Kalkas Tygian

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

To comment on such a man is to invite controversy - what can be said of Tygian without reproach is this. He was loyal.

-Halycen Markus, successor to Kalkas Tygian as Fabricator General

Kalkas Tygian
Title/Honours	Fabricator General, speaker of the Martian Parliament, Primus of the Machine Cult
Distinguishing Traits	Considerate, methodical, resolute
Flaws	Fanatical, forgiving
Dominion	Mars and subject Forgeworlds

Kalkas Tygian was the leader of the Cult Mechanicum, the Fabricator-General, during the period of the Great Crusade and Hektor Heresy. He was a devout believer in the tenets of the Machine Cult and saw the Emperor of Mankind as the true coming of the Omnissiah. Tygian's fanaticism would be a source of strength and a cause of division among the tech-priests, but his loyalty to the Imperium was unquestioned.

History

Of the many figures that were to shape the Imperium, few are as widely known and yet misunderstood as Fabricator General Kalkas Brord Tygian. He was speaker of the Martian Parliament, Lord of Olympus Mons, Primus of the Machine Cult and disciple of the Omnissiah. To those outside the Mechanicum, he is a hero, a steadfast supporter of the Emperor who held the Mechanicum to oaths sworn. To those more knowledgeable and those within the Mechanicum, Tygian is a far more divisive figure. Some see him as a zealot who tried to force all within the Mechanicum to believe his own limited vision of the tenets of the Machine Cult. Others see his desire to force all the many daughter-forges of Mars to bend the knee as the mark of a tyrant, determined to destroy any who dared stand up against him.

The Disciple of the Omnissiah

Reason provides a vision to the stars. Faith gives you the will to achieve that vision.

-Kalkian Teachings, p.g. 359

Who Kalkas Tygian was before his ascension as Primus of Olympus Mons remains a mystery. Adepts and scribes have speculated over the fragmentary data for generations. Perhaps he was the finest gene-creation of Lyster Larrey, a gift to Fabricator-General Leton Tygian. Others speculate he was a child savant, born from a menial couple only to be adopted by the Fabricator-General himself. Most evidence, though incomplete, point towards him being the nephew of Leton Tygian and groomed to succeed him from an early age. What is known is thus; Kalkas Tygian was directly related through patronage or blood to the Fabricator-General, and was raised on Mars until ascending to be Magos of Deimos's foundries at twenty five years of age. He would oversee the construction of several Titan Legions in preparation for with Terra, as the Emperor's Imperium continued to have unprecedented victories.

If Kalkas was not deserving of the position, he would have lost it shortly thereafter. Quantities of material hitherto or since were churned from the foundries. The Adepts underneath him remarked on his fervent work ethic, always seeing what improvements could be made to his Forges. All agreed his work upon Mars's moon was a welcomed addition to the Mechanicum. Though his attentions lied on production, Fabricator-General Leton would instruct on the systems that kept Mars together. Treaties, covert deals, all manner of political maneuvering was made clear to the younger Tygian. He grew weary of it all, wishing only to serve the Omnissiah dutifully. Leton would remind him that keeping a stable succession was acting on the Omnissiah's behalf.

This lesson became clear in the coming years.

Upon Leton's demise some years before the Emperor's arrival to Mars, Kalkas ascended to the station of Primus over Olympus Mons. The Martian Parliament voted him Fabricator-General. His reach stretched out across the Red Planet akin to a streak of lightning, overtaking the unsuspecting with his movements. Though the youngest ever to assume his position, Kalkas would not allow the efforts of is uncle to be made in vain. The Forges would agree to his direct rule, or would bend forcefully. His sister Areta Tygian replaced his position over Deimos. Her daughter Modra Tygian being assigned to his personal staff, to learn more directly under him than he did from Leton.

Those who spoke out openly against him were given multiple chances to surrender. A few believed the pious youth softhearted, but would be reminded by the company he kept. Motoka Isidore became an early ally, and Zorr Yenser was not far behind him. Innumerable Titan Legions and swathes of well armed Skitarii marched behind such names as Amark Callus the Lord of Ordinatus Mars. Pleas for clemency flowed forth across all channels upon the banners of Olympus Mons being seen worn on the backs of Zorr's chosen warriors. Tygian was uninterested in bloodshed, only submission, and accepted these wayward souls into the fold.

The Foundry of Hebes Chasma would be the exception, as the Magi were seeped in tech-heresy making full integration impossible. Zorr Yenser would deploy to lead the assault, along with Magos Alycen Markus, grandfather to future Fabricator-General Halycen Markus. Though the defenders of Liberty City would repent as the war engines brought down their spires, there was pause in the assault. The speed at which his fires claimed their lives sent a clear message to the Machine Cult - Kalkas Tygian was benevolent to the faithful but held no mercy in his heart for the heretical.

