2d4chan - User contributions [en]

Sons of Medusa

2022-05-10T03:50:49Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:99B5:3FD1:2C02:22AF: /* Founding */

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Sons of Medusa
|Heraldry = [[File:Sons of Medusa Livery.jpg|150px]]
|Battle Cry = Purge the weak!
|Founding = N/A; chapter ratified by edict.
|Successors of = [[Iron Hands]]
|Homeworld = Asteroid network, [[Taelus]] system
|Specialty = Bionics and mechanized warfare, [[Murderhobo|"acquiring"]] loot
|Strength = 1000 Marines
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Lime Green, White and Black
}}
The '''Sons of Medusa''' are a Successor Chapter of the [[Iron Hands]].

==History==
The Sons of Medusa, although born out of strife and discontent, share much in common with their parent [[Chapter]] in terms of organisation and philosophy. They too abhor mortal weakness and place an unusual reliance on technology and equipment.

===Founding===
[[Image:Executioners Deimos Predator Executioner.jpg‎|200px|thumb|left|[[Techmarine|Forge-Wright]] of the Sons of Medusa]]The Founding of the Sons of Medusa is highly unusual in that, technically, they were never actually founded at all. Their origins lie within an [[Imperial]] civil conflict known as the [[Nova Terra Interregnum|Moirae Schism]], which itself occurred during the [[Nova Terra Interregnum]]. During this schism, which affected all branches of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and those Imperial factions closely tied to it, the Iron Hands chapter stood on the brink of destroying itself in an internal chapter war. However, the ruling council of the Iron Hands, the Great Clan Council, was able to settle the matter by getting all concerned to agree to a simple solution; the Moirae dissidents were to be exiled from the chapter, with all parties swearing never to take up arms against each other. In the wake of this ruling, almost a full third of the chapter split away to become a [[Black Templars|fleet-based]] divergent branch of the Iron Hands. Over time, they increased their numbers (by accepting Moirae dissidents from other Iron Hands successor chapters as well as traditional recruiting) and by the time the Moirae Schism was over, the Moirae Iron Hands were reckoned to stand at chapter-strength. As stated, the Sons of Medusa took Moirae Schismatics from other Iron Hands successors, but the [[Red Talons]] [[That Guy|killed all of their Schismatics]].

With the restoration of the [[High Lords of Terra]] just before the beginning of the [[Age of Redemption]] in the Thorian Reformation in the last years of the [[Age of Apostasy]], the Moirae Iron Hands were carefully judged and scrutinised by the resurgent Imperium for their actions during the Schism, the Interregnum and the Apostasy, and were found pure and loyal to the greater Imperium. As a result, the High Lords of Terra issued a special edict that would ratify the Moirae Iron Hands' right to exist as a Space Marine chapter in their own right. They were renamed the Sons of Medusa and gained new heraldry, as well as the distrust and wary observation of some in the Adeptus Mechanicus and other Space Marine chapters unhappy with this development.

As if to test their loyalty, the first campaign officially issued to the Sons of Medusa was that of the Great Cull; the eradication of those elements of the Imperium found wanting in the aftermath of the Nova Terra Interregnum, the Moirae Schism and the greater part of the Age of Apostasy. They are noted to have performed above and beyond expectations in this campaign, outshining their parent chapter as well as other Imperial forces with their zeal to destroy Imperial traitors, as well as other foes of humanity.

While their beliefs from the original creed of Moirae have diverged over the years, their adherence to its prophecies filtered through cold mechanical logic has given them a reputation for knowing exactly when to intervene. More recent rumors suggest that their Primaris battle-brothers may have true prophetic abilities, but nobody has been able to prove it yet.

===Recent Years===
The Sons of Medusa most recently appear in Imperial records as one of the chapters who took part in the [[Badab War]] on the side of the loyalists. They entered the war after the initial period of conflict as reinforcements called in to deal with the secessionists after they had officially been deemed heretical. The chapter deployed significant forces to the war and performed admirably throughout. They spent the first few years of their involvement purging enemy outlying strongholds, during which they are only noted to have suffered one serious setback; the destruction of the [[Strike Cruiser]] ''Warspite'', lost with all hands. The ''Warspite'' was destroyed by the secessionist [[Executioners]] chapter; when the Executioners surrendered not too long after, the Sons of Medusa advocated bloody retribution. They were denied this by the actions of the [[Salamanders]] forces present in the warzone, who stepped in to prevent unnecessary deaths. This incident is noted to have seriously soured relations between the loyalist chapters.

The Sons of Medusa were in at the kill of the Fall of Badab and [[Lugft Huron]]'s secessionist forces, being primarily responsible for the capture of one of the star fortresses which protected Badab Primaris from attack. The capture of this particular fortress was the last act needed to shatter the Tyrant of Badab's "Ring of Steel" and open Badab Primaris to planetary assault. Most of their Atropos War Clan now replaced with [[Primaris Marines]]. They took part in the defense against the Invasion of the [[Stygius Sector]].

