Jump to content

The II Legion Astartes - The Sins of the Father

ScionOfGrief

By ScionOfGrief
in + AGE OF DARKNESS +

Recommended Posts

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
Posted

"The Second? We didn't need to smell the sickness on them. We had our orders; that was enough, and we went to it with heavy hearts. They had been our brothers, and we mourned them after they burned. That is why we do not speak of them. Sorrow, and respect. Some sagas are best left unsung." - Ainur Svenk, VI Legion Astartes

(I've been working on this for a while, and when I popped on here this morning to look for the right place to post this I discovered that the II Legion seem to be somewhat in vogue. Oh well, I don't plan on letting poor timing stop me! The basic premise of my take on the Second is fairly simple: I wanted to avoid the all-too-common Mary Sue Legion, where all the cool gimmicks get crammed onto one Legion and Primarch, and to my mind, the simplest way to do that is to remove the Primarch from the equation, and have the Legion destroyed before a true "gimmick" has time to form.)

"I pity them. I truly do. Of all the Legions that have been shattered and cast to the corners of the galaxy since our creation, they were perhaps the most cruelly treated, both by fate, and by... others whom they had no reason to mistrust. I have often said that my Father did not make mistakes - I should rephrase that. My Father did not make mistakes twice." - Roboute Guilliman 

 

A WARNING TO THE READER - The information collected herein was gathered from a hundred thousand damaged dataslates, corrupted pict-feeds, partially intercepted Astropathic communications, half-remembered legends, and more esoteric sources besides. Any attempts to conduct serious research into the near-mythical II Legion Astartes face the challenge of parting the dense veil of deliberate, systematic obfuscation that has sprung up in the centuries since their apparent disappearance. Treat all that you read with caution.
- Kai Decwine, Remembrancer  

 

 

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Part One - Forgotten Giants:

"The now-lost Canticle of Priz records that in the very earliest years of the Emperor's domination of Terra, a great muster was held on the plains of Frankia. The tome tells of the Emperor and his coterie of scientists calling the lords of that war-torn realm to present their youngest sons to him. Each was inspected, and one thousand were chosen, taken by the Emperor for his mysterious purposes, and never seen again. The lords of Frankia mourned their children, but their fear of being crushed by the Emperor's forces outweighed their grief, and they held their tongues..." - Kai Decwine

Very little indeed is known of the earliest origins of the II Legion, save that their initial recruits (and subsequently the vast majority of the Legion) were drawn from the great warrior-kingdoms of Frankia. Untold years of ceaseless war had hardened the Franks, making them ideal recruits, perfect vessels for transformation into Astartes. One thousand were called, and taken to the gene-forges beneath the Himalayas. It can truly be said that the seeds of the Second Legion's eventual betrayal and destruction were sown at the very dawn of their creation, for where the process of creating an Astartes was always arduous, for the Second it was tenfold so. If one in a thousand prime candidates survived the implantation process, the gene-wrights counted it a great success. Ill-able to squander recruits at a time of great expansion and birth for the Legiones, the Emperor and his scientists soon began assigning the best candidates to other, more "stable" Legions, leaving the Second to continue it's snail's-pace development with inferior stock.

"...Project ®II was... problematic from the very start. The problem always manifested in the same way. Initial implantation would proceed normally, with subjects showing no sign of trouble. Then, after the early months, mental degeneration would begin, slow and insidious at first, but growing more rapid as time progressed. The most promising candidate could become a drooling imbecile or a homicidal lunatic or a gleeful self-flagellant within a week, with no prior warning. As time went on, and the quality of candidates decreased, we sought desperately to even identify the issue, let alone cure it. Eventually, after almost three years, the failure rates began to subside to something approaching Legiones average, and we were able to accelerate the initiation process. It wasn't anything we did, and the degenerations still occurred from time to time, but the project became workable again. In truth, we had no idea what caused it. We were simply grateful it was no longer a crippling problem." 
- Mykenis Vann, Geno-Technician

