The First Ruin

[simison]

The Ruins were cataclysmic events which would sunder the Imperium between the forces of rebellion and corruption. The First Ruin is the smallest of the five, but its existence is necessary to enable the other four. Axioms long held in the hearts and minds of the Imperial citizen, both elite and common, would be shattered by the First Ruin. What will follow is our development of both the Ruin itself and the book that will bind its story within.

 

The First Ruin can be summed up in a single sentence: Araphel, Primarch of the First Legion, is tricked by deception and paranoia to order the complete annihilation of the Sixth Legion and its master, the Ash-Blooded. 

 

One sentence, however, can not possibly contain the full account of disaster and death which will follow that one simple decision. Yet, it is this one decision that will begin anew a thousand tales even as it ends a thousand stories. What follows is but a fraction of the individuals and units who will act and react to the course of events which would eventually blossom into four more nightmares.

 

Come and see.

[TrajantheGreat]

Preface

 

A nightmare plagues us. Once we dreamed of glory eternal. Now, terror seeks to rule us.

 

This nightmare is a ravenous beast, feasting on our present and hungering for our future. Already, many souls have been consumed by it, be they craven or heroic, weak or strong. The cataclysm ripples ever onward even as the blood of our people continues to water the ground of a million worlds. The idols of the bright crusading era are torn down or marred beyond recognition.

 

Above them all, atop the mountain of the slain, are our deliverers. The broken Spear of Terra is all that remains of our highest guardian. Imperator Regnat In Absentia; our defender and sovereign is the greatest loss of all. We, the survivors of His flock, are changed irrevocably; whole generations have grown to adulthood who have only known our empire sundered and bleeding. Those who remember the Imperium of Unity, of triumph and promise, are few. Those of us who can claim to be truly human are scarcer still, untouched by alchemical treatments, augmentation or genhancement. In time we shall pass and the Emperor’s dream will rest only with the broken heirs of the Master of Mankind, who's fate is still unknown to us.

 

For that reason I, and a handful of others, have formed our little order, scraping together the scattered lore of the Ruins to produce this chronicle. Now you hold the record of the first chapter of the cataclysm in your hand. This will tell of the path to desolation, the whisperings and resentments which led us to the unseen precipice, and then over it and finally into the abyss.

 

I bore witness with eyes still wide and innocent, and so I make this testament. I beheld the Conclave choose Man's destiny, and saw Daitis ground to dust and slag. I watched the skies of Terra boil with the fires of war and hell on the day that the Ash-Blooded came. I heard the funeral bell toll for the Heroes of Mankind and added my voice to the lament.

 

I remember.

 

D. S.

[TrajantheGreat]

Magos Militant Aetos-I

 

Not all souls who found themselves present at the First Ruin would react in horror and despair at such a cataclysm. A number of individuals saw a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be exploited for all of its worth. The Forgeworld M'Pandex had not enjoyed a resurgence when the Great Crusade had reconnected their world to Mars. If anything, they had to endure the indignity of their neighbouring forgeworld, Mezoa, enjoying increased prosperity, while M'Pandex continued to stagnate. In an attempt to modify the situation, M'Pandex signed an accord with the Sky Reavers Legion. For a trade of specialists and materials, M'Pandex would have first access to any technology or potentially valuable findings the Sky Reavers discovered on campaign.

 

Thus, Magos Aetos-I was one of several M'Pandex leaders who was stationed with Lord Vayrynen's personal expeditionary fleet. However, when the advance squadron broke off, Aetos-I was chosen to accompany as one of the more junior magi. Aboard the light cruiser, Reason's Embrace, the magos had little reason to expect anything more than the routine for the next several weeks of Warp travel. This did not ill-suit the young magos who had done little to distinguish himself for good or for ill other than display an almost insatiable appetite for acquiring new data. As this was his first expedition, he had been untested, and his superiors had not expected any extraordinary results from him other than to fulfil his duties to the Omnissiah.

 

The First Ruin would greatly shift Aetos-I's situation.

 

As a magos, Aetos-I mirrored many of his contemporaries by installing a number of bionic and augments upon his person. The majority of these focused on data accumulation, including a specialized helm allowing him to view and record data along eight different visual spectrums.  The most unusual installation was in regards to his locomotion. Aetos-I chose to replace his bipedal lower half with an octopede set.

Taghmata Aetos-I

 

Although the potentiality of violence was more theoretical than practical, Magos Aetos-I would not be bereft of strength come the First Ruin. The light cruiser Reason's Embrace was easily the most powerful asset under his command, but its assignment was temporary at the behest of his superiors. As such, Aetos-I's control was uncontested only by technicality.

