TALE - The Reunited Family

[Sigismund229]

Alexandros Darshan vonSalim strode down the ramp of the stormbird that had carried him and his Myrimodons to the surface. Behind him, dozens more stormbirds were landing, disgorging rank upon rank of Halycon Wardens and Lightning Bearers onto the grassy surface of this world and beside him the Emperor of Mankind and Icarion the Stormborn were marching out of similair stormbirds. On this occasion, the Emperor was clad in his magnificent gold armour but was, thankfully, not emitting the blinding glow he normally did on formal occasions. I don't like this world came the whisper of the Stormborn's voice in Alexandros' mind There's something wrong here. This place stinks of the warp. Alexandros nodded and replied I don't like it either but if father suspects one of our brothers is here.... Looking around him, Alexandros observed that there were wild animals watching them from amongst the trees. While a normal human would have had trouble seeing them, Alexandros had no such problems. They looked like enormous wolves, each one, by Alexandros' estimate, easily capable of killing an astartes. Lovely wildlife he said to Icarion, who replied I'd noticed. Yet another reason to not like this world.

Then, a large group of individuals emerged from the trees in front of them and as Alexandros watched it just grew larger. By his estimate, there were at least 40,000 individuals in front of them and at their head was an enormous figure, taller and broader than both Icarion and Alexandros and they were wearing battle plate. Behind the figure an enormous lion fur cloak was billowing in the wind and in the figures left hand was a round shield, similar to that wielded by all the other warriors Alexandros could see but scaled up to suit his size, and in his right was a similairly large axe. Our lost brother evidently said Alexandros to Icarion. It's our brother in body only replied the Stormborn I sense two different personalities inside him. There's our brother and then something else. A warp entity. Looking more closely at the figure, Alexandros saw that Icarion was right. However, there was more. The two beings were locked in a battle over who controlled the body. And his brother was losing. From the frown on their father's face, Alexandros saw that his father had seen it too. Seeing what would happen next in his mind, Alexandros roared "Phalanx!" over the vox to his warriors, who immediately began form up. In front of him, Alexandros' brother and his warriors did the same, locking their shields together. Then, hundreds of horns blew and the army of his brother charged, their war cries forming into one giant wall of sound which crashed into Alexandros and the astartes as if it were a physical wall and the horns horrifying shrieks were enough to chill Alexandros' blood. And they charged.

While the astartes and Custodes opened fire and their bolter shells slammed into the front rank of the shield wall, felling hundreds of enemy warriors, while some, to Alexandros' horror and surprise, seemed to ignore the mass reactives exploding in their flesh and charge on through them. However, these warriors, doubtless driven my the enormous amounts of adrenaline pumping through their bodies, closed the distance faster than Alexandros would have thought possible and the front ranks slammed into the massed ranks of astartes, who just barely managed to retain their formation, as men from the rear ranks leapt over their comrades in the front and landed in the midst of the Halycon Wardens(those who weren't shot to pieces with bolter fire before they could land). Beside Alexandros, a Halycon Warden went down, a blade buried in his neck. However, over the entire front the astartes were now getting the better of the fighting, their superior armour and physique kicking in and these savage tribesmen, in spite of their insane bravery, were being felled in their hundreds as the V and I blasted mass reactives into them at point blank or drove combat blades through their bodies and the tribesmen's own blades had little effect on the astartes' armour. Then, Alexandros heard an inhuman roar of regret and agony rip across the battlefield. The sound was so horrendous that it caused both tribesman and astartes to cease fighting. Looking for the source of the noise, Alexandros soon found it.

At the Emperor's feet lay the figure who had led the tribesmen's charge, his massive form bent over and gently rocking back and forth as tears streamed from his eyes down to the earth. Looking inside his brother's mind, Alexandros saw broken honour, injured pride, unimaginable agony but most of all he saw horror and regret. He heard the same phrase being repeated over and over again Forgive me.... Then, in an ethireal voice, at once calm and subdued but at the same time imbued with power and the weight of ages, the Emperor said "Hectarion Mycenor, my son, you have endured much suffering and pain before I reached you. I have banished what I could of the warp entity gripping your soul, now, know peace". As the agony within his brother subsided, Alexandros saw Hectarion kneel before the Emperor and whisper a single word. "Father...".