Almost a decade behind schedule, the infant II Legion Astartes was formally founded on the windswept Breittyn Heights just in time to participate in the final battles of the Solar campaigns. Only five thousand strong, the Second's first recorded action was the cleansing of the Kaspian Station, an ancient complex of habitat modules and docking bays orbiting Neptune. Human in origin, it now housed tens of thousands of foul, inbred monstrosities, the result of millennia of isolation and brutal civil wars, along with priceless technological relics of Old Night.
The Legion assaulted en masse, alongside a significant Mechanicum force, seizing the hangers and docking ports in a series of swift, surgical strikes to allow the deadly battle-automata of the Martian priests to land and begin culling the mutant vermin within the station proper. For days, the Legion fended off horde after horde of the creatures as they pressed ever deeper into the heart of the Kaspian Station. At its core, they discovered blasphemy: A sentient mechanical intellect, utterly unshackled, and prohibited by every law of the Imperium and Mechanicum. Entirely insane after thousands of years alone in the dark, with no maintenance, the machine beast - created to run the station's systems and defences - turned on the Astartes in fury. Entire modules were jettisoned into the void, stranding squads of Astartes with hundreds or even thousands of mutant horrors. As these scattered warriors fought desperately for their survival, the Legion's First Company, led by the first Legion Master, a man known as Benoit Desaud, fought to hold a shrieking sea of them back, as Mechanicum adepts waged a virtual war in the heart of the station's logic-engines. Dozens of Astartes fell, dragged to their death by grasping claws, or trampled beneath a thousand taloned feet, but at last the tech-priests were successful. Trusting in the strength of Astartes power armour, and their own esoteric bionics, they opened the station to the void.
Mag-clamped to the deck, secure in their Mark II Plate, the Legionaries withstood the rush of decompression, and the killing emptiness of the hard vacuum that now surrounded them. Their unprotected foes had no such luck, and died as one within moments. Only those aboard the jettisoned compartments continued to fight, and many brave Astartes were lost before these could be destroyed. Victory had been won, and although the price had been steep, it was bearable. The Second Legion had bloodied themselves in battle for the first time, and emerged triumphant. 

To honour the newest, albeit belated, addition to His forces, the Emperor proclaimed that the II Legion were His "bright swords against the darkness". Taking His words to heart, the young Legion took as their heraldry a pair of white swords, arranged vertically to mirror the "II" of their designation. Although they took no name at that time, the Legion's culture began to coalesce from that moment, around the idea of blades hurling back the darkness. As fresh recruits arrived from Terra, the Legion began preparations to take its place amongst the warriors of the Great Crusade.

"There they stood, five thousand and more strong, in their armour of unadorned grey, before that being of golden majesty. He bestowed upon them the sigil of the swords, and they raised such a cheering and clamour of armour as to shake the very bones of their great ship." - Kyrio Abscoron, Remembrancer to the II Legion (Disputed)

 

(Can you tell where I'm going with this yet? I'm very deliberately limiting the Second in terms of specialisation and culture to avoid Mary Sue-ing. They were conceived in a similar, "generalist" vein to the Dark Angels, and being delayed in their development robbed them of much of the early period of fraternisation that many of the other Legions enjoyed at the start of the Great Crusade. Just a side note, some help with very early Great Crusade dates would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance. Hope you're enjoying this in it's very early stages!)

simison Venerable Brother

simison

Posted
Posted

No one have any love for the 11th legion? Lol there are like 2 or 3 second legions by now

 

Yeeeaahhhh, it's a bit unfortunate how this keeps happening. I picked II due to how I structured the interactions between primarchs. Were it not for that, I would've picked XI. Still, part of the issue is that II is more mysterious than XI. What little we do have, fluff-wise, seems to indicate that the XI legion never stabilized or reached proper legion strength. (Though, if I remember right, the FW HH books make it vague enough that either legion could have suffered the catastrophic failure.)

 

That said, I do welcome another member to the ranks of the Lost Legions. It's the first attempt I've seen that explores the 'doomed before starting' option. I'll be keeping an eye on this one. 

Conn Eremon Veteran

Conn Eremon

Posted
Posted

No one have any love for the 11th legion? Lol there are like 2 or 3 second legions by now

 

Second Legion is best Legion. Hell, even my own Lost Legion is a Second Legion.

 

So far, so good. I like the blade-sigil.

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Wow, thanks guys! The support is fantastic motivation for when I get stuck on a passage. From hereon in, I'll be looking to crank out one or two chapters a day, work and real life permitting.

