Black Book - The Eastern Expansion Campaigns

[Sigismund229]

 

Run into writer's block for Escalation. So, until I can get back to working on that, is there anything I can write for book 2?

I wouldn't mind assistance on the IV Legion "origins" section, while I get myself to finish Yucahu's pre-Imperial lore (which now has a HALO vibe)

 

All right, could you pm the details?

[Sigismund229]

Sorry for the double post. Would this serve as a start to the General History Section?

 

Insurrection

Many decades passed with Alexandros as Warmaster. During this time, Icarion gradually recruited legions and planetary governors to his cause. The reasons for which they pledged their allegiance to him varied from ancient oaths sworn long ago to the simmering discontentment of many of the more warlike legions for Alexandros' preference of diplomacy and the apparent favour he showed the newly founded Council of Terra. Whatever their reasons, more than half of the legions joined their causes to that of Icarion, as did nearly a third of the planetary governors.  Yet the years continued to grind by and no action was taken by the Stormborn and his forces. For years the storm built but when unleashed it shook the Imperium to its very core.

 

The forces loyal to Icarion revealed their disloyalty in an orgy of bloodletting that has gone down in history as the Day of Revelation. In a series of ambushes, the legions loyal to Icarion cast off any residual loyalty they had to the Emperor and confirmed their new allegiance in blood- the blood of those they would once have called brother. In most cases, they inflicted crippling losses on the loyalist legions who, surprised and not understanding why their former brothers were scything them down, were slaughtered in their tens of thousands. However, the loss of the many tens of thousands of loyal legionaries killed on the Day of Revelation paled into insignificance when compared to the greatest loss suffered by the loyalists on the Day of Revelation.

 

In the cold void over Kataii, Daer’dd Niimkiikaa, ever a uniting force among the fragile brotherhood of the primarchs, had been killed by Koschei Kharkovic, primarch of the Godslayers. While he had badly wounded K’awil Pakal, Daer’dd’s loss was still a bitter pill for the Warmaster to have to swallow. Without their father’s leadership, the Iron Bears were scattered to the winds. Some pursued traitors wherever they found them, others attempted to be part of an overall Imperial strategy and attached themselves to larger bodies of Imperial troops while the majority left the Imperium at large to fall back and defend their home of Three Fires, effectively removing the Iron Bears from the legions that the Warmaster could call upon.

 

While Daer’dd’s loss was a terrible blow against the Imperium, at the very least, the Warmaster could be certain of Daer’dd’s death. The fate of some of his brothers was less certain. Following the Day of Revelation, Pionius’ fate was unknown. Some claimed that he and the Scions Hospitalier force sent to Untara had been completely wiped out, their primarch falling with them amidst the endless oceans and oil rigs. Others claimed that he was merely badly wounded and had escaped to Iona while some even claimed that he had been taken prisoner by the Drowned and languished in a cell aboard Morro’s flagship. Also in the wake of the Day of Revelation, Azus of the Dune Serpents had disappeared. While the Dune Serpents were adamant that their gene-sire yet lived, none could say with any certainty where he was nor what he did.

 

Gwalchavad of the XII^th legion was also an unknown force. His sons had suffered terribly at the hands of the Eagle Warriors and he had himself been laid low by his erstwhile brother, Alexos Travier. None knew how severe Gwalchavad’s injuries were and some even whispered that he was dead, interred within Caerbannog’s soil, laid to rest alongside his dreams. It was true that all astropathic hails had gone unanswered by the Wardens of Light and all vox hails had been answered with a single phrase “Lux Invicta”. With no signs of Gwalchavad and his sons taking an active hand in the Insurrection or even any confirmation that he still lived, the Wardens of Light were out of play.

 

However, the only primarch who was viewed with suspicion and a degree of wariness by both sides was Andezo Sambedi. Ever in the shadows of the more prominent legions and often far in advance of easy communication, during the Great Crusade they had largely been left to their own devices. As such, when Icarion’s insurrection took hold of the galaxy, neither side could say with any certainty who the Predators would fight for, if they fought at all. Some even thought that, isolated at the edges of the galaxy, they did not even know of the butchery of the Day of Revelation.

 

Domains of the Stormlord

In the weeks and months following the bloody massacres of the Day of Revelation, it would begin to become apparent just how long Icarion Anasem had spent seeking out support before he made his first move and just how deep the love and admiration for Icarion ran on many Imperial worlds. In the wake of Icarion announcing his Insurrection against the Emperor, thousands of worlds rose up in rebellion alongside him, pledging themselves to his cause. From mining outposts that had long been forgotten by many to bustling hive worlds at the heart of the administration of entire systems, worlds renounced the Emperor and swore themselves to the Stormlord. All told, nearly a third of the Imperium's worlds swore allegiance to the Stormlord.

 

It is likely that this number would have been higher had it not been for the incessant work of the Warmaster and his efforts to rapidly integrate worlds into the Imperium and smooth over wounds caused during compliance. While many had criticised him for this in the decades since the Qarith Triumph, stating that he was the Warmaster and such matters were better left to the Council of Terra, his work now bore fruit and, while many worlds deserted to join the Stormlord's nascent empire, the majority of Imperial worlds stayed true to their oaths of allegiance and stayed loyal to the Emperor and Terra and began to muster troops when the Warmaster issued the Commission of Array.

