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Arelex Orannis

2016-10-11T04:35:47Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* A fan's attempt at rules */

{{Infobox /tg/-Heresy Primarch
|name= Arelex Orannis
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Arelex_orannis.jpg|225px]]
|title= Supreme Lord of Atalantos, High Commander of the Galactic Core March
|where=Space Hulk ''Palaestram Matyas''
|when=c.806.M30
|legion=[[War Scribes|Second]]
|crusade=4th [[Expedition Fleets (Hektor Heresy)|Expedition Fleet]]
|sigil=[[File:War_scribes_icons2.png|100px]]
|weapon= ''Lux Universalis''
|trait= Innate technological skills, calculated aggression
|flaw= Clannish attitude
|heresy=Loyal
|fate=
|dominion= The Atalantos Worlds
}}
{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

''By way of conclusion, I should note that writing this text has been tremendously more difficult than the previous "Lives". In each case prior to this, I had the benefit of Arelex's brilliant recall, insightful criticism and careful editing. The loss has been far more devastating than I could have anticipated.''

''While I am not privy to the full workings of our administration, I have little doubt that Arelex's passing has been just as troubling to their work as it has been to mine.''

(Excerpt from ''Arelex Orannis: as he was'', by Gaspard Lumey)

Arelex Orannis was one of the godlike [[Primarchs (Hektor Heresy)|Primarchs]] created by the Emperor of Mankind and scattered throughout the Galaxy by the Ruinous Powers. After he was rediscovered, he led the [[War Scribes]] and played an important role in directing the campaigns of the [[Legiones Astartes (Hektor Heresy)|Legiones Astartes]] as a whole. Though he had a few close friends and was cool to mere acquaintances, the Primarch's example is held up to the soldiers and citizens of the Imperium as a model of diligent service. Along with his military victories, Arelex Orannis is particularly well-remembered for his work in reforming the Imperium after the Hektor Heresy.

==History==

The long life of Arelex Orannis was characterised by a succession of great quests for lost treasures. While he was lost to the Emperor, Arelex sought the ancient heritage of the Iborak spacers. After his return to the Imperial fold, the Primarch planned great expeditions to liberate man from darkness, but he also set his great mind to seeking out mighty weapons and machines crafted in the Dark Age of Technology.

{|class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px; width: 30%; border-style: solid; border-width: 4px"
|'''The Serf's tale - Whitestone'''
|-
|''All alone in that long night of space, the planet Whitestone huddles in close to her little red star. She stays near enough to warm and I hear there's hard-working folk still eking out living from her soil. But most of the times I've heard Whitestone mentioned it has nothing much to do with current events. When people speak of Whitestone, they're learned folk and they speak of her history - or they're old fools like me who can keep a tale straight in their heads.''

''Now, back in what the preachers call the Dark Age of Technology, even the meanest of Whitestone's people lived as lords and ladies do now. Ever faithful iron men tended their farms, taught their children, and even picked out their clothes! For generations, a life of sumptuous luxury was enjoyed by all - and that just couldn't last. The iron men realised - or, maybe they was taught - that their toil would end if only they did away with the troublesome men and women of Whitestone.''

''If it weren't for the awakening of Whitestone's cunning folk, more than likely every scrap of human life would have been picked from her. I say more than likely because nobody knows quite why those witches came into their powers during those bleak days. Maybe the shock of the iron men going bad yanked open their eyes so wide that they couldn't help seeing more than a person should. Or maybe the iron men went mad because they could feel the catastrophe coming, like animals do when the earth's about to quake. I've even heard it told, if quietly, that the iron men never broke their faith with mankind and only tried to cut the throats of the cunning folk, so as to save the rest of Whitestone's people. But for whatever reason, the cunning folk's great powers came to life and they unleashed hellfire and damnation on their former servants. Sometimes their tainted gifts came too late to save their lives and all that could be had was payback, but they kept paying back until there were no more iron men to look up at Whitestone's ruddy star. That was no kindness to anyone else, because the cunning folk felt like they shouldn't have to give up the luxury of days gone by and if there weren't iron men to do all the work then flesh men would be near enough as good.''

''Had those troubles just been Whitestone's to bear, soon enough they wouldn't be no trouble at all. Ships would bring comfort and take away those who needed more, the way they always do in decent times. Sadly, those weren't decent times. The whole galaxy was burning up with the very same ills as Whitestone, the Warp and the Machine letting loose on mankind like it was their one and only chance to punish us for all our misdeeds. Patient types, the Warp and the Machine, but they cling on to their chances and they'd keep on letting loose on men and women for fifty centuries. They didn't let up until the Emperor began to pierce the dark with his Light, and even then the Warp and the Machine, they'd be waiting and looking for another chance to whip us again. I reckon they're like any creature, if you treat them bad enough they'll get past mad and just learn to hate. So you keep that in mind: we might need the Warp and the Machine, but wrapped up in them is a powerful hate for all mankind.''
|}

===Youth===

Arelex's pod took a very strange route, emerging from the Warp inside an ancient Space Hulk, rather than on a collision course with a planet like most of his brothers' pods. The scattered tribesmen, descendants of the original crews from those doomed voidcraft, were amazed when the hulk left the Warp, but this time something stayed behind from its travels. Opening the pod, they found a young infant boy, and despite the ever-present fear of starvation, the tribe added him to their numbers and accepted one more mouth to feed and shelter from the darkness.

Arelex grew quickly, learning the hulk's ever changing ways from his elders and from first-hand experience. For one with his genetic gifts, the deadly serious business of day-to-day survival also became something of a game. Young Arelex delighted in putting his skills to use, climbing, crawling, sprinting and free-falling through every darkened corner of the colossal metal world, learning all he could of the ship's ways. He would often speak of "listening to the world's songs", and indeed, Arelex could foresee danger than none of his tribesmen even suspected, simply by catching minute fragments of sound that heralded disaster. On more than one occasion, Arelex convinced the tribe to pack up and move elsewhere, sometimes mere moments before an explosion or a swarm of mutant horrors would have descended upon them. In time, he became considered something of a seer, and the tribe's shamans initiated him into their deepest mysteries, his adopted father and tribal leader Ar-El chief among their membership.

Though Arelex was hopeless at reading the mists of time and possibility like his adopted elders, he proved unexpectedly gifted when listening to their oral histories, songs of the long-dead vessels that made up the hulk, and the various fragmented tales of their systems and equipment, and how to maintain them. By these eternal songs, passed down from shaman to shaman, the fragmented Geller Field generators were kept barely functional, providing the tribe "safe" havens when the hulk inevitably returned to the Warp once more. The songs spoke of many other wondrous things, but the tribe simply had no time to spare investigating their truth. Survival came first.

Arelex, on the other hand, was ill-content with this state of affairs. For most of his teenage years, he harassed the shamans to sing the songs over and over, memorizing their least detail. Every trinket, every relic, every heirloom the tribe still kept, all were mercilessly examined by the boy-Primarch. And miraculously... a few of them began to reveal unsuspected secrets. And he began to venture far afield.

For days, weeks at a time, Arelex would disappear into the fathomless depths of the hulk, and armed with nothing more than a few sharp pieces of hull metal, he would retrieve trinkets and baubles, dataslates and pass-codes, and the corpses of mutants, Orks, and other unknown xenos he had killed. The tribe ate well those days. Over time, some of the braver youths began to follow their hero into the blackness, and Arelex's little band of boys tore their way from one end of the hulk to the other, practicing a fearless style of patient combat. When outmatched, they waited. Watching. Stalking. Eventually, the mutant would make a mistake. The Ork would quarrel with his comrades. The xeno would slumber. And then Arelex and his friends would act, striking without restraint or fear, plunging their knives deep into the foe's vulnerable flesh. By these methods, the tribe prospered and grew.

And fragmented though they were, the tidbits of ancient times Arelex retrieved were beginning to form recognizable patterns in the Primarch's mind. One piece led to another, and the two together unlocked a third, and Arelex began to unlock doors held frozen for thousands of years, and awaken cogitators slumbering since their masters died centuries ago. It could not be called a "love" of learning, for the merciless needs of survival drove Arelex forward, not some intellectual pursuit, but learn he did, and value learning Arelex would. His genetically enhanced body let him kill, but his razor-sharp mind let him '''win'''. And with time, the teenage hellion grew into a gifted savage, an educated tribesman, a leader of his people.

The tribe was all, and all were the tribe. No greater sin than harming a tribesman existed, and the only possible sentence was exile to a certain death in the blackness. The camaraderie of friends and family was a faint light against the horrors of life, and Arelex grew up steeped in that warm embrace of people who work for each other as much as themselves. Despite life's harshness, the Primarch would occasionally remark on his upbringing as a high point in his life, something that many of his brother Primarchs could not say. The people quarreled from time to time, but true divisiveness was swiftly crushed by survival's labor. His adopted family, father, mother, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, all knew him by name, and he knew them. Without those bonds, the tribe would have perished long ago, and Arelex took pride in maintaining them. And once Arelex rose to lead the tribe, those bonds helped him overcome their fears, and begin to push back the darkness.

In a campaign as terrible and challenging as any he would fight for the Imperium, young Arelex rallied his people and struck outward, using his carefully accumulated storehouse of lore to access new parts of the hulk, and bring some of its systems back online. New Geller Field generators were found and re-powered, giving the tribe more safe houses to shelter in. Xenos and mutants were killed by reactivated auto-sentries, and their meat fed the tribe, allowing their numbers to grow. Guns were retrieved from ancient lockers, so the tribe could protect itself in Arelex's absence.

