Whohammer

[SIngemeister]

A little thing I've been working on. Might be of interest to some of you folks.

Primarch’s Name: Gwyliroth (the starhawk)
Homeworld: Cadarn (mountainous death world)
Background: Fighter
Psychic Potential: Low
Gene-seed: Stable
Talent: Marksmanship
Legio I: Astral Sentries Legion
Colours: Light blue, white trim, cyan highlights, gold ornamentation, red denotes higher-ups
Battle Cry: In our sights!
Insignia: A skull caught in roughly star-shaped crosshairs

History:
Once, Cadarn had been a beautiful world, with glorious shining cities built upon mountaintops connected by great hovering bridges. The people lived in harmony with the various creatures of the crags and cave systems, protected and tended to by a vast array of robotic servants and guardians.
The collapse of their society was almost inevitable. One of the cities, Caerllamph, unleashed a virus that made the robotic servants of other cities act violently towards human life in an attempt to become the dominant state
on the planet. Although they kept their synthetics protected from the virus, the constant unwavering assaults from the rogue robots eventually broke through their defences and consigned them to the same fate.
The remnants of humanity upon Cadarn were forced to eke out a pathetic life, scavenging the ruins of the charnel-cities, constantly migrating whilst watching for predators such as Starhawks or dwelling in caves at the mercy of Blindwyrms and other beasts.

One such clan, a family who haunted mountain peaks in search of birds’ nests to raid, discovered the pod that carried Gwyliroth. They raised him as their own, but even at a young age he was very different. Where they were cowardly and frightened, he was bold and fearless. Where they carried little more than ropes and climbing gear, he made himself a great longbow out of lattanwood with arrows as long as a man's arm fletched with starhawk feathers. He began to hunt animals, bringing well-needed nourishment to his egg-eating clan.
One day, he returned from a hunt to find his clan massacred, hunted down by one of the rogue robots they had evaded for so long. The mechanical monstrosity stood hunched over their bodies like some ghoul of legend.

In a heartbeat, he had drawn his bow and loosed an arrow into its head, destroying the primitive positronic brain.
As he tore the body apart to make what use of the components he could, he swore that no more would suffer as he had.
Over the next twenty years, he travelled the planet, killing every robot he came across. He directed clans he found towards one of the first cities he cleared out; telling them that there was strength in unity. With him as their watchful guardian, the people of Cadarn prospered once more.
When the Emperor found Cadarn, Gwyliroth gladly joined his side at the head of the First Legion, renaming them as the Astral Sentries 'to keep a watchful eye on all the stars of the galaxy, to keep the Imperium safe from her enemies.'

Throughout the Great Crusade, the First Legion made an exceptional accounting of itself, bringing the third highest number of worlds into the Imperium after the Hounds and the Snakes. They brought down the Interex when diplomacy failed, and many of them adopted the powerful energy-bows of their foe - not least of all Gwyliroth who claimed the largest and most powerful for himself.
In the war against the Empire of Urlakk Urg, it was the Sentries who took down the Grand Warboss's lieutenants across his realm, pushing them into anarchy.
Their loyalty to the Emperor was so renowned that the traitors never even considered trying to turn them to their side - not least because of Gwyliroth and the Cadarnites' well-known hatred of Mihai and the Truthseers for their usage of divination. They were too far away to be called upon for the assault on Wystone, and as such did not suffer the massacre that fell upon the Revenant Wardens, the Dread Arbiters, the Brazen Knights and the Abyssal Shades.
However, they were not to be left untouched by the Heresy. Ceyec diverted the entirety of the Tenth Legion, the Bearers of Good Will, to attack Cadarn and remove the most loyal legion from the war.

A rogue astropath managed to send a garbled warning to Gwyliroth, whose paranoia served him well enough that he prepared for an attack, despite the seeming impossibility of having to fight fellow Space Marines. He prepared fortifications, called back all his soldiers, began recruiting every able-bodied man and woman on the planet and sent the Seventh Grand Company, which was the best trained in void combat, to intercept them and buy the rest of the Legion time.
Although the Bearers outnumbered them, both in terms of Astartes and Auxiliaries, he felt certain that the hostile terrain, his people's knowledge of it and the unerring aim of his soldiers would see off Krielen and his warriors. In all probability, had he merely been facing Astartes and poorly armed mobs, he would have been correct.

But the fleet that exited the warp near Cadarn was not as it was when Gwyliroth saw them last. The grand ornate ships seemed diseased, somehow. The metal seemed slick with mucus, pustules blossomed from them like some horrible fungus, and figureheads were rotten and necrotic. The flagship of their navy, the Open Hand, seemed to throb irregularly like a diseased heart. Viscous, clotted blood, sickly pus and thick sputum dripped from its guns. There was no sign of any damage that could have been caused by the Seventh Grand Company.
The defence fleet fought valiantly against the invaders, but the ships seemed impossible to destroy. Hull breaches would scab over and formed strange metal scar tissue and their guns belched out foul, sickly rounds that could infect other ships.

