Onyx the Indestructible

Onyx Lithus
Title/Honours	Onyx the Indestructible, Onyx the Titan-Slayer, The Mountain of Fenris
Discovered (world)	Neolithus
Discovered (period)	c.908.M30
Legion	Twenty-seventh
Heraldry/Sigil
Unique Weapon	Two custom artificer power-fists
Distinguishing Traits	Humble, Willful, Determined
Flaws	Stubborn, Rash
Fate	Lost in the void-hole (presumed dead)

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.

Onyx The Indestructible is the Primarch of the twenty seventh legion, AKA The Stone Men. He and his legion served the Imperium valiantly, until his death and the death of all but 100 marines at the battle of Terra.

Appearance and Personality

Onyx is a massive ox of a man, even by space marine standards. He is over 12 ft. tall, and by far the largest of the Primarchs. He has a well-built frame, with solid muscles and tough skin. His complexion is stained tan-grey, from the decades of stone working he did on Neolithus. His face is chiseled and stern, yet calmly humble. He has a round, shiny, bald head, with white muttonchops and a long, braided beard. When not in his stony artificer terminator armor, he is usually in traditional Neolithian garb: a brown or tan toga over a white undergarment and dark brown working boots.

Onyx is a very willful man, and will most definitely see any task he is given finished, no matter what. This also means he can be very stubborn; he will not budge for a moment on anything he believes strongly enough in, even to his superiors (The Emperor). Despite his incredible determination, Onyx is a humble man who does not see himself as the powerful being he is, and connects more deeply with the lower citizens of the Imperium than most of his space marine peers. With his stubbornness comes a deeply ingrained sense of moral duty and justice, something that he has come to be remembered by. He would often put the lives of Imperial men and women in priority of his own, and his marines followed his example. He has even advocated for xenos and non-Imperials on occasion, seeing no reason to cause violence where there is no need of it. He once said: "I do not fight because I derive pleasure from doing so; nor do I abhor violence against the criminals and enemies of mankind. I simply fight because it is what is necessary, and I will gladly do whatever is necessary to protect the people of this Imperium. If it is not necessary, I will not fight. It is as simple as that." . This has put him at odds with many other Imperial leaders before, even the Emperor himself once or twice. Regardless of his somewhat unorthodox views, Onyx is held in the highest regards among his brothers and the populace at large, especially after his immense sacrifice and tragic death.

Before the Imperium

Youth

Onyx was delivered unto the planet of Neolithus, a dusty and rocky world covered in vast basins and tall mountains. He was discovered by an unnamed shepherd, who found the young primarch in a remote, mountainous region far from the nearest village. Seen as a gift from the heavens, he was raised by the village and its people, learning and working with them. The village elders, the Stone Preists, were especially fatherly to him, and under their tutelage he learned the history of Neolithus and its peoples. Many, many generations ago, the first men descended from the sky in great vessels, spreading out across the rocky plains and building great cities. However, a great shadow spread out across the world and destroyed the great cities, casting down the first men to the ground, breaking their grand machines, and cutting them of from their brothers in the heavens. The Neolithians were divided into 11 tribes, each ruled by its own elders and priests, and each tribe had a few primitive cities in its possession. Onyx worked as a stone mason until he was an adult, becoming a beloved member of the community. For 50 years he helped build his village into a city, and boosted neighboring tribes into wealth and prosperity as well. Among his people he was a symbol of the working man, attaining an almost heroic status. He would also slay creatures of darkness on occasion, whenever they emerged from the mountains and crevasses to wreak havoc.