[simison]

Today, two ranks of security personnel stood on both sides keeping the ever-growing crowd of people as Delos waited for its newest visitors to make their way down the road to the Senate proper. Gottfri waited with the Senate in the main chamber, for once, silent as he allowed the Senators whisper to one another. Normally, he kept a full awareness of each Senator's thoughts and desires. With his powerful perception, no Senator could ever hope of deceiving or conspiring against him. It saved the political process a great deal of time and effort that used to be wasted on such fools. No Senator was ever elected without first understanding that they would be sacrificing their privacy for their term of service. To be a public agent of the people, this was a small sacrifice. At least, in Gottfri's opinion. 

 

With such an old habit, it was taking effort to not peer into the minds of the incoming visitors. His passive sense told him there were three parties coming in in a line. In front, the blazing power of his Father's mind led two others. From the tidbits he could sense, these two minds intrigue him. They reminded him of the strange, fearless minds he sensed among the fleet, yet were distinct from them. Behind his Father, he sensed another powerful mind, one that equaled and perhaps rivaled his own power. This mind was as aware of Gottfri as he was of this mind. It was different. Where the Emperor was as bright and glorious as a sun, this other soul seemed to have the quiet grace and poised reflection of a moon. But the last party also intrigued Gottfri. No great mind there, but each of them were alighted with anticipation and joy to the point that Gottfri was eagerly awaiting to see the reason why. 

 

 

It wouldn't be long. With precision and ceremony, the Senate guards reached out and open the Senate doors to welcome the self-proclaimed Emperor of Mankind.

 

Gottfri had mentally prepared himself for being in close proximity to his Father's powerful mind. He had not been prepared for his sheer physical presence. When the doors opened, the Emperor stood towering and radiant in golden armor of incredible complexity. It was like the power and brightness of a supernova had been condensed into a single being. After a momentary pause, the Emperor strode forward, attended by three warriors in golden armor carrying pole arms with guns attached to the shafts. Taking a moment to distract himself from the walking sun, Gottfri peered into the minds of his Senators. All worry, fear, and anger had evaporated and been replaced with awe. Simple, profound awe. If the Emperor had asked of them to resign their positions and come serve him, Gottfri had no doubt that he would be left with an empty chamber. As the Emperor came forward, Gottfri managed to glimpse the rest of the retinue entering the chamber.

 

The first half of the retinue was a giant poised man clad in sleek power armour, dotted with symbols of mysticism. A great crystal decorated the center of his chest that Gottfri suspected as being an amplifier of some sort. The man moved with a dancer's grace, every movement precise and measured. He wore a mask of serenity as he studied Gottfri. Four warriors formed a crescenct moon behind him, each small reflections of their leader. 

 

Gottfri resisted his curiosity to learn the name of this other giant, for he sensed that he couldn't make such an under taking without discovery. For this man was a psyker, like himself. 

 

Icarion Anasem.

 

The name was 'said' aloud to a room where only a telepath could hear. The elegant giant barely nodded towards Gottfri before taking his place to the side of the Emperor. Gottfri quickly understood that it was a welcoming gift. Wishing not to be a rude host, Gottfri answered in kind.

 

Gottfri Alexandros Darshan VonSalim.

[Skalpynock]

There's something I'm still not sure about concerning Alex: if Alexandros is the "kindest of primarchs" persona and Darshan the "Very powerful psyker" aspect, what is Gottfri? I know in both universes he is repressed, but is it known *why* he is?

[simison]

There's something I'm still not sure about concerning Alex: if Alexandros is the "kindest of primarchs" persona and Darshan the "Very powerful psyker" aspect, what is Gottfri? I know in both universes he is repressed, but is it known *why* he is?

 

Holy crap! Someone who's actually realized the deliberate use of different names. Have a cookie, or, in this case, an explanation. Gottfri, unlike Alex & Darshan, doesn't represent much of a persona so much as an attitude. Unlike the Emperor, who's an outspoken Atheist, Alex believes religion serves an important purpose for Mankind and that there may be some truth to it. When Alex became the ruler of Delos, he took the name of Gottfri to represent his neutrality between the Greek and Indian dominant cultures of the planet, serving as a bridge between them. 