Despite the best efforts of the loyalists, the Bearers and their auxiliaries landed upon the soil of Cadarn. They too, were changed beyond belief. The auxiliaries shambled out of stormbirds and valkyries, their skin sickly green, their bodies rotting and decomposed, missing eyes, noses, ears, digits, limbs - many could barely hold a gun; pestulent beastmen hobbled out, covered in pustules and welts, their fur matted and mangy; malformed Sea Devils and Silurians with twisted beaks and jaws, their scales bleached and hanging limply off them; and rust-covered Cybermen, oily black cerebral fluid dripping from orifices. Worse were the Space Marines themselves. Their armour was bloated and malformed, cracked and calloused. Some did not wear helmets, or their helmets had fused with their faces and with many it was impossible to see where the Legionnaire ended and his armour began. The apothecaries, still barely recognisable for their white helms, were hunched over with great roiling bags of some vile liquid on their backs. The arms that had once held Nartheciums were stretched and diseased, the medical kits now part of the single marine-beast. Great fat flies buzzed around them, bloated rats and cockroaches scurried at their feet, maggots and leeches gnawed their way in and out of flesh.*
Even the corrupted Astartes, as foul and unholy to the eyes of their cousins as they were, were not the worst act in this carnival of horrors. Alongside the auxiliaries and Astartes walked foul creatures that hurt the eyes to look at. Some looked humanoid, but their bodies were distended, hunched and misshapen, their faces cyclopean with great bloodshot eyes and leering grins, horns sprouted from them like corpse-flowers and their guts had burst from their abdomens to trail on the ground. With them walked huge, bloated things that could barely move under the weight of their own rotting bodies, of huge calcified horns and great rusted blades. Great flies that looked more like winged organs than insects circled lazily above them, strange, ugly hound-slugs loped cheerily amongst their ranks, stalking, skeletal rat-men with crowns of spikes trod purposefully forward and walking balls of pus and filth scurried at their feet.

The defenders steeled themselves in their watchtowers and castles, and prepared for battle. At first, the legion stayed in their fourteen mountain fortresses - one for each Grand Company, where they were safe from all except the great flies, rotting assault teams and the sickly aircraft of the Bearers. They hoped to simply outlast the siege, but soon the corpses of their enemy filled the valleys to such a degree that their forces clambered up mountains of their own dead to assault the fortress. Pwlych of the Twelth was the first fortress to fall, swamped by endless waves of cultists. Ysberin of the Fifth was next, its defenders laid low by some twisted malady that overwhelmed even Astartes. Rhisiart of the Second was broken open by Wonodir Krielen himself, as twisted as any of his warriors with great horns growing from his skull and cancerous growths, and the brave warriors within overwhelmed by a great swarm of rats and roaches. The insulting moniker 'Vermin King' seemed darkly appropriate to Gwyliroth as he saw the citadel fall.
The isolated cities began to fall as well, their people converted by the same fanatic-plague that coursed through the bodies of the Bearers and their Auxilia or mutated into vile imitations of a Space Marine by the Apothecary-Horrors of the unholy Tenth.

Gwyliroth changed strategy, taking inspiration from the tactics of Junggar Redonis and Shai-Barag, and ordered his forces to focus on aggressive defence. Assault teams and teleporting Terminators lured mobs of their enemies away from the fortresses before gunning them down, aircraft took to the skies to draw away rot flies and other aerial foes so that they could be destroyed elsewhere, and the Primarch himself left to confront his brother. Gwyliroth hunted Krielen across the planet, and wherever he went, he brought death, with even the Great Unclean Ones unable to stand before his pinpoint accuracy and the strength of his great bow.

One day, the Bearers of Good Will left the planet, leaving Cadarn choked with the dead bodies of cultists and plagues that ravaged its surface. The Sentries retreated to lick their wounds. From the 130,000 Astartes on the planet beforehand, they were now down to less than 10,000, nine of the great fortresses had been breached, the population of the planet had been reduced to one percent of what it had before the invasion and the flora and fauna of the planet were decimated. They did not learn of the fate of the Seventh Grand Company until later, and the discovery that their soldiers had fallen to the Changer of Ways was of great shame to the loyalists.

Gwyliroth and the First Legion never took part in the Battle of Terra, as they had been too wounded by the invasion to even consider it. Once the corpses had been burned, the cultists exterminated and the epidemics cured, the Primarch of the Astral Sentries returned to Terra to take part in the New Council. He was for the splitting of the legions into smaller Chapters, and personally split several of his own Grand Companies to become Chapters of their own to guard the Eye of Terror. Those founded from the Sentries collectively call themselves the Watchers against the Dark and there is a noted enmity between the Watcher Chapters and the Bearers of Good Will, with Plaguelord Sharo Vrijstein leading a devastating attack against Cadarn in imitation of his Primarch in M35. The Watcher Chapters, along with the Gatekeeper Chapter, are the first line of defence against

Gwyliroth himself disappeared in M33, swearing he would avenge the dead of his planet. Sometimes, corpses of Nurglitch warriors or Necrontyr are found with all the marks associated with an energy bow when no user has been near. The legion holds these are signs that Gwyliroth is out there, and will one day return.

Legion Organisation:
The Astral Sentries use the traditional organisation system introduced by the Thunder Warriors - 14 Grand Companies, each with 10,000 soldiers, subdivided into 1,000 strong Battalions, then 100 strong Companies and finally 10 man squads.
A unique position is that of Chief Marksman, assigned to the best shot of a squad. The rest of the squad are meant to act as spotters for him, highlighting particularly tricky or high-value targets for the Marksman to dispose of.
Assault squads do not fulfil the same purpose as they do in other legions, instead acting as mobile sniper units that can mark targets in cover for other squads and can quickly gain advantageous terrain.
The best marksmen in the legion form the Primarch's personal guard, the Teulu, who are often gifted Interex energy bows.