I noticed there was little love for the XIth as well. Honestly, the two biggest reasons I decided to do the II Legion were that my buddy from my FLGS already has an excellent XI Legion with a cool take on their destruction, and because I thought the "vertical swords (one up, one down)" as a Legion symbol looked really cool (at least to me). 

I'll be covering the early crusade, what I'm calling "the Celeste Incident", and the Legion's destruction twice over the next couple of days - Once from a Legion perspective, and once from the view of the Emperor and His court. 

One day, when those elusive pounds and pennies that everyone seems to love are a thing that I have, I'll be looking to do a small force of FW Astartes. For now, I'm having to content myself with painting up a few testers using 40K Marines, which I'll put up periodically to break the wall of text a little. 

Once again, thanks for the support! It really helps!

"Remember the Second, but do not speak of them." - Fragmentary vox-capture, believed to have passed between Imperial envoys, and the Dark Angels Legion command. 

Skalpynock Veteran

Skalpynock

Posted
Posted

No one have any love for the 11th legion? Lol there are like 2 or 3 second legions by now

I might even that a bit, given how little I care about my Second Legion but how much fluff for the XIth I have.

 

Thread followed, this looks like a great take on the forgotten legions, especially that exemplary battle, very much in the vein of FW's descriptions of the Solar Unification.

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Part Two - Legion:

"It was the single greatest honour of my life, to stand before the massed ranks of the Legion as they marched onto their gunships and departed for orbit. I have seen much in my time, both wondrous and horrific, but nothing that evoked so much awe as the grand review which began our Expedition." - Circas Hashan, Expedition Master, 901st Expeditionary Fleet

 

Following the Kaspian campaign, the II Legion returned briefly to Terra, receiving fresh warriors, and billions upon billions of tons of materiel to allow them to participate fully in the Great Crusade. Around the growing Legion, two new Expeditionary Fleets were created. The 901st comprised the Legion's full current strength of seven thousand Astartes, plus over two million Imperial Army troops, a demi-Legio of Titans from Legio Fidelitas, and a significant Mechanicum contingent. Its task would be to forge out past the edge of the Sol system, pushing into unknown territory towards the galactic south-west, acting as a pathfinding contingent for the much larger 902nd Fleet. The 902nd was scheduled to depart three years after the 901st, pending the maturation of a huge number of new Astartes. These eight thousand warriors would unite with their brothers, doubling the Legion in size overnight, and escorting vast quantities of supplies to allow the 901st to forge ever onwards. 

"It was a time of unbelievable excitement. We were on the verge of setting forth on a quest into the stars; what we had been created to do. Kaspian Station was our first taste of war, but this... this was our calling." - Felix Auchemar, Captain of the Sixth, II Legion Astartes

When the II Legion set out from Terra, it comprised a mere seven thousand warriors. These were organised along the lines of the Principa Bellicosa into seven companies of a thousand Astartes each. Each company was expected to be able to fight as efficiently alone as it could as part of the Legion proper, and therefore the companies were further divided into ten centuries of one hundred warriors. Each century was equipped for a specific battlefield role, be it fire support or close assault or boarding actions, and was lead by a Centurion. Above the Centurions were the Company Captains, seven mighty warriors chosen by the Emperor for their martial prowess, tactical brilliance, and inspiring leadership. Finally, at the pinnacle of the II Legion sat the Legion Master, Benoit Desaud, a calculating strategic genius, even by Astartes standards, equally capable in attack and defense, if a little stiff and formal in his still-new role. Embarked aboard the mighty Gloriana-class battle-barge "Imperator Vult", as well as a host of smaller supporting craft, the Second led the newly-assembled 901st out past the orbit of Pluto, and into the warp, setting course for the galactic south-west.