Arelex's crowning achievement, surpassing even the final bloodstained purges that reclaimed the entire hulk for his tribe, was reactivating the Navigator chambers from a long-dormant military cruiser embedded in the hulk's core. The Warp Drive of the ancient voidship was responsible for its uncontrolled descents into the Warp, and Arelex reasoned that by restoring these systems as best he could, perhaps the hulk could be aimed, even piloted. The risks were beyond calculation, but the hulk itself was singing a tale of death and destruction. All things come to an end, and their metal world had precious few Warp Jumps left in it before the whole hulk broke apart and doomed them all.

The Primarch would have to act soon, his hand forced by time's remorseless passage. The tribe's shamans carried thin remnants of intermingled blood from Navigators and psykers, forged in ancient days of interbreeding between stranded crew members. None of them had the long-lost Third Eye, only a faint ability to sense the Warp beyond the hull like a blind man groping in the dark. But it would have to be enough. Better groping hands than none at all.

And so the tribe braced themselves within the glowing borders of the Geller Fields, while Arelex and the shamans took their places deep within the hulk. For the first time, Arelex felt true fear, as he commended his entire tribe to the Warp, and the hulk's protection. The Primarch gambled all he had ever known on his own skills, and the strength of Mankind's works.

The hulk disappeared from mortal sight, leaving only blackness behind. Arelex thought of planets, and suns. Strange things known only from ancient stories, worlds with practically infinite space, where life was easy and the air was clean. Titanic balls of fire which nurtured life, rather than the fitful and often explosive emergency lights that dimly lit their world. Lands where water flowed freely, where food grew of its own accord without needing the blood of mutants to drink. Wonders beyond measure, surely. As the Warp howled close around them, Arelex put his faith in the stories, and chose to believe that such things could exist.

Forward. Ever forward. To turn back is to die, to become fearful is to fall into oblivion. Dashing from console to console, Arelex kept the hulk's fragile components alive, while his father and the other shamans turned their every thought to finding a path through the Warp, to the homeworld of humanity spoken of in so many ancient songs. To the Cradle of Man. To Earth. To Terra.

But the Warp would not let them pass so easily.

It was fortunate indeed that the hulk was located fairly close to Terra, for Arelex's journey would have been short by the standards of Imperial voidcraft. But with a jury-rigged composite of a thousand dead vessels? Without a Navigator? Without any real understanding of the Warp, or the void? Terra might as well have been in another galaxy. Their Warp jump began as smoothly as could have been hoped, and for a time the winds of Chaos were calm. The shamans' navigation was crude in the extreme, and their fumbling hands began to roil the Sea of Souls in their passage. The entire hulk began to shudder and groan, and Arelex's ears picked up the unmistakable sounds of imminent failure building in its components.

The rough seas became a sudden hurricane without warning, and their most skilled psychic, shaman Ke-Kos, burst into lurid flames of a million hues, dying horribly as the fury of the Warp forced itself through his brain. Something horrible began to pull itself through his smoldering body as it fell to the deck, but with his life force severed, the creature never fully manifested, vanishing from whence it came without the shaman's power to sustain itself. Even though it existed for the blink of an eye, Arelex would never forget the jagged shard of fear that shot through him in that moment. Hull-wraiths he knew. Hull-wraiths he had killed before, breaking their ghostly, icy forms with his bare hands. This was something far, far greater and more terrible than those. And as the hulk shrieked metallic sounds of pain, Arelex began to lose his confidence. The tribe had no choice, the hulk was dying. He knew this. But had he chosen the wisest path? Could they have pried a voidship loose and flown it to safety?

There was no time. Ke-Kos was dead, and to stop now meant certain death. Shaman Ar-El was the next best option. Arelex knew this. But he also knew it meant killing his own father. Committing the greatest of sins, kinslaying. With a face as grim and haggard as death itself, Arelex asked his father to die for the Primarch's sins, and find them a path through the storm Arelex had guided them into.

And so he did. A kind of golden aura surrounded Arelex's adopted father, something unseen and unheard of in any of the ancient tales. His strength seemed to multiply a hundredfold, and the hulk abruptly changed course in the Warp's shifting currents. Though they were no longer headed for Terra, Ar-El sang to the tribe, sang of a golden beacon in the madness that promised safety. Arelex believed his father mad, dying, grasping for hope where surely there was none. And yet, what choice was there? The Primarch bent his every skill to sustaining the physical vessel, while Ar-El guided them inexorably towards the beacon.

The hulk could take no more, and Arelex engaged the cogitators that would return them to reality. Shrieking in protest as they burst from the Warp, the hulk's systems flashed and died in showers of electrical sparks, never to awaken again. And shaman Ar-El died with them, his own form twisting and distorting horribly as the Warp claimed one final price in blood for disturbing it so arrogantly. His bones and muscle stretched and twisted, drawing themselves out like putty into the shape of a leering skull, then all caught ablaze in violet fire with a final howl of terror.

Nothing more than ash remained of Arelex's father, and even that ash was swallowed up into the Warp.

But, they had arrived around a planet, drifting just inside the orbit of its innermost moon, a beautiful white jewel orbiting above a colossal orb of blue, green, and brown. Its parent star burned a warm orangish-yellow, and Arelex wept as its light fell upon him, the first starlight any of them had ever known. And around the planet, a host of small stars burned brightly in the void, coming ever closer to the colossal interloper suddenly in their midst. The hulk had failed in its quest to reach Terra, but the Emperor had found another of his children. Immediately recognizing Arelex's presence, the Emperor's mighty flagship put on flank speed to reach his as soon as possible, pulling ahead of the fleet with haste.

The golden giant teleported aboard the hulk in a brilliant flash, only to see a stonefaced young Primarch standing apart from his tribe, bitter tears running down his cheeks. Though the people comforted his adoptive mother, Arelex himself dared not touch her. The Primarch made arrangements to have his tribe settled on the planet below, and to have the Space Hulk that had sheltered them all these years repaired and remade into an orbital station, a sentry to guard them forevermore. Arelex would see to it that his family led a good life, but he would never return to them again. The code of the tribe was absolute. A kinslayer must go into exile.

And so, Ar-El-Ex Or-Ann-Is, son of shaman Ar-El and of mother Or-Ann, would take the name Arelex Orannis, and become Primarch of Legio Secundus, the first Primarch to have been found beyond Terra, and brother to Hektor, who had remained upon Terra thanks to Malcador the Sage. Though stricken with grief, Arelex walled off the part of him that had been a tribesman aboard the hulk, and strode forward to an unknown destiny at the Emperor's side, with a new tribe to call his own.

He would not fail them as he had his adoptive father.

===The Great Crusade===

Joining Arelex on the Crusade were the warriors of the II Legion.

Over time, almost 10,000 of the most aggressive War Scribes split into smaller squads, ranging far and wide across the Galaxy in scouting expeditions, and their reconnaissance proved quite valuable to Imperial strategy and planning.

Some of the more prominent worlds near the Galactic Core, a few dozen in number, became known as [[the Atalantos Worlds]], a realm where the embers of Humanity's past were slowly, painfully being rekindled into a blaze of power. Arelex's Space Hulk "homeworld" was not among these worlds, being so close to Terra and now firmly integrated into the Imperium, and so the War Scribes primarily recruited from Atalantos, the world for which the area was named, as well as the vast civilian and Legion Serf population aboard their colossal fleet.

At the [[Council of Nikaea (Hektor Heresy)|Council of Nikaea]], Arelex was...

===The Hektor Heresy===

To reinforce the Legion, all the exploration squads were immediately recalled, and more than 10,000 warriors returned to bolster the Legion's ranks. If not for their presence, Imperial scholars agree that the War Scribes would be no more than a footnote to history. Immediately, an urgent call for recruits was sent out to all the Atalantos Worlds, and a massive wave of War Scribes was created. Arelex suffered mightily during this time, as his Legion's need for gene-seed drained him severely. While he labored to heal his Legion, he could think of nothing but his own failures.

===Post-Heresy===

==Personality==

The Primarch of the Second Legion was known to outsiders as stern, aloof and secretive. His men and few friends outside the Legion knew a warmer figure, patient, generous, and highly-protective of his loved ones. Whether due to his innate temperament, or the brutal conditions of life aboard the Space Hulk '' Palaestram Matyas'', Arelex Orannis was slow to trust, even slower to form friendships, but extraordinarily loyal to those whom he named "friend". Those few who he called "brother" knew that there was almost anything they could ask of the Primarch - though Hektor Cincinnatus would discover to his cost that Arelex held his father in even higher esteem.

Indeed, none of the other Primarchs felt such a close attachment to the Emperor of Mankind. Arelex's speeches to his Legion are replete with heartfelt appeals to the War Scribes to make every sacrifice possible for their master. The loss of his gene-sons for the Emperor's Great Crusade chafed, no doubt, at the Primarch's conscience, and he ordered the construction of many monuments to the fallen on the legendary planets of the Atalantos Worlds. First among these, of course, is the spectacular ''Gift of the Emperor'' on Keilos. This magnificent Hive City stands as a tribute to the Emperor's sacrifice at the Siege of Terra. For a hundred centuries its teeming millions have dedicated themselves to the praise of humanity's fallen lord.

Those outside the Primarch's close circles of loyalty received little regard. A few fragmentary records from the Great Crusade point to Arelex Orannis ordering his men to preempt the actions of other Legions for the sake of acquiring a piece of ancient technology or lost data. Such finds were only released to the Mechanicum when absolutely necessary, and Arelex was not above using his position as the "son of the Omnissiah" to get his way with Fabricator-General [[Kalkas Tygian]]. Such high-handedness, and the War Scribes' bitter break with the Mechanicum after the battle of Dieseleum, would not be without its cost.

==Appearance==

Arelex is a bald, hulking mass of scar tissue, shallow gouges from long-healed projectile wounds, and burn marks from both Warp energies and sparking electricity and plasma. Growing up inside the nightmarish tangle of metal and energy that is a Space Hulk left indelible marks even on the body of a Primarch. They are signs of a lifetime spent delving into dangerous places in search of relics and lore with which to protect his tribe, and the price that must be paid when attempting to reverse the decay of millennia. They are also the unmistakable marks of a man who has struggled with nameless mutant horrors with nothing more than fist, foot, and fury.

