The II Legion Astartes - The Sins of the Father

[ScionOfGrief]

Mucho gracias.

(I will post something interesting soon, promise!)

[ScionOfGrief]

Part Three - Gloriam Imperator:

"Dychamba changed us. It awoke something in our hearts, a fierce joy in battle, a pride in the fact that at last we were fulfilling our destiny." - Thibault Massi, First Captain, II Legion Astartes

With their victory over the Orks of 901-1 complete, the Legion's pace throughout the galactic south-west increased dramatically. Lightning victories over the Green-Skin followed, at Giseult, 901-8, Hakka Veyt, Miratsin, and a dozen more besides. Behind the 901st came the 902nd Expeditionary Fleet, which won great glory at Zinowitz, crushing a xenos pocket-empire beneath its inexorable forward progress. At Kreuzmar, the 901st fought alongside the War Hounds of the XII, bringing seven human worlds into the Imperial fold with a series of brutal void engagements against their parasitic alien overlords. On the icy surface of 902-4, Yannick Reimer of the Ninth and Toussaint Michaud of the Tenth led their companies against Eldar reavers for a hundred days, hounding their foe through the nitrogen snows while Legion Stormbirds duelled with elegant Eldar fliers in the clouds above them. Each victory brought the two Fleets, and the two halves of the Second, ever closer, until at last, in the dead system of Jirasakian, they met.

"The affection I felt for these brothers I had never met... It cannot be ever equalled. Not now, after... after our loss." - Henri Cassin, Bearer of the Black Banner, II Legion Astartes
 

The Covocation of Jirasakian, as it later became known, has come to be regarded as the pinnacle of the II Legion's brief service, before the heartbreak of the Celeste Incident, and their ensuing betrayal and demise. For the first time, fifteen thousand Astartes of the Second Legion stood as one, the fleet passing in review for Legion Master Desaud with the ice rings of Jirasakian XI as a backdrop. However, the meeting and amalgamation of the 901st and 902nd was cut short by a message from one of the fleet's outlying picket ships. A human-origin distress signal had been received, wordless, but transmitting co-ordinates only a short warp jump away. More pressing was the sense of importance attached to the signal, which tugged at the Legion in ways that none could fully explain or comprehend. 

So it was that the Second made all haste for the unremarkable system of Marichar. What they found there would ultimately lead to their doom.

"Remember... not as we are now... as we were at Jirasakian. Avenge us. Avenge us." - Partial vox-capture, The War in the Deep, tentatively voice-matched to Legion Master Benoit Desaud


 
 

[jeremy1391]

Cool fluff!!! Any chance we will see these on the table?

[ScionOfGrief]

Once I can afford to, I've got the following planned:

Termy Praetor
Mk II Centurion
5x Cataphractii
40x Mk II Tacs
10x Mk II Volkite Support
10X Mk II Heavy Bolter Devastators
3x Contemptor

And then a few Mechanicum bits and bobs and *maybe* some Solar Auxilia so I can represent a little slice of the 901st.
I've got to work out my scheme properly first, though, and be in a position where I can feed the hobby beast AND still afford to live.

[jeremy1391]

That will be awesome and would love to see this a reality

[cowboy3569]

Noooooooooo... I hate cliff-hangers

I have only just found this thread and just read through it from start to finish - this fluff is excellent! I literally can't wait to see what will happen next!

@Scion: Your use of the quotes in-between the "official history" is really bringing these guys to life and making me want more, about the characters, the events, everything! he he. Seriously man - inspired stuff.

[ScionOfGrief]

Once again, thanks for all the encouragement, guys! I've been struggling with burnout for the last couple of months, and this is the first thing I've really been motivated to do in a long time, so it's really fantastic to see people enjoying it. I'm still not *fully* back to where I want to be regarding motivation (which is why the last section was waaaay shorter than I wanted it to be. I'll almost certainly go back and flesh it out at some point.), but I'm getting there.
I'm also helping my aforementioned buddy work some of the kinks out of his awesome XI Legion project, so there's a decent chance you might see that as a separate thread on here at some point.

"Do not speak ill of the Second. But for the saving graces of hindsight and my... nature, their fate could all too easily have been ours." - Sanguinius