==Organisation==
Whilst the Sons of Medusa are unusually structured - being split into three separate and effectively autonomous War Clans (Lachesis, Mageara and Atropos, two of which are interestingly named after Mechanicum [[Knight]] patterns) - their overall organisation is reasonably close to that laid forth in the [[Codex Astartes]]. This is achieved due to the makeup of the individual War Clans: One Battle Company, one Tactical Company, one Support Company (composed of [[Devastator Squad|Devastator]], [[Assault Squad|Assault]] and [[Veteran Squad]]s) and one auxilliary [[Scout]] force each. When the makeup of these companies is totalled, the Sons of Medusa "notionally" end up with about the same amount of marines assigned to the various roles as a more straightforward [[Codex Astartes|Codex Chapter]].

However, the Sons of Medusa have a particularly exacting recruitment and indoctrination process, which can result in a lower-than-average number of initiates at any one time. On the plus side of this equation, the high wash-out rate does ensure the chapter has a large number of [[servitors]].

Each War Clan is commanded by an Iron Thane - these three being the ruling council of the chapter - and each company by a [[Brother-Captain|Captain]]. Besides the official command chain, there sit the unofficial links of respect and tradition; the wisdom of the chapter's Venerable [[Dreadnought]]s and their [[Techmarine]]s, who group themselves together as the "Chamber Ferrum." The Chamber Ferrum not only advises the War Clan leaders, it keeps direct control over essential chapter resources such as the forges and apothecarion. This ensures chapter unity in focus, philosophy and materiel.

[[Image:Sons of Medusa Predator.jpg‎|200px|thumb|right|Their vehicles are painted black.]]Indeed, the Sons of Medusa are noted to be a very unified chapter despite their clan organisation, with their chapter philosophies of logic and the abhorrence of the weak always being forefront in the mind of each Astartes. The chapter possesses extensive forge resources, allowing them to field an impressive amount of Space Marine equipment, in both number and variety. There is almost no pattern of vehicle or armour they do not possess, either through direct forging or battlefield acquisitions. The Sons of Medusa unfortunately have a reputation for being [[Blood Ravens|scavengers or carrion crows]] and their detractors accuse them of only participating in campaigns in order to [[Munchkin|accumulate more wargear]]. This isn't helped by their historical preference for ''"[[That Guy|aggressively]]"'' seeking to add to their stockpiles by [[Minotaurs|taking wargear]] from [[Lamenters|renegade chapters]].

==Timeline==
*M35 - [[Heresy|Moirae Schism]]; Moirae Iron Hands (+ non [[Red Talons]] Iron Hands successors) exiled and become independent.
*011.M37 - Moirae Iron Hands ratified as a Space Marine chapter; re-codifed as the Sons of Medusa. Took part in the Great Cull.
*182.M38 - The Bellrath Crusade; liberation of the Laanah Rifts from [[xenos]], [[Heresy|heretics]] and scum.
*453.M38 - The Bellrath Crusade ends.
*M39 - Sons of Medusa establish permanent fortress-monastery complex in the Taelus system.
*322.M39 - Participated in the [[Dark Heresy|Angevin Crusade]].
*907.M41 - Entered the [[Badab War]].
*912.M41 - The Badab War ends.

==Notable Members==
*'''Vaylund Cal''' - Iron Thane of Atropos War Clan, High Artificer of the Sons of Medusa, Scion of the Moirae and a FUCKING BADASS character on the tabletop, combining the functionality of a Chapter Master with a techmarine as well as having been the ''only'' special character that someone who uses the ''Chapter Tactic (Iron Hands)'' could have taken, since GW were reluctant to release any unique models or kits for the Iron Hands before recent codex supplements gave the Iron Hands their first named character model [[Malkaan Feirros|Malkaan Feirros]].

{{Template:Marines-Official}}

Nova Terra Interregnum

2022-05-10T02:27:54Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:99B5:3FD1:2C02:22AF: /* Side Show: Moirae Schism */

'''Nova Terra Interregnum''' is one of the major time periods of the [[Imperium of Man]] stretching from mid-M34 to the beginning of M36. It was preceded by the [[Forging]] (M32-M34) and followed by the [[Age of Apostasy]] (M36-M37).

During this time period, the leaders of Nova Terra declared themselves independent of the [[High Lords of Terra]], and the Imperium was split in twain, though in reality it would have been a three way struggle politically between the Secessionists, the High Lords, and the Ecclesiarchy, with the latter two being nominally unified against the separatists.

Despite the fact this sounds [[Awesome]], there is little fluff around it, mostly because it doesn't have anything to do with most of the current major factions, besides the [[Ecclesiarchy]]. So most of what we know has been pieced from several sources.

==Background==
It should be pointed out that the framework for the Imperium was pretty poor during this time and looked ''nothing'' like the 40k Imperium. The [[Ecclesiarchy]] wasn't a unified whole, but the largest faction consisted of the '''Temple of the Saviour Emperor''' which had a seat on the [[High Lords of Terra]] and was leeching power and tax money from the [[Administratum]] (eventually leading into the [[Age of Apostasy]]).

One example of the idiocy of this time is that the Ecclesiarchy nearly bankrupted the Imperium by moving the seat of power from [[Terra]] to '''Ophelia VII''' and then back again, just to prove a point to the Administratum that it shouldn't fuck with the church (hilariously, this is based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy a real incident in the history of the Roman Catholic Church]); this really should've gotten them executed but oh well. During that time of separation the church had also built on their ''Frateris Templar'' to the point that it now supposedly rivalled the size of the [[Imperial Guard]].

