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Armiger Warglaive - Wargear: Thermal SpearReaper Chain-cleaverHeavy StubberMeltagun (Replacement for Heavy Stubber)Ion Shield |
Armiger Warglaive - Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications: The technical specifications of the Armiger Warglaive have not yet been publicly released by the Adeptus Mechanicus. |
Armiger Warglaive - Sources: Codex: Imperial Knights (8th Edition), pp. 3, 5, 23, 28, 30, 35, 41, 44, 46, 50, 58-59, 66, 79, 87, 89, 91, 109Games Workshop Online Store - Armiger WarglaivesWarhammer Community Online - News: To War(glaives)!Warhammer Community Online - News: Pre-Order Preview, March of the Warglaives! |
Armillus Dynat - Armillus Dynat: Armillus Dynat, known as the "Griefbringer" and "Instar-Nine," was a Harrowmaster of the mysterious Alpha Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the 30th and early 31st Millennia. Dynat was a feared strike commander since his name came to prominence during the invasion of Paramar V. Known to possess strategic genius, his style of warfare was as intricate as it was unorthodox.Using fast-moving, heavily-armoured vehicles and close air support, he would split enemy formations apart before crushing them without mercy. Armillus Dynat was an expert duellist and warrior in his own right. Wielding a Thunder Hammer and Power Sword in unison and carrying uncommon wargear such as Venom Spheres and Phosphex Bombs, he was an opponent to be reckoned with. |
Armillus Dynat - History: As with much of his mysterious Legion, little can be said for certain about the origins or character of the Alpha Legion commander known as Armillus Dynat (whose name itself may be an artificial construction using mimetic factors from several different dead Terran dialects meaning approximately "The fallen prince/false prophet who destroys with power").Pictorial references for this officer is only available thanks to the recordings of Ultramarines -- attached Remembrancers present at the Palcine War Council, where Dynat is recorded as having infamously sparred with First Captain Marius Gage over the conduct of the war after the Ultramarines' repulsed attack during the Battle of Asarna Bay.Dynat was known to be a formidable strategist with a penchant for unorthodox and highly intricate attack plans often designed to pull apart and maim enemy fortifications before a killing blow was delivered. Armillus was also a master of integrated fast-armour and close air-support tactics.Armillus Dynat is thought to have been a theatre commander during the notorious Tesstra Campaign and the mastermind behind the Oanessi Genocide and the Harrowing of Callista Mundus. His name quickly became infamous during the Horus Heresy as a feared strike commander, beginning with the invasion of Paramar. |
Armillus Dynat - Wargear: Artificer ArmourKrak GrenadesVenom Spheres - Venom Spheres are an upgrade of common Frag Grenades employed by the Space Marines for advanced variants which contain toxin-impregnated crystalline splinters that have been darkly claimed to be based on xenos technology.Iron HaloThunder HammerPower SwordPhosphex BombCognis Signum |
Armistos - Armistos: An Armistos is a bygone officer rank of the Space Marine Legions used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy who was tasked with quartermaster and other logistical duties. This is one of several specialty ranks that fell under the generalised banner of the mid-tier Legion officer rank of consul, formally known as a Legiones Consularis, which was awarded to an individual Astartes who was recognised for their unique talents and hard-won skills. |
Armistos - Role: Few individuals were capable of the unending operation of maintaining, categorising, requisitioning and dispensing the vast arsenals of an entire Space Marine Legion. Beyond this, many such officers of the Legions worked to improve the weaponry at their disposal, running simulations and field tests of augmented weaponry.The logistical skills of a quartermaster required of an Armistos were much sought after by the Legion's Master of Arsenal, particularly in those Legionaries with a level temperament who were not apt to charge into the fray but were capable of supporting and supplying their battle-brothers without desire for aggrandisement. |
Armistos - Unit Composition: 1 Armistos |
Armistos - Wargear: Void Hardened Power Armour (Any Firstborn pattern)AuspexCognis-SignumA Legion Armistos may select one of the following weapons:Master Crafted Heavy BolterMaster Crafted Volkite CulverinMaster Crafted LascannonMaster Crafted Plasma CannonMaster Crafted Multi-MeltaMaster Crafted AutocannonMaster Crafted Heavy FlamerTwin-Linked Heavy FlamerMaster Crafted Missile LauncherFrag MissilesKrak MissilesFlakk Missiles |
Armour Crest - Armour Crest: An Armour Crest, also called a Shield Crest and a Weavefield Crest, is a type of personal defensive force field generator in the form of a decorative void armour or exo-armour crest, that is used by many of the military personnel of the Leagues of Votann. They are capable of being overcharged in order to project strengthened energy fields that will attenuate all incoming kinetic and directed energy attacks for short periods of time. They are most commonly employed by Hearthkyn Warrior theyns, Einhyr Hearthguard hesyrs and Einhyr Champions.The Kin make a specialty of force field technologies. The crowning glory and most ubiquitous example of Brôkhyr force field technology is the Weavefield Projector. Variants of Weavefield Projector have been developed for everything from personal protection for void miners and soldiers of the line, to massive examples that are used to protect Kin voidships.The system employs an energy-weaving technique called "weavewërke" which interlaces energy frequencies common to both refractor and conversion field technology employed by the Imperium, interlinked with more exotic energies -- such as magnetic repulsion fields. The resultant multispectral energy shield is maintained either in a personal energy cowl, or else projected outwards to form a protective dome, the better to shelter entire squads of Kin warriors or bands of Cthonian miners.Amongst the Kinhosts, Weavefield Projectors are commonly worked into armoured crests worn on personal armour or mounted on war engines. From here, their shimmering, amber energies flow outward into translucent energy domes, capable of intercepting even esoteric or apocalyptic-scale munitions depending on the scale and capacity of their power generators. |
Armour of Fate - Armour of Fate: The Armour of Fate is a specially-crafted suit of Artificer Armour created specifically for the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman. |
Armour of Fate - History: Crafted by the armourers of the Adeptus Mechanicus at the direction of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl over the course of almost 10,000 standard years, its inner workings enhanced with advanced life-sustaining technologies, this glorious suit of highly advanced and unique Artificer Armour fits Guilliman perfectly, and protects him from even the most dolorous of blows.The suit, along with the rest of the primarch's panopoly, had been kept in safekeeping by Cawl on Guilliman's orders since the period immediately after the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. During the Ultramar Campaign in 999.M41, Cawl and the other members of the Celestinian Crusade travelled to Macragge.They convinced the Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar to let them go to the Temple of Correction and seek to revive Guilliman, who had been in stasis there for more than ten standard millennia, since he had been mortally wounded by his brother, the Daemon Primarch Fulgrim, at the Battle of Thessala.With the assistance of the Ultramarines' Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius, Cawl worked with his ally Yvraine, the leader of the Aeldari faction known as the Ynnari, to combine the technological capabilities of the Armour of Fate with the power of Yvraine's recently awakened god, Ynnead, the Aeldari god of the dead, to heal the primarch's wounds and restore him to life. |
Armour of Shrieking Souls - Armour of Shrieking Souls: The Armour of Shrieking Souls is a unique and exceptional suit of daemonic Power Armour worn by Lucius the Eternal. Imbued with the faces and bodiless souls of all those whose spirits have been trapped within its confines by Lucius over the millennia through the power of regenerative immortality gifted to him by his patron Chaos God Slaanesh. The fact that Lucius' would-be killers are trapped within his armour affords the swordsman endless pleasure, for in the end he has bested them, rather than the other way around.When he does allow his former foes a measure of release, their souls howl outwards in a barrage of psychic anguish -- music to the ears of Lucius' daemonic admirers, and a lethal shock to those mortals in its path.The cacophony generated by the tormented essences trapped within the armour act as a psychic assault at the will of Lucius.In this respect the armour acts much like a Doom Siren, a powerful Sonic Weapon used by Slaaneshi Noise Marines. As an incredibly potent artefact of Chaos the Armour of Shireking Souls also confers an amount of invulnerability to its wearer. |
Armour of Shrieking Souls - History: Following the corruption of the Primarch Fulgrim and his Emperor's Children Space Marine Legion during the dark days of the Horus Heresy, Lucius continued to distinguish himself in the arts of war as his Legion traced the downward spiral of Chaos worship. The gaudily-painted fleets of Fulgrim's Traitor Legion moved from world to world, bringing ever more vile and extreme deaths to the populations that became their prey. In the transitory times between each invasion, the Emperor's Children would indulge in pageants of violence and gladiatorial contests amongst themselves. Only the most inventive displays of bloodletting could stay their boredom for long.Whenever he fought in these contests, Lucius truly excelled. His obsession with becoming the perfect swordsman lent him speed and skill that even other Space Marines could not match. The joy he took in both giving and receiving the hot kiss of agony was so intense that it echoed in both in the material dimension and the Warp. Some even whispered that Lucius had been brought back from the brink of oblivion more than once, and that his obsession was stronger than death. Lucius' infamy grew in this realm and the next. Before long, it was not only the Emperor's Children that drank in each of Lucius’ orgies of bloodletting, but the handmaidens of Slaanesh that clustered around his reflection in the Empyrean. After each contest, he basked in the adulation of his fellow Traitor Legionnaires, bowing elaborately and fanning the applause with his blade. His grandstanding was such that it eventually drove the silver-maned Lord Commander Cyrius to action.As the contest known as the Scarlet Blade reached its final round, Cyrius himself stepped into the arena against Lucius. The Lord Commander intended to teach the preening champion his place and cement his own position as Fulgrim's favoured son in the process. Clad in baroque artificer armour painted with obscene dreamscapes and wielding a twelve-foot power spear, Cyrius made for an impressive opponent indeed.The Lord Commander was every bit as fast as his chosen foe. Lucius fought hard to get within the reach of the power spear, ducking and rolling with fluid grace. Weapons clashed and clanged in a staccato blur. Though Lucius’ blade was sharp as a razor, it could not penetrate Cyrius's ornate battle plate, and for his part the swordsman was wearing little more than a sleeved tunic. A well-placed kick from Cyrius sent Lucius sprawling backwards, coughing blood. A stab of the power spear took a finger from Lucius' sword hand. Less than a second later, a sidelong blow from the power spear’s haft sent starbursts across the swordsman's vision.Each fresh wound had sent Lucius giggling with glee. Cyrius bared his teeth, slashing and jabbing as his opponent laughed, staggered and whirled across the scarlet sands like a demented marionette. At the last, Lucius corkscrewed through the air and levelled a decapitating blow right at Cyrius' throat. There was a sudden crack of electrical discharge from the impact, and Lucius' blade snapped in two. As the crowd howled and hollered around him, Lord Commander Cyrius caught his laughing opponent by the throat. Grinning a mirthless smile, he pounded Lucius into the scarlet sands of the arena until there was nothing left but a red ruin of broken bone. The Emperor’s Children had lost their favoured duellist, but gained a memory to be savoured for years to come.Over the next few weeks, Lord Commander Cyrius underwent a hideous transformation. His mane of hair fell out in clumps, his eyes changed colour, and the copulating figures that decorated his armour writhed and flowed to depict a host of laughing daemons. To the commander's mounting horror, dark lines appeared under his flesh, pushing outward with each passing night until they formed a maze of scar tissue. His screams were a source of great interest to his fellow Emperor's Children, but none came to his aid. In the Lord Commander's fate they saw the hand of Slaanesh at work. Some swore that Cyrius' shrieks changed in tone, becoming ever more like maniacal laughter.The next gladiatorial event saw Lucius stride the sands once more, his Power Armour adorned with the tortured, moaning face of Cyrius. The heavily scarred swordsman had been reborn, and the Lord Commander had been taken in his place. In the throne at the arena’s edge, Fulgrim smiled knowingly. His master Slaanesh was evidently loath to let such an entertaining protege fall from the mortal coil for long.Since that day, Lucius has borne a peculiar blessing from his patron, Slaanesh. Whoever takes his chosen champion's life, and finds even a moment of satisfaction from the act, will find themselves undergoing a painful and gradual metamorphosis. When the transformation is almost complete, Lucius emerges from their discarded shell like a butterfly from a chrysalis. All that remains of his killer will be a screaming face trapped forever in the fleshy panels of his twisted battle plate.Thanks to his peculiar blessing, Lucius the Eternal has stalked the galaxy for almost ten thousand years. He is a pitiless and sadistic killer who welcomes death with as much passion as he inflicts it upon his foes, and he can only truly be slain by one who has nothing but mercy in his – or her – soul. Whether such a being exists in an uncaring universe, only Slaanesh knows, and the secrets of the gods are not meant to be shared. |
Armour Thrall - Armour Thrall: An Armour Thrall is the name given to the normal humans who have been bonded as life-long servants of the Adeptus Custodes and assist them in battle. Armour Thralls are well-trained and skilled combatants in their own right. Their primary duty is to carry extra ammunition and armour sealant for their assigned Custodian when in combat.When the Bolt Caster built into the Custodian's primary weapon -- usually a Guardian Spear or Sentinel Blade -- are empty, the Custodian tosses the weapon to the Armoury Thrall. The Thrall reloads it and is strong enough to throw the weapon back to the Custodian. |
Armoured Ceramite Plating - Armoured Ceramite Plating: Armoured Ceramite Plating also known as Armoured Ceramite, is a vehicle upgrade that is available to the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes and their dark brethren, the Chaos Space Marines. Ceramite is a form of heat and shock-resistant synthetic ceramic material that is widely used throughout the Imperium of Man. The material is capable of absorbing and dissipating even the most extreme heat and directed energy-based attacks, and is able to conduct many other forms of electromagentic and particle radiation in such a way as to disperse it across a wide area, reducing the harm it can cause. When an Astartes vehicle is outfitted with Armoured Ceramite, the Chapter's Techmarines fit additional sections of ablative Ceramite over the vehicle's existing armour. These hull plates are then thrice-blessed by the Techmarines and anointed with the seven sacred unguents of thermic warding, along with blessings and prayers to the Omnissiah.The most common use of Armoured Ceramite Plating is for Astartes orbital strike craft, such as Thunderhawks and Storm Eagles. The plating is commonly fitted to these craft so that they have additional protection from the rigours of orbital re-entry from space into a planetary atmosphere. The plate protects the craft by absorbing and dispersing even the most extreme amounts of heat and radiation. Another common application of Ceramite plating is to fit it to certain siege vehicles, affording them further protection from enemy directed-energy weapons. |
Armoured Ceramite Plating - Chaos Ceramite Plating: The Ceramite plating used by the accursed Chaos Space Marines was once produced by the Mechanicum. Yet, while all the Space Marine Legions once marched to war in the name of the Emperor, now these protective plates are often forged in the heat of infernal Dark Mechanicum Hell-Forges. Chaos Ceramite plating is used to provide Chaos vehicles with protection against fusion-based weaponry, in particular the Melta Weapon types favoured by the Imperium. |
Armoured Fist - Armoured Fist: An Armoured Fist, also called an Armoured Fist Squad, is a unit of the Astra Militarum comprised of standard infantry troops who have been mounted on Chimera armoured personnel carriers to create mechanised infantry. The Chimera is the Imperial Guard's most commonly used armoured troop carrier. These ubiquitous vehicles are extremely durable and practical, capable of mounting an array of support weapons. From within the armoured confines of a Chimera, an embarked Infantry Squad can utilise the hull-mounted Lasgun array to unleash a lethal fusillade of shots into the foe, protected from all but the most destructive of reprisals.Squads of troopers mounted in Chimeras are sometimes referred to as Armoured Fist units. These squads lend speed and tactical flexibility to the often slow and rigid ranks of the Astra Militarum. An Astra Militarum infantry regiment does not typically include any mechanised troops, it being difficult for most Planetary Governors to obtain and maintain the vehicles needed for such formations. Because of this, it is quite common for commanders to attach individual Armoured Fist Squads from fully mechanised regiments in order to provide fast-moving armoured transport. |
Armoured Fist - Role: Armoured Fist Squads are able to respond quickly to emergent threats or forge ahead of the main Imperial advance and seize vital objectives until reinforcements arrive. Enemy positions are quickly overrun, the heavy weaponry of Chimeras spitting a stream of death into the packed ranks of the foe. Infantry Squads then charge down the steel ramps at the vehicles' rear and despatch survivors at point blank range. Armoured Fist squads have a reputation for "getting the job done" and are in high demand by Astra Militarum infantry commanders. The armoured protection of a Chimera is vital for a successful assault, and so they are typically deployed against the most heavily defended of enemy positions. It is therefore no surprise that Armoured Fist Squads suffer even higher casualty rates than standard infantry formations.Chimeras are the ubiquitous workhorses of the Astra Militarum and can be fitted with a range of equipment to increase their battlefield effectiveness. All Chimeras are equipped with Smoke Launchers that can produce an obscuring shroud of chaff at a moment's notice. Some of the transports are also fitted with heavy-duty Dozer Blades to clear a path through ruin and rubble for heavier battle tanks. With Auspex arrays and communication Voxes, Chimeras also act as mobile bases of operations from which Astra Militarum officers can marshal their forces. In addition, various offensive armaments can be fitted to a Chimera's hull, making it a versatile front-line armoured vehicle.Over the millennia, the Chimera has been pressed into service in a variety of different forms, proving its reliability and worth time and again. It is a highly versatile vehicle capable of operation in the most hostile environments. Its tracks are capable of traversing almost any surface, and its amphibious design allows it to move through dense swamps, deep marshes and even rivers. Many an enemy army has been destroyed because its general thought his flanks protected by such obstructions, only to find ranks of Imperial Guardsmen -- supported by the fearsome anti-personnel weaponry of their Chimera transports -- disgorging into the very heart of his forces. |
Armoured Fist - Unit Composition: 1 Chimera APC transporting 12 Guardsmen, 6 Heavy Weapons Teams or 6 Veteran Heavy Weapons Teams |
Armoured Interdiction Cadre - Armoured Interdiction Cadre: An Armoured Interdiction Cadre is a T'au Empire Fire Caste cadre that is entirely composed of T'au gunships intended to be used in an anti-armour tactical role. This cadre is comprised entirely of Hammerhead and Sky Ray gunships.Its heavy firepower is used to counter enemy tanks and is capable of toppling even the mightiest targets. During Hive Fleet Gorgon's invasion of T'au space, Armoured Interdiction Cadres blunted the Tyranid Bio-Titan spearhead -- pitting "shoals" or squadrons of Hammerheads against towering Hierophants flanked by the tank-sized Hierodules.The T'au's expertise in anti-gravitic technology means that their armoured vehicles are swift yet well-protected. An Armoured Interdiction Cadre is a force composed of vehicles chosen to deal with enemy formations that do not specialise in anti-armour weaponry. Using their speed, an Armoured Interdiction Cadre will manoeuvre to concentrate its firepower on its target, trusting in its armour to protect it against return fire.The vehicles of the cadre are networked together with an interactive tactical control system, allowing the shas'el or shas'o commander that supervises the cadre to direct fire quickly and efficiently through a Marker Light system built into the command tank. |
Armoury World - Armoury World: An Armoury World is the Imperial term for a planet that is used by the Departmento Munitorum to store vast amounts of weapons, ammunition, and war machines. These heavily defended worlds are the places where weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other military equipment are stored while they await to be transported to wherever they are needed.An Armoury World could have thousands of armoured vehicles of every type and millions of tonnes of munitions and other materiel stored in its vast storehouses for hundreds or even thousands of Terran years until the Imperium had need of them. Some Armoury Worlds store vehicles, weapons, and other equipment that are so old that the secrets of their manufacture have been nearly lost by the Adeptus Mechanicus, such as the ancient Imperial heavy tank known as the Valdor Tank Hunter. |
Armoury World - Notable Armoury Worlds: Planet NameSegmentumSectorSub-sectorSystemPopulationVraks PrimeSegmentum ObscurusScarus SectorKerak Sub-sectorVraks System0 (Now a Dead World following the Siege of Vraks)Worlds of the GalaxyGeneral/Environmental ClassificationsChem World • Dead World • Death World • Desert World • Derelict World • Ice World • Forest World • Jungle World • Mountain World • Ocean World • Rad World • Swamp WorldImperial ClassificationsAbattoir World • Adeptus Astartes Homeworld • Agri-world • Anchor World • Arboreal World • Archive World • Armoury World • Astropathic Relay Station • Battery World • Cardinal World • Cemetery World • Civilised World • Delverworld • Feral World • Feudal World • Forbidden World • Forge World • Fortress World • Frontier World • Hive World • Hub-Fortress • Industrial World • Knight World • Labyrinth World • Lumber World • Menagerie World • Merchant World • Mining World • Penal World • Penitent World • Pleasure World • Qurantined World • Quarry World • Refugee World • Repository World • Research Station • Sentinel World • Shrine World • War World • Waste WorldChaos ClassificationsDaemon World • Hell-Forge • Fallen Knight WorldXenos ClassificationsCraftworld • Crone World • Exodite World • Hold World • Kin World • Maiden World • Ork World • T'au Sept • Sept World • Tomb World • Xenos World |
Army of One (Short Story) - Army of One (Short Story): Army of One is the third short story published in the Horus Heresy series and the first that was not originally part of an anthology novel. Army of One was published online in April of 2012, as part of the Black Library's celebration of its fifteen year anniversary. It was later included in the The Silent War anthology novel. |
Army of One (Short Story) - Synopsis: As the Horus Heresy blazes across the galaxy, the Hive World of Proxima Apocryphis turns Traitor and Malcador the Sigillite despatches punishment in the form of a living weapon. Can the Assassin of the Eversor Clade eliminate the planet's governor and restore order? |
Arnogaur (Anthology Short Story) - Arnogaur (Anthology Short Story): Arnogaur is a short story published in the Gaunt's Ghosts series that was originally part of an anthology. Arnogaur was published as part of the Sabbat Worlds anthology in November 2014, and has yet to be released as a stand-alone e-book. |
Arnogaur (Anthology Short Story) - Synopsis: On Urdesh the remains of a Blood Pact tank commander are found. One major rule the Blood Pact must adhere to is that Pact do not kill Pact, and as such an investigation is launched and its left to the one with the rank of Arnogaur to discover who perpetrated the crime and punish them accordingly. The Arnogaur in this case is a former Astartes of the World Eaters Legion. |
Arrias Cordos - Arrias Cordos: Arrias Cordos was the first Chapter Master of the Black Consuls Chapter.A veteran of both the Great Crusade and subsequent dark days of the Horus Heresy, Arrias was a former legionary of the Ultramarines Legion's 72nd Chapter.He would survive the desperate battles of the Heresy and go on to become the first Chapter Master of the newly created Black Consuls following their inception during the Second Founding.During one of his Chapter's first campaigns in the early 31st Millennium, Cordos would lead his Chapter to victory in the Orbstar System against the hated Traitor forces of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion during the Cleansing of the Orbstar campaign.This earned him the accolades of his warriors and the moniker "Bane of Lorgar." Following his death, his Power Axe, Lorgar's Bane, would become a treasured relic of the Black Consuls. |
Artefacts (Short Story) - Artefacts (Short Story): Artefacts is a short story published in the Horus Heresy Series. Artefacts was originally published as part of the limited-release anthology novel Sedition's Gate, and it was later released as a stand-alone e-book. It is now also included in the War Without End anthology novel. |
Artefacts (Short Story) - Synopsis: Before the massacre on Isstvan V, the Primarch Vulkan returns to his forge on Nocturne to prepare for war against the Traitors. However, in light of recent conflicts with his wayward brother Konrad Curze, he looks upon his personal armoury with a startling new clarity. If the wrath of the supposedly loyal Night Lords can be unleashed upon their own homeworld in a moment of unchecked rage, is it wise for any Legion to have access to such devastating devices as the Engine of Woes, the Unbound Flame or the Song of Entropy? |
Artekus Bardane - Artekus Bardane: Artekus Bardane was the Commander (Chapter Master) of the Relictors Space Marine Chapter before they were declared Excommunicate Traitoris for their continued dabbling with Chaos artefacts and weaponry, despite an Inquisitorial mandate expressly forbidding them to do so. |
Artekus Bardane - History: A fierce warrior from the wilds of the Feral World of Neutra, Artekus Bardane was the son of a battle chieftain of one of that world's barbaric tribes and learned the way of war as soon as he could hold a sword. On Neutra a child learned to fight quickly or he died, and this resulted in the development of a warrior people who lived a precarious existence plundering neighbouring clans for sustenance. Artekus' confidence and courage saw him easily best his rivals, and he was chosen by the Librarians of the Relictors to become a Space Marine, quickly adapting to the ways of the Imperium and its advanced weapons of war. His supreme confidence, some would say overbearing arrogance, saw him rise rapidly through the ranks of the Chapter, accepting each new mystery revealed to him by the Chapter's Librarian Conclave with ease.His skill in mastering the weapons and artefacts of Chaos led to his being given command of a company that penetrated deep into the Eye of Terror on a mission to hunt down and capture Chaos weaponry. On the world of Eidolon, Artekus defeated a mighty Champion of Slaanesh, taking up his accursed weapon, a screaming flail of daemonic faces, and destroying the fiend's warband with the howling daemon weapon. This Screaming Flail was placed in stasis at the heart of the Relictors' mobile fortress-monastery, where it was kept until needed. Before wielding the daemoning weapon, its bearer was required to spend many days in penitent fasting and prayer, purifying his soul and steeling his faith to resist the whispered imprecations of the imprisoned daemon within.Artekus Bardane continued to serve with great distinction, earning yet higher rank, learning more of the Chapter's secrets and unearthing more and more Chaotic artefacts. After the destruction of the Cult of the Scarlet Vein, a bloody battle with a Chaos Cult of which Artekus was the only survivor, he was finally elevated to the rank of Chapter Master at the recommendation of his predecessor, who was mortally wounded in the final battle against that cult. In 998.M41, when the call for aid came from the beleaguered Hive World of Armageddon at the start of the Third War for Armageddon, the Relictors mobilised their entire Chapter and set off to serve in that great system-spanning conflict. Artekus ordered his captains to gather their warriors, and the entire Chapter journeyed to that war-torn world.Artekus led his men deep into the heart of Armageddon's Equatorial Jungle, where he believed the greatest potential lay for the study of Chaos, given that the cursed Monolith of Angron, the Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters Traitor Legion, squatted in its haunted depths, having been constructed by Angron's forces during the First War for Armageddon. All through the Third War for Armageddon, the Relictors remained within the depths of the jungle, famously refusing even the personal commands of Lord Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. When the war on Armageddon drew to a close, the Librarians of the Relictors claimed to have had visions of a giant eye, dripping with blood, and Artekus immediately withdrew his Chapter from the warzone. Following the Conclave's vision, he began the journey towards the Eye of Terror, where his Chapter participated in the 13th Black Crusade and ultimately was declared "Extremis Diabolus" by the Inquisition. Bardane had little patience for the Inquisition and believed that the Relictors were still pursuing the right course, a course that would ultimately lead the Imperium to accept the Relictors back into its good graces, despite the stiff-necked opposition from the Puritan factions of the Inquisition. |
Artellus Numeon - Artellus Numeon: Artellus Numeon was a Terran-born Astartes officer who served as the First Captain of the Salamanders Legion's elite 1st Company, known as the Firedrakes, throughout the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. He also served as Equerry to the Primarch and commanded Vulkan's elite personal Honour Guard, the Pyre Guard, which was comprised of Veteran Battle-Brothers of the Salamanders Legion. Sworn to protect the Primarch, these were warriors set apart from the rest of the XVIII Legion. Terran-born like their commander, they did not always fully appreciate the earthy sentiments of the Nocturnean culture in which Vulkan had been raised, but they knew their duty deep within their genetically-enhanced bones.Numeon was present during the tragic events of the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V where his Legion was nearly decimated. He survived the Traitors' trap and eventually made his way off the scoured planet, to carry on the war against the Warmaster Horus' Traitor Legions. Leading several small bands of survivors, Artellus Numeon became Legion Master and the spiritual figurehead of the Salamanders' Legion during the dark months where both the Imperium and the Legion believed their Primarch to be dead. Rekindling the embers of hope, Numeon embarked upon a heroic voyage -- a true odyssey -- to reunite Vulkan with his Legion on their homeworld of Nocturne. Never losing faith in his Primarch's fated rebirth, Numeon would eventually concede to making the ultimate sacrifice so that his Legion would rise from the ashes and grow strong again. |
