Pansyfish

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Quote

This is a refinement of an idea posted here. Read the linked Wikipedia articles, to understand what kind of joke this IA Chapter is.

NAME: Pansyfish.

 

PRIMARCH: Disputed. The Pansyfish claim Roboute Guilliman is their father; but there are persistent rumors the Chapter was founded with Emperor's Children, Death Guard, World Eaters, or some chimeric fusion of the Traitor Legions' gene-seed.

 

FOUNDING: 21st (M35).

 

SYMBOL: A pink and purple blowfish on a black background.

 

COLORS: Pink with purple polka dots. Veterans often adorn their armor with purple spikes in place of the dots, to imitate the blowfish that is the Chapter symbol; this makes their silhouettes resemble that of the Traitor Marines who are rumored to be the Pansyfish's brothers. Officers are identified not with an iron halo, but with a “Lord Baby,” an auramite belt buckle housing a conversion field generator; the buckle bears an infant Primarch’s face, to draw the Emperor's gaze upon the wearer.

 

BATTLE CRY: "Make them choke!"

 

The Pansyfish Chapter adopted as its namesake a pink-and-purple blowfish species that is considered a delicacy-- not due to its taste, but due to its many toxic organs, which make a difficult and time-consuming task of preparing the fish for human consumption. Indeed, Initiates will knowingly consume these toxic organs to "test themselves" as a rite-of-entry into the Chapter, and again when they are honored for merit and valor, promoted, and accept others into their ranks.

 

In battle, the Marines will throw themselves at the enemy, determined to "Make them choke on their own blood, the way a mortal man chokes when he ingests pansyfish toxin," in Pansyfish Gutsy Major Biribiri Herrington's words. Indeed, the Marines find close combat so alluring, Veterans will spray pansyfish venom onto their armor, using the spikes adorning their suits as weapons.

 

Monodominant Inquisitors-- most notably Inquisitor Philippos Westboro Baptiste of the Ordo Hereticus, who survived multiple battles against Chaos Space Marine warbands, and held special enmity towards those of the Emperor's Children-- have claimed the use of such colors and such rites are evidence the Pansyfish are the Traitor Primarchs Fulgrim or Mortarion's sons– a claim that will enrage the Pansyfish, inciting great violence that, in turn, fuels rumors they are the Traitor Primarch Angron's sons. The High Lords of Terra have been reluctant to investigate these claims since the Pansyfish canceled plans to divert three companies from a campaign against Waaagh! Dubya, to aid Imperial forces during the Badab War, as they refused to fight beside Baptiste after the Inquisitor so grievously insulted their honor. As Red Scorpions Chapter Master Carab Culln, Lord Commander of Imperial forces during the Badab War, said in confidence to his Minotaurs counterpart, "His foolishness denied us additional forces with which we could have defeated the traitors 69 Terran days earlier, according to my war council's calculations," when the latter asked why the Red Scorpions frigates escorting Baptiste’s battleship as the latter spearheaded an attack on an enemy fortress world, failed to match the Inquisitorial ship's speed and shield Baptiste from orbital defenses, resulting in the Inquisitor's death.

 

HOMEWORLDS: The Pansyfish primarily recruit from three planets in the Amaterasu star system: the “blue world” of Dakuwanga, the “black world” of the Fukumi asteroid field, and the “red world” of Anzack. The newfound Chapter's Marines accompanied Rogue Trader Nico Nikodouga when the latter discovered the star system in M36, allowing the Pansyfish to claim a portion of its material and human resources; in exchange, the Chapter defends Nikodouga’s in-system interests.

 

Instead of a single Fortress-Monastery, the Chapter operates six castle-sized trawlers on Dakuwanga, which serve as mobile Company Keeps, patrol the planet’s waters, and process fish into the Marines’ rations; and three Company Keeps with integral space elevators linking them to equatorial star forts, on Anzack.

 

Dakuwanga is the second planet from the star. Named after a mythical shark god, this aquatic world’s fish, seaweed, and plankton are exported to sustain other worlds in-system. The arctic and antarctic continents are both too small to accommodate much more than the 480,000 people working at each of the Adeptus Mechanicus operated titanium mines, geothermal generatoria, and ground stations for the space elevators linking the world to its polar star forts.