The right side of his jaw and cheek has much of the flesh replaced with bionics, a grim but treasured reminder of his second year spent among his Legion, hunting and being hunted, challenging them to reach new heights, and their final achievement in bringing their Gene-sire down at last.

Shorter in stature than most Primarchs, he stands only a few inches taller than the average Space Marine, though quite a bit broader at the shoulder and extremely muscular. His compact frame served him well crawling through the maze in which he grew to manhood, and his endurance is truly inhuman. Large hands and a short, thick neck give him something of a wrestler's look, and to fall into a grapple with Arelex is to court death.

Though his body is scarred, ravaged, and frightening, the Primarch's pale green eyes are oddly kind, a reminder of the gentler man he might have been had his pod not been spirited away.

==Wargear==

Arelex's armor is well equipped for almost any need. Crafted by the finest Martian savants, it is a masterpiece of form and function. A multitude of useful tools are cleverly miniaturized and concealed beneath thick armor plates. Inside the expanded power pack lurks a powerful force-field of arcane design liberated from the Space Hulk where Arelex grew up. Enormous thrusters jut from the armor's shoulders, capable of lifting even a Primarch aloft. If needed, Arelex can remain airborne for considerable time, useful for both land and space operations. Finally, a complex array of sensors and communications arrays fill the helmet and run underneath each armor plate, using the entire suit as a resonator antenna to speak with troops on the ground and in orbit. With the advanced HUD systems, Arelex can maintain near-total battlefield awareness at all times.

Upon the helmet is a small silver plate reading ''Dominus Legio'', "Master of the Legion".

Arelex's preferred weaponry is at first glance unassuming, appearing little more than a fancy las-rifle. It is obviously well constructed, and designed with a nearly imperviously rugged, utilitarian outer casing. Many firearms are larger, and many are more potent. This particular rifle is a tricky piece of equipment, however. With a simple mental signal from the wielder, the gun alters the energy it emits. At need, Arelex's rifle can produce energies analogous to Melta, Las, Plasma, Volkite, Gauss, and other, still more esoteric wavelengths. Though no more potent than a well-crafted version of each individual firearm, combining all of them into one tool is marvelously useful.

Arelex made the simple addition of a Power Bayonet for close quarters combat himself, and named the gun ''Lux Universalis'', "Universal Light".

==A fan's attempt at rules==
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="left"
! || PTS || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Arelex Oranis:''' || 390 || 6 || 8 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 5 || 10 || 2+/4++
|} 

Unit type: Independent Character, Jump Infantry, Flying Monstrous Creature*.

Wargear: Archeotech Pistol, Lux Universalis, Utilitae Plate, Neural Data Suite.

Special Rules: Acute Senses, Adamantium Will, Bulky, Crusader, Deep Strike, Enhanced Awareness, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Fearless, Fleet, Hit and Run, Independent Character, It Will Not Die, Night Vision, Master of the Legion, Perfect Coordination.

'''Lux Universalis'''- The famous rifle of the second Primarch. Lux universalis is one of the most complex weapons ever created, an archeotech rifle that fires a wide array of different energies. When shooting, choose one of the profiles listed below. In assault, use the melee profile.

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="left"
! || S || AP || Range ||
|-
| '''Melee''' || U || 2 || - || Shred, Specialist Weapon
|-
| '''Las''' || 3 || - || 24' || Assault 15, Shred
|-
| '''Gauss''' || S4 || AP5 || 30' || Assault 6, Gauss
|-
| '''Volkite''' || S5 || AP4 || 36' || Assault 5, Deflagrate
|-
| '''Plasma''' || 7 || 2 || 30' || Assault 4, Blast
|-
| '''Melta''' || 8 || 1 || 24' || Assault 3, Melta
|-
| '''Mass Driver''' || 10 || 1 || 72' || Heavy 1, Lance, Large Blast, One Use
|} 

'''Utilitae Plate'''- Mastercrafted armor from the forges of Mars, with a few extras added at the Primarch's request. In addition to adding a 2+ 4++, it counts as having a Nuncio Vox, Arelex inflicts D3 hammer of wrath instead of 1, and he and his unit do not scatter when deepstriking. Additionally, the thrusters in his backpack allow him to function as Jump Infantry or if he chooses, to fly as a flying monstrous creature, with all the movement rules that implies.

'''Neural Data Suite'''- Arelex's custom made sensory data suite and HUD, constantly streams battlefield data and tactical information. It counts as a Cognis Signum, and provides the following benefits: A rerollable 5+ to seize the initiative, you may begin rolling reserves on turn 1, and all deep striking units in his army halve their scatter distance.

'''Enhanced Awareness'''- Arelex's many years in the space hulk trained his awareness and instincts to an incredible level, even beyond that of his brothers. Any ranged attack made by Arelex has the Ignores Cover special rule. Arelex is also immune to Blind and Concussive, and gains the Acute Senses and Night Vision special rules.

'''Perfect Coordination'''- Arelex grants any elite slot unit with '''Legiones Astartes: War Scribes''' Outflank and Deep Strike, so long as they are infantry and have no dedicated transport.

Arelex is... Weird. There's really no comparison for him in any other character in the game, though he kind of plays like a mix of [[Phoenix Lord|Asurmen and Bharroth]]. Kind of. He's obviously intended to jump or fly around the battlefield, using his insane firepower to blast the crap out of anything that gets in front of him. He'll be a pain to fliers, what with taking his Melta and Gauss into the air, he can mulch Guardsmen and minor demons with his Volkite and Las functions, and Tanks and Lords of War with his Melta and S10 AP1 Lance, Large Blast, "Fuck your general area" single-shot mass driver. He can threaten literally anything, is hard to catch and almost impossible to pin down, and offers some fun army bonuses. On the other hand, he's not great at fighting any one thing. In melee, he's the weakest Primarch in the game, /tg/ or canon, and he's unlikely to earn back his point cost across the game purely on damage like other Primarchs will (unless you get lucky and pop a Spartan or a group of Snowflake Terminators with his mass driver), but with his insane mobility and his respectable versatility and his army buffs he's still quite useful. Add to that his very low point cost (for a Primarch), and he's actually one of the more ''practical'' choices for a Primarch, ''especially'' in a 2000 point game or smaller.

{{/tg/-Heresy-Primarchs}}

The Atalantos Worlds

2016-10-11T04:07:49Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Anomaly Centroid R-391/C-6 */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

==History of Atalantos==

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Basilikon Atalantos
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Basilikon_Atalantos.jpg|200px]]
|type= Fortress-Monastery
|pop= 10,000,000
|governor= Chapter Master
|system= Atalantos
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Primaris
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Near the Galactic Core, life is harsh and brutal. Intense radiation coming from the tightly clustered stars and the monstrous black hole at the Galaxy's heart sterilize all life from worlds that draw too close. It is an all too common lament for many stillborn races that the vagaries of gravity draw their system's orbit into this tempest, burning them from existence in the uncaring glare. However, the Galactic Core is also one of the most vibrant places in a Galaxy that elsewhere is cold, dark, and all too dead, filled with a plethora of rare resources and ancient ruins that outlived their luckless owners. Many a planet in this region holds ancient troves of knowledge and relics, left behind after their masters demise.

It was these legends that drew [[Arelex Orannis]] and the [[War Scribes]] inward towards the roiling cauldrons of fire, flush with the successes of the early Great Crusade years and eager to bring back treasure and impress the Emperor. The quest to secure these planets was an arduous one, a slow slog of claiming dead worlds, armoring them against the Core's radiation, and then examining them in minute detail for anything useful. Slowly but steadily, the War Scribes pushed the Imperium's boundaries inward, facing off against hideous beings of pure energy, twisted monsters wielding gravity as a weapon, hellish mutants thriving in the wash of radiation, and other things too terrible to mention.

Though progress was slow and the number of habitable worlds claimed was small, the Emperor looked upon these unnatural, eerily powerful beasts with contempt and hatred, proclaiming that it was right and proper that the War Scribes dedicate themselves to their eradication no matter the cost or time required. Additionally, the War Scribes had uncovered many fragmented relics from humanity's past and the STC fragments had proven very useful for upgrading the armies of the [[Legiones Astartes (Hektor Heresy)|Legiones Astartes]] as a whole.

These planets became centers of Imperial might, flush with resources and greedily exploited by humanity. Life on the surface was extremely difficult, though not impossible, and most of the habitats and industries were deep underground to protect the people from radiation. Each of the War Scribes' planets could match the industrial output of much larger Imperial worlds, and they became one of the primary producers of supplies for Imperial operations in the Ultima Segmentum, greatly shortening the supply chains that otherwise would have to run all the way from Terra or Mars.

===Culture of the Atalantos Worlds===

''If your life has no point, earn points for your family! Enlist in the PDF today, and earn extra rewards for time served!''

''If your credit's run dry, you can still die! Enlist in the Atalantos Guard today, and get double points for your loved ones to remember you by!''

''Sample posters from various worlds in the Atalantos Sector''

Once, Atalantos was a name to inspire wonder and joy among the Imperium, a shining beacon of what was possible for humanity and what might someday become standard for the entire Imperium. Such was Arelex's dream. In the modern era however, Atalantos is a shadowed realm, mighty yet battered, whose struggles closely mirror the greater Imperium.

The glories of Atalantos still exist, but without the Primarch's guidance they have become nearly unsustainable on their own. More inefficient manufacturing techniques and the slow attrition of time have demanded ever larger supplies of raw materials to compensate. It is not uncommon for an archaeotech foundry to require two or even three times the material and energy to create the same item as it did in the 30th millennium.