 

As a consequence of this, the Imperium was torn into a ragged patchwork of conflicting loyalties. Many systems raised their banners in rebellion only to discover that their neighbouring systems had stayed loyal and many stayed loyal only to discover their neighbours had sworn themselves to the Stormlord. As a general rule, the areas of space immediately surrounding legion homeworlds were loyal to the same side as the legion whose homeworld they found themselves next to. However, aside from this, there were no clear-cut battle lines in these early years of the Insurrection. There were no borders between the Imperium and the Stormlord's domains, just a confused and thoroughly muddled patchwork of loyalties, with the Imperium being stronger in some sectors of space and the Insurrectionists in others. This was further confused when some worlds heard of the Insurrection and rebelled but to regain their own independence rather than to see the Stormlord seated on the Golden Throne of Terra. These systems and worlds would be targeted by both Imperials and Insurrectionists alike and some would see some of the fiercest fighting of these early years of the Insurrection.

 

The capital of the Stormlord's new realm was Madrigal and the Maelstrom zone, which he quickly set about ridding of Imperial resistance. A large number of the worlds that supported Icarion were located in the Ultima Segmentum and so that would be the Segmentum which the Imperial forces would need to fight hardest to hold into. However, Icarion was also able to call upon a lot of support on the Eastern Fringe, where he was only resisted by the already badly mauled Dune Serpents. So it was that Icarion set about expanding and unifying his domains, eradicating Imperial resistance in the Maelstrom and then gradually pushing out into the east and the rest of the Ultima Segmentum.

 

It was in these regions that the earliest campaigns of the Insurrection would be fought.

[simison]

Add a single sentence at the start mentioning Icarion's fall to rebellion, and it'll be great.

[MikhalLeNoir]

I jabe to add something. With the sacrifice of the wardens of light and the help of the dark god alexos travier was able to break the wards on terra and teared the real space apart opening a gateway for the daemons of chaos right on terra, pinning the emperor on the golden throne, not able to take action in the conflict, letting his sons alone.

 

 

Or something like that. This is a very important point and need to be adressed imho. Besides thst: coool

[Skalpynock]

The Star-Born


The origins of the Fourth primarch are, in comparison to those of his legion, covered in much mystery. It is known that he landed on a civilised world in the galactic south-west, a planet surrounded by shipyards pre-dating Old Night; a gift its people would seem to have forgotten until the coming ot the Emperor's son. History would forget the name of this world, not by redaction like the birthplace of K'awil Pakal, but out of irrelevance to the Primarch and Legion alike. Unlike most of his brother primarchs, Yucahu would never rise to rule, keeping instead a place as general in a state remembered only as the Coalition. He illustrated himself as a brilliant commander, precise airstrikes and drop-infantry raids earning his nation victory over many of its foes. Countless battles were fought on the surface, countless new weapons were created, only new tools to perfect Yucahu's destructive craft.

As decades passed the theaters of war extended higher and higher into the atmosphere, until it reached the ancient rings. There he is recorded as devising innovative tactics to fight in the weightless confines of the stations, forming a corps of espatiers known as the Void Marines, comparable in their disposition and equipment to pre-imperial Saturnyne Hoplites. While other nations were still using ground-war logic, Yucahu's troops were exclusively formed to tridimensional warfare, moving with ease through the dark, derelict facilities and ambushing their foes from all directions simultaneously. As greater segments of the stations were secured, their treasures were graduously unveiled: orbital construction systems, trans-solar vehicles, and three warp-capable vessels, almost intact in their grandeur despite spending millennia unattended. It so happened that these wars were simultaneous with the dissipation of the global Warp Storms of the Age of Strife.

These would prove instrumental to the Primarch's ascension. His prowess in the orbital wars had earned him a great reputation on the entirety of the planet, his treatises on warfare becoming the basis of modern strategy. With the main battles over, and the lesser work left to his subordinates, Yucahu was named Marshall of the Space Force. Expansionist politics and scientific wanderlust in his government quickly ordered his newly-formed fleet to conquer the stars, he alone herald of both dawn and doom. In the unknown darkness of space, the Primarch was de facto commander of the Coalition's armies, as well as all civilian personel onboard his fleet.

His first documented conquest is that of Ekhwesh, a planet whose inhabitants had reverted to early industrial levels of civilisation, yet retained technologically advanced weaponry. Semi-sentient orbital defense grids took a surprisingly heavy toll on the initial scout squadrons, but showed extremely predictable patterns, which allowed for their destruction without a single loss on the primarch's side. The planetary phase of the battle was far more bloody, soulless bombings both orbital and atmospheric targeted on political and military centers, to no avail: the people of Ekhwesh would not yield. Rather than accept that honorable trait and leave them be, Yucahu ordered more ruthless actions: the simultaneous crushing of all major population centers. In four hours, the planet had lost fourty million inhabitants, one quarter of its total population. Only then did Ekhwesh surrender to the "bringer of death born from the stars", or Oprit-Sumakutaa.

As the Ekhweshi survivors were taken into the Starborn Fleet, the name stuck among his drafted troops, initialy as a veiled insult. Ultimately the primarch would take it as his own, in defiance to the defeated: Yucahu Sumakutaa, whose combined meanings translate as "Lord of the fleets born from the stars". Under this new title, the primarch would subjugate dozens of worlds for the Coalition, from xeno-enslaved Irautza to the burgeoning kingdom of Salezada, and the much valued Forges of Vernes, whose alliance with the Coalition gave Yucahu's conquests a massive boost in materiel strength, especially Warp-capable. This wave of conquests would only meet its end in [year] on Coaban.