So while the High Lords of Terra ''might'' have started out by echoing the original '''Council of Terra''' which had managed bureaucracy for the [[Great Crusade]] and had presumably stayed there following the Emperor's enthronement following the [[Horus Heresy]], it was now in a worse state than it would become by the current era since religion was ''even more'' relevant and the actual government had very little power. Since the Emperor approved the creation of the Imperial Senate, this would make everyone who favored the Ecclesiarchy's power over the High Lords' power heretics.

However, it's not clear why the High Lords didn't just murderize any group that gained too much illegal power and request Space Marines enforce Compliance; it would have been easy to point out to the masses that only the Custodes know the Emperor's true will and that the Emperor created the High Lords whereas the Ecclesiarchy was just some dudes claiming the Emperor chose them despite the High Lords having actual ''proof'' of their own Emperor-given power.

Similarly, the [[Inquisition]] was concerning itself with mostly [[Ordo Malleus|Daemons]], [[Ordos Xenos|Aliens]] and [[Ordo Sicarius|rogue Assassins]], since the [[Ordo Hereticus]] wasn't invented yet. So the concept of religious [[Noblebright|"freedom"]] also goes hand-in-hand with [[Slaanesh|excess]].

===The Main Event===
When someone on the planet '''Nova-Terra''' had the wise idea to split from the Imperium and form their own council in the [[Segmentum Pacificus]], we can sympathize with the idea of separating from all of the religious furore spouting from Terra and establishing a government that was of a more appropriate "local" scale. It seems that they didn't want to truly leave the Imperium but rather sever the High Lords' authority from themselves but otherwise remain loyal to the Imperium (like what [[Huron Blackheart|Huron Blackheart]] tried, [[Badab War|with similar results]]).

But this writing comes from [[Games Workshop|GW]] so anything resembling common sense has to be purged with fire - and that's pretty much exactly what happened, though the Ur-Council made a good shot of it and ruled the segmentum for over 900 years. We can infer that the Ur-Council was an attempt in the Pacificus to establish a Council of Terra with actual power, given the name of the planet chosen to capital them was ''Nova '''Terra''''' and all and the council's own name basically means "original council" ('ur' means 'primeval/proto') or something like that. Most likely they believed they had to make a new Council of Terra without the Ecclesiarchy's control as the Emperor was the one who said the Council of Terra should rule the Imperium in his stead. Apparently obeying the Emperor is [[Extra Heresy|Heresy]].

Most of what we know about the Ur-Council tends to be in fluff surrounding the [[Dark Angels]] and there are strong hints that [[Cypher]], supported by other [[Fallen Angels]], was one of the Ur-Council's leaders and the Dark Angels were particularly active during this period. This is also where the [[Crassus Armored Assault Transport|Praetor launcher]] came from.

===The Cataclysm of Souls===
An awesome-sounding but sadly limited piece of fluff, the '''Cataclysm of Souls''' was a period of religious wars at the end of M35 when the [[Ecclesiarchy]] reshaped the Imperium as a religious state, marking the end of the Nova Terra Interregnum. It is not entirely known what happened during this period though it is remarked that it was a time of civil war the likes of which had not been encountered since the [[Horus Heresy]].

The reason the religious wars of the Imperium got the "religion" put in it is because the Emperor set the tone for how the Imperium enforced [[Imperial Truth|official religious policy:]] violent purging of non-believers. [[Irony|So He invented true religious war as a result of trying to end non-existent true religious war through the atheistic version of religious war.]]

==Related/Concurrent Events==
===Side Show: Moirae Schism===
Not only was the Ecclesiarchy attempting to supplant common sense with religious blindness during this period, but the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] was having its own problems too. Somewhere on the [[Forge World]] of '''Moirae''' in the galactic North, someone remembered that the Mechanicum were supposed to be worshiping the [[Emperor]] in his aspect as the '''Omnissiah''' and started making "radical" assertions that the Cult Mechanicus and the Ecclesiarchy should be unified into a single whole, even presenting mathematical evidence based on fluctuations on the energies given out by the [[Astronomican]] which were purported to predict the future. [[Great Rift|They were right.]]

In a different time, the Mechanicus would have squashed this sub-cult as heretical, but because the Imperium was itself in the grip of religious hysteria surrounding the Emperor, the idea actually took root and spread throughout the galaxy, even among some Space Marine Chapters such as the [[Iron Hands]]. Eventually this ideology would spark its own civil war, the first casualty of which was the world of Moirae itself, which was bombed to oblivion by the Martians, the Mechanicus once again showing their trademark directness when faced with a problem.

The conflict would last for over a millennium - actually longer than the Nova Terra Interregnum itself, bleeding over into the [[Age of Apostasy]] and only ending slightly before the beginning of the [[Age of Redemption]] (during the Thorian Reformation restoring the High Lords of Terra after Goge Vandire's reign of terror). It is not clear how it ended other than that many of the radicals were brought back into the fold of the "core" Cult Mechanicus. With the Iron Hands and their successors, the separatists were permitted to go their own way and form their own separate chapter named the [[Sons of Medusa]], which was specifically ratified by decree by the High Lords and is officially not a part of any founding. This was not the case for the [[Red Talons]], [[That Guy|who purged their Moriae dissidents to the last]].

