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.

Kalkas Tygian
Title/Honours	Fabricator General, speaker of the Martian Parliament, Primus of the Machine Cult
Distinguishing Traits	Fanatical
Flaws	Fanatical
Horus Heresy role	Loyalist
Dominion	Mars and subject Forgeworlds

Kalkas Tygian was a member and eventually leader of the Cult Mechanicum 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 and the events of the Heresy, few are as widely known and yet misunderstood as Fabricator General Kalkas Brord Tygian, 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 the oaths sworn on Olympus Mons. To them, were it not for Tygian there may have been a Fabricator General who could have sided with Hektor Cincinnatus, and the entire Mechanicum might have sided with the archtraitor, instead of being cleft down the middle. However to those more knowledgeable and those within the Mechanicum, Tygian is a 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, while 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 truth is all of these things and more. For Kalkas Tygian was a complex figure, someone who truly believed that the Emperor was the prophesized Omnissiah, a being who though there were many different visions as to who or what he was, all agreed was closely linked to the Machine God and would come to unite all man as one. Tygian saw himself as chosen by the Omnissiah, blessed by him and charged by him to unite the Mechanicum as one. Toward this end Tygian was willing to destroy any outpost of Mars who rejected the primacy of the birth-rock of the Machine Cult or whose beliefs deviated too far from the doctrine of Mars. His actions both divided the Mechanicum, and at the same time united it. For when treachery tore the young Imperium apart, it was Tygian who rallied the Mechanicum to the defence of the Emperor’s dream, and he fought to the very end for that dream, finally falling before the very doors of his forge against the hosts of hell unleashed by Hektor’s betrayal.

The Disciple of the Omnissiah

Kalkas Tygian began as simply one among the countless minor menials of the Mechanicum, the lowest rank of the Machine Cult. Surviving records show a serious, dutiful man who took to his implants like a fish to water and absorbed the beliefs of the Machine Cult like a sponge. None of this singled him out, and he could have easily simply faded into the background, had he not uncovered during his duties a copy of ‘The Principals of Singularitarianism’ by Pico della Moravec, an outcast of the Mechanicum, but one who was still venerated in secret on Mars. His beliefs that the works of the Mechanicum would create a single united intelligence which would allow the Machine God to commune to his people were adopted by Tygian. But more importantly was the revelations brought about by a copy of his final work, ‘The Coming of the Omnissiah’. Tygian now believed that the Omnissiah was coming, and that he had to lay the groundwork for his arrival. From this point Tygian was a man possessed, every fiber of his being turned to ensuring that he could be the chosen instrument for the Omnissiah’s arrival. He rose to the rank of Magos, then Archmagos, then finally Adept of the mightiest of all the forges of the Mechanicum, Olympus Mons. Dark rumors circulated about him, that he had cultivated an alliance with the tech-assassins of the Cydonian Sisterhood, that he was involved in the death of the Previous Lord of Olympus Mons and that he had blackmailed other members of the ruling council of Olympus Mons to become the ruler of that mighty forge. But no evidence could be found to use against him, and he was certainly wise enough, learned enough and devoted enough that no other candidate could be found as Lord of the first forge of Mars.

Tygian began to expand and spread his influence among the other Forges of Mars. It helped that at this time Martian expeditions to Earth were coming under increased attack by the armies of a new Warlord calling himself the Emperor, and that Tygian claimed that only united could the Mechanicum face him, should that eventuality arise. Some Forges willingly sided with him, forging binding pacts with Olympus Mons, sharing power and information in a mutual exchange. Others took longer to unite. And some utterly refused to bend before Olympus Mons. It was those Forges that would be the first to taste Tygian’s ire. When Titans of the Legions Tempestus and Ignatum burned the Forge of Hebes Chasma on a charge of tech-heresy it served as a warning to any other Adept of Mars who would dare speak out against him. He was more than willing to use physical force to back up his claims. Though several Forges had allied Titan legions, none could come close to matching the three mighty Legions, over a thousand Titans at Tygian’s call and ready to march at any time. Finally, the Martian Parliament was founded, and Tygian was elected as Fabricator General, head of the entire Mechanicum. Though few of the Lords of Mars considered him a friend or an ally, even fewer were ever willing to move against him, and those that did never lasted long. Tygian proved himself an ideal Fabricator General, allowing all the Adepts under him to pursue whatever course each wished to take, provided they abided by the tenets of the Machine Cult. His first item of business was to begin mass production of weapons, armor and ships in anticipation of the coming War with Terra that most on Mars feared was an inevitability. However Tygian was of another mind. For he saw in the Emperor someone who seemed to show similar beliefs to himself, a master of science and technology. And he knew that there was a growing movement within the orders of Techpriests that saw the Emperor as an avatar of the Omnissiah, or even as the Omnissiah himself. Debate was growing over whether the Emperor would be a saviour or an enemy, and Tygian was not blind to this. He began sponsoring secret missions to Terra to find out more about the Terran Emperor and his intentions, infiltrators and spies, data-taps and hacking missions. As the reports filtered back, Tygian began more and more to believe that the Emperor was machine-touched, that some spark of the Machine God lurked within him. His mastery of Machines was unseen, even among the Mechanicum. He could be a powerful ally, and help the Mechanicum rise again to the heights lost during Old Night. Now he began to provide covert support to those who wanted peace with Terra, trying to grow the movement within the Mechanicum. He could see that a war between Mars and Terra would destroy both to no benefit. He called a session of the Martian Parliament to discuss the Emperor, but events now overtook him.