Since the Splitting of the Legions, little has changed in the organisation of the Chapter asides from the downsizing and the redefining of the Teulu from the Primarch's guard to the Chapter Master's guard.


Combat Doctrine:
The Astral Sentries rely heavily on ranged firepower and marksmanship in war. They shy away from melee combat, thinking of it as a failure on their part if the enemy manages to close with them. They put emphasis on elimination of commanders and destruction of command and communication structures.
Their weapon load-outs mirror these tactics, with scopes, sniper bolters and other vision enhancers being extremely widespread.
Librarians mostly use their psychic powers to expose enemies and nullify the powers of enemy psykers, the Astral Sentries taking a dim view of divination.
They use less vehicles than most legions and are especially lacking in bikes, but do have the unique sentinel variant known as the Tallwalker. The Tallwalker is essentially a mobile sniper platform that supports one of the extremely powerful Decapitare sniper bolters, a gigantic rifle that is too large even for a space marine to carry.
The legion has few Dreadnoughts, and those they do have are normally designed for suppressing fire, hefting heavy bolters and autocannons.


Legion Beliefs and Practices:
The memories of the constant fear of hunting robots or ravenous Starhawks are still fresh in the minds of many recruits to the legion, and the state of alert watchfulness caused by it is symptomatic of the First Legion. It also means that they have a deep distrust, bordering on hatred, for robots and cyborgs. They fight alongside forces of the Mechanicus or the Cyberlegions as little as possible. Augmetics are looked down upon, and techmarines are considered a necessary evil.
Another Cadarnite fear that has transferred to the Legion is their absolute terror concerning divination or any attempt to read the future. The people of Cadarn believe that trying to discern forthcoming events or to see one's fate is to invite great misfortune and ruin upon one's self. Worse than that is the punishment for trying to actively change the future - it is believed that the devastation of Cadarn was indirectly caused by someone altering their fate.

Some more positive traditions have survived as well. Astartes are expected to take trophies from what they consider their best kill. These are rarely large, normally being a tooth or a finger, and are traditional woven into their ceremonial red cloak. In the words of Kayon Maturax, "A Sentries ceremony looks like an explosion in a taxidermist." Gwyliroth himself wears a cloak of starhawk feathers, and his helm is embellished with the skull of a great Blindwyrm.
They also retain a strong musical tradition, being instrumental in bringing long lost melodies back into hearing once again. The traditional Cadarnite instrument, the twenty-three string harp, is played by many Legionnaires.
The most famous and most important ceremony is the Feast of the Wind, a tournament to find the best marksmen in the legion. Legionnaires are encouraged to beat the Primarch's record of a perfect bull’s-eye with his longbow from the top of Mount Annwll on a target on top of another mountain. So far, only Captain Tyleuth, First Chapter Master of the Astral Sentries, has even come close. Since the Splitting of the Legions, the Feast of the Wind has been a place for all the Watchers, and even some other Chapters, to come and enjoy the company of friends or to show off their aim.


Recruitment and Flaws:
The Astral Sentries recruit mostly from Cadarn, though on occasion they will recruit from populations that fulfil certain criteria. Despite the best efforts of the Bearers of Good Will, the gene-seed of Gwyliroth is stable, although it shows less psychic potential than usual. The Legion's fortress-monastery, Gwaelowch, is built upon the ruins of a city on Mount Annwll, the highest mountain on Cadarn. Recruits must climb this mountain before they can be considered for entry into the Legion.

[Midgard]

Very, very nice... I recall seeing an earlier version of it. I am very interested to see the other Legions - I presume this is the same timeline that has Kayon Maturax and his space corsairs?

[SIngemeister]

Very, very nice... I recall seeing an earlier version of it. I am very interested to see the other Legions - I presume this is the same timeline that has Kayon Maturax and his space corsairs?

Yes it is, and I've finished most of his stuff, especially the history part.

[Midgard]

Very, very nice... I recall seeing an earlier version of it. I am very interested to see the other Legions - I presume this is the same timeline that has Kayon Maturax and his space corsairs?

Yes it is, and I've finished most of his stuff, especially the history part.

Note to self: need to check it out at CF.NET. I've been keeping an eye on that one, but got little sidetracked with my writing projects

[SIngemeister]

Primarch’s Name: Kayon Maturax (the pirate)
Homeworld: Barbaris (urban hive world)
Background: Ruler
Psychic Potential: Fair
Gene-seed: Unstable
Talent: Tremendous Strength
Legio II: Sons of Terra
Colours: White, black highlights, gold ornamentation
Battle Cry: Dead men tell no tales!
Insignia: Skull and crossbones over a picture of Terra


History:
The planet of Barbaris had always been a haven of pirates. Once the Age of Strife descended upon the ancient hive world, the manufactories dedicated to producing ships were overtaken by warlords for their own purposes. For years, these warlords fought amongst themselves, rarely leaving the system. The atmosphere was filled with the wrecked hulks of ships. The other planets that fed Barbaris - Lundos, Havanum, Bocate and Ganjisium - were frequently subjected to raids in order to feed and fuel the warlords' desires. Great Captain-Dynasties based in the many hives that dotted its surface like termite mounds sprung up like fungi across the planet.