===Immediate Aftermath: Cursed Founding===
The [[21st Founding]] happened shortly after the Nova Terra Interregnum and was supposedly the largest founding since the [[Second Founding]]. Unfortunately those created by this Founding were wracked with [[awesome]] mutations and the majority of [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapters]] created in this founding got wiped out by the [[Grey Knights]].

While the Inquisition and the Grey Knights did start going around offing any the 21st founding chapters that went over the line with mutations ([[Flame Falcons]] for example, who were literally on fire all time) or actual treason, others escaped or have toed the line enough they are tolerated by the Inquisition (if only barely). The [[Blood Gorgons]] turned traitor and fled to hook up with Chaos while the [[Black Dragons]], [[Minotaurs]], [[Lamenters]], and [[Sons of Antaeus]] are all still on active service. The Fire Hawks went missing in action and would later (or possibly earlier, thanks to some warp-fuckery) become the [[Legion of the Damned]].

{{40k-Timeline}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Officio Assassinorum

2022-05-08T08:34:52Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:99B5:3FD1:2C02:22AF:

[[File:Officoass1.jpeg|180px|center]]

{{Topquote|Ask not for whom they seek, lest it be thyself.|Tactica Imperium on The Officio Assassinorum}}
{{Topquote|The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.|Voltaire}}
{{Topquote|Nothing is true, everything is {{BLAM|HERESY!}}|A slightly redacted motto of the Officio Assassinorum's precursors from ancient Terra}}
{{Topquote|I'm in the retirement industry.|Agent XLVII}}

[[File:Armyof4byIronShrineMaiden.jpg |200px|thumb|right|Dawwww.]]

You can tell you don't mess with the '''Officio Assassinorium'''. Anyone, from the lowliest of workers to the [[High Lords of Terra]], at ANY moment, is open to either having their brains spilled on pavement by a sniper round, their spleen torn out by screaming Wry-man, shanked by dear old mum for no apparent reason, or if they're a psyker die in absolute terror unable to use their powers. When the shit hits the fan, these are the guys that get their hands dirty. It's all about the wetwork. This branch of the [[Administratum]] recruits, trains and commands Assassins of all kinds; for more information on the individual Assassin types, please visit [[Assassin|this page]].

==History==
[[File:Nemesis_02.jpg|400px|thumb|left|If the [[Imperial Guard]] is the hammer of the [[EMPRAH]] and the [[Space Marines | SPESS MEHREENS]] are the sword, the operatives of the Officio Assassinorum are the poisoned needle. The scary thing is that that daemon in the back probably isn't the deadliest thing in the picture.]]
The Officio Assassinorum was founded at the beginning of the [[Great Crusade]] as a department for holding any up-and-coming warlords or heretical leaders accountable for their actions. And by "accountable" we mean "disposed of". And by "disposed of" we mean "killed so hard that they will die to death". Originally such work was performed by the [[Alpha Legion]], although like much of those bastards' history it's hard to be sure. Formed by [[Malcador the Sigillite]] and the six masters of the Clades (the future temples), it was founded in extreme secrecy in an attempt to keep it out of the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]]'s knowledge and maintain his purity (a concept the Big.E always found funny). It's even more amusing that they thought they could hide something from someone capable of basically hearing the thoughts of every human at once. And they all seem to know of one another.

In the beginning, the Officio acted independently in the shadows under the guidance of [[Malcador the Sigillite]], their existence kept mostly secret. As mentioned, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Empers]] knew from the beginning but tolerated the Officio. Constantin Valdor and the [[Adeptus Custodes|guys in gold]] found out pretty quickly there were other people dealing with threats to the Emperor behind their (and His) backs, but they too decided the Officio was a-okay. This unwritten arrangement worked out relatively well in the beginning until [[Horus Heresy|a large quantity of fecal matter hit the air circulation device]]. Malcador first sent individual assassins then a whole execution force after Horus, but the assassins were unable to kill the wayward Primarch. Worse, [[Rogal Dorn]] learned about the existence of the Officio. Being less... tolerant... than the Custodes, Dorn did not like what he saw. So he did the [[derp|sensible thing]] and invited himself to one of the Officio's meetings, intent on [[rage|voicing his opinion on their modus operandi tactfully]]. Malcador, who would not take shit from Dorn, politely but firmly told him he should grow up. Luckily, at that point Big.E himself walked in, told Dorn the existence of the Officio was [[just as planned]] and that he should leave them alone, but at the same time he told [[Malcador]] to drop the cloak and dagger and that the Officio from now would officially be recognized and work under strict rules of engagement.

From that time on, a terminatus order could only be issued by a positive vote of the Senatorum Imperialis (AKA the [[High Lords of Terra]]) and the members of the Officio Assassinorum are kept on a very short leash. Unlike the [[Inquisition]], they have no discretionary powers of their own, [[The Beheading|because they tend to horribly abuse them if they do]].

The head of the Officio is known as the '''Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum''', or '''The Master of Assassins''', who sits alongside the Fabricator-General of Mars and the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum as one of the [[High Lords of Terra]].