The Emperor and the Fabricator-General

Tygian had been at prayers within the heart of the great Forge of Olympus Mons when news arrived that a massive warship had somehow slipped past the Ring of Iron and landed on the very peak of Olympus Mons. For the first time in millennia it was raining on Mars, and Tygian knew that the prophecies of Moravec spoke of the Omnissiah coming with the rain. Tygian immediately went out to see this mystery ship, and it was there that he met a Golden Giant, who could heal machines with but a single touch. The Emperor and Tygian retired to the heart of the Olympus Mons forge, and while we do not know what happened within, it is believed that Tygian quizzed the Emperor intensely on the tents of the Machine Cult and the beliefs of the Mechanicum. For Tygian wanted to believe that this was the Omnissiah, and he was desperate to prove this belief and vindicate his entire life. And when the Emperor answered correctly, Tygian was convinced. This was the Omnissiah, the Machine God made flesh. Here was the savior of all mankind and the one who would bring the gifts of knowledge and science to the Mechanicum. When they emerged, Tygian declared that the Omnissiah had come, and that Mars and Terra were to be united.

This however led to a period of bloody internal strife as several Forges declared Tygian deluded and worse, enslaved by the Emperor and willing to turn Mars into a mere satrap of Terra. Tygian did not take this well, declaring them ‘Excommunicate Traitoris’, enemies to the Machine Cult and all the Mechanicum. Once again the Titans walked as Tygian unleashed his full wrath upon those who denied the Omnissiah. Hekates Tholus was utterly destroyed, every single trace of that Forge scoured until nothing was left of the ancient fortress but dust and rubble, while nearby Albor Tholus was stormed, its entire ruling council dragged back to Olympus Mons in chains. After that none dared raise dissent, and the Martian parliament met with the Emperor and after an address by the Emperor Himself, agreed to his terms. The Mechanicum was given complete independence, and would not be subject to any of the Emperor’s laws and mores. For most, it was the best deal they could have gotten, but still many saw Tygian as selling out the Mechanicum. Not all believed as he did, that the Emperor was the Omnissiah. And these beliefs would soon get tested by foes beyond Mars, as the Mechanicum now set off beyond Mars to rediscover what had become of their children.

As the Great Crusade began, the Forges of Mars were busy. All the stockpiles of weapons made before the union were given up to feed the Emperor’s armies, and soon more items were being made, including Power Armor, Bolters and other weapons for the Emperor’s foremost weapon, the Legiones Astartes. Titan Legions now marched alongside them, and Taghmata Forces were sent off to support the Legions in expanding humanity’s domain. Most of those Taghmama were drawn from those Forges who were most opposed to the Fabricator General, as he used the opportunity to weaken his rivals and strengthen his own position. Agitation against the Emperor still continued, even as the Crusade began to get underway and Tygian was caught between looking inward against these foes and outward as the first Forge Worlds beyond Mars started to come into contact with the Great Crusade.