"901-1. Dychamba. The Green Sea. Call it what you will, the damned Orks still ran us hard for it. But we are Astartes. The Emperor wills it, and we make it so. For the glory of man, we made the world ours." - Felix Auchemar
 

After a relatively brief period of warp travel, the 901st reached their first designated target, the plains-world designated as 901-1, and recorded on ancient charts as Dychamba. Deep scans revealed an enormous concentration of life on the verdant world, and orbital pict-captures revealed the tell-tale signs of a massive Ork infestation. Not wishing to simply bomb such a fertile world into oblivion, and recognising the symbolic importance of the Legion's first conquest, Legion Master Desaud formulated a simple, brutally effective strategy. The two million soldiers of the Imperial Army contingent would make a combat drop some 20km south of the largest concentration of Orks, and establish defensive positions and a safe landing zone to allow Mechanicum and Legio Fidelitas forces to disembark. This would draw the Green-skin hordes towards them, concentrating them along a twelve-mile front, and grinding down some of their vast numbers. Once the enemy was committed, the Legion would execute a massed drop assault into the Ork rearguard. Beset on two sides, the Orks would have nowhere to flee to, and could be culled through determination and strength of arms. Estimated engagement length was five days. 

The initial stages of the plan were a complete success. The Imperial Army landings and digging-in proceeded like clockwork, with Mechanicum and Legio Fidelitas disembarkations following swiftly. The Orks took the bait, and threw themselves at the Imperial defences, being hurled back time and time again, but always regrouping and launching yet another charge. Judging the time was right, Desaud sprung his trap. Plunging through the skies in drop pods and Stormbirds, the Second carved into the reeling foe like a thrown blade, disembarking with lethal precision to slay Orks in their hundreds. However, Desaud had reckoned without the animal cunning of the Green-Skin, and was shocked to see them melt away around his forces, fleeing in their tens of thousands towards the low, scrubby forests which surrounded much of the battlefield. Although the Legion destroyed many during the retreat, many more escaped, digging into the world like a splinter. The trap had failed, and now the Orks would have to be culled one by one. Furious with himself, Desaud set his Legion to the task.

Over the next fourteen weeks, Dychamba became the II Legion's hunting ground, kill-squads of Astartes roaming the planet, uncovering and burning out pockets of Ork resistance. The Titans of Legio Fidelitas stalked the veldt, sending huge mobs of Orks fleeing before them, right into the path of Imperial Army traps. The Mechanicum deployed several experimental tailored bio-weapons, lethal viruses that targeted the Orkoid genome but left humans and Astartes untouched. Dozens of Astartes and thousands of Imperial soldiers were lost, but eventually the last beast was slain, and Desaud pronounced Dychamba cleansed of their filth. It had not been a clean or easy victory, but it had been total. 

"Dychamba, the First Conquest, the hive of the Green-Skin! Like storm-clouds the Legion gathered in the heavens, and like a thunderbolt they struck, and cast down the foul beasts. Fourteen weeks of ceaseless battle, ending in glorious conquest. Honour to the Second! Glory to the Emperor!" - Kyrio Abscoron
 

Following the capture of Dychamba, the Legion undertook a series of aggressive patrol sweeps throughout the system, clearing out smaller nests of Orks on several other worlds, whilst they waited for the first colonists to arrive. After a basic planetary government was set up, the 901st departed once more, following the spoor of Ork further away from Terra, totally unaware of what awaited them less than a decade in the future...

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

So, Brothers and Sisters, I require your aid.

For the next section, I'd like to be able to show a few Astartes of the II Legion at various points in its history. If this was a 40K IA, I'd just use the SM Painter, no problem. However, that doesn't work so well for 30K. What I have seen in the past are some REALLY cool digital recolours of existing HH artwork, normally using the one-Marine profile shots from the HH rulebooks. Sadly, I am lacking in any kind of image manipulation skills. Is there anyone out there who'd be up for helping me out with a few images? I'm afraid I can't promise you much, save for my undying gratitude, a place in this piece as a character of your choice, and a big hug (if you live in or near Nottingham), but if anyone fancies it, let me know. It'd be fantastic to get this looking a bit more "professional" when it's finished. 

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Ahhh, that's a shame. I may well acquire a totally legit copy of photoshop and have an incredibly amateurish go at teaching myself at some point, then. For now, I'll content myself with getting the fluff proper up and done. The section going up tomorrow/today when it's light will detail the unification of the 901st and 902nd, and the character and disposition immediately before the Celeste Incident, in the very last of their halcyon days. After that, it's all downhill from there, folks! Thanks for all the encouragement so far!