Which, if you think about it, must be somewhat distracting during their meetings. The Lords are sitting around and discussing the fates of trillions of men, and as the debate goes back and forth, one of them says nothing, ever. He just sits there, smoking a lho-stick with his trench coat wrapped around him, almost completely overlooked. And then they remember that a bad decision could get them killed, and this is the guy who does that. And only that. His only job is to dispatch death on swift wings to any high official. It'd be like having the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head everywhere you went.

Members of the Officio are recruited at a very young age; most of them are children from Feral Worlds or are taken from the Schola Progenium. Recruits are biologically augmented and trained at the School of Assassins on Holy Terra for ten years before being assigned to one of the Assassin Temples to continue their training and eventually serve the Imperium.

The Assassin specialists approach Sly Marbo levels of awesome, as the Temples have permission make use of "any means or tools to get the job done," even if it means banned tech from the Dark Age of Technology (like the Terminus gland) or xeno artifacts (like the C'tan phase blade). These Assassins are also given crushingly restrictive psych treatments to ensure they never use these tools except when ordered, which can make them seem kinda spastic during downtimes when said tools are augmentations to their own body.

There are only 2 recorded examples of anyone in the Officio turning against the Imperium. Unfortunately, both times it was the Grand Master, Drakan Vangorich. The Imperium learned of the first one's butthole treachery when he had the [[High Lords of Terra]] [[The Beheading|wiped out to the last man]]. Very [[grimdark]], though the uncaring [[Eldrad|dicks]] had it coming to them. It could be said that Vangorich getting rid of the incompetent idiots was a ''good'' thing for the Imperium, but he did more harm than good in the longer run with his increasingly totalitarian ([[grimdark|totalitarian compared to the 'regular' Imperium standards which are already pretty fucked up, mind]]) ways to prevent the situation from going to shit ever again.

After that betrayal, an Astartes retribution force was dispatched to "resolve" the situation. It is not known how many marines were sent; since the force was made up of elements of three chapters ([[Halo Brethren]], [[Sable Swords]] and [[Imperial Fists]]), it was probably at least 1000 marines (400 Marines landed, half survived the initial purging, just one survived the whole “fight the Assassinorum” thing which at least proved that even ambushed by a hundred of Eversor assassins, the Astartes were still quick enough for one of them to get the job done). As soon as they landed on Terra, the commander of the force was assassinated. The remaining marines broke into the grand chamber of the Assassinorum Temple and found 100 (!) [[Eversor]] Assassins between them and their target. A single marine survived to plug the Grand Master in the brain with a boltgun. This super-hardcore-awesome-ass-kicking marine was definitely as badass as [[Darnath Lysander]]. As it turns out, it was the Imperial Fists' Chapter Master!

The other one was [[Love Can Bloom|Vindicare Assassin LIIVI]].

Ha, just kidding. The second time was during the Age of Apostasy in M36, when the Grand Master was himself assassinated by a [[Callidus]] Assassin under the orders of [[Goge Vandire]], the insane ruler of the Imperium. Of course, you don't become Grand Master without being an Assassin yourself, and it turned out that he had switched places with a body double. What followed was a civil war within the Assassinorum to mirror the one wracking the Imperium, and ended up filling the Imperial Palace with nerve gas and destroying entire wings of Mankind's greatest fortress with ancient Dark Age and xenos weaponry. Eventually, the Grand Master triumphed, but went into self-imposed exile at the end of it, and might still be alive today. After the war, the [[Inquisition]] set up the [[Ordo Sicarius]] to monitor the Assassins and make sure they stay in line.

Alas, they will always be second best, for they can never become [[Sly Marbo]] . They only exist in fluff for the purposes of showing just how bad-ass a specific enemy is. For example, during the [[Horus Heresy]], eight(!) Assassins, at least one from each temple, was sent to form an Assassin's Justice League of Doom and kill [[Horus|that asshole who started it]]. For [[Plot armor|SOME REASON]], like everyone else in the Imperium who tried to stop it, they [[FAIL|failed.]] Also, the same thing was tried during the Medusa V campaign, to assassinate the leader of the Chaos faction; seven of them failed, getting a front row seat to some [[Eldar]] stealing their kill. Imperial Armour books goes even further and currently have a Vindicare torn apart by an angry mob of Vraksian heretics after ''failing'' to shoot down his target, and Eversor being ripped to shreds by point-blank pulse carbine fire and only taking down ''one'' of his targets due to a tactical nuke strapped to his chest, with both cases causing the completely opposite effect imperials hoped for. This is known as the "[[Derp|Worf]] Effect" by [[Star Trek]] fans, or "The Avatar of Khaine effect" by Eldar players.

