Index Mechanicus: The Aksita of Incaladion

[Grand Master Laertes]

[table=THE AKSITA][/table]

The World of Incaladion

If one were to explore the most hidden repositories of the noosphere of Incaladion in search of its early history, the lack of comprehensive data would disappoint him. It seems as if someone purposely deleted them, and now only the most accurate investigation could hope to bring to the light primitive fragments of binary code hinting to xeno raiders of extinct races, an ancient siege where a Legio Astartes of old was almost annihilated and a civil war around the time when the Omnissiah was forced to retreat on his Golden Throne.

The earliest document that can be retrieved dates back to the first half of the 33th millennium. It is a treaty in which the newly appointed Praeceptor-General renews his predecessors’ vows of obedience to Mars and eagerly informs the Fabricator-General of the completion of the first Warhound of the rebuilt Legio Fureans. Since then, the Incaladine Magos have alway declared themselves vassals of Mars… in words, at least, for in practice the forge world is ruled by a firmly independent and conservative caste, extremely proud of its ancient and unique culture, shaped by the world where they live.

Even after thousand of years of colonization, Incaladion is still a hostile world that refuses to be tamed. Its glass plains, scoured by radiations, are home to a feral mechasystem composed of bizarre contraptions of mysterious origins. Whether they were built by purpose or are just piles of wreckage infected by scrapcode, none can say. Having to continuously fight against them, however, the Tech-Priests that live there have developed a particular interest for the weapons technology, which they revere as the most sacred aspect of the Machine God.

Magos Ras Varnak, the Precursor

Ras Varnak was the head of the Aksita, one of the most powerful factions of Incaladion, whose influence encompassed a whole Hive and several Forge Temples, including one of those producing components for the Machine Gods of the Legio Fureans. His power was second only to that of the Praeceptor-General, and indeed many thought that it would be him the next one to cover that position. This, however, earned him many enemies among the other highest-ranking Magos, who did not share his vision and considered themselves better suited for that kind of responsibility.

His rise to power began when, analysing various STCs, he discovered that some of the building and maintenance rituals performed by his fellow Magos were flawed, and might be perfected to improve their results. To make such a revolutionary idea accepted on a traditional world like Incaladion was almost impossible, but then, during the Blightmaw Insurrection, he met Dhanu, a princeps of the Legio Fureans which was eager to find new ways to bring destruction upon its foes. Having heard of his new theories, Dhanu asked Varnak to tend to his Warhound’s weapons. So successful was the Princeps in the ensuing battles, that slowly the whole Legio started to adopt Varnak’s rituals. Backed by such a powerful organization, Varnak attracted many followers and gave life to a new sect of the Cult Mechanicus, the Aksita.

During the years, many plots were woven from his rivals to make him retreat. He was often assigned to difficult wars on distant planets in the hope to weaken his position, but he always returned victorious, and his influence continued to grow. In the end, they decided to appoint him supervisor an explorator station on a far away planet. That was a great honour to many, for the supervisors had planetary governor-like powers, but Varnak’s warlike spirit was almost offended to have been sent on such a boring duty. Ironically, however, that would prove his most dangerous assignment, for that planet was the infamous Tyran Primus.

Magos Varnak looked upon the vast ranks Skitarii assembled before him, impassive. His battle calculations were flawed and inconclusive due to lack of data on their enemies, but every hexamatic simulation he had run up until then resulted in a victory probability next to nihil. He would have ordered a retreat, but that option was impossible due to severe damages suffered by their fleet. There was only one alternative left to him: to stand and fight, as the Magos of Incaladion had always done. They would die there, on that marginal world known as Tyran Primus, but the hoard of knowledge they would amass in that war could mean the safety of the Imperium. He prepared the overclocking protocols to enhance the processing speed of his brain. The faster he could adapt his tactics to the enemy, the longer his army could fight to gather invaluable data, and the brighter his binary soul would shine in the eyes of the Omnissiah after the destruction of his physical body.

Magos Ajiasa, Current Leader of the Aksita

After the death of Ras Varnak, many believed that it his pupil, Magos Aijasa, was the most natural candidate to succeed him: he was a brilliant researcher and warlord, well versed in the ways of the Cult Mechanicus and of the Incaladine rites. When he heard the news of his mentor’s death, Ajiasa immediately withdrew all his forces from the reclamation campaign he was fighting on the world Xampath, for he knew it was crucial to return to Incaladion with the utmost speed.

It was too late. Without the imposing personality of the former leader to keep them in check, old feudal struggles had already erupted within the Aksita, causing many Magos to switch alliances and join other factions, or to fight one another, furthering their own personal ambition at the expense of the common goals. The great alliance that Magos Varnak had built in his life was swiftly crumbling to a myriad of smaller dominions.

Ajiasa seriously considered the idea of mustering all the remaining loyal Aksita and unleashing the full might of their troops against the traitors, but soon changed his mind.Had he acted according to his first impulse, it would have been easy for his opponents to mark him as a betrayer and unite all the factions of Incaladion against him, including the Miryana Myrmidon Cults and the Titans of the Legio Fureans. Victory would have been a logical impossibility. To rebuild the power of the Aksita, he had to develop a long-term plan.
By the means of political manoeuvres and trials by ritual combat, he first got rid of internal dissension, and then started to slowly wave new alliances. He managed to regain much of what the Aksita had lost, and even to acquire new assets, but even after two centuries he is still far from achieving the same level of power and respect that Ras Varnak had.

Drasta, the Watcher

Drasta is one of the most ancient and revered Knight suits owned by the Legio Fureans; according to some legends he was found on Incaladion by the first colonists who get there.



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[Grand Master Laertes]

03/05/2015 update: added a paragraph to "The World of Incaladion" (thanks to EdT for the idea of a mechasystem) and finished the section about Magos Ras Varnak. Also added a section about the Knight Drasta, the Watcher.

 

Still a lot to do, though. I hope to make it in time for the end of the Liber Challenge.