated in countless battles and wars. Their ties with the Imperial Navy mean that they are often at the forefront of new offensives, or the first to react when the Imperium comes under attack from outside forces. Great victories have been won in the five millennia since their creation, and great defeats have been suffered alongside. Below is a selection of sources regarding the most famous actions of the Maccaran Void Jumpers, both good and ill.

Purging of the Nabaretti

'The Early History of the Maccaran Void Jumpers', author unknown, describes the Purging of the Nabar – the first major campaign the Void Jumpers participated in under their inaugural commander, High General Korshikov.

In the years of the Silence that followed the first attempt by Imperials to colonise the Liber Cluster, the fledgling Hive World of Nabaretti fell into the clutches of tribal abhuman crime families known as the Nabar Kindred. For years, the Nabar Kindred ruled Nabaretti with an iron fist. Imperial citizens on the planet lived in fear, exploited and persecuted by the violent Nabar. The Hive World became a dystopia, with innocents caught in the crossfires caused by feuding Nabar families on a daily basis, whilst crime lords grew rich from the profits of honest workers. With no centralised Imperial presence during the Silence, Nabaretti was left to become awash with disorder, all manner of scum making their way to the planet where might equalled power.

When High General Korshikov saw what Nabaretti had become, he was reminded of what his own soldiers had been not so long ago. The Void Jumpers at this time were still in their infancy, struggling to escape their reputation as the cast-offs of the Navy's dregs. But where Nabaretti had fallen into a state of chaos, Korshikov had forged the Void Jumpers into a professional outfit to be feared. When he was given the Void Jumper's first ever planetside assignment, to retake Nabaretti from the criminals that ruled it, Korshikov saw an opportunity to finally prove his work to the Imperium.

From their base within the fleet that orbited the planet, the Void Jumpers' four regiments attacked the planet. Though small in number they were heavily armed and disciplined, and they had the support of a sizeable contingent of Adeptus Arbiters ready to return Imperial law to Nabaretti. They landed on the upper tiers of the Nessoui hive, storming the highest reaches that belonged to many of the more influential crime lords. Whilst the Nabar held the citizens in their grip, their archaic weaponry and disorganised manner meant that they were little match fro the discipline of the Void Jumpers. The Nabar of Nessoui were forced to fall back into the lower reaches of the hive whilst the Void Jumpers solidified their foothold on the planet.

The Battle to liberate Nessoui took no more than a month. The heavy armour and finely crafted weapons of the Void Jumpers made short work of the Nabar Kindred, whilst Arbiter Execution Squads hunted down the more notorious criminals. The citizenry began to throw in thie rlot with the Void Jumpers, forming ad-hoc militias to push the Nabar from their homes. With nowhere to hide, eventually the Nabar of Nessoui ran out of places to retreat, and were forced into a stand against the invading forces. The Battle of Block 437 was a massacre in the favour of the Imperials, the Nabar families of Nessoui obliterated after one final 13-hour siege of a hab-block. With their flank secured, the Void Jumpers could now look to the other two hives of Nabaretti.

The remaining Nabar of the L'Aquile and Olessian hives had not been idle, however. Stockpiling weapons and fortifying their holdings, they would prove much more stubborn to remove. When the Void Jumpers tried to march on the two remaining hives, they found their routes blocked, the gangs using modified civilian vehicles as light armoured support. When they tried to assault the hives by air, waves of fire forced their aircraft away from the hive-spires. Korshikov's advance was halted by the resolute Nabar.

When the breakthrough came, it was the Void Jumper's allies that forced it. Whilst the bulk of the Void Jumper forces engaged forces holding the entrances to Olessian hive, a civilian uprising in L'Aquile coincided with an advance from a block of suppression shield carrying Arbites. Caught between the L'Aquile militia and the merciless Arbites, the Nabar of L'Aquile were dealt a heavy blow, losing hundreds in a crossfire. The route to L'Aquile was open, troops pouring into the beachhead and hunting down the fleeing Nabar families.

Within months, Olessian was all that stood between the Void Jumpers and victory. The Nabar bosses of Olessian were the most savage of their kind, and if the Void Jumpers were hoping for a mass uprising such as the one that led to the fall of L'Aquile, they would go disappointed. The Olessian families crushed any sign of dissent swiftly and brutally, utterly subduing the inhabitants. In order to break them, Korshikov had to employ something just as savage as the Olessian – and so, the Void Jumper's use of Hullghast herds came into being.

Having the fleet's ships round up herds of Hullghasts to be shipped to the planet, Korshikov let them loose upon the remaining Nabar families. The Nabar were slaughtered, completely overwhelmed by this new form of assault, torn apart by the claws of the Hullghasts. The Void Jumpers followed swiftly after, putting down remaining Nabar and Hullghasts alike. With this, the Imperium had retaken the Hive World, completing a campaign that was expected to last years in just five months.

The Purge, however, did not stop there. Korshikov hunted down the Nabar crime families without mercy or reprieve. Units of Void Jumpers spent weeks patrolling the lowest and darkest reaches of the three hives, and so complete were their efforts that the Nabar are today extinct, having been left with so little numbers as to no longer have a sustainable population after the Purge. The Void Jumpers had solidified their standing as stalwart servants of the Imperium, implacable foes of it's enemies, and a prominent and respected force within the Liber Cluster.

The Attack on the Cantus.

From the memoirs of Colonel Mylo Aronotvy, 1st Maccaran Void Jumpers. Aronotvy was a Captain at the outset of the war with the Sereiki Lions of M.36, and he and his company were among the force charged, by the Lords Inviolate, with an assault on the turncoat Lunar-Class cruiser Cantus prior to the assault on Evin Prime. The Cantus had become isolated from the main Sereiki fleet and had been designated a prime target for reclamation.

The minutes before we got in the fight, they were the strangest. Cold and cramped, we were strapped in to our Sharks(1), with no idea what to expect. Heathens, they called them, and heretics, and traitors. We never asked why it was us and not the Space Marines that were leading the attack – we were Void Jumpers, so it just made sense. The Lords always acted like they had something better going on, so we just left them too it, and marched on in the light of the Emperor, under the watchful eye of the Navy and those soulless Saneslau. One of them had embedded itself into my unit, and had the grace to say little. It just watched, masked in augmentations and royal blue robes.

The jerking of the assault boats signified that we were getting near enough to be fired on. As one, we started reciting the Maccaran Battle Prayer, preparing ourselves for the struggle ahead. We knew what we were facing; they'd be like us in many ways, but unlike us in one key area – we were disciplined. Void Leapers, they called us, the unafraid, the best of the best. What fallen rabble could stand before our might? Better armoured, better armed, and disciples of the true faith. My task was to take the weapons batteries of the Cantus, while other companies would go for the engines and the command decks.

As we thought and hoped it would, the initial assault went easy. We crashed straight into the ship, singing praises as we went, cutting down the surprised resistance in their hundreds. We were thirsty for battle, pressing on and driving into them, securing battery after battery so that our reinforcements could advance unhindered. We should have known that the Lions(2) wouldn't have given up on any vessel without a fight, but we were too caught up in our early success. We ran through the corridors, fighting like the Pius(3) himself was personally watching over us. We were at our best that day, and we reached the forward lance batteries in record time.

It was only when we reached the main lance batteries that we started running into trouble. The fighting got slower, bogged down. The resistance grew heavier, bit by bit; though we were still making ground, it was hard fought now, even by our standards. Any other regiment might have wilted, but not us, not the Void Jumpers. This kind of thing was our bread and water. Room by room, corridor by corridor, we pushed them back with grenades and carbines and righteous fury. At last we had them pinned in one of the main lance battery housings, but by this point I'd lost at least a quarter of my men. The traitors were scum, but tough scum. I'd give them that much.

The housing had been heavily fortified, and we surrounded it, trying to figure a way in. The heathens had set up this barricade in the centre of the room, crouching behind it and firing pot-shots every time one of us stuck our necks out to take a look. We could have taken the room there and then, but with the number of entrances available, we'd have lost too many men to carry the day. On top of that, the bulkheads in this area of the ship had been so reinforced there was no getting through them; even the Breacher's Lascutters would have taken too long, and if there was one thing we were short of, it was time.

So Darilov, the crazy bastard, came up to me and said “Captain, Captain, I got an idea. Give me all your busters(4).” Darilov had obviously taken a head wound or two in his time, but I knew him enough to listen to him when he got one of his ideas. The man was a true soldier, one of the best. I gave him twenty men and every charge we had, and I send him on his way. Fifteen minutes, I said, and I'm timing you. We stood there for all fifteen of those minutes, throwing the occasional grenade to keep the Lions concentrating on us, and I'm beginning to think Darilov's walked into some trouble until suddenly there's the swoosh of charges going off. The ground fell out from beneath those damn heathens in a neat circle. We all rushed into the room and put down any left, and looking through this hole, there's Darilov and his gang grinning up us from the deck below. They'd not only taken out the floor on our deck but also the one below, so the heathens fell about sixty feet. We fired a few shots into the pile of bodies to be sure.