==Divisions==
[[File:TempleAssassinsExplained.jpg|600px]]

The Officio Assassinorum has six "temples," or specialist branches, each focused on one particular method of assassination:
* [[Callidus]] - shapeshifters, masters of infiltration. Almost all women (or [[Squad Broken|women pretending to be Orks]], or...just...try not to think about it).
* [[Culexus]] - soulless gothtards that are invisible & immune to psykers, daemons & the Warp.
* [[Eversor]] - cyborg, drugged-up killing machines that have two settings: coma and '''RIP'N'TEAR!!'''1!!1!one!
* [[Vanus]] - leet hacker NERD CHESS PLAYERS. All are genii in the fields of intelligence gathering, strategy and [[JUST AS PLANNED]]. "The cleanest kill is one that another performs in your stead with no knowledge of your incitement." They are what every neckbeard wants to be.
* [[Venenum]] - master poisoners who can take the things found in a vegan's kitchen and kill a [[Space Marine]] with the resulting mixture (death by malnutrition, presumably).
* [[Vindicare]] - snipers that can "BOOM! HEADSHOT!" from beyond the horizon.
* ''[[Maerorus]]'' - a failed attempt at creating a [[Sly Marbo|living weapon able to operate without support or equipment for a prolonged period of time.]] The only one created proved to be impossible to control and went rogue; all attempts at making more were immediately discontinued. Think Alex Mercer from Prototype, only even more sociopathic. Technically a resounding success, but decided it was too good for loyalty.

[[Death Cult Assassin|Death Cult Assassins]] aren't part of this framework; there are thousands of death cults throughout the Imperium and they each train in their own way to kill enemies of the Emperor, but are not officially-sanctioned and are more autonomous than the Assassins. Although particularly talented Death Cultists might be trained by the Assassinorum as basically a reward and either just become a better Death Cultist for it or outright be inducted as an Imperial Assassin.

==Assassinorum: Execution Force==
[[Assassinorum_Execution_Force|GeeDubs released a (rather awesome) Space Hulk-style board game]] for 1-4 players that revolves around an Execution Force - an Officio Assassinorum team comprised of a Callidus, Culexus, Vindicare, and Eversor assassin. Gameplay is a combination of Splinter Cell and X-COM, wherein the four player-controlled Assassins run through the map attempting to find a teleportarium room, which in turn will allow them to move to the second (and final) map. Once there, players must kill a boss of sorts - a Chaos Sorcerer who is trying to blah blah kill the Imperium with blibbity bloobity Chaos shenanigans. You've heard the story before. Along the way, Assassins fight Renegades (Chaos [[Cultist-chan|Cultists]] and [[Dranon|Spess Muhreens]]) which are spawned either by revealing rooms (the only way to find the teleportato and its control room) or through random events. Renegades can be alerted to the Assassins' presence by catching them in line of sight or by hearing the sounds of glorious gunplay down the hall. The Assassins, of course, are all badasses with unique attributes and abilities, including Primaris and Omegon Tactics (super special powers that can be used thrice or once per game, respectively). All in all the game is an overcosted and short-lived boardgame compared to Space Hulk, which for the same price gave you almost triple the amount of good guys and also more uniquely posed bad guys as well as over a dozen different missions with differing map layouts. Not to mention the map tiles were embossed as well. This means you would need a week or so of daily playing to finish all Space Hulk missions, while Officio Assassinorum will get boring after 3 or 4 plays. A shame, GeeDubs. A shame.

On the upside, you can take those four assassins and bring them over to a standard 40k game as henchmen for an Inquisitor.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:AnotherGameNightRuined.jpg
File:Back in the Day by DeadXCross.jpg
File:AssassinsHangout.jpg|Eversors are the [[That Guy]] of Assassins.

</gallery>

{{Template:Imperium}}

Officio Assassinorum

2022-05-08T08:30:30Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:99B5:3FD1:2C02:22AF:

[[File:Officoass1.jpeg|180px|center]]

{{Topquote|Ask not for whom they seek, lest it be thyself.|Tactica Imperium on The Officio Assassinorum}}
{{Topquote|The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.|Voltaire}}
{{Topquote|Nothing is true, everything is {{BLAM|HERESY!}}|A slightly redacted motto of the Officio Assassinorum's precursors from ancient Terra}}
{{Topquote|I'm in the retirement industry.|Agent 47}}

[[File:Armyof4byIronShrineMaiden.jpg |200px|thumb|right|Dawwww.]]

You can tell you don't mess with the '''Officio Assassinorium'''. Anyone, from the lowliest of workers to the [[High Lords of Terra]], at ANY moment, is open to either having their brains spilled on pavement by a sniper round, their spleen torn out by screaming Wry-man, shanked by dear old mum for no apparent reason, or if they're a psyker die in absolute terror unable to use their powers. When the shit hits the fan, these are the guys that get their hands dirty. It's all about the wetwork. This branch of the [[Administratum]] recruits, trains and commands Assassins of all kinds; for more information on the individual Assassin types, please visit [[Assassin|this page]].

==History==
[[File:Nemesis_02.jpg|400px|thumb|left|If the [[Imperial Guard]] is the hammer of the [[EMPRAH]] and the [[Space Marines | SPESS MEHREENS]] are the sword, the operatives of the Officio Assassinorum are the poisoned needle. The scary thing is that that daemon in the back probably isn't the deadliest thing in the picture.]]
The Officio Assassinorum was founded at the beginning of the [[Great Crusade]] as a department for holding any up-and-coming warlords or heretical leaders accountable for their actions. And by "accountable" we mean "disposed of". And by "disposed of" we mean "killed so hard that they will die to death". Originally such work was performed by the [[Alpha Legion]], although like much of those bastards' history it's hard to be sure. Formed by [[Malcador the Sigillite]] and the six masters of the Clades (the future temples), it was founded in extreme secrecy in an attempt to keep it out of the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]]'s knowledge and maintain his purity (a concept the Big.E always found funny). It's even more amusing that they thought they could hide something from someone capable of basically hearing the thoughts of every human at once. And they all seem to know of one another.