 

Dakuwangan colonists are concentrated on the thousands of islands ringing the equator-- it is impossible to know the exact number, as volcanic activity will sink an island, only to raise new ones in its place-- forcing the inhabitants to sail in search of a new home, and to fight each other if accomodations cannot be made. As the islanders cannot mine metal without destroying their own food sources, they make arms and armor from animal skins, bones, and teeth, reinforced with wood and plant fibers; notable examples include the the “tewinnarei,” a wooden sword with embedded shark teeth forming its cutting edge, which lends its name to chainswords and chainfists; and the “te barantauti,” a helmet made from pansyfish skin, which lends its spiny silhouette to the adamantium helm a Pansyfish Chaplain wears in place of his Codex counterpart’s skull helm. The islanders worship the Emperor as “Ndengei,” God of Creation and Destruction, who rules from “Fiji”-- a mountain range in Holy Terra’s Pacific region, from whose people the colonists claim descent. To better fight on and under water, a Dakuwangan Marine will modify his power armor, fitting two ballast tanks to his breastplate, a ceramite shroud enveloping his legs, and a hydrojet; this makes him resemble a “Fiji Mermaid,” one of the gods’ female servants, who bring the dead back to Fiji to face Ndengei’s judgment.

 

The Fukumi asteroid field lies between Dakuwanga and Anzack. Named after Nico Nikodouga’s wife, this is the star system’s primary metal supplier. Imperial scholars suspect these asteroids are the remains of a planet that was destroyed during the Horus Heresy, though they found no records of who destroyed this planet, or why.

 

Anzack is the third planet from the star. Named after the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator who accompanied Rogue Trader Nikodouga, this forge world’s desert climate provides easy access to rare earth elements critical to the production of cogitators and other electronic devices.

 

ORGANIZATION: The Pansyfish Chapter is organized into three Strike Battalions or “Stallions,” each under a “Gutsy Major’s” command; each Stallion consists of three Companies, each under a Captain’s command. A Stallion recruits and trains its own Neophytes– even in war zones, if necessary to replace casualties– the Pansyfish rarely deploy less than 300 Marines to a war zone, preferring to wield a Stallion’s full might, with which they may crush all but the most dangerous enemies.

 

The Stallions are referred to as Red, Black, and Blue– despite their names, membership is never restricted to a Stallion's namesake world– the companies as One, Two, and Three. The fact the Chapter has multiple First, Second, and Third Companies, is admittedly confusing; the Pansyfish repeatedly surprise ally and enemy alike, deploying to different war zones than expected, in greater numbers than expected.

 

The Pansyfish Chapter Master is referred to as “Lord Figma”-- derived from “Fightmaster,” which the Pansyfish claim was Roboute Guilliman's Champion’s title during the Great Crusade, though the Ultramarines deny this-- the Veteran Company as “Gold One.” When the Lord Figma goes to war, the Gold One will be attached to one of the Stallions; during this, the Gutsy Major and his Captains will nominate promising Marines to the Gold One. If a Marine is accepted, he will serve one century with the Lord Figma’s Honor Guards, learning by example the skills he will need as a leader, before returning to his Stallion; a Pansyfish must serve as an Honor Guard, before he can be promoted to Captain and above.

 

If a Pansyfish officer falls in battle, his subordinates will ritually wrestle in the nude, to determine who will replace him; the Nikodouga Rogue Trader dynasty sells holo-vids of nude Marines wrestling, as “audiovisual stimulants” throughout the Ultima Segmentum. The late Inquisitor Baptiste submitted these holo-vids as evidence for his claim the Pansyfish use Emperor's Children gene-seed; Lady Inquisitor Raquel de la Vine dismissed the evidence, as the Chapter does not monetarily benefit from the sales, though she notes the Rogue Traders provided the Chapter logistical support on multiple campaigns.

Edited June 16 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Edited the OP to give additional details on the Chapter planet of Dakuwanga. The additions are as follows:

Instead of a single Fortress-Monastery, the Chapter operates six castle-sized trawlers on Dakuwanga, which serve as mobile Company Keeps, patrol the planet’s waters, and process fish into the Marines’ rations; and three Company Keeps with integral space elevators linking them to equatorial star forts, on Anzack...

 

The islanders worship the Emperor as “Ndengei,” God of Creation and Destruction, who rules from “Fiji”-- a mountain range in Holy Terra’s Pacific region, from whose people the colonists claim descent. To better fight on and under water, a Dakuwangan Marine will modify his power armor, fitting two ballast tanks to his breastplate, a ceramite shroud enveloping his legs, and a hydrojet; this makes him resemble a “Fiji Mermaid,” one of the gods’ female servants, who bring the dead back to Fiji to face Ndengei’s judgment.

I'm struggling to keep this IA the... certain kind of joke... it is. Having the Chapter planet's people mistakenly think the Marines are merMAIDS instead of mermen, due to the ballast tanks added to let their armor dive and surface the way a submarine does, seems to work. If anyone has other ideas, I'm open to suggestions.