For unlike his brother Primarchs, Yucahu would first meet the Emperor on a battlefield. Coaban had gained a fearsome reputation in the local sector for its advanced weaponry, and with its recent acquisition of spacecraft, was threatening the expansion of both the Coalition and southwestern Imperium. Arriving at the Mandeville threshold, Imperial and Coalised forces struck a temporary alliance to bring Coaban to kneel. It was agreed that Marshall Sumakutaa's fleet, being more numerous, would engage orbital defenses while Zamindar Mashyan's astartes made planetfall to wage war on the ground. However, both forces had underestimated the might of Coabanite weaponry. C-beams fired from satellite stations burned through ships as if they were cardboard, while the Morning Stars lost five of their own for each autodrone destroyed. For weeks on end the battle lasted, the allied forces slowly gaining ground, until the Coalition decided to break a point of its agreement: orbital bombardment was declared, shaking continents while the Primarch himself dropped to the position of Mashyan. Together, Void Marines and Astartes fought to the oligarchy's mockery of a Senate, where they unleashed a rain of bolt-shell and Vernal shotgun rounds upon the despots.

The leaders deposed, Coaban was left a burning waste, and as occupation forces from both parties awaited orders, a golden leviathan appeared in the skies: Imperator Somnium, the Emperor's own flagship. When the Emperor teleported down to the still-smoking battlefield, it is said that Yucahu instantly knelt, recognizing him as his true liege. Onboard the Emperor's ship, oaths were sworn, the Coalition officially dissolving into the Imperium, and Marshall Yucahu took the mantle of Primarch of the Fourth Legion; from this day on, they would be Morning Stars no more, but Void Eagles, in deference to the Aquila of his Lord; their livery would be brass, a lesser metal to the Emperor's gold. Coaban was given to him as a recruitment ground, and as a last gift before leaving, the Emperor granted his son with a Gloriana-class battle-barge: the Ala Lux, and an order to wage the Great Crusade. As an historian, I cannot help but wonder at whether this Coalition could have eclipsed the Dominion, had Yucahu been less humble than the Mycenor.

[bluntblade]

I'd change "most legitimate" to "true", but otherwise really good

[Sigismund229]

Mikhal&simison: Edited in those two points

 

Insurrection

The reasons why Icarion Anasem forsook his father and the Imperium that he had spent two centuries building are not known. A madness? The jealousy of a passed over brother? Greed? All have been suggested yet none have been proven. All that can truly be known about his rebellion is the chaos and suffering it caused as it made the galaxy burn.

 

Many decades had passed with Alexandros as Warmaster. During this time, Icarion gradually recruited legions and planetary governors to his cause. The reasons for which they pledged their allegiance to him varied from ancient oaths sworn long ago to the simmering discontentment of many of the more warlike legions for Alexandros' preference of diplomacy and the apparent favour he showed the newly founded Council of Terra. Whatever their reasons, more than half of the legions joined their causes to that of Icarion, as did nearly a third of the planetary governors.  Yet the years continued to grind by and no action was taken by the Stormborn and his forces. For years the storm built but when unleashed it shook the Imperium to its very core.

 

The forces loyal to Icarion revealed their disloyalty in an orgy of bloodletting that has gone down in history as the Day of Revelation. In a series of ambushes, the legions loyal to Icarion cast off any residual loyalty they had to the Emperor and confirmed their new allegiance in blood- the blood of those they would once have called brother. In most cases, they inflicted crippling losses on the loyalist legions who, surprised and not understanding why their former brothers were scything them down, were slaughtered in their tens of thousands. However, the loss of the many tens of thousands of loyal legionaries killed on the Day of Revelation paled into insignificance when compared to the greatest loss suffered by the loyalists on the Day of Revelation.

 

In the cold void over Kataii, Daer’dd Niimkiikaa, ever a uniting force among the fragile brotherhood of the primarchs, had been killed by Koschei Kharkovic, primarch of the Godslayers. While he had badly wounded K’awil Pakal, Daer’dd’s loss was still a bitter pill for the Warmaster to have to swallow. Without their father’s leadership, the Iron Bears were scattered to the winds. Some pursued traitors wherever they found them, others attempted to be part of an overall Imperial strategy and attached themselves to larger bodies of Imperial troops while the majority left the Imperium at large to fall back and defend their home of Three Fires, effectively removing the Iron Bears from the legions that the Warmaster could call upon.

 

While Daer’dd’s loss was a terrible blow against the Imperium, at the very least, the Warmaster could be certain of Daer’dd’s death. The fate of some of his brothers was less certain. Following the Day of Revelation, Pionius’ fate was unknown. Some claimed that he and the Scions Hospitalier force sent to Untara had been completely wiped out, their primarch falling with them amidst the endless oceans and oil rigs. Others claimed that he was merely badly wounded and had escaped to Iona while some even claimed that he had been taken prisoner by the Drowned and languished in a cell aboard Morro’s flagship. Also in the wake of the Day of Revelation, Azus of the Dune Serpents had disappeared. While the Dune Serpents were adamant that their gene-sire yet lived, none could say with any certainty where he was nor what he did.

 

Gwalchavad of the XII^th legion was also an unknown force. His sons had suffered terribly at the hands of the Eagle Warriors and he had himself been laid low by his erstwhile brother, Alexos Travier. None knew how severe Gwalchavad’s injuries were and some even whispered that he was dead, interred within Caerbannog’s soil, laid to rest alongside his dreams. It was true that all astropathic hails had gone unanswered by the Wardens of Light and all vox hails had been answered with a single phrase “Lux Invicta”. With no signs of Gwalchavad and his sons taking an active hand in the Insurrection or even any confirmation that he still lived, the Wardens of Light were out of play.

