IL XIII - The Eagle Warriors

[bluntblade]

Army units were ravaged by the lizard cavalry, but were holding. Grammaticus realised the Nurthene were using their own losses to fuel a "Black Cube" which rendered almost the entire system uninhabitable (I'm gonna double check on the wiki about that)

[bluntblade]

So, reunion-and-onwards fluff from a few months back:

 

Blood and Madness

When a Mechanicum Warp-runner sent word that a Primarch had been found in the Mexicatii system, the information went no further than the Ist and Vth Legions. Much would remain hidden for a mortal lifetime, some was revealed only with the outbreak of the Insurrection, and some has likely eluded even our careful studies. What became apparent very quickly was that the Emperor, with Icarion at his side, had been resisted with fanatical determination by the theocracy that ruled Mexicatii Prime. The defenders tore the hearts from their slaves and offered the blood of thousands to their cruel gods on a regular basis. Now they did the same to the Imperial emissaries and deployed an army of zealots to resist Compliance.

 

With fists both gold and grey, the Emperor’s forces broke the Mexicatii defences, although it would take a lengthy campaign of pacification led by the Halcyon Wardens and abetted by the Officio Assassinorum to achieve true compliance. The Emperor moved on swiftly, for the Crusade was ever unrelenting. The new Primarch, however, was nowhere to be seen. The writings of Vth Legion and auxiliary personnel - those of Princeps Shakti Bijala of Tempestus have proven especially useful in documenting the affair - make it clear that only the uppermost tiers of fleet command had any inkling of the truth.

 

Rumours circulated - the Primarch had been somehow incapacitated by the priest-kings, and the Emperor sought to cure his wounds in secrecy. Few guessed at the truth; Alexos Travier had been entirely immersed in the vicious cult that ruled Mexicatii. It was he who, with hands blackened by the blood of those he sacrificed, had slain the emissaries who came in the Emperor’s name, and fought until the Emperor subdued him, killing dozens of Lightning Bearers and several Custodians in the battle that followed. Finally subdued by the Emperor, he proved resistant to all reason.

 

The Emperor refused to tolerate such defiance from His son, but nonetheless He was unwilling to discard such a precious, unrepeatable creation. So for over ten thousand hours, He set His unmatched will and psychic power to the task of conquering Travier’s spirit. The details to this day are unknown except for the vaguest hearsay which describes it variously as a dialogue, a battle or an act of torture. By its end, Travier was broken, and the Emperor and Icarion began the work of rebuilding him. Two years later, a silent giant was first seen fighting against the Orks of Waagh! Bowelhacka beside the Stormborn. He would continue to do so for another decade until the Emperor deemed him ready to meet his Legion, and finally assume his birthright of command.

 

Reborn Immaculate

The reunion showed the apparently total success of the Emperor’s work. There was no rancour such as that which would be seen several years later when Raktra was unveiled to the VIIth. Travier vowed that he would prove worthy to lead such a prestigious Legion, and under the careful eyes of Icarion he did so. Broadly there was continuity in the XIIIth’s methods, although as recruits from Mexicatii joined the ranks, its aesthetic began to change to reflect this. Travier integrated elements of his home world’s military culture, intending it to symbolise - if only to himself and his brothers - the ways in which any recalcitrant could become a valued part of Mankind’s future.

 

With their Primarch returned to them, the Eagle Warriors grew substantially as their tally of compliances and great victories swelled. Travier was an arresting figure on the battlefield, clad in ornate power armour, always facing the worst dangers alongside his sons. His presence alone inspired his warriors to acts of bravery which drew praise from those he crusaded with. Yet his skill was not to be ignored either; he slew the champions of a dozen xenos races, most famously the Hnarkel spine-devils of the Revyaen Enclaves.

 

Travier’s scientific interests now came to the fore as he built bridges with the Mechanicus, most notably the Cognis sect. This gave him great freedom to steer his Legion’s development from the beginning. The plethora of jetbikes which had been integral to the early VIIIth remained, but they were joined by armour companies that came close to rivalling those of the Vth. These became the Legion’s bludgeon, following the rapier of the Skyhunter squadrons. Travier made these elements into the first two waves of the Legion’s favoured strategy, the third being a massed infantry attack. This served a political purpose as well as its impact on the battle. By presenting the raw power of the Astartes, Travier showed the true might the Emperor offered Mankind, as well as His power to quell any resistance. If any regime was unwilling to heed that message, then the Eagle Warriors would not relent until their palaces were brought crashing down about their heads.

 

Men spoke of the Eagle Warriors much as they had before; warriors whose spirit and zeal reflected the highest ideals of the Great Crusade. Yet there was an edge to their fervour which some deemed unhealthy. The Eagle Warriors might preach redemption for those who submitted to the Imperial yoke, those who resisted were crushed a severity which often strayed beyond necessity. There are several documented instances in which the Eagle Warriors utterly disassembled a planet’s government by way of punishment, necessitating a comprehensive program of rebuilding by those who followed in their wake. It is supposed that this is why Travier never had the full trust of Daer’dd or Koschei.

