“Our progenitors despised us, and our leadership didn't understand us. We were lost, until Captain Norys helped us find ourselves.” - Chapter Master Zakis Randi

Of all of the Space Marine Chapters, none are so legendary in their hatred of the enemies of Man as the Desert Fangs, now known only as the “Angry Marines” since the Horus Heresy. The Angry Marines were also renowned for their resilience against the corruptions of Chaos. This was believed to be their rage shielding them from Chaos' whispers, but in M36, a Magos Biologis by the name of Jakobus Hamundr discovered records from before the Heresy on the Angry Marines' gene-seed. The information was incomplete, but it seemed that the Primarch of the Second Legion was a Null of phenomenal power, and that his anti-psychic nature imprinted itself on his gene-seed. The effect had been suppressed for unclear reasons, and supplemented with the burning hatred which earned the Angry Marines their name, but Hamundr was convinced that he could restore it in order to create a Chapter with the same warp-resistance as the Angry Marines, but without the instability of the Angry Marines' berserk rage. The Angry Marines would not cooperate with a successor less angry than they, so Hamundr was able to get a Doom Eagle leadership team to instill a properly Codex-compliant nature in the new Chapter.

The next Founding turned out to be the Cursed 21st, and Hamundr's plan soon went awry. The Warp-resistance worked well enough, but while the Knights were not afflicted by the iconic berserk rage of their progenitors, neither did they exhibit the proper disdain for or hatred of Mankind's enemies. The Chapter's leadership decided that a crusade would harden the Knights' hearts with the fires of war, and so the Knights Inductor set off for the nearby war-torn world of Kronos VI.

Kronos VI was a Hive World home to several munitions manufactora; the working class had suffered for generations under the yoke of their planetary leadership, and then they realized that they outnumbered their rulers by about six orders of magnitude. The Munitorum demanded that order be restored by any means possible, and the standard practice for such situations was that the rebellion be annihilated.

The Salamanders had also sent a detachment to Kronos, under the command of one Captain Carolus Norys. Where the Angry Marines shunned the Knights for their dispassion, and their leadership pushed them in a direction they did not truly desire, Norys gladly took the fledgeling Chapter under his wing, and the Knights soon saw him as their spiritual liege. He instilled in them a sense of guardianship: that their purpose was to protect the Imperium first, and only to exercise force in the service of that purpose, and even then, to minimize collateral damage while doing so. Rather than destroying the rebellion, the Salamanders and Knights Inductor worked to address the populace's demands for better living conditions and a government more responsive to their grievances, overseeing the revitalization of the primary hive city. Their solution took longer than a simple extermination campaign would have, but it resulted in a stable government, better living conditions for the Kronans, and a more productive world in the long run. The Knights Inductor knew that they had found their purpose at last: to seek troubled systems, repair them, and leave them better off than before.

“The only creature I've ever met with a more callous disregard for life than yours was a Dark Eldar Archon, and at least he had the courtesy not to proclaim his devotion to virtue while he murdered billions.” - Chapter Master Jakob Morridus, shortly before executing Canoness Sarah Azaniel

At first, the Knights Inductor were a fleet-based Chapter, having dedicated themselves to repairing the Imperium world by world. Eventually, their crusade took them out to the Eastern Fringe, where the Astronomican's light pushes against the intergalactic calm in the Warp, setting up a great turbulence; in M39, the turbulence erupted into a full Warp Storm, enclosing the sector which the Knights Inductor were pacifying. With no means of leaving, the Knights decided to put down roots and push their skills to their limit in improving the sector.

Aprior was the most populated system in the sector, and was riven by internal division and external threats, so the Knights decided to improve that system first. They appeared to the fractious Apriori, and offered a deal: cooperate with us, and we will build a noble, bright future together. The Apriori were skeptical at first, having been disunited for so long, and several factions objected to the idea of unity or cooperation with their former enemies. The Aprior Commandery of the Order of the Sacred Rose was the most outspoken of these, especially when they learned that the Knights Inductor were willing to tolerate trade with xenos or attempt to rehabilitate heretics in the pursuit of peace, and when their objections failed to attract popular support or produce results, they deemed the sector heretical, and sought to put it to the torch, starting with their home system of Marion. The Knights Inductor were able to stop the Sisters on the world of Dvi-Marion by incapacitating the Sisters' orbital assets, trapping them on the ground. The Knights tried and convicted the Sisters of crimes against humanity for the brutal tactics they employed, and offered a choice: use their expertise to help the Apriori, or be executed. The surviving Sororitas were reformed into the more scholarly and defense-focused Order of Reason's Light, in line with what the Knights Inductor felt was a more reasonable interpretation of the Decree Passive.

Once the Knights extinguished the immediate threat of rebellion and started to implement their social policies, quality of life started to improve for those Apriori who cooperated with them, and support for the Knights grew rapidly. The Apriori banded together and set to work fortifying their world, and then spread, first to nearby stars, and then to the whole sector, driving back the threats of the cosmos and advancing the Knights' social programs as they went. The worlds of the Aprior System are varied, but their societies have several common policies dating to this era: citizens are regularly screened for genetic mutation, starting before birth, and extensive public education programs include civil defense training to ensure that all Apriori citizens can contribute to their worlds' defensive efforts.

The Knights Inductor use these programs to identify children who are compatible with their gene-seed and have the potential for combat aptitude. Because Aprior is largely composed of Civilized Worlds as opposed to Feral or Death Worlds, there is not an easy way to identify which of these children are truly Space Marine material without actually putting them through training, so the Knights simply train them all: when flagged children reach age twelve, their parents are contacted and offered the opportunity to allow their child to go through training. There is no penalty for refusal, but having a child in the Knights Inductor is a high honor, and even those who do not become Knights are skilled enough to excel in the Chapter Staff, the Apriori Armed Forces, or almost any other technical or military career field, so most parents accept.

As the Knights Inductor were the leaders of the fleets which settled the Aprior Sector, they legally rule every planet therein. In reality, the worlds outside of the Aprior Subsector are largely self-governing, so long as they meet certain standards of economic viability, self-sufficiency, and protection of the rights of citizens.

>if I could, I would put this post in a sidebar

The Aprior System proper has six planets in it. Aprior Primus and Secundus are very close to Aprior and are used for mining and manufacturing; Tertius is in the habitable zone and houses the majority of the subsector's population; and Quartus, Quintius, and Sextus are gas giants, with moons used for manufacturing, military research and training.

Aprior Tertius is similar to Old Earth, although it is larger, with surface gravity almost twice that of Terra. Because it was the first world in the sector to be colonized, Aprior Tertius is the most populous world in the sector, the sector capital, and the primary base of the Knights. It is usually called Aprior Regius to set it apart from the other worlds. Regius is largely urbanized and industrialized, although the Regians have instituted environmental and social policies to prevent the pollution and decay normally associated with industrialized, highly populated worlds.

>if I could, I would put this post in a sidebar

One major feature of Regius is the Torch, the Fortress-monastery of the Knights Inductor, buried within a mountain range. The Knights typically avoid ornamentation, but the Torch is the one exception. A granite tower rises a thousand meters above the mountains, with a perpetual light at the top: the Eternal Flame, symbolizing the achievements of humanity through adversity, the illuminating light of reason and understanding, and a beacon of hope for a better future. The names of fallen Knights are engraved upon the Eternal Flame's tower. Every city on Regius and most worlds in the Aprior Sector have a small replica of the Eternal Flame upon which they engrave the names of residents who have given their lives in the various Apriori Armed Forces.