 

However, the only primarch who was viewed with suspicion and a degree of wariness by both sides was Andezo Sambedi. Ever in the shadows of the more prominent legions and often far in advance of easy communication, during the Great Crusade they had largely been left to their own devices. As such, when Icarion’s insurrection took hold of the galaxy, neither side could say with any certainty who the Predators would fight for, if they fought at all. Some even thought that, isolated at the edges of the galaxy, they did not even know of the butchery of the Day of Revelation.

 

Faced with this colossal betrayal, most expected the Emperor to lead the fight against Icarion in person. However, he did not. He was unable to leave the Golden Throne, shackled to it when Alexos Travier tore his way through the Imperial Palace’s defences using the power given to him by the vast sacrifice of many thousands of Wardens of Light. Unable to leave the Golden Throne lest Terra be overrun by demons of the Warp, the Emperor could take no active hand in the conflict currently consuming his Imperium. His sons, led by the Warmaster, would have to fight alone.

 

Domains of the Stormlord

In the weeks and months following the bloody massacres of the Day of Revelation, it would begin to become apparent just how long Icarion Anasem had spent seeking out support before he made his first move and just how deep the love and admiration for Icarion ran on many Imperial worlds. In the wake of Icarion announcing his Insurrection against the Emperor, thousands of worlds rose up in rebellion alongside him, pledging themselves to his cause. From mining outposts that had long been forgotten by many to bustling hive worlds at the heart of the administration of entire systems, worlds renounced the Emperor and swore themselves to the Stormlord. All told, nearly a third of the Imperium's worlds swore allegiance to the Stormlord.

 

It is likely that this number would have been higher had it not been for the incessant work of the Warmaster and his efforts to rapidly integrate worlds into the Imperium and smooth over wounds caused during compliance. While many had criticised him for this in the decades since the Qarith Triumph, stating that he was the Warmaster and such matters were better left to the Council of Terra, his work now bore fruit and, while many worlds deserted to join the Stormlord's nascent empire, the majority of Imperial worlds stayed true to their oaths of allegiance and stayed loyal to the Emperor and Terra and began to muster troops when the Warmaster issued the Commission of Array.

 

As a consequence of this, the Imperium was torn into a ragged patchwork of conflicting loyalties. Many systems raised their banners in rebellion only to discover that their neighbouring systems had stayed loyal and many stayed loyal only to discover their neighbours had sworn themselves to the Stormlord. As a general rule, the areas of space immediately surrounding legion homeworlds were loyal to the same side as the legion whose homeworld they found themselves next to. However, aside from this, there were no clear-cut battle lines in these early years of the Insurrection. There were no borders between the Imperium and the Stormlord's domains, just a confused and thoroughly muddled patchwork of loyalties, with the Imperium being stronger in some sectors of space and the Insurrectionists in others. This was further confused when some worlds heard of the Insurrection and rebelled but to regain their own independence rather than to see the Stormlord seated on the Golden Throne of Terra. These systems and worlds would be targeted by both Imperials and Insurrectionists alike and some would see some of the fiercest fighting of these early years of the Insurrection.

 

The capital of the Stormlord's new realm was Madrigal and the Maelstrom zone, which he quickly set about ridding of Imperial resistance. A large number of the worlds that supported Icarion were located in the Ultima Segmentum and so that would be the Segmentum which the Imperial forces would need to fight hardest to hold into. However, Icarion was also able to call upon a lot of support on the Eastern Fringe, where he was only resisted by the already badly mauled Dune Serpents. So it was that Icarion set about expanding and unifying his domains, eradicating Imperial resistance in the Maelstrom and then gradually pushing out into the east and the rest of the Ultima Segmentum.

 

It was in these regions that the earliest campaigns of the Insurrection would be fought.

[simison]

Well done. That's all we can do for the history section, until we verify Invictus. Preface is still being worked upon, but the Insurgo intro page is done. 

[MikhalLeNoir]

Well done sig, maybe add a gap between predators and emperor.

[Big Bad Squig]

Just got to a suitable stopping point with writing the fluff chapter for the Serpents and decided to put what I've got so far on here to keep people in the loop.  I've got a little bit more general history to do before I move on to organisation and structure. 

 

They are a dark, terrifying Legion.  Barely human at all.  They view honour and bravery and kindness as diseases, to be excised from themselves and exploited in others.  And they will stop at nothing to get what they want.  –Diary entry of [REDACTED], Remembrancer attached to the 412^th Expeditionary Fleet

 

Numeration:  XIV^th Legion
 
Primogenitor:  Azus Bahmut

 

Allegiance:  Fedelitas Scindere
 
Cognomen (Prior):  Sightless Fourteenth.

Observed Strategic Tendencies:  Stealth Operations, Guerrilla Warfare, Terror Tactics, Use of Chemical Weaponry
 
Noteworthy Domains: Dhul’Hasa and its orbiting space stations.

 

The Emperor’s Fourteenth were often known as an honourless Legion.  Of all that was whispered of them, that much, at least, was true.  Operating from the shadows, striking only where they knew they could win, and fleeing before the enemy had a chance to strike back, the Dune Serpents’ way of war was described by their Primarch as ‘practical and practical alone, for war’s purpose is to yield results no matter the means’.

 

If others had viewed the Fourteenth Legion as unpleasant and without boundaries during the Great Crusade, the Icarion Insurrection would escalate these views tenfold.  The Legion splintered after news of the Stormlord’s betrayal, with nearing 40% of the Serpents casting off their Imperial colours and joining forces with the Insurrectionists, or simply making their own way in a galaxy of war.  Their Primarch, however, stayed loyal to the Imperium, though whether out of respect for the Emperor or simply a need to survive is to this day murky.  The Dune Serpents exemplify the belief of some that, to wage war against monsters, one must become a monster oneself.