Artellus Numeon - History: Long ago, during the turbulent era known as the Age of Strife, Warp travel became impossible and all the worlds which humanity had claimed were cut off from one another, forced to fend for themselves without the support of their neighbours in other star systems. Following the end of Old Night the Emperor of Mankind first publicly revealed himself during a series of conflicts to reunite the disparate techno-barbarian nations of Terra, collectively known as the Unification Wars. Following their successful conclusion the Emperor began to forge the foundation of the Imperium of Man in the 30th Millennium. The Emperor began a massive scientific effort to create the Primarchs -- 20 genetically-engineered sons that would serve as the Emperor's generals and command the Emperor's forces during the Great Crusade to reunite the scattered human race beneath His leadership.The Ruinous Powers of Chaos somehow manage to spirit the superhuman children away through the Warp, however, leaving them scattered across the galaxy. A massive localized Warp rift was created within the gene vaults of the Emperor's own palace, deep under the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains on Terra where the Primarchs were gestating. The gestation capsules containing the Emperor's unborn sons were scattered through the Warp to colony planets long since lost to Mankind. Each of the Primarchs somehow found themselves on ancient worlds of men, planets long since lost to the light of the greater universe beyond the stars. One of these infant children ended up on the feudal Death World of Nocturne. The strange baby was found by a blacksmith named N'bel, who, recognising the child as the one prophesied to be a saviour by the teachings of the Promethean Cult, and named the child Vulkan.Though the infant Primarchs were lost to him, the Emperor later utilised their genomes to serve as the genetic template from which He crafted His 20 Space Marine Legions. Before Vulkan, like all the Legions, the Salamanders had hailed from Terra. Artellus Numeon was one of the first candidates to be inducted into the nascent XVIII Legion. Like their gene-sire, the Legionaries sired from Vulkan's genetic legacy were volatile, and fiery-tempered. In the early years of the Great Crusade, the XVIII Legion was nearly destroyed, as their intense desire to prove their worth almost resulted in their extinction time and time again during battle. The very fact that there were so few Terran Salamanders left alive was testament to how close the XVIII Legion had come to destruction. Being reunited with their Primarch had saved them, and with the hardy people of Nocturne already students of Vulkan's Promethean Cult teachings, it was not long before the Salamanders saw their numbers swell again.Vulkan was able to save his genetic legacy because in them, he saw a great potential. The Emperor knew Vulkan was the perfect son to temper the XVIII Legion and forge it strong again. Learning discipline and patience, the Salamanders learned there is no better time to reflect than when they struck their Oaths of Moment and branded them into flesh before battle. Temperance in the face of war was not only prudent, it also saved lives. |
Artellus Numeon - The Pyre Guard: When Vulkan was reunited with his Legion, he saw the potential in his few remaining Terran sons. From amongst these survivors he chose the most stoic and fiercely independent warriors; those who had endured the worst of the XVIII Legion's trials and tribulations throughout the early years of the Great Crusade before he had been reunited with them. From these chosen few, the Primarch founded the Pyre Guard, his personal Honour Guard; charged with the protection of their Primarch and to act as his inner circle of advisors.Set apart from the other warriors of the XVIII Legion, all of the vaunted Pyre Guard were without equal. These individual warriors were hungry, ready for war. Like the deep drakes of Vulkan's homeworld, they were savage and fierce, sharp of claw and tooth. The members of the Pyre Guard were not like other Salamanders; they had more fire, more fury. Like the volcanoes of ancient Nocturne, the great jagged chains of the Dragonspike and Mount Deathfire, they were perpetually on the brink of eruption. Even the warriors of the Pyroclasts were not as volatile.The Pyre Guard were chosen warriors, those that displayed a level of self-sacrifice and self-sufficiency that exceeded all others. Like the saburai of old Nihon, they were fighters foremost, who could ally as a unit or function expertly on their own. They were also leaders, and each Pyre Guard commanded a Chapter of the Legion in addition to their duties as the Primarch's inner circle warriors. Numeon was one of these chosen elite. Though Terran-born, these elite warriors still displayed the physical traits of onyx-black skin and red eyes, an irreversible reaction to the unique radiation of Nocturne combined with the genetic heritage of their Primarch, which every Salamander, regardless of origin, possessed. The Pyre Guard's number always stood at seven, a number of great cultural significance to the people of Nocturne. When they marched to war with their Primarch, every one of their personal weapons was forged by its bearer, and every one could spit fire like the drakes of old. |
Artellus Numeon - Drop Site Massacre: The Pyre Guard's role during the Horus Heresy is not well known to Imperial scholars; what is for certain is that the XVIII Legion, along with the Iron Hands and the Raven Guard, were part of the first wave of Loyalist attackers during the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V. After the announcement of the Warmaster Horus' treachery against the Emperor and the destruction of the four open Traitor Legions' (the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, Death Guard and the World Eaters) remaining Loyalists during the Battle of Istvaan III, the Emperor ordered seven full Legions of Space Marines to attack the Forces of Chaos serving his beloved son and former friend. But amongst those seven Legions, four were already secretly Traitors to the Imperium and devotees of the Ruinous Powers.Seconds after the first drop-ship pierced the cloud layer, batteries of emplaced guns erupted across metres of earthworks dug along the Urgall Depression. Flak fire filled the sky like upwards-pouring rain, chewing through wing and fuselage, detonating arrow-headed cocoons of metal and spilling their lethal payloads into the air. It barely dented the assault, and when the Imperial loyalists finally made planetfall, over forty thousand legionaries tramped out upon the scorched earth. Of their initial complement, only fifteen of the Salamanders' ships and eleven Drop Pods would not make the surface intact. Nigh-on full Legion strength would be levelled against Horus and his rebels. The Salamanders hit along the left flank, the Raven Guard the right and Ferrus Manus with his Morlocks dead centre.Black sand cratered by ordnance made for uncertain footing. As the vast armies of the three loyal Primarchs ran from the holds of ships or emerged through the dissipating pressure cloud of blooming drop-pods, several legionaries faltered and slipped. Sustained bolter fire met them upon planetfall, and hundreds amongst the first landers were cut down before any kind of beachhead could be established. Fire was met with fire, the drumming staccato of thousands of weapons discharged in unison, their muzzle flashes merging into a vast and unending roar of flame. Dense spreads of missiles whined overhead to accompany the salvo, streaking white contrails from their rockets. Sections of earthworks erupted in bright explosions that threw plumes of dirt and armoured men into the air. Las bursts lit up the swiftly following darkness, spearing through tanks and Dreadnoughts that loomed behind the foremost ranks of enemy defenders, only for return fire to spit back in reply. Flamers choked the air with smoke and the stink of burning flesh, as yet more esoteric weapons pulsed and shrieked. It was a cacophony of death, but the song had barely begun its first verse.The right flank was swollen with warriors of the XVIII. Salamanders teemed out of their transports, quickly coming into formation and advancing with purpose. The black sand underfoot was eclipsed from sight, as a green sea overwhelmed and overran it. Vexilliaries held aloft banners, attempting to impose some order on the emerging battalions. Methodical, dogged, the XVIII Legion found its shape and swarmed across the dark dunes. At the forefront of this avenging wave was Vulkan, and to his flanks the Firedrakes. Lumbering from the metal spearheads of Drop Pods, the Terminators amassed in two large battalions. They were dauntless, dominant, but not the most implacable warriors in the Salamanders' arsenal. Contemptors, striding through the smoke, laid claim to that honour. Great, towering war engines, the Dreadnoughts jerked with the savage recoil of Graviton Guns and Autocannons. Not stopping to see the carnage wreaked, they slowly tramped after the rushing companies of Legionaries in small cohorts, attack horns blaring. The discordant noise simulated the war cries of the deep drakes and was pumped through vox-emitters to boost its volume.Disgorged by Thunderhawk Transporters, Spartan Assault Tanks, Predators-Infernus and Vindicators disembarked at combat speed, tracks rolling. The battle tanks rode at the back of the line with a steep ridge behind them, anchoring the dropsite with their armoured might. Three spearheads were driven at the traitor's heart, two black and one green, all determined to bring down the fortress squatting at the summit of the Urgall Hills that overlooked the expansive depression. In seconds the shifting sand became as glass, vitrified by the heat of tens of thousands of weapons, and cracked underfoot.Vulkan ordered his sons to take the ridge line to gain higher ground. Shells pranging off his armour, the primarch took up the vanguard position, whilst his chasing Pyre Guard tried to keep pace. Behind the Pyre Guard, the stoic advance of the Pyroclasts struggled to keep up as they laid down sheets of burning promethium in front and to the flanks. The Terminator-armoured Firedrakes were also slipping back, unable to compete with the Primarch's speed, and Numeon began to see that there was a realistic danger of becoming estranged from the rest of the Legion. Adding their strength to the spearhead the Primarch was forging, the 15th Company Reconnaissance took up fresh position. Their charge line would take them in alongside the Pyre Guard, able to maintain pace where the bulkier Firedrakes and Pyroclasts could not.As if sensing that his Legion was losing him, Vulkan slowed but a fraction as the fire-blackened lip of the outermost trench drew close. Hunkered within the partially sundered defences, the Legionaries of the Death Guard brought guns to bear. The XIV Legion were hardy fighters -- the Salamanders had fought alongside them at Ibsen, but those days were gone and now allies had turned into enemies. The flame storm and the ferocity of Vulkan's attack had scattered the defenders but they were rallying quickly and now counter-attacked from three separate channels. Although the trench network was wide enough for three legionaries to stand abreast, the fighting was thick and fierce. Wilting before his charge, the defenders sensibly chose to hang back and harry the primarch with a welter of bolter fire. Meeting it head on, the primarch shrugged off the shell damage as the brass casings broke apart against his near-inviolable armour.Across the entire Urgall Depression, hundreds of battles between Legionaries were fought. Some were company-strong, others were squads or even individuals. There was no scheme to it, just masses of warriors trying to kill one another. Most of the Loyalist troops had moved on from the dropsite and were engaging Horus’ rebels at the foot of his fortifications, but a few still occupied this beachhead. Scattered groups of traitors had spilled out as far as the dropsite but were quickly destroyed by the troops holding it. These were skirmishes, though, and nothing compared to the greater battle. As the 15th Company pressed the attack against the retreating Death Guard forces, a dirty cloud, too thick and too low to be fog, rolled down the slopes. It spilled into the myriad trench-works, funnelled by the conduits of hewn earth. And it was fast. In seconds it had cleared the no-man’s-land between the previous trench and the next bank of fortifications and was hurtling at Nemetor and his warriors. It overtook the Death Guard first, who adjusted respirators before the miasma hit as if they knew it was coming. It was a deadly gas attack.The Legion armoury was vast, and not all of its weapons were as obvious as a Bolter or as noble as a sword. There were those who wielded devices of much more insidious potency -- the slow and agonising ones, the weapons that forever scarred both the bearer and the victim. They did not discriminate and made no allowance for even the strongest armour. From the vaunted champion to the lowliest mortal, they were the great levellers and their works were terrible to behold. More than a hundred of the reconnaissance company collapsed, choking and spitting blood. Many of the 15th didn't wear battle-helms, preferring to be unencumbered for the stealth work at which they excelled. These warriors had suffered the worst. Skin sloughed away by virulent acids, ravaged by pustules and choking on vomit, eyes drowning in pus from the dirty bomb, there was almost nothing left of them but half-armoured carcasses. Dozens more were hacked apart or shot down by resurgent Death Guard attacking in the confusion.The numerically superior Death Guard had already overrun the smaller reconnaissance company and were attempting to encircle the rest of the Salamanders. Vulkan single-handedly prevented that, hitting the overlapping warriors and cutting them apart with his flaming sword. First Captain Numeon and the Pyre Guard joined him fractionally later and a dense, chaotic melee erupted. As battle continued to rage all around them, the din of the melee was pierced by savage and guttural war cries. A ruddy smog was sweeping across the battlefield, fashioned from blood-drenched mist and the smoke generated by thousands of fires. Caught in a crosswind, it slashed in from the east and brought with it the brutal challenge of a Legion that revelled in war. It was the XII Legion -- the World Eaters.Ash-fall from the many thousands of fires turned the sky grey. It baptised a cohort of warriors, clad to various degrees in ancient gladiatorial trappings and wielding ritual caedere weapons. They were the Rampagers, a deadly breed even amongst the Eaters of Worlds, and a throwback to Angron's incarceration as a slave-fighter. Bellowing guttural war cries, they charged ahead of a Contemptor Dreadnought to engage the Salamanders. Emerald-armoured Astartes balked at what the battle-maddened World Eaters attempted. Though there was no more than thirty men - just three squads - they charged over a hundred. Several went down to sporadic bolter fire. Some were clipped by shrapnel but kept on coming. Only those too injured to fight, unable to run because of missing limbs or critical wounds were halted. Something urgent and terrible spurred them on. Even when they were the War Hounds, their reputation in battle, particularly close-quarters, was fearsome. As the reborn World Eaters under Angron, they had become something else. Rumours abounded within the ranks, of arcane devices that manipulated the legionaries' tempers, simulacra of the ones embedded in Angron's skull by his slavers. Now that the Salamanders saw them, ignoring pain and injury, frothing with frenzy, they believed those stories to be true.As the Salamanders and World Eaters fought in bloody close-quarters, elsewhere on the slope, a much larger force of Firedrakes fought Angron's personal bodyguards, the Devourers, to a bloody stalemate. For once, the Lord of the Red Sands was close to his Honour Guard. Angron bellowed a challenge to his brother Primarch. Vulkan's name was heard amongst the guttural syllables of the World Eater's native tongue. Anointed in blood, partially obscured by scudding clouds of smoke and shimmering heat haze, Angron continued to bellow his challenge, this time in High Gothic, "Vulkan!" His voice was like the fall of cities, rumbling and booming across the vast battlefield. Angron jabbed down to his brother with one of the motorised Power Axes he carried. Its blade was burring, roaring for blood. "I name you high rider!"Farther down the slope, Vulkan gripped the haft of his immense warhammer Dawnbringer and went to meet his brother's challenge. But before the two Primarchs could come to blows, an arcing salvo from one of the traitor gun emplacements spear-headed a missile up into the air and all the way down until it struck part of the slope between the two Primarchs. A firestorm lit the hillside, several tonnes of incendiary ordnance expressed in the expansive bloom of conflagration. It swept outwards in a turbulent wave, bathing the lower part of the slope in heat and flame. This was nothing compared to its epicentre. Firedrakes were immolated in that blast, blown apart and burned to ash in their Terminator Armour. Though Vulkan was wreathed in flames, he stepped from the blaze unharmed. The remaining Firedrakes gathered to him, tramping over the dead where they had to. Mauled as they had been by the World Eaters, Vulkan knew that his warriors had suffered but would not stop until they were dead or the battle was over. But it was grievously attritional, and he was not ashamed to admit relief when he heard that the reinforcements coming in to make planetfall behind them. Hundreds of landers and drop-pods choked the already suffocating sky, emblazoned with the iconography of the Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers and Night Lords. The Primarch merely watched impassively as the manifold shuttles touched down and the loyalists took up position on the edge of the depression. Of Angron, there was no sign. The firestorm had beaten him back, it seemed, and now with the arrival of four more Legions, the Lord of the Red Sands had ordered a retreat.Both the Raven Guard and the Salamanders withdrew towards their drop site to give their recently arrived reinforcements a chance to earn glory against the Traitors. Vulkan and his brother Corax tried to persuade their fiery-tempered brother Ferrus Manus to do the same. But the Gorgon would not be dissuaded from his task. The scent of blood was in the air, and so, the Iron Hands pressed the attack against the retreating Traitor forces. Unknown to the Loyalists, the drop site had been fortified by the four secret Traitor Legions, who had been intended to form the second wave of the Imperial assault on Horus' forces. While the retreat of Horus' rebels was ragged and disorganised, the warriors of the XVIII and XIX Legions fell back in good order. Tanks returned to column, rumbling slowly but steadily back down the slope. The scorched trenches emptied as legionaries filed out in vast hosts, company banners still flying. They were battered but resolute. The dead and injured came with them, dragged or borne aloft by their still standing brothers. It was a great exodus, the black and green ocean of war retreating with the tide to leave the flotsam of their slain enemy behind it.On the northern side of the Urgall Depression, a fresh sea made ready to sweep in and carry all of the mortal debris away. Across from the muster field of the Salamanders, which was little more than a laager of drop-ships, were the Iron Warriors. Armoured in steel-grey with black-and-yellow chevrons, the IV Legion looked stark and stern. They had erected a barricade, the armoured bastions of their own landing craft alloyed together, to bolster the northern face of the slope. Great cannons were raised aloft behind it, their snouts pointing to the ash-smothered sky. A line of battle tanks sat in front, bearing the grim icon of a metal-helmeted skull. And in front of that, Iron Warriors arrayed in their cohorts, thousands strong. They held their silence and their weapons across their bodies, with no more life than automatons. Not a single Legionary about the XVIII stood idle. Yet the Iron Warriors, the entire muster on the northern slope, neither spoke nor moved beyond what was necessary to assemble.Not one responded to the Salamanders' hails. Only the wind kicking at their banners gave any sense of animus to the IV Legion throng. Only when Vulkan started in the direction of his brother, Perturabo, the Lord of Iron returned the Lord of Drakes' gimlet gaze with one of his own. It was only at that moment, did Vulkan realise that they had been betrayed. More than ten thousand guns answered, the weapons of their allies turned on the Salamanders with traitorous intent, crushing the Loyalists between the hammer of Horus' forces and the anvil of the fortified drop site. Wrath drove Vulkan up the side of the hill, that and a sense of injustice. The ignoble actions of his brother primarchs had wounded Vulkan to the core, far deeper and more debilitating than any blade. Vaunted warriors all, the Pyre Guard could scarcely keep up.Battle companies followed in the wake of their lords, captains roaring the attack as thousands of green-armoured warriors chased up the slope to kill the sons of Perturabo. Withering crossfire from both the north and south faces of the Urgall Depression cut down hundreds in the first few seconds of deceit. The XVIII Legion was shedding warriors like a snake sheds scales. But still they drove on, determined not to back down. Tenacity was a Salamander’s greatest virtue -- that refusal to give in. Upon the plains of Isstvan V, against all of those guns, this quality almost ended the XVIII Legion. Only as the majority of the Salamanders crested the first ridge, did they first see the arc of fire. It trailed, long and blazing, into the darkening sky. The tongue of flame climbed and upon reaching the apex of its parabola bent back on itself into the shape of a horseshoe. Rockets screaming, it came down in the midst of the charging Salamanders and broke them apart.A savage crater was gored into the Urgall hills, like the bite of some gargantuan beast resurrected from old myth and birthed in nucleonic fire. It threw warriors skywards as if they were no more than empty suits of armour, bereft of bone and flesh. As a bell jar shatters when dropped onto rockcrete from a great height, so too did the Legion smash apart. Tanks following after their lord Primarch were flung barrel-rolling across the black sand with their hulls on fire. Those vehicles in the mouth of the blast were simply ripped apart; tracks and hatches, chunks of abused metal torn to exploded shrapnel. Legionaries spared death in the initial blast were eviscerated in the frag storm. Super-heavies crumpled like tin boxes crushed by a hammer. Crewmen boiled alive, legionaries cooked down to ash in that furnace. It went deep, right into the beating heart of the Salamanders ranks. Only by virtue of the fact that they were so far ahead were the Pyre Guard spared the worst.With immense kinetic fury, it threw them apart and smothered their armoured forms in a firestorm. An electro-magnetic pulse wiped out the Vox, a threnody of static reigning in place of certain contact. Tactical organisation became untenable. In a single devastating strike, the Lord of Iron had crippled the XVIII Legion, severed its head and sent its body into convulsive spasm. Retreat was the only viable strategy remaining. Droves fell back to the dropsite, trying to climb aboard ships that were surging desperately into the sky to outreach the terrible storm of betrayal below. It was not a rout, though for any force other than the Legiones Astartes it would have been, faced with such violence. Many were cut down as the traitors threaded the air with enough flak to wither an armada.Despite a heroic defence, the three Loyalist Legions who took part in the battle on Istvaan V were practically destroyed; all but a handful of Battle-Brothers fell on that fateful day and the Primarch Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands was beheaded by his former best friend Fulgrim, the Primarch of the Emperor's Children. After this sad defeat, the Salamanders, as well as the other two betrayed Space Marine Legions, were unable to perform any further tasks the Emperor had planned for them and spent the rest of the Heresy rebuilding their shattered forces. Both Vulkan and his brother Corvus Corax survived the ambush on Istvaan V. Conflicting reports by the few survivors stated that Vulkan, also gravely wounded, had to be dragged away from the fight onto a Thunderhawk gunship by three of his Pyre Guard and then managed to escape back to Nocturne. But the reality of the Salamanders' Primarch's fate proved to be far more dire. |
Artellus Numeon - Flight of the Fire Ark: With the full treachery of the Traitor Legions revealed, and the whereabouts of Vulkan unknown, Numeon saw that retreat was the only viable strategy remaining. Droves of Loyalist survivors fell back to the dropsite, trying to climb aboard ships that were surging desperately into the sky to outreach the terrible storm of betrayal below. It was not a rout, though for any force other than the Legiones Astartes it would have been, faced with such violence. Many were cut down as the Traitors threaded the air with enough flak to wither an armada. Groaning, feeling the extent of every one of his many injuries, and ignoring the urgent cascade of damage reports scrolling down the left side of his one still-functional retinal lens, Numeon staggered to his feet.A piece of armour, one he knew well and had seen before, lay within his grasp. He took the sigil once worn by Vulkan and tucked it into his belt. His Pyre Guard brother, Leodrakk was with him, but he couldn't see Vulkan or the rest of the Pyre Guard. Smoke blanketed the ridge and the ash-fall had intensified. Heat haze from the still-burning fire blurred his vision. He saw the crater -- he had been thrown back from its epicentre -- and the hundreds of twisted bodies within. They were incinerated, fused into their armour. Some were still dying. Numeon knew he had to reach a Drop-Ship, he had to save himself and Leodrakk. They must have slipped into a narrow defile that had shielded their bodies from the fire. Numeon assumed that he had blacked out. There were fragments, pieces that he did not possess in his eidetic memory of what happened after the missile strike. He remembered Leodrakk calling out his brother's name. But Skatar'var had not answered. None of the Pyre Guard were answering.Finally reaching the dropsite with Leodrakk, Numeon found visibility was almost zero. Like tar turned into air, the blackness was virtually absolute. Auto-senses were of limited use, but Numeon managed to get as far as a ship. Leodrakk was retching in the vile smoke, so thick it would have killed a lesser man. He clung to Numeon’s left shoulder and let the Pyre captain guide him. But Numeon was struggling, too. The dropship was close enough to touch but the filth besieging them made it impossible to gauge the location of the entrance ramp or if it was even open. Out of the darkness, a hand reached for them, and together they stumbled onto the deck of a crowded Stormbird. It was black within the lander; smoke was also filling the hold and the internal lighting was out. Numeon slumped and rolled on his back, his eye burning like someone had thrust a knife into it and twisted the blade. He was more badly wounded that he had at first realised, having taken several hits during the descent as he shielded his Pyre Guard brother from harm. Leodrakk was on his knees, coughing up the wretched smoke from his lungs. Then unconsciousness took him and he was lost to it.Verud Pergellen, one of the Iron Hands' elite Honour Guard known as the Morlocks, had saved Numueon and Leodrakk's lives on the plains of Istvaan V. So few of the Morlocks had escaped, so very few of the Iron Hands' Clan Avernii left to continue its great and noble legacy. When the shells were falling and the full horror of the betrayal revealed, it was Pergellen who had fought his way back to the dropships when other Iron Hands warriors were losing their minds at the death of their Primarch Ferrus Manus. The survivors of Istvaan V had been a mess of disparate units and Legions. Not all had survived the escape. Some were simply too badly wounded or had been dead when they were dragged aboard. Of the forty-seven Legionaries that took flight on that vessel, only twenty-six survived. They lived long enough to be reunited with the Fire Ark, a Salamanders Strike Cruiser that had escaped the carnage -- one of the few. It had not done so unscathed. Many of the crew were killed during that desperate flight. Wounded, weary, they had levelled what guns they had on the dropship emerging from that self-same chaos, not realising they were friends, not foes.There were no Legionaries aboard, not one. Every single able-bodied warrior that could don war-plate had been sent to bring the disgraced Warmaster Horus to heel. It was extravagant, Numeon realised in retrospect -- a means of showing force to force and hoping the latter balked in the face of the former. How wrong they were. It did not seem like extravagance now; instead, it smacked of ignorant sacrifice. And how Horus had prepared his altar for their willing offering. The blades of his Traitors were sharp indeed on that slab of Istvaan V. Since finding the Fire Ark and the brave but depleted crew aboard, they had lost three more Legionaries. Numeon had allied them together, given them back some semblance of purpose. But it did not come without risk, and a vein of fatalism was growing in this company. He had expected it of the Iron Hands, but they bore the loss of their Primarch with a quiet and steely determination that did the Medusans much credit. No, it was the Nocturneans, the sons of Vulkan, that suffered most. Of all the Salamanders, only Numeon believed. In his heart, he knew that his father had survived. The rest, despite his impassioned arguments, were not so convinced, and fought for vengeance instead of hope and a desire to serve. Numeon knew these men were broken. Bereft of leadership, they would have destroyed one another, and with no way to return to their Legions they were cut adrift and aimless.Their vessel, the Fire Ark, had been badly damaged in the exodus from Istvaan V. Some weapon systems were still functional, though these were insufficient to last long against a fully operational ship of the same caliber. Life support, power for lighting on certain decks, the engines and warp drive still worked, albeit at a reduced and unreliable capacity. Communications were another matter, however. Shipboard Vox worked well enough but long-distance augurs and the sensorium arrays were beyond repair and use. Even ship-to-surface vox was extremely patchy. Captain Halder had achieved the near-impossible in effecting a successful escape, but they had limped on ever since and knew nothing of the greater war. Or even if there was a greater war. For all they knew, everyone was dead and Horus had won. Numeon refused to believe that. Just as he refused to believe that Vulkan had died along with Lord Manus. He had not seen the Primarch fall, but the news from their fellow survivors who had, was compelling as it was grim. They would fight on, hoping that others did too. |
Artellus Numeon - Pursuit of the Word Bearers: The months that followed saw the Fire Ark embark on a series of hit-and-run attacks on the Traitor forces. During their campaign of hit-and-run tactics, the survivors of the Fire Ark had come across the world of Viralis. The entire planet was filled with corpse-filled streets; bodies defiled and mutilated in service to the Dark Powers. The Traitors had left something else behind as well. The few survivors had been greatly changed, human no longer. They had become...things. The Loyalists soon discovered that the perpetrator of this horrific atrocity was none other than the hated Word Bearers Legion, specifically, a Dark Apostle named Valdrekk Elias, who was sworn to the service of First Chaplain Erebus. The survivors of the Fire Ark soon tracked the whereabouts of the cleric to the world of Traoris. They had discovered that the Word Bearers had been tracking a frontier archaeologist named Caeren Sebaton to an ancient fortification. They were intent on acquiring an unknown object from the dig site of an ancient fortress. Though the Loyalists were unsure as to the purpose of the Word Bearers' presence on the planet, they intended to save Traoris from suffering the same fate as Viralis.Twenty-three Legionaries comprised Numeon's disparate company, himself included. It was barely more than two squads. The majority were Salamanders, mainly line warriors with a few Pyroclasts, as well as himself and Leodrakk from the Pyre Guard. A pair of Battle-Brothers and Codicier Hriak represented the Raven Guard. And of the Iron Hands Legion, there were only Domadus and Pergellen. Ever since the evacuation from the Istvaan V killing fields, there had been no contact with any other Legion force. Over the course of a few weeks, as events played out, Numeon's warriors saved the mortal Sebaton. After intense scrutiny and the invasive psychic scrying of Codicier Hriak, the archaeologist revealed that he was the mysterious individual known as John Grammaticus, a human operative of the mysterious xenos organisation called the Cabal, and had been genetically altered by them to become what they referred to as a "Perpetual", a being who was capable of regeneration and therefore was effectively immortal, much like the Emperor of Mankind.He had been tasked to come to Traoris to obtain a relic from the ancient ruins of a fortress built by Chaos Cultists millennia ago. Within the fortress was buried a spear, though not a spear as such. This so-called "spear" was a piece of fulgurite, a fork of lightning crystallised in rock. The sublime artefact had been formed from the infinite power of the Emperor when he annihilated the servants of the Ruinous Powers in millennia past. The Dark Apostle hoped to obtain it in order to utilise the divine power within to ascend to Daemonhood. Grammaticus also informed Numeon that the relic had something to do with the Salamanders' Primarch Vulkan, but as to what, he could not say. Though initially distrustful of the strange mortal, Numeon relented, and attempted to help Grammaticus escape off-world.The remaining Loyalists were being hunted by the relentless Word Bearers Huntsman, Barthusa Narek, a servant of the Dark Apostle Elias, as well as the Chaos Cultists of Traoris. Over the course of making their way towards Traoris' lone spaceport, many of the surviving Legionaries were killed. The Raven Guard had hidden their Thunderhawk gunship within the lightning fields located on the high peaks that surrounded the spaceport. While some of the surviving Loyalists futilely attacked the spaceport in order to draw the bulk of the encroaching Word Bearers away, Numeon, Grammaticus and Codicier Hriak made their way towards the hidden gunship. Unfortunately, Narek and two of his fellow Word Bearers followed them, having tracked the Raven Guard's psychic spoor. The Raven Guard willingly sacrificed himself as he confronted the encroaching Traitor Marines. As Numeon went to assist Grammaticus, the mortal utilised a laser Digital Weapon and fired it into one of Numeon's retinal lens, burning out his eye and searing his face beneath. The trauma of it put him on his knees.Half-blind, he snatched for the human. Grammaticus took the fulgurite from Numeon's scabbard, deftly avoiding the Salamander's grab. Before the human departed, he wanted to know only one thing, did Vulkan truly live? The mortal believed that he did. Suddenly, the Pyre Captain convulsed as he was shot by a Bolt Pistol from behind. Grammaticus froze in place as he was confronted by the Dark Apostle Elias himself, who stood on the lowered ramp of the gunship. Without warning, a tear in reality appeared before them, the form of Erebus stepping forth. Elias thought that his master had come to help him achieve his ascension. Handing over the fulgurite relic, Erebus lashed out with the lightning spear and slit the other Dark Apostle's throat. Elias sank to his knees, dying, unable to staunch the grievous wound from the god-weapon. Erebus had killed his former servant for attempting to betray him. Erebus then ordered Grammaticus to take the relic, making no attempt to stop him. Cautiously, the human took the proffered relic and departed Traoris in the lone gunship.Regaining consciousness despite his severe wounds and the loss of his right eye, Numeon attempted to reach the Fire Ark which had miraculously survived this far, but was instead captured by another company of the Word Bearers. |