Nyx is a white dwarf from an eons-old supernova; its sole remaining world, Thanatos, is a dead, cold lump of rock notable for containing a metal with potent anti-Warp properties. A Necron tomb was discovered in the process of mining; it seems that its presence is related to that of the metal, though it is unclear which came first.

Romulus and Remus are a binary star with two planets: one gas giant orbiting both, and one hot rocky world orbiting Romulus.

Tarquin is a star similar to Aprior, with a “double planet” orbiting it: two Agri Worlds in each others' Lagrange points.

“As we proceed in our duties, consider the Emperor of Man. Despite his genius and continuing honorable courage, he made a number of avoidable mistakes, even from the foundation of the Imperium. Even with the greatest ability, and noblest goals, mistakes happen. Therefore, let us admit to our own errors, that we may refine our ways.” - Knights Inductor Invocation

As in many other Space Marine Chapters, the Emperor is not worshiped as a god, but as a man: the Knights Inductor believe that he is powerful, worthy of admiration, and in many ways the best that mankind has to offer, but not perfect. They are scrupulously careful to avoid blind devotion, because doing so would blind them to their own imperfections. A significant part of the Chaplains' sessions with the Space Marines is spent in reflection, to recognize and learn from their failures and shortcomings and improve going forward; reminding themselves that even the Emperor can make mistakes helps keep them humble.

The Knights Inductor's practice of recruiting from the worlds they pacify has given them a personal understanding of and respect for the diversity present in the Imperium, not to mention several millennia of experience in forging a viable alliance out of many disparate members. They believe, from personal experience, that every Imperial world and citizen is able to contribute to the Imperium and worth protecting, and that protecting the Imperium, rather than seeking and destroying the Imperium's enemies, is their primary purpose.

“Any Space Marine can apply force and destroy a target. The true measure of a Chapter is how it can achieve victory without force.” - Captain Roland Darren, Third Company

Knights Inductor gene-seed makes them steadier but not as quick, relative to other Space Marine Chapters, and they use tactics to play to their strengths. Rather than making high-visibility close-quarters assaults, they use camouflage and more exotic stealth techniques to mask their deployments and strike from long range, usually with heavy mechanization thanks to the Aprior Sector's thriving industrial base. The Knights Inductor amplify this advantage through advanced electronic and psychological warfare, tricking enemies into reacting to forces which aren't really there, or even surrendering in the face of apparently overwhelming opposition. Then, while the enemy is jumping at shadows, they employ surgically-precise strikes to eliminate enemy leadership or destroy enemy linchpins.

The most peculiar “combat doctrines” of the Knights Inductor have to do with their preference to limit or even avoid combat if it is reasonable to do so; they have found that a nonviolent resolution is preferable to a bloody war, and that, by not exterminating the enemy, prisoners taken can supply information and be used as bargaining chips, or even defect entirely. They may also leave a detachment behind after major combat operations are complete to help build a stable situation, rather than perpetuating needless and wasteful conflict. These practices have earned the Knights Inductor the moniker of “Reasonable Marines” among Imperial citizens.

Sometimes, this involves tolerating or cooperating with people (human or otherwise) whom more puritanical chapters would have exterminated; the Knights Inductor (and Apriori) are not picky about their allies, so long as they behave. When the encroaching Tyranids and Necrons calmed the Warp storms surrounding the Aprior Sector, Inquisitor Rightina Immam was sent to identify any deviations which had developed over the thirteen hundred years of isolation, and she was alarmed to find such tolerance; she immediately called an Inquisitorial council to examine the Knights and judge them (see Report #SUP/tg/2803229).

Radical Inquisitors, exemplified by Johannes Krieger of the Ordo Hereticus, advocated cautious acceptance of the Knights Inductor. Krieger acknowledged their deviations, but argued that their experience made them useful to have in the Imperium, and that their Warp-resistance and, in extreme cases, Warp-nullifying effect is especially valuable to the Inquisition. As a Recongregator, he also suggested to his like-minded colleagues that some “deviations” might be put to good use in the Imperium, such the Apriori genetic screening and public education policies. On the other hand, the more Puritanical Inquisitors, led by staunch Monodominant Inquisitor Lord Avius Damnos, claimed that no utility can justify the degree of Apriori deviation. He and his colleagues in the Ordo Malleus tried to rouse the Imperium in a Crusade against the Aprior Sector.

The Radicals gained the upper hand, if only through bureaucratic inertia: the Aprior Sector did not appear to be threatening enough to expend the effort to initiate a Crusade and the costs of eliminating an experienced and firmly-entrenched foe, especially when more immediate threats are always all around, though Inquisitor Rightina was dispatched to monitor the Aprior Sector as a concession to the Puritans.

>if I could, I would put this post in a sidebar

Captain Darren has earned the honorific “Master of the Deal” for his successes in defusing conflicts without bloodshed; the “Non-War of Teron I” is one of his more famous accomplishments. When a Tau strike force claimed to own the Imperial world of Teron I, the local Imperial Guard Regiments were provoked to mobilize, which would invite a weightier response from the Tau Empire, and could only escalate from there. A long meat-grinder war was in the making, but cooler heads within the Administratum realized that the IG Regiments were needed to fight the Tyranids, and that driving out the Tau would leave them dangerously under-strength for such a deployment. Fortunately, Darren's Battle Barge was in the vicinity, and the Administratum asked him to handle the situation.

Rather than preemptively striking the Tau, as the IG force commander suggested, Darren established a defensive perimeter against a sudden Tau attack, and used some technological trickery to give the appearance of having many more Marines deployed than he actually had on hand. When he engaged the Tau diplomatically, he was able to convince them that the resources required to take the world by force would be better spent colonizing non-Imperial worlds, playing on the fact that the Tau desired expansion more than bloodshed.

In the debriefing session thereafter, Darren was asked what he would have done had he not convinced the Tau to leave without a fight. For his answer, Darren whistled, and twelve Terminators deactivated cloaking devices, appearing as if from nowhere. After the flustered leadership calmed down, Darren assured them that he was “well prepared for a hostile reception.”

“There is no specific regulation to the number of marines in a chapter.” - Sergeant Aeron Sacres, Fourth Squad, Fifth Company

The Knights Inductor operate under the Codex Astartes, although they use Squads of twenty-four Marines rather than the conventional ten, in order to provide more options for dividing up in battle. That said, they are troubled by the degree of centralization required by the Codex, and so they have established an Eleventh Company in order to experiment with a decentralized organization scheme similar to that employed by the Space Wolves or Black Templars.

Instead of being trained in the Scout Company, Eleventh Company Neophytes train aboard their Company's vessels and with the Tactical Squads, while the Eleventh Company draws its Scouts from its reserve Assault Squads. Eleventh Company Veterans are distributed more or less evenly among the Squads (unless they are working in Terminator armor) so that all Squads can benefit from their leadership and the Veterans can learn from up-and-coming Marines. Finally, the Eleventh Company maintains its own vehicle pool and maintenance department, as well as a small space fleet, so that they are minimally dependent on the Chapter's resources.

So far, the Eleventh Company has been successful, and the time has come for its ultimate test: to leave the Aprior Sector on a crusade to repair the Imperium, one world at a time. If they can do well, the Knights Inductor may make further use of this scheme, sending other Companies on their own Crusades, with an eventual eye towards creating a Successor Chapter or two at the next Founding.