 

Origins of the Dune Serpents

                The nascent Sightless Fourteenth was composed of recruits hailing from the barely-inhabitable salt deserts of Terra.  During the Age of Strife, fighting here had been fierce, and this combined with the punishing conditions in which they lived had hardened the peoples of this region into warriors.  When the Thunder Warriors of the Emperor entered these regions, they expected to find no trace of life.  Instead, they were immediately set upon by highly mobile groups of marauders, and were at first even beaten back due to the shock of being attacked in a seemingly empty place.  However, the Emperor’s chosen warriors were not to be halted, and the second time the region was invaded, this time in far greater force, the desert tribes stood very little chance.  Due to the conditions of the salt deserts, the technology possessed by the tribes was almost exclusively scavenged, and no match for the superior armaments of the Thunder Warriors.

                Quickly, one of the larger tribes found itself surrounded.  Acting as if surrendering, the Thunder Warriors were allowed inside the tribe’s camp, only to be ambushed by ranks upon ranks of tribespeople.  After a brief skirmish, the Thunder Warriors emerged victorious, although only barely.  While procedure dictated that the rest of the tribe should too be put to death, the Imperial Captain who led the Thunder Warriors was intrigued.  Searching through the faces of those taken prisoner, he encountered the tribe’s leader.  To the horror of the Emperor’s forces, instead of an execution, the man was granted an audience.  One hour to explain why the tribes should be allowed to live.  That man’s name was Jon Lawrence, and it was he who would become the first Legion Master of the Fourteenth.

                Under the leadership of Jon Lawrence, the Fourteenth Legion began to take shape.  It quickly developed an aptitude for hit and run strikes, and so was often used in conjunction with larger forces of other Legions such as the Sixth and Tenth.  Another reason for this was that the Fourteenth themselves were a fairly small legion; many aspirants did not survive the process of gene-seed implantation – in fact, the violent side effects of the implantation process (which often led to total blindness in the earliest candidates submitted to the process) are what led to the name ‘Sightless Fourteenth’ being adopted.  Additionally, a tribal culture still existed among the Legion, meaning it was in effect divided into several almost fully autonomous groups, although in times of need these groups could be united.  The Legion was left to function in this way, both due to the grudges and allegiances that Lawrence himself still held on to and because destroying the way of life that the recruits to the Legion had known all their lives would inspire nothing but bitterness.

 

 

The Ghost of the Sands

                Far on the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy, a desolate, barely inhabitable world named Dhul’hasa was about to rise from obscurity.  Once a hub of technology and scientific research, the Age of Strife broke Dhul’hasa, atmospheric pollution raising the global temperature of the planet so high that most of its surface turned to desert just as all contact with the wider Human Empire was lost.  After this had followed centuries of territorial warfare between clans and factions, until almost all left on the world was dust.  The one constant over this period of change and darkness was the ring of space stations and satellites orbiting Dhul’hasa, all scanning systems trained on the stars in the desperate hope that humanity would return from beyond the cloudless sky.

                Onto this background, the Primarch of the Fourteenth Legion landed, his pod lighting up the night sky.  Whether by radios receiving data from satellites or simply by looking upwards, all the tribes near to the landing site saw descent of the spaceship and rushed to meet it as it rushed towards the ground.  The Primarch’s journey had been long, and so he had already matured partially when he first made planetfall on Dhul’hasa.  Stepping out of the pod, labelled AZU-5, he fled into the night before the amassed clans could investigate his arrival.

                In the aftermath of the skirmish to claim the Primarch’s pod, the Dhul’hasan clans each discovered the wealth of technology that this craft from the heavens had to offer and wanted more.  So it was that search parties began to be sent out to trace whatever else had been in the empty pod, first only one or two per week, and then increasing in frequency until almost all the resources available to the clanspeople were directed towards this great search.

                The Primarch, who had taken the name Azus, could only remain isolated in the desert for so long.  He soon heard of the amassed forces searching for him, and due to their ever increasing size, he could not avoid them for long.  And so it was that the first humans that the Primarch Azus encountered attempted to take him prisoner.  However, despite his lack of training, Azus was after all a Primarch, and so tore through his assailants with ease.  After that, he became more careful.  Staying far away from others, hiding and only engaging enemies at range when necessary, Azus was able to survive the assault of the clans for well over six months.

                However, one day, the inevitable happened.  Well versed in the arts of stealth as Azus himself had become, Dhul’hasan warriors surrounded the Primarch at night, and although he killed near to one hundred in the ensuing struggle, he was captured, put in chains, and hauled back to the city of Kaobyrra, the stronghold of the Bahmut Clan, as a prisoner.  There, this captured giant suffered months of research, his superhuman skin reknitting after every dissection, and bones healing after every marrow extraction.  Slowly, the Dhul’hasan scientists outdated, malfunctioning medical equipment began to reveal the secrets of the Primarch’s advanced biology.  Soon, the experiments became increasingly violent, all non-vital organs being removed and rudimentary brain scans being conducted in an effort to synthesize a compound nearing gene-seed.