Artellus Numeon - Deliverance: Imprisoned on board of the Demagogue, a Hunter-class Destroyer belonging to the fleet of Dark Apostle Quor Gallek, and tortured over several months by the Dark Apostle's lieutenant -- a daemon-possessed Word Bearer that answered to the name of Xenuth Sul. Numeon's mind was stretched to its very limits and beyond. It became quickly apparent that the Unburdened sought information on the whereabouts both of the fulgurite stone -- the esoteric weapon created by the Emperor's divine power -- and of the traitor Barthusa Narek, which had been tasked with retrieving the fulgurite but had since betrayed his Legion for unknown reasons. Artellus Numeon witnessed first hand the depths in which the Word Bearers had sunk as the Demagogue resembled more a flying sacrificial altar for Xenuth Sul and Quor Gallek to conduct their unholy blood-rites, than a warship of the Legiones Astartes. Fortunately for Numeon, the Demagogue and its sister-ship, the Dark Sacrament, were attacked by a Strike Cruiser of the Ultramarines Legion later identified as the Defiance of Calth.The Defiance of Calth’s attack having disrupted whatever blasphemous ritual had allowed Quor Gallek to manifest himself onboard the Demagogue, Numeon succeeded in freeing himself from the restrains chaining him to the sacrificial altar and although very weak, he decided to seek out revenge and retrieve Vulkan's sigil from the dead hands of Xenuth Sul who had taken it from him. Freed, Numeon was surrounded by the corpses of Loyalist legionnaries which were already dead. As he looked around the grim abattoir, he encountered one survivor of the Iron Hands who was had been mercilessly tortured and brutalised by his Word Bearers captors. Numeon ended up killing the grievously wounded Legionary as a final act of mercy, promising him that he would make the Word Bearers pay, before seeking out his chosen target. Meanwhile, the Dark Sacrament was burning as the Ultramarines of the "Red-marked" company, led by their charismatic and battle-hardened leader, Sergeant Aeonid Thiel, had also boarded the Demagogue. Discovering the sacrificial altars within the torture cell, Sergeant Thiel quickly realized that one of the prisoners had escaped. Thiel led his squad for the bridge, realizing that whoever had been imprisoned, would likely seek to settle their score with the commander of the ship. Having scavenged a Bolt Pistol and a Combat Blade from dead Word Bearers, Numeon had thus far managed to head to the bridge unopposed, but was now blocked by a Legionnary in full battle-plate standing guard in front of the bridge. Half-naked and ill-equipped, Numeon prepared himself for a futile, if glorious, charge when the Word Bearer was killed by disciplined bolter-fire from Thiel's strike-team. Storming the bridge on his own, Numeon found Xenuth Sul alone and prepared to confront him, when Thiel and his Ultramarines interrupted him, seized Xenuth Sul and retrieved Vulkan's sigil without a fight. Numeon was then transferred to the Apothecarion of the Defiance of Calth to have his wounds attended to, while the ship made its way to the heart of Ultramar, to Magna Macragge Civitas and the Fortress of Hera, were Vulkan's body had been entombed since his death at the hand of Bartusa Narek.During the shorty journey, something akin to friendship quickly developed between Aeonid Thiel and Numeon. The Ultramarines' Sergeant informed Numeon of the events that had taken place since the Battle of Calth, and of the struggles the Realm of Ultramar now faced and of Roboute Guilliman's initiative to declare Terra as having fallen and the Primarch's proclamation to begin Imperium Secundus. More importantly, he told Numeon of Vulkan's apparent madness following his month-long torture at the hands of his former brother Primarch, Konrad Curze -- the murderous Primarch of the Night Lords -- and his Primarch's eventual death. Despite this dire news, Numeon refused to believe in Vulkan's demise, convinced that Vulkan lived, and might ultimately still be restored to life. However, Thiel did warn Numeon that the Ultramarines had Vulkan's presumed killer in custody and that their new prisoner, Xenuth Sul, would soon suffer a similiar fate. |
Artellus Numeon - Imperium Secundus: Upon reaching Macragge, Numeon discovered that he was not the only son of Vulkan to have reached the homeworld of the XIII Legion, nor were the Salamanders the only shattered Legions present on Macragge -- delegations of Iron Hands and Raven Guard were also present, as were lone warriors of the White Scars and even the Space Wolves Legions. But supreme amongst the Loyalists stood the triumvirate of Ultramarines, Dark Angels and Blood Angels -- the legions of the founders of the new Imperium. While Numeon's return was celebrated with due rejoice, the sad certainty of Vulkan's death overshadowed the reunion between Numeon and his brothers. Almost upon arrival, Numeon demanded to be taken to his Primarch's resting place. Escorted by two of his brothers, Numeon reached the vault where Vulkan's body had been laid to rest in an ornate golden casket, only to find that the Primarch's mortal remains had mysteriously vanished. Neither Numeon nor the honour guard standing vigil around their Primarch had seen or heard anything, which only served to deepen the mystery of the Primarch's true state.Almost immediately, search parties from the Ultramarines most elite troops, the Invictus Guard, were despatched to cover the entire fortress and city, but in the initial phase, the Salamanders were purposefully kept from joining the search. It would take a personal audience of Numeon -- rightly regarded as the de facto Legion Master of the Salamanders Legion, being the sole surviving senior officer of the XVIII having been saved from the black sands of Istvaan V -- to sway the mind of both Lord Guilliman and that of the new Emperor, the Primarch Sanguinius of the Blood Angels. Numeon argued his case with charisma, and although he failed in convincing the gathered three Primarchs of Vulkan's return to life, the Salamanders were permitted to search for their lost Primarch. Their efforts would however, largely be in vain. Nevertheless, this episode marked a decisive turn of events for the sons of Vulkan, firstly because the enterprise they showed in questing for their missing Primarch served to strengthen and renew the bonds of brotherhood between these scattered survivors and secondly, because more and more of these legionaries were now looking to Numeon for guidance and leadership. Some of the legionaries had even started believing in Numeon's mantra, "Vulkan lives," that their Primarch may indeed still live, but this new uplifting spirit was soon sorely tested when Titus Prayto, amongst the most senior Librarians of the Ultramarines, revealed to Numeon and his closest advisors the full and horrible truth about their Primarch's arrival on Macragge; that Vulkan had truly died upon arriving on the Ultramarine homeworld and had miraculously come back to life shortly afterwards to battle against Night Lords murderous Primarch, Konrad Curze, but also that the trauma he had experienced had bereft Vulkan of his sanity. Ultimately, Titus Prayto revealed a final secret that Roboute Guilliman had not shared with Vulkan's sons -- that the man behind Vulkan's murder, the Word Bearer, Bartusa Narek, was imprisoned within the Fortress of Hera and that Xenuth Sul had also been transferred there.Numeon ultimately grew to the task of leadership he had never had desired, to lead what remained of the XVIII Legion. As an exterior symbol of his new responsibilities, Numeon was presented with a new suit of Power Armour, a Salamanders' forged suit befitting of a Legion Consul, and armed with the very best weapons at their disposal. Chaplain Var'kir had relinquished his ornate Bolt Pistol, the bronze-chased and serpent-headed, Basilysk, while Sergeant Zytos presented the Legion Master with his own sword, an artificer-wrought Chainsword forged from the teeth of the mighty Nocturnian salamander Draukoros. Thus armoured and armed, Numeon would lead his brothers on their first mission -- the interrogation of Bartusa Narek.By the time a Thunderhawk gunship was summoned to take the small party to the Eastern Keep of the Fortress of Hera, pandemonium had broken out. Unknown to his captors, Xenuth Sul had been one of the dreaded "Unburdened," the elite demonically-possessed warriors of the Word Bearers Legion, which he had now utilised his unnatural powers to free himself, and gone onto rampage through the prison facility. The sacrifice of the Demagogue and the Dark Sacrament, his own capture and transfer to the Eastern Keep, had all been done willingly, so as to get closer to his intended target, the renegade Bartusa Narek, from which his sombre master, the Dark Apostle Quor Gallek, hoped to learn the secrets and powers of the fulgurite stone. In company of Aeonid Thiel and one of his Red-marked, Numeon raced after Xenuth Sul to confront him, but the Unburdened was faster, and reached Narek's cell first. Thiel, one of his warriors and Numeon stormed the cell to confront the Word Bearers Legionary inside the cell, only to realise that they were confronting Xenuth Sul and not Bartusa Narek. Revealing his true demonic nature, Xenuth Sul attacked the Loyalists, knocking Thiel unconscious and killing his companion. Numeon lashed out with his new blade, Draukoros and severely wounded Sul, but the blade remained trapped in the daemonic flesh of his opponent, effectively disarming him. Numeon was forced to fall back and utilise his secondary blade -- an Ultramarine Gladius -- to desperately fight for his life. Xenuth Sul pressed his advantage and sought an easy kill, but hesitated when confronted with Vulkan's Sigil, which gave the arriving legionaries comprised of the Salamanders Zytos and Var'kir and two Ultramarines guards more than enough time to rake the Unburdened with deadly bolter fire. Hurled back by the deluge of shells, Xenuth Sul staggered, giving Sergeant Thiel enough time to regain his senses, and launched another attack. Hard-pressed by both Thiel and Numeon, Xenuth Sul was finally vanquished when Artellus Numeon retrieved Draukoros from its unholy flesh and beheaded the foul creature.Bartusa Narek's escape resulted in a renewed city-wide search, but as for the search for the Primarch of the Salamanders, both parties of Ultramarines and Salamanders returned empty-handed. With their only lead on their Primarch's whereabouts now lost to them, the surviving Salamanders gathered together in council. The new brotherhood of the sixty-six surviving sons of Vulkan took the name of the Pyre and now, more than ever, looked to Numeon for guidance. Narek's escape and the disappearance of their father's body left them precious little reason to stay on Macragge, and most of them desired to undertake the perilous journey back to their home world of Nocturne. But most of these survivors of the XVIII Legion refused to be treated as a mere tool of propaganda for the Ultramarines' new Imperium. However, Numeon overwhelmed by grief over the repeated loss of his Primarch, refused the position that was offered to him and isolated himself to mourn in one of Magna Macragge's former cemeteries. Seeking solitude, Numeon instead encountered the Primarch of the Dark Angels, Lion El'Jonson, the new Lord Protector of Imperium Secundus. Far from trying of convincing Numeon to remain on Macragge, the Lion confessed his doubts regarding the fall of Terra and reminded Numeon of his duties as the new Legion Master of the Salamanders. Still reluctant, Numeon answered him that he had neither desire, nor claim to that title, upon which the Primarch of the First Legion answered that Numeon's was the only true claim. Although their causes might have seemed lost or futile, they were still warriors of the Imperium and their oaths and honour demanded that their quest should nevertheless be accomplished. Left alone with his thoughts and broken dreams, Numeon wandered in the cemetery until he encountered a honourary statue of Ferrus Manus, the slain Primarch of the Iron Hands Legion. Denied his vengeance and single hope, Numeon let his bitterness flow, but was struck by silence as his eyes fell on another statue -- there in the shadows, sitting upon a marble throne was Vulkan's body.Reunited with his Primarch, Numeon's convictions grew strong -- Vulkan would be restored -- not on Macragge, but on their home world. The Salamanders would bring Vukan's body back to Nocturne. |
Artellus Numeon - The Odyssey of the Charybdis: With the miraculous recovery of their Primarch's body, the Salamanders soon went forward with their plans and departed Macragge to attempt the perilous voyage to Nocturne. Under normal circumstances, this would already have been a long and arduous voyage, but since the Ruinstorm, the immense warpstorm that was ritualistically summoned by the Word Bearers on Calth, warp-travel had proved erratic at best and deadly at worse. The Ruinstorm was not only dangerous because of the powerful warp turbulences it had brought with it, but because it occluded the light of the Astronomican, and thus, rendered Navigators practically blind, which successfully impeding all warp traffic. Macragge was the only known exception to this as it had been -- for lack of a better word -- "lit up" by the xenos artefact known as the Pharos, located beneath the largest peak on the world of Sotha. As Nocturne lacked both the light of the Pharos and that of the Astronomican, the Salamanders' quest to reach their home world was not only inherently dangerous, but would also likely prove to be fatal. It was no surprise that Roboute Guilliman appeared reluctant to let the Salamanders so easily depart Macragge and his new Imperium.However, Roboute Guilliman's position had been severely weakened by the inability of his most elite warriors both to recapture the fugitive Bartusa Narek and to relocate the corpse of his slain brother. Furthermore, Macragge and Ultramar still needed rebuilding and on a purely strategic matter, the sixy-six Salamanders would hardly make a difference. Leaderless, the Salamanders had been easily subdued, but with the emergence of Artellus Numeon as their new Legion Master, the Salamanders’ reputed stubborness would prove difficult to overcome. In a private audience with the Lord of the Ultramarines, Numeon made it clear that the Salamanders intended to leave Ultramar, with or without Guilliman's blessings. Although he would try to convince Numeon to stay on Macragge, in the end Guilliman would let the Salamanders depart unhindered.The Charybdis was a venerable vessel, a Battle Barge, and more importantly than her size and the sheer power of her formidable arsenal, the Charybdis was a survivor. Never would she be considered beautiful or majestic. War had branded her as surely and indelibly as any fire-born. Despite her aesthetic imperfections, the Charybdis did have something going for her. She was unyielding. Few ships of the XVIII Legion escaped the atrocity at Isstvan V. Her flanks were scored and dented. Burns marked most of her dorsal aspect. Gouges in her hull had been sealed and resealed, then patched with ablative armour. She was scorched and beaten, battered and bruised, but like her Legion, the Charybdis endured. Though her previous captain had also died above Istvaan V, her new bridge crew under Shipmaster Kolo Adyssian and Lieutenant Arikk Gullero, though young, were both experienced and battle-hardened. Guilliman had offered to despatch ships to escort her to the edge of Ultramar, but Numeon had refused, and so the Charybdis would begin her journey and brave the dangers of the Immaterium alone. Shortly before her departure while Artellus Numeon was still contemplating the ship that would take him back to Nocturne, the leader of the Pyre is joined by Aeonid Thiel. Like his Primarch, Thiel did not believe that Vulkan could rise again, but in Numeon he saw a worthy successor for the Lords of Drakes -- a strong leader for a broken Legion.Despite the lack of armed escorts the beginning of the Charybdis’ voyage was without incident. On the edge of the Macragge-system the Salamanders encountered evidence of where a major naval battle had taken place, leaving an immense debris field through which the Battle Barge had to navigate to reach the system's Mandeville Point. At the heart of this desolation lay an gargantuan ship-wreck, vasty superior in size to the Gloriana-class Battleship -- one of the dreaded vessels of the Word Bearers' -- an Abyss-class Battleship. As the Charybdis was clearing the debris field they received an Imperial distress-code emanating from a civilian fuel depot designated as, "Rampart," which had come under attack by a vessel of the XIV Legion, the Death Guard. Closing with the the depot, the Charybdis identified the enemy vessel as a Gladius-class Light Cruiser, the Necrotor, which had already launched landers to assault the civilian station. This placed the Salamanders in dire situation -- although the Charybdis immensely outgunned the Necrotor, the Salamanders’ vessel was woefully undermanned, leaving it vulnerable to eventual boarding actions. However, Zytos and Xathen would not readily let a chance such as this -- to exact retribution on those who had betrayed their Legion on the sands of Istvaan -- pass. Further communications also revealed the presence of an unknown Space Marine operating alone on "Rampart" and opposing the Death Guard. Despite being more than likely outnumbered, the Salamanders organized a landing party which would be led by Artellus Numeon. Both Sergeants agreed upon this course of action, as Numeon had been standing vigil over their Primarch's body and mourning him ever since their departure from Port Hera. |
Artellus Numeon - Rampart: Xathen and Zytos would not risk the full-complement of Astartes aboard the Charybdis, and so, merely twelve legionaries in a single gunship, the Draconis, would make the descent to aid the beleaguered civilians. These twelve would however, include Numeon, both Xathen and Zytos, Epistolary Ushamann and Techmarine Far'kor Zonn, a powerful strikeforce. Using his long repressed psychic gifts, Ushamann screened the station beyond telepathically, confirming the presence of the unknown Astartes and the Death Guard's usual brutality, which in all likelihood had released toxic agents inside Rampart. However, overwhelmed by the psychic link, Ushamann began to lose control, prompting actions from another Legionary who knocked him out as a matter of precaution. Thus deprived of perhaps their most powerful asset within their small group, the Salamanders reached Rampart. Just before landing, Xathen and Zytos exchanged their opinions on Numeon's ability to lead. While having fully recovered, physically speaking, Numeon had failed to step forth and take command of operations or assume true leadership as both sergeants had hoped. This blooding on Rampart would not merely be an act of vengeance, it would be the anvil upon which Artellus Numeon would be broken definitely or reforged in the fire of battle.Setting foot on Rampart, the Salamanders found the landing zone desolate, with no Death Guard present to challenge their approach. Xathen and Zytos hopes were almost immediately deceived as Numeon stepped down and left command to Zytos. Hiding his anger as well as he could, Zytos ordered his squad to split into five-men combat squads, a novelty for the XVIII Legion which almost always had deployed only en-masse since their reunification under Vulkan in the Great Crusade. However, each and every Legionary present had been a survivor of Istvaan V and was by then well used to such guerrilla tactics. Since entering the station proper, the Salamanders had discovered traces and evidence of some toxic or viral agents being utilised by the Death Guard. A long-standing rivalry had always existed between the Death Guard and the Salamanders, both being reputedly the most resilient Legion, but Vulkan had always forbidden the use of such horrors such as Phosphex, dirty bombs and chemical warfare -- domains in which the Death Guard had always excelled. Fully ignoring the depths to which the Death Guard had fallen, the Salamanders initially simply believed to be facing a Destroyer-cadre. Advancing further into the complex, Techmarine Zonn, who had stayed behind, voxed ahead that he had found the crews of both Death Guard gunships dead, killed by precise head-shots of mass-reactive shells through the canopy of their Thunderhawks. Whoever opposed the Death Guard on Rampart was quite the marksman. Having still not encountered the enemy, the Salamanders reassessed their position, closing on the main generatoria of the facility where the survivors would without doubt be located. The Death Guard's methods of war had always been deliberately slow, mercilessly grinding their enemy into utter destruction.Encountering the enemy at last, the Salamanders fall upon the Death Guard rearguard, a single, seven-men squad, which went down fighting. Initially held back by heavy weapons fire of a Volkite Culverine, the Salamanders doused the entire corridor in cleansing flame. After Sergeant Zytos had clipped the enemy weapon carrier, Numeon led the charge, uttering his personal battlecry, "Vulkan lives!" Numeon struck two legionaries down with Draukoros and Basilysk, and engaged a third before the rest of the Salamanders could reach the hand-to-hand combat. Easily dispatching a Death Guard Legionary with a swing of his Thunder Hammer, Zytos saw the sole unengaged Death Gaurd Legionary grab for a bomb at his waist. Warning Numeon of the impeding danger, he shoulder-charged the Death Guard he was struggling with, into the path of his comrade, who absorbed a great deal of the blast but left him alive. It was only then that Numeon realised that he was now surrounded by a cloud of toxic and acidic vapours, eating away at his armour's hermetic seals. Although less close to the blast, Zytos' armour registered similar damage, the deadly vapours having easily been able to kill the entire squad in the limited confines of these corridors, Zytos had no other choice than to give the order to burn the toxic miasma. Again Vorko stepped forward, dousing the entire corridor in cleansing flames, only this time the blast was directed against their captain.The Salamanders Legion claimed their name from the hugely powerful predators of their home world Nocturne that resided in the planet's fiery depths. Their hides are extremely resilient and almost impervious to flames and it is customary for the Legion’s officers and elite troops to hunt down and kill such a beast as a rite of passage and to wear the beast's hide as a token of valour. As captain of the Pyre Guard, Artellus Numeon had also participated in these rites, however, his equipment had been irremediably lost on Istvaan and Traoris, meaning that he no longer had the fireproof protection of his noble drake-hide. As the horrified Salamanders looked upon their leader, now entirely surrounded by flames, few doubted that they now witnessed the funerary pyre of Artellus Numeon. The Salamanders thought they had roasted their own commander alive. But to their astonishment, Numeon's voice could still be heard on the squad's vox channel, invoking Vulkan's name, followed by silence. As the fiery inferno abated, Numeon's bent form could be seen, clutching Vulkan's sigil in his hand. The servos of Numeon's armour had been seared shut and the proud drake-green livery had been burnt away and replaced by soot. His helmet was a ruin while in some places his armour's ceramite was bare and glistened with heat, but ultimately Numeon had somehow survived. As the Salamanders were about to rejoice, a Death Guard Legionary attacked from Numeon's flank, clenching their captain's throat with his hands and tried to suffocate him. Numeon grasped for the gladius at his side that Sergeant Thiel had gifted to him on Macragge, and rammed the weapon deep into the Death Guard's skull, thus ending the fight. Galvanised by this new miracle, the Salamanders pushed on.Having been forewarned by their comrades in the corridor, a small detachment of Death Guard had been ready to receive the onrushing Salamanders, confining them for the time being to the role of spectators: three Aegis Defence Lines had already been overrun by the fourteen remaining Legionaries of the XIV Legion, which marched unimpeded through a deluge of las-fire and solid slugs, their Power Armour impervious to such weapons. Yet the Death Guard had not gone unbloodied, as attested several dead legionaries brought down by precise Bolter-fire. Their would-be ally could be seen firing from one of the gun towers -- a grey Legionary in plain armour of an unknown but undoubtedly advanced pattern. With Vorko impeeded by his leg-wound, having been clipped by the Death Guard's Volkite Culverine in the corridor, the four remaining Salamanders split up in teams of two and used the wreckage as cover to close in with the XIV Legion's rearguard. The four Legionaries opposing them, already compromised and burning from Vorko's sustained fire, went down swiftly, stalling the Death Guard's advance which now needed to split their attention between the Salamanders and their quarry. The "Angel" -- as they had taken to call him -- laid down suppressing fire to further disturb the reorganising Death Guard. Vorko switch to his side-arm to lay down suppressing fire as well, the enemy now beyond range of his flamethrower. The loss of his right eye had impeded Numeon more than he had readily anticipated, as the loss of depth perception severely compromising his ballistic skills. However he had always excelled in close combat and only needed his brothers to allow him to close with their enemy. Following Numeon, the Salamanders quickly went for hand-to-hand combat where their superior weapons would make the difference, Zytos smashing the enemy with his thunder hammer and Numeon slashing with Draukoros. The grey Legionary also charged in, killing two Death Guards in quick succession, his fighting style brutal and not elegant -- a pugilist more than a fencer.With the Death Guard defeated, Numeon finally stepping up as the group's leader asked the "Angel" for his name. The situation was tense, Numeon still aimed Draukoros at the grey Legionary's heart. On closer inspection, Numeon realised that the Legionary's armour was not totally bereft of iconography as they had previously thought, but was adorned with the rune of Malcador the Sigilite. Raising his hands in surrender, the Legionary presented himself as Brother Kaspian Hecht, and that he was indeed one of Malcador's Knights Errant. With matters sufficiently resolved, to allow a plan of evacuation for Rampart's survivors, the combat squad was joined by Xathen's group, which had been exploring another part of the station and had thus missed the battle. This reunion was however cut short by Techmarine Zonn's urgent communication, advising the landing party that a third gunship of the Death Guard had appeared and were now trying to destroy the Draconis. Quickly redeploying, the Salamanders had little hope of seriously damaging the gunship, as they carried no heavy weapons, but a lucky shot from Xathen's Bolter blew out the port-side turbine which considerably destabilized the gunship. Almost on cue, the Draconis’ rear ramp lowered and Epistolary Ushamann stepped out, his armour illuminated by blue-green witch-fire. Directing his fingertips at the looming gunship, he relased a serpent of eldritch fire against the vehicle, gutting the gunship before its fuel-reserves ignited and the gunship exploded mid-flight. The Death Guard had had no time to evacuate the striken craft, and those who had survived the explosion and the fall were quickly despatched by the Salamanders. Ushamann, exhausted from the use of his powers, fell to his knees, explaining to the onrushing Zytos that he had beheld a vision of their Primarch compelling him to rise and aid his brothers. "Vulkan lives..." he told them, and none present, doubted his worlds, even Kaspian Hecht was convinced. |
Artellus Numeon - Into the Ruinstorm: As gratifying as the eradication of the Death Guard had been, the encounter on "Rampart" had put an unwanted light on the Charybdis’ voyage. As the Salamanders had feared the landing ships of the Death Guard had been able to transmit a distress signal which had not only reached the Necrotor, but had been relayed by the light cruiser to its overlord, Commander Malig Laestygon. Unknown to Numeon, other traitor legionaries had also been tracking the Charybdis’ progress -- the Word Bearers Dark Apostle Quor Gallek -- the infamous "Preacher," in whose service Xenuth Sul had been. Both traitor forces had by now taken interest in the Charybdis and were more or less aware of its precious cargo.A further unknown variable had been introduced in the equation in the form of Kaspian Hecht, the mysterious "Angel of Rampart." As a precautionary measure, Kaspian Hecht was interrogated by the suspicious Sergeant Zytos, but to little avail. As a Knight Errant of Malcador the Sigilite, Kaspian Hecht acted with sanction of one of the Imperium's highest authority, and was also able to testify that Terra still stood -- however he was not at liberty to divulge the details of his mission. With little other way than to take Hecht along with them, but most importantly, it was a situation in which Artellus Numeon took absolutely no part. Almost as soon as stepping back on the Charybdis the former First Captain had taken up his isolation, watching over Vulkan's casket. Tempers flared between Numeon and Sergeant Zytos regarding Numeon's lack of leadership and his fixation on Vulkan's rebirth, the two Astartes briefly turning to fists instead of words. Numeon's faith in Vulkan's rebirth had begun to tell, as slowly more and more warriors of the Pyre were convinced of their inevitable success at the end of their voyage. This optimism was, however, soon crushed when the Charybdis’ first warp-translation failed. Unknown to the Salamanders, Quor Gallek had worked foul rituals to further disturb the Warp and track the Charybdis. Despite the measures taken by Epistolary Ushamann, the Charybdis’ Navigator was almost immediately overwhelmed.This unexpected warp-drop however severely crippled the Charybdis, stripping it of Void shields and depriving it of its weapon, sensors and propulsion systems.The Charybdis was effectively drifting defenceless in space, which likely motivated the crew of the Necrotor -- which had stayed close by -- to launch a boarding assault. Worse yet -- the warp-drop had also opened every door on the Battle Barge, releasing Kaspian Hecht from his confinement in the interrogation cells. As the Pyre was mobilized to defend their ship and Primarch against the Death Guard, command naturally fell to Sergeant Zytos, Numeon being reluctant to leave the Primarch's side. Firstly Zytos went to confront Kaspian Hecht which had, as suspected, left the interrogation cell. Putting up no fight, Hecht convinced Zytos to let him help with repelling boarders for his continued freedom.Where as the Imperial Fists are undoubtedly considered as the masters of void-warfare, every Legiones Astartes is trained in this matters and excels at boarding actions. The Death Guard were no exception to this. Their assault, when it came, was well organised, targeting the key compartments of the Charybdis. They did not however, count on the Salamanders' tenacity. In the Enginarium, Techmarine Far'kor Zonn had established a tight line of defence which successfully held back the first assault. When the Death Guard advanced further in the corridors, they triggered a cluster of proximity mines which effectively sealed off the Enginarium. Thus secured, Zonn could now work unimpeded on restoring the power to the ship. Meanwhile the true target for the Death Guard's assault was identified when Numeon confronted a five-man Seeker Squad of Death Guard trying to reach Vulkan's casket. Ambushing the first one, leaving him impaled on Draukoros, and killing a second one with his ornate Bolt Pistol, Basilysk. Using the impaled Death Guard as a meat-shield to cover himself from the return-fire of the remaining Death Guard. Raising the alarm by vox, Numeon retreated back into the cargo-hold, Basilysk on full-auto, wounding a further Death Guard Astartes before it clicked empty. With Draukoros still impaling the first Death Guard, this left Numeon effectively unarmed save for Vulkan's Sigil, which while shaped as a hammer, made for a poor weapon. Looking out from cover upon hearing no sound of pursuit, Numeon realised the two remaining Death Guard had put the time to good use erecting a Teleport Homer.In a sudden flash of blinding light, a monster appeared amidst the cargo hold, an aberration somehow resembling one of the dreaded Deathshroud Terminators which made up Primarch Mortarion's personal Honour Guard, a Cataphractii-armoured Terminator equipped with twin Lightning Claws, monstrous and likely degenerated. The monster charged, heading for the casket. Numeon did likewise, hoping that Vulkan might rise when threatened, or rather, that he would be able to wield the Primarch's legendary warhammer. The two remaining Seekers were forgotten, the Terminator became the sole object of Numeon's concerns. Reaching the sanctum before the lumbering Terminator, Numeon valiantly stood in its path, the Sigil gripped firmly in his hand. The Terminator-abomination charged. Numeon stood his ground, calculating his blow for maximum effect, but prepared to die in defence of his Primarch. The Terminator roared, charging Numeon, which swung the Sigil bellowing his Primarch's name. Seconds before his blow connected, the Terminator was struck by a high impact mass reactive bolt round in the back, blowing out a chunk of ablative armour. Another bolt round from behind blew out the Terminator's knee servo, making his footing unsure -- the Terminator stumbled, eyes still fixed on the arrogant Salamander which stood in his way, ready to crush him. But then the Sigil struck the Terminator's solar plexus, crackling the Ceramite, caving in the breastplate and shedding adamantium as easily as skin. Mesh, muscles, bones and organs were destroyed by the blow as the Terminator's mass abruptly came to a standstill. The monstrosity was dead before it even hit the floor. No blood marred Vulkan's Sigil -- a true miracle. Zyos who had witnessed the entire scene stood still in fascination, whispering words he had not dared voicing until them, "Vulkan lives..." Lightning quick, Kaspian Hecht came out of the shadows, loosing two shots which missed Numeon by a small margin before killing the two Death Guards Legionaries sneaking up on him from behind, thus saving the First Captain's life.With the Primarch's chamber now secured, the boarding assault had been held in check. Soon afterwards, Far'kor Zonn signalled from the Enginarium that power had been restored, enabling the Charybdis to strike out at the much smaller Necrotor and annihilate it with a single broadside. Thus forged anew in the fire of their first battle, the sixty-six members of the Pyre gathered together in solemn communion within the Igneum -- the Hall of Relics of the Charybdis. There the fate of the grey Legionary, Kaspian Hecht was debated. Hecht had surprised them with an unusual idea -- instead of looking for the Pharos or the light of the Astronomican to guide them through the Ruinstorm, the Charybdis should look to itself, and the hope and faith radiating from its crew, to forge their own path through the terrible Warp Storm. While Hecht's loyalties were still being discussed, Numeon joined the gathering and settled the matter, formerly recognizing Kaspian Hecht as their fellow battle-brother. The Death Guard's assault on the Charybdis had Numeon finally accept the leadership bestowed upon him by his brothers -- until Vulkan's return, Numeon would lead the warriors of the Pyre. He would take up the mantle of Master of the Legion. |