 

And it is because of the religious undertones of this name that the Emperor politely 'requests' that Alex discard it. Obviously, both versions of him do, but that relaxed attitude toward religion never disappears. In that sense, he's alot like Alexander the Great and the Romans in that he's willing to give some leeway to the people he's conquered to aid integration with the empire. In canon, this attitude allows him to establish a strong friendship with Lorgar as they both agree that the Emperor's anti-religious policies are needlessly antagonistic. 

 

In BotL, I've played around with the idea that it is Alex who writes the Lectito Divinitatus because he believes/knows that if the Emperor is treated as a deity among the Imperium, it would strengthen him during his battle with Chaos during the Insurrection. In essence, it would be another desperate ploy on Alex's part to tip the scale for the Loyalists by violating one of the Emperor's greatest edicts. (Granted, he would release the Divinitatus secretly and keep his involvement hush-hush.) Also, if we're going to be blunt, going by polytheistic definitions of gods, the Emperor is pretty much one already. He could probably take on Ra, Zeus, and Odin, all at the same time. That would be another rationalization on Alex's part to write the Divinitatus. 

[Skalpynock]

So the Warmaster:

-is a filthy witch

-communes with xeno vermin

-betrays the Imperial Truth

 

The Reformists were right.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Gosh...i think the wardens of light should change the side. ^^

[simison]

So the Warmaster:

-is a filthy witch

-communes with xeno vermin

-betrays the Imperial Truth

 

The Reformists were right.

 

Ha, truth indeed. It is with good reason that Alex and the Wardens become a Lost Legion.

 

As it stands right now, I honestly do see the Suzerainty becoming the 40k Imperium as we know it down the road, perhaps avoiding the spread of the Imperial cult. 

[Sigismund229]

Hmm...if Alex announced that the xenos being tolerated was permanent rather than "just till the end of the crusade then we destroy them" Mycenae and the Lions may well rise up in revolt as well unless it was approved by the Emperor...

[Nomus Sardauk]

I imagine a lot of the Xeno alliances would be made via secret dealings behind the scenes, perhaps a good way of organising these deals without undermining Alexandros' credibility as Warmaster is that Alexandros never actually makes the deals himself. Instead, he asks Eldrad to be his envoy to the other races as they'd be more willing to listen to an Eldar Farseer than the demigod humans who've been genociding them for the past 3 or 4 centuries, Eldrad can also justify aiding the Imperium by using his visions to show how the Insurrectionists have Chaos growing in their midst and the nightmare they'll unleash if they win.

 

Actually, running with that idea, maybe the Xenos aren't allying with the Imperium but the Eldar, who just so happen to be assisting the Mon'Keigh to thwart Chaos. So Eldrad forms this Grand Coalition of races that seeks to undermine the Stormlord's forces at every turn, the Insurrectionists launch an offensive on Imperial lines only to suddenly be attacked from behind their own lines as the Coalition make use of the Eldar Webway to slip in undetected?

[MikhalLeNoir]

I like the name "Coalition" for the xenos joint forces

[Chief Captain Redd]

If Daer'dd was still alive into the insurrection he'd probably be right there with Alex, he and all Bears call the Emperor the Skyfather which is a semi Native American creator reference. And with Aandegg leading the legion he always saw his adopted brother as a divine being; and Daer'dd's titles were the God King/Eater of False gods in the Three Fires before reuniting with the Imperium. And despite the VIth occasionally slaughtering Craftworlds the Huronians would probably practice tolerance towards Eldar allies seeing them as Ancient Ab-Humans.

[MikhalLeNoir]

It is not the xenos friendly politics, it is more the multiple personalities in one person....to chaotic....to insane ;)

 

Maybe Azus should lend his title of the mad king to Gottfri or Alexandros^^

[Demus Ragnok]

Well Alex is the great politician and a politician strives to appeal to as many parties as possible. So its reasonable that he would a rather broad and loose view of the galaxy.