 

Travier spurred his techmarines and seconded Biologis personnel to accelerate the implantation process and bolster his Legion’s numbers, skirting the limits of tolerance. Such procedures usually entailed a heavy reliance on hypno-indoctrination, which in documented cases across several Legions gave rise to a lack of nuance in matters of ideology. Still, just as their excesses in war paled beside the Void Eagles and Berserkers of Uran, their experiments were obscured entirely by the likes of the Warbringers.

 

Revelation

The infamy that would utterly overshadow the Eagle Warriors’ glory occurred far from Imperial eyes, but Travier’s own writings have cemented the world’s place in history. On Anesidora, Travier and his Legion came across a Warp breach, one which unlocked memories long suppressed in the Primarch’s mind. Travier believed that he had heard the voices of the gods he had once worshipped. Nothing more did he learn at this stage and Icarion rebuffed his efforts to discover more, but the damage was done. The facade the Emperor had so painstakingly built had cracked, and nothing could reverse the damage. Now he embarked on a new quest: seeking the truth denied to him.

 

Travier knew that if the Eagle Warriors were to seek out this truth, they would have to do so in the utmost secrecy. To this end, the majority of the Legion would remain in plain view, ignorant of their Primarch's goal, while smaller fleets would run far ahead of the main Crusade. Ostensibly operating in a similar capacity to the outrider elements of the Void Eagles and Crimson Lions, their true purpose was to investigate any Warp-tainted planets they encountered, and catalogue all the information they could find on the empyrean. These goals demanded several things from the outrider fleets.

 

The first was that they must be largely self-sustaining, necessitating large numbers of Apothecaries as well as the participation of numerous Magi, drawn largely from the Cognis sect, which had long been tied to his Legion. Foremost among the Apothecaries was Ixtlatl, a longtime advocate for gene-augmentation and cloning. Now he had an opportunity to test his esoteric theories, and embraced it with abandon. Furthermore, as time went on the fleets began to expand. Small human colonies were harvested for recruits and serfs; Alexos' orders made it clear that all other priorities were subordinate to the viability of the fleets. Their numbers would be swelled further on those occasions when, for appearance's sake or out of necessity, they would call upon a detachment from the main Legion forces, who would invariably leave some of their warriors behind when they parted ways. These also served as opportunities to impart their discoveries to Alexos or his closest lieutenants. Those who had not been with him on Anesidora were excluded, for fear that they would not readily join him in his new quest.

 

Finally in 963 M30, far beneath the Galactic plane, Travier landed upon the world Teohuaca. Exactly what transpired here is simply too hazardous to share with the innocent, but we can reveal that Travier met with a human culture in thrall to the Ruinous Powers. With their guidance, and after rituals of unspeakable depravity, he underwent the revelation which would turn him irrevocably against the Emperor, and damn his sons for eternity.

 

It seems that initially the XIIIth struggled with the revelation - many of their campaigns in the following decades took on a wholly destructive character, fuelled by a spite which baffled their comrades. From the records made available to us, it is likely that the bulk of the Legion’s loyalists were purged during these years, perhaps accounting for their soured mindset. Others may well have gone mad from the truth and duty their master bound them to, and there are hints of instability in Travier himself. In the aftermath of one such battle, Hectarion confronted Travier. The brawl that followed was fought with little inhibition, and might have ended in open battle between the Legions had Nomus Sarduk not intervened.

 

Whether because Travier realised the true danger of allowing his plans to be discovered, because he deemed the cull had run its course or because the remaining Eagle Warriors accepted their terrible cause, the phase passed shortly afterwards. Now the Eagle Warriors’ loyalty and zeal were tempered again, but it was naught but a facade, and on the worlds they conquered the Legion planted cults, nurturing a cancer within the Imperium. Only a scant few of the Eagle Warriors remained pure, kept separate from the main Legion and used as a smokescreen by Travier. It may well be that the Qarith War gave Travier a means of removing warriors he distrusted, simply by virtue of its ferocity. It is likewise believed in many quarters that he ordered his apothecaries to conduct research upon the Qarith's twisting of the human genome. The dreadful bounty of this research would not emerge until late in the Insurrection, but one theory is that Travier saw it as an act of desecration against his father's edicts.

 

With Icarion as the prime instrument of his treachery - whether he decided this himself or it was ordained by his new masters, we may never know - Travier knew he would have to play a long game. Despite his pivotal role in the psychic attack on Terra, his dark arts were treated with distrust by Icarion and greater disdain by several of his brothers. But by guile and dedication, Travier estranged Kozja from the Stormborn, pushing Icarion to the point where his wariness of Chaos was outweighed by his desperation for victory. Now Travier accelerated his plans, and the first step was the corruption of the Berserkers.

So, reunion-and-onwards fluff from a few months back:

 

Blood and Madness

When a Mechanicum Warp-runner sent word that a Primarch had been found in the Mexicatii system, the information went no further than the Ist and Vth Legions. Much would remain hidden for a mortal lifetime, some was revealed only with the outbreak of the Insurrection, and some has likely eluded even our careful studies. What became apparent very quickly was that the Emperor, with Icarion at his side, had been resisted with fanatical determination by the theocracy that ruled Mexicatii Prime. The defenders tore the hearts from their slaves and offered the blood of thousands to their cruel gods on a regular basis. Now they did the same to the Imperial emissaries and deployed an army of zealots to resist Compliance.