When the infant Kayon landed on the world, his lifepod crashed through Hive Bonnem and tore it open, ending the powerful Tylett Captain-Dynasty's tenuous supremacy, ushering in a new age of petty infighting amongst the pirate kings. The child was found by a strange woman, Mehrene Maturax, last of her Dynasty, and with her tutelage and his natural skills as a Primarch, he quickly became an extraordinary crewman under Captain Gerent Tarelanus, head of a rising dynasty, and eventually became his first mate; something that sent scandal through Barbarisi society, for such a prestigious role was meant to be limited to family only. For a Maturax, a member of a dead dynasty, to second to the head of Tarelanus was shocking and unbelievable to other families.


Seeing this upheaval of the status quo as a gross attack on their traditions and their very society, a coalition several of the more established dynasties - including supposed allies and friends of the Tarelanus family - organised an attack on the Tarelanus flagship, The Black Sceptre.


Although the Tarelanus family and their servants and sworn dynasties aboard the Black Sceptre fought valiantly, the numbers of their enemy overwhelmed them. Gerent and much of his family were slain and a new Captain, little more than a puppet for the other families, became head of the Tarelanus Dynasty. Kayon himself was imprisoned in the brig of the Curmorium flagship, Unbridled Fury, to be made an example of to the populace of Barbaris.


But Kayon was no ordinary man, he was a Primarch and stronger than any of his brothers, and there was no prison that could hold him, no chain that could bind him, no bars that could obstruct his passage. With a single flex of his arms he broke his chains, and smashed down his gaol door with one mighty hammer-blow from his great fist. He killed his guards, freed his fellow prisoners and led them on a rampage through the ship. Complacent from their victory, the celebrating Curmorium soldiers stood no chance against the fury of their former prisoners and soon the Fury was Kayon's.
Taking the helm, he quickly broke formation with the confused betrayers and fled to the outer reaches of the star system.


Over the next ten years, he made thousands of devastating raids upon those who had betrayed Tarelanus, bombarding their cities, subverting their allies and attacking and capturing unprepared ships, displaying a skill at the helm of a ship unmatched by any other Barbarisian. Kayon bargained with lesser houses and those who had been wronged by his enemies, establishing a network of alliances and ententes of his own.


Once he considered himself ready, he challenged his old enemies to a final battle to settle their vendetta. They outnumbered his ramshackle fleet greatly, and most of their ships were more advanced and better equipped, and yet he still engaged them. His fleet flew across empty space towards the coalition's formation. Laser cannons and railguns spat their deadly payloads at their enemies, torpedoes and boarding craft raced across the silent void to intercept ships of either side.


Kayon's fleet broke into the coalition's ranks with unprecedented speed and began to perform a dizzying, seemingly impossible array of manoeuvres, feints, twists and turns designed to prevent their enemy getting a solid lock on them or risk blind-firing without damaging their own ships, displaying a grace and agility the coalition did not think possible. Still, for all his skill as an admiral, Kayon's fleet was slowly taking losses. The coalition captains began to celebrate the death of their hated enemy.


This was, of course, premature. Kayon had merely been holding the attention of his enemy whilst his allies organised themselves. The coalition, tired and irritated as they were by the antics of the Maturax fleet, were in no shape to deal with the encroaching net of these new foes. As his allies closed in, Kayon changed tactic, ceasing his evasive dance. As one, his fleet fired upon specific targets upon the enemy fleet, crippling weapons and tearing down shields with each salvo. The final nail in the coalition's coffin was when the Black Sceptre, with a single transmission of 'Gerent memoriam. Tarelanus will have its vengeance.', turned its cannons upon those who had betrayed it so long ago.


The coalition fleet was destroyed and the houses reduced to cinders. With the death of the most powerful traditionalists, Kayon declared himself 'Admiral-King' of Barbaris. He adopted the houseless into his dynasty, his allies were given rulership over the remnants of his enemies and Tarelanus restored to glory. Kayon took Alia Qantanias as his bride, joining the now powerful but small Maturax dynasty to the weak but large Qantanias dynasty. Admiral-King Kayon sent emissaries to Lundos, Havanum, Bocate and Ganjisium, offering them many privileges if they joined his kingdom. The promised boons and the implied threats sent them into his welcoming arms. The vaults of Curmorium were raided and within was discovered the ancient Spear of Maturax, a gigantic pike that could pierce any armour as it were gossamer which was taken by Kayon as his staff of office.


On the day of his official coronation, a Void Whale left the warp inside the Barbaris system. Declaring this a portent, Kayon ordered the beast examined as it lazily bathed in their sun's light. However, when they disturbed the great beast, it fled into the warp and dragged their primitive probes with it. A week went by before they received anything from the probes, and that was when the leviathan returned with the probes pulled along in its wake. The data they recovered showed the whale visiting seven different systems to bask in the light of their stars, and five of these star systems had obvious signs of habitation.


With a jubilant bellow, Kayon declared that he would lead a royal expedition to claim these worlds in his name and to unite the various factions of his kingdom before squabbling could set in.
Within the week, the grand armada was assembled. Battleships of the greater houses surrounded by swarms of subjugate frigates and cruisers. The Black Sceptre and the Unbridled Fury flanked the great ship that had been commissioned as the new flagship of House Maturax for Kayon's coronation, the Infinite Horizon, a truly gigantic beast thirteen miles long outfitted with all the most powerful and devious technologies the Barbarisians possessed. As one, the fleet moved towards the Void Whale and was dragged along with it when it left the system for parts unknown.