The Forgeworld Wars

During the Age of Strife, Mars had sent hundreds of sleeper Arks and other expeditions across the Galaxy, and many of them had created Forge Worlds of their own, enclaves of the Mechanicum across the Galaxy. Some of these had become mighty in their own right, such as Phaeton, Voss, Tigris and Anvillus. However, these swiftly proved a problem for Tygian. Some of them had beliefs that had deviated from those held as sacred on Mars, while others were reluctant to sacrifice their independence to Mars. Both cases were compounded by Tygian himself. He believed that he had been chosen by the Omnissiah Himself to unite the Mechanicum under his aegis, and any who refused to bow before Mars or accept the primacy of Martian Doctrine were going against the Omnissiah Himself, were conducting Tech-Heresy. They had to be brought into line, one way or another. And if they wouldn’t listen to reason, he would use force, the same as he did on Mars itself. One of the earliest examples of this was the fate of the Forgeworld Dieseleium, the heart of a major enclave of humanity in the Solar/Obscuras border region. That Forge was a powerful and industrious realm, but one which had long discarded the basic tenets of the Machine Cult, including belief in the Machine God itself. When the Imperium arrived, the cluster of worlds all willingly joined the Imperium, all except Dieseleum. They saw the Mechanicum as hopelessly backwards, and Mars as a den of outmoded beliefs. They would never bend the knee to Mars. When he learned about this, Tygian flew into a rage, and personally led aa mighty army of over five million men and five hundred Titans, along with 50,000 Space Marines of the VIth Legion who had close ties to the Mechanicum and were willing to join his forces. Against this force Dieseleum couldn’t stand, though the Forge held out for three months before it finally fell. Several more examples of this took place across the Imperium during the first hundred years of the Crusade. The Rad-Forge of Neutros Scrayaer orbiting a Neutron Star was stormed by Skitarii Legions when it too refused compliance, while Titans trod the white soil of Asimovania, Galatia, Cyraxus II and over a dozen others. There were just as many confrontations, as Tygian used the threat of force to get his way. The Phaeton Incident between Mars and the second strongest Forgeworld in the Imperium Phaeton is the most famous of these, when Warships from both Forges confronted each other over Phaeton and disaster was only narrowly averted. Fear of the Martian Mechanicum soon grew and dozens of Forges meekly submitted, leaving Tygian to proudly proclaim that he was the great uniter of the Mechanicum. And yet every one of these incidents drained his military might. Tens of thousands of Martian warriors loyal to the Fabricator General personally had fallen in these battles, thousands of war machines and hundreds of Titans. His grip on power was weakening, and a series of events were about to take place which would sorely test Tygian’s doctrines and still weaken his grip upon power.

Halfway through the Great Crusade, Tygian was at the height of his power. The many Forgeworlds of the Mechanicum were all pledged to the Primacy of Mars and the superiority of the Martian Doctrines of the Machine Cult. The Emperor’s armies were being fed and fuelled as fast as possible and ever-expanding. Tygian could well feel complacent with how things were turning out. And yet that power was no longer as secure as it once had been. The Forgeworld Wars had drained his power considerably, and some of the Adepts of Mars could see his weakness and were beginning to move against him. This was aided by the fact that Tygian spent long periods away from Mars, visiting newly compliant Forgeworlds personally and leading assaults he deemed critical to the Mechanicum’s interest. Tygian redeployed much of his forces to Mars, there to threaten any on Mars who would dare turn against him. Over fifty Titans of the Legio Mortis including the famed Imperator Titan ‘Aquila Ignis’ retuned to Mars as a show of force. While this secured his grip on power, it meant that he could no longer project it out in the galactic sphere, at a time when more and more Forgeworlds were coming into the fold, and many of those were far from the Martian template in terms of beliefs and allegiance. With the reputation Tygian had already achieved, most of those worlds simply fell into line of their own accord, or were given a threat of war, subtle or otherwise to make them see the light. However all it would take was for one world to stand up to Tygian and the whole façade of his power would be exposed.

The Defiance of Al-Sherar

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 responded by providing data-records of the purgation actions conducted against Dieseleum, Neutros Scrayaer and other Forgeworlds who had refused compliance. 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. He had made a bet that the Fabricator General could no longer afford to force a long and bloody compliance against Al-Sherar without seriously undermining his own position, and he was willing to risk it all upon this bet. The diplomatic standoff continued even as war gripped the region surrounding Al-Sherar and several Taghmata from Mars itself were redeployed to take part in offensive operations. Al-Sherar would not meekly submit, and Tygian would not simply let their heresy and refusal to submit slide. When news came that a Martian Fleet of several hundred vessels along with Titans and Skitarii Legions was mustering at Stygies, the largest Forgeworld in the Segmentum, the Kabeer Al-Mufteen quietly cut a deal 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 at least allowed him to save face and preserve his strength, which was desperately needed as the Second Ruavu Grun Xenocide was in full swing and troops were desperately needed in the galactic north to deal with the resurgent threat.