“Our Primarch is lost. All that remains of him is our gene-seed, and through that, he is always with us.” - Apothecary Stephan Aigle

Like their parent Chapter and Legion, Knights Inductor gene-seed has mutations in the organs that affect the brain. These mutations enhance the abilities of Nulls to the point that they can manipulate the shape and strength of their “null aura” to some degree, while psykers' abilities are severely blunted, if not outright deadened. All Knights Inductor receive significant mental resistance to Warp powers and emotional stabilization, allowing them to keep a cool head under all circumstances and resist corruption. It also seems that the psychic resistance makes the gene-seed itself less vulnerable to further mutation. These traits endear the Knights Inductor to the Inquisition, especially the Deathwatch, encouraging them (and thus the other Imperial factions) to turn a blind eye to the Knights' more deviant practices and beliefs. This resilience comes at a cost: the Omophagea has been rendered ineffective, training takes up to a decade longer as the Neophytes are less susceptible to hypnotherapy, and a Knight's reaction time is about 15 percent longer than that of the average Space Marine.

The Knights Inductor still need psykers for astropathic communication, so Neophytes who happen to be psykers are trained and armored without implants, though this leaves them less capable in combat than their counterparts in other Chapters. The Knights Inductor also need Blanks to become full Marines to ensure they have proper psychic warfare units, so their recruitment program places special emphasis on identifying Blanks for the Librarius; thanks to this program, they have about as many “Silencers” as most Chapters have Librarians.

>if I could, I would put this post in a sidebar

The mutations in Knights' Inductor gene-seed make them all but immune to Chaotic corruption, but have left them open to other fates. The Necrons originally planted the Pariah gene in humanity, and when the Desert Fangs encountered the tomb on Voralia, the Necrons were pleased to see how much their plan had matured. Knights Inductor are already much more powerful than a normal human being, and almost the equal of a Pariah; their potential power after upgrading was nearly limitless. Over the years, some three dozen Knights Inductor have been captured, augmented with Necron technology, and conditioned to see all life as essentially chaotic; they now serve the Necrons, reborn as Null Knights.

“Light up the night!”

It's based on their motto “Ex Tenebras, Lux” (“From Darkness, Light”)

The best use of Knights Inductor (as opposed to any other chapter) is in games of Apocalypse, as a fluff reason to have Space Marines cooperating with non-Imperial armies; they are not too picky about their allies, so long as they behave.

Why founded: supposed to be less-angry Angry Marines, with the same Warp resistance (would that be Counter Chaos?)
When: M35 (21st “Cursed” Founding)
Progenitor: Unknown (Desert Fangs / Angry Marines, Rachnus Rageous)
Gene-Stock Purity: A New Generation
Codex Demeanor: See, But Don't Be Seen
Gene-Seed Deficiencies: Missing Omophagea
Chapter Flaw: We Stand Alone
Chapter Characteristic Modifiers: +5 WP, +5 BS (maybe INT instead of BS?)
Figure of Legend: Captain Carolus Norys, Salamanders Second Company
Deed of Legend: “Spiritual liege” / Mentor
Chapter Home World: Aprior Regius (Civilized)
Chapter Home World Terrain: Varies
Home World Relationship: Stewardship
Chapter Organization: Divergent
Combat Doctrine: Codex
Solo Mode Ability: Mental Fortress
Squad Mode Attack Pattern: Fire for Effect
Squad Mode Defensive Stance: Regroup
Specialty Restriction: None
Special Equipment: Special Vehicle (Razorback Stronos)
Chapter Beliefs: The Emperor Above All (more accurately, The Imperium Above All)
Chapter Status: Over Strength
Chapter Friends: Apriori PDF and Guard, Inquisition (Radical)
Chapter Enemies: Necrons, Inquisition (Puritan)
Chapter Name: Knights Inductor (also “Reasonable Marines”)
Battle Cry: “Light up the night!”
Heraldry: Balance
Livery: Camouflage (in combat), or Azure on Ceramite (ceremonial)
Custom Chapter Advances: Death From Afar

>That's all, folks, unless you'd like to hear about the xenos allies that the Knights have picked up over the centuries.

>>14710255
Yes we would!

>>14710058
>the Salamanders and Knights Inductor worked to address the populace's demands for better living conditions and a government more responsive to their grievances,
...These are goddamn space marines. That means "show up at the Governor's palace, point at him dramatically and say "STOP DOING THAT"

>>14710685
.../r/ drawfag

>>14710685

The problem with that is that the rulers feel overly put upon. The ideal solution leaves everybody feeling like they got something and lost something.

In this case, the government gave up some of their iron-fisted control over things, and got legitimacy in the eyes of the people (through some kind of election process going forward).

The people gave their assent to the new social contract (including an implicit agreement to not rebel going forward), and got better living conditions.

>>14710517 ask and ye shall receive!

A Necrontyr scientist who was part of the team which made first contact with the C'tan and constructed their necrodermis shells. As he learned more about their plans, he came to regret his species' decision and made a record on Thanatos to try and warn the future about the C'tan and Necron threats. The C'tan learned about it and tried to stop him, but his wife Alice (411355) held off the attackers long enough for him to complete the record and upload his personality to it. The record was discovered hundreds of millions of years later by the Knights Inductor, on the world they called Thanatos; they then used the record to restore him. He is working to augment the Knights' technology their expertise, but are currently stymied by the challenge of creating necrodermis which does not somehow link with the Nodal Command Network and become vulnerable to Necron manipulation. He hates Necron Lords and Immortals, as they joined the C'tan willingly, and he utterly despises the Deceiver for forcibly “upgrading” his wife into a Necron Warrior. He would do anything to find and restore her, and the Deceiver is aware of this fact.

>>14711682
> blast, it seems I accidentally a few words there

Underminer was once an engineer for the Tau Empire, answering to the name of Fio'El Vral, until the task force to which he was assigned encountered some impossibly ancient ruins on a Tau world. He doesn't remember exactly what it was he saw, because the Ethereal in charge of the task force decided that seeing those ruins was so dangerous that the force had to be mind-wiped and re-educated. The mind-wiping process temporarily disrupted the Ethereals' mental conditioning, and when the re-education camp was overrun by Space Marines during the Zeist Campaign, the Knights Inductor recognized his rank and took him to Regius, to be debriefed and questioned on Tau technology. With a little surgery to the olfactory control node, Underminer was completely free of the Ethereals' influence, and ready to share his expertise. He is currently employed in using Tau technology to augment Imperial weapons and vehicles; already, the Apriori Armed Forces make use of upgraded plasma weapons, and some suits of Terminator Armor have been fitted with stealth-suit technology. He feels a special kinship with Elliot, as both of them are scientists on the run from oppressive societies. His burning drive is to devise a method to free masses of Tau from Ethereal control, and he feels that he is on the cusp of an answer, if he could only remember what it was that the Ethereals wanted him to forget.

>inspired by / taken from http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/11971623/

Silmarwen was found as an infant by the Aprior Commandery of the Order of the Sacred Rose after driving some Eldar away from what turned out to be a Maiden World in M39; apparently, she had been lost in the confusion. One Sister, whose daughter had been taken by the Eldar before she joined the Sororitas, could not bring herself to kill the infant, and so the decision was made to raise her as a Sororitas. Silmarwen (an Eldar word that one Sister had heard and thought sounded nice enough, although it later turned out to mean “Sandwich”) was pushed harder than any human Novice, but she proved to be an excellent Sister, as her superhuman reflexes and speed were valuable on the battlefield, and her devotion to the Emperor is beyond doubt; she has no spirit stone, but her faith is more than sufficient to shield her soul, as many horrified daemons have learned over the centuries. The fact that she is an Eldar is a sore spot for her, as she constantly has to prove herself to her allies because of it; when the Knights Inductor reformed the Order, she was glad to cooperate with them because they didn't see her species as problematic. When the Knights Inductor reformed the Order into a more scholarly organization, Silmarwen was given the role of Historian of the Order. Her task of keeping the Order's archives is made somewhat easier by the fact that she has personally experienced many of the events chronicled therein.