 

With fists both gold and grey, the Emperor’s forces broke the Mexicatii defences, although it would take a lengthy campaign of pacification led by the Halcyon Wardens and abetted by the Officio Assassinorum to achieve true compliance. The Emperor moved on swiftly, for the Crusade was ever unrelenting. The new Primarch, however, was nowhere to be seen. The writings of Vth Legion and auxiliary personnel - those of Princeps Shakti Bijala of Tempestus have proven especially useful in documenting the affair - make it clear that only the uppermost tiers of fleet command had any inkling of the truth.

 

Rumours circulated - the Primarch had been somehow incapacitated by the priest-kings, and the Emperor sought to cure his wounds in secrecy. Few guessed at the truth; Alexos Travier had been entirely immersed in the vicious cult that ruled Mexicatii. It was he who, with hands blackened by the blood of those he sacrificed, had slain the emissaries who came in the Emperor’s name, and fought until the Emperor subdued him, killing dozens of Lightning Bearers and several Custodians in the battle that followed. Finally subdued by the Emperor, he proved resistant to all reason.

 

The Emperor refused to tolerate such defiance from His son, but nonetheless He was unwilling to discard such a precious, unrepeatable creation. So for over ten thousand hours, He set His unmatched will and psychic power to the task of conquering Travier’s spirit. The details to this day are unknown except for the vaguest hearsay which describes it variously as a dialogue, a battle or an act of torture. By its end, Travier was broken, and the Emperor and Icarion began the work of rebuilding him. Two years later, a silent giant was first seen fighting against the Orks of Waagh! Bowelhacka beside the Stormborn. He would continue to do so for another decade until the Emperor deemed him ready to meet his Legion, and finally assume his birthright of command.

 

Reborn Immaculate

The reunion showed the apparently total success of the Emperor’s work. There was no rancour such as that which would be seen several years later when Raktra was unveiled to the VIIth. Travier vowed that he would prove worthy to lead such a prestigious Legion, and under the careful eyes of Icarion he did so. Broadly there was continuity in the XIIIth’s methods, although as recruits from Mexicatii joined the ranks, its aesthetic began to change to reflect this. Travier integrated elements of his home world’s military culture, intending it to symbolise - if only to himself and his brothers - the ways in which any recalcitrant could become a valued part of Mankind’s future.

 

With their Primarch returned to them, the Eagle Warriors grew substantially as their tally of compliances and great victories swelled. Travier was an arresting figure on the battlefield, clad in ornate power armour, always facing the worst dangers alongside his sons. His presence alone inspired his warriors to acts of bravery which drew praise from those he crusaded with. Yet his skill was not to be ignored either; he slew the champions of a dozen xenos races, most famously the Hnarkel spine-devils of the Revyaen Enclaves.

 

Travier’s scientific interests now came to the fore as he built bridges with the Mechanicus, most notably the Cognis sect. This gave him great freedom to steer his Legion’s development from the beginning. The plethora of jetbikes which had been integral to the early VIIIth remained, but they were joined by armour companies that came close to rivalling those of the Vth. These became the Legion’s bludgeon, following the rapier of the Skyhunter squadrons. Travier made these elements into the first two waves of the Legion’s favoured strategy, the third being a massed infantry attack. This served a political purpose as well as its impact on the battle. By presenting the raw power of the Astartes, Travier showed the true might the Emperor offered Mankind, as well as His power to quell any resistance. If any regime was unwilling to heed that message, then the Eagle Warriors would not relent until their palaces were brought crashing down about their heads.

 

Men spoke of the Eagle Warriors much as they had before; warriors whose spirit and zeal reflected the highest ideals of the Great Crusade. Yet there was an edge to their fervour which some deemed unhealthy. The Eagle Warriors might preach redemption for those who submitted to the Imperial yoke, those who resisted were crushed a severity which often strayed beyond necessity. There are several documented instances in which the Eagle Warriors utterly disassembled a planet’s government by way of punishment, necessitating a comprehensive program of rebuilding by those who followed in their wake. It is supposed that this is why Travier never had the full trust of Daer’dd or Koschei.

 

Travier spurred his techmarines and seconded Biologis personnel to accelerate the implantation process and bolster his Legion’s numbers, skirting the limits of tolerance. Such procedures usually entailed a heavy reliance on hypno-indoctrination, which in documented cases across several Legions gave rise to a lack of nuance in matters of ideology. Still, just as their excesses in war paled beside the Void Eagles and Berserkers of Uran, their experiments were obscured entirely by the likes of the Warbringers.