The Emperor and the Fabricator-General

The arrival of the Emperor was an occurrence thought inconceivable by every rational mind on Mars's surface. Not only did the Emperor's ship past through innumerable defenses, including a ring of space stations and countless ships, Mars had begun to rain. Water had touched its soil for the first time in thousands of years. Some Adepts have records placing eye witnesses with Tygian, remarking he was crying upon seeing the sight. As the Emperor descended from the heavens upon a golden vessel, his touch mended machine effortlessly. Kalkas swore fealty to him upon the muddy ground outside of Olympus Mons. The Omnissiah had been made manifest!

Desperate patches of secular thought and gnostic teachings were set upon vehemently. Kalkas Tygian became a name synonymous with rigid orthodoxy, as old sectarian fires were fanned. Scores were settled with vicious efficiency, Kalkas moving from Forge to Forge sometimes personally stripping down individuals he had known secretly as Cybellatici - those who had taken augments without proper reverence for them. The practice of philosophical theology became dead overnight, no one wished to openly question the nature of the Omnissiah under Kalkian rule. That did not save many however, as the most fringe thinkers were sevitorized.

Kalkas moved after that fateful meeting with the Emperor tirelessly for seventy-eight hours, sometimes only pausing for two hour bursts of sleep before continuing his purge. Opposition could not be readily made to him. Those with doubts towards the legitimacy of the Omnissiah from Terra kept their mouths shut, and those who had spoken before fell upon Kalkian mercy - a term coined for cruel, sometimes arbitrary requirements to come back to the fold. Many were deemed latae sententiae, given a choice of two punishments only. Servitorization and redemption in the eyes of the Omnissiah in that measure, or face techno-expurgation.

Techno-expurgation was a unique punishment under Kalkian canon law. The Adept would be stripped of every augment they possessed, replaced with vat-grown organs sufficient to keep them alive, and cast out of Mars. Kalkas justified the punishment by explaining it showed the true heart of the individual. Not one for the Omnissiah, thus their crimes to the cause would be removed by removing them from his sight. Without their augments, their flesh would fail them in short order. Living testaments to the tenants of the Mechancium.

Mars Triumphant

With you anything can be achieved. United are we in purpose - endeavor then to never falter!

-Kalkas Tygian, upon swearing in the First Hundredth.

Mars was united on the surface, but laid divisive underneath a veneer of absolute loyalty to Fabricator-General and Emperor. The mechanisms in place to dethrone Kalkas were stalled utterly. To reproach him would challenge the might of the Emperor, who grew more powerful with every passing day. Worse than this, the Emperor appeared to be the Omnissiah made genuine. Though whispered in circles as usurper, no one could openly accuse him. Discontent was left to ferment underneath the surface of Mars without an avenue to vent. The only task that united Mars was in bringing together the Forgeworlds. It was time to call upon the expeditions sent out millennia ago.

The Mechanicum was disorganized, barely centralized, and in need of firm leadership. Kalkas aimed to bring it together as one. Multiple Forgeworlds were provided with permanent additions to their Forges, the technology of the red planet subsuming outdated or lost machines in their sister foundries. Assembly lines churned out with greater efficiency than every before. A singular doctrine was proselytized above divergent sects, mirroring the views of Mars and Tygian himself. Peaceful integration became a hallmark of the Fabricator-Generals overall strategy.

To those Forgeworlds too distant or theologically divergent, Kalkas was known as a reserved ruler. He only demanded a tithe in production be paid to Mars to provide proper arms to the Imperium, and that he was seen as the suzerain arbiter of religious matters. This would be the only contract made between the red planet and its sister-forges outside of the Segmentum Solar. To ask upon assistance would invite further sacrifices of autonomy. First would come the Logynods, assemblies of the most pious individuals handpicked by Tygian himself. These individuals would both share knowledge and direct faith, but only act after being welcomed in.

Tygian knew with the immensity of the stars, and the passage of time, not everyone would know the correct path. His aim always was to bring the lost towards understanding. An assembly of Magii from the first hundred Forgeworlds brought into contact with Mars was summoned. These became known as the Meeting of the First Hundredth, as it brought together otherwise impossibly separate dominions together under a single ruler. Punctuating the month long talks was a surprise visit from the Emperor, who thanked all those who had arrived.

To Kalkas, political power came second to proper devotion. Worship had to be monitored under his watchful gaze. This would be challenged soon enough.

Military Campaigns

827.M30 Liberation of Farilicen V. Taken over by the megalomaniac tyrant X-228, Farilicen grew to be an infamous state. Trading openly with Xenos for technology, the Forgeworld's Priesthood was shackled to their dictator's whims. Fabricator-General Kalkas Tygian personally led the assault upon X-228's realm, killing him after breaking apart his mockery Titans. The freed Priesthood renamed the world to Tygios in his honor.