Most of the Atalantos Worlds are merely enormous mining colonies, fed by an inexhaustible stream of expendable, barely sentient manpower from the seven Remnant Worlds and their associated Hive Cities. These people were mindless savages when the War Scribes discovered them, but through brutal genetic and bionic modification they were raised to the level at which they could use tools. Though useless for warfare, they are almost immune to radiation damage, the heritage of their survival near the Core, and they make ideal slave labor within the endlessly hungry mines. Though life in the mines is brutal, the War Scribes at least make it no harder than necessary. They care nothing for the workers, but they do not impose punishments for no reason, as that would cut the efficiency of the process.

Likewise, the Atalantos Worlds as a whole are a meritocracy, enforced by the Scribes. If you serve well, you are rewarded and your skills are adapted for use elsewhere. If you serve poorly, you are sent to the mines. If you still perform poorly, you are executed so that your food rations can be given to more useful citizens. The people are tracked and watched at all times, constantly gaining and losing "credits" based on service. Earn enough, and one can advance up the social ladder. In theory, a truly gifted person could rise from the lowliest gutter scum to become a Planetary Governor. As the Scribes are quick to point out, this has actually happened more than once, something unheard of in the greater Imperium without resorting to open rebellion.

A curious system of passive warfare has emerged because of this social imposition. Direct combat hinders '''both''' parties credits, because time spent fighting is time not spent earning points, and gets '''both''' combatants sent to the mines. Instead, families compete to be better producers than each other so that their rivals will look bad by comparison, and be sent to the mines or the PDF. More than one mining conglomerate has been destroyed en masse when their rivals edged them out in productivity.

While these policies keep the industrial output of the Atalantos Worlds running at a fever pitch, it places immense stress on the population, who rarely even sleep for fear that their neighbors are getting ahead of them. Suicide was commonplace, until the War Scribes, responding to the steady rise in Necron encounters, issued a decree stating that anyone willing to give their lives to fight the Necrons could earn massive points for their families.

Throwing one's life away by suicide is seen as a taboo almost beyond any other, since it carries a very real risk of wiping out your entire family and possibly other families who relied on your work to support their endeavors. A family related to a suicide will often enlist in the Guard en masse save for the youngest children and their caretakers, to wipe away the shame on their family name.

Atalantos is a strange land, where people eagerly hurl themselves into the most brutal of conditions, or stare down the guns of implacable monstrosities, but then again Humanity is a strange species. So long as they feel their efforts matter, they will put the whips to their own backs. A 16-hour work day might be brutally hard, but at least it's not as bad as other Imperial worlds, or so the miners tell themselves. At least for them, the labor is self-imposed. ''"On those miserable planets, they work like dogs and get nowhere. At least we may better ourselves!"'''

And so they go, and so they toil, and so they live, and so they die.

==Hazards of the Atalantos Worlds==

===Necrons===

Aside from the dangers posed by mundane threats like radiation, wandering singularities, rogue planets and supernovae, the Atalantos worlds are often beset by enemies of a more calculating nature. Though the low human population near the Galactic Core offers little food for the Ruinous Powers to feed upon, a significant number of Tomb Worlds have been located in the vicinity during the course of surveying expeditions.

Some of these Tomb Worlds are still inactive, but as the milennia have progressed, the Necron threat has grown significantly. Much of the War Scribes' time is spent containing and repelling these reawakening xenos, attempting to shield the rest of the Imperium from their predation. It is fortunate that the Necron Dynasties seem to despise each other as much as the Imperium, and their infighting has kept the immediate risk lower.

Several Tomb Worlds have been destroyed by the War Scribes, but each time it has come at the cost of a brutally devastating war, a long recovery time, and the depletion of what few Dark Age weaponry the Chapter still possesses. The War Scribes have become more frantic in their quest for relic weaponry lately, spurred on by the fear of being caught unprepared by a major Necron invasion.

====Known Active Necron Dynasties====

*Ulkhesh Dynasty (Known for excessive proportion of Deathmarks. Escaped notice by larger Dynasties by basing much of their forces in alternate dimensions)

*Zelrakh-Khemta Dynasty (Unusual Dynasty with co-ruling Phaerons. Believed by Imperial Scribes to be a merged Dynasty by the Necron equivalent of marriage.)

*Il'Kholas Dynasty (Known for being largely fleet-based. Since activation of Tomb World, majority of forces have warred with other Dynasties for control of spacelanes and resources. Tomb World largely abandoned.)

===Other Xenos===

Though the War Scribes and their Primarch shattered many empires of the native xenos, their hateful remnants still remain, lurking in the glare of enemy stars.

====Deathpulse====

*The deadly xenos species known only as the Deathpulse is composed of pure stellar plasma, riding the currents between stars in endless loops and feeding off any life they encounter. As massive as a small moon, a single Deathpulse creature can sterilize a planet in less than a day. For now, the remaining Deathpulse keep a wary distance from the Atalantos Worlds, held at bay by their vulnerability to plasma weapons, which can disrupt their equivalent of a nervous system. Someday though, they will avenge their dead brethren with the burning of worlds.

====Void Eaters====

*As insidious as the Deathpulse are bombastic, the Void Eaters live in the shadows and cracks of the Galaxy. Wherever there is a dead world, a dead star, or a dead life form, there may be a Void Eater there, feeding off the essence of death. They are creatures of total blackness, absorbing any light that falls on them into their core, never to be seen again. Their guns are all gravitic in nature, and can twist a man in half with contemptuous ease, or bend a tank back on itself. Though they look like holes in reality, there is a living being of sorts underneath their void-black exterior, and by the grace of the Emperor, sustained bolter fire can bring them down. Las-weapons have no effect on these monsters, nor do plasma weapons or electromagnetic assaults of any kind. When hit by such devices, the blast simply... disappears. There may be only a few Void Eaters, or there may be billions. They are the nightmare that disturbs the thoughts of the Atalantos Worlds, for none can say when they may return.

==The Codex Atalantos==

===Atalantos===
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Atalantos
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Atalantos.jpg|200px]]
|type= Agri-World/Space Marine Chapter Homeworld
|orbdist= 1.08AU ± .2AU
|gravity= 1.05G
|temp= Temperate
|pop= 5,000,000
|governor= An Veles Rezuhon
|system= Atalantos System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Primaris
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Atalantos is the jewel of the conglomerate of worlds that shares its name. More distant from the Core than most of the Atalantos Worlds, its surface is actually habitable for unshielded humans, protected by an unusually strong magnetic field. It is a young world, hot and tectonically active, and its biosphere is energetically fecund. Atalantos has few accessible resources, unusual for a Core World, and instead of producing mineral wealth, Atalantos feeds a dozen mining worlds as one of the most productive breadbaskets in the Imperium. Almost every scrap of land is dedicated to cropland, and the oceans have been channeled and mastered by the Scribes in order to ensure proper irrigation at all times. The light of the stars is bright enough that the night sky is never darker than a deep blue color, and plants grow at all latitudes year round.

The capitol city, known as the Basilikon Atalantos, is a fortress formerly constructed by Dark Age Man for purposes unknown. Though the people that lived within did not survive, the nearly indestructible buildings did, and it was these relics that first attracted Arelex's attention. Much knowledge was recovered from the deep catacombs, and Arelex was able to deliver these treasures to the Emperor personally.

It is here that the War Scribes test their recruits for physical and mental strength. The colossal Basilikon has endless rooms for exercising the body and the mind, and the Scribes have filled the building with everything they need to support the Chapter and its successors. Below the Basilikon are some of their mist advanced manufactorums, assembling the most powerful weapons of war available.

====Other Agricultural Worlds====

*Kelemvor III

*Belerog IX

*Broken Stone

*Dantolis

===Yojan VII, Primary Mining World===
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Yojan VII
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Yojan_VII.jpg|200px]]
|type= Mining World
|orbdist= 436AU ± 8.3AU
|gravity= 1.24G
|temp= Temperate/Irradiated
|pop= 10,000,000 (Miners)
20,000 (Rogue Traders/Others)
|governor=
|system= Yojan System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Yojan
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Yojan VII and its massive moon Yojan Beta orbit a brilliant blue giant star of roughly 30 solar masses, only barely avoiding incineration by virtue of their distended orbit, more than ten times as distant from the parent star as Pluto is from Sol. It takes slightly more than 2,000 years for Yojan VII to circle its star, so no man ever celebrates his first Yojan birthday.

Though Yojan VII has less than four million years before its star dies, that is more than long enough for the Imperium's needs. No life exists on Yojan VII, though the planet does possess liquid water and a full water cycle. It is harsh and rugged, barely finished cooling its oceans and solidifying its crust. In the mines dozens of kilometers below the surface, it is said that one cannot fire a mining laser for more than 30 seconds without striking some valuable node of ore or priceless jewel, and the endless conveyor belts and smelters are full to bursting with wealth. No world in the Atalantos Cluster produces such value for the Imperium.

Yojan Beta has few of the mineral resources its parent carries in such abundance, much like Luna compared to Holy Terra. To conserve resources and save on travel time, the gigantic moon's crust has been all but hollowed out and replaced with city-sized smelters and ore purifiers of every type. Yojan Beta is larger than Mars, but even with its titanic machinery can barely keep pace with the parent world's output.

Life in the mines is brutally hard for the indentured servants, but a large number of independent mining companies and even a few Rogue Trader dynasties have also made treaties with the Scribes to exploit Yojan VII's immense wealth. These individuals tend to be able to afford better equipment for their skilled laborers. Both groups, indentured and salaried alike, are required to provide the Scribes with recruits, and those Scribes that come from Yojan VII are tough, rugged individuals even by the standards of Space Marines, well used to backbreaking labor and other tests of endurance.