We had finally secured the lance batteries, and other companies reported the engines were also ours, and the command deck would be before long. Our fleet started moving in, sending waves of reinforcements to secure the Cantus. With the fleet drawing in, we knew that the lance batteries would be the heathen's main priority for a counter-attack if they were to launch one; we couldn't be sure that they didn't have more forces stored away in the vessel somewhere, at at close range the lances would tear our ships apart. We dug in around the edges of the room, waiting for an attack we couldn't be sure was coming. But it did, and what an attack it was.

The first we knew, men were screaming as they died, though we couldn't see anything. It threw us into chaos straight away, and I was hard pressed to keep the unit under control. The enemy you can't see? That's something even a seasoned veteran will fear. While I was trying to restore order though, they showed their faces - these giant creatures(5), aliens of some kind, armed to the teeth. Six of them, but they were the toughest damn things I ever saw, putting our Breachers to shame. There was more soldiers backing them up, better trained and equipped than the scum we'd been fighting(6). The only thing that saved us was the gaping hole in the floor that meant they couldn't advance on us properly, but they were hammering us as hard as we hammered the damn rebels. We expected it'd be a tough few minutes, but by the blood of saints, this was ridiculous. Worse, I was getting comms through saying that the other companies were facing the same problem; even worse, the Cantus had turned out to be nothing but a lure, and now our fleet was caught in a Sereiki ambush, surrounded. There was no way out: we were trapped in this mess, at the mercy of these things.

Honest to the Emperor, we'd have never made it out if it wasn't for that damn Saneslau thing. To this day I have no idea what in the warp that thing was; I knew they'd placed themselves within the Regiment, but up until that point, it had just hung back, mumbling to itself and taking readings as we were moving up through the ships. Suddenly the blue cloaks was thrown back, and the things held this ornate rifle with gauges and meters all over it. Our carbines were bouncing off these six beasts, and even grenades weren't doing much to push them back. But this rifle, that thing pulled the trigger once, and tick-BOOM, shrapnel flies everywhere. Two of the giants fell with great gaping wounds all over, torn apart, and it almost seemed like time slowed as we came to the realisation that these things could be killed.

There's was less than half of us left by then, but we gritted our teeth and fought back like the Maccarans we were. Through all the fire, we watched as this robot just ups and charged straight through the crossfire, straight at the damn giants! I think all of us were confused, wondering what this spindly thing would do to the beasts; but by the holy throne, as it reached them, a bunch of damn tentacles just flipped out from this robot's back, and it just becomes this blur of metal. I never saw anything move so fast. We roared and pressed forward, trying to support the robot and keep the foot-soldiers off it so it could concentrate on the giants, pushing them back and into a retreat.

The Saneslau had cut down a third creature and it was wrestling with a fourth, those tendrils darting in and out, as we concentrated our fire on the last two. It took more than I ever thought possible, but the two things finally had taken enough shots to fall, and we all started cheering as we realise we've beaten them. I went forward to congratulate this robot thing, who was now inspecting the one it just killed. It just looked at me with these eyes that aren't even eyes, mumbled something about laws of principality(7), and wandered off like it hadn't just killed four living tanks like I swat a deckfly.

None of our joy lasted for long. We had the ship again, but our own fleet had been defeated and was backing off. The Lords, for their part, decided the ship was lost without telling us; the first we knew was when the Cantus started shaking under the weight of their bombardment. Never trust a damn Astartes again, I swear. We were pounding leather through this ship, trying to find our way back to the Sharks while avoiding the bits of the ship that just weren't there any more, and just when I thought we were lost we stumbled on these cache of SORPs(8). The Emperor must have been watching over us in that moment, because we'd ended up like the rest of the companies if we hadn't found them. I hadn't seen these things since fighting alongside the Vorden(9), but we didn't have any choice in the matter, nor time to hesitate. The assault on Evin Prime would have to start soon, so we wouldn't be alone for long. I ordered my men into the pods, and we were all back to mouthing prayers as we slammed the release levers, hurtling into Evin Prime's atmosphere. And we thought the Cantus was bad...

Shark Assault Boat.
The Sereiki Lions.
St. Ollanius Pius, Patron Saint of the Imperial Guard.
Melta-Charges.
Likely to be the 'Mastodons', a unit of Abhumans fighting for the Sereiki Lions.
Likely a unit of the Sereiki Lions; what little evidence remains suggests that they were 'Coyotes'.
Downing's Laws of Lethality.
Single-man Orbital Redeployment Pods; boarding torpedo-style units used for orbital deployment to a planet's surface. Colloquially known as 'Retorts'.
Vorden Drop Troops.

Captain Aronotvy's Void Leapers went on to fight in a successful campaign behind enemy lines on Evin Prime, surviving the catastrophic campaign that unfolded. The Cantus was destroyed by the Lords Inviolate shortly before their assault on Evin Prime, along with the loss of three companies of Void Jumpers that were still aboard the ship; the Lords Inviolate were never held accountable for these losses.

The Fields of Alam.

Entries taken from the Vox-Journal of Petty Officer (later Ensign) Maraya Voroliska during the Fall of Alam, 676-677.M36. Voroliska's squad was of the 19th Void Jumpers, 2nd platoon. The 19th was the first to land on Alam after the planet stopped responding to Imperial communications. Voroliska's platoon were stationed in a town north of the Barula Plains.

+++BEGIN LOG 3: 595676.M36+++
+++RANK: PETTY OFFICER - NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Voroliska> We've been sat on this warp-cursed pile of dung now for weeks. So much for the Xenos sightings. Nothing but green and brown, as far as the eyes can see. The most interesting thing to be doing is slapping gorse-flies from our damn faces. Gorsky got a bite from one, nose the size of a damn moon. Even Tromso cracked a smile at that one, the miserable...

<Subject coughs. Sound of footsteps in background, rising and fading with passing of origin. Subject resumes.>

Commissar Marq. Been on my case ever since we got here. One of the old school, bet he can't get over seeing a woman in charge of one of his squads. Hah! I'm glad to be a thorn in his bloody side. Emperor knows he could stand to loosen up a little, makes Tromso look like a timid old monk in comparison. Commissars. Bane of the poor bootpounder's life.

Nothing much else of interest to report. Still no sign of the damn farmers, so that's still creepy as the warp. The longer it goes on, the more that sick feeling in my stomach grows, but we've found nothing. Just empty buildings. Everyone at this point knows something shady's going on, but no-one knows what or why. We're all on edge.

Gave Porify latrine duty for poor weapon maintenance. You'd expect any other techpriest to bust a gasket, but that Saneslau robot just smiled that broken smile of his when he heard. Ain't nothing right about them, the way they just... watch. Ulstice and Ilyta still think no-one knows, Ymira still gets on my nerves for being Ymira. What the hell are we doing here anyway? We're note the Maccaran Search and Rescue Regiments. Void Jumpers. We should be in space. Damn useless PDF.

<Subject sighs.>

Close log.

+++END LOG 3+++

+++BEGIN LOG 7: 660676.M36+++
+++RANK: PETTY OFFICER – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Voroliska> Warp dammit. We're gearing up to go out, finally. Oli's squad were out on patrol in that range of hills nearby – out there for over a week. Saw nothing all through their patrol – and just as they were about to leave, a native approached them. Says he's one of the farmers. The man was mad, twitchy and yelling about the 'raiders from beyond the hills' or some crap. Guess we all hoped they'd turn up hungover in a ditch somewhere.

Nikolai's platoon is just over the hills, so they'll be linking up with us while on patrol. The poor man had clearly been out there for a while, and something just isn't right. No chances; if we're going out there, we're going out there ready to take some damn names. We're under orders not to engage heavily, just to find out what's going on before and report back to Regimental.

<Voice shouting in background identified as Armsman Ulstice, J.>

<Ulstice> Ready to move on your command, Voroliska!

<Subject turns from log and shouts back.>

<Voroliska> Stay ready you damn Kopba-herder! We'll leave when I'm ready.

<Subject turns back to log.>

<Voroliska> Idiot. Good shot, but idiot. Can tell he wants command of the squad for himself, always telling me do this, do that... I'm his damn officer. Might have him replace Porify, that'd be funny... well, for me. Hah.

<Subject exhales loudly.>

<Voroliska> Guess I better go though, before Tromso blows a gasket... see what these hills have in store for us, I guess. Close log.

+++END LOG 7+++

+++BEGIN LOG 8: 680676.M38+++
+++RANK: PETTY OFFICER – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Subject remains silent for moments before speaking.>

<Voroliska> Emperor. What a... a nightmare. Those damn...