 

Revelation

The infamy that would utterly overshadow the Eagle Warriors’ glory occurred far from Imperial eyes, but Travier’s own writings have cemented the world’s place in history. On Anesidora, Travier and his Legion came across a Warp breach, one which unlocked memories long suppressed in the Primarch’s mind. Travier believed that he had heard the voices of the gods he had once worshipped. Nothing more did he learn at this stage and Icarion rebuffed his efforts to learn more, but the damage was done. The facade the Emperor had so painstakingly built had cracked, and nothing could reverse the damage. Now he embarked on a new quest: seeking the truth denied to him.

 

Travier knew that if the Eagle Warriors were to seek out this truth, they would have to do so in the utmost secrecy. To this end, the majority of the Legion would remain in plain view, ignorant of their Primarch's goal, while smaller fleets would run far ahead of the main Crusade. Ostensibly operating in a similar capacity to the outrider elements of the Void Eagles and Crimson Lions, their true purpose was to investigate any Warp-tainted planets they encountered, and catalogue all the information they could find on the empyrean. These goals demanded several things from the outrider fleets.

 

The first was that they must be largely self-sustaining, necessitating large numbers of Apothecaries as well as the participation of numerous Magi, drawn largely from the Cognis sect, which had long been tied to his Legion. Foremost among the Apothecaries was Ixtlatl, a longtime advocate for gene-augmentation and cloning. Now he had an opportunity to test his esoteric theories, and embraced it with abandon. Furthermore, as time went on the fleets began to expand. Small human colonies were harvested for recruits and serfs; Alexos' orders made it clear that all other priorities were subordinate to the viability of the fleets. Their numbers would be swelled further on those occasions when, for appearance's sake or out of necessity, they would call upon a detachment from the main Legion forces, who would invariably leave some of their warriors behind when they parted ways. These also served as opportunities to impart their discoveries to Alexos or his closest lieutenants. Those who had not been with him on Anesidora were excluded, for fear that they would not readily join him in his new quest.

 

Finally in 963 M30, far beneath the Galactic plane, Travier landed upon the world Teohuaca. Exactly what transpired here is simply too hazardous to share with the innocent, but we can reveal that Travier met with a human culture in thrall to the Ruinous Powers. With their guidance, and after rituals of unspeakable depravity, he underwent the revelation which would turn him irrevocably against the Emperor, and damn his sons for eternity.

 

It seems that initially the XIIIth struggled with the revelation - many of their campaigns in the following decades took on a wholly destructive character, fuelled by a spite which baffled their comrades. From the records made available to us, it is likely that the bulk of the Legion’s loyalists were purged during these years, perhaps accounting for their soured mindset. Others may well have gone mad from the truth and duty their master bound them to, and there are hints of instability in Travier himself. In the aftermath of one such battle, Hectarion confronted Travier. The brawl that followed was fought with little inhibition, and might have ended in open battle between the Legions had Nomus Sarduk not intervened.

 

Whether because Travier realised the true danger of allowing his plans to be discovered, because he deemed the cull had run its course or because the remaining Eagle Warriors accepted their terrible cause, the phase passed shortly afterwards. Now the Eagle Warriors’ loyalty and zeal were tempered again, but it was naught but a facade, and on the worlds they conquered the Legion planted cults, nurturing a cancer within the Imperium. Only a scant few of the Eagle Warriors remained pure, kept separate from the main Legion and used as a smokescreen by Travier. It may well be that the Qarith War gave Travier a means of removing warriors he distrusted, simply by virtue of its ferocity. It is likewise believed in many quarters that he ordered his apothecaries to conduct research upon the Qarith's twisting of the human genome. The dreadful bounty of this research would not emerge until late in the Insurrection, but one theory is that Travier saw it as an act of desecration against his father's edicts.

 

With Icarion as the prime instrument of his treachery - whether he decided this himself or it was ordained by his new masters, we may never know - Travier knew he would have to play a long game. Despite his pivotal role in the psychic attack on Terra, his dark arts were treated with distrust by Icarion and greater disdain by several of his brothers. But by guile and dedication, Travier estranged Kozja from the Stormborn, pushing Icarion to the point where his wariness of Chaos was outweighed by his desperation for victory. Now Travier accelerated his plans, and the first step was the corruption of the Berserkers.

Edited May 27, 2018 by bluntblade

[simison]

I've talked with my wife about depicting Travier's DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder, aka Split Personality Disorder). The big lessons are that DID is always spawned from a childhood traumatic event before a clear identity is formed and that neither/none of the identities are ever aware of the actions taken by the other. 

 

Now, Primarchs obviously make this difficult given how quickly they leave childhood, but I think Chaos gives us an easy out in this case. We already have the traumatic event (the Emperor cleansing Travier of Warp taint). I believe a viable explanation is that, although successful in cleansing Travier, the process left hidden fault lines in Travier's psyche. So long as he avoided anything heavily influenced by the Warp and Chaos, Travier remained himself.

 

Obviously, that doesn't happen. Upon the trigger encounter, (which I think Blunt already established) Travier's identity fractured between himself and Sagitarius. 