====Other Mining Worlds====

As time marches on, the Atalantos Worlds have become more and more dependent on increasing supplies of raw materials to maintain their ancient relics. To meet the demands, even the most barren, blasted planetoids are being examined for mineral wealth, and the War Scribes are claiming them at a breakneck pace.

Most Mining Worlds in the Atalantos Worlds are sparsely populated, largely given over to armies of tunneling machinery and transient populations of indentured servants, slaves, and criminals.

*To-Lek Prime

*Arphalos III

*Delta Ophan II

*Mologe Valonis

*Fleshboiler (Penal Colony)

*Tenalor II

*Porit-Xen Alpha

*Tikon Eklem

*Firefall

*Blackstone

*Korvis X

*The Bad Lands

*Golden Cave

*Boteh'nel VI

*Ophachix I, II, III

*Teleos V

*Aklan Maklen

*Uriel Prime

===The Remnant, Primary Hive System===
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Bastion Orannis
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Emperors_Eye.jpg|200px]]
|type= Fortress World/Galactic Core Observatory
|orbdist= 1.5AU ± 0.23AU
|gravity= 1.11G
|temp= Temperate
|pop= 14,000,000,000
|governor=
|system= Remnos System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Remnos
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

The Remnant is a strange collection of seven planets, orbiting farther above the galactic plane than the other Atalantos Worlds. From this elevated vantage point the spiral of the Galaxy is readily visible, as well as a good angle on the Galactic Core above the clouds of interstellar dust. The Remnant worlds are ancient beyond the knowledge of the Imperium to discern, dating back to the Dark Age of humanity. Cut off from the rest of civilization for millennia, the human inhabitants devolved into savagery and barbarism, crawling through the colossal relics of their ancestors with no more comprehension of their potential than a grox has of the inner workings of a Plasma Drive.

When the Scribes came upon these planets they immediately set to work reclaiming them for the Imperium. After two decades of brutal culling, genetic manipulation, bionic enhancement and relentless training, the people of the Remnant worlds regained some of their humanity and intelligence, much as Ogryns can be somewhat rehabilitated with the Bone'Ead procedure. At the Emperor's request, the Scribes constructed a mighty observatory on the largest Remnant world, using its powerful optics to look deep into the galaxy and help guide the Great Crusade by spotting threats in its path through the Ultima Segmentum. Now that the Crusade has passed into myth and legend, these telescopes are used to examine the Galactic Core, seeking new worlds within its furious heat into space where the Imperium may harvest them.

The Scribes lament that the regression of the Remnant Worlds' former inhabitants destroyed almost all relics of value, but nevertheless appreciate the bounty of seven closely linked hive worlds from which to recruit Marines and draw an endless stream of indentured labor for the Atalantos mining worlds. Marines from the Remnant Worlds are rarely the Legion's finest specimens, but even among the ever-resilient Scribes they are endowed with rugged endurance bordering on the supernatural.

====Remnant Worlds====

*Thanden (Capitol world and later, primary Cardinal World of the Atalantos Cluster)

*Keilos (Hive World)

*Volgaz (Agri-world)

*Beneumos (Manufacturing world)

*Xivo (Hive World)

*Cerelex Loja (Hive World)

*Bastion Orannis (Fortress World, Observatory location)

===Other Notable Worlds of the Atalantos Sector===

====Narhadul, Legion Naval Yard and Resupply Center====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Narhadul
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Narhadul.jpg|200px]]
|type= Shipyard/Manufactorum
|orbdist= 1.2AU ± .025 AU
|gravity= 1.09G
|temp= 35 C
|pop= 8,000,000,000 (Surface)
10,000,000 (Orbital)
|governor= Dock Lord (Title)
|system= Narhadul System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Narhadul
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Narhadul, azure jewel of the Atalantos Worlds. Narhadul, the Ringed World. Narhadul, supply world for the greatest naval fleet of any Legion. Primarch Arelex labored long and hard to forge the enormous naval base above Narhadul's atmosphere, and as the War Scribes' fleet expanded, so did the dockyards. By the time of the Heresy they had grown to encompass the planet entirely, forming an enormous broad ring of industrial might, capable of servicing any number of vessels.

For a time, the entire Imperial fleet for the Ultima Segmentum based out of Narhadul for resupply and repair, though as the Crusade pressed onward to the Galactic Fringes other hubs of industry would take up some of the load. The world is of immense importance to the War Scribes and to the Ultima Segmentum, and so it drew the eye of Hektor himself who had visited it on more than one occasion to see what his brother had created. Commanding the [[Sons of Fire]] and the [[Eternal Zealots]] to do whatever was necessary to remove the industrial power of Narhadul, [[Hektor Cincinnatus]] sealed the world's fate, though it would be Arelex himself who struck the most painful blows.

The two Traitor Legions descended on the world in force, choosing it as one of the first targets for the Burning Crusade. The vast naval yards were shot through and burned, though Primarch Aubrey well knew the ring itself was simply too massive to destroy outright. The true prize lay below. On Narhadul itself were endless ranks of manufactorums, producing Warp Drives, power plants, naval weaponry, armor, ammunition and ten thousand other essential ingredients for a functional naval fleet. All were put to the torch, defenseless in the War Scribes' weakened state.

Knowing that the planet could not be saved, Arelex ordered the few ships surviving in orbit to deploy their payloads of Phosphex torpedoes, condemning the planet to fiery contamination for a thousand years.

----
*''Narhadul: 009 M31, the Dawn of the Burning Crusade.''

Aubrey watched as the first of the orbital strikes hit to the north. There was a blinding flash, and rising green flame mushroomed into the air beyond the horizon, heaving thousands of feet into the air. Others were coming down overhead, closer than the first. Aubrey sheathed his twin blades as he mused over this development. For the enemy to unleash world-killers was a stunning development. It was not a strategic possibility that he had even considered the War Scribes Legion undertaking. He had thought they would rather bleed and die to defend the enclave they had carved out for themselves then give in to despair, allowing him to give their souls to the Dark Gods and further the great path.

'This world is going to die, along with countless thousands of two Legions, yet you seem impressed my Lord,' said Master of Signals Cadauzes. His voice betrayed a note of unease. He did not know how they would get offworld now.

'I am,' said Aubrey, already reaching out for the power the Gods had granted him. 'I didn't think they had it in them.'

There was no way anyone would believe that Arelex would ever sanction the use of phosphex on such a scale, particularly against one of his own worlds. The blame would surely fall on him and Inferox for this. It matched Inferox’s MO, after all.

He had ordered the evacuation, but there was little chance that more than a fraction of the two legions deployed would make it off-world before the bombs struck. Now, the vox was awash with static.

Aubrey chanted the words he had learned in the heart of the void, and felt the power he had been bestowed come to him. His body became surrounded by a nimbus of corpse-light.

‘Is there any news of Inferox?’ he asked Cadauzes.

‘Nothing my Lord.’

‘Get to the ships. We’re far enough away that there’s still some time before the Phosphex reaches us.’

‘And you my lord?’

‘I go to find my brother.’

----

After the Heresy, the War Scribes suffered immense hardship trying to rebuild Narhadul, successfully bringing the dockyards back online after a century of labor.

The Phosphex bombs were eventually undone, though it took enormous effort to devise methods by which Phosphex fires could be slowly contained and extinguished. More than five hundred years would pass before the first manufactorum again rose upon Narhadul's surface. The battered world would never again regain its full glory, but Narhadul is still more than capable of servicing the War Scribes and many other Chapters and it is honored in their annals indeed.

Of all the Chapter Serfs none is more honored than the Dock Lord of Narhadul, charged with overseeing every aspect of Narhadul's operation from the lowest laborer to the mightiest war vessel. Though the War Scribes maintain a Marine presence in the system, day-to-day administration is performed by lesser men.

====Volhak Seinal, the Power Core====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Volhak Seinal
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Power_Core.jpg|200px]]
|type= Research World/Power Generator
|orbdist= .5AU ± 1.6AU
|gravity= .32G
|temp= 1200 C
|pop= 8,000 (Power technicians)
1,000 (Various researchers)
|governor=
|system= Seinal System
|sector= Volhak
|subsector= Volhak
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Volhak Seinal is a world forged in death and fire. A remnant of an ancient supernova explosion, the planet collected itself from leftover debris after the death of its parent star. The War Scribes took advantage of the pulsar's raging torrent of energy and set up facilities to tap that endless flow of power.

The planet, though small, is coated in row upon row of power collectors, and an endless stream of vessels plies the transport route to and from Volhak, collecting full capacitors and deploying new empty ones to be filled. The sheer quantity of electromagnetic interference is ruinous to machine spirits, so it is brute manpower that controls these vessels. Few crews survive more than a handful of trips into and out of the system, as no shielding is sufficient to protect the living tissue inside, and this duty is the final punishment in the Atalantos Worlds' codes of law and justice. Only the most heinous criminals are sentenced to this transport run, and their deaths are not lamented.

The Power Core provides much of the energy that fuels the technology of the other Atalantos Worlds, powering the mining equipment and the more power-hungry Dark Age relics, as well as fuel cells for the War Scribes' vehicles.

Strangely, the Volhak Seinal system is one of the few Atalantos Worlds to have never known the touch of Necrons. Something about the pulsar's radiation seems to disrupt their reanimation protocols, and they dare not approach. Were the system not so hostile to human life, it would be a valuable safe haven.

====Gomelis and Wolasqu, the Frenzied Worlds====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Gomelis and Wolasqu
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Twin_worlds.jpg|200px]]
|type= Death/Civilized Worlds
|orbdist= 1.09 AU ± .03AU
|gravity= .96G
|temp= Warm Temperate
|pop= 900,000,000 (Gomelis)
1,500,000,000 (Wolasqu)
|governor=
|system= Talek System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Talek
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

These two planets appear very friendly and welcoming to human life from orbit, drifting around their parent star at a nearly ideal distance for habitation, and bursting with all manner of flora and fauna. Indeed, perhaps in some long-lost era of humanity, this system was engineered for use by humanity, but any evidence beyond vague genetic links has clouded the truth of this matter forever.