                Eventually, battling through the mind-numbing effects of the concoction of tranquilisers that he was constantly drip-fed, Azus developed a plan.  During a simpler medical procedure, the Primarch pulled so hard against the restraints holding his left arm that his hand was torn clean off.  He proceeded to batter the nearest scientists to death with his bloodied stump, freeing himself and staggering out of the operating chamber in which he had been kept a prisoner.  The few that dared to oppose Azus’ incandescent fury were blessed with quick deaths.  After only about an hour, the people of Kaobyrra submitted to the Primarch in awe and terror.  Azus’ coup was brutally efficient.  The surviving scientists’ final task was to craft the Primarch a new bionic hand to replace the one he had lost, before they, along with the city’s existing governing body, were executed, leaving none to oppose Azus’ rule.  His power within the city had become absolute within a week of his escape.

                Over the next seven years, Azus waged a bitter war of subjugation over the rest of the planet.  Slowly, the Dhul’hasan clans fell to Azus of Bahmut, a figure revered and feared in equal measure due to his martial prowess and terrifying presence and morals respectively.  To most Dhul’hasans he was rarely glimpsed, a hidden fiend who ruled with an iron fist.  His elusive nature earned him the title ‘Ghost of the Sands’, a name he grudgingly appreciated.  Eventually, the entirety of Dhul’hasa came under Azus’ rule, and he began to turn his ambitions skywards.

It was then that fleet approaching Dhul’hasa was discovered.

 

Dhul’hasa Under Siege

                Satellites began transmitting warnings that ships were approaching Dhul’hasa’s system for the first time since the arrival of Azus Bahmut.  Needless to say that these signals were taken very seriously by the planet’s people, some fearing invasion, some hoping for a joyous reunion with the rest of mankind.  Those hopeful few were to be disappointed.  The fleet was revealed to be xenos in origin as it approached, and it was approaching quickly.  Quietly, within his lair in the palaces of Kaobyrra, Azus began to plan.  The few still functioning factories on Dhul’hasa’s scorched surface were put to work manufacturing large quantities of weaponry.  Outriders were sent to inspect the ancient orbital defence platforms and ready them for war.  Within a matter of weeks, Azus had readied the planet for the imminent incursion, with predicted landing sites being surrounded with troops, traps laid around significant settlements, and the populace armed and trained in basics of combat.  It was then that the fleet arrived.

                It was nothing like Azus had expected.  The ships careened towards the planet’s surface with little care for their own safety, descending too quickly for the orbital defence batteries to lock on to them.  Ignoring flat, empty areas, the ships crash-landed in a random pattern, belching smoke and crackling with flame.  It quickly became clear that this had not been an invasion, but an escape.

                Azus sent a delegation to meet the first ship to land which he himself accompanied, albeit in secret.  While the Dhul’hasans were prepared to negotiate with the refugee xenos, the aliens opened fire as soon as they caught sight of the delegation, slaughtering it to a man.  Azus watched from the shadows, and fell back to Kaobyrra.  It seemed a war was to be fought after all.

                The clans were informed, and readied for battle.  Warbands mounted on outdated, barely-serviceable jetbikes were sent to harass the xenos as they disembarked from their ships, striking so quickly that the attackers had barely any time to respond before the Dhul’hasans fled once again.  Struggling to navigate the planet’s monotonous and harsh terrain, the refugees’ first attempts to make territorial gains were easily repelled.  Quickly, however, the xenos began to breach the first lines of defence Azus had put in place, making targeted pushes for nearby oil refineries.  It became obvious that the objective of the invaders was to refuel and depart as quickly as possible, rather than to take the planet.  While it may have been easier to simply stand back and give the xenos the resources they needed, Azus’ rise to power had come via uncompromising strength and bitter justice, and in the act of invading Dhul’hasa, the xenos had slighted Azus personally.  This was something that they would come to regret.

                Using hit-and-run tactics, Azus’ forces baited the xenos to collect in large numbers.  At that point, chemical strikes were launched, decimating the invaders and damaging their morale.  The reprieve for this was violent, with diversionary attacks being launched by the xenos into nearby settlements, while other forces desperately rushed to the refineries.  The Dhul’hasan soldiers moved to defend the oil refineries, while incendiary bombing campaigns were launched against settlements in which the xenos attackers were most concentrated, with no concern for the lives of civilians.  The fighting became so bitter that the arrival of a second fleet in the system went completely unnoticed.

                Fleeing desperately from their newly arrived pursuers, the xenos launched a final push to break free of the Dhul’hasans and escape.  The clans mustered to retaliate as quickly as they could.  Azus himself took to the battlefield, sensing that his men’s morale needed to be boosted.  Seeing an opportunity to destroy the aliens outright, the Dhul’hasans fought with every weapon in their arsenal, no matter how unpleasant, cutting down xenos by the thousands.  Although they fought back with terrified determination, the invaders were finally defeated in the ensuing pitched battle.  The relief of Dhul’hasa’s liberation was palpable.  So when Azus saw an amassed army of black-armoured warriors staring across at him from the other side of the blood-soaked battlefield, it came as a surprise.

                In the ensuing meeting, Azus was introduced to the leader of the xenos’ pursuers, a human larger even than himself.  His name was Daer’dd Niimkiikaa, the Primarch of the Iron Bears Legion, who had been chasing the xenos fleet down after being ambushed in deep space.  They had finally been forced to make planetfall on Dhul’hasa after their ships suffered colossal damage in a void engagement.  Elated to have chanced upon another of his brothers, Daer’dd requested the presence of the Emperor himself on Dhul’hasa.  When he arrived, Azus was offered the chance to join him in his Great Crusade, and he readily accepted, both seeing it as an opportunity to take the people of Dhul’hasa to the stars once again and fearing the wrath of the Imperium of Man should he refuse.