Artellus Numeon - The Clutches of the Neverborn: The Necrotor’s destruction, while celebrated as a small victory, was more importantly a spiritual rebirth for the warriors of the Pyre. However,unknown the Salamanders, the Necrotor’s destruction also heralded the Charybdis’ darkest hour. Recognition would soon dawn upon the Salamanders -- the enemy wore many faces and disguises, and they had only seen the most human of it.Prior to its destruction, the Death Guard ship had informed its choleric master of its attempt to destroy the Battle Barge, thus keeping Maelig Laestygon updated to the Salamanders' position. Worse yet, the baleful warleader of the Death Guard was in league with the Dark Apostle Quor Gallek, which had also been following the Charybdis’ trace - even within the Warp. The vile rites conducted by Xenut Sul and his dark master had created an untraceable psychic bond between Quor Gallek and Artellus Numeon, the valiant captain becoming a beacon for the Word Bearers to follow. Through other rituals and the sacrifice of many prisoners, Quor Gallek succeeded in invoking apparitions aboard the Charybdis which soon began to manifest themselves in greater numbers. Only when these apparitions began to massacre the human crew and sow fear amongst them was the threat fully acknowledged as a true attack. Quor Gallek fully knew that the Salamanders' honorable nature would compel them to act -- to try to protect their human serfs and those refugees they had taken aboard, thus dispersing their already meagre fighting force. With search-parties patrolling the ship's innards, the Dark Apostle would then be able to infiltrate the Charybdis and reach their objectives. The Dark Apostle patiently awaited for the Charybdis to reenter the Warp before springing his trap.As always, when not pressed by urgent matters, Artellus Numeon was meditating over the Primarch's casket. Chaplain Var'kir interrupted Numeon's meditations, curious about the previous miracle that had occurred, when Vulkan's Sigil had enabled Numeon to vanquish a Terminator-armoured foe, and thus save his and the Primarch's lives. Despite this miracle, Var'kir still doubted that Vulkan truly lived, and Numeon's unshakable faith in the contrary rested ill with him. Departing from Vulkan's funerary chamber, Numeon headed for the bridge to join the search parties, leaving Ran'd and Orhn, two battle-brothers of the Firedrakes to stand vigil over their Primarch's body. The search-effort had been coordinated by Sergeant Zytos, despatching teams of Fireborns to the Charybdis’ cursives, but it would be Techmarine Far'kor Zonn and Legionary Igen Gargo that would first encounter one of these apparitions. Overseeing the Charybdis’ workcrews repairing the ship, they were alerted by the discomfort of the human serfs and set out to track what they tentatively identified as "ghosts." As reports came in, it soon appeared that the ghost being tracked by Zonn and Gargo was not the only warp manifestation aboard the Charybdis. One of these ghosts had attempted to kill Chaplain Var'kir during his divinations, trying to push the Chaplain into the flames. The attempt on Var'kir's life had only been thwarted thanks to the timely intervention of Kaspian Hecht. Meanwhile the search team consisting of the few remaining Pyroclasts was also assailed by one of these ghosts which altered the mind of Pyroclast Sergeant Xathen, leading him to attack and kill two of his companions. Other apparitions were also reported from the ships lower decks until one of these ghosts manifested itself on the bridge.As the apparitions grew more powerful and manifested themselves as true daemons, the Salamanders tried to fight back, preferring hand-to-hand combat, as Kaspian Hecht had warned them that their Bolters would be quite useless against these creatures of the Immaterium. With the comms falling silent, Zytos and Numeon rushed to the bridge, only to discover the slaughtered remains of the bridge crew. The bridge had become a abattoir, with dead crew members hanging from the ceiling by the ropes of their own intestines. One of the daemons still lingered there. It manifested itself in the form of a human female child wearing a pristine white dress and oily black hair that covered her face, "You shouldn't be here," she teased the Astrtes, using the voice of the dead crewmen. She mocked Numeon about his misplaced faith in Vulkan's rebirth but quickly vanish without engaging in combat. The only survivor of the bridge crew confirmed that the Charybdis’ captain, Solon Adyssian, had left the bridge earlier, but was nowhere to be found. The shipmaster had also pursued one of the apparitions, believing her to be the ghost of his dead daughter. Upon suspecting the truth, Adyssian had fled, which probably saved his life. Fortunately for him, his panicked flight had led him straight into Epistolary Ushaman, whose psychic abilities were the best weapons against the Neverborn.With the warriors of the Pyre dispersed among the Charybdis’ corridors and cursives, the Word Bearers struck; their ship -- the Monarchia -- emerged from the Ruinstorm alongside the Salamanders' vessel. Chaplain Var'kir sought to confront them, but being unable to raise the ship's complement of armsmen on the vox, the Salamanders were woefully outgunned. Yet the Word Bearers did not press their advantage, retreating along the corridors, keen to avoid prolonged firefights. It would be the Knight Errant, Hecht, that would recognize the Word Bearers true intent -- to destroy the Geller Field generators and simply overrun the Charybdis with daemons. But the Word Bearers' haste was for another reason. Quor Gallek, who personally led the assault, could feel it quite distinctively -- something was approaching through the Warp -- something big and powerful, but more importantly, something he had not summoned.In another part of the ship, Numeon and Zytos were following another apparition, yet one they had not anticipated -- Vulkan was walking the decks of the Charybdis! Mesmerized, both Salamanders followed their would-be Primarch, convinced that the miracle of Macragge had finally occurred yet again. Yet something bothered Numeon... Zytos simply murmured, "It's not possible," before hurrying after Vulkan. But still, something didn't sit quite right with Numeon -- a strange smell, like that of burning metal. Considering the apparition of Vulkan more carefully, Numeon discovered that the fulgurite stone was missing -- a small detail Zytos had missed. As Numeon's doubts increased, he noticed that the smell was coming from his own armour. Vulkan's Sigil was blazing hot, burning his armour's paint. This made Numeon stop, just as the vision changed. Vulkan was no longer standing alone in the corridor, but another figure stood behind him -- his tormentor, Konrad Curze, the bloody-handed Primarch of the Night Lords. Distressed, Zytos began to run, shouting Vulkan's name to warn his father of the looming danger. Meanwhile Numeon's fingers brushed the Sigil and the lie unravelled. Numeon grasped Basilysk and let loose a triple spread of bolts, but before the detonations brought Zytos back to his senses, Vulkan's expression changed from one of beckoning to one of fearful dread. Instantly Zytos slowed down, before Numeon's volley made him stop entirely, barely avoiding falling into a gaping chasm in the corridor's floor. Looking up from the trap, Zytos saw that Vukan had vanished, replaced by the apparition of a giggling girl -- the very ghost they had been tracking. He quickly recognised the enemy for what it was -- a daemon. Tapping into the vox-network, Numeon and Zytos learned of the search for Solon Adyssian and quickly joined the search effort. Still unaware of the Word Bearers' presence aboard the Charybdis, Numeon and Zytos headed out.Meanwhile, in yet another part of the ship, Techmarine Zonn and his companion Igen Gargo tenaciously defended the Geller Fields generatoria against the approaching Word Bearers. Led by Quor Gallek himself, and his right-hand -- Master-of-Arms Degat -- the Word Bearers, vastly superior in number, kept pushing ever forwards. Unable to collapse the corridor behind them, the two Salamanders both fought tooth and nail. One Word Bearer succumbed to their defensive fire, but quickly the Salamander's ammo count was running out, and bloody hand-to-hand skirmishes soon erupted. Many Word Bearers were killed by the two valiant Fireborn. For a moment, it seemed that the Salamanders might hold the generatoria, but then another fighter emerged from the crimson-clad throng. Master-of-Arms Degat -- a giant of a warrior that had fought and been bloodied in the World Eaters' fighting pits -- attacked Igen Gargo, causing the loss of his shooting arm. With his bionic arm, however, Gargo successfully pressed the Word Bearers officer back, shattering his breastplate, and giving Far'kir Zonn ample opportunity to step in. The Techmarine and officer continued to duel, but despite his enhanced resilience, Zonn simply was no match for Degat. When Fa'rkir Zonn's plasma cutter refused to fire, his fate was sealed, and the victorious Degat soon brandished Zonn's severed head as another grisly trophy. With only Igen Gargo remaining, the Word Bearer’s victory seemed assured, until a high precision shot blew out a Word Bearers Astartes' head. Kaspian Hecht had successfully retraced his step and found an alternate route to the generatoria to help Zonn and Gargo.Not far from there, Zytos and Numeon’s timely arrival saved Adyssan’s life, blasting at the daemon with their Bolters. In vain Adyssan had tried to protect the unconscious form of Epistolary Ushamann, reciting passages of the Lectitio Divinitatus to keep the daemon at bay. Fortunately for him Numeon and Zytos had not come alone but was leading a congregation of four Salamanders including Zytos. The daemon quickly disappeared, leaving the mortals and Astartes alone. Mindful of Adyssan’s security, Numeon decided to pursue Ushaman’s original plan, to bring the captain to the Epistolary’s sanctum where protective wards would hopefully keep the daemons at bay. Suddenly the vox-network came back to life and contact reestablished with Chaplain Var’kir, who quickly informed Numeon of the Word Bearers’ attack and the dire situation the Charbydis was now in. Hecht’s intervention had given the Salamanders the time needed to gather fresh forces. By now Pyroclasts were engaging the Word Bearers, but as Igen Gargo dragged himself out of harm’s way, a small detail sprang to his eyes; the Preacher leading the assault was nowhere to be seen. Quor Gallek had discreetly left his warriors and made his way to Vulkan’s funerary chamber. His plan was to retrieve the fulgurite stone - the Emperor’s power made manifest - which was still embedded in the Primarch’s chest. Where Artellus Numeon had failed, Quor Gallek was sure to succeed, for he had in his possession a weapon of terrible power: the Asirnoth Blade - fashionned from the bones of the slain Primarch of the Iron Hands, Ferrus Manus. |
Artellus Numeon - The One-Eyed King: Nocturne is a land of myths and mysticism which has brought forth many philosophers and prophets. During the Charybdis’ voyage several incidents related to the obscure prophecy of the one-eyed king. Firstly, the Charybdis’ Navigator experienced a vision and began uncontrollably mumbling the one-eyed King's phophecy, then, the unconscious Epistolary Ushamann scratched a line of the prophecy into bare metal, "Unearths Kabar." Nobody truly knew what to expect, save perhaps Quor Gallek, the Dark Apostle.The one-eyed king manifested himself in the middle of the fierce fighting aboard the Charybdis. Those psychically gifted amongst the Astartes had been feeling it for several minutes now: a vast bow-wave in the Aether, the coming of an immensely powerful being. The one-eyed king’s coming interrupted the fighting in every quarter of the ship: Xathen, the Pyroclast Sergeant bent on redemption after his previous failings was dueling the Word Bearer know as Degat after having slaughtered six of his men. With kaskara-sword and long serrated knife he had been battling Degat’s roaring chainaxe, loosing ground and his weapons until a well-timed shot from Techmarine Zonn’s retrieved Plasma Pistol let the Word Bearer fly backwards. But just as he aimed his new weapon for a perfect headshot, Xathen’s prey disappeared, pulled back through the Warp. Quor Gallek who had reached Vulkan’s body after having dispatched of Kaspian Hecht, was likewise interrupted in his attempts of retrieving the fulgurite stone, his Asirnoth Blade allowing him nonetheless to escape with a small fragment of the stone. Sensing the onrushing bow-wave, the Dark Apostle annulled his spell and transported himself and his warrior back onbard the Monarchia through the Immaterium. Such was the power of the approaching entity that the daemons - which had by now been revealed as Daemonettes of Slaanesh - fled the Charbydis’ corridor where they had surrounded Artellus Numeon, leaving the former First Captain to face this new threath alone. Then the one-eyed king manifested himself. His mere presence had caused the Salamanders’ enemies to flee, leaving the warriors of the Pyre disorientated but ultimately victorious. None truly knew what was happening, and as time stood still some of them perhaps wondered what had happened; save for one brave one-eyed warrior which still stood resolute before the one-eyed king and would thus learn the truth of it : Artellus Numeon. Still clenching Draukoros in his fist, Numeon starred defiantly at this new apparition, more terrible and powerful than those he had already faced. But where the ghosts and daemons had been an unknown enemy to him, Artellus Numeon knew fully well whom he faced now: the omnipotent One-Eyed King whose arrogance would cause his fall, the Crimson King of the XV Legion - Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons.It became quickly appearant that this was not the true Primarch of the XV Legion but a simulacrum, a mental projection across the Immaterium much as the daemons were. Despite his best efforts, Numeon automatically fell to his knees, his defiance only strong enough to stare at the Primarch. As equerry to his Primarch and father, Numeon had of course met Magnus the Red, but their encounter had been brief and many years ago; yet Numeon remarked that this Primarch somehow seemed diminished. Something had obviously happened to Magnus, for his temper seemed up and the air around him shimered with heat radiance. The Primarch-apparition was talking to itself, conductinga sombre monologue whch Numeon did not dare interrupt. This ultimately proved to be wise, as both the Salamanders’ and the Primarch of the XV’s fates were balanced on a razor’s edge; waiting to see which way they would fall. Magnus finally turned his attention to the still kneeling Numeon, scolding him for his carelessness and his ignorance of the realm they sailed and the dangers it carried. Sensing that nothing could be gained by duplicity, Numeon did not try to hie the fact that they were utterly lost, and that without Magnus’ help they would surely perish. Numeon argued that if Magnus had truly come to destroy them, he would have already done it, thus implying that the Primarch’s presence had other reasons. Was he too covinced that Vulkan still lived? Clearly the Charbydis’ odyssey did carry meaning, otherwise the Primarch would not have appeared at all.With this in mind, Numeon confessed his faith in Vulkan’s ressurrection, that his father and Primarch could be restored through the Circle of Fire. So he did the only sensible thing: he asked for Magnus’ help.The Primarch apparition did not flinch or seemed surprised at this request, rather amused. Magnus asked him why he should help them at all before taunting Numeon. In a mere matters of seconds the Primarch’s apparition changed, his flashing red mane of hair disappeared to be replaced by a shaven onyx-black head, his armour grew additional layers out of thin air, changing from ruddy bronze to emerald plate, his entire stature became bulkier and more powerful and even his cape suddenly grew the scales of a Salamander’s hide, suddenly a perfect simulacra of Vulkan stood before Numeon - even his voice had become Vulkan’s. This transformation infuriated Numeon to the point of finally being able to overcome his previous paralysis, standing on his two feet Numeon recused the apparition, knowing fully well that this was not his father. "You are not him..." Numeon said, "This is a lie". The apparition did not take this rebuke kindly, seizing Numeon by the throath and pressing him onto the wall of Vulkan’s funerary chamber. "A lie, is it?" the apparition countered with Vulkan’s voice, yet with so much venom in it that the true Primarch would have never said it. Still choking Numeon the apparition changed yet again, drake-like fangs erupting from its mouth where a forked tongue slithered forwards to taste the air; its eyes became more reptilian and when it blinked a nictating membrane covered the would-be Vulkan’s eyes. Lastly the false Primarch’s skin was covered in scales resembling more than ever a true dragon of Terran mythology. Fighting the unconsciousness that dared to take him, Numeon answered the apparition, that he was not Vulkan and that maybe he was not even Magnus. This prompted the apparition to let go of him and resume its inital appearance. Restored Magnus the Red towered again over Numeon taunting him with his truths: that he had died on Traoris and been ressurected himself by the will of Magnus, that all the miracles he had witnessed had not occurred through Vulkan’s power, but through his. Yet again Numeon refused to believe these lies, he had been touched by Vulkan’s might and he would see him restored; this was nothing more than an other test of his faith and resolve, one that he would pass. The apparition asked him one final question, what would he sacrifice to see Vulkan restored?, upon which Numeon answered that he would give everything to reach Nocturne. Displeased by this answer, stating it was not what he had asked, the apparition surrounded itself with light and send the Charbydis crashing back into reality.The translation into reality was not a smooth one, and it was almost miraculous that the Charbydis did not suffer more severely from it. With their tethers to the Immaterium severed, the daemons quickly vanished leaving the Salamanders bloodied, diminished and confused. Numeon himself was thrown widely along the cargo hold, hitting unsecured items mid-flight with enough force to dislocate his shoulder; hadn’t it been for the assistance of Kaspian Hecht which had quickly recovered his wits, his injuries could have been much more severe. The Word Bearers had left in disarray shortly before Magnus’ arrival and found themselves in a difficult position as well. The Reaper’s Shroud, Maelig Laestygon’s vessel had caught up with their own ship and was undoubtedly even now calculating firing solution on the Monarchia to ensure Quor Gallek’s compliance. Despite Degat’s misgivings of being kept from a promising duel, the Word Bearers‘ mission had largely succeeded for Quor Gallek had retrieved a sliver of the fulgurite stone, and even ascertained that the traitor Barthusa Narek was present onboard the Charbydis, mascarading as Malcador’s Knight Errant Kaspian Hecht. Certain that Vulkan was already dead and with little reason to doubt that Magnus the Red would not destroy the Salamanders himself, Quor Gallek assumed that he had reached all his objectives. Yet, Magnus’ intent had been quite different: not only was the Charbydis still alive and warp-capable, but the Crimson King had allowed the vessel to overcome the Ruinstorm, and to the Salamanders’ great surprise they found themselves not in the vicinty of Macragge, but that of holy Terra. Numeon tentatively suggested that the reason for this was a last gesture of fraternity, Magnus and Vulkan - however different - having always been close. |
Artellus Numeon - Sacred Soil of Nocturne: Contrary to what many within Imperium Secundus believed, Terra still stood. When the Charybdis reemerged into reality it almost immediately picked up the rallying cry issued by Rogal Dorn which was being broadcasted continuously from the Imperial Palace itself. This profoundly affected the Salamanders as they had all been led to believe that the war had already been decided. Artellus Numeon quickly grasped the implications of it; that Guilliman's faulty information had three entire Legions, all loyal sons of the Emperor, sitting idle at Macragge whilst Terra grimly awaited the inevitable assault. This put the Salamanders in an uncomfortable position: duty demanded that, even severely depleted as they were, they joined the Emperor's forces on Terra. Strategic intelligence would dictate for them to try to reach Macragge and inform the three Loyalist Legions of Terra's continued defiance -- honour demanded something else. Honour demanded them to venture on, to turn their backs on Dorn's plea, to forsake their duty to the Emperor and continue to Nocturne. With responsibilities resting solely upon his shoulders, Numeon retreated yet again to the cargohold to stand vigil over Vulkan's body. Pondering over Magnus' words, Numeon had an epiphany -- the Unbound Flame, a potent symbol in Nocturean mythology that Numeon kept seeing, was not as he had been believing a sign of doom, but a symbol of rebirth. Fire and death. Deathfire, Nocturne's sacred mountain. Strengthened by this new revelation, Numeon convened an emergency meeting with Chaplain Var'kir and instructed him of his newfound wisdom -- Vulkan could be restored if only they brought him back to Mount Deathfire and let him rejoin the Circle of Fire. With this piece of the puzzle now added, Var'kir used the Ignax's ancestral art of pyromancy and was fully convinced.A gathering of the surviving warriors of the Pyre was conducted under the twin-authority of Numeon and Var'kir on the cargo deck of the Charybdis. There they remembered the dead in accordance with the tenets of the Promethean Cult, adding coal to a burning brasero. While the coal quickly burned to ashes, Artellus Numeon addressed the gathered warriors. He told them that they had been severely depleted -- barely half of those that had set out from Macragge still lived -- but that he didn't see defeat in them. What he saw was a brotherhood renewed and united, a Legion with a new purpose -- to sail forth to Nocturne and resurrect their beloved Primarch. One by one the gathered Salamanders inscribed the Nocturnean sigil of resurrection upon their foreheads, using the still hot ashes of the burning coal. All save one -- Rek'or Xathen, the Pyroclast Sergeant. Turning to Var'kir whom he had always confessed of not believing in Numeon's faith, the Sergeant refused to indulge in this madness, claiming that their duty was to Terra and the Emperor, not the dead corpse of their father. To return to the Ruinstorm would be the death of them, he stated, believing his ally Var'kir would back him up, only to be disappointed when Chaplain Var'kir claimed he had seen a path in the flames of his solitorium. Under the pressure of his brothers, Xathen followed suit but quickly broke the circle of gathering once matters were concluded. Thus did the Salamanders decide of their fate: they would face the storm again and through faith and brotherhood reach Nocturne.The only way for the Charybdis to enter the Warp successfully was through her Navigator, however the brush with a Primarch's conscience, the terror of the daemonkin invasion, and the effort of fighting off the effects of the Ruinstorm had considerably weakened her. With their translation to Terra completed, Circe, as she was called, had fallen into an almost catatonic state. It was a mystery to no one aboard that she was most likely dying. Yet, the success of their ultimate voyage rested upon her frail shoulders, and despite the misgivings of the ship's captain and her husband, Circe consented into sacrificing herself to let them reach Nocturne. Ironically, they would now do what Kaspian Hecht, Malcador's Knight-Errant, had suggested to do in the first place -- to focus not on the light of the Astronomican or their destination, but on themselves -- a ship buoyed by hope. Thus did the Charybdis make for the system's Mandeville Point, every one on board fully understanding that this was going to be their final journey, one way or the other, and that it was going to be a journey that would take them to the gates of hell itself.The Salamanders prepared as best as they could. Every warrior was armed and armoured to defend the ship. Their main efforts would focus on holding the bridge and the generatoria, where Igen Gargo, the former black-smiter had erected defensive positions alongside what remained of Techmarine Zonn's combat servitors and engineseers. The remaining Pyroclasts had joined him there, all save for their illusive sergeant which was stalking the ship's cursives like a caged animal. Epistolary Ushamann and Chaplain Var'kir had had gathered on the bridge in company of Artellus Numeon and Sergeant Zytos. They would bear the main effort, as Var'kir would devise a path to Nocturne through his craft of pyromancy, while Ushamann would pry the information from Var'kir's mind and transmit them mentally to the Navigator, who was secured within her chambers. The bridge's security doors had been lowered and the remaining Salamanders, all at full battle-readiness, had been gathered one deck further down, ready to rush to wherever the enemy might manifest itself. Renewing their common belief that Vulkan lived, the Charybdis reentered the storm. Its ferocity was unabated and yet the Charybdis ploughed its way through the tides of the Warp. For weeks on end, the Salamanders' vessel crawled closer to its destination, the strain telling on the faces of Ushamann and Var'kir, and the nerves of the mortal crew.As they neared their destination, Numeon, who had been standing an ever-vigilant watch on the bridge, noticed that something was amiss. Gesturing to Sergeant Zytos, both of them closed on Ushamann, believing the Librarian was possibly possessed by one of the daemons of the Warp. He would have to kill the Librarian to prevent a possibly daemonic incursion through the Librarian's mortal shell. Just as Numeon was about to strike him down, he stopped, as Ushamann's head lurched back violently, as if pulled by a powerful cable, his eyes spilling cerulean light. Through gritted teeth, and a face disfigured by the telltale signs of agony, Ushamann gritted two words, "...Not... me." As if on cue, the doors to Circe's novatum opened, the seals and locks posing no hindrance to the chamber's new occupant. The frail form of the Navigator stood proudly erect in the doorframe, with a strength she had never possessed in life. Almost gliding onto the bridge, a well-known siren song accompanied her. The Salamanders aimed their weapons at once at the possessed Navigator, but could not fire, as a lone human figure stood between them and their target -- Solon Adyssian, the Charybdis’ shipmaster. Slowly he approached the Unburdened, the daemon residing in the mortal shell of his wife, which had unveiled her warp eye to kill them all. "My love," the thing beckoned to him. "You are not my love," Adyssian told the thing wearing his wife's flesh, before releasing the pin of the Krak Grenade he had been holding. The explosion shock the bridge, annihilating both the shipmaster and the possessed Navigator, throwing deadly shrapnel across the bridge, and killing one of the Salamanders guarding the entrance. Numeon had the presence of mind to shield Lieutenant Esenzi from the blast, safeguarding the Charybdis senior officer's life. Bereft of the Navigator's help, Ushamann had to take the full strain of guiding the Charybdis upon his shoulders. The powerful frame of the Epistolary quickly withered before Numeon's eyes, as the baleful power of the Warp ground at him with every passing second. Despite his inevitable fate, Ushaman smiled despite facing his imminent demise, for the Salamanders had finally reached their destination -- Nocturne.As the tumultuous red orb, Nocturne, filled the viewport, Artellus Numeon's gaze fell over the devastated bridge. Nothing remained of Epistolary Ushamann but a heap of ashes -- neither bones nor the ceramite plates of his armour remained. Chaplain Var'kir had also payed a high price for the Salamanders' success, for his eyes had been reduced to two blackened orbs. This spared him the baleful sight that now presented itself to Zytos and Numeon -- two warships emerging from the Warp -- the smaller one bearing the hell-red livery of the Word Bearers, and the other, a far more massive, resplendent in the dirty white drab colours of the Death Guard. With the heroic sacrifice of Shipmaster Adyssian, command of the Charybdis fell to Lieutenant Esenzi, whom immediately took her predecessor's soot-blackened and blood-stained seat. With natural authority, she quickly took command of her makeshift bridge crew -- most of them being retasked servitors from other segments of the Battle-Barge, and identified the approaching ships as the Reaper's Shroud and the Monarchia. By all evidence the Death Guard had caught up with the Charybdis to avenge the Necrotor. Almost as soon as they had fully translated into reality, the Reaper's Shroud launched a large number of boarding craft, most of them being Thunderhawk gunships. Facing possibly five hundred enemy legionaries, everybody aboard the Charybdis’ bridge knew that they were doomed. Together, the Traitor forces of both the Monarchia and the Reaper's Shroud formed a cordon between the Battle-Barge and its intended destination -- a last ditch effort to thwart the Salamanders' efforts to reach their homeworld. Realising that she would die no matter how the battle would swing, Lieutenant Esenzi dared to suggest what none of the Salamanders gave voice -- to sacrifice the Charybdis and every soul aboard in a desperate effort to buy Numeon enough time to convey Vulkan's corpse to Nocturne's surface. The now blind Phaestus Var'kir was determined to remain aboard and help defend the bridge to his dying breath. Acknowledging Lieutenant Esenzi's and Var'kir's final request, Numeon honoured both their sacrifices and made his way to the cargo bay. All the remaining warriors of the Pyre quickly joined Numeon, with the obvious exception of Var'kir. |