 

Also, for characterization of Travier himself, I'm a fan of using elements from Jacob Danik, villain of Dead Space 3 (Spoiler warning): 

[bluntblade]

Trigger event is definitely there

[bluntblade]

Acatli Ihuatzan
Master of the 6th Chapter, Worldcarver
Marshal Ihuatzan was a famed tank commander from the Hullosk Incursion of 936 M30, cementing his renown during the Qarith Crusade with the Battle of Heimdan. A native of Mexicatii, he was not present when Alexos had his dark revelations on Anesidora or Teohuaca, but nonetheless he was brought over to the worship of the Ruinous Powers.

On Gatra V, Ihuatzan and his companies inflicted devastating losses upon the Wardens of Light, and wrote himself a bloody legend across the Imperial worlds in the path of the XIIIth. He took to the assault on Delos with relish, having long vied with several tank commanders of the Vth for glory, and the Halcyon Wardens were hard pressed to fend off his attacks.

Edited November 3, 2018 by bluntblade

[simison]

BL Fluff Segment (12k words)

Anthology: 30% - Incomplete - (Words)

FW Fluff Segment (10k? words)

History: 15% - Incomplete - (This is confusing. There are two versions, one by Sig and one by Blunt. And the one by Blunt doesn't have the origins section.)

Organization: 15% - N/A

Exemplary Battles: 15% - N/A

Crunch

Legiones Astartes & Unique Wargear: 5% - Incomplete - (AO did make a first draft.)

Rites of War: 5% - N/A

Unique Units: 5% - Incomplete - (Just suggestions at this stage.)

Unique Characters: 5% - Incomplete - (See previous note)

Primarch: 5% - Incomplete - (NYR)

 

Total - 0%

 

Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of work to be done.

[bluntblade]

The bit I've got needs to be matched up with an update to the origins. I'll try and work on that in the near future

[bluntblade]

Whittling and editing done, here come the new drafts for the history:

 

The Eagle Warriors

 

Numeration: XIII^th Legion

Primogenitor: Socraes Travier

Allegiance: Traitoris Maxium

Cognomen (prior): none

Observed strategic tendencies: Mass Assault, Armoured and High-Intensity Warfare, Xenocide Missions, Planetary Pacification and Suppression Campaigns

Notable domains: Mexicatii Prime (homeworld), several tributary holdings, outposts and forward bases distributed across the Galaxy, full extent unknown

 

“The stars are not right. That is the excuse uttered by too many servants of the Pantheon, to absolve themselves of weakness of limb, mind or will. We of the Thirteenth Legion admit no such feebleness. We have come through ignorance and apostasy, we have flagellated ourselves and in the blood of fratricide, ourselves baptised. We are the high priests and heralds of the Primordial Annihilator, and if the stars are not right we will yoke and haul them into the ordained pattern.”

Extract from Socraes Travier’s sermon following the Volriun Massacre

 

  The Harbingers may be remembered now as chief in infamy, but they were not the first Legion to turn against the Emperor. That baleful honour goes to the XIII^th, the Eagle Warriors, who were first not only to betray Him but took up the banner of the Primordial Enemy and brought about the fall of others. Long the embodiment of the ideals for which the Imperium fought, and its vanguard in many a savage war, their Primarch himself stood as the exemplar of how a misled idolator might find redemption under the Aquila. Alas, that emergence from darkness would be undone entirely, and the Thirteenth Son rose again as the High Priest of Chaos.

Edited May 30, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

The Emperor’s Eagles
The earliest known records of the XIII^th Legion date back to the days of the Unification Wars in Kentral Amerik. This was a swathe of rainforest, rad-scarred but still densely populated. It had largely been ignored until the VI^th Legion's victory at Magellos, which opened up the neighbouring lands to the Imperial advance. With the war against the Pan-Pacific Empire far from over, the Emperor set several of His geno-regiments to the annexation of Kentral Amerik.

However, the inhabitants of this region put up a highly effective defence against the forces of Unity when they had attempted to conquer it, hitting them with repeated hit and run assaults and then fading away into the irradiated jungles before a significant Imperial response could be mobilised. While they were eventually conquered, the Imperial advance had been severely slowed, and three companies of Lightning Bearers were assigned to complete the campaign. But this tenacity and ingenuity in war proved the salvation of the tribes, even in defeat. They had impressed the Emperor and His advisers, so much so that He drew the first recruits of the XIII^th Legion from the region.

As so often, time would prove the Emperor wise in His decision to recruit these tribesmen. The early Astartes of the XIII^th Legion proved well suited to the lightning strikes that they had utilized against the forces of Unity. Beyond being fleet of foot, they were well disposed toward racing across plains atop an assault bike and those few grav-vehicles the Emperor's armies possessed at this time. While their numbers were meagre at this time, the XIII^th were frequently used in the late Unification Wars as a flanking force, springing sudden attacks on a foes' weak points as other forces held them in place. Many times, it was a charge to the enemy’s rear by the XIII^th that decided the fighting in favour of the forces of Unity.

It was in this way that the Legions earned their name at the Fall of Madagac. The battle spanned the northwest Indsen Wilderness, with tens of thousands giving battle in the Emperor’s name. Yet it was the XIII^th Legion whose charge proved critical, overwhelming even . Beset at his command post, the Madagac general beseeched his false gods, "Who are these eagles who descend upon me?" It is said that this was the very moment when the Eagle Warriors broke the lines of his bodyguard, the Master of Mankind at their head, and Emperor replied: "They are my Eagle Warriors - and they come for all of you."