In the beginning, the Officio acted independently in the shadows under the guidance of [[Malcador the Sigillite]], their existence kept mostly secret. As mentioned, [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Empers]] knew from the beginning but tolerated the Officio. Constantin Valdor and the [[Adeptus Custodes|guys in gold]] found out pretty quickly there were other people dealing with threats to the Emperor behind their (and His) backs, but they too decided the Officio was a-okay. This unwritten arrangement worked out relatively well in the beginning until [[Horus Heresy|a large quantity of fecal matter hit the air circulation device]]. Malcador first sent individual assassins then a whole execution force after Horus, but the assassins were unable to kill the wayward Primarch. Worse, [[Rogal Dorn]] learned about the existence of the Officio. Being less... tolerant... than the Custodes, Dorn did not like what he saw. So he did the [[derp|sensible thing]] and invited himself to one of the Officio's meetings, intent on [[rage|voicing his opinion on their modus operandi tactfully]]. Malcador, who would not take shit from Dorn, politely but firmly told him he should grow up. Luckily, at that point Big.E himself walked in, told Dorn the existence of the Officio was [[just as planned]] and that he should leave them alone, but at the same time he told [[Malcador]] to drop the cloak and dagger and that the Officio from now would officially be recognized and work under strict rules of engagement.

From that time on, a terminatus order could only be issued by a positive vote of the Senatorum Imperialis (AKA the [[High Lords of Terra]]) and the members of the Officio Assassinorum are kept on a very short leash. Unlike the [[Inquisition]], they have no discretionary powers of their own, [[The Beheading|because they tend to horribly abuse them if they do]].

The head of the Officio is known as the '''Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum''', or '''The Master of Assassins''', who sits alongside the Fabricator-General of Mars and the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum as one of the [[High Lords of Terra]].

Which, if you think about it, must be somewhat distracting during their meetings. The Lords are sitting around and discussing the fates of trillions of men, and as the debate goes back and forth, one of them says nothing, ever. He just sits there, smoking a lho-stick with his trench coat wrapped around him, almost completely overlooked. And then they remember that a bad decision could get them killed, and this is the guy who does that. And only that. His only job is to dispatch death on swift wings to any high official. It'd be like having the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head everywhere you went.

Members of the Officio are recruited at a very young age; most of them are children from Feral Worlds or are taken from the Schola Progenium. Recruits are biologically augmented and trained at the School of Assassins on Holy Terra for ten years before being assigned to one of the Assassin Temples to continue their training and eventually serve the Imperium.

The Assassin specialists approach Sly Marbo levels of awesome, as the Temples have permission make use of "any means or tools to get the job done," even if it means banned tech from the Dark Age of Technology (like the Terminus gland) or xeno artifacts (like the C'tan phase blade). These Assassins are also given crushingly restrictive psych treatments to ensure they never use these tools except when ordered, which can make them seem kinda spastic during downtimes when said tools are augmentations to their own body.

There are only 2 recorded examples of anyone in the Officio turning against the Imperium. Unfortunately, both times it was the Grand Master, Drakan Vangorich. The Imperium learned of the first one's butthole treachery when he had the [[High Lords of Terra]] [[The Beheading|wiped out to the last man]]. Very [[grimdark]], though the uncaring [[Eldrad|dicks]] had it coming to them. It could be said that Vangorich getting rid of the incompetent idiots was a ''good'' thing for the Imperium, but he did more harm than good in the longer run with his increasingly totalitarian ([[grimdark|totalitarian compared to the 'regular' Imperium standards which are already pretty fucked up, mind]]) ways to prevent the situation from going to shit ever again.

After that betrayal, an Astartes retribution force was dispatched to "resolve" the situation. It is not known how many marines were sent; since the force was made up of elements of three chapters ([[Halo Brethren]], [[Sable Swords]] and [[Imperial Fists]]), it was probably at least 1000 marines (400 Marines landed, half survived the initial purging, just one survived the whole “fight the Assassinorum” thing which at least proved that even ambushed by a hundred of Eversor assassins, the Astartes were still quick enough for one of them to get the job done). As soon as they landed on Terra, the commander of the force was assassinated. The remaining marines broke into the grand chamber of the Assassinorum Temple and found 100 (!) [[Eversor]] Assassins between them and their target. A single marine survived to plug the Grand Master in the brain with a boltgun. This super-hardcore-awesome-ass-kicking marine was definitely as badass as [[Darnath Lysander]]. As it turns out, it was the Imperial Fists' Chapter Master!

The other one was [[Love Can Bloom|Vindicare Assassin LIIVI]].

Ha, just kidding. The second time was during the Age of Apostasy in M36, when the Grand Master was himself assassinated by a [[Callidus]] Assassin under the orders of [[Goge Vandire]], the insane ruler of the Imperium. Of course, you don't become Grand Master without being an Assassin yourself, and it turned out that he had switched places with a body double. What followed was a civil war within the Assassinorum to mirror the one wracking the Imperium, and ended up filling the Imperial Palace with nerve gas and destroying entire wings of Mankind's greatest fortress with ancient Dark Age and xenos weaponry. Eventually, the Grand Master triumphed, but went into self-imposed exile at the end of it, and might still be alive today. After the war, the [[Inquisition]] set up the [[Ordo Sicarius]] to monitor the Assassins and make sure they stay in line.