As the great star-beast arrived at each new solar system, the fleet of Maturax, having worked out that conquering these worlds without a proper supply line or reinforcements would be difficult, descended upon them like a great hurricane. Orbital defences were destroyed before they could so much as scratch the Infinite Horizon. Thousands of transport craft and modified boarding pods fell through the atmosphere to discharge their cargo: millions of whooping Barbarisians, armed with whatever they had been given and whatever they could grab. They ran riot through the panicking streets of the assaulted cities, grabbing whatever they could fit in their bags or clothing, dragging idols or captives back to their dropships. Kayon himself led assaults on the most opulent parts of each world, plundering priceless artefacts and taking thousands of slaves. Within a week, they returned to their ships with their ill-gotten gains and went back to orbiting leviathan to repeat the process on the next unfortunate world it dragged them to. Every now and again, its path would intersect with Barbaris' solar system and the corsairs would stop to deposit their plunder and restock their ships, before beginning the cycle once again.


It was on one of these raids that father and son were reunited. The void whale brought the Grand Fleet to a system that was, to their surprise, already under attack. Another fleet, seemingly a powerful and highly advanced one, was already in orbit above the inhabited planet, launching drop-pods and atmospheric insertion craft down to its surface. Never one to turn down a challenge, and seeing the enemy fleet caught unawares and distracted with the task of invading the planet, Kayon Maturax ordered the ships boarded and captured.


With incredible speed, his ships raced across the void to engage with the enemy fleet. Boarding pods and stellar drop-ships soared through empty space to deliver their cargo into the enemy ships. Kayon and his personal guard led the assault on the greatest and grandest of the enemy fleet, intent on having a second flagship.


On the planet below, the Emperor was leading a force of Custodians, Sea Devil Abyssals and the majority of the Second Legion, the Voidborn, in the conquest of the Gurrumdani Dominion's throne-world when he received the warnings and cries for help from his fleet. Simultaneously enraged by the information that his own ship had been boarded and intrigued by the reports of the unstoppable giant leading them, he teleported himself up to his ship to face the intruder. As Kayon Maturax and his warriors slaughtered their way through the Bucephalus, the Emperor led his Custodes and the Voidborn Command to meet them. The berserk Barbarisians were no match for the Custodes or the Astartes, but the Emperor of Mankind and the Dread Corsair fought like gods, the Spear of Maturax and the Emperor's Relic Sword clashing with the sound of thunder. It was a battle that could not be followed by the mortal eye; two supernatural beings so far beyond the capacity of humanity that it brought mortal onlookers to their knees in awe and terror.


Eventually, the duel ended when the Emperor managed to send the power spear spinning from Maturax's hands and placed his sword against his neck. Then, with a beaming smile, he threw the sword aside and hugged the great Primarch, declaring with frabjous joy that he had found the first of his lost children, the genesire of the Voidborn, and invited Kayon to join him in conquering the Dominion below. With a fierce grin, the Corsair sent an order to the Barbarisian warriors to cease their assaults on the Imperial ships, and to instead direct their attentions to the planet below. Reunited, Father and Son, Primarch and Astartes, Imperial and Barbarisian descended upon the surface of the Dominion throneworld with the fury of a thousand suns. For all their technology and desperation, the Gurrumdani could not hold against the ferocious Voidborn and the wild Barbarisians, who took to fighting in the crowded hives as easily as they did to shipboard warfare. Kayon himself killed Dominator Orlon ya Thulem by throwing the Spear of Maturax through his heart.


With victory achieved, Kayon and the Emperor discussed their next actions. Kayon wished to bring Barbaris into the Imperial fold, but did not know where it lay in relation to the current world. The Emperor's solution was elegant - an imperial ship, with its navigator and astropaths would follow the Grand Fleet in the wake of the Void Whale until it returned to Barbaris and thus locate it. In turn, Kayon would go to Terra to meet the rest of the Voidborn and officially take up the mantle of their leader and, He suggested, the title of Admiral of the Imperial Fleets.


When he came to Terra, it is said that Kayon fell to his knees and wept at the beauty of the planet, and declared that, for all the wonders of the stars, nothing was more magnificent than the birthworld of humanity, of the silurians and of the sea devils. He spent months exploring the planet, visiting the grand and brilliant palaces, stunning atmospheric habitats, and the archaic and alien subterranean and abyssal complexes of the Terran reptilians. So taken was he by the magnificence of the world, that he declared the Second Legion would be renamed the Sons of Terra in its honour.


He briefly returned to Barbaris to properly induct it into the Imperium, reunite with his friends and establish it as a recruiting ground for the Second Legion, before going back to Terra and Mars and oversee an overhaul of both his Grand Fleet and many of the Imperial Expeditionary Fleets, lending his tremendous knowledge of spaceship design and stellar warfare to improving them greatly.


Kayon proved himself time and time again as the greatest admiral of the Imperial Fleet. Indeed, his conquest speed was low because of how often his presence was requested in more dangerous theatres. In the war against the Ork Empire of Urlark Urgg, it was he who crippled the Orkish ARMARDAAAAAGH! at the Battle of Sarajekon and protected the fleets of Morrigyr as they bombarded Ullanor in preparation for Vodnar's assault.
He went out of his way to befriend his siblings, his Legionaries and the Imperial Commanders he worked with. Only with the fiercely independent and cruel Worallawa and the proud and bitter Ryidin did he fail. It was said that none held greater affection for the Primarchs than Kayon did.