At the Battle of Razkev, where the massed regiments of Imperial Prussan foot and the III^rd Legion had clashed with the berserk hordes of the tyrant Kalaggan, the intervention of the XIII^th would also prove decisive. The fighting lasted three days and three nights before it was finally decided by a final charge by the newly named Eagle Warriors who, freshly arrived upon the field, crashed into the flanks and rear of Kalaggan's massive horde. A further day of battle saw them triumphant, breaking the back of the Emperor's great foe even as the Blood Wolves claimed his head.

Edited October 22, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

The Eagles Soar

  An unbroken roll of glories followed, through the battles for Sol and then the first great wars fought beyond its light. The XIII^th was one of the most powerful Space Marine Legions in the early years of the Crusade, winning great victories and expanding the boundaries of the Imperium. Though not as powerful as some of their fellows grew, as Primarchs were found, the Eagle Warriors maintained an enviable record and strength. At times they were placed under the command of another Legion's sire, but carried their duties without complaint, as when Pionus Santor called them to his banner for the Liberation of Yamatar.

 

  At this time the Eagle Warriors already evinced several of the tendencies which would define their way of war later on. Particularly of note was a use of armoured units that, as a proportion of their size, exceeded that of the Halcyon Wardens and Iron Bears. Lacking their cousins' close allies among the Collegia Titanica and Knight Houses, the Eagle Warriors developed several tactical doctrines which revolved around the deployment of tank squadrons to effectively combat enemy Titan-analogues. 

 

  That mastery was proven on Henua, where the ruling Autocracy anchored their formations with tracked behemoths, precursors to the Capitol Imperialis now employed by the Excertus Imperialis. These machines served as both mobile bases and immense gun-platforms, with weapons equal to a Warlord Titan. The Henuan Autocracy had used their strength to throw back two Imperial Army offensives with heavy losses. The Eagle Warriors were undaunted however, and descended upon the Autocracy with all their armoured might. With super-heavy tanks and gunships they tore into the Henuan army, destroying their squadrons of Predator tanks and breaking open their towering command vehicles before deploying assault marines into them.

 

  A yet greater feat would come to pass with the Feskine Scouring, where the Eagle Warriors fought alongside the Steel Guard and Morning Stars against the Khrave, under the direct command of the Emperor. Such a concentration of these monsters has never been seen on one planet before or since, and in the midst of the cataclysmic battle, the Emperor and His guards were sundered from the bulk of the Imperial host and surrounded by the malevolent xenos. Faced with utter disaster Orvedui Vurig, Legion Master of the XIII^th, unhesitatingly led his brothers in a valiant charge which claimed a full sixth of the Legion’s warriors, but broke the enemy lines. 

 

  By the battle’s end, only three quarters of the Eagle Warriors remained on their feet, slain by the psychic might of the aliens, but the Khrave were eradicated. On that bloody field, the Emperor declared that the XIII^th would henceforth have the right to bear His personal symbol, the Palatine Aquila, upon their standards and their armour. This constituted an enormous honour and one not dispensed lightly, for the Eagle Warriors were the only Legion to be acclaimed in this manner. From that day on, the XIII^th swore to never falter in their duty and to carry the Aquila to the darkest corners of the galaxy in the newly declared Great Crusade.

 

  The XIII^th's rise seemed unstoppable, and none imagined anything other than continuity with the finding of their Primarch. No one could have expected the events that soon followed.

[bluntblade]

Blood and Madness

When a Mechanicum Warp-runner sent word that a Primarch had been found in the Mexicatii system, the information went no further than the I^st and V^th Legions. Much would remain hidden for a mortal lifetime, some was revealed only with the outbreak of the Insurrection, and some has likely eluded even our careful studies. What became apparent very quickly was that the Emperor, with Icarion at His side, had been resisted. 

 

Mexicatii had enjoyed an advanced degree of industry and science, which had been clear from auspex data long before the fleet drew into orbit. Once on the surface, however, the Emperor found a world in the grip of a barbaric theocracy. Great pyramids were unceasingly painted red with fresh sacrifices, and whole districts were given over to the appeasement of the cult’s savage gods. When outsiders came to their world demanding an end to these practices they responded immediately, calling for a holy war upon the Imperials.

 

With fists both gold and grey, the Emperor’s forces broke the Mexicatii defences. The priesthood were wiped out by the Lightning Bearers and Custodes, although it would take a lengthy campaign of pacification by the Halcyon Wardens and the Officio Assassinorum to achieve true compliance. New systems of governance were put in place by Alexandros, filled with the finest men and women he could find, and Mexicatii began to enjoy a new prosperity. 

 

The Primarch whom the Imperials had sought, however, was nowhere to be seen. Where there had been expectant fanfare, deafening silence pervaded throughout the ranks of the forces present, and the wider Imperium. The writings of V^th Legion and auxiliary personnel - those of Marshal Shakti Bijala of the Zanskat Guard have proven especially useful in documenting the affair - make it clear that only the uppermost tiers of fleet command had any inkling of the truth.

