>>60859322

The last thread died too soon. Hope this one wouldn't be the case.

Bump for incoming writefaggotry

File: My Shadowrun is maximum.jpg (165 KB, 1095x730)

165 KB JPG

The Rogue Trader’s War

The Surat Incident, more popularly known as the Rogue Trader’s War, began when Leopold van Cortez, head of the van Cortez Rogue Trader dynasty “rediscovered” the Surat Subsector and claimed it as his own. The Surat Subsector was an area of the Segmentum Tempestus that was originally colonized by the Imperium in early M32, mostly consisting of typical human colonies but also several native species of Xenos Independens and even one of the first colony worlds of felinids outside of Carlos McConnell. However, the whole subsector was deemed lost when a Warp storm blew over the area and made navigation there untenable. The storm dissipated in M37, and Van Cortez was simply the first “modern” Imperial with a working starship to journey to and make a claim on the sector. However, he found that the Surat Subsector was not as uninhabited as the Imperium had thought, with most planets having reverting to Feral Worlds populated by the regressed descendants of the original colonists who had little if any knowledge of the Imperium.

Rogue Traders claiming far-flung planets as their own personal fiefdoms was nothing new in Imperial history. In some cases, the planet profitted with the Rogue Trader dynasty, growing with them as a bureaucratic and administrative hub to the point that their standing in the business world rivalled the megacorps of Kiavahr. In other cases, the planets were kept in the muck and exploited for all they are worth as a colonial market and source of cheap labor. The central Imperial government is not happy about this type of arrangement but is often unable to do anything about it, partly because the affairs of a single backwater planet are typically not important enough to reach the ears of high-ranking members of the Administratum and partly even if they do hear about it finding said planet is a difficult feat in and of itself.

File: I think you know where th(...).jpg (109 KB, 800x450)

109 KB JPG

>>60860794
A single planet acting as an extralegal hideaway off the official stellar charts tends to be rather hard to find, even if you know what you are looking for.

Exactly how a Rogue Trader dynasty made use of particular planets depended on the dynasty in question. The von Cortez Dynasty made their fortune as planet speculators, finding uninhabited planets of value and then auctioning their coordinates off to an interested buyer for a significant finder’s fee. The Adeptus Mechanicus were always interested in a new location for a Forge World, the Administratum is always interested in potential new Agri-Worlds or land to sell off to Guard regiments that had completed their tour of duty, member states are always looking for uninhabited worlds on their border. The von Cortez dynasty acted as middlemen for these various powers and got filthy rich doing it. However, under Imperial law one couldn’t simply sell a planet if it already had humans, eldar, or Xenos Independens living on it. It would simply be…easier if those people were to simply disappear. The decisions of what to do with these kinds of planets should not be made by people with the kind of money to buy high-end military grade weaponry, the kind that the more cynical sort often call “budget Exterminatuses”.

Leopold’s grand plan backfired enormously when several of the Xenos Independens and human colonies, specifically those with enough a tech base to achieve space flight and Warp travel, survived the initial bombardment. Deciding to unite against a common foe, they retaliated against the Imperium by striking at major population centers, beginning what became known as the Rogue Trader’s War.

File: Never deal with a dragon.jpg (117 KB, 987x180)

117 KB JPG

>>60860809
Two Imperial guard regiments, six Howling Banshees and a brief visit by a company of Astartes later, the war ended with the near-complete eradication of the Surat Subsector’s native population. Having already been attacked without provocation, the inhabitants of the Surat Subsector refused to believe any offer of peace by the Imperium and in the end even turned to the Ruinous Powers for support, leading to their annihilation.

Unfortunately, while the Imperial military was very good at wiping out life on a planet, it was somewhat less good at figuring out what to do with them next. The Administratum, who usually handled such matters, were too far away to easily figure out what to do with the worlds of such a backwater region as the Surat Subsector, requiring some sort of planet broker in order to make things move along efficiently. On top of that, the Rogue Trader’s War left the Surat Subsector nice and uninhabited, just as Leopold had wanted it in the first place. It seemed as though Leopold would profit, at the Imperium’s expense no less.

Seven months after the end of the Rogue Trader’s War, Leopold was found dead at the hands of an Eversor assassin. The von Cortez family’s Writ of Trade was revoked and their assets were liquidated and distributed to the survivors and veterans of the Surat Subsector Incident. The surviving members of the family were left with almost nothing to their name but what they had with them, the notice informing them of such encouraging to find a “more ethical” line of work. Sure, one of the junior family members could come forward and name themselves as the heir to the von Cortez dynasty’s assets, but it would require making their identity publicly known as Leopold’s heir. And there were still a lot of people with scores to settle over what happened in Surat.