854.M30 Firestom of Duillal. The Forgeworld Duillal saw Mars as a tyrannical state with no place ruling over them. After requesting more aid from Mars to use against it, they welcomed a Logynod within their realm. Butchering the representatives from Mars, they attempted to form their own empire in rebellion. Zorr Yenser leads thirteen Titan Legions and elements of the War Scribes Legion in its extermination.

The Defiance of Al-Sherar

My flesh is my burden - not your defense!

-Tygian, answering criticisms over his to be augmented form

That world would be found on the fringes of Segmentum Pacificus, close to the Homeworld of the Vth Legion. The Forgeworld of Al-Sherar was a power in its own right, possessing of a Titan Legion, the Legio Antsar as well as two large Knight Households, the Order of Bahri and the Maryannu Brotherhood. It had carved out a stellar empire of its own called the ‘Dar al-Amn’ that fed it with food and minerals, and in terms of power was as potent as any Forgeworld save Mars itself. In terms of Doctrine though Al-Sherar had deviated a considerable distance from the Martian norm, particularly in regards to xenotech. In addition, Al-Sherar had already been welcomed into the Imperium by the Primarch Gaspard Lumey so when the first Ambassadors from the Fabricator General came to Al-Sherar, the Kabeer Al-Mufteen – as the High Lord of Al-Sherar was known – stated he was already a part of the Imperium and refused to recognize the Fabricator-General as his overlord, both temporally or spiritually and would not submit to ‘enslavement’ by Mars.

The Ambassadors of Mars first responded by providing over the wealth of information to be exchanged, as well as fresh Legions of Skitarii ready to defend Al-Sherar. This came as no surprise though to the Kabeer Al-Mufteen, who had already studied the records of the Rogue Traders who had discovered the sector. Never had the Mechanicum contended with a realm as prosperous as Al-Sherar. Never had Kalkas Tygian been forced into the prospect of slaughtering so many of his own faith. Kabeer made a bet that there would be a long pause as deliberations carried out in the Martian Parliament. He was correct.

The diplomatic standoff continued on into decades, a cold war brewing as Kalkas would make deals to draw up huge levies from other Forgeworlds against Al-Sherar. Kabeer was making his own arrangements, bringing together the desperate and discontent into a league of opposition to Mars. Civil war nearly erupted when news came that a Martian Fleet of several hundred vessels was mustering at Stygies, the largest Forgeworld in the Segmentum. Fearing the worst, Kabeer Al-Mufteen made a deal - the so-called Stygies Accord of 899.M30 - with the Fabricator-General’s representatives. Mars was declared as primus inter pares, the first of all Forgeworlds. Al-Sherar would not bow, but they would acknowledge that Mars was the head of the Mechanicum. Though Tygian was deeply unhappy, it had at least brought peace and avoided war. The timing was impeccable, the Second Ruavu Grun Xenocide was in full swing and troops were in need deal with the resurgent threat.

Al-Sherar had chosen to submit when Kalkas showed the lengths at which he was willing to go towards. The fealty to Mars was hollow, an empty promise without any real foundation. As the Crusade went along, agreements were drafted between Al-Sherar and other dissatisfied Forgeworlds, such as Kyuw and Ghalhal. Worse was to come when Forgeworlds beyond Pacificus, including the old battleground Dieseleum also signed compacts with Al-Sherar. Tygian took this as a sign that Al-Sherar was working to create a faction opposed to him. What had already begun as a coldly cordial relationship now turned into veiled hostility. Furious in his outrage, the Fabricator-General resorted to underhanded methods, seeking to discredit Al-Sherar and isolate it from the rest of the Mechanicum. This shadow conflict would last until the outbreak of the Heresy.

Personality

There was little else in Tygian except love and appreciation for the works of the Machine God. His life was raised in his splendor, and never through his life did that leave him. Those who met with Kalkas found him to be profoundly humble, diplomatic, and wise. In face of trial, he was resolute. A rock to be unmoved no matter the storm. Few could contend with his silent consideration in the twilight hour of a battle. This would be the state remembered by his prospective foes as they reconsidered testing him. Kalkas never refused handing out clemency to those repentant, and attempted to bring growth to all those peacefully brought into Compliance. His aim was to uplift all, from menial to Magi.

This would be a stark contrast to his later years. Tygian would broker no compromise with the resisting, and would no longer attempt to slowly bring in distant elements of the Faith. There was the Creed of Mars, and no other. The Adeptus Mechanicus would grow ruthless from Kalkas's example, and later his successor Halycen Markus.