<Subject is breathing heavily. Cardiovocalic scans detect no sign of physical trauma. Probable diagnosis: Post-combat psychological fatigue level Sigma. Subject status: report to the Commissariat at earliest opportunity.>

<Voroliska> Let me go from the start... get this out, try... try and make sense of it.

We went up into the hills in our Pegasi's. You could almost see, for a second, why anyone ever came to this planet... it looked so pure. Just rolling green... so clean, and fresh... Nikolai and 3rd Platoon were coming from the other direction, by foot. There were going to meet us at this spot... a couple of Castigators as well, rolling along beneath us. A squadron of walkers too. A lot of firepower for a recon mission, we all said; but I guess that's the Maccaran way. Seems stupid we didn't bring more in hindsight, but we never knew.

So we get to the RV and are expecting Nikolai and his men... well, we found them. Bits of them... some of them, but we're... we're not sure who. We must have circled overhead for a good ten minutes, just looking down... bits. All arranged in a neat little circle, surrounding this small copse of tress, and something shimmering... We could see the light reflecting off it as clear as day. How had fleet recon not seen this? Why didn't we know? This area was scoured for days...

<Subject pauses. Sobbing heard in background identified as Armsman Ulstice, J.>

<Voroliska> Romarov, go and... do something with Ulstice.

<Sound of footsteps recede away from subject. Muffled voices heard in distance as sobbing subsides.>

<Voroliska> Ilyta... Emperor. So we landed, weapons hot now. I mean, we were ready, but now we were on edge. Blood everywhere, staining the glass... dripping from trees. Couldn't even tell who it was at first, until someone from Jago's squad found a badge... Nikolai was staked to the tree, his arms and legs all broken. We thought he was dead at first, but then he coughed, and he made that... that sound. No-one would approach him at first, everyone just looked on dumb. Eventually Tromso went... he was shaking, we could all see. His squad followed, and they got Nikolai down from... but he was just screaming, screaming...

Marq just walked forward, put a slug through Nikolai's head. I think we were all a little relieved. At least until we looked into the trees. There were these... these pillars. A dark silver, with these glowing green runes... like nothing we'd seen. Now we were closer, would go see the flickering had this ill green tinge to it, and men started backing away. Marq started yelling at us not to move, but when green lightning starting arcing between the pillars I think even he got spooked. Tromso commanded us to take up firing positions around the Pegasi's, and we formed up. The Castigators moved into position, the Sentinels too. The lightning just grew and grew, and then it opened...

It was like looking into another world, but one made of... shadows. Like looking at something underwater. There were these towers stretching into a red sky, like clawed hands reaching out. We could see blurred figures moving around the base of the portal, or whatever it was, but no-one could make out where exactly they were. It was like light didn't function in the same way, where they were... Tromso had one of the Sentinels fire a warning shot. The figures stopped moving, we could see, but nothing came out... not at first.

Suddenly, this beam of.... nothingness shot out. The walker didn't so much explode as just kind of collapsed on itself, and then everyone was shooting, all yelling orders and screaming in fear. Emperor knows we must have sent enough fire through that portal to drop a titan, but... eventually Tromso got everyone under control, the firing stopped. We all just waited some more, until one... well, we think he was one. One thing emerged from the tree-line, but the shadows around him moved... there could have been more. We didn't know. Whatever it was, it knew Low Gothic, and asked for a parley... Marq shot at it, the damn fool. It was gone in an instant. A ghost.

Then the portal crackled, and five, six, seven sharp pointed hulls emerged... spiked warriors holding spiked guns... they were so fast. We tried to fight back, but before we knew what was happening one of the Castigators was down, and they were already on Jago's squad, scything through the veterans... they were so fast. Quicksilver. Their guns fired shards of... cut us to ribbons. Literally, in... poor Ilyta. We broke as fast as they came, Pegasi in the air even before everyone had gotten aboard... we tried not to look at the ones we left behind. I saw Marq striding towards the... things...

We're back at the town now. I think we have a good idea what happened to the civilians... I try not to think about it. We're fortified and dug in, but I don't think anyone believes we can do anything to stop them. Tromso tries to make like he has things under control, says reinforcement are coming, but I've seen him when the others aren't looking, and... he's not doing so good, but the others have to believe he is. Nothing to fear but the Void itself. And what comes from the Void. Close log.

+++END LOG 8+++

+++BEGIN LOG 12: 724676.M38+++
+++RANK: PETTY OFFICER – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Voroliska> We've been holding out for damn weeks now. The majority of the 19th is still delayed somewhere by that giant green portal over the Barula plains. Some evil looking sun, right over the planet. It gives everything this sickly hue, makes it hard to sleep at night. Or maybe that's just all we've seen over the last few months.

Void Jumpers don't quit, but it's plain to see that we're being worn down. They attacking at random: the height of day, the dark of night, we can never tell. There's no pattern to what they're doing, and it's all we can do to just hold on. Yana and Limarov got caught last night, along with a few others. And I say caught. Yana was definitely alive when they dragged her off, kicking and screaming.

But holding is what we'll damn do. Tromso says that five more regiments have already landed on the planet and are moving to join up with the 19th at the Barula Plains, before coming to relieve us. We'll see what the damn warp-daemons have for us then! Close log.

+++END LOG 12+++

+++BEGIN LOG 14: 746676.M38+++
+++RANK: PETTY OFFICER – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Voroliska> We lost another seven last night. They're toying with us, I swear it... they could overwhelm us with every attack, but they don't. Get just close enough to take a few of us before disappearing like smoke. Every time we try to strike back, there's nothing there to strike. By the sounds of it that's the story all over the planet; we're being harried, stretched thin, probed and wounded. A death by a thousand cuts.

Tromso tells us that they're Eldar, but they're not any Eldar we've seen before. There's stories of their dark cousins, and we're guessing this must be them. We've managed to kill a few, and they definitely look like Eldar. Or the ghosts of Eldar. Under that armour they're pale like milk, thin-skinned. You can see all the veins. They look like they'd snap if we could just touch them, but they're always out of damn reach.

<Approaching footsteps can be heard. Subject moves away from the Vox-Journal, and a whispered conversation can barely be made out. Second participant identified as Lieutenant Tromso, P. Tromso leaves and subject returns to Vox-Journal.>

<Voroliska> Make it nine. Ulstice, he... he shot Porify, then turned the gun on himself. There goes any chance of me sleeping tonight... Close log.

+++END LOG 14+++

+++BEGIN LOG 16: 839676.M41+++
+++RANK: PETTY OFFICER – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Ambient noise suggest concentration of allied forces in area. Proximity of vocal tones to mechanical tones suggest subject is in a communal area.>

<Voroliska> So, we got our reinforcements at last... held out for months for these damn reinforcements, and finally they arrived... but not what we thought. They didn't arrive in a river, but in drops. Most of them were wounded, like us. As they arrived, we got bits of the picture, stitching the tales together. I almost wished we hadn't.

Four regiments had descended on the Barula Plains, just south of here, to try and relieve us and the 19th. Emperor knows what's happened to the other one, but I try not to think too had on it. Anyway, the Barula. Ranks of infantry, crowds of fanatics, tank companies, air support, even three Knights of House Amrath. What a sight it must have been, thousands of the best soldiers in the damn Liber... Five regiments finally moved in force against the Barula portal. The 19th had been taking hits for months, but the other four regiments were full strength, and damn angry.

No plan survives contact with the damn Elder. The attack fell apart as soon as it started. From what we've gathered, it sounds like the Eldar opened another portals straight in the middle of the advance. No warning. Just came out of nowhere, directly on top of command. By all accounts everything fell apart then and there. Maccarans are used to being up close and personal, but on our own damn terms. Give me a hab-block any day, rolling grassland's nothing good to us. Command thought they'd cut the head off the snake right there at the portal. Well, turns out that swings both ways...

The damage was done and our forces were in dissarray before anyone could rally a defence. Those damn things just started hunting the survivors down, like they were damn... sport or something. Some of them made it here. Most weren't so lucky. We've become a sort of rallying point for whatever is left, but... even with them all, there's what, four hundred of us before last night?

Tromso's doing his best, rallying what troops we have. Other than Siberski he's the ranking officer, and Siberski is... well, Tromso's miserable, but he's hard. Give me Tromso any day of the month. He might be tough, but that's what we need. Everyone's in agreement that we should pull back into the town a little, let the Eldar bring themselves on us where it's a bit more cramped and they can't move so much. It's not much of a plan, but it's something to tell the ratings. Maybe we can sweat just enough blood, hold out just long enough for some more reinforcements to show up. Warp, some damn Astartes would do the trick. Hah. We can live in hope. Close log.

+++END LOG 16+++

++++++BEGIN LOG 18: 091677.M38+++
+++RANK: ENSIGN – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Voroliska> They got Tromso, the stupid bastard. Last night was...