"They say that we're sick. That we're insane. I tell them to remember the Second, and reconsider." - Angron

marine7312000 Venerable Brother

marine7312000

Posted
Posted

Ahhh, that's a shame. I may well acquire a totally legit copy of photoshop and have an incredibly amateurish go at teaching myself at some point, then. For now, I'll content myself with getting the fluff proper up and done. The section going up tomorrow/today when it's light will detail the unification of the 901st and 902nd, and the character and disposition immediately before the Celeste Incident, in the very last of their halcyon days. After that, it's all downhill from there, folks! Thanks for all the encouragement so far!

"They say that we're sick. That we're insane. I tell them to remember the Second, and reconsider." - Angron

That quote right there has piqued my interest almost more than anything else so far. Very very good fluff. Keep it up! thumbsup.gif

Spinsanity Battle-Brother

Spinsanity

Posted
Posted

I wish I could help with the recolours, but alas I no longer have access to a copy of Photoshop (I assume this could be aranged, there are even, most likely, labs at school with legit copies on 'em), worst, however, is that I don't have access to proper scans of FW's art (or the originals...

 

(Can't promise anything, but I'll see if I can dig something up... But once again, I can't promise anything)

 

BTW, what colors did you have in mind for these?

 

So far, your fluff is really interesting, that's inspiring stuff already! One little nit-pick, however, from part II :

Its task would be to forge out past the edge of the Sol system, pushing into unknown territory towards the galactic south-east,..

Embarked aboard the mighty Gloriana-class battle-barge "Imperator Vult", as well as a host of smaller supporting craft, the Second led the newly-assembled 901st out past the orbit of Pluto, and into the warp, setting course for the galactic south-west.

Which way did they go? ;)
ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Gah, well spotted. I've fixed it, but thanks for pointing it out. Little typos that lead to inconsistencies can really drag the quality of the piece down. When this is finished, I plan to collect it all into a single, nicely-formatted Index Astartes-style post, at which point I'll double and triple-check to get rid of all the little SPAG errors that I know are in there.

Heraldry of the Second:

When first founded, the II Legion was clad as all other new Legions, in amour lacking any colour save for grey primer. As the young Legion's culture began to develop and evolve, certain elements of colour were introduced. However, the Legion, seeing no need for unnecessary ostentation, never adopted the sweeping changes of heraldry that became commonplace as other Legions were reunited with their Primarchs. Following the Kaspian Reclamation, the Emperor bestowed upon the Second the sigil of two swords. These became the de facto Legion symbol, and could be found adorning armour, banners, and vehicles throughout the 901st and 902nd Expeditionary Fleets. In addition, the Legion took to wearing the dark red of the Mechanicum upon their pauldrons, to recognise the efforts of the Machine-Priests in their first engagement. This gesture did much to cement relations between Legion and Mechanicum, and goes some way towards explaining the unusually large Mechanicum contingent that accompanied the 901st. This heraldry persisted unchanged throughout the majority of the Legion's existence, and the vast majority of the Second's Legionaries met their end in these colours.

"The grey is simple. We have no need of burnished gold or gaudy hues. It reminds us who we are, and keeps our hearts from pride. The red honours our Martian allies, be their mechanisms ever strong. Never forget the value of unity. The Imperium cannot stand divided." - Legion Master Benoit Desaud, speaking to the assembled Legion upon the meeting of the 901st and 902nd Expeditionary Fleets.

I've been painting up my testers with Mechanicus Standard Grey armour over a black base, with Khorne Red pauldrons, and any metal trim/decoration done with Runelord Brass and a couple of washes. I think banners will be the same red as the pauldrons. The Legion symbol is two white swords arranged next to each other, one pointing up, and the other down.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated, but please don't put yourself to any trouble on my part. Encouragement is the only thing I require, and enjoyment is all I desire. biggrin.png

"Query - Legio II Astartes? Worthy allies. Loyal comrades. Acquiring emotion - Yes. I pity them. Their end was... a logical fate, but a cruel one." - Magos Akkis Dobrovic, formerly assigned to the 901st Expeditionary Fleet.

ScionOfGrief Battle-Brother

ScionOfGrief

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's the fella whose recolours I was thinking of. Couldn't remember the name. His work is incredible, and I really like how it gives his fluff the "feel" of being a FW book, which is what I'm aiming for once I finish actually writing this beast. I'll hit him up once the preliminary writing is done. 
Cheers for the reminder!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.

  I accept