[bluntblade]

Added a bit more for the Shepherds, which I'll build on after breakfast. I feel there's something I forgot to add, though

[simison]

"...Lawrence himself still held on to[,] and because destroying the way..."

 

"Once a hub of [technological] and..."

 

"...the spaceship[,] and rushed to meet..." 

 

Wait, the entire planetary population saw Azus land and could physically reach that one spot in a few hours? 

 

If Azus were growing within the pod, how did he not break it or his development ruined by the pod's cramp space?

 

"...had to offer[,] and wanted more."

 

The jetbikes seem a little out of place with the tech level. Maybe mention how ancient they are?

 

 

 

Overall, I'm surprised by just how brutal this legion and Primarch start off. Still not sure why they are mentioned as Sightless. Anyway, Nurgle must be very disappointed that they slipped from his grasp.

[bluntblade]

Nurgle may yet claim the Viper Fangs as his own, or another Traitor warband. I can see one that gets close to the Eagle Warriors being led down that path, equipped with biological weapons that evolve into gifts of the Plaguefather, brought into this Galaxy by Cognis

[Big Bad Squig]

 

Wait, the entire planetary population saw Azus land and could physically reach that one spot in a few hours?

 

No, only the nearby tribes - a lot of that was because of scanners as well.

 

 

If Azus were growing within the pod, how did he not break it or his development ruined by the pod's cramp space? 

 

 

 

 

That's a good point - I'm not really sure how to address that.  Is there an age range of the canon primarchs when they first landed?

 

 

The jetbikes seem a little out of place with the tech level. Maybe mention how ancient they are?

 

Yeah I'll do that; Dhul'hasa's whole thing is going to be semi-defunct tech.

 

Still not sure why they are mentioned as Sightless.

 

That's because the side effects of gene-seed implantation were often blindness during early testing, which I realise I haven't actually specified in the fluff.

[simison]

1. That makes more sense, just need to tweak the words or emphasize that it's from a specific region on the planet.

 

2. Angron was a child when he left his pod and then fought off an Eldar war party. So, I think it'd be fine if Azus repeated that stunt. Actually, he pulls it off better than Angron. He simply runs off where he can grow a little more before he is captured. Then he can reach full maturity during the experimentation and make his escape.

 

3. Interesting, I had forgotten gene-seeds could do that. Kudos on you for incorporating that into your legion.

[Big Bad Squig]

All fixed 

[bluntblade]

Regarding Shepherds, I have the main chain of command down. So I need to factor in the Librarius, Forge and Apothecarion officers. Any I missed?

[simison]

Regarding Shepherds, I have the main chain of command down. So I need to factor in the Librarius, Forge and Apothecarion officers. Any I missed?

 

None that I see. In fact, the Shepherds have a more thorough chain of command, unlike the canon Blackshields. 

[bluntblade]

Well, the only Blackshield force I can think of that compares to them in size is Meduson's, and he put his together in the heat of the moment from bits of three broken Legions, augmented with the disgraced parts of another.

 

Come to think of it, I'd be way happier if Meduson became the inspiration for the canon Deathwatch instead if what we ended up with.

[Demus Ragnok]

Are Medusons group Blackshields?

 

I thought they were under the shattered legions umbrella

[bluntblade]

True; they're the biggest Shattered Legions group I know of

[Kelborn]

True, Medusons group belongs to the Shattered Legions.

 

Biggest blackshield forces I can think of are:

- Ashen Claws

- the Dark Brotherhood

 

Organizational structure is kind of flat. One reaver lord and a couple of subordinates, etc.

[simison]

To follow-up on a thought I had in the book 3 thread, since the Knight Houses and the Titan Legios don't take up any room rule-wise, how about we add one in? Since the forces involved here are very mobile, how about a Knight House?

[bluntblade]

To follow-up on a thought I had in the book 3 thread, since the Knight Houses and the Titan Legios don't take up any room rule-wise, how about we add one in? Since the forces involved here are very mobile, how about a Knight House?

House Toho, maybe? We could have a fleet of the Scions Hospitalier present, bringing with them the Knights. Or we could save them for Round 2 with The Drowned.

 

 

True, Medusons group belongs to the Shattered Legions.

 

Biggest blackshield forces I can think of are:

- Ashen Claws

- the Dark Brotherhood

 

Organizational structure is kind of flat. One reaver lord and a couple of subordinates, etc.

Kelborn, on 30 Oct 2016 - 2:53 PM, said:

 

 

 

True, Medusons group belongs to the Shattered Legions.

 

Biggest blackshield forces I can think of are:

- Ashen Claws

- the Dark Brotherhood

 

Organizational structure is kind of flat. One reaver lord and a couple of subordinates, etc.

 

 

[bluntblade]

Okey dokey:

 

 

 

The Shepherds of Eden

Before Raktra was discovered on Uran, the VIIth Legion were warriors of a very different kind. Dubbed the Shepherds of Eden, they were among the most virtuous of Mankind's heroes, fighting to protect human life wherever possible. In a cruel twist, however, upon being united with their gene-sire, both parties found each other abhorrent. Raktra loathed the Shepherds' code of honour as weakness, and the Shepherds were appalled at the murderous tactics employed by the new VIIth Legion, especially their prolific use of Destroyers.

The Shepherds endured a purgatorial existence, blackening their armour and having the name Berserkers of Uran thrust upon them. Miserably they trudged in the bloody footsteps of Raktra's true sons, watching their once beloved Legion become a byword for cruelty. Yet this did not last, due to the defiance of a Shepherd named Khârn. The circumstances are not spoken of outside the Legion, but a decade after the reunion the Shepherds broke away from the VIIth and, championed by a number of Raktra's brother Primarchs, were granted the status of a small, auxiliary Legion.

