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.

Reunion

Gyahdred was reunited with his legion at the height of the Rangdan Xenocides. With the Northern Frontier in flames and madness stretching across the stars, many were surprised that the XVth was being held back from the fray. The motive became clear when an explorator fleet came across the Forge of Dgaldan. Unlike the deals and contests the Emperor had with other primarchs, Gyahdred's service was obtained simply. Having long ago deduced that he was the creation of some supremely skilled Magos and aware of the legends of distant Mars when the Emperor simply told Gyahdred of the Crusade and its aims, Gyahdred found his aims logical and, leaving a regent in charge to smooth integration with legion resources, Gyahdred departed for the front at the head of the Taghmata Nagpo. The forge itself was incorporated as an Autocephalous Forgeworld. While Martian prelates were not particularly pleased with the arrangement, the needs of the Crusade and the supremacy of the Legions Astartes forced a compromise, though hardly an unknown one. On the legionary side, Gyahdred's arrival at the moment of crisis smoothed the adjustment. Needing victory and still dubious of the doctrinal claims of the greater mechanicum, Gyahdred took a pragmatic approach to the campaign, suplementing what the legion was already proficient at with supplies and techniques from Dgaldan. While Gyahdred's excellent strategy won him the respect of his legion, it is also likely that the severe casualties experienced during the Rangdan Xenocides smoothed the legion's transformation not simply by depleting the old guard, but also because the high rate of attrition forced the use of solutions from Gyahdred's native tradition. For example, the loss of skilled leaders lead to the implementation of Dgaldan Tulpa techniques. While the ever pragmatic Dusk Phantoms had always eaten their honored dead to reabsorb their knowledge and life force, the vagaries of the Omophagea limited the practical utility of this. Needing seasoned commanders immediately, Gyahdred introduced the use of neuro-supplemental cogitators. A system not unlike supplemental memory used by Magi or the Throne Mechanicums of the Knight Houses, these Tulpas were implanted in a commander, these cogitators would store and mirror aspects of their personality and command style in a Tulpa dataform. When the commander died, the Tulpa could be implanted in a new host, giving the new leader not simply memories and tendencies to draw on, but a biomneumonic second opinion from the Tulpa's hybrid machine spirit. Naturally, these Tulpas contained a great deal of Mechanicum knowledge, both as a practical guide, and to prevent Tulpa override resulting in malefica and silica animus. The occasional Martian accusations aside, this system seems to have been highly effective. A general flattening of demeanor was reported, and while criticized by some outside the legion, the Dusk Phantom response was overwhelmingly that tranquility and clear thought was a sign that the system was working properly.

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.