Though Al-Sherar had wisely decided to submit, they merely paid lip service to Mars as opposed to true fealty. As the Crusade went along, news of Al-Sherar’s defiance began to spread and several Forgeworlds that were known to be unfriendly to Mars, such as Kyuw signed trade deals and pacts with Al-Sherar, creating an informal league within the Segmentum Pacificus. Worse was to come when Forgeworlds beyond Pacificus, including the old battleground Dieseleum also signed compacts with Al-Sherar. The ever-suspicious 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 as Tygian began to try and use underhanded methods to do what the threat of war could not, 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, though Al-Sherar was never seriously threatened by it, shielded by its associations with the Vth Legion. The fact that during the Heresy Tygian and Al-Sherar were nominally on the same side is one of the great ironies of history, an irony neither side ever seemed to acknowledge.

An unexpected beneficiary of this was the Forgeworld of Ghalhal, also part of the Al-Sherar Sector. Though possessed of a similar independent spirit which had delayed their introduction into the Mechanicum, now Ghalhal sent secret messages to Mars offering a bargain. In exchange for certain concessions, Ghalhal would offer to act as both a watchman and a buffer to Al-Sherar. They would stand with Mars should Al-Sherar ever be declared renegade and ensure that Al-Sherar would never gain absolute power within the Sector itself, with the Markian pact Ghalhal was a part of acting as a counterweight to the Dar al-Amn. Tygian himself came to Ghalhal, the first and only time the Fabricator General would visit the Sector. There in several closed meetings he discussed Al-Sherar and the problems it presented. Nothing remains of what exactly happened, but several fragments belonging to the Vth Legion show that his concern with Al-Sherar bordered on obsession, and he willingly gave copies of several STC printouts to Ghalhal to bind them to his cause. These printouts along with several trade concessions which opened Ghalhal up to shipments from beyond the Sector gave the Forgeworld a new edge that greatly increased its power and prestige. And yet Al-Sherar still prospered, and even grew in influence throughout the wider Imperium. Some believe Ghalhal secretly sent information to Al-Sherar, revealing how fearful of them the Fabricator General was and his moves against them including spies and saboteurs, allowing Al-Sherar to counter his moves against them. If this is true, it shows how Ghalhal prospered from the mutual antagonism between the heart of the Mechanicum and its far-flung outpost.

The Clouds of Betrayal

As the second century of the Crusade moved on, Tygian was seen less and less on the front lines of the Crusade, spending more and more time on Mars itself, overseeing the ever-increasing production tithes required to fuel the Great Crusade. By the time of Ullanor he had not set foot on a battlefield in nearly thirty years and hadn’t left Mars itself in ten. His paranoia had grown, fearing both Al-Sherar and its allies and potential foes on the Red Planet itself. His devotion to the Emperor was still absolute, and when the Emperor requested the Legio Ignatum ‘Fire Wasps’ be deployed to Primarch Hektor’s own command, he willingly complied even though it weakened his own position on Mars. More and more his supposed slavish devotion to the Emperor was seen as a sign of weakness. After the Emperor’s withdrawal from the Great Crusade and his arrival on Terra, Tygian hurriedly supplied the Emperor with all the equipment he needed for his secret project beneath the Imperial Palace. Much of the cream of the Mechanicum’s rising Magi were sent to the Emperor, causing outcry among many of the Adepts of Mars. Tygian had never been so unpopular. It was at this point that the tides of history shifted, and the abyss opened wide. For already several of Tygian’s most important allies had fallen to the hidden gods, and now as those selfsame gods entrapped the Emperor’s first and brightest son those fallen Adepts were beginning to subvert the Mechanicum from the inside out. Lord of the Ordo Reductor Duniya Kanaash was spreading the creed of the Lord of Murder and Blood throughout the militant orders of the Mechanicum, while High Genetor Lyster Larrey, confidant of Primarchs and servant of the God of Life and Death was creating new and deadly monsters to unleash upon the Emperor’s forces. Several Adepts of the Great Forges of Mars were turned, including those Forges closest to mighty Olympus Mons itself who chafed the most at the Fabricator General’s shackles and longed to be free of his influence and restrictions. All of them knew who their true enemy was, the Emperor’s lapdog who would never turn against the one he called the Omnissiah. And so they drew plans against Tygian, and prepared to paint the Red Planet with blood.