Revitalised, they again carved themselves a place in the annals of the Great Crusade, though always wary of Raktra's hatred. They were viewed with distaste by several Legions, but they enjoyed good relations with the Halcyon Wardens, Iron Bears, Godslayers and Scions Hospitaliers. Over the century following the split, they steadily grew to the point where they numbered 60,000 Astartes, larger than both the Warriors of Peace and the Grave Stalkers. Lacking a Primarch of their own, they nonetheless possessed several capable and charismatic leaders, and they became beloved of the mortal soldiers and civilians of the Imperium.

Tactically, they favoured an approach which would avoid mass casualties among the rank and file of human armies as well as sparing civilians wherever possible. Instead they targeted enemy officers, sundering formations and plunging their adversaries into confusion.

 

In battle, the Shepherds sought to achieve victory with minimal loss to any human combatants, be they allies or enemies. To this end their combat doctrine favoured targeting enemy leaders and champions and seeking to disrupt their order of battle. The aim of this was to force the adversary to surrender of his own volition, followed in due course by willing acceptance of Imperial rule. Frequently, they would launch massed charges of jetbikes and javelins against weak points within an enemy formation. This dovetailed with the heritage of the ancient Terran knights to produce the Shepherds’ distinctive approach to war. Against xenos, however, these Astartes gave no more quarter than their cousins, and many an alien horde found death under their blades.

 

Above all they kept their arsenals free of the rad and alchemical weapons that the Berserkers wielded so proudly. Any who doubted their resolve, however, did not see the devastation they unleashed against tyrants and xenos. The Shepherds built a repute that echoed the legends of the ancient Terran knights, defenders of the weak and a scourge against the monsters of the Galaxy.

Material Strength

 

Never as well-supplied as any of the Legiones Astartes, the Shepherds are consequently sparing in their use of super-heavy tanks, with the Mastodon almost entirely absent from their forces. They often deploy in smaller, more flexible units than many of their cousins, and while the Stormbird features prominently in their arsenal, they were enthusiastic adopters of the smaller Thunderhawk. As their numbers and fleet expanded they became the most prolific users of this dropship.

 

Owing to their unusual position, they were considered a low priority for the Mechanicus; they were not issued with Cataphracti Terminator armour or its Tartaros follow-up. Instead, what Terminator units they fielded wore Indomitus plate, sacrificing some protection for relative mobility. This suited the Shepherds, who favoured more mobile tactics. In keeping with this, they regularly deploy jetbikes and javelins to harry and fragment enemy formations. One of the few heavy tanks that sees frequent use by the Legion is the Sicaran Battle Tank, along with its Venator subtype. Fast and powerful, these are invaluable in neutralising heavy vehicles that could otherwise threaten the Shepherds’ forces.

 

In contrast with their sparse supply of truly heavy vehicles, the Shepherds found themselves well-supplied with infantry weapons and armour, owing to their links with the Auretian Technocracy. This extends to their distinctive variant of Mk IV armour, dubbed the Sospes pattern. The appearance of this variant has only cemented the chivalric aspect that the Shepherds have cultivated since the earky days of the Crusade.

 

They have also benefitted from the support of the Iron Bears, who championed them from the time of the breakaway. Many of the Legion's ships hail from the Three Fires, and the swift, powerful Mashkode became a key part of the Legion's vehicular arsenal, along with the Chetan-pattern jetbike. Consequently, while the Shepherds must call upon their allies among the Legions and Army when confronted with a heavily fortified enemy, the Astartes themselves are as well-armed as almost any of their cousins.

 

Despite the lack of resources afforded to the Shepherds, they do possess an abundance of jump packs, enough to equip well over a quarter of their infantry as jump units should the mission require. This is due to the bizarre prejudice of the Berserkers towards aerial infantry; during the remaining Shepherds' brief tenure as members of the VIIth legion, many Techmarines were aghast to see the Primarch order the destruction of such masses of serviceable technology, and so they conspired to secret away any functioning jump packs where possible before they were recycled for other uses.

 

Hierarchy and Legion Structure

 

Adhering largely to the Principia Bellicosa, the Shepherds are grouped into five Hosts, each led by a Marshal. Typically numbering twelve thousand Astartes, they are further divided into Regiments of four or five companies under the leadership of a senior captain. The Legion also retains the rank of lieutenant, frequently combining it with the role of an equerry. However, lieutenants of the Shepherds are not to be underestimated, as the Legion's emphasis on flexibility in battle frequently requires them to lead several squads independently of their captain.

 

Specialist units such as recon, assault and rare Terminator squads are usually dispersed throughout the companies, except for the Shadehunter recon elites and their melee-focused counterparts, the Oedon Blades. The Bulwark Terminator elite also form companies of their own, although their presence is confined to the Host of the Legion Master, referred to by his own Legion as Captain-General.

 

The Legion hierarchy also includes the Master of the Apothecarion, Chief Librarian and Master of the Forge. In principle the triumvirate remain with Captain-General Sejanus at all times, but in practice the Master of the Forge is frequently tasked with diplomatic duties, building alliances with Forge Worlds less wary of the Shepherds than Kelbor-Hal. The Fabricator-General is known to disapprove of the Shepherds' close links with the Auretian Technocracy, and therefore even the Legion's techmarines are viewed with suspicion by the Lord of Mars.