>fff, it's getting late and my writing is suffering accordingly...

A reasonable daemonette (“R.D,” hence her name), an embodiment of compassion. She works as a public defender for Apriori citizens accused of heresy. Her existence has provoked controversy among the Knights Inductor and Apriori leadership; a few believed that her presence proved that the Chaos Gods have positive sides, and suggested that worshiping those aspects may empower them, leading to the universe improving. Most argued that worshiping the Chaos Gods in any way is too risky, and so the self-proclaimed “Adepts of Unified Order” quietly rebelled, departing from the Aprior Sector to pursue their efforts alone. A few Knights “fell” with them, becoming the Knights Reductor. Silmarwen doesn't like her very much, although Ardi would like to move beyond their ingrained enmity.

A Tyranid splinter fleet that consumed a Blank on Tarquin Ventrus, and found the Pariah gene for the first time. The gene had given the creature which possessed it properties similar to the Shadow in the Warp, so the Norn Queen decided to try splicing that gene into her Hive Fleet. The gene's introduction completely severed their connection to the Hive Mind, which resulted in the fleet falling dormant around Tarquin Ventrus, while the swarms on the ground died of starvation. This phenomenon had never been observed before, so the Apriori established a cordon around the fleet and watched and waited. Meanwhile, the Norn Queen's mind grew as she processed the memories of her swarm without the overriding hunger of the Hive Mind to stifle her. She emerged into full self-awareness, and then began to understand more and more of her foes, until the day that she realized that her opponents had not been part of a swarm as she had thought, but were individual creatures giving up their lives and, in some cases, worlds to try and preserve their fellows. Communication with her is slow and difficult, as she communicates through concepts, rather than words, and the relative unfamiliarity between human and Tyranid minds means that it is difficult to find common concepts, so misunderstandings are very likely; to avoid trouble, she generally refrains from action, but it seems that she wants to help the Apriori when she has a better idea of how.

>So, the only major xeno species from which the Reasonable Marines don't have an ally is the Orks...I'll get on that tomorrow, I guess.
>That's all for now, though -- any other thoughts?

>Reasonable Marines


I fucking love Reasonable Marines.

hell yes

>>14711738

Sandwitch the eldar

:P

This has been archived for posterity.
Please vote it up.

>>14710019
The daemonette and the tyranid both seem a little unlikely (and shouldn't the Necrontyr guy be dead already?)
>STILL
This is very awesome

>>14713313

All of these xenos are pretty rare, but nobody knows how rare, because anywhere else in the galaxy, they would have been killed on sight for being Xeno Scum (tm), and then there's the matter of self-policing.

A daemonette of compassion won't last very long in a grimdark galaxy of manipulators. Ardi got lucky in that [a] she was summoned very early in her lifetime, before any of the nasties of the Warp ate her and [b] she was summoned in the Aprior Sector, where people ask first and then shoot, so she was able to plead her case.

Similarly, nobody knows how many Tyranids have been spliced with the Pariah gene and freed from the Hive Mind, but anywhere else in the galaxy, a Tyranid hive fleet just sitting around and thinking would be [a] eaten by other Tyranids as it does not identify itself as "of the Hive Mind" or [b] seen as a blessing from the God-Emperor / Khaine / Gork and Mork / the C'tan (for nothing short of a miracle could make a Hive Ship so vulnerable) and destroyed -- although that last one is actually sort of correct in this case.

Regarding Elliot, his body died on Thanatos, but he had backed up his personality, which got written into a Necron body when the Apriori found his record. This is what I meant when I said they "restored him" -- I blame my drowsiness for making me unclear about that.

>>14713119

I see! In that case, I will also be posting what writing I've done (Return of the Reasonable Marines chapters 0-2, and if this thread is still alive this evening, I will have some Apriori PSAs regarding the various threats of the cosmos.

bumpan, with affection.
I like. I do like, and Silmarwen's inclusion is a bit of love as well.
Fine stuff, in a weird head-buzz kind of way. Like it feels odd, but good all the same.

Third Company Captain Roland Darren, Master of the Deal, had over two hundred years of front-line experience. He had stood against Orks, Eldar pirates, and, more recently, Tyranid hordes and Daemons. He had borne rocket launchers, plasma cannons, chainswords, and responsibility over whole worlds. None of that had felt so heavy or so terrifying as the dataslate which he now took to his Chapter Master: the Inquisition's verdict on the Aprior Sector and the Knights Inductor.

Inquisitor Immam had left the system convinced that they were all guilty of about a dozen forms of heresy, and rumor had it that Inquisitor Lord Damnos was already in touch with his Monodominant allies and the stricter Space Marine Chapters to arrange a Crusade against the Aprior Sector. On the other hand, Darren's Recongregator contact Inquisitor Lord Krieger had assured him that he would put in a good word at the hearing, and the Ultramarines and Salamanders were living proof that a Chapter could be Reasonable and Loyal. Chapter Master Randi was convinced that Darren's testimony was powerful enough to sway any fence-sitters into the Knights' side of the ring, although Darren himself was less certain. He admitted to himself that he had thought the same way about every promotion and honor he had received, and turned out to be wrong in each case, but what if his intuition was correct this time?

Finally, the interminable walk from the Fortress-Monastery's starport to the Chapter's offices ended. The serf at the reception desk buzzed the Chapter Master: “Captain Roland Darren to see you, Chapter Master.”

Zakis Randi strode into the room, beaming at his friend. “Roland! I thought you were still busy cleaning up Norton's World.”

“The Inquisition relieved me of that duty,” Darren responded tersely, and the Chapter Master's face set grimly.

“Delivered their verdict, did they? Let's have a look.” Taking the dataslate, Randi opened the message with his private key. Darren kept a close eye on the Chapter Master's face as he read, noting his eyes and mouth relaxing and then tightening. Finally, Randi looked up. “We're officially loyal.”

Darren released a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. “So the Crusade is off?”

Randi hesitated. “Mostly. They will be screening our gene-seed with extra scrutiny, but I'm not too worried about that. The Ecclesiarchy will also be sending some preachers to make sure the sector doesn't, and I quote, 'fall further from the Emperor's true path,' but I think they'll approve of our public education programs, especially the emphasis on service to the Imperium.”

“Alright then! So what's the bad news?”

“It seems that we'll be seeing more of Inquisitor Immam going forward. She's been assigned to monitor us.”

“Emperor preserve us...”

Inquisitor Rightina Immam, Ordo Hereticus, Conclave Astartum, scowled at her dataslate, hoping that she had misread it, or that her hatred would retroactively change the panel's mind. She had no such luck, for the Verdict of the Inquisitorial Panel Regarding the Knights Inductor and the Aprior Sector stood: they were loyal, if unorthodox, and that she was to monitor them and report further on their divergences from mainstream Imperial policies.

Rightina was furious. Was her initial report somehow unclear? The Apriori (and especially the Knights Inductor) were heretics of the worst sort: subtle! They would never act directly against the Imperium, and they never talked down about the Emperor, but their reforms, their policies, and their ways of life would covertly undermine the foundations of Imperial authority if allowed to spread. Inquisitor Lord Damnos had seen the threat, and was scarcely a decade away from launching a Crusade to expunge the Sector's heresies; he had only to obtain formal permission from the Conclave, and the Sector would be burned from existence and purged from history.