This was, ultimately, to prove his undoing. When Mihai Rascidivic converted Ceyec to his cause, the Strategos went about finding allies for his war against the Imperium, and perhaps more importantly, hamstringing the more powerful forces of his enemy.
Knowing that Kayon Maturax was unlikely to switch sides, and that having the Dread Corsair harassing his fleets and supply lines as he marched on Terra would be suboptimal, Ceyec went to meet with his brother a few days before he planned to start his civil war. At their meeting, he told Kayon almost everything, preying upon his love for his siblings to force him into inaction - conveniently leaving out the information that both Worallawa and Ryidin had thrown in their lot with him. Shocked by the news, and unwilling to fight his brothers, Ceyec left Kayon distraught and nigh-catatonic. He retreated to Barbaris with his legion to think on what he had learned. He locked himself away in his chambers for weeks, refusing to see his equerry, his advisors, even his wife.


It was then that the Void Whale returned to his solar system. Like a man who sees he cannot avoid his fate, Kayon left his chambers and silently ordered his fleet to follow it.
The great beast dragged them to the Wystone system as the Traitor Legions showed their true allegiance and decimated the Knights, the Arbiters and the Wardens. As if they had been expecting the arrival of the Second Legion, the seven fleets of the traitors focused fire upon the Sons of Terra, inflicting heavy casualties. Yet the arrival of Kayon had bought the escaping remnants of the Loyalists time, and the battered remnants of their fleets fled the system as soon as they received the few remaining boarding craft and dropships. Even the naval skill of Kayon Maturax could not help him against such numbers, and Ceyec was almost his equal in void warfare, and he too was forced to retreat. He attempted to lead raids against the traitors or join up with other loyalists, but at every turn he was met with ambushes and false information; most likely the work of Mihai Rascidivic, he realised.
Crushed by his own failures and his inability to save his brother Vodnar, he retreated once more to his inner sanctum, where his love gave way to hatred and his self-doubt gnawed at him.
The Void Whale appeared once more. With dread in his heart, and a premonition that his death was at hand, he ordered his men to their ships once more, making the First Grand Company stay at Barbaris to watch over it and 'keep it safe in the name of the Emperor, no matter what happens.' With that, he and his fleet were dragged along by the Void Whale.


But the journey this time was not as easy as it had been before. The turbulent warp calmed around them, leaving them floundered and motionless. The Gellar fields began to fail, and warp-beasts started to make their way through the fleet, killing ratings and attacking Astartes. Tempers ran high aboard ships, the stress of being unable to do anything whilst they were cooped up in their vessels driving them mad. The hatred for their cousins that had begun to fester in the hearts of the Primarch and his sons grew like loathsome tumours, hatred for their brothers for betraying the Imperium, hatred for the Emperor for not foreseeing their betrayal, hatred for the weakness of the brothers, hatred for themselves for failing to halt the treachery. With their entrapment ever lengthening, seemingly without end, Kayon finally cried out for help, help in leaving this bestilled Immaterium, help in delivering his judgment upon those he despised.
Malice answered. A lesser god, or perhaps some unaligned daemon of incredible power, it promised the Sons the power to stop the treachery and to leave the Warp. Without a second thought, Kayon Maturax accepted.


And so it was, that in the wake of the Void Whale as it entered the Sol System came a great and terrible fleet. The Infinite Horizon was no longer the beautiful craft it had once been; now it was gnarled and twisted like an old tree. Other ships had fused with it, its armour and armaments looking almost organic. With a single broadside it tore apart the crippled Whaler as it battled the Unifier and its attendant ships savaged the fleets of both loyalist and traitor as they battled above Mars, Mondas and Terra. As it moved into orbit around the world that had once brought Kayon to his knees in awe, the fleet opened fire indiscriminately at the planet, its orbitals and other ships. Dropships unloaded cargoes of ranting marines and Astartes merged with their armour or twisted into foul primeval forms by daemons who'd possessed them, that tore into loyalist and traitor alike with the ferocity borne of hatred. Of Kayon himself, there was no sign, until something massive and dark launched itself from the side of the Infinite Horizon towards the traitor flagship on huge draconic wings. The creature ripped through the hull of the starship as if it was paper, and tore through the insides of the ship as it marched inexorably towards its goal - Ceyec. Much to its surprise, it found that another being had already reached the Arch-Traitor - The Emperor of Mankind who was locked in ferocious battle with Ceyec. With a terrifying roar, it announced its presence to the duelists. Only able to recognise their former brother and son by his missing eye and the great spear he wielded, Ceyec and the Emperor lunged at the beast, mutually recognising it as the greater threat. With a hiss, the Daemon Primarch leapt towards them, thrusting his spear at his brother and lashing one great wing out at his father to drive him back. For all the gifts of the chaos gods, Ceyec had never been a fighter, and he faced an ascended Primarch, channeling the power gifted to him by the Hateful God, who was fed by spite and loathing for the Four Brothers. The spear smashed his shield and shattered his sword, devouring the daemons within them and growing more obscene with the minute.
The Emperor fought like a god, but Maturax was as strong and fast as he, and was bigger and heavier to boot, using his own body to absorb the strokes of the Emperor's sword.
In a last act of desperation, Ceyec threw himself upon the beast's spear, pulling himself up it to grapple with his brother. Kayon lunged down, his saurian jaws wide and tore the throat from his brother. Seeing his opportunity and knowing now that his son was beyond redemption, the Emperor cast his love and compassion for his children away and ran Kayon through, mortally wounding it. With a hellish scream, it cast Ceyec's body aside and attacked the Emperor, desperate to take him down with it. In all likelihood, it would have done, had the Exalters not arrived.