Artellus Numeon - Demise of the Charybdis: When the Charybdis reentered realspace, Kaspian Hecht had confided himself to one of the ship's solitoria. His encounter with Quor Gallek had considerably shaken him. The growing sense of unease he had felt had become more acute, a sense of not being himself -- or rather, of not knowing who he was. His skin, his hands and even his face seemed unfamiliar to him, as if they belonged to someone else. Taking his polished knife, Hecht made a cut on his cheek, fascinated by the lack of blood flowing from the wound. Digging deeper he found a second skin beneath the face -- his true flesh. It showed tattooed Colchisian cuneiform. Realization dawned upon him: he was Barthusa Narek. Yet he was also Kaspian Hecht, the true Knight of Malcador having somehow imposed a part of his personality in Narek's psyche. As he true self reasserted itself, Re'kor Xathen confronted the Word Bearer, uncaring of where Narek's true loyalties lay. Xathen only had one intent -- to kill the Legionary whom he perceived as a traitor in their midst. Even when Narek stated that the Emperor's power had changed him and led him to betray his Legion, Xathen would not be swayed. Confident in his own fighting abilities, Narek readied himself to fight his erstwhile brother, when Lieutenant Esenzi's voice cut over the ship's vox. She quickly informed the crew all that had transpired -- Adyssian's death, the fact they had reached the end of their voyage and the emergence of the Reaper's Shroud and the Monarchia, and that they were about to engage. Baffled, Xathen had a second-long hesitation, more then enough time for Narek to rush the Salamander and knock him unconscious. Fearing the return of his former superior, Degat, Barthusa Narek began to look for a way to escaped the doomed ship.In the Charybdis’ launch bays, a lone gunship awaited its precious cargo -- the last remaining twenty warriors of the Pyre and their dormant Primarch. Vulkan's gilded coffin slowly glided aboard the waiting Thunderhawk on its anti-grav impellers. Mu'gara and Zarak, Xathen's two last remaining Pyroclasts, had volunteered to stay behind and defend the Charybdis. None had seen the brooding Pyroclast Sergeant since his earlier departure, and with time short at hand, none could spare the time to leave and look for him. With the ship's reentry into reality the mortal crew of the Charybdis were able to move freely again, all of them bearing the Nocturnean sigil of resurrection on their brows in echo of their masters. Numeon exchanged a final word with Chaplain Var'kir. As much as it pained every warrior on board the gunship, their mission had to succeed. The Reaper's Shroud and Monarchia opened fire on the Charybdis, their broadsides and lance strikes designed to strip void-shields and cripple their vessel, not destroy it. The true killing blow had already been launched -- assault craft quickly closing with every passing moment. Once the Salamanders gunship had successfully cleared the Charybdis’ starboard launchbays, Lieutenant Esenzi considered her options. Her mission was a simple one -- focus the enemy's attention on the Charybdis in order to distract the two Traitor vessels from the clandestine departure of the lone gunship carrying all of the Salamanders' hopes. Her ship was doomed and she fully well knew it -- for she had even suggested it herself -- but she would be damned if she would not go down without a fight. With the Charybdis taking heavy hits, Esenzi ordered all available weapons to target the Monarchia. The smaller cruiser quickly succumbed to the Battle-Barge's brutal barrages. However, by the time the enemy boarding parties reached the Charybdis it was already being gutting from the inside. The assaulting legionaries made short work of the valiant armsmen, and by the time the Monarchia succumbed to a huge fireball, the boarders had already broken through sixteen choke-points and barricades.Quickly it became apparent that the enemy still believed Vulkan aboard the Charybdis, the assault parties having split-up and continued to conduct a sweep of the cargo decks, while other parties reached for the bridge. The boarders had not reached the Charybdis unscathed though, as several gunships had been shot down and some parts of the mighty Battle-barge had intentionally been flooded with coolants or Promethium overspill which would be ignited when the enemy drew near. Some where cooked alive and other were blasted clear of the ship and left to freeze in the void. This strategy undoubtedly hurt the Charybdis, but it did not matter. Nothing mattered anymore. In a desperate gamble to earn Numeon and his brothers a little more extra time, Esenzi ordered all power diverted to the plasma drives, crashing through the shattered remains of the Monarchia in an attempt to reach and possibly ram the looming Reaper’s Shroud. With the enemy only two decks beneath her, the shipmistress covertly clutched a little pendant of the Aquila and began muttering prayers for Numeon and his companions. Those Salamanders that had gathered on the bridge were too busy readying themselves for the fight ahead to care. Many decks below, the Traitors finally turned on each other -- truth be told -- it had only been a matter of time. Degat, who had been leading a joint party of both Death Guard and Word Bearers in the quest for Vulkan's casket, had found the cargo deck emptied of its precious cargo. In a fit of rage he betrayed his allies before they could vox their master Maelig Laestygon. The Primarch or the Emperor's power made manifest, didn't interest him, for his goal was far more personal -- to kill the betrayer Barthusa Narek. Dismissing his own warrior, he began to prowl the cargo decks in search of his quarry only to be confronted by Xathen who was also hunting for Narek. Recognising each other, both warriors holstered their weapons and drew their swords to resume their earlier duel. Degat was halfway down the corridor when he realised his mistake. Narek had used Xathen as live bait and quickly appeared behind Degat, blowing out the Word Bearer's brains with a high precision shot. Despite Xathen's desire that he do so, believing the Word Bearer a traitor, Narek refused to take a second shot at the Salamanders, disappearing into the darkness and leaving Xathen to rush for the bridge.Aboard the Reaper’s Shroud, word had finally reached Laestygon that Vulkan had been exfiltrated by the Salamanders and all auguries were retasked with finding the fleeing remnants of the XVIII Legion. They quickly identified the fleeing Thunderhawk amongst a flock of saviour pods from the Charybdis, and almost immediately fighters were launched to shoot down Numeon's transport. Infuriated beyond sense by this turn of events, Laestygon ordered all weapons to open up on the Charybdis without consideration for the lives of those warriors which were still assailing it. On the dying Battle-barge, the last chapter of the tragic story was being played out. Breacher Squads of the Death Guard were charging the bridge even as the Reaper’s Shroud launched its killing bombardment, killing Esenzi, her armsmen and the pair of Pyroclasts, before Xathen charged in and thus saved the life of Chaplain Var'kir. Though blind and missing one of his legs as it was blasted off in the brutal fight, the Chaplain had to lean heavily on the Pyroclast Sergeant in order to stand. In the Charybdis’ final moments, the Chaplain and the former unbeliever looked upon Nocturne’s orb and hoped that their sacrifice had allowed their brothers to succeed. Then the valiant ship at last broke apart and the subsequent engulfing fire consumed them.However the Charybdis’ death did not mark the end. Believing the Salamanders’ strength destroyed on the sands of Istvaan, Malig Laestygon’s hand could not be swayed. He would kill Vulkan by any and all means and claim the Primarch's skull as his personal trophy. Despite Quor Gallek's warnings not to do so, the Death Guard ordered his warriors to prepare to assail Nocturne. This close to the Reaper’s Shroud, the Charybdis’ death throes had severely damaged the ship and killed dozens of warriors on board, even killing Laestygon’ second-in-command, which stood a scant few meters from him. Yet Laestygon did not relent. A pair of Fire Raptor Gunships and a Storm Eagle had closed with Salamanders’ craft and were opening fire on them even as they entered Nocturne’s atmosphere. |
Artellus Numeon - Battle For The Draconius Gate: Despite the pilot’s best efforts, the gunship was sent crashing down, the twin-linked Avenger Bolt Cannons mounted in the Fire Raptors’ nose making short work of the Thunderhawks’ armour. Five more Drakes were killed as shots shredded through the troop compartment before the gunship hit the ground in the Arridian Plaine. In the distance, a fimiliar silhouette stood on the horizon -- Mount Deathfire -- their ultimate goal. Yet the mountain was way too far away for any hope to reach it on foot. Three more Fireborn had not survived the crash -- amongst them the pilot -- and thus, the Pyre had been reduced to just twelve warriors. Luckily Zytos and Gargo were counted amongst the survivors -- Numeon as well, but their survival was only a question of minutes. Trying to make a run for it would only end with their pointless deaths, run down by the relentless gunfire of the descending Fire Raptors. Likewise, their lack of heavy weapons meant that they could not hope to damage the aircraft. All that remained was to seek cover in the ruins of their downed gunship and wait for their killers to set foot on Nocturne. Despite their dire situation and demorilisation that they face imminent death, the survivors of the Charybdis found some solace in that they would at least die on the soil of their beloved homeworld.Extracting Vulkan's casket from the Thunderhawk, the Salamanders gathered for their a final last stand. One of the Fire Raptors overflew them, no doubt relaying their position to the Reaper’s Shroud’s mobilizing troops before turning back to make a strafing run. It's Avenger Bolt Cannons were cycling up as the gunship was suddenly hit by a missile which send the Fire Raptor to explode on a rocky wall. Three gunships, in the unmistakably green livery of the Salamanders Legion, rushed overhead, dispersing the Death Guard flyers which prudently retreated. From the lead gunship, a communication channel was established, the speaker identifying himself as the famed Nomus Rhy'tan, Lord Chaplain of the XVIII Legion and Keeper of the Keys of Prometheus. Quickly realizing the importance of this new arrival, Rhy’tan ordered his gunships to land to seek out Numeon who had likewise announced his identity across the vox. Stepping from the gunship’s ramp with his personal bodyguard of Firedrakes, upon meeting him, Nomus Rhy'tan clasped Artellus Numeon's hand in the old ways of warriors and quickly asked about Vulkan's condition. "He's sleeping," answered Numeon, confessing his belief in Vulkan’s possible resurrection. He told the Lord Chaplain of their hardships they had to endure to reach Nocturne. With the Reaper's Shroud descending into low orbit, time was short at hand and any lengthier explanation or tale of their adventures would have to wait -- war had come to Nocturne -- and no matter how severely depleted the ranks of the Salamanders Legion were, they intended to fight to their dying breath. To Numeon’s relief the Pyre soon found out that the venerable Chaplain had not waited for reliable information to act upon in regard to his Legion's status, but had heeded his own counsel and fortified Nocturne as much as he could. Several outposts, formidable in every aspect, had been erected to withstand just this kind of peril they were now facing, and the continued training of the Legion’s Neophytes meant that the Legion had almost 800 trained and armed warriors at hand. Legiones Astartes all, they could be quickly be gathered to man these formidable defences. Quickly gathering the survivors of the Pyre and Vulkan’s casket, the Salamanders embarked on the gunships and rallied to the closest of these new outposts, the Draconius Gate.As Vulkan’s chosen regent, the task to command the defense of the Draconius Gate fell to Nomus Rhy’tan, Numeon wisely choosing not to challenge the Lord Chaplain’s authority. In accordance with Rhy’tan’s intentions the veterans of the Pyre were disseminated along the line so that the Nepophytes may benefit from their experience. Iden Gargo, the former artisan had joined the Techmarine Covenant that would attend the outpost’s void-shield generators, which only left Zytos and Numeon to accompany Nomus Rhy’tan to his command bunker. The Lord Chaplain hoped that by mustering the strength of his Legion at the Draconius Gate he would lure the Death Guard to attack them head on rather than ravage Nocturne’s civilian settlements. It was a tactic Numeon was sure would work because the enemy commander obviously still wanted to claim Vulkan’s body. The fight would be a grim one: barely 800 Salamanders, most of them having never seen actual battle, yet fought Traitor Marines against a likely superior but most importantly battle-hardened force of the dreaded Death Guard. Yet the Salamanders would fight on their homeworld, in immediate vicinity of one of their most sacred grounds and to protect their Primarch. Perhaps these elements would make a difference?Faithful to their brutal method of war, the Death Guard began the battle with a prolonged orbital bombardment from the still-functionning guns of the Reaper’s Shroud. The bombardment was not a conventional one but had been comprized solely of vile virus-weaponry, flesh-eating bacteria and other deadly nerve-agents. While the shells themselves harmlessly exploded on the outpost’s void-shields, its deadly payload was not such easily dismissed. Most worlds would have died to such a bombardment, their armies reduced to slurry, their war machines to corroded and useless chunks of radioactive or contaminated junk, but Nocturne was not just any world, Nocturne was a Death World, a world ending life since it creation where only the hardiest of survivors endured. As soon as they were released the airborne poisons burned in contact with Nocturne’s volcanic atmosphere. Yet such was the deluge of shells that this was not enough and soon a bite-yellow miasma began to creep ever closer to the Draconius Gate’s outermost bunkers. Rhy’tan however quickly saw the danger for what it was and orderd the burners engaged: batteries of auto-flamers releasing an inferno that sanatized Nocturne’s surface for good. After twenty minutes of continuous burn, the Death Guard realized that their stratagem had failed and stopped he bombardment. Now the true battle could be joined.As the Death Guard began to land their troops, the outpost's anti-air and orbital weapons exacted a heavy toll, shooting down some of the Death Guard's Fire Raptors and Thunderhawks while others crashed to the planet's surface, their turbines choked by the volcanic ashes carried upon Nocturne's hot winds. The Death Guard would however not be so easily denied, that much Numeon knew for certain. The Death Guard commander, the relentless Malig Laestygon, was determined to claim the honour of being the very first Astartes to truly slay a Primarch. As the Death Guard casualties mounted and their batallions gathered on the plaine, it quickly became apparent that the Salamanders were greatly outnumbered and outgunned. The XVIII Legion supported only three gunhips which hadn't even taken to air and there was no heavy armour support on the ground. Meanwhile, the Death Guard had deployed several armoured battalions they were justly famed for -- great formations of Land Raiders and Sicaran Battle Tanks -- capable of overwhelming the void-shields through their shere firepower. Yet the Salamanders stayed oddly inactive. Zytos did suggest trying to discreetly exfiltrate Vulkan’s casket to Prometheus, but Numeon didn’t consider it seriously for more than an instant. They had reached Nocturne and this story would end on Nocturne, so much he told Zytos before fixing the assembling Death Guard, waiting intently for Nocturne to show its true strength.The landing zones chosen by the Death Guard accounted for the first casualties, as gunships and Drop Pods landed in magma-trenches or vanished in opening chasms. Some of the less fortunate were cooked alive within their own battle plate or their transports as these were caught in searing geysers of super-heated steam which erupted from Nocturne's soil. Any warlord trying to assault a Death World was a fool, even if that warlord was of the Legiones Astartes, but the Death Guard had always vaunted themselves on their tenacity and resilience and were confident in their eventual victory. It would just be harder fought than what they had initially anticipated. In contrast, the Salamanders knew fully well what dangers lurked beneath the ground and eagerly anticipated the moment the Death Guard would realise it. As the Death Guard's armoured battalions assembled, the seismic disturbance created by so many tanks awakened the aggressive fauna of Nocturne. Soon gnarlwyrms, urdrakes, basilysks, wyverns, drakons and targons spilled forth from their earthly domains and ran rampant amongst the Death Guard formations. The more massive gnarlwyrms charged the Sicaran and Land Raiders, their horns more than able to rip asunder the tanks armour, while the fire-breathing urdrakes burned legionaries and tank armour to molten slag. By now the XIV Legion's assault had been badly mauled, just as Nomus Rhy'tan had predicted.Seeing the Death Guard beleaguered forces in disarray thanks to the monsters in their midst, Rhy'tan as overall commander of the Salamanders ordered the void-shields lowered and the Salamanders to charge. As last survivor of the famed Pyre Guard, Artellus Numeon was invited to join the Lord Chaplain amongst the Firedrakes, the very best of the XVIII Legion. Leading the couterattack from the fore, Nomus Rhy'tan and Artellus Numeon picked up speed and charged the Death Guard’s front ranks. As both formations were about to meet, sensing a turn in the tide of battles, the drakes of Nocturne let go of their prey, leaving a virtually disorientated and helpless Death Guard preciously little time to reorganise their ranks and receive their charge. From the Draconius Gate Thudd Guns shelled the Death Guard's rear lines to further disorganise the enemy while the charge hit home. The Death Guard’s front ranks were quickly overwhelmed, but the Death Guard would not be undone so easily, even when a Talon of counter-charging Death Guard Contemptor Dreadnoughts were brought down by disciplined fire from both Lascannons and Volkite Culverines, Mortarion's sons died fighting, weapons in hand. Overhead the artillery duel between the two opposing forces continued unabated until a large magma chasm opened up and swallowed a large part of the Death Guard's artillery-train. With the battle quickly turning in favour of the Salamanders,the only true treath remaining were the enemy commander -- Maelig Laestygon and his Terminator-elite. Still convinced he could snatch victory from the hands of defeat Laestygon announced himself in pompous fashion, but his angry diatribe was swiftly cut short in single-combat by Numeon. With their commander’s death the heart of the Death Guard's assault had been cut out and those that remained only faced utter annihilation. Soon Nocturne would swallow and destroy every sign of the Death Guard passage and the very name of the warlord who had believed he could conquer the Salamanders’ homeworld would be lost to time. |
Artellus Numeon - =Death: With the Death Guard vanquished and Vulkan’s corpse safely returned to Nocturne, Artellus Numeon had no reason to believe that Vulkan would not be reborn. With Nomus Rhy’tan's help the Lord of Drakes would finally be resurrected - of that Numeon was sure. However Numeon could not have anticipated that the respected Lord Chaplain would oppose him; it was not that Rhy’tan refused to conduct the sacred burial rites of the XVIII Legion, rather he did not believe that Vulkan would rise again at the rites’ end. As his pupil, Var'kir, before him, Rhy'tan lacked the belief that Vulkan's state was anything other than the eternal slumber of death. He had of course heard of the miracles witnessed by those few of the Pyre that remained, but did not believe them. The Circle of Fire’s lessons of immolation and rebirth were only spiritual, but by laying Vulkan to rest in the heart of Mount Deathfire, another leader could emerge -- Artellus Numeon, if he wished so. For the sake of their Legion’s future, Rhy'tan would not challenge Numeon's claim of leadership over the XVIII Legion, confident in Numeon's abilities to federate and reforge the Salamanders. Hope still remained that those garrisons stationed on Gerreon and other places could be raised and called back to Nocturne. Numeon however declined the Lord Chaplain's offer. In his eyes only Vulkan was fit to lead the Salamanders back into the war. And Vulkan would live again. To ensure this, Numeon brought Vulkan's body to the sacred ground beneath Mount Deathfire.Despite his misgivings, Nomus Rhy'tan agreed to conduct the proper burial rituals for his Primarch for he was wise enough to see that the Legion -- all that remained of it -- was in dire need of a sense of closure. So it came to pass, that the last sons of Vulkan -- by now fewer than 800 in number -- witnessed his passing. Each and every one of them had received the brander's mark that would commemorate the death of their Primarch. Armoured but unhelmed, their drake-hide capes fluttered occasionally in the heat, the Salamanders bore witness to the bier carrying Vulkan to his final resting place. Vulkan was born to the heart of Mount Deathfire on a bier of granite with Dawnbringer, his mighty warhammer, still clenched in his grip and the fulgurite spear that had claimed his immortal life still jutting from his chest, for none had been able to remove it. Ceremonial chains had been wrapped around the Primarch's arms, legs, torso and neck to bind his spirit to his body, allowing both to be consecrated to the flame. The bier advanced to the monotonous beating of hammers on anvils, and the gathered Salamanders struck their breast in unison. Before the bier, his head bowed in supplication, marched Lord Chaplain Nomus Rhy'tan. Reaching the mountain's caldera, Rhy'tan raised his fist and silence fell over the chamber before the Lord Chaplain started to recite the traditional verses in the old tongue of Noturne. A cadre of four Firedrakes gathered around their Primarch, holding him aloft while the chains that would let him descend into the heart of the furnace were pulled taut enough to hold him. With the final words of Rhy'tan's speech still ringing in their ears, Vulkan's body was lowered into the caldera. As the Primarch's body disappeared into the magma, the Salamanders daubed their fingers into burning ash and traced the Nocturnean sigil for rebirth on their bare foreheads. Then the Firedrakes let go of the chains and Nomus Rhy'tan destroyed the bier which had borne Vulkan this far with a strike of his mighty warhammer. Thus it was done -- Vulkan had been consigned to the fires of his homeworld. Minutes turned into hours, hours into days and still there was no sign of Vulkan rising.After over a week of waiting, this turn of events sufficiently broke Numeon's spirit. As the next Time of Trials drew near, Numeon renounced his rank and position. Long had he been ruminating over the words of Magnus the Red, who had asked, "How much would you sacrifice to see Vulkan restored?" Numeon now had his answer. Stripping off his power armour and weapons which he both reverently put away in Vulkan’s golden casket, Artellus Numeon stealthily and secretely departed from his fellow legionaries. Wandering away into the burning ash wastes around Mount Deathfire, he offered himself as a final sacrifice so that his father and Primarch could be restored. Descending into one of the volcano’s magma vents, Artellus Numeon departed the world of the living, never to be reunited with his gene-sire again. |
Artemis - Artemis: Artemis is a watch captain of the Deathwatch Chapter seconded from the Mortifactors Chapter who commands Watch Company Tertius of the watch fortress at Talasa Prime.Watch Captain Artemis has been instrumental in many great victories over the xenos foe. He played a critical role in triggering the civil war that destroyed WAAAGH! Thrashfang, burned to ash the T'au orbital city named in honour of Kor'el Fi'rios Yeln'atari, beheaded the Big Mek Wurldstompa atop his own Gargant and defeated the Enslaver plague on Tarrenthorst with a barrage of Cyclonic Torpedoes.Most recently he went into combat upon the crystal moon of Coheria during the Battle of Port Demesnus, where he battled the infamous Craftworld Aeldari farseer known as Eldrad Ulthran. So aggressive were Artemis' actions in that campaign that he was censured on his return, but there remains no doubt in his mind that he did only what was necessary to honour the Emperor.Artemis is something of an Imperial Puritan when it comes to fighting xenos, and will allow no alien to live. He refuses to countenance any alliance with xenos, even a partnership of simple convenience to face a common foe.Artemis fights with a thrumming Power Sword and a lethal Combi-flamer known as the Hellfire Extremis, which fires bursts of a bio-alchemical poison inimical to all forms of life. He carries a Stasis Bomb as a weapon of last resort, a hand-thrown explosive that turns time itself into an inescapable prison. |
Artemis - Origins: Watch Captain Artemis is a warrior born. Mastering the arts of battle as a mortal, then a Space Marine, and finally as an officer of the Deathwatch, he has become a supreme weapon in the Imperium's fight against the xenos. Hailing from the violent Feral World of Posul, the Chapter planet of the Mortifactors, Artemis had once been champion of a warrior culture that believed a man could inherit the strength of the dead by devouring their remains. As a youth, Artemis was one of the greatest warriors of his tribe and paved the floor of his father's lodge with the skeletons of his slain enemies. yet his reputation gained him many enemies and eventually, fifty of his fellow tribesmen attacked him en masse, seeking to eat his corpse and thereby gain his extraordinary martial power. It was the fiercest battle of Artemis' life, and he fought like a raging beast. When the recruiting operatives of the Mortifactors eventually found him, his body was rent by a dozen grievous wounds and he lay dying atop a mound of the attackers he had slain.Artemis' recovery was arduous, and the watch captain's body still bears a latticework of deep scars to this day. Nonetheless, through the ministrations of the Mortifactors Apothecaries, he was healed to full strength and ready to begin his training as a Scout Marine within the solar month of his arrival at the Mortifactors' fortress-monastery. Artemis has repaid this debt to his Chapter many times over. The harsh lessons he learned upon Posul were refined and focused by the Mortifactors, and his killer instinct made him a natural hunter and slayer of foes.Just as he was plucked from mortal life by his Chapter, Artemis was taken from his battle-brothers when the Deathwatch took notice of his knack for detecting and slaying alien life forms approximately a standard century after he became an Astartes. Though Posul is no more, destroyed by Tyranid hyperpredators, Artemis' growling hate and intrasigent zeal ensure that its legacy remains feared. Now he applies his talents to search-and-destroy missions, leading kill-teams of the finest alien hunters in the Imperium. When the prospect of violence is close, a savage gleam lights Artemis' eyes, though the fury of his youth has been tempered into a far deadlier force.During his training with the Deathwatch, Artemis has learned to harness the ferocity of his soul alongside the blade and the bolter. Now he goes into battle with a controlled intensity that lends him strength and surety that even the direst alien threat cannot daunt.As a battle-brother in the Deathwatch Artemis studied the ways of countless alien species through war. He applied his talents to the to the destruction of nests iof alien infiltrators, caches of alien technology, twisted Human colloborators and more besides. He rose to soon lead kill-teams, not only of fellow Deathwatch but also of lesser mortal agents alongside the servants of the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos, who deeply valued his intuitive capacity to sense alien corruption.After his secondment to the Deathwatch at watch fortress Talasa Prime, Artemis served first under Inquisitor Severnius against Genestealer Cults on the Missionary World of St. Capilene, helping save the planet from falling under the Tyranids' domination through the propagation of their genetically-corrupted xenophile cults.Inquisitor Severnius praised Artemis in the wake of this campaign, promoting him as second-in-command of his kill-team. For two solar decades Artemis fought alongside Severnius, rooting out alien corruption wherever it was found.On Varnix Prime, Artemis thwarted a Hrud attempt to capture an Adeptus Mechanicus base. On the Agri-world of Tarrenhorst he and Severnius discovered an infestation of the horrific Warp entities known as Enslavers that had transformed the world's entire population into their psychic puppets. It was after this that he ascended to become a watch captain of Talasa Prime. |
Artemis - Assumptus V Campaign: It was Brother Artemis who with his kill-team answered the request alongside Inquisitor Severnius from the colonel of the Astra Militarum's Kaslon Regiment on the world of Assumptus V in the Donorian Sector. The Deathwatch destroyed the K'nib xenos that had infested this world and Artemis himself killed the K'nib Alcayde, ending the aliens' incursion into Imperial space, even though official records reported that it was the Kaslon Regiment that had earned the victory to save face.It was against these foes that Artemis and Severnius had encountered one of their most daunting challenges. The K'nib attempted to psychically dominate the kill-team and bend them to their will. Though Severnius, himself a psyker, was able to physically shield most of the kill-team from this assault, three Space Marines fell under the aliens' mental control and turned their bolters on their brethren. A further two Space Marines were cut down by gunfire, but Artemis persevered and hacked down one of his erstwhile allies as the kill-team formed a defensive circle, assailed by hordes of alien-dominated victims.Artemis, Severnius, and the two remaining battle-brothers of the kill-team fought viciously and were able to barricade themselves in a small temple dedicated to the Emperor. Severnius by this point was exhausted by having to maintain his psychic shield while the three Space Marines desperately held off enemy attacks.For six solar days this situation continued until the kill-team was able to finally contact Thunderhawk gunships and coordinate a rescue. But before the gunship could land, the weakened Servenius was killed by one of the enslaved Space Marines, but not before the Inquisitor handed over command of the kill-team to Artemis. Once in orbit on a Deathwatch warship, Artemis declared an Exterminatus action on Assumptus V and unleashed Cyclonic Torpedoes upon the fallen world. |