 

His taghmata, however, had been assembled by his own resources and owed loyalty to the magos by the grace of the Machine-God. In his temporal journey, Aetos-I had amassed a personal retinue of three hundred. Two oathsworn tech-priests provided the majority of this inner core, while the remaining third fell under Aetos-I's direct purview. Skitarii filled the ranks, supported by a number of combat servitors. While such a small force could afford only little specialisation, field equipment often had a distinct predilection for surveillance and observation. The sole specialist sub-unit was a full cohort of vorax automata in Aetos-I's employ. A half-cohort of Castellax automata completed the roster.

 

These would be the warriors that would hear Aetos-I's order, upon witnessing the outbreak of hostilities, to "Observe and record".

[TrajantheGreat]

Dramatis Personae of the Breaking of Keld’abe

 

Attackers

Iron Revenants

Araphel - Primarch of the Iron Revenants

Thaniel - 1st Captain

Athanos, the Immortal Bastion - Leviathan Siege Dreadnought

Arlo - Chapter Master of the 4th Chapter

Icarus Kallus - Chapter Master of the 6th Chapter, Master of the Fleet

Archiron - Chief Apothecary

Runux - Lieutenant

 

Mechanicum Taghmata, Knight Households & Titan Legios

Viscount Herbin - Lord of House Hawkshroud; Sword of Truth - Cerastus Knight Acheron

Princeps Senioris Yimum - Leader of the Legio Osedax Maniple; Enmity’s Angel - Reaver Titan

Kulbran Suvra, the Revenant of Makodas - Magos of Phaeton

 

Defenders

Shadow Warriors

Rang Talyc, the Ash-Blooded - Primarch of the Shadow Warriors

Ver’gebuire

Lorak Saar, Ka’rta to Rang Talyc, Commander of Clan Rang

Rang Dalyc - Wife of Rang Talyc

Alii’Aliit

Beln'ykin Ka'ra - Aliit’alor, Clan Ka’ra

Rhal’ud’th Kur’mauwr - Apothecary

 

Imperial Army

Ka Bevync’lyv - Second Lieutenant of the Eighth Akaan’adiike, Keld’abe Imperial Army

 

Mechanicum Taghmata, Knight Households & Titan Legios

Princeps Senioris Wolfram Oppenheim - Leader of the Legio Metalica Maniple on Keld’abe; Perniciosa Orca - Reaver Titan

 

Neutral Force

Sky Reavers

Aato Väyrynen - Primarch of the Sky Reavers

Jaakko Räsänen - Master of the Fleet

Yrjö Niemelä - Chief Librarian, Commander of the Vanguard forces

 

Mechanicum Taghmata, Knight Households & Titan Legios

Aetos-I - Magos of M’Pandex

[TrajantheGreat]

Prelude

 

The Succession Crisis that had developed in the two years before the Breaking had spiralled from mere enquiries by the High Regent Alexandros into the viewpoints around the appointment of a new Emperor into a brewing conflict. The Primarchs Lukas and Araphel had vocally supported Alexandros being crowned the new Emperor, and many others had voiced neutrality or slight support. However, there were some who were extremely opposed, Hectarion and Theoderaf chief amongst them. When word reached the two, they immediately voiced their opposition, and to back up their positions retreated from their duties in the Reclamation Command to their respective homeworlds to gather their own support. The Primarch Morrigar, already tainted by the forces of Chaos, declared his support for the anti-Alexandros movement, hoping to weaken both sides of the divide by spreading discord. In a similar vein, Absalom in Segmentum Ultima saw the conflict and the opportunities that a conflict in Sol would give him to further grow his own authority. As such, he gave private encouragement to the anti-Alexandros faction, with his hatred of the High Regent being known to all his brothers.

 

While this crisis deepened, Araphel was driven beyond the limits of his sanity. His paranoia, a long held condition unknown to all but his closest brothers, grew to new heights as he imagined that the anti-Alexandros faction was set to destroy the Imperium and that any of his brothers could be implicated. Even his long friendship with Theoderaf did not dissuade him, as Araphel gathered his legion and covertly altered their training orders to include the tactics developed by the First Chapter: anti-Astartes warfare.

 

Before Araphel could strike against his dissenting brother, the High Regent Alexandros called on Araphel with a new mission that only he was suitable for. Araphel, as loyal to the Regent as ever, obeyed the summons and received a new target: the world of Keld'abe. His close brother, Rang Talyc, had reacted to the spiralling succession situation by withdrawing to his homeworld, his actions and motives unknown to Terra. Araphel was to make contact with his brother, discover his intent and prevent an escalation in tension. Araphel dutifully took up the task and departed Terra, ordering his entire legion to make for the Keld'abe System.