Dusk Phantoms

Dusk Phantoms
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Battle Cry	WIP
Number	XV
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	N/A
Successor Chapters	WIP
Chapter Master	WIP
Primarch	Gyahdred
Homeworld	Rgyamtsho
Strength	150,000
Specialty	Xenos Extermination, Siege Warfare and Static Defensive Operations, Ambush Assault, Defense in Depth
Allegiance	Separatist
Colours	Dark Blue, Deep Red, White Left Hand

This page is part of the Warmasters Triumvirate, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the Warmasters Triumvirate page for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Dusk Phantoms are the XVth Legiones Astartes, led by the Primarch Gyahdred

History

Pre-Primarch History & Reunion

The nascent Dusk Phantoms were ever in the shadows and fringes of the crusades. Even before Gyahdred, the majority of their actions are inconsessus or were simply never recorded. What survives is fragmentary- they were chosen to aid the Forgeworld Tigirus in the reconquest of the Namadar Vaults in fulfilment of the Iron Concordat, it was they who were sent to supplement the Sisters of Silence in the suppression of the Witch-Kings of Malafen. Even in campaigns alongside the Orks of Ghenzar, the XVth legion was reported as making use of an odd array of arcane wargear-- portable null-generators on massive tracked frames, superheavy tanks fitted with warp-rift technology, rad-sterilization arrays, and strange neurosonic shrikes that liquified brain matter. Where they walked, the technological madness of Old Night followed, yoked to the service of the Emperor. Indeed, Al-Rahem Shamaz of the Sentinels once remarked that to see the Dusk Phantoms deploy was to see the panoply of nightmares.

Such a collection of archaeotech can only have been at the permission of the Emperor and it is generally suspected that Gyahdred's technological prowess was by design, rather than happenstance. Even before Gyahdred, the Phantoms had a dark reputation - the mortals chosen to serve alongside them typically being disposable penal legions or forces such as the Charonid Sentinels or the ferocious Chasmic Fiends. Even then, mortals kept their distance, for while the XVth took pains to preserve the target of a recovery mission and protect archaeotech caches, collateral damage was never something the legion was overly concerned with and many of their most potent weapons were quite simply unsafe for mortals.

Legion Doctrine

Legion Culture and Personality

Errant Dusk Phantoms have saved countless lives by discovering such threats and dispatching them before they caused greater harm. State Techmarines, should they have them, often are sent to the Phantom Zone to learn the Machine Dharma, as well as the tasks and duties of a Techmarine as per the standard set by the Great Crusade. Often the Dusk Phantoms themselves will be embedded in the State to fulfill those duties, stationed on a Shrine World or in a temple on a suitable Forge World. Rarely do Dusk Phantoms have a permanent presence amongst a private entity, but "heretics" do exist and some abandon the path to lead such ventures. Sometimes a corporation will have endangered the Union such that not only are they sanctioned and fined, but Phantoms will be stationed within them long term so as to ensure no misteps occur again. The adherence to the Dharma in Techmarines varies greatly. In the Legion of Ultramar, the philosophy is understood and respected, but the Techmarines themselves are not ardent practitioners, only performing the rituals and incantations to appease Machine Spirits of older equipment or siezed Imperial technology. The Nova Dragoons, for example, have many temples amongst the Paradise Worlds of Marpiese, with nobles donating generously to the pauper monks and temples, not as a gesture of good will or for good karma, but instead as a competitive show of wealth and performative moral grace. Legion Techmarines on the other hand are quite ardent, the ancient jetbikes of the Dragoons requiring Marines that can soothe their wizened Machine Spirits. Having their own Machine Dharma adherents also allows them to resolve technological crises with a greater degree of tact than if they reached out the Phantoms.

The industry of Chaos is likewise byzantine and treacherous, but much more open and zealous in their conflict and competition. However, there is one indisputed power in the Dark Mechanicus, and the most influential force amongst warsmiths and daemon forges. The Forge Lords control the great Daemonforges of Noageddon, the dark flesh factories of Sylph, the Obliterator Crypts of Mezoa, the Hellkite Eeries of Goth, the Behemoth Pits of Solitude and more besides. The Forge Lords are the indispensable masters of thr Dark Mechanicus, and those who are not scions of Hadad do well to venerate Hashut lest he deem your forges a suitable addition to his covetous horde. Even the great Bloodsmiths of Khorne acknowledge the legitimacy of the Hashutite Eastern Orthodoxy, hated though they are. The great success of the Hashutites is simply in their quality and efficiency. To make enemies of those who worship Hashut is to make enemies with Hashut, and thus the Forge Lords. To do so is to deny yourself and your forces the finest weaponry, armour, and monstrous creatures the Dark Mechanicum can provide. Independent forges exist, most certainly, each God has their own famed tech adepts and forge worlds they can call upon, but the Hashutites are second to none. Uneasy pacts, lucrative contracts, and proxies are all used by powerful warlords to ensure that are recieving the quality of the East. Because of their fame and usefulness, the Forge Lords feel they can berate and bully smaller forge worlds and conclaves with impunity, and to a greater extent, they're correct. However, a callous act of destruction has made fatally powerful enemies for the Forge Worlds, and when all is said and done, when all exchanges are made, the friends of the Hashutites are few and far between.