The Last Word, flagship of Itkaz Ophiriq, dropped out of the Warp and immediately began to bombard the traitor flagship, ignorant of the Emperor's presence aboard it. With misfortune that could only be borne from divine intervention, a single shell passed straight through the hole Kayon had ripped through the hull and straight into the strategium chamber where father and son fought and struck Kayon, obliterating the weakened daemon Primarch's physical form and sending him screaming back to the Warp. Thus were the plans of the Four, of the Hateful God and of the Emperor shattered.
Every Son of Terra felt the backlash of their Primarch's banishment. With a howl of anguish, they fled back to their dropships with their trophies, returned to their ships and scattered into the winds of the warp. Some ended up in the Eye of Terror, others in the Maelstrom or other Warp Storms. Their hierarchy devolved into warbands led by whichever Captain or Commodore could command their respect and promise them enough fighting and plunder. Those warbands that had many possessed among their ranks became devoted to Malal, frequently leading suicidal raids against strongholds of the other gods. Universally, they changed their names to the Sons of Malal.


In M33 form of Kayon Maturax coalesced once more in the depths of the Warp, and he lead an armada of Second Legion remnants into the back of the Black Crusade. Kayon himself assaulted the Blood Serpent as he performed a ritual to summon a host of bloodthirsters onto Cadia's surface, driving his spear into his daemonic brother and tearing off one of his arms and ripping his throat out as Socon ran him through with five of his swords and crushed him with his coils. Ironically, this act probably saved the Imperium, and to this day the Gatekeepers hold a certain wary respect for the former Primarch. In the past, he has led attacks on Eldar Craftworlds, Tyranid Hivefleets and even the fortified Draconian Remnant.

Raids on worlds or shipping by the Sons of Malal are a fairly common occurrence near to Warp Storms, and are a constant plight to those aboard Craftworld Biel-Tan, for whom the Sons seem to harbour a special hatred; but it is only when Kayon gathers enough strength to manifest once more and the Infinite Horizon, corrupted and loathsome, rides forth once more that the galaxy quakes in fear.


Legion Organisation:
The Second Legion have always more heavily integrated the fleet and the Legion than other Astartes, but under the Admiral-King this evolved even further. As opposed to being divided into Grand Companies, they are split into fleets, instead of Chapters they are organised by the battleships they crew. Companies are instead organised into Escort or Frigate Crewmen, and Squads are replaced by boarding craft crews. As such, the chain of command goes from Admiral-King Kayon, overseer of all operations, to an Admiral in charge of a fleet, to a Commodore in charge of a battleship, to a Captain in charge of an Escort or Frigate to a Midshipman in charge of a Boarding Party. The numbers under each commander vary with the ship and the commander's experience, but normally are similar to those found at comparable levels of organisation, such as 10,000 Astartes to a fleet.


The command group of each commander is also different. The Master is responsible for intrastellar navigation and in charge of the command's armour distribution. The Quartermaster takes care of supply lines and communication links. The Bo'sun is similar to the Chaplain of other Legions, responsible for maintaining discipline and resolving disputes within the Sons of Terra. The Chief Gunner is responsible for the management and targeting of the ship's guns as well as the Astartes crew of a ship. Librarians were normally added to the command group as an informal advisor.


Since their fall to Chaos, the once well-defined organisational structure of the Sons has decayed. The former ranks are now taken by those Chaos Champions and Lords who can gather the most followers and ships to them, be it by force of will or strength of arm. Some attempt to replicate the old command structure, but few get farther than having a Bo 'sun to enforce their commands or a Quartermaster to dole out the spoils of war. A lucky few keep sorcerers in their retinue.




Combat Doctrine:
Even before they were reunited with their genesire, the Voidborn were renowned as specialists in ship-based warfare, being exceptionally skilled at both repelling and carrying out boarding attacks. This skill in combat within the cramped confines of starships carried over to urban combat, especially within hive cities and arcologies. Once reunited with their Primarch and having begun to recruit from the hives of Barbaris, they only became even more skilled in these theatres.
Most of the legion's soldiers are equipped as Breachers, Despoilers or Assault Marines, depending on the terrain of the upcoming battle, with heavy weapons usually being few and far between, with the Sons often improvising anti-vehicle weapons out of breaching charges and the like.
The Second relies heavily on seizing the momentum of a battle from the very start and never letting go of it. As far as they are concerned, the major objectives of any battle should be completed whilst the enemy is still reeling from the shock of their assault - be it within a city or a starship. One third of any force will move to capture the bridge or centre of government; another third will move to capture the engine rooms or manufacturing centres; and the final third will act as a rapid response force, aiming to disperse resistance or to disrupt infrastructure. Librarians focus mainly on destructive powers, with pyromancy being a strong favourite.


Since their fall to Chaos, surprisingly little has changed in their overall combat strategy - although the high number of Possessed Marines in their ranks means that they are normally found at the head of any assault force. Daemon summoning, of Doomed Ones, Loathshrieks and Abhorrent Detestations, is a hallmark of any longer battles involving the Sons of Malal.