 

Rumours circulated - the Primarch had been somehow incapacitated by the priest-kings, and the Emperor sought to cure his wounds in secrecy. Few guessed at the truth; Socraes Travier, as he was named, had been entirely immersed in the vicious cult that ruled Mexicatii. It was he who, with hands blackened by the blood of those he sacrificed, had slain the emissaries who came in the Emperor’s name, and fought until the Emperor subdued him, killing dozens of Lightning Bearers and several Custodians in the battle that followed. Finally subdued by the Emperor, he proved resistant to all reason.

 

The Emperor refused to tolerate such defiance from His son, but nonetheless He was unwilling to discard such a precious, unrepeatable creation. So for over ten thousand hours, He set His unmatched will and psychic power to the task of conquering Travier’s spirit. The details to this day are unknown except for the vaguest hearsay which describes it variously as a dialogue, a battle or an act of torture. By its end, Travier was broken, and the Emperor and Icarion began the work of rebuilding him. Two years later, a giant in ornate power armour was first seen fighting against the Orks of Waagh! Bowelhacka beside the Stormborn. He would continue to do so for another decade until the Emperor deemed him ready to meet his Legion and finally assume his birthright of command. 

Edited May 30, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

Reborn Immaculate
The reunion showed the apparently total success of the Emperor’s work. There was no rancour such as that which would be seen several years later when Raktra was unveiled to the VII^th. Travier vowed that he would prove worthy to lead such a prestigious Legion, and under the careful eyes of Icarion he did so. Broadly there was continuity in the XIII^th’s methods, although as recruits from Mexicatii joined the ranks, its aesthetic began to change to reflect this. Travier integrated elements of his home world’s military culture, intending it to symbolise - if only to himself and his brothers - the ways in which any recalcitrant could become a valued part of Mankind’s future.

With their Primarch returned to them, the Eagle Warriors grew substantially as their tally of compliances and great victories swelled. Travier was an arresting figure on the battlefield, clad in ornate power armour, always facing the worst dangers alongside his sons. His presence alone inspired his warriors to acts of bravery which drew praise from those he crusaded with. Yet his skill was not to be ignored either; he slew the champions of a dozen xenos races, most famously the Hnarkel spine-devils of the Revyaen Enclaves.

Travier’s scientific interests now came to the fore as he built bridges with the Mechanicus, most notably the Cognis sect. This gave him great freedom to steer his Legion’s development from the beginning. The plethora of jetbikes which had been integral to the early VIII^th remained, but they were joined by armour companies that came close to rivalling those of the V^th. These became the Legion’s bludgeon, following the rapier of the Skyhunter squadrons. Travier made these elements into the first two waves of the Legion’s favoured strategy, the third being a massed infantry attack. This served a political purpose as well as its impact on the battle. By presenting the raw power of the Astartes, Travier showed the true might the Emperor offered Mankind, as well as his power to quell any resistance. If any regime was unwilling to heed that message, then the Eagle Warriors would not relent until their palaces were brought crashing down about their heads.

Men spoke of the Eagle Warriors much as they had before; warriors whose spirit and zeal reflected the highest ideals of the Great Crusade. Travier led his Legion in cleansing several regions which before had been deemed too hazardous to assault. Just as the XIII^th had been part of the great host called up by Pionus Santor to scour the Mothran Abyss, now Travier assembled his own host to purge the Golgotha Waste. This campaign was an emphatic success, ending with a dozen abhuman and alien empires destroyed along with the rogue Forge World of Sarum, pronounced heretek by the Mechanicum adepts who accompanied Travier.

Yet there was an edge to the Legion’s fervour which some deemed unhealthy. The Eagle Warriors might preach redemption for those who submitted to the Imperial yoke, those who resisted were crushed a severity which often strayed beyond necessity. There are several documented instances in which the Eagle Warriors utterly disassembled a planet’s government by way of punishment, necessitating a comprehensive program of rebuilding by those who followed in their wake. It is supposed that this is why Travier never had the full trust of Daer’dd or Koschei.

Travier spurred his techmarines and seconded Biologis personnel to accelerate the implantation process and bolster his Legion’s numbers, skirting the limits of tolerance. Such procedures usually entailed a heavy reliance on hypno-indoctrination, which in documented cases across several Legions gave rise to a lack of nuance in matters of ideology. Still, just as their excesses in war paled beside the Void Eagles and Berserkers of Uran, their experiments were obscured entirely by the likes of the Warbringers.

Edited May 31, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

Revelation

The infamy that would utterly overshadow the Eagle Warriors’ glory occurred far from Imperial eyes, but Travier’s own writings have cemented the world’s place in history. On Anesidora, Travier and his Legion came across a Warp breach, one which unlocked memories long suppressed in the Primarch’s mind. Travier believed that he had heard the voices of the gods he had once worshipped. Nothing more did he learn at this stage and Icarion rebuffed his efforts to learn more, but the damage was done. The facade the Emperor had so painstakingly built had cracked, and nothing could reverse the damage. Now he embarked on a new quest: seeking the truth denied to him.