<Subject falls into coughing fit. Cardiovocalic scans detect physical trauma to the abdomen. Probable diagnosis: Lacerations to left ribcage level Ksi. Subject status: seek medical attention.>

<Voroliska> Emperor, that smarts... it was quick, too quick. The damn fiends must know we're all but spent, because they've been hitting hard ever since the crisis at Barula. Last night was the worst. We were all too worn out to put up a proper fight. Captain Siberski tried to marshal some kind of defence, but... we folded. Not sure how. One minute we were on the firing line, giving 'em hell, next they were in our faces. They were already in the middle of us, it was the Barula all over again.

I saw the diplomat one, from the hills. He was wearing some kind of clothing made out of damn skin... I swear I saw Marq's face. The thing was wearing his damn face... ever thought a Commissar was scary enough when he was living? Emperor...

<Subject falls into more coughing. Cardiovocalic scans detect physical trauma to the abdomen. Revised diagnosis: Lacerations to left ribcage level Mu. Subject status: seek medical attention. >

We were falling back to the town centre; it was fortified so we could make a stand there, but we were losing people all the time. They were chasing us, hunting us down. I'm trying to direct the troops back, and one of their flying tanks, it comes around the corner, bearing down on me. I take a hit; not direct, but it's enough to drop me bleeding to the ground. Just when I think I'm done, it's pretty much on me... I saw the grenades in his hand as he leapt at it. He was a miserable bastard, but I swear the Emperor himself carried Tromso toward that damn thing or something. Last I saw he was holding on to the thing for dear life... then...

<Subject imitates sound of explosion.>

<Voroliska> He pulled me out of the fire, Tromso. Might have just thrown us in the pan, but I wouldn't be here yamming on if it weren't... Siberski made me Ensign in his place. Got my lucky stars at last, hah. Got Tromso's old platoon too; all seventeen of us. Oh, glorious command. Now I'm stuck... I want to cry and hide, but so does every other bastard that stares at me with those empty eyes. I can't let them down. Responsibility. We're preparing for the next attack like we might survive it... can't say I have much hope.

There's smoke rising over the trees now. Close log.

+++END LOG 18+++

+++BEGIN LOG 19: 094677.M38+++
+++RANK: ENSIGN – NAME: VOROLISKA, M+++

<Ambient noises indicate clear signs of combat, suggesting close proximity to hostile forces.>

<Voroliska> ...make this quick. We held, for far longer than we should have. Alam is lost. Repeat, Alam is lost. Strike coordinates 453S548E clearance Woland-Behemoth. Strike hard and don't dare come for us until the area is ash and glass. Alam is lost.

<Volume of ambient noise suggests extremely close proximity to hostile forces.>

<Voroliska> They're coming. Emperor save me, they're coming. Whoever decided not to send any more reinforcements, f-.. wait, whe-

<Sound of brief struggle before subject repeatedly screams in pain. Cardiovocalic scans detect physical trauma to the abdomen, neck, left arm, left leg, right leg. Probable diagnosis: severe lacerations to sternum level Zeta. Probable diagnosis: severe perforation to right lung level Gamma. Probable diagnosis: lacerations to neck level Iota. Probable diagnosis: truncated left arm level Alpha. Probable diagnosis: severe lacerations to left thigh level Gamma. Probable diagnosis: severe lacerations to right thigh level Theta. Subject status: critical. Seek immediate medical attention..>

<Voroliska> Oh, you...

<Subject ejects blood and saliva towards assailant. Assailant moves UNIDENTIFIABLE PLEASE RECONFIGURE. Subject screams again before falling into brief period of wet rasping. Cardiovocalic scans detect physical trauma to the abdomen, neck, left arm, left leg, right leg. Probable diagnosis: severe lacerations to sternum level Zeta. Probable diagnosis: severe perforation to right lung level Gamma. Probable diagnosis: lacerations to neck level Beta. Probable diagnosis: truncated left arm level Alpha. Probable diagnosis: severe lacerations to left thigh level Gamma. Probable diagnosis: severe lacerations to right thigh level Theta. Subject status: critical. Seek immediate medical attention.>

<Assailant steps UNIDENTIFIABLE PLEASE RECONFIGURE and addresses unit. Vibro-tones recognise assailant as +classified: MANDRAKE-ALPHA+.>

<MANDRAKE-ALPHA> <Language not recognised.>

<MANDRAKE-ALPHA lifts unit. Emergency shutdown initiated. Compiling cache... compiled. Initiating hibernation state. Shutting down.>

+++END LOG 19+++

The Vox-Journal of Maraya Voroliska was recovered from Alam by an investigatory team of the Ordo Xenos later in 677.M38. The Battle of the Barula Plains and the Fall of Alam was the single largest defeat suffered by the Maccaran Void Jumpers until the Luce Signifer late in the 41st Millennium. Six regiments of the Void Jumpers were all but wiped out over the span of a few months by the Kabal of the Blissful Reprise, with only a handful of scattered survivors left alive on the planet when a reclamation force arrived in 677.M38. Ensign Voroliska was posthumously awarded with the Golden Skull.

The Battle of Tarno, 172.M41.

Tarno, a Hive World of great cities built in underground caverns beneath a vast irradiated desert, came under attack from Waaagh! Gutsnik in 172.M41. Originally deployed to try and halt the invasion fleet whilst it was in orbit, the Void Jumpers failed to destroy the vast Rok carrying the Waaagh!, and the fighting moved into the tunnels linking the Hive Cities. The invasion was defeated when a strike by Void Leapers under Major Artyom Vystavka made a daring strike upon the surface of the planet, infiltrating the Rok and first collapsing it on the sprawling Ork camp, before a second explosion igniting the fuel vats in a giant explosion that wiped the Ork presence from Tarno.

“One minute to drop.”

The voice crackled in his earpiece as Artyom checked his carbine again, as he'd already done a dozen times in the last ten minutes. They were close now, and the nerves had settled firmly in his stomach, as they always did. Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet, holding on to the rail above him as the men around him did the same, buckling their harnesses to the rappel-cords. The time for speeches was over, and Artyom was glad. He was never much one for speeches.

“Thirty seconds to drop. Kill them clean, friends.”

They'd already run missions like this earlier in the war, infiltrating the surface of Tarno to sabotage two Gargants that had acted as mobile bases for the Ork attacks. This time would be a little different, though. The stakes were much higher. A planet's fate rested on this, millions of lives. He and his men had volunteered without hesitation.

“DZ reached. See you soon, Leapers.”

The doors slid open, and Artyom's units launched themselves out with practised alacrity, landing on the rocky outcrop below. From his crouched position, Artyom could see the other squads of his platoon rappelling to the surface, spreading out, weapons raised. A quick hand signal, and the Valkyries spun in place, retreating the same way they had come. They were alone, and on the still surface, all Artyom could hear was the hiss of his own breathing inside the gas-mask, and the click of the rad-meter.

“All units, confirm clear.”

Seven other squads quickly confirmed that they were ready and waiting. Artyom crept forward, raising his head above a boulder. In the distance, their target loomed, a great monstrosity of a thing. The engines stuck out of the asteroid in a haphazard manner, at all kinds of uncoordinated angles. On the other side of the Rok, Artyom could spy the dark shadow of the Ork's encampment, the construction site where they had drilled into the tunnels of Tarno. Destroy that base, and the tunnels could be sealed once more, and cleansed. What few Orks would remain on the surface would be easy pickings.

“Move out men, on me. Quick and quiet.”

The squads began the descend from the rocky rise that had obscured their approach. Orks were not prone to high levels of awareness, but nonetheless, they had taken no chances. Over two kilometres of dust and sand stood between them and their target. They would have to cover them quickly; High General Duma had ensured that the Ork's attention would be elsewhere by opening the gates to one of the Hives, inviting attack, but the defenders would not be able to hold indefinitely. Each minute this went on cost them dozens of lives.

They hurried across the planet's surface in silence. Once, little over halfway, Artyom had to command them to stop and take cover as a squadron of buggies sped past, the Orks inside firing weapons at random into the stormy sky. Between the rocks that littered the area and the camouflage of their outfits, they had managed to escape unseen. Other than that, the Orks were characteristically lax in patrols. Artyom had counted on it. Even at their careful pace, they reached the Rok within an hour.

The only known entrance to the Rok was situated in the centre of the Ork camp, and so Artyom had been forced to find a more creative means of entering the Rok undiscovered. As they fell into the shadow of the gigantic vessel, grapple-guns and mag-clamps were prepared. The rocket engines would be the only other access point available to them – certain death if the Orks decided to fire them up, but it was the best plan they could come up with.

Grapples sailed through the air, and the sound of metal on metal made Artyom flinch. He looked around, but there were no Orks to hear them. One by one, the Void Leapers ascended to the lip of the nozzle of the rocket, the space wide enough to drive a trio of Baneblades through. His visor hummed into life, the black of the tunnel ahead slowly becoming a pale blue. The first part of their climb was the steepest, forcing them to ascend on all fours, mag-clamps holding them to the interior of the engine. Eventually, the made it past the threshold of the rocket engine's skirt, and footsteps echoed in the darkness as the incline became less severe. It was another twenty minutes before Artyom could see the end of the tunnel they were in, the great combustion engines of the rocket.