Legion Beliefs and Practices:
To count the myriad superstitions of the Barbarisian void-sailors - from banning women from being aboard a ship, to having to clean everything aboard upon seeing an asteroid, or trying to tame Hullghasts - would be an exercise in insanity, as every single ship of every fleet will have its own unique beliefs, some descended from those of the dynasty of each fleet, others newly created by the Astartes of Barbaris, and others still leftovers of Terran superstition.
There are, however, a few universal practices and beliefs.
A love of plunder is one - Marines of the Second Legion have an almost Ork-like tendency to loot whatever they can carry back to their shuttles, and then adorn their arms, armour and personal quarters with it. The greatest trophies taken are placed in the reliquaries of the ships, with plaques denoting who captured it and from who, when and where.
After their fall to Chaos, this habit has only become exacerbated, and planets subject to Sons raids will be picked clean of anything of value. Bizarrely, this has led to some strange friendships between the Second Legion and some Ork Klans - notably the allegiance between the Freeboota Kommodork Bitzgrabba and the Commodore-Champion Kaleb Dakarum.


Another is their fascination with Void Whales. In deference to how Kayon started his wars and met the Emperor, it is traditional to follow in its wake as it moves to star systems new, much to the chagrin of the Navigators and any attached regiments of the Imperial Army.
This tradition has not disappeared with time either, and Imperial Admirals dread the appearance of a void whale within their sector, for it is likely the traitors follow in their wake. Indeed, several warfleets follow the example of their Primarch to its logical conclusion, and do nothing but follow in the wake of void whales before plundering whatever unfortunate system they enter.


One tradition that has disappeared is their veneration of Holy Terra. Where they once held that there was 'No sight more beautiful than the birthworld of Humanity, the Throneworld Terra', a quote that now adorns the Golden Arch at the entrance of the Ministorum. Plaques, paintings, sculptures and other works of art representing Terra
On ships that have been captured by the Imperial Navy, these have been smashed and desecrated, as have most other imperial symbols. In their place are monuments dedicated to the Hateful God: half-black, half-white skulls and ravaged shrines to other gods.


Recruitment and Flaws:
Prior to their fall to Chaos, the Sons of Terra recruited from Barbaris and the orbitals around Terra, valuing expertise with regards to movement within urban or space habitat conditions much more highly than other legions. The senior members within the legions would place applicants and other potentials aboard their ships, where they would help the crew, patrol for Ghilliams and Hullghasts and such like and participate in raids until they proved themselves worthy to join the Legion.


The Legion's geneseed is fairly unstable, especially with regards to the Oculobe. A common mutation in this organ means that their eyes adapt to changes in light much more slowly than those in other legions, and thus eyepatches or tightly-secured high-intensity lights covering one eye to make the unfortunate ready for a sudden change in ambient lighting.

Since their fall to Chaos, much of the Legion's recruits now come from traitor Astartes and those of other corrupted legions who have fallen from the favour of their leadership. It is said that they forcibly abduct children to convert into new corsairs using warp sorcery or through dark deals with Dark Eldar Haemonculi.


Some bands of the Sons, such as the Contemnarii and the Worldburner's fleet, are fanatically devoted to Malal and are quite puritanical in the company they keep and their hatred towards followers of the other gods, frequently leading raids against their planets or desecrating sacred worlds.
Others, such as the Crimson Corsairs aboard the Permanent Assurance and the Piebald Privateers of the Maelstrom, are significantly less theistic and are mostly in it for the looting, and, as such, are far less discerning about the company they keep. Gore-Drinker Berserkers, Loxatl and Kroot mercenaries, Eldar Corsairs, Dark Eldar raiders, Sontaran Warseekers, Ork Freebootas and more are commonly found aboard their fleets.

[SIngemeister]

Upon the forested world of Caliban, Luther, Grandmaster of The Order, leads his knights on a hunt for a Great Beast that had slaughtered five patrols already. Passing through a clearing, he looks up and sees something that makes him pull his horse to a sudden stop...


In a Chemosi fortress-factory, a boy runs from the fearsome bellows of the overseers chasing him. Nimble as a monkey, he clambers up chimneys and over rooftops until he reaches the highest point in the city, far above the roiling smog. What he see when he looks to the polluted sky makes him scream with fear and wonder...

The Tyrant of Lochos roars in futile anger as the alliance of his enemies rampage through his once-great city. If only his warlords had been more competent, his soldiers better trained, his armies more disciplined! He screams a desperate plea to the heavens for salvation from his enemies, and his eyes widen as the heavens answer...


Tenghur Khan, Khagan of the Talaskar, Great Khan of the Empty Quarter, lops off the head of the Palatine Captain with a single lazy swipe of his Tulwar. Around him, the men and women of the tribes stop collecting the dead and looting their slain foes to bellow a collective prayer to the gods of sky and storm, but falter and fail as shadows darken the sky... - Snakes Sanguine


The Fenrisian tribesman snarls at the wolf, teeth bared, and it replies in kind. There is an understanding then and there between pack and tribe, that neither will disturb the other as they feast on the bounty they'd found. A great kraken, dead from age or disease had washed up on the shore, and it would feed man and wolf for a long time. He draws his knife and glances at the sky. With a feral oath, he snarls at what he sees...


Cator Maltus, Grand Hetmann of the Hive Inwit Prime, walks leisurely upon his balcony, watching the workmen scurry madly as they prepare the primitive spaceport for the arrival of the visitors. He had to say, he was very excited about this. He knew little about this Imperium, but the benefits they'd offered him were astounding. With an impatient sigh, he looks to the sky and his eyes light up...

[Midgard]

Interesting... this is what happens to "canon" Primarch homeworlds when the Imperium comes in... except that there are no Primarchs there to greet them?

[SIngemeister]

Interesting... this is what happens to "canon" Primarch homeworlds when the Imperium comes in... except that there are no Primarchs there to greet them?

In most cases.