But no, those accursed Radicals had thwarted her Lord's efforts! That thrice-damned Recongregator Johannes Krieger had found the gall to suggest that some of the Apriori reforms could be useful to the Imperium! She knew that he had something to do with this assignment, and she was certain that he didn't want to know about the “unorthodoxies” to analyze them for heresy.

Still, the Emperor's will found a way, she told herself. Even if direct action was out of the question, she would still report to Lord Damnos, and if anyone could find a pretext for a Crusade, it was he. “Give me six sentences said by any man, and I will find a reason to purge him,” as he often said.

All she had to do was hold her sanity and her duty in the den of heresy.

The interminable transit from Nemesis Tessera to Aprior Regius finally ended, and she found herself impressed against her will as she saw the new construction from orbit. In the two decades since her departure, Regius had been covered in a web of metal and glass; as her shuttle approached the ground, she could see the individual transit pathways and buildings, arranged to follow the curvature of the ground. Terra had larger, more ostentatious buildings, but a very small part of her found a sort of beauty in the simple elegance of the Regian construction. Regius was also much cleaner, and seemed more pleasant to live in. She quashed those thoughts; indeed, as if the Emperor had willed it, the Thought for the Day had been “A fortress built on a foundation of heresy cannot stand.”

Her shuttle came to rest at the starport, and when she entered the terminal, she came face-to-face with the Arch-Heretic himself: Chapter Master Zakis Randi, in his dress uniform, with some other Knights Inductor, and differently-uniformed individuals whom she did not recognize. “Chapter Master,” she greeted, inclining her head to the minimally required angle.

Randi was, superficially, more pleasant: “Inquisitor Immam,” he extended his hand, “Welcome to Aprior. I look forward to working with you.”

Rightina snorted. “One of my cover identities was an agri-worlder; I got pretty good at recognizing grox dung.”

Randi sighed, and his expression settled. “Inquisitor, you're making this harder than it has to be. We're both fighting for humanity. We're on the same side!”

“You claim to be fighting for humanity, but you flout Imperial regulations at every turn! You permit unauthorized use of restricted technologies, you tolerate trade with xenos, and I haven't figured it all out yet, but you're doing something with heretics and daemons that doesn't involve cleansing and burning!”

“Maybe we're violating the letter of the law, but we're following the intention: to protect humanity.” Randi held up a hand to forestall her protests. “We will gladly address your concerns in full and in the open, now that we don't have to hide anything from each other. However, I must ask that you withhold your judgment until we have shown you everything, Inquisitor. The reasoning behind our actions may not be immediately obvious to you, but it will all become clear in the end.” He nodded to some Chapter staff, who trotted out to retrieve her luggage. “In the meantime, these staffers will escort you to your accommodations. Should you need anything, you have only to ask them.”

Rightina found her apartment to be decorated in the sparse, simple style common to most Apriori dwellings, although the wallpaper had been given a subtle =I= motif. Apriori Internal Security had seen fit to assign her an aide-de-camp, one Harald Olson, in the room across from hers. As he explained it, his job was to keep her out of trouble and “arrange” whatever she needed “arranged.”

Moving her belongings and settling in had taken most of the day, so in-depth investigation would have to wait. On the plus side, she had some idea of the heresies being perpetrated, so she could make more targeted inquiries than her previous visit. Even better, the Apriori were proud of many of their deviations, like their public education system. Why not pick the low-hanging fruit first? Sure enough, when she asked to be given a tour of a typical school, Harald readily agreed, scheduling one for the next day.

Finding herself unable to sleep or focus on writing that day's report, Rightina switched on her room's holo and browsed the available channels, and was surprised by the amount of Imperial media available, from “Arbitrator Foreboding” reruns to the latest Vocks Castor film. According to Harald, the Apriori were fascinated by all things Imperial, as it was all new to them after their long isolation. The domestic media were, unsurprisingly, outside of mainstream Imperial boundaries, especially in their coverage of what most worlds considered sensitive topics; no less than a half-dozen stations covered every event of the Apriori sector in excruciating detail, from embedded reporters with Imperial Guard companies to investigations of the activities of the planetary governments. Most disturbing was the matter-of-fact discussion of the enemies of Mankind; one station was airing a special on a Slaaneshi cult which had recently been broken up in a sting operation. Trembling with fury, Rightina listened and took notes as a Knight Inductor, one Lieutenant Marcus Rallen, described the nature of the daemonic threat:

“The name 'Slaanesh' literally translates to 'Prince of Pleasure,' but a more accurate name would be 'Prince of Excess.' His or her followers engage in activities steeped in decadence and sensation, and the more extreme, the better.”

The view cut back to the news anchor, as he interjected a question: “Statements from the arrested cultists refer to Slaanesh as a 'God of Chaos.' What does this mean, and is this sort of god related to the God-Emperor of Mankind?”

The blasphemy nearly made Rightina choke, but Rallen responded smoothly: “Slaanesh is more accurately described as an emergent phenomenon: the collective embodiment of every sentient being's hedonistic drives, as these emotions influence the Warp, as opposed to the God-Emperor, who is a single extremely powerful psychic individual. This sort of embodiment is drawn to and empowered by activities which tap its particular emotion, especially if they are ritualized, as was nearly the case with the recent attempted daemonic summoning. The 'Chaos' part is very accurate; if we were to act on our impulses at all times, civilized society could not exist.”

“So if I eat a sandwich, and enjoy it, does that attract or empower Slaanesh?”

“Not measurably so. Even sexual activity barely registers on the Warp. It is important to note that Slaanesh was only created as a result of the collective effort of the entire Eldar Empire, and Eldar are much more sensitive to stimulation than a human, and their Empire was much more wide-spread than our Imperium; one human won't make too much of a difference. However, this is not to say that Slaaneshi activity, or activity devoted to any Chaos god, is not a threat; the Eldar Empire and most of its inhabitants died when Slaanesh was born, and if these cults are not identified and destroyed, that fate awaits us.”

Sickened, Rightina could not listen any longer, and she switched off the holo. She forced herself to look at the bright side: once the Grey Knights heard about this breach of secrecy, they would not hesitate to put the sector to the torch.

This media also put a new sense of urgency on the upcoming school visit: if the average Apriori citizen had access to this sort of material, what were their children learning?

I'm working on more stuff (the next chapter in RotRMs, where Rightina confronts Rallen, and some PSAs in the style of Rallen's discussion), but that's all for now.

So! You like? You mad? I'd like to hear it, especially if it's something I can do better.

Also, do you think I should update the Reasonable Marines' 1d4chan article (or possibly spin off a couple of new articles, especially for RotRMs) with this stuff?

>>14715590
I like!
And I think an update would be fine.
I'll chew on what's here a little more, and then try to summon up some more precise feedback.

And PSA's sound excellent as an opportunity to do viginettes of a humorous variety.
Particularly a "Know Your Eldar" PSA. Or "The Greater Good: Dissecting and Debunking the claims of the Tau."

>here's the first PSA

The so-called Gods of Chaos are more accurately described as emergent phenomena: the collective embodiment of every sentient being's instinctive drives, as these emotions influence the Warp, as opposed to the God-Emperor, who is a single extremely powerful psychic individual. This sort of embodiment is drawn to and empowered by activities which tap its particular emotion, especially if they are ritualized. The 'Chaos' part is very accurate; if we were to act on our impulses at all times, civilized society could not exist.

