Assault on the Long Room - Emperor's Children

[TheSpeckledTrout]

 

 

I have walked the stars. I have traveled far from my hearth and home, from the comfort of Imperial peace into the maelstrom of war. I have fought impossible wars under the shadows of heroes and monsters. I am the son of a demigod, consummately reborn to fill my grasp with countless worlds.

 

I have come, I have seen, I have conquered.

 

Polished, we stand on the eve of our greatest conquest. The walls fall, violate. The foe runs, routed. The clarion rings, our duty calls. We are oathed to this moment. I will hold the engines of destruction in the palm of my hand.

 

To the Long Room, brothers!

 

- Captain Vermillio Toderan, addressing the 64th Company, Emperor' Children, M39.14

 

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I cordially invite you to gaze into the looking glass with me, as I delve into the mystery which surrounds the once mighty 64th Company, XIIth Cohort, VIth Millenial, IIIrd Legion, Emperor's Children. Together we will shall learn the history and motive of those most desecrated traitors. Forgotten history will be reclaimed. I must know what happened there. Gather friends, so that you too may learn of the heroes and villains of the Long Room.

 

- Istorphiles, Emperor's Servant

[TheSpeckledTrout]

Notes from TheSpeckledTrout:

 

Diving into the Organization of the Emperor's Children

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The first, and arguably most important, step when starting this project was to determine the scope of Legio III Emperor's Children, even if it only meant deciding which Company to choose for Assault on the Long Room. In this regard, Book One: Betrayal was a wealth of knowledge.

 

The Emperor's Children were infamous for their low numbers, which at the peak of the Great Crusade was recorded to be 110,000 marines. Allowing for a 5,000 marine command detachment (the 3rd Legion had multiple organizations that operated outside regular structure), that allows us the infer the following numerical and Praetorate (command) structure.

 

The Emperor's Children had a contingent of 30 Millennials of 3,500 marines, each led by a Lord Commander or Commander Ordinary. Each Millennial was composed of two Cohorts, each led by Lieutenant Commanders and their Tribunes, of 1,750 marines. Cohorts were built upon 5 Companies, led by Captains and their Consuls, of 350 marines organized in variable squads.

 

The subject of Assault on the Long Room, the 64th Company, therefore belongs to the XIIth Cohort, which itself belongs to the VIth Millennial, which would designate a place of honor among the 3rd Legion, commanded by a Lord Commander, one of the vaunted "Princes of War". This would infer that the 64th Company can be placed at some of the Legion's premier fighting; it can be implied or 'historically' proven that Vermillio Toderan rubbed shoulders with 3rd Legion giants, perhaps even the Phoenician.

 

More to come, stay posted, friends.

[TheSpeckledTrout]

From Istorphiles, Emperor's Servant:

 

Of Vermillio Toderan, we can be thankful that the arcahic records have endured to our time. Of what is undeniably certain, we know that he reached the rank of Captain within Legio III, Emperor's Children. Captain Toderan commanded the 64th Company of the XIIth Cohort of the VIth Millenial of the Emperor's Children, and commanded the company until its demise during the Siege of Terra.

 

The rest, fellow Servants of the Emperor, is conjecture from unsubstantiated sources: read on with caution.

 

Vermillio Toderan was born of the planet Byzas, the son of a mid-level noble, and an easy recruit for the 3rd Legion long after the planet's early compliance. Toderan was blessed with genetic purity and an unremarkable ascension to astartes. Toderan was soon assigned to the 64th Company, which had already gained repute as 'Byzan', being majority composed of the world's own.

 

Vermillio is noted to have served first in standard tactical capacities, before moving to 64th Company tactical support, mastering the volkite caliver in the twilight of the weapon's extended service within the Great Crusade. After considerable combat time accrued in the rank of Sergeant, Toderan was sent abroad for seasoning, an obvious pitch by the 64th's then-Captain, Maximan Lyros, for future command.

 

Toderan, alongside a small contingent of 3rd Legion pilots, were sent to Legio I, Dark Angels, to gain additional combat experience in the Xiphon Pattern Interceptor. Here, learning alongside the esoterically trained masters of the Ravenwing, Vermillio experienced war on a new front, and from the perspective of the warrior-knights of Caliban, allowed limited insight into the inclusive First Legion.

 

After his seasoning with the Dark Angels, Toderan was received by the 64th Company as a Tribune Ordinary to serve along the congenial Captain Lyros, who received orders from the Praetorate to arrive in orbit above the surface of Isstvan III.

 

In the wake of Maximan Lyros' death, sealed by his Terran blood, at the hands of the Life Eater virus, Vermillio Toderan rose to the rank of Captain of the 64th, and was given jurisprudence to organize the 64th's role in the defense of Isstvan V. In unofficial record, Captain Toderan was seen embarked upon the Legion Fellblade Blade of Byzas during an armored rout of the Xth following the death of the Primarch Ferrus Manus, directing the Xiphon flight Sophiae to strike retreating Iron Hands mechanized assets at the column's flanks. The action earned Toderan, and the 64th, minor Legion accolade.

 

The only further record which exists of the Captain is his involvement at the Siege of Terra, during the actions at the Long Room, actions I persistently seek to uncover.

 

Follow on, fellow Servants of the Emperor, for I seek to enlighten.