Artemis - Battle of Port Demesnus: The Battle of Port Demesnus was a conflict fought between the Space Marines of the Deathwatch and the Harlequin Aeldari of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow on Coheria, the crystalline moon of the Imperial War World of Port Demesnus. The Harlequin troupe was led by none other than the Farseer Eldrad Ulthran of Craftworld Ulthwé.Using the campaign for Port Demesnus as a distraction, Eldrad and his allies among the Midnight Sorrow performed a ritual that was intended to awaken the Aeldari god of the dead, Ynnead, within the Immaterium. The ritual was subsequently disturbed before its completion by the forces of the Deathwatch, led by Artemis, who had been promoted to serve as a watch captain of one of the Watch Companies of Talasa Prime.Artemis and his kill-team had deployed to Port Demesnus aboard the Corvus Blackstar Lethal Intent and had quickly identified the xenos activity on Coheria as the real strategic objective of the Aeldari. The Lethal Intent was soon soaring through the thin atmosphere of Coheria. The planet had long been forsaken, the hab-blocks thrown up by ancient Demesnan settlers no more than jutting ruins upon the horizon.Despite the strange mist banks that swirled like a slow-motion tempest around part of the planet's surface, the Lethal Intent's scry-augurs registered the atmosphere as still breathable. Better yet, the drifts of crystal powder that passed for its surface were firm enough to land the Space Marines' aircraft on.Watch-Captain Artemis and his battle-brothers noted with focused interest the flicker of engagement sigils upon the periphery of the cogitator readout. They knew there must be more Aeldari upon Coheria when the scans registered as humanoid but not Imperial.Xenos presence was confirmed by the data lattice of the Stormraven that was deploying the Deathwatch Venerable Dreadnought Nihilus nearby. Artemis' decision to leave the Port Demesnus war zone against orders was one step closer to being vindicated. If the Aeldari were working some nefarious scheme, and Watch Force Artemis could slay them in time to prevent it, perhaps they could return to Talasa Prime in victory rather than disgrace.A split second after Artemis ordered the attack, his combat veterans took heavy fire. The thickening mists were no wider than an Aeldari's wrist, but the incoming projectiles were impossibly sharp. Where they scored telling hits, they sliced through ceramite to draw blood, slash fingers from hands or take limbs from torsos. A hollow laugh rang eerily in the mist as a shuriken slashed the eyes from a battle-brother's head in a spray of broken visorglass and murky liquids.The Deathwatch were already returning fire. Even those who were badly wounded shot from the hip without faltering. Kraken bolts hammered out into the gloom towards the long-limbed figures cavorting on the cusp of vision. Here and there, a satisfying boom rang out as bolt shells struck something solid and detonated hard.Artemis levelled shot after shot as he charged forward, struggling to see the tall-helmed Farseer through the mist. His vanguard elements boosted alongside him with a roar of Jump Pack engines. There was a sudden storm of multicoloured light, the mist flashing a hundred shades at once, and the tall Aeldari was gone.Actinic lightning blasted from the mist, a skein of electricity that left runic symbols behind Artemis' eyes as it hurled him skidding sidelong into a drift of crystal sands. A red-stockinged foot pressed his helmet down, seeking to trap him immobile for a coup de grace, but the Watch Captain jabbed his Power Sword high, impaling the Harlequin. He sprung up, gripping the falling body and breaking its spine even as he used it as a shield against the blinding laser beam that shot at him from the gloom. The corpse came apart in a puff of blood.Sleek-hulled attack craft swooped through the swirling, shimmering mist, adding to the confusion with crackling lasers and shuriken volleys. The Deathwatch, knowing that to remain stationary was to court disaster, had already spread out into pairs. What had started as a meeting of battle lines had devolved into a fast-paced hunt in the mists. Artemis growled in frustration; in a battle of agility, the Aeldari held all the cards.There was a sudden "whump" of ignition as a swathe of the battlefield was consumed in plasma fire, spindle-limbed xenos dancing spasmodically as they melted to nothing in the intense flames. The Dreadnought Nihilus stomped into the fray from the west, Storm Bolter barking as it tracked a passing Jetbike.A long-hafted Harlquin blade lashed out, deftly slicing through the weapon system's ammo feed, but Nihilus had fought Aeldari before and knew the tolerances of a Plasma Cannon well. A second explosion of eye-searing energies and the Jetbike -- brightly unformed riders and all -- was reduced to scattered ash.The tide of battle ebbed back and forth as each side attempted to encircle the other, only to find itself ambushed in turn. The mists swirled thick, the dull crump of explosions and the high shriek of dying xenos sounding strangely far away. Barking curt imperatives to fight on to the last man, Artemis plunged into the thickest part of the mist, seeking its source. He was determined to slay every last Aeldari upon Coheria, even if he died in the process.All around the Deathwatch, faces they could swear were familiar flashed in the flashed in the gloom; visages of the dead, of sisters and brothers, of the hated, of heroes long passed into legend. They blurred together, laughing, crying, a surreal kaleidoscope of imagery punctuated by intense flashes of gory violence.The distorting masks of the Harlequins, combined with the strangely reflective mist, left Watch Force Artemis with no option but to fight on using only their instincts, trusting their hearts instead of their heads.The vanguard of the Deathwatch force aimed their assault towards the highest concentration of Harlequins. They lashed out with Thunder Hammers and Power Mauls, but their targets simply vaulted and tumbled over the attacks as if in a long-practised performance.As their foes dodged, however, two of the veterans flicked Frag Grenades from the mag-lock points of their belts, and the sudden detonations sent three Harlequins reeling. It was all the opportunity the Space Marines needed. Heavy hammers arced overhead to smash dazed Harlequins into mangled heaps of broken bone and burst flesh, blood painting black ceramite red.Then, a cruelly laughing Death Jester was among them. A point-blank volley sliced an armoured torso into ragged meat, the shuriken's poison sending vital organs spattering with a bang. A blow from the scythe blade took a battle-brother's jaw, cutting his battle cry to a single gurgling words, "death," before Inriam's Spectre pushed a Plasma Grenade into his ruined mouth. Brother Galatael kicked out hard, sending the Death Jester rolling into the mist.Despite being blinded by a hundred stimuli, Watch Captain Artemis fought on with primal savagery. Once more, his mind told him he was surrounded by warriors hungry to devour him, similar to the same murderous kinsmen that had cut him down on his homeworld of Posul.The hungry faces of the Harlequins' masks loomed large in the mist. Artemis span and slashed, punched and stamped, crunched his helm into the face of one assailant and his elbow into the throat of another. He fought like a captured beast, proud and ferocious, but every return blow somehow connected, drawing blood from him with each strike.The Watch Captain felt a curved blade slide into his lower back. Another came in to sever his hand at the wrist, but glanced hard from the metal of Artemis' bionic arm. He spun, his mind flaring with pain as he ripped the sword lodged in his back from his attacker's hand. He shoved hard and primed his stasis bomb before flinging it towards the dancing shadows.A mind-numbing detonation and a shroud of stillness froze Artemis' assailants as if trapping them in a glacier. The mist, banished by the arcane explosion, parted to reveal grinning Aeldari trapped in the last act of a play that would never end. An arrowhead-shaped gunship swerved abruptly to avoid being being caught in the dislocation of time and space that rippled out from the stasis bomb's detonation.The machine's evasive manoeuvre put it right in the path of the Dreadnought Nihilus, who took some relish in backhanding it into scrap with a blow from his giant Dreadnought Power Fist. Artemis gave a shout of joy. With a single strike, the tide had turned.Eldrad Ulthran had taken into account every eventuality he could foresee unfolding on Coheria -- with the exception of one. He had foreseen the Imperial attack, slowed its advance with a web of words and laid an ambush of blades to repel it, and yet there remained a future he had not factored into his plans.In his meditations, the High Farseer had glimpsed a fold in chronology, a ruction in the imprecise nature of the skein. It hid a divergent thread of destiny that led away from his carefully sculpted paths of cause and effect. Eldrad had examined the temporal anomaly, but dismissed it as a false vision, for he saw no way for a species as lowly and backward as Humanity to affect the passage of time itself.With the detonation of Artemis' stasis bomb, fate's path veered sharply away from that which Eldrad had intended. The Deathwatch fought clear of the mind-altering mist that was dissipating around them and brought their full might to bear.The Harlequins were revealed, at last, in all their splendour, and those not caught within a stasis field were attacked with renewed fervour. The High Farseer of Ulthwe fought only in his own defence, for he was consumed with the culmination of a far greater work.All around Eldrad, the crystal seers glowed brighter and brighter with a cold and colourless light, throwing the twilight of the battleground into a stark new dawn. The Harlequins evaded many kill shots and leapt high to escape the crushing blows of the Deathwatch vanguard, but they could not dodge forever the hurricane of fury brought to bear upon them. Pressing their attack, the Deathwatch surrounded the remaining Harlequins, gunning down one Troupe and sending the other scattering as Nihilus' plasma blasts seared in from the flank.Artemis ran to the crest of a sand drift, lashing out to decapitate the rider of a Skyweaver Jetbike as it shot past. The blow sent the vehicle careening into an outcrop of eroded Imperial ruins. The resultant explosion saw a skull-masked figure spring high from within the shelter of the rubble, flipping, somersaulting and landing in a stumbling crouch.Artemis was already running, taking advantage of his adversary's distraction to press his Bolt Pistol into the back of the figure's skull-masked head. The Watch Captain smiled grimly in anticipation of the kill. Unbeknownst to him, the masked Aeldari grinned too.Slowly, the Aeldari laid down his long-barrelled cannon. He made a sound reminiscent of a herald clearing his throat and held out a hand in a stylised gesture of declaration."If you slay me, Sir Knight," he said, his High Gothic perfectly enunciated, "the fates shall align to bless our mutual foes.""Trust not the Eldar," said Artemis, his words thick with hatred."We are the sons of Death, you and I," said the Aeldari. "We bring oblivion, in order to deny Chaos. We cannot afford to thwart one another when the greater enemy stands on the cusp of victory."The gilded finger bones lining the edge of the creature's cloak gleamed in the harsh light as crystal statues glowed bright all around. Artemis narrowed his eyes; a similar raiment was worn by the Chaplains of his own Mortifactors Chapter in their sepulchral celebrations. Strangely, he could not sense duplicity in this one."Walk away," said the Harlequin, "and a dire blow shall fall upon the Archenemy." Artemis recoiled at the term as the Aeldari spoke on. "Is your distrust so deep you would rather kill me now than spare the doom of a trillion human souls?" There was disbelief under his tone, and something else. Despair, perhaps."Yes," said Artemis, pulling the trigger to end the creature's life.Eldrad Ulthran screamed as the ritual reached its crescendo. All around, the crystal sands of Coheria glowed bright. A bow wave of spiritual power rippled across the moon as the soul of every dead Craftworlder since the Fall of the Aeldari lent a measure of its sentience. But a vital voice in the choir of his psychic melange had been silenced, and the blessings of the Laughing God were fading away.Wraithbone runes whirled around Eldrad, burning to smoking ash one by one as the High Farseer struggled to hold the ritual of awakening together. His mind was aflame, the skies above bursting into bright orange fire in sympathy. Psychic energies heated the planetoid to volcanic temperatures. The moon became a psychic sun, a signifier of a new dawn. Somewhere, in the bottomless soulscape of the void, Ynnead at last stirred to wakefulness.Another sun blossomed on the cusp of fate, far smaller, and filled with malevolence. Eldrad opened one eye to see a plasma sphere burning towards him. He directed a portion of his psychic focus into his Rune Armour to dissipate the blast. In that act, he failed. The ritual disturbed, the emergent consciousness of the new Aeldari god splintered, its full apotheosis and awakening denied.The crystal seers shattered with terrific force even as Space Marines sprinted for their assault craft as the crystalline moon exploded around them. Eldrad reeled, stumbling blindly through the Webway gate behind him as the planet ignited with white fire. The last thing he saw was a vast and solemn constellation losing cohesion, a single bright point from within it shooting away into the far reaches of the cosmos.Yet the god of the dead had stirred in his dreamless sleep. Even as his full consciousness remained quiescent, he reached out across the galaxy to find his herald, an Aeldari who had served with many of her species' different kindreds, and even then was battling in the arenas of Commorragh. She would be the prophet of the new age and complete the awakening Eldrad Ulthran had begun. Her name was Yvraine. |
Artemis - Wargear: Mark VII Aquila Power Armour (Modified)Power SwordHellfire Extremis - Hellfire Extremis is a unique Combi-flamer that makes use of a xenos-derived, highly flammable bio-alchemical poison inimical to all forms of life to unleash its gouts of flame. This toxic fuel is stored in a compartment of Artemis' backpack.Frag GrenadesKrak GrenadesStasis BombAugmetic Arm - Artemis lost his right arm in battle with the Tyranids so it has been replaced with an augmetic.Augmetic Eye - Artemis' bionic eye possesses the ability to detect nearby life-forms much like an auspex. |
Artificial World - Artificial World: An Artificial World is considered an Imperial planet but is of non-natural origin.These include orbital stations and hollowed-out asteroid emplacements that include listening posts, research laboratories, military void stations, and doomsday bastions.However, Artificial Worlds can have large populations and can contribute regiments to the Astra Militarum. |
Artificial World - Notable Artificial Worlds: Dreadhaven - Dreadhaven is an Artificial World in the Ultima Segmentum. It is large enough to draft at least 5,000,000 troops per year for the Astra Militarum as part of a regimental tithe.Ran's Eglise - Ran's Eglise is an Artificial World in the Segmentum Obscurus. It is large enough to draft at least 5,000,000 troops per year for the Astra Militarum as part of a regimental tithe. |
Arturos Winterscale - Arturos Winterscale: Arturos Winterscale was the head of the Rogue Trader House Winterscale in the Koronus Expanse of the Segmentum Obscurus. When he died he left no heirs to the house's Warrant of Trade, which was held by a small group of regents.Then a man named Calligos Winterscale rose from complete anonymity to claim to be the rightful heir of House Winterscale. In a single solar week, the regents that controlled House Winterscale's Warrant of Trade while they searched out new heirs to its legacy either bowed to his will or simply vanished. Various rumours attest that Calligos Winterscale either is or is not the legitimate heir to Arturos Winterscale's dynasty or that he grew up as a pit-fighter in the lowest decks of Footfall. |
Arvann Stern - Arvann Stern: Grey Knights Brother-Captain Arvann Stern is an elite Daemonhunter and one of the longest-serving and most highly decorated Captains of the elite Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter. Even from his earliest years as a Grey Knight, Stern was believed to be well on his way to becoming one of the Chapter's Grand Masters, but instead his life took an altogether different course.Throughout his nearly four Terran centuries of service to the Emperor he has been confronted by his mortal enemy, the Lord of Change known as M'Kachen. The Greater Daemon has continued to interfere with Stern's fate since their first meeting such that for every act of heroism or bravery performed in battle by the valiant Grey Knight, some inexplicable misfortune also befalls him. |
Arvann Stern - History: Amongst the ranks of the elite Grey Knights, Arvann Stern is one of the longest-serving and most highly decorated Brother-Captains. In 855.M41, during one of his most famous exploits on the world of Antraxes, Stern confronted the Cult of the Red Talon and their daemonic master, the Lord of Change M'Kachen. Stern valiantly led the counter-attack against the vile Greater Daemon, striking at the heart of the Chaos Cult's temple. Despite being outnumbered, the Grey Knights slaughtered the damned souls of the foul cultists. Through the use of his powerful psychic abilities, Stern managed to perform the formidable feat of banishing the mighty M'Kachen back to the Warp. Normally such a feat was beyond the psychic abilities of a lone Grey Knight Astartes. From that moment on, Stern's fate was to become forever intertwined with that of the Lord of Change. M'Kachen vowed to devour the human's mortal soul, even if it took him an eternity to accomplish this task.Thus began the long standing vendetta that has not yet found its end. One-hundred and one years since his initial banishment, in the year 956.M41, M'Kachen managed to enter the material universe once again. The loathsome creature possessed the body of an unwitting Chaos Cultist and laid a trap for Stern amongst the obsidian pyramids of the world of Sargotha. Of the squadron of 5 Grey Knights who set foot upon Sargotha, only Stern managed to survive the ambush. Stern still bears the scars of the vicious battle that occurred amidst the blinding sands between him and the daemon. However, M'Kachen managed to escaped unharmed. Since that day, Stern and M'Kachen have fought many times. Each time the Grey Knight ferrets out M'kachen and forces the Lord of Change into a direct confrontation, the Greater Daemon always flees the field, though not before slaughtering Stern's companions, leaving the Brother-Captain as the often unwounded, sole survivor of these encounters.Despite the high cost to his Chapter, Stern's confrontations with the daemon is by no means a victory for M'Kachen, for the schemes being pursued by the daemon are always ended with his inevitable retreat, and the elimination of its mortal pawns. Each time Stern battles his arch-nemesis he garners fresh knowledge of the Greater Daemon's weaknesses, which fuels his hopes that one day M'Kachen will be defeated permanently -- either cast back into the Warp, or sealed within the technological prison of a Tesseract Labyrinth. What purpose the Lord of Change is hoping to accomplish by fueling this hope to his own ends is not known.The Grey Knights' Iron Grimoire records that devious opponents like a Lord of Change are as apt to deceive and ensnare themselves as any foe. The possibility of finally vanquishing his foe feeds Stern's drive to constantly train and prepare, refusing promotion to the rank of Grand Master until he ends M'Kachen's threat to the Realm of Man permanently. Stern's Brotherhood supports their captain unflinchingly, their duty and honour extinguishing any mortal fear. The Grey Knights feel that M'Kachen will surely one day overreach himself, and on that day, Arvann Stern's sword will avenge all of the fallen Grey Knights the daemon has slain. |
Arven Scurn - Arven Scurn: Arven Scurn was a Veteran Astartes of the IX Legion of Space Marines who served with the Legion from its earliest days when it was known as the Revenant Legion before it was reunited with its Primarch Sanguinius and renamed the Blood Angels. He was still serving with the Legion during the Horus Heresy. Scurn fought and died with the Blood Angels on Signus Prime during the Signus Campaign . |
Arven Scurn - History: Taken into the early IX Legion from the blasted pits of the Mercian Rift in Old Alba on Terra, Legionary Scurn was transfigured, raised up from the foul slums of his birth to stand as a model of perfection among the armies of the Emperor as an Astartes.During these years he originally served in the Legion's 14th Shock Assault Detachment, 32nd Mercian Rift Gene-cull. His outward appearance was that of angelic perfection, but within lurked a red-handed killer devoid of the noble aspect of the Revenant Legion's as-yet undiscovered sire.These frenzied butchers with the faces of angels were the shock troops of the late Unification Wars and the early Great Crusade within the Sol System, unleashed to kill and burn in indiscriminate fury on the worst of battlefields.The image of the Legionary Scurn presented above bears the Pentagram of Vesper, the battle honour of the bloody wars waged on Venus, on his left greave signifying his participation in the worst massacres of the Wars of Unity, as well as a variety of acid-etched markings of a more informal nature.The bloody smears that adorned many Legionaries of the IX Legion in these early years were intentional marks from the various bloodletting rituals adopted by the so-called "Revenant Legion," rather than the residue of battle.Legionary Scurn was among the few survivors of the original Legion at the time of the Signus muster, relegated along with many relics of those bloody years to lesser companies. He now held the rank of Centurion and bearer of the Word of Wrath within the 94th Company, and was among those martyred within the twisted eaves of the daemonic forest on Signus Prime, exacting a high price from the foe in exchange for his life. In death, he and his blood-soaked brothers of the early Legion would stand higher in the regard of the Great Angel Sanguinius than they ever had in life. |
Arvus Lighter - Arvus Lighter: The Arvus Lighter is a small, general purpose, surface-to-orbit cargo shuttle that is widely used by the Imperium of Man for many tasks, both in space and on the surface of planets. The Arvus is commonly used by both the Aeronautica Imperialis of the Navis Imperialis and Imperial merchant vessels, including Rogue Traders.The Arvus Lighter is just one of many types of small, void-capable shuttles used by the various organisations of the Imperium. The Arvus is piloted by a single pilot, and is not equipped with any weapon systems; in fact, the Arvus possesses only the most basic navigation equipment, external augur sensors, and proximity alarms. The Arvus has a powerful plasma engine that allows it to carry heavy cargo to and from a planet's surface.The Arvus is mostly used as a cargo shuttle, ferrying supplies and sometimes personnel from ship-to-ship and from high orbit to the surface of planets. The Arvus can also be used to transport cargo and personnel already on a planet to different locations on the surface if the terrain is too treacherous.The shuttle can be modified to carry special types of cargo, such as replacing the cargo bay with a fuel tanker or expanding it to carry larger loads. The Arvus can transport up to 12 people in its cargo hold, but any Imperial official of importance will most likely make use of the Aquila Lander instead, as the Arvus is designed as a workhorse and not a luxury voidcraft.The Arvus is not a combat vehicle and was never intended to engage an enemy, although if times are desperate enough the Arvus can be used as a makeshift assault boat for boarding actions during void combat, or as a transport ship during ground engagements. This was however not always the case, as numerous accounts testify that during the Great Crusade an armed variant of the Arvus saw extensive use in support of Solar Auxilia cohorts.The Arvus has been called the Trojan utility vehicle of the Navis Imperialis, as the two vehicles share similar roles and uses with their respective arms of the Imperial military. The Arvus has earned several nicknames such as the "Hog", "Little Pig", and the "Onager", the last stemming from the belief that the Arvus' Machine Spirit is particularly truculent and stubborn. |
Arvus Lighter - Notable Users of the Arvus Lighter: Imperium of Man - The Imperium uses the Arvus shuttle for many different tasks all across the galaxy, from the cargo holds of Navis Imperialis warships, Mining Worlds, and even Holy Terra itself.The Lost and the Damned - Due to the wide usage of Arvus Lighters across the galaxy by the Imperium, many have been used by Traitors and Heretics for their own cargo transport needs.Adeptus Mechanicus - The Arvus Lighter was used to deliver supplies to the main Adeptus Mechanicus base on Beta Anphelion IV from orbit. This base was engaged in classified research concerning Tyranid bio-forms that was ultimately deemed forbidden by the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos. After being delivered to the main base the supplies would be flown via an Arvus shuttle to the other Imperial installations scattered across the world due to the hazardous terrain surrounding the bases.Betalis III - The Arvus was regularly used to transfer supplies across the ice wastes to the Imperial mining colonies on Betalis III. |
Arvus Lighter - Armament: The Arvus Lighter is not a combat spacecraft, but it has been pressed into combat on several occasions. When the Arvus is needed for a combat role it can be equipped with an improvised forward-firing twin-linked Multi-Lasers, twin-linked Autocannons, or 2 twin-linked Heavy Stubbers. It can also be outfitted with 2 Hellstrike Missiles.Arvus Lighters in service of the Solar Auxilia during the Great Crusade were known to have been armed with twin-linked Lascannons. The Arvus can receive the following upgrades, including an ejector seat, an armoured cockpit, a flare or chaff launcher, an illumination flare launcher, or a searchlight. |
Arvus Lighter - Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications: Arvus LighterTypeGeneral Purpose Cargo Shuttle - SmallOperational CeilingN/AVehicle NameArvusMax Speed1600 kphForge World of OriginBakkaRange22,000 kilometres in atmosphereKnown PatternsIV - XXVIIMain ArmamentN/ACrew1 PilotSecondary ArmamentN/APowerplant2 RX-60-22 Rocket EnginesMain AmmunitionN/AWeight15.0 TonnesSecondary AmmunitionN/ALength8.52 MetersArmourWingspan8.2 MetersSuperstructure15 millimetresHeight3.68 MetersHull15 millimetresTransport Capacity12 Humans or 6 OgrynsAccess Ports1, Rear Ramp |
Arvus Lighter - Sources: Aeronautica Imperialis (Rulebook), pg. 24Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project, pp. 113-115Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara, pg. 17Imperial Armour Aeronautica, pg. 19Imperial Armour Apocalypse Second Edition, pg. 40The Horus Heresy Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 271The Arvus Lighter Returns to Show the Horus Heresy that Frills Don’t Pay the BillsWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (PC Game) |
Aschen War - Aschen War: The Aschen War was a series of brushfire revolts and Chaos incursions that erupted across the Aschen Sub-sector between 300.M40 and 307.M40, after a bloody Chaos Cult-inspired revolt on the Cardinal World of Dimmamar exposed how overstretched Imperial control over the surrounding region had become. Slowly stripped of much of its defences over the course of several generations to provide for the needs of other pressing conflicts nearby, this border region was ill-equipped to stave off catastrophe when it came. Very rapidly a three-way war developed between the beleaguered Imperial protectors of the Aschen worlds, Chaos Cultists who had subsumed several planetary defence garrisons to their cause and Ork marauders pouring across the border from the adjacent Blood-Maw Cluster.The Imperial counter-invasion was led by the combined forces of two Space Marine Chapters -- the Exorcists and the Dark Hands, backed by the Necromundan 54th and 60th Imperial Guard Rifles and the Battle-Sisters of the Order of the Valorous Heart. The Exorcists quickly realised that one of the keys to victory would be locating and destroying the single dark master of many names that lurked behind the divergent Chaos Cults in the region, a daemonic creature that on Dimmamar was known as the Horned God. A thing of shadow and malice, the Horned God was a master of hellish pacts who had become engorged on the souls its servants had slaughtered. When the Exorcists finally cornered the Daemon Prince in the maze-like pre-human ruins of the Dead World of Belphago, it was attended by a guard of thousands of its fanatical followers and several warbands of Night Lords Chaos Space Marines it had bound to its will.What followed was one of the hardest fought and costly actions in the Chapter's history, as the Exorcists, with the aid of a hastily composed Ordo Malleus strike team, fought their way through suicidal attack waves of cultists and the skilful ambushes and vicious assaults of the Night Lords before confronting the blackly-burning daemons that served the Horned God. In the final, titanic struggle amid the fallen ruins of a xenos temple to the Dark Gods older than the history of Man, the Exorcists' elite Enochian Guard and a handful of surviving Inquisitors and their Acolytes confronted the Lord of Shadows in all its blasphemous and unholy glory. Shrugging off shot, shell and energy blast, the darkling beast slashed through the Exorcists' ranks, shearing Terminator-clad warriors in half with contemptuous ease and ripping asunder the Daemonhosts of Inquisitor Grey before devouring their master whole.The Exorcists refused to retreat from the horror that confronted them despite their losses, and slowly the weight of their attacks began to take their toll. The turning point of the battle came when one of the Chapter's Dreadnoughts, the Venerable Sybra, sacrificed himself to rip a great chunk of the Daemon Prince's smouldering body away and exposed its blazing heart. This noble act allowed the Exorcists to press their attack while the daemon reeled in agony. With a daring lunge, Librarian Malachite pierced the foul heart with his Force Spear, and with the utmost exertion of his powers and adamant will through the weapon severed the daemon's connection with the mortal plane, finally vanquishing it.As the Daemon Prince's cries of rage and frustration echoed into eternity, all across the Aschen Sub-sector, those who had bartered their souls for a measure of the Horned God's power paid the price and were consumed by black flames, shattering the power of the Chaos revolt. Fully a third of the Exorcists Chapter had perished, but the tide of the war was now in the Imperium's favour, and within a year, the sub-sector was brought back under Imperial control. |
Asdrubael Vect - Asdrubael Vect: Asdrubael Vect is the Drukhari archon of the Kabal of the Black Heart and the current supreme overlord of the Dark City of Commorragh.Considered the most devious of a people legendary for their deviousness, Vect is possibly older than the Fall of the Aeldari. It was Vect who shaped Commorragh from a sprawling corsair port and collection of autonomous sub-realms into what it had become by the 41st Millennium, a vast and incalculably powerful and evil galactic metropolis located deep within the Labyrinth Dimension of the Webway.Among the murderous hierarchy of the Drukhari people, and from the lowest of beginnings, Vect gained and holds on to his position with both an unmatched intelligence, murderous ambition and a talent for cunning that is said by some to rival that of the Chaos God Tzeentch.Vect knows the primary weaknesses of all the major intelligent, starfaring species of the galaxy, and those of his own species most thoroughly of all. Quite simply, Asdrubael Vect is one of the oldest, most powerful, and most deadly beings to walk amongst the mortals of the 41st Millennium. |
Asdrubael Vect - History: Asdrubael Vect was born as a low-class underling in Commorragh and sold into slavery as a child. According to Vect's own account, related to a Human slave, in his youth he personally witnessed the Fall of the Aeldari in the late 29th or early 30th Millennium.Never accepted by the privileged high-born "betters" of his species' ancient Aeldari nobility, Vect was forced to climb the murderous hierarchical structure of the Dark City from the bottom, rung by tortuous rung. This survival in the face of incalculable odds explains his razor-sharp mind and infinite talent for intrigue.It was during this time that Vect vowed to himself that he would one day rule the Dark City, even if it took an eternity. Vect's talent for subterfuge was exceptional. Vect's rivals had a propensity for being murdered in plots or for suffering apparent misfortunes, although never by Vect's hand personally. By the time his rivals realised the threat represented by this upstart, it was usually only an instant before their heads had been separated from their bodies by his agents. |
Asdrubael Vect - Kabal of the Black Heart: Vect's power grew and at an unknown date in the 32nd Millennium, he founded the Kabal of the Black Heart, the first organisation to openly refer to themselves as Eladrith Ynneas or "Dark Eldar." Though the Black Heart began as a flickering flame, it has since been fanned into a searing firestorm.Thriving on being underestimated, Vect played a low profile as the Dark City fought a long civil war of its nobility against the Solar Cults who controlled the captured twin suns that powered the city, "The War of the Sun and Moon," in the 35th Millennium.The Drukhari nobility were ultimately victorious. A kabal like Vect's had almost no power compared to Commorragh's nobility, and Vect was opposed at every turn by the most influential of the Dark City's noble houses -- House Xelian, House Kraillach and House Yllithian. |