[simison]

It is not the xenos friendly politics, it is more the multiple personalities in one person....to chaotic....to insane ;)

 

Maybe Azus should lend his title of the mad king to Gottfri or Alexandros^^

Have no fear, Alex doesn't have multiple personality disorder. At least, not in this timeline. If Alex had been the Arch-Traitor, or had fallen to Chaos, that could easily lead to the disorder revealing itself hardcore. Especially if he were Chaos Undivided.

 

Hm, perhaps a blurb is in order.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Continuing my train of thought from my previous post, this could also tie into what the Eldar's goals are in all this. I mean, even if somehow the Coalition & the Imperium did defeat the Insurrection and destroy Chaos's pawns that still leaves the Xenos with the problem of the resurgent Imperium eventually rebuilding it's strength and resuming it's path of conquest, right?

So the Eldar have ulterior motives for aiding the Imperium, more specifically using the interruption of the Emperor's work the Insurrection causes to covertly retake and secure the Webway from human and Chaos intrusion, sealing off areas tainted by the warp or invaded by mankind, seeking out lost gates to reactivate, reconnecting intact sections that have been cut off from the rest of the network, etc, their primary targets being the Imperial Webway network centred around the Imperial Palace gate and the Webway Gate on Madrigal (that's still a thing right?).

 

By doing this they prevent the Imperium or anyone else from gaining the manoeuvrability the Webway provides while maximising their own, allowing them the means to rapidly pick apart a bruised and battered Imperium in the aftermath of the Insurrection and possibly providing a safe haven for the Craftworlds if the Imperium's momentum does prove unstoppable (the Black Library is said to be a Craftworld of Harlequins, so if it can fit into the Webway I think the other Craftworlds could too).

[simison]

If Daer'dd was still alive into the insurrection he'd probably be right there with Alex, he and all Bears call the Emperor the Skyfather which is a semi Native American creator reference. And with Aandegg leading the legion he always saw his adopted brother as a divine being; and Daer'dd's titles were the God King/Eater of False gods in the Three Fires before reuniting with the Imperium. And despite the VIth occasionally slaughtering Craftworlds the Huronians would probably practice tolerance towards Eldar allies seeing them as Ancient Ab-Humans.

Doggone it, Daer'dd seems to become more and more useful the further we get into the Insurrection.

 

So, to pivot back to Dig's comment, Hec and the Lions would revolt if xenos were given equal place in the Imperium, permanently. What about rendering them into client states (to borrow terms from Total War Rome 2)

[Sigismund229]

Client states would be bearable as the non equal status would allow the CL to assume the xenos would be exterminated eventually, once the Imperium no longer had to worry about external threats

[Kelborn]

I really like the idea of an Eldar coalition. Don't know why this doesn't happen in the canonverse, would make way more sense than to split apart like they did.

 

@Sangi: Sounds plausible. Working with the Imperium against an common foe, while secretly working on a separate realm within the webway. What about the Dark Eldar? Do they play a major role or are they nearly extinct? Can imagine a webway war between Eldar and Dark Eldar. Potential involvement of the Imperium as the temporary ally of the Eldar. Commoragh is conquered by Eldar and they establish their new realm within the webway, including Commoragh, craftworlds and maybe the Black Library (don't know about the relation between Eldar and Harlequins). When their common foe is defeated, the Eldar are like: kkthxbye - cutting off the webway from the Imperium to rebuild their realm. Happy End for the Eldar. ;)

[Nomus Sardauk]

@ Kelborn: That's the plan more-or-less, but of course no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. Regarding the Dark Eldar's level of involvement I've always thought of them as being largely detached from events in the galaxy at large, not really giving a damn about the fates and fortunes of other factions so long as they're able to continue their raiding in a productive manner. However if the heresy had never happened I'm certain the Imperium would eventually hunted them to extinction, most likely through the Imperials seizing control of the Webway bit by bit until they find and invade Commoragh, or simply through starving them to death by making it too costly for the DE to raid, leading to Commoragh's slavery-based society collapsing in on itself as the DE tear themselves apart fighting over what slaves they have left.