>>60860828
The point of this story is to show three things.

1. Even though they try to be more moral in this timeline, the Imperium are not "nice". Even though they don’t like to commit genocide every chance they get as in canon, that doesn’t mean they’ll pull their punches if they feel their survival is threatened.
2. Similarly, the central Imperial government is not “nice”. They prefer to live and let live, but if you do something as stupid as provoke an unnecessary war costing millions of lives and resulting in the genocide of multiple human populations (using the Imperium’s tithe money, no less), you WILL be noticed and you WILL be made an example of.
3. To illustrate another potentially darker aspect of nobledark. “Noble” means people are generally good, and the actions of a single person can have much broader effects. However, this can also be interpreted to mean that that the actions of one bad individual can still screw up massively and fuck things up for all of the nicer people who just want to be left to live their lives (a.k.a., the “Fuck Erebus” principle).

File: 1530292230870.jpg (55 KB, 1080x508)

55 KB JPG

>>60860828
It's good and ultimately shows a win for the "bad guys" and that the galaxy isn't all sunshine and flowers. I'm reminded somewhat of the way logging and mining companies deal with natives in Brazil for much the same reason.

So we still doing Stern and Hand?

What other 'crons could ther there be something done with and what could be done with them?

>>60860828
That is some good shit. Especially the use of the Eversor. For when the Imperium doesn't give a shit about discretion and wants it to be known that you absolutely did fall from grace.

In The Civil War did The Steward ever take to the field of battle in person?

>>60859322
What is the size of the official Cthonian expedition basecamp?

File: 1493312491705.jpg (252 KB, 1316x974)

252 KB JPG

bamp

>>60865509
As many as you want. No, seriously. There could be an entire Hive City worth of people there trying to figure out it's secrets and they could be in groups of ten thousand strong and never even know about the other teams.

>>60864416
Not very much. Most of the impetus behind the fighting in the civil war was there was no Steward to help sort things out. You have the pro-Thor side saying "we're doing what's right, as the Steward wanted", while the Vandire side said "we are also doing what's right, following the rightly crowned emperor, as the Steward wanted". Both sides would have claimed him as a point of legitimacy and it wasn't until he showed up going "Vandire what are you doing" that people would have had any other indication he thought otherwise. It's also why groups like the Grey Knights probably stayed out of it when they could.

There was a brief period where the Steward steamrolled his way to Old Earth in a fit of rage when he found out. Vulkan saw him in full armor and Warlord mode at this time. A lot of people stood down but some had drinken so much Vandire kool-aid they tried to fire on the Steward.

In terms of the main rebellion, though, Steward only showed up in time to break the stalemate in the Sol System (which to be fair the rebellion had no chance of doing otherwise) but not fast enough to take back the Imperial Palace himself.

He must not have taken the Webway, likely due to fighting among the Craftworlds making it potentially dangerous to do so. Especially if he couldn't trust whoever was manning the other end. Artillery cares little for authority.

It's kind of sad, really. Vandire was the Steward's attempt to take Imperial power out of the hands of gods and golden men and put it back in those of ordinary people. And it failed.

>>60863213
So far we only have stuff for Xun'bakyr, Trazyn, Zahndrekh/Obyron, Orikan, Szeras (but not much), Imotekh, Zu'se, Gahet, and Anrakyr. And that idea for that "silver man's burden" Necron lord with the cults. And possibly turning Raksan into Space Khalida.

We need a lot more Silent King Necrons.

File: ringworld-2.jpg (202 KB, 1024x1129)

202 KB JPG

>>60865509
Notable planets page has it at several billion, in what seem to be a no bigger than continent sized occupied area.

>>60868748
It might be really interesting to build up the Vandire character more than we have. The way we've alluded to him this version spent a good long time as one of the Imperium's finest assets and highest paragons, both prior to ascending to the throne and after, before falling into madness. There's a lot we can do with him and the era around his rule, seeing as it was meant to be the next stage of the Imperium before it became an abortive catastrophe.

At very least Oscar will have some thoughts about the time put one of his very best men, possibly even a true friend, in a position that drove him to madness and despotism and nearly destroyed the Imperium.

>>60869234
You wouldn't be able to see the curve of the Ring if you were on.the ground. It's too big

>>60868835
>We need a lot more Silent King Necrons
The historical motif of imperial Britain fits with the existing Egyptian motif in a really interesting way. Also cool to consider the way the control protocols make Necron soldiers switch from polite and well behaved infantrymen when off duty to an implacable, single minded phalanx of death as soon as orders are received.

>>60868835
Which one has Silver Mans Burden?