What is known is that Gomelis and Wolasqu are perhaps the richest worlds for 1000 light-years for biomass and species diversity. Some of them bear a passing resemblance to Terran life, causing hypotheses of a common origin, but just as many match no known species. Essentially all of them are deadly to human life though, and they violently slaughtered the original colonists seeking to carve out what they hoped would be a new pair of Agri-Worlds in the vein of Atalantos.

Instead of a garden of Eden they got a vicious pair of hells much like Catachan, but unlike Catachan, no native human population existed to make it worth their while to use as a recruiting world. Instead, the War Scribes blasted holes in the endless jungle from orbit, and the colonists put down armored fortresses and prefab buildings in the craters before the forests could reclaim them. For the past ten thousand years, the War Scribes and the colonists have waged savage war against the irrepressible biospheres, buying land a mile at a time with the blood of millions.

With the passage of time, several Hive cities sprang up on each Death World, armored and sealed against the probing tendrils of the biosphere. It is a tenuous balance, and on more than one occasion the War Scribes' fleet was required to clean the outer surfaces of the armored walls with orbital fire.

The Frenzied Worlds do produce valuable agricultural products, but most of their output goes to feeding the colonists rather than the rest of the Atalantos Worlds. Less than half of either world is remotely safe for human habitation, but the War Scribes have embarked upon this quest, and they will not stop until the Frenzied Worlds are tamed.

The battle for these two planets has entered a new, more intense phase of its existence because of the increased Necron predation of recent centuries. The War Scribes predict that without these two worlds and their potential output, the Atalantos Worlds will be unable to feed the manpower necessary to repel the xenos. Tithes have been increased Sector-wide, and a full quarter of the War Scribes' fleet has been dispatched, along with the entire 5th Company, to bring the planets to heel.

If they must, they will incinerate the entire biosphere and re-seed the world in the fertile ashes. The Atalantos Worlds can accept nothing less than success.

====Greyland, the Ancient World====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Greyland
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Greyland.jpg|200px]]
|type= Refuge World
|orbdist= 3AU ± 0.001AU
|gravity= .87G
|temp= 30 C
|pop= 100 archaeologists, occasionally a couple War Scribes Marines
|governor= None
|system= Meleau System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Meleau
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Greyland, orbiting the pale white star known as Meleau, is a strange world drifting in a lonely orbit around a lonely star. Two minute moons circle Greyland, along with a large, slender ring system of tumbling debris.

Greyland is the oldest known planet in the Galactic Core, an anomaly in a region of such tumult. Usually, planets in the Core are very young, just born alongside their parent stars, or reassembled after some cataclysmic explosion or impact. Not Greyland. This world is nearly as old as the Universe itself, at least ten billion years of age, if not more, and the Imperium cannot explain how it came to be here. Indeed, the planet is older than the star it orbits!

Imperial scholars suspect that Greyland was somehow moved into our Galaxy for reasons unknown, and this theory is supported by the ring system, which contains uncountable forcefield generators and null-stasis devices, all conspiring to keep the space around Greyland inviolate from all forms of stellar hazards. What is truly odd is that no habitation has ever existed on Greyland of any kind, but evidence of xenos industry, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and storage is everywhere. It is as if the planet was moved here, ready to become an important world in some xenos empire, but for some reason was never used. These xenos ruins are very concentrated into small areas, and much of it is underground, so from orbit or from the planet's surface, it is nothing but a grey expanse of emptiness.

Though many have considered claiming Greyland for the Imperium, something causes any settlers that attempt to land to leave within a year. It is simply the most boring, quiet, unnatural planet that humanity might choose to live upon. There is no vegetation, no color beyond the black, white, and grey shades of the planet's minerals, and sound itself seems oddly dampened in the still, stormless air. Humanity cannot abide such thundering, crushing *absence*.

The War Scribes use Greyland as a mediation world, requiring prospective Captains to take a pilgrimage into the trackless emptiness and meditate on the Chapter's long history, the lore they've learned, and their place in the Imperium and the cosmos. It is a distinctly humbling experience, forcing the warrior to confront just how small a thing he truly is in comparison to the Galaxy.

A few Scribes return to Greyland time and time again, embracing the peace and stillness and using Greyland as a sort of sensory-deprivation chamber.

'''RECORDS FOR CHAPTER MASTER EYES ONLY:'' '''Greyland is also the cold storage facility for any Chaotic relics the War Scribes uncover but cannot destroy, as well as dangerous archaeotech. Something about Greyland exerts a dampening effect on rogue devices and Chaotic taint, just like it does on the flora, fauna, and any who try to settle upon it. The Inquisition maintains a small presence on Greyland to help keep an eye on such items, and to assist in research and purging efforts.''

====Hod's Hole: The Last Resort====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Hod's Hole
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hidden World
|orbdist= 12 AU Perihelion, 1,327 AU Aphelion
|gravity= .65G
|temp= -300 Kelvin
|pop= 4,000,000 (Servitors/Cybernetica)
200 (System Overseers/Maintenance specialists)
|governor= Overseer Primus Rallim Feldus
|system= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|sector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|subsector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Hod's Hole, located by Rogue Trader Hod Wellmarn in the early 31st Millennium, is a tiny chunk of rock on an extraordinarily elliptical orbit around its small red dwarf parent star. A frozen iceball, the planet never reaches its star's warmth, and spends most of its existence alone in the vastness of the void. Normally the minute orb would never meet the Imperium's notice. It has no mineral wealth, no strategic position, no xenos stronghold in need of purging. But Rogue Trader Wellmarn was hunting elusive prey. The Void Krakens. His family had lost dozens of ships to the beasts, but with the help of the War Scribes the shoe was on the other foot, and Hod was on the warpath. Over the course of several years, he and the Marines hunted down almost a dozen of the titans and at last came to Hod's Hole where the Kraken broodmaster dwelled. Over the course of countless unknown years and generations, the Krakens had etched a hole completely through the planetoid, eating and feeding as they pleased. Inside were hundreds of destroyed ships from every race and time period in the galaxy, chewed up and digested. Their remnants were embedded in the tunnel's walls, encased in vile excretions created by the Krakens to strengthen the tunnel and prevent gravity from crushing their nest.

Once the void-beasts were slain to the last, the War Scribes took possession of this unique planetoid and sought what relics they could in its wreckage. Fifty years went by with no results. The Heresy came and went, and from the ashes of that horrible conflict, an idea was born. The myth that the Imperium was unshakeable and immortal had gone, to be replaced with a new and bitter pragmatism among the Scribes. And so they began to build in secret. Hod's Hole was a perfect hiding place, unknown to all and nearly invisible in the blackness of space. No wealth was ever found there, so no treasure hunters sought to trace its location through myths and legends. The Rogue Trader who discovered Hod's Hole died a satisfied man, full in his accomplished vengeance. But he died alone with his knowledge, the last of his Kraken-eaten lineage. This world would belong to the Scribes alone. Their tool of last resort, the ultimate trump card to be used when all else might be lost.

As the Scribes learned more of the dangers Chaos represented, they also noticed that the power of Chaos seemed to grow thin at the Galaxy's edge. Explorations across the Milky Way confirmed this. Perhaps beyond the Galaxy, there was no Chaos at all. Over the next ten millennia, the Scribes quietly diverted a small fraction of the Atalantos Worlds' immense industrial output, layering Hod's hole with vast arrays of cogitators, batteries the size of battleships, staggering quantities of capacitors and relays. And through the hole dug by Krakens, they embedded a colossal mass driver, ''Ultimum Dictamen Vernerum''. A staggering two thousand kilometers long, an almighty Ordinatus engine capable of hurling a projectile out of the Galaxy's gravity well with brute force alone.

Knowing full well that the circumstances in which this gun might be used would likely mean that the Gods had tainted the Warp irrevocably, this launcher would obey Materium physics exclusively, rejecting the Warp's seductive swiftness. Though the journey might take two and a half million years or more in real time, the projectile itself and the inhabitants within would travel at almost the speed of light. For them, the time-dilated journey would be over in a few years. And at the end of the road lay the vast unknown called the Andromeda Galaxy. With this device, perhaps some fragment of Mankind could be saved. Or perhaps it was all a fool's errand, and those resources might have saved this galaxy instead of being wasted on another. But such is the way of the Scribes. If they deem it necessary, no project is too vast in scale to be considered.

For now the question remains unanswered. The supergun rests idle in cold storage, tended by a small army of servitors and cybernetica. Only a few hundred living beings reside here, having given their lives in tithe to monitor the facility in exchange for familial rewards. It is possible the ''Vernerum'' may never awaken, never be needed. And it is the fervent hope of every War Scribes Chapter master that this be so.

But only time will tell.

====Slagshed Station, the Cleansing World====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Slagshed
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Reclamation Facility
|orbdist= 30 AU
|gravity= 1.64G
|temp= -200C (darkside) +1,200C (sunside) +10,000C (during Flare)
|pop= 750,000,000 (mostly mutants)
|governor= Slagmaster Borx "the Burner" Chelmon
|system= Philovia
|sector= Peltru
|subsector= Ortremen
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Deep in the Galactic Core lurks a behemoth star. Nearly eighty solar masses, Philovia boils with energy, shedding hot gases and ionizing radiation across a dozen Imperial sectors. It is a marvelous sight, a brilliant blue-white titan which humbles all those nearby. One could easily be forgiven for overlooking its much smaller partner. Just beside Philovia lurks the Slag, a tiny neutron star. The Slag is all that remains of another massive companion, Philovia's long-dead sibling. But the greedy dead still need to eat, and a tendril of indescribably hot gas connects the two. A vampiric umbilical cord devouring Philovia a little piece at a time.