Asdrubael Vect - Commorragh in Flames: Over the Terran millennia, Commorragh grew from its shrouded beginnings into a galactic nightmare, its expansion driven largely by the machinations of one being, Asdrubael Vect of the Kabal of the Black Heart, who rose from slavery to become the true supreme overlord of the Dark City.Four thousand standard years after the Fall of the Aeldari, in the time that Mankind calls the 35th Millennium, Commorragh underwent its greatest ordeal since its founding. The slave Asdrubael Vect had risen, through pure guile and murderous ambition, to become the dracon of what he later named the Kabal of the Black Heart, when the elite forces of the Imperium of Man mounted a full-scale invasion of the Dark City.At that time Vect, the hidden architect of this time of strife intended to cement his own rule, was opposed at all turns by the most influential of the Dark City's noble factions, the Houses Xelian, Kraillach and Yllithian. By the time the Human invaders had been repelled, the powerbases of these houses were in ruins, their archons slain. It was not long before Vect and the more meritocratic Drukhari kabals had replaced them as the source of ultimate power in the Dark City, just as he had planned.The seeds of the Imperial invasion were sown in the region of the galaxy called the Desaderian Gulf. This area of Wilderness Space was well-known among the Human starfarers of the Segmentum Tempestus for the number of voidcraft that had disappeared within its confines. General Imperial practice was to avoid it at all costs.Unknown to the Imperium, there existed a vast portal into a main arterial of the Webway within Desaderian space, shielded by holo-fields that made it appear to be nothing more than a shimmer in the starlight, perhaps a result of gravitational lensing. Behind this portal lurked the pirate fleets of Commorragh, waiting for unwary prey. The Drukhari's noble houses preyed upon Imperial shipping lanes only rarely in order to escape retribution; hence the missing Human voidships were always considered acceptable losses or written off as bureaucratic errors of the Administratum.Vect's first move was to increase the frequency of these piratical raids tenfold. He made it his kabal's priority to capture every Navis Imperialis warship and invade every Human world within reach of the Desaderian Webway portal. He tore apart the Astra Militarum regiments garrisoning the Human-settled planets of the Desaderian System, devastated their fortifications and disappeared with his living bounty into the depths of the Dark City, leaving nothing but utter ruin in his wake. This campaign saw the Kabal of the Black Heart grow rich in plunder and souls, though Vect's detractors thought him a fool for antagonising the massive Imperial war machine.With its usual ponderous, bureaucratic slowness the Imperium eventually reacted to the disappearances in the Desaderian Gulf. A strike cruiser belonging to the Salamanders Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes was close enough to investigate. It was patrolling the edges of the gulf in search of the sacred artefacts and relics of their primarch Vulkan. Captain Phoecus of the Salamanders ordered his ship deeper into the Desaderian Gulf.After a short but violent exchange with Vect's Kabalite fleet, Phoecus' strike cruiser Forgehammer was crippled by Haywire Bombs and transported through the Desaderian Webway portal into the heart of the Dark City. The furor that resulted from this audacious capture set the spires of High Commorragh aflame with new intrigue.A Space Marine captain was a great prize indeed, for such an individual could withstand extreme and prolonged mental and physical torture before divulging his vital secrets about Imperial defences. Before long, Vect found his kabal's fleet in the Desaderian Gulf dwarfed by the armada of the Archon Lord Xelian. The Forgehammer, still rendered impotent by Vect's Haywire field, was confiscated by Xelian, taken to High Commorragh and analysed by a long dissection process.In his arrogance, Lord Xelian had not reckoned with the resourcefulness of the Space Marines trapped within the stricken strike cruiser. The Human warship's vox communications network had been shorted out by the Haywire field, but unknown to Xelian there remained a more pervasive method of communication available to the Astartes. Captain Phoecus' close friend, the gifted Librarian Hestion, had sent a psychic request for aid as soon as the starship's systems had been disabled. Hestion acted as a living beacon to the rest of the Salamanders Chapter, a beacon now trapped within the spires of Xelian's realm in the Dark City.When Lord Xelian sent the elite of his warrior court to bring the Space Marines to his torture chambers, they were met with far sterner resistance than anticipated. The Drukhari found it easy to carve through the hull of the strike cruiser and gain entrance to its dark corridors, but overpowering the Space Marines proved impossible for the xenos.Lit only by the flashes of boltgun fire, a desperate voidship battle took place within the hull of the Forgehammer until Astartes and Drukhari blood had mingled upon its hull plates. Xelian was quick to realise that he had underestimated his victims. He returned the salvage rights for the Astartes warship to the Kabal of the Black Heart, appearing generous but actually intending to seize the Space Marines once the Black Heart had suffered the losses in taking them captive.Vect readily agreed, forming small strike forces of all those warriors in his kabal whom he suspected of disloyalty and sent them to face the strike cruiser's defenders piecemeal. Vect's Kabalite Warriors, triumphant on dozens of worlds, marched into the Forgehammer without fear, but the battle lasted for solar days.Xelian was happy to let Vect drive his so-called kabal to destruction, believing the kabal's dracon to be a fool for not attacking with all the force at his disposal in a single, massive assault. Vect played a waiting game, feeding the disloyal elements of his kabal to the guns of the Space Marines to buy time and even employing Commorrite mercenaries with well-known ties to House Xelian's court, all of whom were soon swallowed by the violence within the Human strike cruiser.On the sixteenth solar day of the siege, the skies above High Commorragh suddenly broke open. The Salamanders Chapter had received the coordinates that had led them to their beleaguered battle-brothers from the Librarian Hestion's psychic broadcasts. The Desaderian portal had mysteriously been left fully operational, its Drukhari guards slain and its controls locked so that it could not be closed.The full fury of the Imperium of Man thundered from the crackling, jade-cloured Webway portal directly above Archon Xelian's personal spire. Through it came starships bearing the heraldry of not only the Salamanders but also the badges of the Howling Griffons and the Silver Skulls Chapters of Space Marines.Two dozen strike cruisers, each appearing like a chunk of Gothic architecture reshaped for war, hammered though the wide-open portal into the shadowy skies of the Dark City. At their heart was the great battle barge Vulkan's Wrath, an immense voidcraft with broadside batteries that could flatten whole cities. Its prow was a vast, jutting ram that ploughed straight into the spire where House Xelian stood, crushing it like a hammer driven into a priceless sculpture.The Drukhari overcame their surprise quickly. From nearby Port Shard came hundreds of exotic craft, each a needle-like splinter next to the slab-like Imperial vessels, but no less deadly for that. Voidraven bombers and Razorwing jetfighters careened out of their towering hangars like bats from a cave, descending in swarms to attack each Astartes strike cruiser.Though many were destroyed by the Imperial cruisers' broadsides, others systematically targeted the larger ships' guns with focused Void Lance fire and sustained hits from their Disintegrator Cannons. The Vulkan's Wrath was struck by thick blasts of electromagnetic force produced by Port Shard's salvage spars, rendering the majority of its weapon systems useless.One by one, the Imperial warships' guns were silenced. But these were Space Marines, and they were nothing if not resourceful. Ejecting from each strike cruiser came Drop Pods, fired with such force that they were projectile weapons in their own right. The Drop Pods hurtled down, smashing through Drukhari fighter craft and Commorrite starscrapers alike, each containing a squad of Space Marines who deployed upon impact with their weapons blazing. They left pure ruin in their wake as priceless Aeldari statues shattered and the spires of the Dark City fell.The Astartes' counterattack robbed the Drukhari of the initiative. Within only moments of the Drop Pod assault, the Space Marines had established a perimeter in the obsidian-paved streets of the Kraillach Quarter. Though they took constant fire from Kabalite Warriors and Scourges that flew through the dark skies above, Astartes power armour proved to be an effective barrier to the Drukhari's splinter weaponry.Yet it was not long before more of the Dark City's denizens joined the fight, drawn to violence and death like sharks to blood. Massed swarms of skyboard-mounted Hellions and Reaver Jetbikers swooped down to rake and tear at the Space Marines, who returned fire, literally, with their promethium-fueled Flamers. The half-Daemon Mandrakes and Raider transports loaded with Drukhari warriors assaulted the Space Marines with claws, knives and Splinter Pistols.Battle was joined from one side of High Commorragh to the other and the streets seethed with violence. Entire sections of High Commorragh burned as the invading Space Marines cut down or incinerated each new breed of xenos horror that assaulted them. Word spread quickly through the Dark City of the Human invasion and high up in the arenas, the gladiators of the Wych Cults mobilised for war.The Space Marines within the city were 500 strong, almost half the size of a full Chapter, and they maintained a defensive perimeter throughout the Kraillach Quarter. High Archon Kraillach himself led a massed charge against the Astartes, intending to crush the invaders that were destroying his personal fiefdom. Yet Kraillach's rampage was ultimately halted by a "stray" blast from a Dark Lance that vapourised him where he stood.As the Forgehammer lay shackled by electromagnetic force high in the Commorrite spires, the battle in the skies of the Dark City intensified. Xelian's last command had been to destroy the captive Human warship no matter the cost, for if mere Humans recovered his prize, the archon's authority and that of his fellow noble-born Drukhari peers would be shattered forever.Flights of winged Scourges armed with Haywire Blasters and Heat Lances began to systematically destroy the captive ship while a fleet of Ravager gunships forced the Space Marines who sought to rescue the vessel's battle-brothers back into cover. Then, in a storm of light generated by their teleportation technology, Terminators from the Salamanders 1st Company teleported directly onto the hull of the Forgehammer and returned fire. The Scourges were driven back and Captain Phoecus seized his chance.His warriors emerged from cover as a single force, sending a Krak Missile soaring into each of the nine towering spars that held his craft captive with their beams of electromagnetic force. Miraculously, each missile triggered a chain reaction of explosions, and the burning spars crashed down into the streets below.The Librarian Hestion summoned a psychic storm of his own, a raging inferno in the shape of a flaming drake that tore the Ravager gunships out of the sky one by one. The Forgehammer had been ravaged by the Drukhari assaults, but it was free at last from the Dark City's clutches. With a roar, the strike cruiser began to ascend into the sky and freedom.Far below, the Space Marines fighting in the Xelian Quarter were completely encircled as the full weight of Commorragh was pressed against them and warriors from dozens of Drukhari noble houses joined the defence of the Aeldari city. Yet the Space Marines' objective had been achieved, for the Forgehammer was free.A single curt vox comm-signal was sent and within mere moments, the main bulk of the Space Marines in the Dark City teleported away in a brief burst of light. Those that had been cut off from the main assault gave their lives to buy their brethren time or else were paralyzed by Drukhari hypertoxins and taken away to later fight and die as warrior-slaves.Confusion reigned as the Haywire fields that had shackled the Imperial voidcraft were disengaged one by one. The battle barge Vulkan's Wrath, now joined by the badly damaged Forgehammer, fired its retros and disengaged itself from the ruins of what had been Archon Xelion's pride. The vast starship's engine blast flattened spires and starscrapers alike before the Space Marines made their escape. The entire Adeptus Astartes fleet then passed through the still-yawning Webway portal above High Commorragh and escaped triumphantly into realspace.In the aftermath of the Imperial invasion, Commorragh changed forever. The power vacuum left by the vanquished noble houses of High Commorragh was quickly filled by Asdrubael Vect and his jubilant Kabal of the Black Heart, who had proven their superiority to their rivals in the crucible of war.In the standard years that followed, Vect played politics like a true Machiavellian master of intrigue, forever asserting the meritocracy of the kabals over the ancient aristocracy of the Aeldari noble houses. So it was that the Kabal of the Black Heart rose to ascendancy over the Dark City in place of the old Aeldari nobility and Archon Vect's new position as the Supreme Overlord of Commorragh and the Drukhari kindred was sealed. |
Asdrubael Vect - Uniting Commorragh: Yet Vect's ambitions did not end there. He would never cease his scheming until he had the entire city and all of its realms within his steely grip. In 677.M36, Vect tricked Archon Kelithresh into opening a casket ostensibly presented as a bribe, and the black hole constrained within was unleashed to consume both him and his entire realm.In the 37th Millennium, Vect caused the hidden portals that linked each satellite realm of Commorragh to be revealed and built Great Gates around them guarded by elite Incubi and Kabalite Warriors. One by one, Vect forcibly united the sub-realms of Commoragh into his own powerbase, conquering each in turn over thousands of standard years of civil war and strife. Commorragh expanded into and throughout these once-autonomous regions until they became integral to the Dark City.In 984.M37, the last independent sub-realm, Shaa-dom, had been growing steadily in influence to the point where Archon El'uriaq, the self-declared "Emperor of Shaa-dom," declared himself more worthy of rule over the Dark City than Vect. Vect publicly vowed that Shaa-dom would feel his blade, but seemed in no position to make good such a threat against Shaa-Dom's well-funded and elite military forces.Three solar days later a Warp rift opened above Shaa-dom and a burning Imperial battleship emerged and collided into the city before its Warp-Drive detonated, destroying El'uriaq's palace fortress. Daemons, exploiting the resulting Warp rift, invaded the sub-realm of the Dark City, destroying and consuming all in their wake. In the matter of solar weeks, Shaa-dom was reduced to haunted cinders. Vect is reported to have allowed himself a rare smile at the moment of its fall.With the destruction of Shaa-dom, all of Commoragh's sub-realms became part of the Dark City -- and the newly unified city was now under Vect's complete control. |
Asdrubael Vect - Era Indomitus: Vect, through plots more labyrinthine than most mortals could hope to comprehend, was still the supreme overlord of Commoragh in ca. 999.M41. This achievement is perhaps even more impressive than his becoming supreme overlord in the first place.As a result of his low-born status, he has never been accepted by the remaining Drukhari high nobility of Commoragh. Though the noble houses he usurped power from were forced to reinvent themselves as kabals, they still hate Vect and would gladly topple him and reassert themselves given the chance. Yet even other kabals' archons, unimaginably devious themselves, have never been able to outwit Asdrubael Vect. All who have tried have died in indescribably horrible ways.And yet, as the 41st Millennium comes to a close, it is believed by some that Vect's hold upon the Dark City is beginning to loosen: he visits uncharacteristically blunt retribution on those who defy him with increasing frequency. His realspace raids have become increasingly frequent as well, leading some to speculate that he has finally passed beyond even the capability for rejuvenation that the agonised murder of thousands of slaves can bring.Typical of the Drukhari, theories abound that Vect may be tired of success, rulership, or even his long existence. Others say he may be gambling against himself as it is now the only challenge that he can find in a city that has never had his equal. More sensible Drukhari believe that he is only feigning weakness until his true enemies reveal themselves, at which point he will destroy them.Nothing is ever sure when it comes to Asdrubael Vect, except that if he falls, the Dark City will be torn apart by vicious civil war. |
Asdrubael Vect - Drukhari Civil War: The hidden realm of Commorragh was shaken to its foundations by the coming of the Great Rift, known to the Aeldari as the Dathedian, and the Warp quake or Dysjunction that the priestess Yvraine had brought into its heart on the Night of Revelations when the god of the dead Ynnead first began to stir to wakefulness.Seeking to counter the Ynnari influence that had arisen in the Dark City after the Night of Revelations, Supreme Overlord Asdrubael Vect began manipulating many assets within Commorragh, seeking to eliminate Yvraine and her sect without being seen as openly murdering the prophets of Ynnead.But the Supreme Overlord of Commorragh found himself in something of a quandary. The rise of Yvraine -- and her transformation at the Crucibael arena into the high priestess of Ynnead -- had triggered a metaphysical invasion -- the Great Dysjunction -- that had allowed Daemon legions to spill into his artfully created city from the Immaterium. Vect isolated and effectively quarantined that invasion at great cost; that Warp Gate and its infernal spawn continued to gnaw at the Commorrite sub-realms conjured to hold it back. It was a great loss he would not ignore, and an insult he could not be seen to excuse.Vect could not strike directly at Yvraine and her Ynnari followers himself, however; to do so would be to actually acknowledge he considered them a threat to his rule. He worked instead through puppets and whispersmiths, layering intrigue and rumour atop one another until Drukhari kabals, Haemonculus Covens and Wych Cults alike moved against the Ynnari without ever realising that they did so at Vect's behest.Some sought to directly assail those Ynnari dwelling within the fractured realm of Commorragh, and in so doing weaken or cast doubt upon Yvraine's cause. Such was the intent of Marquis Vulkhere of the Lords of Iron Thorn; by subtle whispers and shadowy missives it came to the archon's attention that his hated rivals, the Kabal of Poisoned Hopes, had converted to the Ynnari cause and were gathering fresh recruits to their fortress in the Howling Spire.Vulkhere saw a chance to eliminate his own long-time foes and give the appearance of making war upon the Ynnari without expending time and resources hunting down Yvraine herself. Thus he unleashed his kill squadrons in a sudden and devastating assault upon the Howling Spire. Spearheads of grav-craft slid through the greenlit gloom around the spire, staying low amidst the lambent fog so that their sails cut through the fume like the fins of oceanic predators.At the last moment some eldritch alarm warned the Ynnari of the approaching threat. The Howling Spire's defence guns spat darklight and hails of splinters, and in response grav impellers screamed and the Lords of Iron Thorn burst up from the mist-cover to attack. Lance blasts ripped back and forth as Ravagers jinked and wove, their gunners hammering the Howling Spire's defenders. Drukhari were atomised by energy beams that would have sundered tanks. Others toppled from the spire's flanks, their bodies riddled with toxic needles or bound in restricting webs of thorned metal.Return fire saw more than one gunship or transport explode in mid-air, shedding screaming bodies as its wreckage plummeted. However, striking fast and unheralded, the Iron Thorn swept the spire's lower galleries clear of defenders and landed a massive raiding party.They were met by a ferocious counter-charge. The ragged alliance of Kabalites and Wyches who had flocked to the Ynnari banner fought back with the determination of true zealots. The Lords of Iron Thorn wavered as they found their opponents fighting with an unfettered death-madness even their pain-heightened reactions could not keep pace with. For long moments the battle hung in the balance, a blistering blur of violence engulfing every stairwell, walkway and torture chamber in the spire.Then came Marquis Vulkhere himself; whilst his foes were focused on the threat pushing up from below he and his handpicked Trueborn bodyguard had blasted their way into the spire's upper chambers, slain Archon Leshh of the Poisoned Hope, and now fell upon the Ynnari from behind. Caught between two foes, hammered from without by the fire of the circling gunships, the Ynnari of the Howling Spire were annihilated.This was but one example of the internecine warfare that erupted anew as disgusted or furious Drukhari turned upon the deviant death-cultists in their midst. Yet though the devotees of Ynnead found themselves beset, they were far from defenceless; conflict and violent rivalry is the norm in Commorragh, and this fresh schism was but one more reason for the Drukhari to tear at one another.So it was that several sub-realms of the Dark City were claimed by pro-Ynnari Drukhari factions, fortified against assault and transformed into separatist enclaves in their own right. The message of Ynnead spread slowly through Commorragh, but despite Vect's best efforts, spread it did.Vect also used third party brokers to put bounties on Yvraine's and her follower's heads, creating expeditions of assassins and bounty hunters in Commorragh tasked with hunting down Ynnari in the Dark City and across the galaxy. In truth, Vect needed little to push the city towards constant strife as the Drukhari rarely required much cause to murder one another. While Vect managed to destroy many of the pro-Ynnari factions within Commorragh, entire sub-realms of the Dark City nonetheless fell under Ynnari control. These were soon fortified against attack and became separate enclaves of the Webway in their own right.Determined to eliminate the growing threat of the Ynnari to his own control over the Drukhari of Commorragh, through third-party brokers Asdrubael Vect offered impossibly rich rewards for Yvraine's severed head, and so spurred dozens of hunting parties and feral Drukhari and other xenos mercenaries to take up the prophet of Ynnead's trail.Perhaps the deadliest such hunting party was led by Drazhar, Master of Blades. By following Yvraine to the sacred debating fires of Craftworld Saim-Hann and striking from a hidden Webway portal, Drazhar got his blade a hand's breadth from the high priestess' neck. The kill strike was parried at the last moment by the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar herself.The running battle that followed saw Asuryani, Ynnari and Drukhari clash in a series of engagements that took them to the ancient ruins of the Aeldari Empire and beyond. Skilled as she was, Jain Zar could not overcome Drazhar in combat, for where she was a leader as well as a warrior, Drazhar was devoted to bladesmanship alone.But Jain Zar had pledged her power to the Ynnari, and with Ynnead's grace upon her, she fought with uncanny speed and skill to defend Yvraine. It appeared that even a mastermind such as Vect, allied with a near-mythical warrior such as Drazhar, could not engineer Yvraine's death. The Whispering God had use for his high priestess still, and he would not be denied by the self-serving machinations of Asdrubael Vect. |
Asdrubael Vect - Ghodri Falsehood: There were other attempts by the supreme overlord of Commorragh to strike at Yvraine. Many of the Haemonculi that made their lair in the lower regions of Commorragh were old allies of Asdrubael Vect's. They were so steeped in the history of the Dark City, so influential in their control of the Drukhari's sham immortality, that they sought to maintain the status quo from which they had profited for so many Terran centuries.The coven of the Prophets of Flesh, those who studied under the demented flesh-sculptor Urien Rakarth, had devised a new punishment -- to take a transgressor and reshape them, melding their mortal clay until they looked, walked and even smelt like a Human being. All Drukhari found this horrifying, for to them a Human form was ungainly and ape-like, a cruel mockery of a biped in comparison to the lithe and alabaster-skinned Aeldari anatomy. This was a horrific punishment for a people so vain and haughty as the Drukhari, and those subjected to the treatment cried out that they would do anything at all to have it reversed.In these "false Humans," Vect saw opportunity -- one so twisted and sadistic that Urien Rakarth agreed to orchestrate it on his behalf. On the Imperial slabcrete planet of Ghodri Sekmet, Yvraine preached the Ynnari creed to a hidden gathering of Alaitoc Pathfinders high in the peaks. The Craftworld Aeldari did not expect any of the dull-witted Humans who infested the rest of the planet to uncover the location of their eyrie, and Yvraine was speaking with such passion and fervour that all eyes were on her.Hence when the Imperial military announced their presence with a well-organised Astra Militarum pincer assault, the Aeldari found their line of retreat cut off by artillery fire. The Ynnari and Alaitoci fell back to the Webway portal by which they had made planetfall upon Ghodri Sekmet -- only to find a strike force of Drukhari mercenary elites bursting through.Caught between the hammer of the Drukhari assault and the anvil of the Astra Militarum -- amongst whose ranks were Vect's false Humans, who had engineered the attack -- the Ynnari were decimated. Only the manifestation of the Yncarne, the Avatar of Ynnead, summoned to battle by so much Aeldari death in one place, allowed Yvraine and the rest of the command structure of the Ynnari to break through and make their escape into the Webway. |
Asdrubael Vect - Assassination of Vect: With every Incubi bodyguard within Commorragh deployed to stem the tide of Daemons that had resulted from the Great Dysjunction, long-stifled rivalries between the Dark City's elites erupted into bloodshed. Assassinations became commonplace, and the threat of civil war loomed ever closer. Yet right when the denizens of Commorragh seemed set to tear themselves and their city to shreds, the impossible happened.Asdrubael Vect himself was murdered, cut down by Mandrakes in service to an unknown master. Furthermore, every receptacle that contained a fragment of the supreme overlord's essence was destroyed simultaneously, ensuring that he could not be regrown and reborn even by the arcane methods of the Haemonculi.The internecine conflicts that ravaged the Dark City were quickly replaced by an uneasy stillness as every Commorrite assessed their existing alliances. If Vect could be killed, then none amongst the Drukhari could be assured of their own survival. |
Asdrubael Vect - Dark Muse: The Harlequins of the Masque of the Veiled Path prepared a wake for Vect to be held in the Nhexus, the arena of the Wych Cult of the Cursed Blade. Many began to suspect that it was the Cursed Blade who had orchestrated the supreme overlord's demise -- others suspected the hand of Aurelia Malys, for she and her Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue had withdrawn from Commorragh into the fractured spars of the Webway.Nonetheless, the Great Wake was attended in great numbers, both by those loyal to Vect and by those who came to gloat before beginning the war to divide up his territories. At the crescendo of the proceedings, the arena was saturated with potent airborne hallucinogens, and the Harlequins unleashed their full fury on the other archons in attendance.Joining the fray on the side of the Veiled Path were the Wyches of the Cursed Blade, as well as the Haemonculi of the Prophets of Flesh and warriors from Vect's own Kabal of the Black Heart. The blood of archons flowed in great rivers, and amidst the screams of agony and terror, Asdrubael Vect rose from the centre of the arena, his body perfect in form and his eyes filled with wrath.When the slaughter had finished, those archons who had remained faithful to Vect were resurrected by the Prophets of Flesh, as were some of his enemies -- though remade as twisted monstrosities whose only purpose was to serve the supreme overlord by their suffering.Having culled the upper echelons of Commorragh of all who would have opposed him, Vect's position as ruler of the Dark City was rendered nigh-unassailable, and he declared himself a living Dark Muse. |
Asdrubael Vect - Wargear: Ghostplate Armour - Those Drukhari who desire a substantial amount of protection whilst retaining a high degree of mobility sport armour made of hardened resins and shot through with pockets of lighter-than-air gas. Ghostplate Armour also incorporates minor force field technology to better protect its wearer.Shadow Field - The Shadow Field surrounds its wearer in a dark miasma of energy that is almost impossible to penetrate. However, should a solid blow connect, the shadow field will short out, leaving its wearer vulnerable.Splinter Pistol - This side arm is a smaller version of the Splinter Rifle. Often carried as a sidearm by Drukhari assault and shock troops, it fires a hail of splinter-like shards of crystal at the enemy. The only disadvantage of its smaller size is its more limited effective range. Splinter Pistols are often fitted with vicious combat blades, which the Drukhari use to slash and stab opponents in close combat.Plasma Grenades - These grenades explode into a ball of super-heated plasma, negating the effect of cover in close combat.Haywire Grenades - Haywire Grenades are used for disabling or crippling enemy vehicles. They send out a powerful electromagnetic pulse that shorts out and destroys electrical circuits.Sceptre of the Dark City - This unique sceptre is the badge of office of the Supreme Overlord of Commoragh and is an advanced Power Weapon that contains sophisticated pain-inducing devices.Obsidian Orbs - Extremely advanced and rare Drukhari soul-technology. When an Obsidian Orb is used against living opponents, it can suck out their very souls and use their stolen life-energy to heal Vect's own wounds.Dais of Destruction - When Vect deigns to lead a battle personally, he often does so upon the Dais of Destruction, a modified Ravager skimmercraft dedicated to his own use and armed with Dark Lances and force shields. |
Asgardian Rangers - Asgardian Rangers: Asgardian Rangers are the elite cavalry-based regiments of the Imperial Guard that specialise in scouting, camouflage and infiltration. Hailing from the Feudal World of Asgard, the Asgardian Rangers are often viewed as primitive, almost feral, and the Ranger's feudal background does little to alter this perception. It has been observed that the Asgardian Rangers have many advantages in their use throughout a warzone above and beyond the Scouts of the Space Marines. When facing a tactical situation that is very fluid, the Asgardians take advantage by utilising the sheer speed of their biologically enhanced mounts, manipulatively bred for generations by their world's contingent of Tech-priests. The mounts' incredible endurance and tenacity, coupled with their engineered resistance to wound and toxin can carry the Rangers through the worst of enemy held territory as they follow armies, staying out of the reach of opposing scouts and outriders.During the Third War for Armageddon in 998.M41, the Asgardians' ability to stay in the field and subsist in the most desolate of areas often proved invaluable. Scout Marines mounted on Assault Bikes were often constrained by the need for fuel, for resources could be sparse in the Ash Wastes of a Hive World like Armageddon, and they also suffered in situations where stealth, rather than skill at arms, was required. In addition, the territory north of the Hive City of Helsreach, and that surrounding the nearest Ork drop site, was directly comparable to the terrain of the Ranger's own homeworld, thus granting the Asgardians a familiarity of surroundings that so many of the Imperial forces on Armageddon lacked. The Asgardian Rangers were the clear choice to be utilised in such regions in the absence of Adeptus Astartes support. No other army on the planet had their skill or knowledge of reconnaissance within enemy-held territory.Though small in number, the Rangers of Asgard provided a great deal of intelligence on the force distribution of the Orks. Despite their late appearance as a component of the Imperial forces on Armageddon, many tactical catastrophes were averted by the vigilance of these versatile troops. Under the guidance of General Odwin, these cavalry-based regiments were dispersed across the entirety of the continent of Armageddon Secundus. It was rare that these units were actually consigned to fight at the front line, but all reports suggested the Asgardian Rangers were fierce and able fighters, and their biologically enhanced steeds were as ferocious as their masters. |
Asgardian Rangers - Notable Asgardian Rangers Regiments: 89th Asgardian Rangers Regiment - The 89th Asgardian Rangers fought in the Mannhaeim Gap during the Third War for Armageddon. |
Asger Warfist - Asger Warfist: Asger Warfist was a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter in the mid-32nd Millennium who was appointed as the first watch commander of the Deathwatch Chapter during the War of the Beast by Lord Commander of the Imperium Koorland. |
Asger Warfist - History: Asger Warfist was named the very first watch commander of the Deathwatch when the title still served to designate the Chapter's overall master like a standard Chapter Master. Asger Warfist was already a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter when the Ork forces of The Beast invaded the Imperium during the War of the Beast of the mid-32nd Millennium. He took part in his Chapter's battle against the Orks when they invaded an Imperial system near the Eye of Terror and he later successfully led his Great Company in defending the Industrial Moon of Fabrikk.Afterwards, he was commanded by his Great Wolf to travel to Terra when the Space Wolves received word that their aid was requested to form an Adeptus Astartes strike force to attack the world of Ullanor, which was discovered to be the origin point of The Beast's invasion force. Warfist later appeared before Lord Commander of the Imperium Koorland as part of his Chapter's taskforce on Terra. Warfist reluctantly tolerated the presence of Dark Angels in the strike force and took part in the invasion of The Beast's homeworld of Ullanor.Warfist later became one of the first members of the Deathwatch and took part in the destruction of the Attack Moon over Terra. Shortly before the second invasion of Ullanor to try once more to slay The Beast, Lord Commander Koorland made Asger Warfist the first Chapter Master of the Deathwatch with the title of "watch commander."Warfist fought alongside Koorland when the lord commander was slain by the second massive Greenskin warlord that revealed himself to be another version of The Beast. During the third Imperial offensive on Ullanor, Warfist commanded one of the five Imperial attack groups.In the millennia after the War of the Beast, the Deathwatch became a far more decentralised organisation that was deployed across the galaxy. Now based out of watch fortresses largely independent from each other, the title of watch commander stopped being a singular rank used to denote an overall leader of the Deathwatch. In the 41st Millennium the title now simply refers to the commanding officer of a particular watch fortress, who is almost always a watch master, but sometimes can be a senior watch captain. |
Ashen Circle - Ashen Circle: The Ashen Circle was a unique formation of the Word Bearers Legion utilised during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras during the 30th and early 31st Millennia. Descending from the sky on Jump Packs, they were the destroyers of false gods, ashen angels sent to reduce libraries and shrines to cinders with Flamers and, where a truly lasting destruction was required, phosphex.Attached to the Legion's various chapter-sized forces but standing as a circle apart, only the most dedicated of Word Bearers could enter the ranks of the Ashen Circle. Many who passed through their ranks eventually ascended to the role of Chaplain. |
Ashen Circle - History: Serving alongside the Destroyers of the Word Bearers Legion, the Ashen Circle was a unique formation created for a unique purpose: the destruction of heretical cultures, learning and faith. These Space Marines were members of the XVIIth Legion's original Iconoclast faction, charged beyond the battlefield with hunting down works of false doctrine and those who purveyed it, consigning both to destruction and eradicating flame.On the battlefield, their task was deemed no less important by their Legion; seeking out those things which gave the foe the heart and courage to fight: charismatic leaders, priests, battle flags and champions. These they singled out, dragged down with the hook-blades of their axe-rakes and destroyed with brutal fervour, often making plunging attacks far in advance of their own lines in order to do so, with no thought as to their own survival.On world after world, the Ashen Circle tore down libraries and churches, parliaments and sepulchres, first so that the Imperial Truth might be set up in their place, but later so that far darker creeds could take root and fester.The Ashen Circle is an organisation that predates Primarch Lorgar's return to the XVIIth Legion, and as such maintained a unique pattern of heraldry that was distinct even within such a diverse Legion as the XVIIth. By the time the Word Bearers revealed their treacherous intentions at the Battle of Calth during the Horus Heresy, few elements of the Ashen Circle's original heraldry remained, with only a modified Destroyer icon somewhere on their armour and the dark, gun-metal grey colour of their battle-plate now unobscured by the Colchisian symbology. Instead, they now wore the trappings of Lorgar's new creed in service to Chaos.The Space Marines who made up squads of the Ashen Circle were called "Incendiaries" while their sergeants were known as "Iconoclasts." |