“Cutters.”

A command murmured into his vox-piece brought two fusion cutters forward, and the platoon halted whilst Artyom knocked softly on the walls and floor of the tunnel, listening intently for an echo. Finally, he signalled a spot, and the two cutters gasped into life. Artyom's visor flickered and adjusted as the tunnel was lit up by the flash, everyone else training their weapons on the wall where the incision was being made.

“Weapons free.”

Safeties were flicked off as the fusion cutters neared the end of their task. From here on in, they would show neither mercy nor respite. Mag-clamps pulled the loose section away, placed carefully on the floor behind them.

“On me. For the Emperor.”

Artyom swung his legs over the gap and dropped into the cavernous engine room. The few occupants that we there barely noticed him at first, until more of his men dropped down behind him. Weapons cracked as the gretchin were cut down in a hail of lasfire. One solitary Ork turned and roared defiance, until Artyom's shot took it through the mouth, blowing a hole clean through it's bulbous head. It fell, dropping a wrench to the floor with a loud clang.

Artyom was already moving, his squad on his heels as the Void Leapers spread out to clear the room. All the foul creatures he could see were dead, but there was no telling as to whether any of them might have escaped their notice. If time had been a pressing thought on his mind before, it was even more crucial now inside the Rok. Any second they could be discovered, stranded by the Ork horde nearby.

“Shustov and Ruskova, set charges here for twenty minutes and hold position. Make sure they are well secured. The rest of us proceed as planned.”

Artyom clasped the hands of the two Master Warrant Officers that were to stay. The look in their eyes told him everything he needed to know – they would not flinch from their duty. Then he was moving again, into the steam-filled corridors of the Rok, staring down the scope of his carbine. Vision was impaired, at best, but the tight surroundings were a comfort to him. They had spent their lives training for moments like this, and Artyom felt more at ease here than in the wide open space outside the Rok.

They moved quietly as possible, out of habit more than effort, and the echo of their footsteps was muffled by the thick air. Chancing upon one band of Orks, all their weapons fired at once, riddling the Xenos with holes before they even knew the Void Leapers were there. A second band fell almost as easily, Artyom surging forward with a throwing knife that took the third in it's back as it turned to run. Visibility was growing steadily worse as they passed through the centre of the Rok, Artyom barely able to see more than twenty feet in front of himself despite his light-magnifying visor.

It was the third group of Orks they crossed paths with that gave them away. The two groups collided at a crossroad, stumbling upon each other at a range of little more than a few metres. The fight was quick and furious, weapons blaring all around Artyom as he plunged a knife into the largest Ork's neck, toppling forward on top of it. When he stood, he saw that six of his men were unmoving amid the bodies on the floor. Worse, he could hear heavy thumps as more Orks descended on their position, drawn by their comrades' yells, and the sudden sounds of heavy gunfire from the direction of the engine room. Artyom muttered curses under his breath.

“Dovman and Narodnaya, hold this position. We will need time to reach the objective.” Two more of his squads nodded and dug in, using the bodies of their fallen foes as cover. Hrenovuha, Rodnik and Narodnaya squads continued with Artyem, the soldiers panting as they ran through the corridors. More gunfire sounded in their rear, signalling the encroaching fate of the men Artyom had left behind. It had to be done. They would all die here anyway if the mission was not successful.

Hurried fire-fights broke out as they plunged on through the vessel, the remaining platoon in tight formation as they punched through the increasing defences towards their target. The combat here was frantic and brutal, Artyom not stopping to aim but firing into masses of bodies on the run. Guttural shouts filled their ears as the Orks gave chase, stomping after the remaining soldiers like angry children. Artyom felt like his lungs might burst, but he kept running, kept firing.

Suddenly, they burst out onto a platform, and Artyom could see the heavy sky again. Hrenovuha and Narodnaya had already turned to fortify the archway the had come through, finding cover and training their weapons back down the way they came. Artyom looked down their platform in either direction, seeing the gigantic struts that held the Rok in place. Other teams had already weakened the ground beneath the Rok, exploding heavy demolition charges in the tunnels that ran below the planet's surface. Artyom had concluded that these struts would be the only thing preventing the Rok from toppling over.

The Ork camp sprawled out before them, spreading like a puddle from the giant ramp beneath the platform. Artyom could see vehicles clanking and shuddering, mobs of Orks charging here and there, fighting and yelling. They almost looked comical from up here, thought Artyom. Almost. The roar that came from the archway behind him brought Artyom back to his senses, as the first of the Ork waves through themselves against the squads there. His visor told him they only had minutes left.

“Rodnik, take the northern strut. I'll take the southern. Leave nothing to chance.”

Artyom and his squad approached on of the girders, working as a team to fix their melta-charges in a rind around it. Artyom climbed around the strut to fix the last one himself, the wind buffeting him. He shuddered as the cry rose from the camp beneath him, rising into the air like a warning siren. They had been seen. Quickly, he tried to make his way back around the strut as wild fire rattled against the metal around him, drawing sparks.

As Mariyol and Fedor were helping him back to the platform, Artyom was thrown forward with a grunt as one of the bullets took him in the back. He sprawled forward into the waiting arms of his squad, who dragged him away from the edge of the platform, shouting. Artyom gasped, struggling to breath, tearing his gas mask and visor away despite the protestations of his men. Tarno's air tasted metallic and sweet.

“We are all dead men. Either the radiation kills me, or the explosion. We do not fear the void.”

Rodnik and his squad had moved to support the other men holding the platform's entrance. Clutching an offered arm, Artyom pulled himself to his feet. He reached down and swung his carbine on it's strap until he had it in his hands again.

“They must not disable the bombs. Hold the archway! Maccaran and the Emperor!”

His men rushed to join the last of the defenders at the platform's archway. Artyom stumbled forward, staring at the torn body of Master Warrant Officer Narodnaya in a pool of red. The Orks surged forward again, the first reinforcements from the camp having reached them to bolter their numbers. Artyom raised his carbine and pulled the trigger, killing one, two, three. For every Ork that fell, three more took it's place, the mob pushing closer and closer to their lines.

With a shout, the Orks reached them. Artyom grabbed a throwing knife from his hip, tossing it underhand into the first one's throat, flipping his carbine to hold it by the barrel as he beat the creature with the gun's stock until it fell to the floor. A second rushed him, knocking him to the floor; he rolled aside, drawing his boarding knife and ramming it down into the Ork's foot, then knee, then body as the brute fell howling beside him.

Artyom stood in time for the third to catch him in the chest with one of it's giant cleavers, throwing him backwards to the floor. His vision swam, and looking over his chest he could just see a smear of red. Coughing, blood spattered over his jaw and neck. The men around him were dying as well, too few to resist the Ork horde for any length of time. Had it been long enough? He thought of his child, and his wife; his men would have their own loved ones, somewhere. They would never be able to thrive in a galaxy plagued by beasts such as these. This was the price of their future.

The large Ork that had struck him loomed overhead, looking down at him with it's small red eyes. Artyom tried to spit at it, but only managed to deposit bloody phlegm on his broken chest. The creature threw it's head back in a guttural laugh.

“I GOT 'IM, BOYZ! IT'Z DA GHOST 'UMIE!”

The Ghost. Artyom tried to smile, as the ground shuddered and tilted. It was an apt title.

The 'Lucky' 88th, 844.M41.

As told by Warrant Officer Alyxa Marmadov. The legend of the Lucky 88th is one that has been passed down through the Void Jumpers since the Siege of Karlogran, 844.M41.

All right, all right, settle down. Quiet down, Armsmen! Let me tell you the story of the Lucky 88th, and the finest heroes who ever came out of Maccaran. If you're lucky, your lives will be worth one-tenth of one of theirs!

Karlogran's an old backwater hive city on a planet called Rosiya, leagues away from here. There's nothing special or worthwhile about the place, just lots of warm bodies. Well, in eight-fourty-four a band of Chaos worshippers called the Anguishors decided they wanted those bodies for their horrible needs and desires, and they set out to take the planet in an orgy of violence and heresy.

Well, it just so happened that as the Anguishors reached Rosiya, the 88th Maccaran Void Jumpers happened to be on a patrol ship heading through the system. Being the noble sons and daughters of the Imperium that they are, they head for Rosiya as well, to make sure the devout, if timid, people of Rosiya continue to walk in the Emperor's light. The 88th were commanded by Colonel Kerenski, a square-jawed, muscle-bound hero of the Imperium if there ever was one. Kerenski made it his mission to thwart those Anguishors before they stole even a single soul from the Emperor.