The Slag is wasteful in its consumption, and the entire system is shrouded in hot gas and tumbling debris that missed its mark. From these ashes, a handful of planets clawed their way into existence at the system's fringes. Life would never evolve here, and even if it did Philovia would soon join its sibling in death, as do all massive stars. No time for evolution. The Slagshed is by far the largest of these remnant embers, significantly more massive than than Terra. It is barren and lifeless, awash in radiation. No useful minerals, no water. Slagshed cannot even boast an atmosphere despite its large size.

But there is one characteristic that the resourceful Scribes have found use for. The binary pair have a very regular history of abuse. Once every eighteen hours, clockwork precise as the finest Imperial timepieces, the Slag consumes too much. Its accretion disk overflows and a colossal shockwave propagates through the system at incredible speeds. By the time the outburst reaches Slagshed, it is spread into a gigantic cloud, and the planet's exposed hemisphere roasts for hours as it passes through. For unknown millennia this cycle has repeated itself, turning one half of the slowly rotating world into molten lava, while the other half remains perpetually frozen.

The Atalantos Worlds produce a titanic amount of raw material and industrial goods, but despite Arelex's best efforts they produce an equally tremendous amount of waste. No recycling or reclamation system in the galaxy could handle such a burden. Except for the Slagshed. Every day, thousands of merchant barges dump gigatons of material onto Slagshed's sunside. And every day, those gigatons go up in flames all at once. The repeated cycles of melting and remelting allow the heavy metals to sink and the lighter materials to rise, serving as a colossal molecular sieve for everything imaginable. Organic compounds are broken down, and everything is totally sterilized. By the time any given point on the surface has made it to the night side, it has seen hundreds of flares. As Slagheap's lethargic rotation finally brings cool relief to the boiling material, thousands of Imperial mobile refineries salvage everything they possibly can from the newly cooled slice, launching valuable payloads into the sheltering darkness of the Slagshed's shadow. As the dawn threatens to catch up, they move a few dozen kilometers, burrow as deeply as they can, and wait for the next flare.

The only law on Slagshed is that work means life. Most of the laborers are hardened criminals and Imperial deserters. Mutants are commonly shipped here in droves. The punishment for any crime is to be given a void suit and chained to the surface, awaiting the victim's final sunrise. And yet, Slagshed is a kind of refuge for many. Despite the danger, most of the work is maintaining machinery. The actual digging is done by colossal mining bores and dredge haulers, for no amount of human labor could do the job quickly enough. It is a harsh, unpleasant planet, but the Slagmaster is fair. Without prejudice or malice, he adheres to the one law of Slagshed absolutely. All workers are equal in his eyes, so long as they work. Philovia's seething sunlight provides them with all the energy they could possibly need to sustain life's necessities, and virtually anything can be synthesized from the slag residue. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and dozens of other raw elements feed into the recombinators, offering luxury undreamt of on most worlds. Inside the vast machinery, there is clean air, distilled water, and endless food. Everything is pure and unpolluted, for it is created fresh after each flare delivers new energy. Pollution never lingers long in a world designed from the ground up for reclamation and purification.

In this way Slagshed has become a rallying point for mutants across the Atalantos Worlds. Though they are despised in the public eye, Slagshed gives them a safety valve when faced with execution, a bolthole to hide in. If one can get past the fear of living next to a routinely exploding star, caged in a shell of moving metal, Slagshed is actually a cut above many other worlds. Even the most wretched mutants can sometimes be purified here. Freed of the environmental toxins from their birth worlds, many mutants begin to expel their poisons and heal. Deformed parents occasionally give birth to healthy children, to the celebration of all. The War Scribes use these lucky ones as propaganda, trumpeting the resilience of the human genome over all obstacles in order to mock the xenos. Not everyone can be cleansed in such a way, but it provides something more essential than air, water, or food. Hope.

A most unusual world.

====Precipice, the Point of No Return====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Precipice
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Research Outpost
|orbdist= 3.7 Light Years
|gravity= Variable
|temp= Variable
|pop= 100 researchers
|governor= Magos Entrem Go-Shang
|system= Sagittarius A*
|sector= Core
|subsector= Core
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Welcome to the Precipice. Go no further.

Beyond this point there is nothing. This is the final stop. The power within the Milky Way's heart has consumed all else. Only a handful of stars get anywhere near this close, whipping around the central black hole faster than any other natural object ever moves. Precipice is even closer in. Time flows strangely on Precipice. As does gravity. As does space itself. All are linked here, and all bear immense strain.

Precipice itself is largely a nickel-iron ball, probably the remnants of some ancient gas giant. Only a little rocky crust yet remains from its formation, mostly scoured off by stellar encounters of unimaginable energy. It has no parent star to give it light, only the countless points of flickering energy filling the sky. Precipice is a world awash in radiation of every type, spared from complete annihilation only by the remarkably quiet nature of the Milky Way's black hole. Though heavier than 4 million Suns, our galaxy is among the 10% that slumber deeply. Few flares emerge here, and no relativistic jets carve swathes through the heavens. Indeed, were it not so, life might never have evolved on Terra.

Precipice's one protection is its incredible rate of spin and massive molten core. The planet's magnetic field is hundreds of times stronger than Terra's, deflecting much of the radiation from reaching the surface. Inside this protective envelope, a handful of Magi have established a research base on the black hole's very doorstep. From here direct observation of Sagittarius A* is possible, and despite the planet's immense size and gravity, at the equator its incredibly rapid spin counteracts what would otherwise be tens of G's. Far too much force for even enhanced Magi to bear. There is even some thin atmosphere, though the winds regularly top 2,000 kilometers per hour, and are primarily inert noble gases.

This may be the single most dangerous place in the Materium, save for a planet orbiting an impending supernova or falling into the Eye of Terror. At any time, accreting gas or debris could cause an apocalyptic outburst, sterilizing everything for hundreds of light years around. No trade ships dare traverse this part of space. Only the Mechanicus' most hardened vessels can make such a journey, and only with rigorous preparation.

And yet there is much to learn. The Precipice is a physics laboratory beyond compare, where extraordinary events are laid bare for the observation on a daily basis. Every new mote of gas drifting past, every asteroid, every doomed star, all these and more offer precious data that could not be obtained in any manmade research facility. With the assistance of the War Scribes, a single Ark Mechanicus has been constructed to supply Precipice, the mighty ''Last Horizon''. It carries no armaments, instead sheathing itself in adamantium plates a hundred meters thick, and powering dozens of shield batteries with genetoriums the size of hab spires. Ten colossal plasma drives propel the behemoth, each one capable of moving an Emperor-class Battleship on their own. Even such an immense force is barely sufficient to manage the tremendous gravitational load. A marvelous vessel, but nothing less could survive the trip. Every three years it makes the perilous trek, delivering sustenance and harvesting thousands of datastacks.

From these efforts, much fruit has been yielded. Few can say what exactly the Mechanicus have done with their data, but the annals of the War Scribes provide valuable historical context. Without the efforts of Precipice's scientists, the Legion's Jetbikes, Land Speeders, Centurions, and Grav-guns would long since have ceased to function. Their knowledge of the bending of space and time has allowed the Scribes to continue replicating the wonders of the past.

Step not beyond the Precipice. But do stop by and have a look around.

====Govirex System, the Fountain Cluster====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Govirex System
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hydrological Supply Worlds
|orbdist= Multiple planets
|gravity= Variable
|temp= Variable
|pop= 10,000,000,000
|governor= Lord Sustainer Melia Veissner
|system= Govirex
|sector= Volhak
|subsector= Govirex
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Many stars in the Galactic Core are vast giants, full of fire and power. Few of these stars serve Humanity's needs, for they are too luminous to tolerate, and destroy all that orbit them. The smaller suns usually offer more value, and perhaps none more so than humble Govirex, an orange-yellow dwarf star about ten percent smaller than Sol. Imperial Magi have firmly established Govirex as an anomaly, a star that should by all rights have been one of the titans. It is near a thick nebula full of gas reserves, which would have offered the infant sun ample fuel to grow.

Unfortunately, Volhak Seinal's progenitor star got there first. That long-dead sun aged, swelled into a red supergiant and died in a cataclysmic supernova. Though the shockwave likely triggered Govirex's formation, it also disrupted the primordial nebula and blew away much of the gas into long, looping streamers like smoke on the wind. And so Govirex came to be. But not all of that ancient nebula attained escape velocity.

Falling back towards Govirex, the gaseous strands entwined upon themselves, gravitationally collapsing just as their parent star had. Granted too much angular momentum by Volhak Seinal Prime, they could not fall into Govirex but instead entered orbit. After some millions of years, Govirex became the parent of a bountiful solar system filled with gas giants. Originally there were perhaps fifteen worlds, but orbital eccentricities and collisions condensed the crowded system down to a more stable six.

Hydrogen and Helium, being light gases, were driven farthest and fastest by the ancient supernova and hurled out of the system almost entirely. Heavier gases like water, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide remained closer to home. Accordingly, Govirex I, II, III, IV, V, and VI are all classified as ice giants, rich in useful elements. There are no equivalents to Jupiter or Saturn here, but rather they are analogous to Uranus and Neptune, even further enriched in heavy elements. Govirex VI is even considered a brown dwarf, or "failed star". It is by far the largest, weighing in at just shy of 75 times Jupiter's mass. Thanks to Govirex VI's enormous mass, Govirex Prime has a gravitational counterweight that keeps its planetary orbits stable in the congested Core environment.