>>60869391
I think we said he was an Administratum adept and pretty well liked, at least enough so that the Steward thought putting him on the throne wouldn't piss anybody off or he wouldn't do something like annex the Maiden Worlds or embargo Ultramar.

That may have been a factor in why people followed him. News travels slow and he didn't become Space Stalin overnight. People might have told others who were not in the know of what Vandire had done and went "Vandire? That guy? You mean the nice, terminally friendly pencil pusher? Yeah, no way, you're full of it, lay off the amasec."

What were Vandire's policies during the Age of Apostasy after he went nuts? We know he put up spy networks everywhere because he was paranoid, thought everyone was more loyal to the Steward than him (self fulfilling prophecy there), recruited a LOT of partisans, and did a few crazy Caligula declaring war on the ocean level stuff, but what kind of stuff did he do to make worlds want to follow/not follow him?

>>60871403
We don't have a name for him yet. To be honest there's probly some canon character that fits the bill.

He's the one setting up cults saying the rapture is coming and the only way to survive is to become all machine. Mostly because he knows what the Silent King is planning and wants to save as many primitives as possible through biotransference. Szarekh allows this because it gives him a free trickle of subjects for biotransference experiments.

>>60871461
He would have been followed unquestionably by Krieg. Even before they nuked themselves into total madness they were always a bit odd and they were loyal to the throne, not the particular arse sitting on it. They would have fought Oscar in the name of the throne to the last man and the last round right up until Steward Oscar became Emperor Oscar. The moment he did they became totally obedient to him.

>>60873398
Ultramar and the Interex might have supported him, both being so far out they might not have known the full details of what was going on. Also depending on where they fall on the "law and order" versus "morality" spectrum.

Nostramo would have unquestionably followed him. Not only because it's the law but also because by this point they were depending on Imperial support for their infrastructure. They weren't going to shoot their economy in the foot.

Bump

>>60867656
Cthonia is a lot like Mars, isolated safe zones on top of untold catacombs of archaeotech. The rusty red, incredibly hostile surface of Mars is actually the safest part. There's a reason the AdMech dick around up there than use underground passageways. The same is true of Cthonia. You could spend years going through it and not even make a dent, and that's assuming it doesn't kill you. There might be some conspiracy sects of AdMech who believe a complete STC might be found in Mars or Cthonia. I mean, it's more likely than a functioning Man of Gold and look what happened.

Theoretically one could do the same thing with eldar mega-scale projects, the primary difference being the eldar equivalent is Commorragh and it still has people living in it.

>>60875655
He could curry favor with the survivor Civs with even greater degrees of local power for them and allowing them to exploit administrated worlds.

This would likewise set the administrated worlds against him, but they're ultimately at the mercy of the administratum

>>60880258
Which adds weight to the possibility that Malcador had been told where to scavenge when he found Oscar. The Hydra might not have know exactly what was there but they knew it was something big.

>>60880258
makes me want to read a story of Malcador's adventures there, and I suppose the trip there and back as well

>>60881502
There are the diary entries of his journey back.

>>60875655
Praetoria is implied to have gone through a civil war of it's own at this point. After they tried carving out an empire of their own and annoying a lot of people with shady business practices their monarchy was discontinued and they were put under Administratum governance. It was mentioned that they got it back a few thousand years later. This would put the restoration of the monarchy at about the Civil War time.

So what it looks like is that the Administratum appointed governor sided with Vandire and enough of the population was opposed enough to this allegiance to have a popular uprising. To legitimize the movement the leader marches into the historical museum, boots the door off the old regalia case, grabs the nearest ordained promethean preacher and tells him to coronate him.

They surrendered their monarchy to the administratum because they had fallen from grace for the sin of avarice and the Imperial government more legitimate. But at that point the Imperial Government had lost it's legitimacy.

They won their civil war and briefly broke away from the Imperium. They re-joined the Imperium afterwards willingly, with the right to greater self rule as a reward for joining the right side.

>>60880258
The record of him being on The Ring would bea frantic grabfest, trying to loot as much shit as possible without setting off traps

>>60881486
By all probability it would have been second-hand information passed on from the Cabal.

Hydra was an Old Earth society that arose in the Age of Strife. Interplanetary travel wasn't common at that point let alone interstellar. Cabal on the other hand had been interstellar Chaos beaters for time beyond mind. Gahet may have known that The Ring had a very secure bunker left, immune to thievery by the most terrible of automated defences and therefore probably still with it's contents intact.

He may also have gotten hold of the access codes by simple virtue of having been around at the time it was operational pretending to be an older non-networked Man of Iron. It was staffed by presumably the best and the brightest of the GaBHD but you don't expect men like that to do the cleaning, that was what he was doing there.