Slaanesh's name literally translates to 'Prince of Pleasure,' but a more accurate name would be 'Prince of Excess.' His or her followers engage in activities steeped in decadence and sensation, and the more extreme, the better. Slaaneshi cults sometimes masquerade as clubs or amusement centers.

Khorne, the Blood God, is the most obvious of the Chaos Gods; he feeds on hatred and battle-lust, and he demands blood, and lots of it, whether it comes from his worshipers or their enemies. The reasons to reject him should be obvious. However, we must be watchful of our own actions; our hatred and wars serve as well as those of any self-proclaimed cultist. It is said that Khorne does not care whose blood flows; only that it does.

Tzeentch is called 'The Changer of Ways' for his focus on ambition and change, but his domain also includes hope, magic, and knowledge. As with all things, these are good in moderation, but constant change and mutation do more harm than good. The known plans of his followers are convoluted but nearly airtight, and we can only assume that the unknown plans of Tzeentch himself are even more so, but for all of their knowledge, it seems that the ambition of Teentchian cultists and daemons means that their plans generally interfere with each other and lead to their collective downfall.

Nurgle is fueled by despair, and his domain includes disease and decay. His followers refer to him as 'Grandfather,' as he is apparently loving and welcoming to all, although his idea of 'gifts' is rather morbid.

Technically, any emotion can fuel one or more of the Gods of Chaos, but in practice, the effect is immeasurably small. For example, Slaanesh was only created as a result of the collective effort of the entire Eldar Empire, at a time when their Empire was more populated and far more active in hedonistic pursuits than our Imperium. Furthermore, Chaos is not a unified front; Khorne and Slaanesh are enemies, as are Nurgle and Tzeentch, and some minor gods, such as Malice, are enemies to all four. There are even rivalries and divisions among worshipers of the same god, whether they disagree over how best to serve their gods or they are just too ambitious to work together. This is not to say that Chaos activity is not a threat; the Eldar Empire and most of its inhabitants died when Slaanesh was born, and if Chaos cults are not identified and destroyed, that fate awaits us.

The Apriori Armed Forces and Security Services are actively engaged in destroying cults and undoing their work; such a task is risky at best, and extremely dangerous to individuals without proper training. However, there are some ways that every citizen can help. The easiest is to live life in moderation and balance, to help avoid empowering the gods. The other way to help is to be on the lookout for cults; in general, if members of the cult are unwilling to describe their rituals to outsiders, or are expected to cut all ties from society, or return to society with drastic personality changes, you should be suspicious and report them to Internal Security; we will investigate, and determine if they are a threat. However, bear in mind that not all members are wholly responsible for what their cult does; Chaos is known to have mind-altering effects, especially when daemons are involved. With counseling, support from friends and family, and faith in the God-Emperor, recovery is possible.

We have very little hard information on the Necrons. What is known is that they are millions, and possibly billions of years old; consequently, their technology is far in advance of ours, or of any other power in the galaxy. They do not appear to communicate as we do, but it is clear from their actions that they are enemies of all life, and especially life-forms linked to the Warp. The reasons for this are unknown, but the Eldar have legends of a war between themselves and beings whose descriptions closely match the Necrons, and it is said that the Warp was the Eldar's greatest weapon against them. This suggests that the Necrons are attempting to scour the universe of all emotive life, in order to starve the Warp of its power.

In general, the best way to deal with Necrons is to avoid waking them up in the first place. If you discover ancient ruins, especially if they are built of strange, almost living metals or advanced technologies, do not disturb them. Instead, report them to Apriori Internal Security, and we can send a team to investigate. Be aware that, if the tomb turns out to be of Necron origin and we are unable to stasis-lock it, we will have no choice but to evacuate the world and destroy the tomb with orbital weaponry, because if the Necrons within are allowed to awaken, they can wreak havoc on whole star systems before they are stopped. For one thing, it seems that the only way that more Necrons can be created is by converting humans with a genetic predisposition which is not too rare in this region of space; a populated world can provide hundreds of potential new Necrons. One Necron is hard enough to deal with; we cannot risk the creation of hundreds, and we especially cannot risk the awakening of thousands.

>that's what I've got for now. Thoughts?

>>14716204
Mmm, just thought of an edit I sould make. "One Necron is *troublesome enough," not "One Necron is hard enough to deal with."

Sooooo much Heresy!

(in Alucards voice) Im interested in this.

Oy! These reason-a-able blokez don't gotz no orky a lies?

>>14716509

Dun sweat it; Oiz workin on sum Reeznabul Orks.

>>14716567
Great job NLP, just reread it and like it even more

>How's this for Reasonable Orks?

Kaptin Feegul was once a Blood Axes Stormboy with Waaagh! Botnik, and seemed to be on track for becoming a fine Kommando. Or, he would have been, if his heart were in it; he felt that something was missing from his life, that something was lacking about fighting the humies, but he never could figure it out, until he and his squad found themselves overlooking a small Imperial town and a Tyranid swarm. The town's militia was pitifully small, and would certainly have been overrun, but Feegul somehow knew that he had to help, and so he and his Stormboyz blasted right into the middle of the swarm. They slew every Tyranid they could get their hands on, and distracted the swarm long enough for the Planetary Defense Force to arrive; together, the Stormboyz and the PDF routed the swarm, and then found themselves at a loss for what to do. Feegul couldn't bring himself to harm the humies he had just been protecting; he felt content with what he had done. He led his Stormboyz away, and pondered what he had seen and done, to try and figure out why he felt that way. He had seen even smaller humies in the town, and the not-so-small humies had defended them with their lives. Presumably, the not-so-small humies were protecting the tiny humies until they got bigger, and he suddenly realized that he had just been playing the same role: protecting the small humies from the big nasties. Finally, he had found his calling!

>cont

Not fighting something didn't sit well with his Stormboyz, but Feegul won them over with Orky logic: by protecting humies now, they got to fight the big nasties who wanted the humies dead, and then they would fight the humies later, when they were really big and armored. Of course, he wasn't quite right about the human life cycle; humans don't grow in the same way that Orks do, so he never did find humies big enough to fight, but he never tired of standing between the small humies and the big nasties. He even managed to attract a following of like-minded Stormboyz and Kommandoz; since they operated under cover of darkness and stealth, they weren't a Waaagh! so much as a Shhh!, so that's what they called themselves. They needed to be stealthy, because most humies were scared of Orks, and most Orks would try and kill the Shhh! for being un-Orky, but then they discovered the Aprior Sector, under siege from the Tyranids. The Knights Inductor were glad to have help, finding a sort of familiarity with the Orks; when the Tyranids were defeated, Feegul knew that he had finally found a place for his Orks to settle down -- for a while, at least. Sooner or later, he and his Orks will get restless, and go on a Shhh! through the galaxy again, but he is content to stay for the time being.

>thoughts?

>>14717385
epic.

>bumping with more content

It is early in the morning on a world on the edge of a galaxy, orbiting a dying star. Elliot, a scientist and engineer, labors in his workshop in an abandoned mine, compiling the memoirs of a species that has signed its own death warrant.

He is one of the last two Necrontyr.

As his consciousness synchronizes with his computer, he reflects on the events leading him here. The entire psyche of the Necrontyr had been dour, bitter, and enraged at the cursed existence that their sun had inflicted upon them; first contact with the immortal Old Ones had driven them into a jealous fury that rocked the entire universe.

The ease with which they were beaten enraged them still more.