By some accursed warp-trickery, the Anguishors reached Rosiya first, and fell on the planet like rabid dogs. The Rosiya PDF put up all the fight a PDF can – you at the back, stop sniggering – but Rosiya fell, and it fell hard. All except the city of Karlogran. Karlogran, by some divine providence, managed to hold on until Kerenski and the 88th reach Rosiya and swooped down from above, landing in the central plaza of the city and declaring boldly that this was an Imperial world, with Imperial subjects, and it would stay as such until a time that the Imperium decided otherwise – not some warp-born daemon-worshipping jumbo-mumbling cowards.

Kerenski had a hard task ahead of him. With most of the planet already fallen, a lot of fools had turned from the Emperor and fallen in with the hordes of Chaos that ravaged the planet. Blood sacrifices had been used to summon warp daemons, and the forces of Chaos were led by a group of Chaos Space Marines – corrupted traitors of the kind you'll hope to only ever see in your nightmares. But the 88th were Void Jumpers, and we don't scare easy.

The 88th wasted no time in setting up defences in the city. Every building was turned into a fortress, every citizen was made a soldier. There weren't enough weapons to go around, but there were plenty of Maccaran Battlepriests within the 88th – if you didn't have a gun, then you followed the soldier in front of you into battle, and when they fell, you picked up theirs. If they didn't fall? Then you fought with knives, shovels, your bare hands – Karlogran was a dirty war, and the populace of Karlogran were dirty fighters.

Months of siege resulted in hundreds of attacks on the 88th's, but they beat back every one, only making measured retreats when they were absolutely forced to. Daemons died in their hundreds and cultists in their thousands, being bled for every inch of the Emperor's soil they set foot on. Eventually the fallen Marine who led the invasion got desperate, and called on a greater daemon to break the defenders of Karlograd once and for all. A great red thing the size of a warhound, with bat-like wings and an axe the size of a Baneblade. It led the Chaos host in one last attack, all of their remaining power concentrated against the city.

This is where the legend comes in. Kerenski and the 88th saw this warp-giant leading the charge, and where others would have cried for their mothers and curled up into a weeping ball on the floor, Kerenski said a quick Hail Euphrati and ordered his men to ready their weapons. The fighting that day was like nothing seen before or since by the people of Karlograd, men fighting and dying in the mud and shattered plascrete of the city. The Greater Daemon that led the Chaos host took a heavy toll that day, and so did their followers – but, miraculously, the 88th won the day, the thing banished after meeting the business end of a trio of Castigators that ripped it apart.

Seeing that, the Chaos Lord threw down his weapons and retreated from the planet, making an escape aboard a corrupted vessel and leaving his followers in disarray. Kerenski, never one to leave a job half-finished, left the Karlogran militias to take care of the remaining cultists while he pursued the leader of the host aboard a ship called the the Joyous Fire. The Lord and his retinue opened a portal to the warp to try and flee the 88th, escaping through it into the realms of Chaos, but the Joyous Fire followed the damned thing hot on it's heels and all the way through the warp-portal – which subsequently closed, and the 88th have never been seen since.

Now, Rosiya doesn't exist as much any more – too much of it's population fell to Chaos for it ever to be considered safe again, and the planet was cleansed of any possible taint. But the 88th, they forged a legend at Karlogran. To this day, they're no doubt off fighting some ugly warp-daemon somewhere, and one day they'll come back to us with the head of every heretic they've killed along the way. Until that time, there's no more 88th, because it's pretty damn hard to reinforce a regiment that's in the warp. But you can bet your lucky stars when you get 'em, when Kerenski and the 88th come back, oh, there'll be hell to pay for all those who've threatened their beloved Imperium in the meantime.

The War of the One Truth, 989.M41 – 995.M41.

Excerpt from 'Misdemeanour and Retribution: a recent history of the Liber Cluster' by Grand Historian Dostyevski, Order of the Collectors, 999.M41.

The last major engagement within the Liber Cluster than involved large scale action on the part of the Maccaran Void Jumpers was the Sacred Duonomy rebellion, also known as the War of the One Truth, which lasted for six years prior to it's finale at the Reconquest of the Summen Lucis. The Void Jumpers committed no less than eighty-four regiments to the war, acting as the main body of Imperial forces in the conflict. The engagement was noted for it's horrendous casualties among both the civilian population of Rhyn-Majoris and on both sides of the war, with millions dying in brutal urban warfare before the conclusion of the rebellion. It also launched the rise of a number of current notable figures within the Maccaran Void Jumpers, including Lady-Castellan Alyona Ilyanishka.

Prelude to War

The Cathedral World Rhyn-Majoris is, with hindsight, an almost perfect world to have acted as such a tragic foil to the Void Jumpers. If Maccaran marks the first point of the Liber Cluster that was reached and claimed by Imperial Explorator fleets thousands of years ago, then Rhyn-Majoris marks the furthest point the Imperium stretched – a lonely world in a far-flung system, the last bastion of Imperial rule until another great push into the galactic darkness below the Liber Cluster begins. It is fitting that such a spot should be considered holy to a degree; Rhyn-Majoris quickly became one of the primary seats of the Ecclesiarchy within the Liber Cluster, it's surface given over to vast holy cities of High Gothic architecture; the Basilica de Summen Lucis drew pilgrims from all over the Cluster to pray at the edge of the known universe. Rhyn-Minoris, the only other planet in the Rhyn system, became a Garden World, a place for peaceful contemplation and a stopping point for travellers to Rhyn-Majoris.

It was this idyllic local that saw the rise of the Arch-Heretic Karilon. A lowly Preacher within the Rhyn Diocese during the Charta Unrest of 959.M41, Karilon's rise from this point onward was meteoric, carried on wings of fiery rhetoric and self-flagellating speeches. His beliefs, initially focused on the natural impurity of man and one's need to absolve oneself of the 'first sin' – being born, thereby becoming a potential conduit for heresy – began to sway further and further towards condemnation of the Imperium as a whole for failing the Emperor's divine will, turning into a unfathomably large and corrupt machine that did not, could not satisfy Him. It is unsure what forced this radicalising of beliefs – no doubt the Charta Unrest and the purges of the corruption amongst planetary governors that followed would have been a great influence, but the Arch-Deacon Navari (tortured into insanity by the Arch-Heretic's followers in 988.M41) speaks of 'silent mass' with 'shadow-souls', carried forth on a 'midnight tide'1.

Anti-Imperial sentiment reached boiling point in 997.M41, when an 'Imperial Agent'2 attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate Karilon. The then-Cardinal and his followers took this as a sign that the Imperium had abandoned the Emperor's faithful, declaring that the discovery of the Liber Cluster had been orchestrated by the Emperor to allow his faithful a place to build a new Imperium. Karilon's Frateris Militia followers, backed by the traitor regiments of the Rhyn Praetorian Guard, were merciless in their purges of any dissenters. Arbites Precinct Houses were the subjects of protracted sieges, whilst PDF regiments turned on their commanding officers and threw their lot in with the rebels. Within weeks Rhyn-Majoris had been claimed as the capital of their new Imperium, and advance forces quickly moved to overthrow what little resistance could be mustered against them on Rhyn-Minoris. Even the venerable Ramilles starfort Luce Signifer was not immune to the will of the Arch-Heretic, troops stationed on board falling on their commanders to 'liberate' the great vessel, and with it, signal the complete fall of the Rhyn Sector. Karilon named his new empire the 'Sacred Duonomy', declaring independence from the Imperium.

Such a dramatic and flagrant act of heresy had not been seen within the Liber Cluster for thousands of years – and could not be tolerated. Whilst governors and politicians debated on their course of action, hordes of the faithful descended on both Rhyn-Majoris – swayed by the teachings of Karilon – and on Maccaran, where the Maccaran Priesthood were begin to muster enough numbers to retake the Rhyn sector. Swept along by the will of the priesthood, Lord-Castellan Valter Berisha declared that he would personally lead a crusade that would be spearheaded by the Maccaran Void Jumpers. With a sizeable portion of Battlegroup Liber at his back, and with the support of the Ordo Hereticus, Berisha set force in 989.M41 with eighty-four regiments of Void Jumpers, seventeen Eolic tank companies, numerous other Imperial Guard forces, and well in excess of a million proud Imperial zealots. The Imperium was resolved to retake it's holy planets, by any means possible, before it would ever relinquish them to heretics and infidels. The stage was set for a colossal showdown within the Rhyn Sector.