Alas, they will always be second best, for they can never become [[Sly Marbo]] . They only exist in fluff for the purposes of showing just how bad-ass a specific enemy is. For example, during the [[Horus Heresy]], eight(!) Assassins, at least one from each temple, was sent to form an Assassin's Justice League of Doom and kill [[Horus|that asshole who started it]]. For [[Plot armor|SOME REASON]], like everyone else in the Imperium who tried to stop it, they [[FAIL|failed.]] Also, the same thing was tried during the Medusa V campaign, to assassinate the leader of the Chaos faction; seven of them failed, getting a front row seat to some [[Eldar]] stealing their kill. Imperial Armour books goes even further and currently have a Vindicare torn apart by an angry mob of Vraksian heretics after ''failing'' to shoot down his target, and Eversor being ripped to shreds by point-blank pulse carbine fire and only taking down ''one'' of his targets due to a tactical nuke strapped to his chest, with both cases causing the completely opposite effect imperials hoped for. This is known as the "[[Derp|Worf]] Effect" by [[Star Trek]] fans, or "The Avatar of Khaine effect" by Eldar players.

==Divisions==
[[File:TempleAssassinsExplained.jpg|600px]]

The Officio Assassinorum has six "temples," or specialist branches, each focused on one particular method of assassination:
* [[Callidus]] - shapeshifters, masters of infiltration. Almost all women (or [[Squad Broken|women pretending to be Orks]], or...just...try not to think about it).
* [[Culexus]] - soulless gothtards that are invisible & immune to psykers, daemons & the Warp.
* [[Eversor]] - cyborg, drugged-up killing machines that have two settings: coma and '''RIP'N'TEAR!!'''1!!1!one!
* [[Vanus]] - leet hacker NERD CHESS PLAYERS. All are genii in the fields of intelligence gathering, strategy and [[JUST AS PLANNED]]. "The cleanest kill is one that another performs in your stead with no knowledge of your incitement." They are what every neckbeard wants to be.
* [[Venenum]] - master poisoners who can take the things found in a vegan's kitchen and kill a [[Space Marine]] with the resulting mixture (death by malnutrition, presumably).
* [[Vindicare]] - snipers that can "BOOM! HEADSHOT!" from beyond the horizon.
* ''[[Maerorus]]'' - a failed attempt at creating a [[Sly Marbo|living weapon able to operate without support or equipment for a prolonged period of time.]] The only one created proved to be impossible to control and went rogue; all attempts at making more were immediately discontinued. Think Alex Mercer from Prototype, only even more sociopathic. Technically a resounding success, but decided it was too good for loyalty.

[[Death Cult Assassin|Death Cult Assassins]] aren't part of this framework; there are thousands of death cults throughout the Imperium and they each train in their own way to kill enemies of the Emperor, but are not officially-sanctioned and are more autonomous than the Assassins. Although particularly talented Death Cultists might be trained by the Assassinorum as basically a reward and either just become a better Death Cultist for it or outright be inducted as an Imperial Assassin.

==Assassinorum: Execution Force==
[[Assassinorum_Execution_Force|GeeDubs released a (rather awesome) Space Hulk-style board game]] for 1-4 players that revolves around an Execution Force - an Officio Assassinorum team comprised of a Callidus, Culexus, Vindicare, and Eversor assassin. Gameplay is a combination of Splinter Cell and X-COM, wherein the four player-controlled Assassins run through the map attempting to find a teleportarium room, which in turn will allow them to move to the second (and final) map. Once there, players must kill a boss of sorts - a Chaos Sorcerer who is trying to blah blah kill the Imperium with blibbity bloobity Chaos shenanigans. You've heard the story before. Along the way, Assassins fight Renegades (Chaos [[Cultist-chan|Cultists]] and [[Dranon|Spess Muhreens]]) which are spawned either by revealing rooms (the only way to find the teleportato and its control room) or through random events. Renegades can be alerted to the Assassins' presence by catching them in line of sight or by hearing the sounds of glorious gunplay down the hall. The Assassins, of course, are all badasses with unique attributes and abilities, including Primaris and Omegon Tactics (super special powers that can be used thrice or once per game, respectively). All in all the game is an overcosted and short-lived boardgame compared to Space Hulk, which for the same price gave you almost triple the amount of good guys and also more uniquely posed bad guys as well as over a dozen different missions with differing map layouts. Not to mention the map tiles were embossed as well. This means you would need a week or so of daily playing to finish all Space Hulk missions, while Officio Assassinorum will get boring after 3 or 4 plays. A shame, GeeDubs. A shame.

On the upside, you can take those four assassins and bring them over to a standard 40k game as henchmen for an Inquisitor.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:AnotherGameNightRuined.jpg
File:Back in the Day by DeadXCross.jpg
File:AssassinsHangout.jpg|Eversors are the [[That Guy]] of Assassins.

</gallery>

{{Template:Imperium}}