He recalls his puzzlement at the anomalous emissions of the star of his homeworld-in-exile; his joy at realizing that there was intelligence behind them, then the wonder of first contact; awe and fear of the power of these beings, these C'tan, the star-gods, turning to respect, adulation, genuflection. The C'tan held promise, a rare spark of hope for a doomed species: we can give you immortality and dominion over the universe: we can help you not merely defeat, but annihilate the Old Ones.

All that we require is your obedience. Your lives. Your souls.

It had been an easy choice for some, and soon, those Necrontyr were seen walking around in shells of necrodermis. The new “Necrons” were tall, unbowed, strong, and healthy – not the cancer-ridden dying wretches that they had once been. Soon, more were clamoring for the chance to go into the soul-forges and be reborn.

>fff, computer, 4chan, whatever is the problem

Elliot and Alice were not among those. They had always had their doubts, but had done nothing; after all, they had reasoned, it was an individual's decision. If others wanted to be “upgraded,” as they called it, what business was it of ours?

But soon, the supply of willing beneficiaries -- willing victims -- dried up, and the advertisements became suggestions, and suggestions became exhortations, and then -- enforcement!

And Elliot and Alice looked around, and saw what had become of their society: an army of soulless, mindless puppets. Their wariness became terror, and soon a desperate flight across the universe ensued, the last Necrontyr fleeing from their lobotomized brethren.

And now, Elliot is desperately struggling in his laboratory to write a history, a warning, a manual, something for the future. Even if the Necrons triumphed, the galaxy would run out of life, the soul-forges would shut down, and the C'tan would have to sleep. And while they did, maybe life would return, and find this warning.

But now the Necrons are coming; the Deceiver has discovered them and is closing in for the kill. Alice has gone to the choke-point leading to the secluded laboratory to hold off the invaders; a futile last stand, but she buys enough time for the upload to finish. With a triumphant shout, he pushes the button to send his work down the deepest shaft in the mine complex, hopefully beyond the invading Necrons' reach, and he goes to aid his wife with his trusty Gauss flayer. The choke-point is quiet; the Necrons are regrouping for another attack.

But it seems that they have scored a hit: Alice is leaning against the hastily-constructed barricade, breathing heavily.

“Alice! You're hurt!” Elliot rushes to her side, only to feel his concern turn to terror as she suddenly straightens and pivots, punching him in the face with the butt of her flayer! Flying backwards, Elliot's vision swims as he hits his head on the ground; he looks up she steps into the light, and he is horrified by what he sees: nanomachines -- nanomachines which he had helped to develop! -- are converting her body into necrodermis, but her dull, lifeless gaze tells him that her mind is already gone. His horror turns to burning hatred. “You...you monster! You've killed her! You've killed Alice!”

Mocking laughter answers him, as a golden-skinned god slowly floats down the corridor, backlit by the sunrise behind him. “No, Elliot, quite the opposite! I have given her the gift of eternal life; a gift which you have so foolishly spurned.”

Elliot pulls himself to his feet, his face twisted with rage. “Eternal existence, you mean; existence without life, without purpose! A soulless machine like the others!”

“Well, if we take the old maxim that the fittest survive, it looks like you're on the losing end. There are two hundred and forty-four billion of us, and two -- now one -- of you.”

Elliot grins fiercely. “That's what you think, Deceiver -- your fates are sealed. You can't win!”

The Deceiver smirks, and Elliot's face falls. “You mean that record you've finished? I am called a star god for a reason. I don't have to find the record -- it will be incinerated in the coming supernova!” He laughs again. “I had planned to make you a Warrior, too, but I think I like this better -- your last moments spent holding what's left of your wife in your arms, knowing that your work was for nothing!” The Deceiver waves a teasing farewell, and then phases out, the morning star growing bigger by the second.

Elliot is the last Necrontyr in existence.

And then there were none.

>that's all for this one-shot, folks! The story of Elliot.
>Comments? Suggestions? Rage?

No real comment on that latest Necrontyr background.

But I have to chime in and say that imho, a demonic ally for a loyalist chapter is pants-on-head retarded.

>>14719492
I don't know. They DO venerate the rotting corpse of the hugest unsanctioned psyker in the galaxy. Hell, they sacrifice humans to it daily, and use the fire of their burning souls as a lighthouse. Cavorting with demons is not var off.

>>14719530
Yea...then we have the issue about daemons having it difficult at actually staying in the natural plane for longer streches of time...to my understanding

In my opinion, most of the fluff in this thread sets my Special Snowlfake alarm-bells ringing, but.. I don't know. I like it anyway. I find the Ardi to be somewhat daft, and Elliot.... also somewhat silly.

But despite all that, I actually rather like it. This is classic 40k silliness, just in a different direction.

>>14719593
Especially around blanks.

>>14719492
>>14719593
>>14719819
Well, I suppose there is possession, but Ardi woudn't go for that.

Unless it's possible to use a brain-dead or otherwise "unoccupied" body? Or a Chaos Gynoid, as it were? And yes, she and the Silencers are careful to avoid each other as much as possible (although the KI's Techmarines are working on a device analogous to the Animus Speculum to help their Silencers hold down their null-auras when they don't need them, to avoid the disturbing feeling you get around them).

>>14719754
I know the feeling. Part of the angle I'm working on for later chapters in Return of the Reasonable Marines (or maybe a standalone fic) is to show that they are seriously playing with fire; the line between Reasonable and Overly Merciful is very thin, and while they've gotten better with experience, they've made some decisions which have/will come back to bite them really hard. At the moment, I'm leaning towards using Eldar or Dark Eldar for this -- their interests are not necessarily opposed to humanity's, but relying on them to hold to any sort of bargain is a very big risk.

I love these guys.
I have a guard army based off of a similar concept where they had been separated from the Imperium by warp storms for a millenia.
Unfortunately the reunion with the Imperium wasn't too rosy-the whole subsector was plunged into full scale war and mercilessly put to the sword.
Only a few dozen ships and a ragtag warfleet escaped the destruction and are currently lying low, looking for another safe haven to call home.

>>14719912
That would be a pretty good story to hear.
Also is their chapter symbol based off of the Minotaurs'? I see a lot of similarities

>>14720035
If they're loyal to the Imperium, they are welcome in the Aprior Sector.

>>14720327

It will be a while before I get that story written, but there will be action! Betrayal! Soul-searching in the aftermath of disaster!

The symbol is based on pic related. (from http://eiichiro.deviantart.com/art/Relax-98535772)

Harald grinned at Inquisitor Rightina as they boarded a train bound for Orion Public School. “You're in luck, Inquisitor! It's recruiting season for government services, and they're all giving presentations today.” Harald indicated several uniformed men and women at the end of the car. “Health Service, Utility Maintenance, Knights Inductor, Imperial Guard, you name it, they're looking for new recruits.”

“In the schools?”

“Where else? Of course, you can sit in at the presentations and hear what they have to say, but that's nothing out of the ordinary; if you'd like to talk to them in person and ask questions, now's the time.”

Rightina looked over the various government workers, but the massive Marine seemed familiar. Rightina wracked her brain, trying to fit the face, when she suddenly recognized him. “Marcus Rallen!” Rightina called. The Space Marine looked up at her, confused. “You were on the holonet last night, talking about daemons!”

“So I was. What did you think?”

“I think you were being extremely irresponsible! There is a reason that information about the Chaos Gods is kept highly classified by Imperial authorities!”

Taken aback, Rallen blinked, and answered “Forewarned is forearmed, Inquisitor. Think of it this way: when the entire world is informed of the threat, people will recognize cults and inform authorities before they become a serious problem. We have effectively given ourselves an entire planet of informants.”