He knew they were trawling the Deep Warp. He was there to find out why. His reaction at the time was "they're putting souls in robots. Cool. Maybe they can give me one".

>>60884714
That would be a hell of a thing- a Necron being responsible for the Imperium. Wonder what would've happened if Oscar was never found.

Anyone still here interested in how the vidyas might have went, especially with the new fluff? I'll be home from work for the next day or two (assuming an emergency doesn't come up), and I'm thinking of doing a bite of a more in-depth writeup on how those went.

>>60884934
Ursh would have taken over Old Earth and eventually turned in on itself. When The Great Khan discovered Chogoris it was uninhabited because the world had been ruled by mostly unopposed Chaos and as is the nature of such things it was not sustainable and the human population did not survive. Old Earth would have eventually been similarly emptied but would also have probably been rendered uninhabitable.

The specialists in The Cabal could have been looking at Old Earth, as they had human agents to whom he place may have held some significance and it was once the second most influential world in the GaBHD by the finish. They would have seen the spread of Chaos. They would have estimated that the tipping point would occur in the next 50 - 100 years when Ursh took Uralia (massive manufacturing capability) and Clan Terrawatt (technomancers and theologitechs and their works). Once that happens it's game over for Earth. Best case scenario after that is that it eventually dies quietly and doesn't drag Luna and Mars with it. Ultramar becomes humanities only real hope for eventual full recovery after that. Inwit and Interex maybe but are smaller and weaker.

Gahet thinks that maybe there is something useful left in the old facility he spent a few years as a glorified Roomba in. He wasn't hoping there was a Man of Gold. The chances of that were extremely low and there would be no grantee it wouldn't be a world killing monster even if it was found. But there might be something useful.

Send his most trusted human agent in that patch of space, John Grammaticus, to pass the information on discretely. If this all fucks up and Ursh finds out and Ursh wins they will more likely take to the stars to find those responsible rather than staying confined to die on Earth. Grammaticus passes the information on to a shadowy society on Old Earth he had prior contact with and a man called Omegon (unless it was Alpharius). They pass it on to Malcador.

>>60884958
I'd love to see

>>60882434
The Dragon Lords chapter might have had their own little discrete fratricidal in-house conflict. It would have been a dark day in their history.

>>60882434
I think the Order of the Old Tree was tied into the Praetorian restoration, which involved some strange Sisters Famulous, Biologicus nannies for self-destructive, inbred noble houses, and essentially a social/cultural control apparatus mixed with a cult of the Imperium's dear fertility goddess empress.

>>60886391
also a baby tree

>>60884934
That pissy schizophrenic shaman from the Himalayas might have made his move

>>60885199
Gahet was probably holding out hope for a soul-grafting device, maybe some schematics that could inspire a bioengineering renaissance in Uralia and result in something very broadly like Astartes. It was Grammaticus that settled on the Hydra as the recipient of his info, probably more because they had a access to a ship that could manage the journey and wasn't caught in a regional game of jockeying for the orbital high ground over a hot zone. Ursh's ships could luckily barely leave orbit and were more like creaky, definitely haunted, orbital gun platforms, Merika wouldn't move a ship a single meter unless it was to counter Hy Braseal's movements, and the PPE probably turned their last ship into a half-submarine, half giant death lobster to please executive Dune years ago.

>>60885199
I think you may be mixing up Gahet and Tiberius.

>>60884958
What new fluff from the vidyas?

>>60887643
Gahet is millions of years old. He would have been active in the days of the GaBHD. He also claims that he once visited the eldar homeworld. The only way he could have done that is pretending to be a regular robot. He may have travelled around pretending to be a human made Man of Iron.

>>60886550
The more and more I hear of the PPE the more I see lab coats and big mad scientist hair. They are every Saturday morning cartoon villain.

>>60888354
Aside form the infamous ruler Narthan Dune the only prominent figure from the PPE is Konrad Cruze. They revitalized Australia's monster population, pillaged East Asia on a massive scale, lived in cities clustered around deep sea vents, and harassed Merika, Hy Braseal, and Orioc with mad science pirates.

>>60886434
A thing that never happened in this AU.

What Magnus saw in those mountains will never be known.

File: PPE in a nutshell.jpg (97 KB, 585x390)

97 KB JPG

>>60887830
Whoops, completely derped about that.

>>60889743
I don't think all of the PPE was clustered around the vents. The Lucifer Blacks were, and there was at least one major city in the Mariana where the PPE tried to rebel with a series of flesh-crafter monstrosities when they thought the Steward wasn't looking (notably something that even Ursh wasn't arrogant enough to do after Curze crushed the initial insurgency). Too bad for them the Steward was fed up with them and sicced the Night Lords on them.

But that is a minor quibble and the rest of that is basically true.