Rhyn-Minoris and the Luce Signifer

The crusade would meet with early success. Due to the dispersed setting of the Rhyn Sector, Rhyn-Minoris was an isolated target to strike at and create a staging ground for the assault on Rhyn-Majoris. A ragtag defence of captured merchant ships, converted into makeshift battleships, was all that stood between the crusade fleet and the planet; it was swept aside by the far superior Battlegroup Liber fleet in a matter of hours. The Eolic tank companies led the vanguard on Rhyn-Minoris, treads tearing up the paradisical green gardens and exhausts belching pollution into the clear blue sky. Although numerous, the heretics had concentrated their forces at Rhyn-Majoris, the far more valuable (and far more defensible) world of the system. The defence of the Garden World fell to an uncoordinated rabble of heretics, who although ill-equipped to be fighting massed armoured formations, held out for over two months before the planet was considered taken. Even then, they were not truly defeated; the vast gardens of Rhyn-Minoris provided plenty of suitable hiding places from which to launch raids on any occupying forces, and thousands more lives would be lost in minor yet tactically brilliant skirmishes3 on the planet before the conclusion of the war.

This victory was enough, however, to satisfy the Lord-Castellan for now, and the eyes of the crusade turned to Rhyn-Majoris. But before the planet could be taken, there was one significant obstacle to overcome – the Luce Signifer, a colossal starfort stationed in the system for defence, fallen into the hands of the Arch-Heretic and his forces. The Admirals of the Battlegroup Liber took personal affront of seeing one of the most prominent symbols of their naval might fallen into the hands of the unbelievers, and argument was split between the Admirals who pushed to retake the vessel intact, and the Maccaran priesthood who pushed for a swift and crushing blow against the starfort in order to quickly move the fight to Rhyn-Majoris. In the end, a compromise was formed – the Maccaran Void Jumpers, reverting to their ancient traditions as Naval Armsmen, would launch a daring assault on the Luce Signifer with the help of the Battlegroup Liber contingent and retake it from the inside. Should they be unsuccessful after a week, the Admirals would be forced to concede the starfort and destroy it, lest the crusade spend it's strength on a secondary target. In the end, the compromise would not matter in the slightest.

Hundreds of assault boats and boarding torpedoes were launched, delivering thousands upon thousands of Maccaran troops to the Luce Signifer. Although the fighting in the corridors of the starfort was vicious, the Void Jumpers were gaining the upper hand, pushing back the heretic PDF forces manning the vessel and quickly retaking it's firing controls. With this, a number of crusade vessels moved in to deploy more Void Jumpers to the starfort, sensing a quick victory to be at hand. Blinded by their pride, the Imperial Navy Admirals had not counted on the resolve of their foes. The heretics waited until the last moment before detonating a cache of proto-nuclear warheads within the vast engine rooms of the Luce Signifer, tearing the ancient starfort apart along with many nearby ships of Battlegroup Liber, others limping away heavily damaged to the point of having been rendered useless for the foreseeable future. Eight entire regiments of the Maccaran Void Jumpers were lost, having flooded onto the starfort to reclaim it. If the crusade had not been taking it's opposition seriously until this point, they certainly would now. With bloodied noses, they turned their attentions to Rhyn-Majoris. It would not be the first time that they would underestimate their foes.

Landing on Rhyn-Majoris

Turned black by the sheer number of landing craft descending on the planet, the skies of Rhyn-Majoris came alive. Amongst the legendary spires of the Cathedral World, infantry regiments were ferried to the planet's surface, landing in their thousands. The area around the Platea Sanctam was quickly secured, the plaza itself turning into a staging point for the tank companies and Knights of House Graaftan to make landfall until the Apertissime Spaceport could be taken – it was the only one of it's kind large enough to provide an adequate space for the crusading forces to land, but according it was heavily armed by companies of the Rhyn Praetorian Guard. Early battles were entirely in the crusade's favour, the disciplined heavy infantry of the Maccaran Void Jumpers leading at the forefront of the advance. The intricate and labyrinthine architecture of the cathedral planet formed a remarkable similar battleground to the naval environments they trained for, and the Maccaran troops were spurred on to take revenge for the costly losses already suffered in orbit. As the ring widened to cover an increasing amount of the planet, the heretic forces withdrew, putting up a token resistance before retreating deeper into the maze of churches and temples that covered the planet. Even the crusade's high command was surprised at how little resistance they faced compared to the attack on the Luce Signifer; it is remarkable how few of them questioned Berisha's bold approach in the wake of their earlier losses.

A combined total well in excess of a million soldiers and faithful zealots had landed before the heretics unveiled the second surprise they had in store for the crusade. Unknown to the Imperials, they had stripped much of the Luce Signifer of it's munitions before the starfort's destruction, hoarding it in the Basilica de Summen Lucis, the vast fortress-cathedral at the heart of Rhyn-Majoris that the Arch-Heretic had claimed for his seat. Utilising the ancient catacombs that ran under the surface of Rhyn-Majoris, they ferried these munitions unknown towards a dark goal. A heretic counter-attack on the surface of the planet began to force the advancing Imperials back towards the Platea Sanctam, the crusade being harried from the dense urban environment, chasing shadows as they tried to strike back. As the Imperials tried to regroup unawares of the fate that would befall them, the heretic's plan unfolded in a grim spectacle. No warning was given until the ground of the Platea Sanctam bucked and heaved, torn apart as a colossal underground explosion obliterated it - along with over half of the forces currently on the planet. In one stroke, the heretics crippled the ground forces of the crusade, deprived them of their foothold on the planet, and destroyed the only suitable location the Imperials held to ferry in reinforcements.

The surviving regiments of the attacking force, largely composed of Maccaran Void Jumpers that had pushed on ahead of the main force and so had not yet retreated to the Platea Sactum by the time of the explosion, found themselves under intensive attacks from heretic forces. With their backs to the vast area of rubble that had been their command post, they dug in to await reinforcements. The fighting was constant, the Void Jumpers repelling attack after attack; with nowhere to retreat, should any point of their line have fallen the heretics would be able to sweep along their line, destroying them to a man. It is testament to the courage and grit of the Maccaran Void Jumpers that they faced this peril with a grim determination, holding out for months as the navy engaged their counterparts overhead, struggling to locate areas to land enough reinforcements to sway the battle. The mile-high spires of the planet's Cathedrals made aerial combat a deadly proposition, many navy pilots dashing themselves against the spires and raining debris onto the troops below. Some surviving Adeptus Arbiter units fought their way to Void Jumper lines to aid the beleaguered regiments, but they were few and far between, having sustained losses to heretic attacks since the inception of the Sacred Duonomy. The deadlock on the ground continued for months as the fight raged overhead, and only with the near-suicidal attack on the Manu Tenens Church did the tide of battle once again fall in favour of the Imperium.

The Battle of the Spires

With the war devolving into a brutal stalemate, it became increasingly apparent that unless the heretic attack on the ring of Void Jumpers surrounding the ruins of the Platea Sanctam was broken, the Imperium risked losing it's only hold on Rhyn-Majoris. Now hesitant to commit any more forces towards an uncertain end, Lord-Castellan Berisha became plagued by indecision, and it fell to one of his most commended Captains to break the deadlock – Marvus Shiramov, the 'Confessor-Captain', a legend of the 1st Void Jumpers. Shiramov was given impression to lead of detachment of the elite Void Leapers on the great dome of the Manu Tenens Church. Valkyrie gunships delivering them to the highest point of the dome through constant waves of anti-aircraft fire, Shiramov and his company rappelled from the ceiling of the dome and into the Church itself, which had been taken as an impromptu command post by the heretics. Dropping in their midst, Shiramov caused enough panic to trigger a rout, and seven months after the first landings on Rhyn-Majoris, the Maccaran regiments were finally given a short reprieve from the brutal fighting they had endured. However, still lacking a focal point from which to stage a counter-offensive, the weary Void Jumpers regrouped and pressed onwards through the holy city towards the Apertissime. This marked the beginning of what is now known as the Battle of the Spires.

As the Void Jumpers advanced through the city under the command of Lady-Colonel Alyona Ilyanishka of the 17th, the trained pilots of the Imperial Navy began to win the aerial battle over the city. Bombing runs took a heavy toll on heretic forces, making inroads into which the Void Jumpers would advance. The heretic response to this was twofold; at first they retreated to inside the great Cathedrals, launching ambushes on passing forces. Time and time again, Ilyanishka request orbital bombardments on stubborn enemy positions, time and time again, she was denied, Berisha and the Battlegroup Liber Admirals unwilling to lay waste to the planet that was a symbol of the Imperium's reach in the Liber Cluster. The ground forces were forced to resort to clearing these entrenched positions themselves, a task that greatly slowed their advance and caused the casualty rate to spiral. Where bombing runs from the navy's aerial support threatened to dislodge the heretics, they resorted to closing down the gap between the opposing battle lines. Battles were fought no longer from building to building, but from room to room. The distance between the two army's front lines was reduced to little more than metres, making the bombing runs impracticable lest they do more damage to their friendly troops than the enemy. The concentration of Maccaran Void Jumpers, though outnumbered, were far better trained and equipped than their counterparts; nevertheless, the heretic's tactics cost them dearly as they cleared one building after another, one room at a time.