Ashen Circle - Unit Composition: 4-9 Incendiaries1 Iconoclast |
Ashen Circle - Wargear: Hardened Armour - Warriors of the Ashen Circle wore a variant Mark III Iron Pattern Power Armour unique to the Word Bearers Legion.Hand FlamerAxe-Rake - A heavily reinforced axe-weapon with a grappling barb, this vicious blade was used to drag down victims, and topple graven idols and false icons for the Word Bearers' pyres.Jump PackFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades |
Ashen Circle - Optional Wargear: Power AxeInferno PistolPlasma Pistol |
Ashen Circle - Optional Wargear (Iconoclast Only): Artificer ArmourMelta Bombs3 Phosphex Bombs |
Ashen Circle - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 142, 257The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 105, 111, 247Forge World Webstor - Word Bearers Legion Ashen Circle |
Ashen Claws - Ashen Claws: The Ashen Claws were originally the 18th Chapter of the Raven Guard Legion during the Unification Wars, Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.Comprised of several thousand Astartes, near every one was a Terran-born Veteran of the old XIXth Legion, before their reunification with their lost Primarch Corvus Corax upon the world of Deliverance during the Great Crusade.Following the Battle of Gate Forty-Two during the Great Crusade campaign in the Akum-sothos Cluster, those that survived the crucible of that deadly near-suicidal assault were gathered together and despatched by Corax into the northeastern reaches of the Ghoul Stars to bring the light of the Emperor to the outer darkness.Later considered a Renegade Blackshield force by the Imperium, the Ashen Claws believed themselves to be continuing the work of the Great Crusade, carving a swathe of blood and ash across the void in memory of a dream which had turned to nightmare with the Warmaster Horus' betrayal at Isstvan III. Their ultimate fate by the 41st Millennium was to become a band of Renegade Space Marines who continued to haunt the region of the Ghoul Stars. |
Ashen Claws - The Raven's Cast-Offs: The term "Ashen Claws" is not one immediately known to Imperial scholars of that most tumultuous period of the Imperium's history, the Horus Heresy. It is not listed as the title of any existing Chapter, battalion or fleet within the eighteen Space Marine Legions at the outbreak of the civil war, nor is it a title taken by one of those ad-hoc formations that survived to the war's end. Indeed, a casual search of the Imperial Archives on Terra reveals but a few possible references: an Acheron-class Battleship that was designated the Ashen Claw, a Solar Auxilia cohort whose unofficial designation was the "Ash Claws," and the patriarch of the Knight House Moritain, whose honourary titles include "He whose claws rend all to ash."Obviously, none of these are linked to the unknown Legiones Astartes force that ravaged the Nostramo Sector in 011.M31. However, those with the access to the sealed vaults of the archives might uncover two further references that offer a potential answer to the puzzle. The first of these comes from the Legion records of the XIX Legion, in the times before the Primarch Corvus Corax took command and the warriors of the XIX fought under the patronage of Horus Lupercal. These records note that among the Chapters of the XIX Legion there was a Chapter by the name of the Ashen Claws, a name carried over from the Terran Xeric tribes that these fierce warriors were recruited from. The Raven Guard of modern times hold no record of these warriors. Indeed, of the original Terran recruits of the Legion little is known, as it seems Corax bore a measure of ill-will towards the Terran recruits within his Legion, both their time under the tutelage of Horus and their heritage as slaver-warlords in the Asiatic Dustfields of Ancient Terra marked them out as unworthy in the eyes of their new master. Some observed that Horus treated the XIX Legion like a Chapter of his own Legion rather than one with its own identity and destiny to forge. The XIX Legion remained close to their Terran roots, their demeanour not deviating far from that of the savage Xeric tribes.By the time the Raven Lord took command of his Legion, the Great Crusade was over a standard century old. Corax was quick to impose the style of war he had perfected on Lycaeus over that which had come to define the XIX Legion, melding stealth and guile with vigilance and swiftness. It was during these early years that much of the native demeanour of the old XIX Legion, particularly the more cold-blooded ways of the Xeric tribes, was purged. The Legion had so often served in oppression, repression and occupation forces that Corax saw in some of the Terrans of his XIX Legion something akin to the slavers of Lycaeus. Several of the Legion's highest-ranking officers were displaced or reassigned to non-command roles, including Shade Lord Arkhas Fal, who had commanded the XIX Legion as its Master for three solar decades before the coming of the Raven Lord. |
Ashen Claws - Battle of Gate Forty-Two: Following Horus Lupercal's elevation to the rank of Warmaster, the Raven Guard was recalled from operations along the coreward edge of the Ghoul Stars and ordered to take part in a joint campaign in the Akum-sothos Cluster, which had fallen to a form of mass-psychosis and violently rejected unity with Terra. The Aukum-Sothos Cluster was a small group of habitable worlds on the very edge of the Ghoul Stars that had been brought to Imperial Compliance by the Luna Wolves in the opening years of the Great Crusade, but its people had fallen to a form of mass-psychosis and violently rejected unity with Terra. This unheralded secession was later determined to have been caused by xenos parasites which matured within the eye sockets of their hosts, in this case the unfortunate population of the cluster. As they matured, the parasites gained rudimentary control over their hosts and formed what amounted to a wholly alien, gestalt consciousness focused on a cabal of primary hosts dubbed the "Unsighted Kings." This region of space erupted into open revolt against the Imperium in 002.M31. The newly ascended Warmaster Horus refused to see the cluster of worlds he himself had brought to Compliance slip from the Imperium's grip and so he vowed an Oath of Moment to reclaim its worlds no matter the cost.Horus had formulated a plan to cast down the Unsighted Kings in a lightning war that would purge the afflicted population while retaining the cluster's highly developed infrastructure for future re-population. Furthermore, a rapid victory would demonstrate to Horus' brother-Primarchs that the Emperor had been correct to elevate him to so high a rank. The Warmaster's plan called for the bulk of four Legions -- the Luna Wolves, Space Wolves, Iron Warriors and Raven Guard -- to converge on the heavily fortified lair of the Unsighted Kings before a final, overwhelming assault was launched. Having brought the outer worlds of the cluster to heel in a matter of solar weeks, the Warmaster called a council of his brother-Primarchs, one part of his plan calling for the Raven Guard to make a frontal assault directly into the guns of the defenders of Gate Forty-Two. Corax argued against what he denounced as a waste of resources and a needless squandering of his warriors' lives, nearly coming to blows with Perturabo, who accused his brother Primarch of dereliction of duty, with only the intervention of Leman Russ staying bloodshed.During the Battle of Gate Forty-Two, knowing their particular demeanour would carry them forward, Corax assigned many of his Terran-dominated companies to the vanguard, in particular those whose captains appeared the most willing to play their part in the Warmaster's plan. The assault that followed was hailed as the Legion's darkest hour, a grim honour that, tragically, would be displaced just a few standard years later at Istvaan V. At the height of the battle, the assault companies decimated and the attack faltering in the face of overwhelming fire, Corax himself led the forlorn hope, his battle cry firing the XIX Legion to such efforts that the breach was carried and Gate Forty-Two taken. The honour of slaying the Unsighted Kings was claimed by Horus as Warmaster and at the moment of their execution, the xenos' hold over the population was dispelled. The Akum-Sothos Cluster was delivered and the Warmaster's prize was reclaimed. The cost was terrible, however, for not only had countless millions of hosts been crippled in mind and body, but thousands of Raven Guard, the bulk of them Terran-born, had given their lives before the shattered walls.Though the Battle of Gate Forty-Two was counted a victory by (and indeed for) Horus, its effects were far-reaching. The XIX Legion was sorely depleted, leaving only 80,000 Raven Guard Astartes under the Primarch's command and making it the smallest of the Legiones Astartes. Corax removed himself and his Legion from his brother's command, swearing bitterly never to serve alongside Horus again. One last consequence of the Battle of Gate Forty-Two lingered still. In its aftermath, those line officers who, before the coming of their Primarch, had served for so long under Horus' command were gone, and so the Warmaster was able to exert little in the way of influence over the Raven Lord's Legion. Many of these Terrans had been inducted into the Warrior Lodges, and with their deaths these unseen political bodies all but vanished from the Raven Guard. It has been claimed by his detractors that in assigning the Terran-born Legionaries to the assault wave that would suffer the greatest losses, Corax did his Legion a service, consolidating his power and paving the way for a future more in line with his own vision. As a result, the Legion was largely spared the wave of insurrection that was transmitted through so many of the Legions by the hidden auspices of the lodges when the Heresy began.The Battle of Gate Forty-Two has often been noted by scholars of the Great Crusade as the pyre that Corvus Corax hoped would burn his Legion clean of what he saw as the unwelcome taint of many of the Terran recruits. However, if such was his intent then it was not entirely successful, for some few among those who Corax had placed amongst the vanguard yet survived. Chief amongst them was Nerat Kirine, the brutally efficient Terran Praetor of the Legion's Ashen Claws Chapter, whose inspired hit and run tactics had brought his Veteran Legionaries through the fires of battle bloodied but unbroken. Several thousand of the 18th Chapter, the Ashen Claws, remained, near every one a Terran-born Veteran of the old XIX Legion, and many were angered by the callous disregard the Raven Lord had shown for their lives and record of loyal service to the Imperium.In the aftermath of the battle, several of the participating Legions, notably the Raven Guard, Luna Wolves and Iron Warriors, were to contribute warriors to a number of Great Crusade fleets dispatched further into the uncharted reaches of the Ghoul Stars to locate and eradicate any further xenos nests before they could trouble the Imperium. The surviving warriors of the Ashen Claws were marshalled in the aftermath of the battle, but not to receive the honours bestowed upon those of other Legions that had fought in the battle. Instead, the Raven Lord formed the vast majority of the remaining Veterans of the old XIX Legion, along with those freed from Deliverance whose crimes and demeanour left them ill at odds with the Primarch's perception of his Legion, and formed them into Crusade fleets. These fleets were dispatched into the dim stars of the northeastern galactic fringe, known to explorers of the time as the Ghoul Stars, there to bring the light of the Emperor to the dark at the edges of the galaxy, far from the eyes of the fledgling Imperium and the brooding lord of the Raven Guard. |
Ashen Claws - Carrion Birds All: What became of the Ashen Claws is subject to much conjecture in the Imperium of the present, but extant sources revealed that the Ashen Claws became an independent Blackshield raiding force that followed a mandate of greed and mercenary intent, and only nominally fought for the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. What became of them following the end of that galaxy-wide conflict wouldn't be revealed until over half a standard century had passed, following the Great Scouring.Full research into the origins of the Ashen Claws fleet notes that they were despatched on-Crusade in 002.M31, the commander of the expedition, Praetor Calvus, a Deliverance survivor known for his loyalty to Corax. What fate Praetor Calvus met is unknown, but it is likely that by the return of the Ashen Claws to Imperial space in 011.M31 he had perished. With an original complement of thirteen capital-class voidcraft, a score of smaller starships and some 4,000 Astartes assembled from the survivors of the fighting in Akum-sothos, the fleet was a significant force, even assuming that nine Terran years of Crusading had taken its toll on the fleet. In fact, it is this slow bleeding of resources and manpower over the course of their exile that likely led to the tactics displayed in the few records the Imperial Divisio Militaris possessed of their actions, all of which seem to have been focused on the acquisition of resources and munitions.Following the fragmentation and collapse of the Nostramo Sector in 011.M31, at the recommendation of the Divisio Militaris, the Council of Terra issued an edict declaring the Nostramo Sector and those sectors adjoining it a forbidden zone to Imperial voidcraft, save those with special dispensation. The borders of the Imperium contracted and a great swathe of space was abandoned to the ravages of xenos predators and the few scattered bands of rebels that lingered on remote worlds. With the final fate of the Ashen Claws undocumented, it may be that they also lurk somewhere within these forbidden stars, that far from the eyes of the Imperium those worlds brought to Imperial Compliance by their final Crusade still survive. Some Imperial scholars wonder perhaps, in the face of the changes wrought on the Emperor's realm in the wake of His hollow victory at the end of the Heresy, if perhaps they chose the wiser course. |
Ashen Claws - At Empire's End: Many Imperial scholars scoured the archives of Terra over the course of many standard years and several expeditions to the lowest vaults seeking answers to the riddle of the Nostramo Sector.Little more would be uncovered for some years as forces within the battered Imperium moved to secure their power and those who were seen as relics of a time now past were pushed aside.The next piece of the puzzle would emerge in 011.M31, coming from the distant halls of Ultramar, passed into the hands of a noted Imperial scholar by a loyal acolyte whose travels had led him down distant trails, including the battles fought by those fragments of the Ultramarines that were separated from their brethren by the advance of the Word Bearers, left isolated after the fall of Honourum.In the final days of 011.M31, under the command of Arceas Odenathus of the 10th Chapter, the Ultramarines moved to assault the world of Desperation, on the coreward edge of the Nostramo Sector, seeking to establish a zone of Loyalist control in the Dominion of Storms.While the result of the battle is of little consequence, the circumstances that brought its conclusion have much import on the answer to the question of what happened to the Ashen Claws.Though the initial assault on the Night Lords holdfast succeeded, the Loyalist ground assault forces soon fell prey to cunningly wrought ambushes and sabotage.The Loyalist fleet were also subjected to near-continuous raids by small squadrons of Night Lords spacecraft in orbit, targeting isolated voidcraft and lumbering transport barges.The Loyalists were hard-pressed to fully suppress these raids while bound to protect those troops they had landed on the surface, placing them in an invidious position of their own success in the initial stages of the assault.However, the intercession of a fleet of unmarked warships of Imperial pattern was to shift the balance in the Loyalists' favour. Emerging some distance from Desperation, this unknown fleet, comprised of six capital-class vessels, older Hoplon Pattern Assault Cruisers of Jovian design, moved to engage the Night Lords starships.Caught between the Loyalist vessels and the ebon-hulled craft, the Night Lords cruisers fell victim to a withering crossfire that left them in ruins.Now in control of the orbital space above Desperation, the Ultramarines attempted to make contact with the craft that had come to their aid. The battle-scarred starships had disabled their ident broadcast signals, and did not display any sign of Legion heraldry on their hulls, yet their actions would have the Loyalists suppose them enemies of the Traitor Warmaster.Their attempts to communicate, intending to secure their co-operation in the reduction of the Night Lords' positions on the surface in the Emperor's name, met with curt rebuff. The acting commander identified himself as Kirine, and soon the craft under his command approached the planet and began to launch their own landing craft.Once they landed upon Desperation's surface the landing craft disgorged a host of Legiones Astartes clad in worn battle-plate bearing a heraldry of black and red. Organised into small and fast-moving units, these Astartes engaged in brutal assaults against Night Lords in the area.With their surviving squads falling back to sound defensive positions, the former Raven Guard were able to occupy the armourium, bringing up their landing craft with the apparent intent of looting the store of arms and munitions kept within.Augmented by fresh Ultramarines from the 10th and 22nd Chapters, the cast-off Raven Guard Blackshields fought ferociously on the planet's surface, focusing their efforts upon the site of a vast armourium, fending off probing attacks from Night Lords Terror Squads.A stream of Raven Guard shuttle craft emptied the armourium under the watchful eye of squadrons of Fire Raptor gunships attempting to force the enemy out of geo-synchronous orbit of the armourium.A breakthrough in the defences thrown up around the armourium was forced by the Destroyers of the 22nd Chapter, their Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnoughts battering down the hastily erected barricades under heavy fire. With a hole punched into their fortifications, the Raven Guard were forced into a fighting retreat, evacuating as many of their units as possible as the noose was closed.The last of their units, a squad of Cataphractii Terminators, sealed the doors of the armourium behind them, having most likely teleported to the waiting cruiser above.In the wake of the Raven Guard's evacuation, Night Lords units began a hive-wide counterattack, surging forwards into the exhausted Ultramarines units across the city. In defence of their own troops, the Loyalists were forced to evacuate those forces on the ground, suffering heavy casualties in the process.By necessity this left them unable to oppose the retreat of the Raven Guard cruisers, which left orbit in possession of a sizable store of munitions, but having paid for them in the blood of their fallen brethren. |
Ashen Claws - Ultimate Fate: Long years have passed since the original report on the Ashen Claws was entered into the archives of the Divisio Militaris, a relic of times past that had been reborn anew to serve a changed empire. Few in the new Imperium cared to look back at what once was, and of those even less had time for the forgotten mysteries of a war that had passed into legend and myth -- yet some few still harken to the words of past scribes. Passed to their hands by those who still remembered the day when the Emperor walked among His people was the last piece of the puzzle, a warning perhaps that in the dark beyond, there yet remained those who were unwilling to accept the new order that now overtook the Imperium. A long-range Astropathic message was sent by Far Rim Monitoring Station Occludus, 108th Independent Company, by Captain Crysos Morturg, Commanding.In 063.M31, while conducting a routine sweep along the outer edges of the restricted sectors of the Ghoul Stars, Imperial strike craft of a Deep Range Patrol intercepted a fragment of an Astropathic message bearing Imperial code-memes of ancient provenance. The transmission date appended to the message would have it as being less than a standard year old, but this must have been in error as no human realms were known to have survived in the Ghoul Stars. As such, the nature of the message led Imperial authorities to believe that it might be some kind of Warp echo, perhaps dating back to the days of the Great Crusade, although it showed none of the degradation that usually accompanied such echoes.A full transliteration follows:"...Fourth Company reports the asteroid settlements of the Orcades brought into Compliance as per the edict of the Second Crusade, one thousand souls claimed as bondsmen for the Legion that it may grow and prosper. Expect our return to Atargatis within the month for reassignment." |
Ashen Claws - Forgotten Exiles: Unbeknownst to the wider Imperium, the Ashen Claws managed to survive not only the events of the Horus Heresy, but beyond. Finding a home within the Atargatis System, the Ashen Claws manage to eke out a harsh existence amongst the shattered worlds of that isolated star system. Aeons before, two of Atargatis' worlds had collided, shattering into countless fragments and leaving the system a broken, desolate place, choked with shards of dead rock and blasted by cruel, radioactive solar winds. The Atargatis System was a miserable realm, ruled by a decrepit red star, without natural resources and far from habitable space. A perfect haunt for pirates, Renegades and worse.The Ashen Claws conquered this region ten millennia ago, and managed to build a fixed base of operations upon the world of Atargatis Prime. Called the Lost Eyrie, it was a twisted spire of black rock that rose from the surrounding wasteland, tapering to a spike of stone that nearly pierced the low, bleak clouds above. From low orbit, there were no visible structures and no evidence of human artifice, but the uneven rock faces, crags and crevasses hid all manner of defensive batteries and sally ports. The Lost Eyrie looked like a lonely outcrop on a lonely world beyond the Imperium's borders. In truth, it was a haven of piracy and recidivism. The Ashen Claws lived alongside the void tribes and Renegades that infested the system, recruiting the youngest and strongest youths as potential Aspirants.The Ashen Claws continued to survive for Terran millennia by raiding Imperial holdings. But by the mid-800's of the 41st Millennium, this Renegade Chapter had become indolent and fearful. Though they still occupied Atargatis and dominated its tribes, they rarely forayed beyond its borders. Their prey had been reduced to outlying void clusters and lost human colonies and they had not struck an active, tithe-paying Imperial holding for many years. |
Ashen Claws - Ancient Pact: During the Heresy, the Ashen Claws refused to cast their lot with either the Emperor or the Archtraitor Horus. Despairing at the chaos engulfing the galaxy, and their own Primarch's disgust at their slaver practices, they had turned against both the Imperium and Chaos, unleashing devastation on the Night Lords and their home sector of Nostramo. Afterwards, they had slipped away, disappearing from both Imperial space and those records that survived the Heresy's carnage. Few now living knew they still existed, let alone where they made their home. The Carcharodons Chapter were among those few.As Renegades, the Ashen Claws were hunted -- loathed by all those who counted themselves as faithful servants of the Emperor, who considered it their foremost duty to destroy any such Renegades. Living outside of Imperial law and the light of the Emperor, the Ashen Claws were forced to take extreme measures in order to survive. This included their dealings with their fellow exiles, the Carcharodons. Over the millennia, the Ashen Claws' resources and manpower had been bled dry by their long exile. This forced them to deal with other Astartes of a similar dark reputation. There was an ancient pact between the Carcharodons and the Ashen Claws, forged some time ago in the distant past, almost ten millennia earlier.It is the duty of the Carcharodons' Reaper Prime, beyond the Captaincy of that Chapter's 3rd Company, to ensure that the Chapter is constantly supplied with fresh Aspirants. This was normally achieved during the so-called "Red Tithes," when the Chapter's Edicts of Exile permitted it to descend on an Imperial world and harvest the population. The vast majority of those taken would go on to become slaves and serf labourers in the Chapter's great fleet, providing the means by which the Carcharodons Astra could continue to function in exile. Those of the right age and temperament, however, would undertake the trials. Few would survive to become 10th Company Initiates. The degree of attrition during the induction process was higher even than that of most Space Marine Chapters, but it was the unavoidable legacy of the Carcharodons' unique nature.The Red Tithes, however, were not the only means of recruitment. During times of desperation the Chapter had recourse to another brotherhood, one that, like the Carcharodons, had chosen the path of exile -- the Ashen Claws. However, when dealing with these outcasts, the Carcharodons had to step lightly, for negotiations with such Renegades was tricky at best, and at worst, often resulted in bloodshed. The Carcharodons only dealt with their Renegade brethren in the most dire of circumstances, especially when their own numbers had grown too thin to be replenished by the Red Tithes. This was a direct result of sustaining too many casualties at a rate that could not be replaced, due to the Carcharodons' never-ending War in the Deeps. And they could not increase their rate of recruitment without compromising the induction process or dedicating extra companies to the Tithes.War matériel was the price of currency the Carcharodons had to pay for their harvest of flesh. But dealing with their erstwhile brethren was a dubious undertaking, for Atargatis was a dangerous place. The Ashen Claws did not treat the Carcharodons with the respect they deserved. The Ashen Claws' Master would often try to provoke the senior officer of the Carcharodons' sent to deal with them -- taunting, setting the Carcharodons' representatives against each other, seeking to cause them to act rashly, so that their hand in the negotiations would be weakened. |
Ashen Claws - Chapter Combat Doctrine: Based on the eyewitness reports and evidence discovered by Battlefleet Vengeance, a Retribution Fleet of the IX (Blood Angels) Legion's 33rd Company during their sojourn into the Nostramo Sector in 017.M31, they encountered evidence of a mysterious Legiones Astartes force that had marauded across the sector on multiple worlds. They found spent bolt shells and fragments of battle-plate in a black and red heraldry that was unknown to them. The Blood Angels Tech-adepts were able to coax from several machines through interminable invocations and ritual, recordings that gave a disturbing insight into the final days of many of these ravaged worlds. Many of these planets, it seemed, had not been merely destroyed, but rendered into a warning for other systems in the sector, its armies utterly annihilated and its population herded into the depths of its hive cities before they collapsed were sealed within -- a price of their defiance. These tactics matched well the descriptions of the practices of the Dark Compliance inflicted by the Sons of Horus on a number of worlds during the Horus Heresy, yet many of the worlds in the Nostramo Sector were already sworn in service to the Warmaster's cause through their Night Lords masters and would seem an unlikely target for such terror tactics.In all of the scant reports of encounters between forces engaged in the grand wars of the Horus Heresy and the piratical warband known as the Ashen Claws, the forces of that enigmatic group have displayed a marked preference for the deployment of orbital interface craft, almost to the exclusion of other types of support unit. While, as with all the Legiones Astartes, the armoured transhuman infantry of the Space Marines remains the core of their operations, all of the great Legions supplement these forces with a variety of support units, each intended to fulfil a specific goal upon the field of battle. Not so the Ashen Claws; whether by necessity or tactical preference these raiders and pillagers deployed a variety of interface fighters, bombers and Assault Craft in support of their fast moving infantry forces, shunning the slower-moving armoured columns that typified some Legions.Perhaps this extreme military specialisation is a consequence of the supposed limited manpower and materiel available to such a splinter faction of the larger conflict, reinforced by need and circumstance. If this is so then it must be assumed that the Ashen Claws had already prosecuted war in this limited fashion for some time in order to explain their experience and skill in the deployment of such ad hoc formations and tactics. Honed perhaps to a keen edge on long since forgotten alien worlds in the deep black beyond the Imperium's borders, these tactics proved a deadly surprise to those forces they encountered on their return to Imperial space.As evidenced by the few recorded instances of the Ashen Claws in combat, their ground assaults are preceded by a wave of interface fighters and gunships, Storm Eagles and Primaris-Lightnings tasked with the elimination of anti-aircraft defences and key strongpoints. Following these craft are massed Kharybdis Assault Claw and Dreadclaw Drop Pod squadrons, packed with the fleet-moving infantry squads favoured by the Ashen Claws. Though lacking in certain patterns of more recently issued equipment, the raiding fleet known as the Ashen Claws seemed well supplied with the oft-maligned Drop Pod known as the Kharybdis Assault Claw, often deploying squadrons with abandon during the closing phases of a void battle. Operating in the deep void and within the atmosphere of a planet as both transport and heavy gunship, these craft appear to be one of the favoured transports for Veteran infantry units among the Ashen Claws. These infantry formations rarely sought to hold ground, instead seeking to suppress and circumvent the enemy's main strength and defeat him piecemeal. The aim of such attacks was almost always the seizure of munitions and weaponry rather than conquest or simple slaughter, a focus that left more conventionally-minded tacticians among the Legiones Astartes wrong-footed when facing them in battle. |
Ashen Claws - Notable Ashen Claws: Chapter Master Nehat Nev - Nehat Nev was the Chapter Master of the exiled Ashen Claws Renegade Chapter in the mid-800s.M41. Nev was a particularly broad Space Marine, arrayed in ancient Power Armour and wielding a wicked dagger at his side at all times. When dealing with him in person, the Chapter Master appeared haughty and cruel, and was prone to violence if he felt disrespected or threatened.Praetor Nerat Kirine - The Terran-borne Nerat Kirine was formerly a Shade Captain of the XIX Legion's 18th "Ashen Claws" Chapter; one that served as a potent exemplar of the early XIX Legion's brutally efficient style of warfare. He was present during the Battle of Hell's Anvil, a campaign which typified the bloody-handed and cold-blooded ways of the early XIX Legion that its Primarch Corvus Corax would later seek to repress. This particular battle cemented the reputation of the XIX Legion as harbingers of death for those units of the Imperial Army assigned to their support, for their daring decapitation strikes often left their mortal support units in the path of destruction with little hope of rescue. This remnant of their heritage as slave-masters and raiders on the dust plains of Old Earth did not find favour with the Raven Lord when he joined with the XIX Legion. Following the ascension of Horus Lupercal to the esteemed rank of Warmaster of the Emperor's vast military forces, the Raven Guard were recalled to the Akum-sothas Cluster to help put down an insurrection that was instigated by the xenos influence of the so-called Unsighted Kings. Contrary to their usual tactics, Corax bowed to the Warmaster's wishes, and so ordered the Terran elements of the 18th Chapter to lead a near-suicidal assault on the enemy's fortifications. They were only carried through the fires of battle bloodied and unbroken by the brutal efficiency of then-Praetor Nerat Kirine. Several thousand Astartes of the 18th Chapter remained, but instead of being feted, they were instead marshalled by the Raven Lord and formed into a Crusading fleet. They were to carry the light of the Emperor into the outer darkness of the Ghoul Stars, apart from the greater bulk of the Legion. At some point when the Ashen Claws' former commander, Praetor Calvus died, Nerat Kirine took command over the Crusading fleet. His ultimate fate remains unknown.Praetor Calvus - When the Ashen Claws Chapter was despatched on-Crusade in 002.M31 following the Battle of Gate Forty-Two, Praetor Calvus, a Deliverance survivor known for his loyalty to Corax, was chosen to be the commander of the expedition. The fate that befell Praetor Calvus is unknown, but he more than likely had already perished by the time the Ashen Claws reemerged in 011.M31 and were encountered by a Blood Angels Retribution Fleet during the scouring of the Nostramo System.Captain Rama Sixx- Captain of the Ashen Claws' 1st Company. Rama Sixx later led three companies to reinforce the Carcharodons' 3rd Company during their campaign on Piety V. |
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