The Guild Wars

Among the tribes of Neolithus, there were guilds of tradesmen within each city, who controlled particular goods or services within that city. These guilds were incredibly ancient, but rather weak due to the lack of trade between cities and tribes, caused by the dark creatures that prowled that wastes of Neolithus. However, with the arrival of Onyx, the monsters began to recede with each beast slain by Onyx's hand, and the guilds finally began to correspond and trade between cities. As the Neolithians ventured further and further into the wastes, they discovered lost relics; remains of the great civilization of the first men. They discovered machinery (although they lacked any kind of power source aside from manpower and beasts of burden) and guns, which became useful in pushing the dark creatures even farther into the mountains and holes where they hid. With the many cities now fully open to trade and commerce, the guilds surged in power and wealth, unhindered by the simplistic, local laws of the 11 tribes. The guilds began to coalesce into continent-spanning organizations, weilding far more power over the people than the tribal leaders. of the many guilds, the strongest were the Stone guild, the Salt guild, and the relatively new Mining guild. These guilds fought ruthlessly over power and wealth, weilding their vast coffers like cudgels and trampling anyone who got in their way. Onyx was disheartened at the guild's undermining of his people and way of life, but remained out of the political wars. As new relics were unearthed, technology advanced rapidly into the industrial and technological ages. The guilds used these new advances to spread their influence even more, and their wars became even more violent. Onyx finally decided that the guilds had become too powerful to leave alone, and tried driving the guild's mercenary armies out of the cities they came to raise. The mercenaries were sent running simply by the sight of Onyx's mighty form, but the guilds were not impressed. They began to target Onyx from the shadows, sending assassins, hitmen, and slandering his name. The killers sent after him were swatted away like flies, and the attacks fell upon his flawless reputation like pebbles against a mountains face. Realizing they could not target Onyx directly, they swiftly and ruthlessly attacked his comrades and friends, in an attempt to destroy everything he loved. Infuriated by the under-handed and cowardly attacks on his innocent brethren, Onyx decided that he could no longer try to deal with the guilds like human beings. They were simply beasts driven by greed, no better than the many creatures of darkness he had slain in the past. He began his preparations in secret, uniting the elders of the 11 tribes and gathering the most skilled masters from each tribe into a clandestine order he coined "The Endecarate". No longer seeing any humanity left in the ruthless guild leaders, Onyx decided he would deal with them the same way he dealt with the monsters of old.

The Revolution

Onyx began his grand rebellion in his own city, by gathering all the workers and peasants in the city square and demanding that the guilds dismantle. Laughing off the threat, the guilds sent their mercenary armies after him. Onyx slaughtered the hired killers with his bare hands, as their bullets bounced off his hardened skin like peashooters. He carved into their ranks with the fury and rage of his people's anguish, destroying the army in mere minutes. Onyx stormed the local guild headquarters, killing everyone inside and tearing the foundations out from underneath the oppressive structure. He stood on the rubble of the fallen building, before his people, and signalled the revolt. Thus first battle was mere child's play compared to what would come, for the guilds had access to the most advanced technology and their resources were all but limitless. They sent mercenaries, tanks, bombs, and artillery strikes in droves against the fledgling rebellion. However, Onyx's Endecarate, made up of the greatest military, scientific, and economic geniuses of Neolithus, fought them at every turn. Regis Tungsten, a veteran sailor (a rare occupation on Neolithus, as the ocean is largely inaccessible and hostile) innovated a new form of naval combat, constructing and commanding a fleet to aid Onyx's ground forces. Bellatrix Konatus, a scientist and technician dedicated to researching relics, unearthed and reverse-engineered numerous machines of war, such as the dreaded behemoth and leviathan. Onyx commanded armies of his tribesmen, armed with relic-tech weaponry and armor for over a decade, fighting the guilds all across Neolithus. After 11 years, the final city controlled by the guilds had fallen, and their remaining wealth was distributed by Onyx to the 11 tribes which now saw him as their true leader. Onyx and his Endecarate ruled as heads of the 11, united tribes, and Neolithus quickly became a modern world of industry and prosperity.

Arrival of the Emperor

When the Emperor came to Neolithus in order to recruit Onyx, He was met by stern refusal. Onyx did not believe the Emperor, but issued him a challenge: If he could beat him in a test of strength, he would concede and join him. They struggled against each other for an entire 24 hours, before Onyx was finally defeated. Onyx gladly joined his father among the stars, and united with his legion.

Role in The Great Crusade

After training and molding his legion, Onyx went to test their might for the first time by repelling a great ork WAAAGH at the Imperium's doorstep, on the planet of Fenris. He led his legion valiantly, and it is here that he earned himself the moniker "The Mountain of Fenris", as he held is ground even against the greatest of odds. His next challenge was the Wars of the Colossi, in which he led the Stone Men against the horrible Jormmund by defending and retaking worlds in the Segmentum Ultima. He personally felled about 50 titans, leading squads of elite terminators into the aliens' hearts, and detonating melta-charges. It is this that earned him the name "Titan-Slayer", and gained massive popularity within the ranks of the Imperiun.