 

Travier knew that if the Eagle Warriors were to seek out this truth, they would have to do so in the utmost secrecy. To this end, the majority of the Legion would remain in plain view, ignorant of their Primarch's goal, while smaller fleets  would run far ahead of the main Crusade. Ostensibly operating in a similar capacity to the outrider elements of the Void Eagles and Crimson Lions, their true purpose was to investigate any Warp-tainted planets they encountered, and catalogue all the information they could find on the empyrean. These goals demanded several things from the outrider fleets.
 

The first was that they must be largely self-sustaining, necessitating large numbers of Apothecaries as well as the participation of numerous tech-magi, drawn largely from the Cognis sect of Xandria, which had long been tied to the Legion. Foremost among the Apothecaries was Ixtlatl, a longtime advocate for gene-augmentation and cloning. Now he had an opportunity to test his esoteric theories, and embraced it with abandon.
 

Furthermore, as time went on the fleets began to expand. Small human colonies were harvested for recruits and serfs; Socraes' orders made it clear that all other priorities were subordinate to the viability of the fleets. Their numbers would be swelled further on those occasions when, for appearance's sake or out of necessity, they would call upon a detachment from the main Legion forces, who would invariably leave some of their warriors behind when they parted ways. These also served as opportunities to impart their discoveries to Socraes or his closest lieutenants. Those who had not been with him on Anesidora were excluded, for fear that they would not readily join him in his new quest.

 

Finally in 963 M30, far beneath the Galactic plane, Travier landed upon the world Teohuaca. Exactly what transpired here is simply too hazardous to share with the innocent, but we can reveal that Travier met with a human culture in thrall to the Ruinous Powers. With their guidance, and after rituals of unspeakable depravity, he underwent the revelation which would turn him irrevocably against the Emperor, and damn his sons for eternity.

 

It seems that initially the XIII^th struggled with the revelation - many of their campaigns in the following decades took on a wholly destructive character, fuelled by a spite which baffled many of their comrades. From the records made available to us, it is likely that the bulk of the Legion’s loyalists were purged during these years, perhaps accounting for their soured mindset. Others may well have gone mad from the truth and duty their master bound them to, and there are hints of instability in Travier himself. In the aftermath of one such battle Hectarion confronted Travier. The brawl that followed was fought with little inhibition, and might have ended in open battle between the Legions had Nomus Sarduk not intervened.

 

Whether because Travier realised the true danger of allowing his plans to be discovered, because he deemed the cull had run its course or because the remaining Eagle Warriors accepted their terrible cause, the phase passed shortly afterwards. Now the Eagle Warriors’ loyalty and zeal were tempered again, but it was naught but a facade, and on the worlds they conquered the Legion planted cults, nurturing a cancer within the Imperium. Only a scant few of the Eagle Warriors remained pure, kept separate from the main Legion and used as a smokescreen by Travier.

 

Travier kept his Legion at the front, operating far from any Legions he suspected would not side with him, and used the isolation to reshape his warriors despite the Edict of Baal. Genetic meddling was rife among the Legion, their first step to transcending the weakness that was morality in Travier’s mind. It would also provide them with a means by which their comrades might be dragged down the path of utmost corruption. Cognis aided them in this, and far from the eyes of Mars conducted their own bizarre experiments.

 

With Icarion as the prime instrument of his treachery - whether he decided this himself or it was ordained by his new masters, we may never know - Travier knew he would have to play a long game. Despite his pivotal role in the psychic attack on Terra, his dark arts were treated with distrust by Icarion and greater disdain by several of his brothers. But by guile and dedication, Travier estranged Kozja from the Stormborn, pushing Icarion to the point where his wariness of Chaos was outweighed by his desperation for victory. He and his gods would not be denied.

Edited May 31, 2019 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

Thinking of exemplary battles, I assume we are giving the EW the full three. I'm wondering about one of those being Qarith-based - maybe we could also do something in the Golgotha Wastes, and a battle with the pre-Andezo Legion.

[Doctor Perils]

Pre-Andezo?

[bluntblade]

Pre-Travier

[Beren]

Placeholder Edited January 16, 2020 by Beren

[bluntblade]

It's your choice how much the EW are involved. The Qarith Empire is big enough that the Predators are busy elsewhere when the Reckoning goes down on Qarith Prime.

[bluntblade]

Book contents:

 

Fluffy Fluff

Intro

The Emperor's Eagles

The Eagles Soar

Blood and Madness

Reborn Immaculate

Revelation

Unit Organisation and Formation Structure

Legion Praetor: Acatli Ihuatzan

Exemplary Battles

 

Crunchy Fluff

Blurb

RoW

RoW

Huetic Xiutel?

Travier

[AlphariusOmegon108]

Whoops wrong topic Edited January 17, 2020 by AlphariusOmegon108

[talos402000]

Hey Bluntblade, you going to switch over to the new Heresy?

[bluntblade]

Yes, I'm already at work on that