 

Obviously that doesn't happen though, so I reckon the Dark Eldar would partially support but remain apart from Eldrad's Coalition in a sort of on-again-off-again relationship, obviously they don't want Chaos to consume the Galaxy as that would rob them of their source of slaves, but they don't want the Craftworld Eldar taking over the rest of the Webway as that would inevitably lead to a turf war between the two, especially if things do go to  outside and the Craftworlders seal the Webway off from the outside because then the Craftworlds are the only target for the DE's slave raids. I imagine the DE would allow the CE access to certain Webway routes they control for their missions against Chaos but at the same time they crank their slave raiding into overdrive as they use the anarchy and confusion of the Insurrection to strike against vulnerable worlds across the Galaxy, reaping a terrible harvest in the most fruitful hunt Commoragh has seen in millennia, essentially stockpiling supplies for if things go bad.

[simison]

The reason we don't seen an Eldar coalition in canon is because the Eldar are characterized as being as arrogant. They don't just look down on humanity, they look down on everyone. Now, some of these ideas I can see playing out. I can definitely see one or more of the other Craftworlds either fighting side-by-side with the Imperium or in anti-Insurrectionist role in order to play out a longer game of securing the Webway away from the Imperium or some other goal. 

 

But Eldrad and Ulthwé are playing a much longer and ambitious game, one which reaches its climax in 42nd millennium (if we get that far). For that, it requires them to temporarily fight with Alex and the Loyalists. 

 

I'm not sure about the idea of Eldar fighting Dark Eldar over the Dark City. Commoragh does exist, unweakened because the Great Crusade hadn't gotten around to it yet, but I'm not aware of many outright wars between the two Eldar types. Can anyone think of canon instance? 

[Kelborn]

Checked both Eldar and Dark Eldar codices and there are few battles between them mentioned. Only found one in the Eldar and three in the DE codex.

 

A real war between them can be another feature of our after Insurrection fluff.

 

A couple of CEs would be enough as we're speaking of hundreds of thousands of Eldar per craftworld.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Hundreds of thousands aren't there anymore. As the great crusade progressed farther then in the canonverse, the eldar race should be hit hard. Maxbe a few thpusand left?

[Slips]

I'd like to mention that a Xenos vs Xenos piece that doesnt feature humanity would be against board rules due to the Focus of the B&C.

 

So keep that in mind.

[Kelborn]

I don't think that any of us intended to do something like that.

 

It's just background info for us.

If someday we're doing a time skip into 40k, then we would need to explain why our setting is like it is including a bit of background to the species as well. I'm talking about nothing more than a sidebox for Eldar fluff.

[simison]

The screams did not amuse him. Nor did they pierce his soul, like it would on weaker spirits. While he understood the power of psychological warfare, the Jade General viewed the current campaign as wasteful. Not in terms of slaughtered civilians, of course. There would always be an element of collateral damage in war, despite the efforts of his more compassionate kin. No, it was wasteful in terms of length. Had the Jade General been given operational command, this compliance would've been accomplished exactly thirteen weeks, four days, and six hours ago. 

 

Alas, the Jade General was not in command. The active commander was K'awil Pakal. It had been a personal request on part of K'awil to have the Warriors of Peace, led by the Jade General, to provide an allied force as the Grave Stalkers prosecuted the Compliance of System B8-38B. The system was ruled by a council of nine Patriarchs who equally ruled three populated planets in the system. The first planet fell quickly enough, a mostly barren planet used solely for mining operations. Grave Stalkers and Warriors of Peace had fought in skilled coordination against the scant mining militias. The second planet's Patriarchs chose surrender. A very logical decision that the Jade General inwardly commended them.

 

The final planet, the capital of this small republic, had refused to see the logical outcome of resistance. Given their extensive defenses, the Jade General had begun preparing his warriors for siege assault operations when K'awil had redirected him to establish trench and defensive lines in a ring around the capital city. 

 

Which is where the Jade General now awaited. The screaming was undoubtedly the citizens and defence forces of the city suffering in the night as the Grave Stalkers claimed more victims. Their screams came over intercepted transmissions through the vox networks. The Jade General stood in the center of his command outpost, his eyes scanning every bit of information flowing through the data-screens in front of him. He was waiting for the order to attack. The only combat to come his way where the few local assaults against his siege lines. It had given him a chance to practice his arts, and try a new technique he had been experimenting. Useful data, to be sure, but the siege was now finishing its second month. 

 

The Jade General grew tired of the screams.