It would be another year and a half before Imperial troops finally came within sight of the Apertissime. Crowds of fanatics threw themselves at the crusaders to halt their advance, but slowly, surely, they pushed their way through. The siege of the Apertissime would last another year beyond that; the Rhyn Praetorians presented far sturdier opposition that the majority of the heretic militia, and the Void Jumpers were constantly hounded by attacks on their flanks and rear. Once again, it fell to Confessor-Captain Shiramov to break the deadlock, leading a contingents of fanatics that had been ferried in for support in an attack on the Apertissime's Lion Gate4 and breaking the defenders there. Days later, the spaceport was finally secure, and the crusade could once again press on with their attack. Once more, the skies buzzed with activity as troops left stranded in space for years finally had the chance to enter the war; Lord-Castellan Berisha and his retinue finally landed on the planet to coordinate the crusade's ground efforts in person. Although this was of massive benefit to the Imperium, it did slow their further advances; the influx of poorly-disciplined zealots led to disorganisation in their advance compared to the earlier actions that had been conducted almost solely by the Void Jumpers since the destruction of the Platea Sanctam.

The Battle of the Spires continued as the Imperial forces struck out from the Apertissime, emboldened by their reinforcements. The tide of battle was now firmly in the Imperium's favour, and they closed in on the Basilica de Summen Lucis at a much faster rate than before. This is not to say that the battle had become any less bloody; the heretics did their best to stymie the efforts of the crusading army, but they were now outnumbered as well as outfought. Even the death of Lord-Castellan Berisha after the Apertissime became the target of stolen Deathstrike missile launchers5; did little to slow the attack; if anything, it only served to accelerate the destruction of the heretic's resistance. With the then-High General Alyona Ilyanishka receiving a unanimous vote of confidence among the remaining leaders of the crusade, orbital bombardments were finally ordered on the toughest of heretic positions. Ilyanishka had no qualms about destroying the Cathedral-city rather than have it in enemy hands; neither did her compassion extent to the civilians of Rhyn-Majoris, who already suffering from the effects of the war, were rounded up into giant labour camps to clear rubble and, in some cases, minefields. Any dissenters were executed as possible heretics, a heavy-handed approach that characterised Ilyanishka's command in the war.

The Lady and the Priest

The heretics faced further problems with the late arrival of several companies of Astartes from the Conflagrators, Eagles of Glory and Iron Ravagers Chapters to the war. Furthermore, the guerilla warfare on Rhyn-Minoris had finally petered out after years of attrition, allowing the crusade forces to focus entirely on the battle for Rhyn-Majoris. Although the Eagle's of Glory's first drop-pod assault on the Basilica de Summen Lucis ended in defeat, the noose around the Arch-Heretic was finally tightening. Karilon, for his part, had become an increasingly remote figure as his role in the rebellion became secondary to it's military leaders; Marshall Karav of the Rhyn Praetorian Guard took on responsibility for the defence of the Basilica as his forces wilted away before his eyes. Those once faithful to the heretic cause lost hope as their defeat became ever-more imminent, many trying to fade away into the civilian population, leading to larger purges of the civilian labour camps as the Imperium discovered that heretics had been using them to shelter.

As the noose tightened on Karilon and Karav, the heretic defense grew increasingly desperate. With many of the religious mob that had made up most of their forces routed or dead, the Rhyn Praetorians were now all that remained at Karav's disposal, and they had been heavily battered by the years of fighting that had already taken place. With the Conflagrators and Iron Ravagers tearing into the Praetorians, those that remained withdrew to the Basilica to make one final stand. Heavily fortified, the Basilica was the only building that Lady-Castellan Ilyanishka wished to preserve; despite being in heretic hands, it had been a major seat of the Liber Ecclesiarchy for years, and would turn a triumph into a bitter pyrrhic victory were it to be lost to the Imperium. The charge towards the Basilica became a race, the Maccaran Void Jumpers pushing to reach it before the Conflagrators – or worse, the Eagles of Glory – reached it. Astartes are many things, but not subtle, and Ilyanishka knew this. She urged her troops forward, over-extending her lines dramatically in order to save the very base of those she sought to destroy.

Lady-Castellan Ilyanishka's plan proved successful, the Conflagrators distracted by the heretics still infesting the wider planet and not having enough numbers to commit to the Basilica; the Eagles of Glory and Iron Ravagers had both become tied down in other areas and battles6. The siege of the Basilica lasted nearly a month before it fortress fell in spectacular fashion. Once more, the final assault had been entrusted to Confessor-Captain Shiramov, the veteran wielding a giant chainsword as he led a detachment of the faithful in a foolhardy assault on the front gates; most were killed, and Shiramov himself was mortally wounded when he was caught in the range of a heavy flamer team. However, as the legendary Captain lay burnt and dying on the steps, the doors to the Basilica swung open; the remaining Praetorians had revolted against their commanders, surrenduring the Basilica to Shiramov and delivering the head of Marshall Karav to the stunned Imperial forces. Inside the Basilica Arch-Heretic Karilon was found having been beaten close to death by those he once inspired to rebellion; Lady-Castellan Ilyanishka personally oversaw a hasty execution. Neither were the Rhyn Praetorians spared; even those who had surrendered were put to death, a grim reminder of the fate of those who betrayed the Emperor.

Rhyn-Majoris has yet to recover from the war. The damage to the Cathedral-city that carpets the planet was extensive, years of bombardments and bombings taking a heavy toll on it's once proud architecture. The Rhyn Sector is still in the hands of the Maccaran Void Jumpers, with regiments rotated through it to ensure that further dissension does not spread. Lady-Castellan Ilyanishka was awarded the Liber Honorifica for her astute command, and still commands the Void Jumpers to this day. Confessor-Captain Shiramov was posthumously hailed as a hero of the Imperium and awarded the Star of Terra, and some supporters even champion his cause for Sainthood. In all this it is easy to gloss over the size or importance of this war. Most estimates place the final death toll for the conflict at well in excess of fifty-million, and although victory came at a heavy cost to the Imperial forces, it ensured the continued obedience of the Rhyn sector, and sent a clear message to worlds for light years around – there are no lengths the Imperium will not go to should you choose to forsake it.

When an enemy has infantry, you break their spirit. When they have tanks, you destroy their armour. When they are entrenched, you tears down their walls. When they have faith, you show them it is lies.
Lady-Castellan Alyona Ilyanishka, Battle of the Spires, 994.M41


1 Deacon Navari's speech became incoherent following his imprisonment and torture, until he was administered the Emperor's Peace two months after his release.

2 There has never been any confirmation of whether or not the would-be assassin was, in fact, appointed by the Imperium. Recent evidence has suggested a number of possible theories on who exactly the man was – from an Inquisitorial agent through to a man brainwashed by Xenos artefacts.

3 Again, this hints at possible interference by an outside element, as the complexity of the heretic's guerilla warfare on Rhys-Minoris was entirely at odds with their presumed level of training and discipline.

4 This grand and eloquently decorated entrance to the Apertissime is so named for the famous Spaceport of Holy Terra.

5 The Deathstrike launchers were taken by the heretics in a night-time raid on a Void Jumper position. Once of Lady-Castellan's first acts in command was to forbid the the Maccaran Void Jumpers from positioning any Deathstrike launchers in front-line positions, an edict that remains in effect to this day.

6 Some accuse Lady-Castellan Ilyanishka of purposely denying reinforcements to the Eagles of Glory or the Iron Ravagers, in order to ensure that the Maccarans would be the first to reach the Basilica.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Olis

[Teetengee]

Looking pretty good.
 

The all seers and black jaws still need a little work though. I think removing the spikes from the latter and centering and perhaps stylising/simplifying and centering the former might help.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Teetengee

[Wade Garrett]

I agree with removing the spikes, it makes the logo more in line with what I had in my head...but I wasn't going to fuss too much because when someone else is going to the trouble of messing around in Paint/Photoshop for me I try and not be too nitpicky.

[Doctor Perils]

I believe I've updated them all, I've given a go at using the raven guard head for the black falcons, but I'm not too sure of the result.

[Nomus Sardauk]

I believe I've updated them all, I've given a go at using the raven guard head for the black falcons, but I'm not too sure of the result.

 

Looking good Thorn, they're progressing nicely, there's just a few things I think need adjusting (sorry), the rays of light on the All-Seers logo are transparent for some reason and you can see the lines of the pyramid through them, I'd suggest making them opaque to simplify it. The new Black Falcon symbol looks great with the RG head, though it looks a little odd without the clean, bordered lines of the others, but that could just be me. Finally, regarding the Eagles' star, thanks for remaking the border-less Blue Star but you didn't need to make striped versions, I didn't mean to imply you should add those as I imagine model-wise they'd be painted on first, then the Blue Star applied as a transfer or free-handed on top, thank you anyway though. 

 

Other than that, I can't think of anything wrong with any of them, they look great! 

Edited June 22, 2016 by SanguiniusReborn