“And what about those who would not have heard of Chaos, if not for you?”

“We have found cults who didn't know the name of the god they served, but served all the same. People don't need to know the words to have the emotions. You can think of our activities as a mental vaccination: present a sanitized, objective look at Chaos, and the horrible side effects, and people will choose to avoid it and report it going forward, where an uninformed person might be taken in by the weird new club that just opened, and not realize what he has done until it is too late.” Rallen saw that Rightina seemed unconvinced, and decided to try a different tack. “Here's another way to look at our public-information program: information is very hard to contain, and the harder you work to hide some nugget of knowledge, the more valuable and enticing it becomes, and you get no control over what leaks out, or how it spreads, or when or where the leak occurs. By relaying the information ourselves, we get to control all of those things.”

Rightina seemed to accept this justification. “Tell them enough to keep them away, but not so much as to be a danger.”

“Right! They don't need to know how to summon daemonettes, so we don't tell them how, but it is handy to know how to recognize daemonettes in disguise, and who to contact for assistance.” Rallen noticed some conflict on Rightina's features. “So, does that point go under the 'Loyal' column now?” he joked.

“You're not off the hook!” Rightina snapped. “You are still under investigation by the Inquisition! And in any case, while your methods may have merit and, apparently, work here, there are problems with implementing them throughout the Imperium.” Rightina counted on her fingers as she elaborated. “Most worlds don't have a Space Marine Chapter watching over them, most worlds don't have the communication and transit networks that yours have, and most worlds don't have an educated, well-off populace like yours. Imagine you're a poor hive-worlder, and you hear about these 'Chaos Gods.' Information is scarce and unreliable, but it sounds like they're powerful, and maybe bad stuff happens to you in the long run, but the short-term perks are worlds better than what you've got. Doesn't worshiping them sound like a good deal?” Rallen was forced to concede. “And, what happens when your traders start to interact with the Imperium? Are they going to leak information wherever they go?”

“We will tell them to use discretion,” Rallen promised.

Rightina decided that she would discuss the matter more thoroughly with Chapter Master Randi that evening.

The train's speaker chimed and announced that they had arrived at Orion Public school, and the visiting government officials disembarked into the school's main hall and headed for the auditorium. Rallen's imposing figure quickly became the center of attention, and the children pointed and stared, while trying to look like they weren't pointing and staring. Rightina was reminded of her own profession.

One bold girl, no older than eight and no taller than Rallen's knee, ran up to the massive Space Marine. “Wow! You're huge! Are you a Space Marine?” she asked. He had hardly begun to nod when she continued, “I wanna be a Space Marine like you when I grow up!”

Rallen, torn between admiration for the girl's enthusiasm, and his understanding of the impossibility of her request, managed to pacify her with a “we'll see,” and an admonishment to study hard in the meantime, sending her on her way to class. When he turned to the Inquisitor, he saw that her face had turned a peculiar shade of red.

“You don't actually turn women into Space Marines, do you?” she hissed. “I wouldn't put it past you!”

Rallen assured her that adapting Space Marine implants to women was and, for the foreseeable future, would be beyond the Knights' ability.

The government officials had to prepare their presentations, which left Rightina alone with Harald. “Any classes you would like to see?” Harald asked.

“I was told at the Inquisitorial hearing that your schools include classes on civil defense and a focus on service to the Imperium. May I see one of those?”

Harald nodded, and took her outside. “We fold civil defense into PE, keeping everybody in shape to be ready for disasters, and all that; the service part gets emphasized in civics, where people learn about how things work, and then have to pick a public service, volunteer for it, and write up a report and give a presentation on that at the end of the year. Gives them a head start on the job market, see? It's kind of funny; everybody goes in wanting to work for the Knights or the Guard or what have you, but I always liked the Public Utility Maintenance presentations the most. It's a good job, fixing things up, you know?” Harald kept up his chatter all the way to the scrumball field, where a few dozen students were engaged in a sort of race. As Harald explained, each team had a scene with several “victims” afflicted with various injuries. If a team was able to successfully demonstrate the proper treatment for a victim's ailments, that victim would be stabilized and earn the team points based on how quickly the victim was saved and the severity of their injuries. On the other hand, if they took too long or made too many mistakes, the victim would “die.” In order to earn as many points as possible, the teams had to judge the victims' injuries, establish a triage, and work as a team to get everyone treated. The winning team managed to save every “victim” at their station with a few minutes to spare, operating with a speed that rivaled many Imperial Guard medic teams Rightina had seen. Maybe the Apriori are right on this count, Rightina mused.

After the class ended, Rightina decided against seeing the government officials' presentations; she would learn more by investigating Imperius, the capital city of Regius and the entire Apriori Sector.

>The students' competition is based on similar drills in which I participated when I was a Boy Scout.

>Coming Soon: Chapter Four: Inquisitor Rightina Goes to Imperius, in which she encounters protesters, xeno engineers, and reformed heretics!

>That's all for tonight, folks; it's late, and my writing suffers when I'm tired (I'm actually feeling a little iffy about this chapter), so I'll stop here, and let you all comment. You like? You mad? I want to hear it!

I like it. Its a nice contrast to the grimderp. And the galaxy is so big its believable that something like this could exist in its own little niche.

>>14721955

MoAR FOR THE LOVE OF THE EMPEROR MOOOOOOORRREEEEEEEEEEEE

also my guardsmen are actually very reasonable also.../tg/ needs to come together and do a massive reasonable marines and friends vs unwilling and unreasoning people

well so far we have:

reasonable marines
Reasonable orks
somewhat reasoning tyranids
a few reasonable people from other races
and two (three?) guard units that have been to reasonable for mainstream Imperium

well so far we have:

reasonable marines
Reasonable orks
somewhat reasoning tyranids
a few reasonable people from other races
and two (three?) guard units that have been to reasonable for mainstream Imperium

>emotions fooms

yes captcha emotions would foom

I like the chapter, but being strong as Pariahs, a necrontyr scientist and a friendly daemonette is just too much to believe. Even with the wackiness of 40k. That stuff just smacks of mary-sue style "specialness."

>>14722445
Er, the point about being *almost* as strong as Pariahs (I should clarify that as being *physical* strength -- only the Silencers are Nulls/Blanks) is backed up by the tabletop.

Tactical Marine: WS4 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I4 A1 Ld8 Sv3+
Necron Pariah: WS4 BS4 S5 T5 W1 I3 A1 Ld10 Sv3+

>>14725397

PROTIP: Strength in 40K scales geometrically. Something with 4 strength, a SPace Marine, is four or five times stronger than something with 3 strength, a Guardsman. Likewise for everything all the way up the progression.

WS/BS isn't that huge, but the 'physical' stats are a big deal.

>>14722445
Otherwise, I see what you're getting at; as I've mentioned before, the Knights Inductor aren't going to get everything their way.

The fact is, if you're going to play nice in the grimdark future, you had better be (a) certain that the people you're treating nicely will respond in kind, and (b) ready to respond very quickly if they don't, and while the Knights Inductor have gotten better about judging these things, they've had some big blunders in the past involving the Eldar and/or Dark Eldar.

Maybe the Tau, too -- if, at first contact, they thought the Tau were talking about "The Greater Good" unironically, they would be in for a nasty surprise later...

>heh, "unironically" -- maybe I should use the word "directly" or "non-euphemistically"
>We serve the Greater Good
>hipstertau.jpg
>But only ironically

>>14725436
Blast and botheration. Alright, I'll cut the line about comparisons to Pariahs.