All six planets are relatively warm, still filled with much of their birth heat. Their atmospheres roil and churn, regularly bringing vast plumes of fresh vapor from the deep interior. From these planet-sized rivers of moisture, the Atalantos Worlds drink deeply. Every year, thousands of atmospheric trawlers siphon gigatons of moisture from the Govirex System, conveying it to barren planets across the Ultima Segmentum. Without this lifeline, habitation would be impossible on many worlds.

Inside the ice giants themselves, countless floating hab-bubbles drift through the sky, harvesting heavier gases for transport. Billions of Imperial citizens call these wandering cities home, navigating through powerful storms and lighting bolts that could wrap around Holy Terra five times over. Mundane materials are simply collected for local use, but more exotic compounds get compressed and shipped onward. Many of the hab-bubbles are dedicated to hydroponics, and feed a multitude of worlds.

Even in the most unlikely places, the Imperium finds usable resources. Where there is water and sunlight, there is life.

====The Cannonball, Fortress World====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= The Cannonball
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= 35 AU
|gravity= 1.85 G
|temp= -270 C
|pop= 1,000,000
|governor= Lady General Militant Alissandra de Cherenev
|system= Atalantos
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Primaris
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Deep in the Atalantos System's recesses hides a small, shriveled companion to Atalantos' green finery. Dark Age Man protected Atalantos itself with the Basilikon Atalantos' technological prowess, but either they ignored the Cannonball or they could not defend it from whatever cataclysm scoured the very crust from its surface. Almost all of the Cannonball's mass is metallic, only a few hundred meters of solidified mantle hide the dense interior from view. Once, the Cannonball was a small gas giant, perhaps the size of Uranus or Neptune.

The Imperium has sunk deep tunnels into the Cannonball, for it lacks a magnetic field and its burning heart has cooled and solidified with the passage of ages. No gaseous blanket meant nothing to keep heat from radiating into space. Once the other Atalantos Worlds brought their industrial capacity to maximum volume, mining the Cannonball became economically unviable, and the mighty drills and smelters moved on to more valuable hunting grounds. But the War Scribes do not like to leave potential resources unclaimed.

It fell to the War Scribes' second Chapter Master, a far-sighted Marine named Danilov Holmis, to make use of the Cannonball. A veteran of the post-Heresy Scouring, he had first hand experience of the many horrors the Imperium would now face. His thoughts turned back to the still-young Atalantos Worlds, and he resolved to do all in his power to protect them. Underneath the Cannonball's battered surface, Chapter Master Danilov constructed vast military storehouses, colossal docking bays, huge armaments factories, and everything else needed to supply an entire Imperial Crusade if need be. Here, they would be protected with hundreds of miles of hardened metal. What more could a warlord ask for? Anything that ''could'' crack the Cannonball open would not be halted by Imperial arms, and so was not worth worrying about.

One million Imperial Guardsmen are on station at all times, and at need the Cannonball can feed and house nearly ten billion within its endless metal warrens. In case of siege, food, water, and medical supplies sufficient to last 1,000 years are bunkered within the deepest catacombs. The only outward sign that humanity has claimed this desolate chunk of metal are the vast sensor arrays and shield projectors dotting the surface. Nothing comes within ten light-years of Atalantos without the Imperium knowing about it. Providing offensive capabilies are thousands of anti-voidship macrobatteries, tucked beneath retractable metal plates the size of hive-cities.

As a special request to the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Adeptus Ministorium, the Cannonball has been engraved both inside and out with anti-Warp wards similar to those used in Geller Fields and Warpsbane hulls. Tiny scuttling drill-servitors carved billions of miles of finger-sized tunnels, lining the planet's bulk with endless arcane filigree made from silver, gold, platinum and other precious metals. The task required 1,000 years of exhaustive labor, but the more the Scribes learned of Chaos' insidious nature, the more urgent it became that they do all in their power to create a strongpoint with at least a faint hope of resisting the Gods' twisted desires.

To this day, the Cannonball has yielded to no foe.

''But the Gods have yet to take notice of it.''

====Morania, the Grudge====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Morania
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Paradise/Maiden World
|orbdist= .97 AU
|gravity= 1.02 G
|temp= 20 C
|pop= 500,000 Eldar Exodites, 500,000 Humans
|governor= None
|system= Morania
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Nolannov
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Morania should not be here. The Galactic Core should have destroyed this verdant world's vibrant ecosystem millions of years ago. Some invader should have burned it to the ground and looted the ashes in distant eons. And yet, Morania lives. First colonized by Eldar Exodites who chose to hide in the Core rather than follow most of their kindred into the dark Galactic Fringe, then receiving human colonists fleeing the Men of Iron, Morania rests in an uneasy balance.

Though unimaginably fertile, the planet offers few resources by which either party could return to the stars. The long ages have worn away its inhabitants technical knowledge. More than once, Ork raids have been turned aside by Eldar sorcery. And Necron attacks, equally blunted with Dark Age relics. And so both tribes have come to rely on one another for survival though locked in deepest hatred. The clans are descendants of fiercely independent pioneers and loathe that they must rely on another's skills. The population is held in check through a careful balance and whenever births outnumber deaths, both sides send their excess to fight and die in gruesome bloodsport tournaments. To the winners go status, wealth and breeding rights, to the losers a bed of earth.

Without this safety valve, the slow-breeding Eldar surely would have been overwhelmed. It is in the humans' interest to continue the bloodsport as well, for without Eldar management the planet would swiftly grow barren and die. Dark Age weapons the humans have, but not Dark Age terraformers. Despite mutual animosity, these ancient rituals carry far more force than any written law, and are adhered to absolutely.

When the War Scribes arrived on Morania, the Primarch's first thought was to exterminate these Eldar at once and remove them from the Galaxy like the vermin they are. At the advice of his command staff, he stayed his hand. They had a much more devious plan in mind. The Legion's hate for the Eldar runs deep and strong, and inspires their darkest brilliance. What better way to flaunt their superiority than to assume rulership over the proud Eldar's distant cousins? They would hold the planet in their hands like a priceless gem, daring anyone to take it from them. And what better way to keep some ''lab rats'' safely contained for experimentation? The tournaments produced plenty of invalids and corpses, after all. Greedy Mars might appreciate such... resources.

And for the Space Marines, they harvested recruits tempered against Eldar more physically powerful and savage than any others. Craftworld Eldar lived too deeply entrenched in their rigid caste systems to truly abandon restraint and unleash everything their xenos bodies were capable of, but not so their tribal brethren. Where else in the Galaxy could Marine Aspirants gain such valuable experience? No, even through the red haze of Arelex's hatred, the logic was beyond challenge. Morania became a protectorate of the Second Legion, and remains so to this day. Holding Morania has come at immense cost in gold and iron, and thousands of War Scribes have died over the long millennia to secure their rule, but to this day no Eldar strike force has been able to breach the perimeter and rescue their errant kin.

====Seven Kings, the Clearinghouse====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Seven Kings
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= 1.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= 25 C
|pop= 4,000,000,000
|governor= The Council
|system= Foldham
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Kingsrien
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

''Seven Hives touch the sky, seven thrones of old. Seven threads tie seven lands, where the void runs cold. And Seven Kings hums and rings, chasing after gold.''

Seven Kings, known to Imperial scholars as Foldham VII, is one of the oldest inhabited worlds in the Atalantos region. As the War Scribes mapped out the Core's often treacherous Warp currents, they found themselves returning over and over to the unassuming Foldham system. There, a multitude of Immaterium ripples converged, creating a sort of natural harbor where Imperial ships might make port. Some long ago catastrophe has stripped the Foldham system of any large planets it might have contained, leaving the yellow dwarf star with only a handful of small rocky bodies to call children. Of these, only Foldham VII is large enough to naturally support human life.

As the Atalantos Worlds expanded into maturity, Foldham took on new importance. Much of the Core is isolated by vast Warp Storms and radiation belts churned up by the tumultuous stars, and Foldham sits astride many of the safest entryways. Seven major Warp routes run within easy travel of Foldham, leading deep within the Galactic Core. Accordingly, the otherwise unremarkable system entered a gold rush of Imperial trade from which it still benefits to this day. Vast numbers of immigrants flooded in, looking to take their cut of the Atalantos Worlds' torrential streams of mineral wealth. And the most cutthroat, brutal, clever and aggressive among them rose to the top with frightening speed.

Though the remaining 6 Foldham planets were naturally barren, desperate settlers staked their territory nevertheless. Hab-domes rose into airless skies, and endless tunnel-warrens snaked their way below primordial stone. Each of Foldham's planets became host to an entire human ecosystem, and upon each grew capital cities flush with Imperial Thrones for the spending. Families grew from individual success. Before many years had passed, a nouveau riche oligarchy dominated the Foldham system, seven clans ruling a planet each. But only one of those cartels rested contentedly. Only those who ruled Foldham VII could truly say they ruled a planet, the others ground their teeth in envy staring at its green and blue colors.

When the Heresy brought turmoil to the entire Imperial Galaxy, matters likewise came to a crescendo on Foldham. As soon as Arelex's watchful eye turned towards Terra, savage inter-clan warfare threatened to destroy Foldham and countless millions lost their lives a the behest of greedy masters. Unfortunately for the families, their pent-up rage blinded them to greater responsibilities. By throwing Foldham into war, they put a tight squeeze on the War Scribes' supply lines and became a maximum Legion priority. Less than six months into their conflict, 7,000 Legionnaires made planetfall across the system, slaughtering anyone in their path as they took the Hive Spires back under control.

Within weeks, Foldham burned to the ground. The War Scribes showed none of the mercy they might have extended in gentler times, for their hand was forced and time drew critically short. Virtually every member of the ruling houses was summarily executed, and one in every three citizens that survived their civil war lost their lives during the Scribes' subsequent intervention. Martial law was imposed with terrifying brutality. It took less than a month before war materiel flowed freely once more. When the Legionnaires broke orbit to rejoin the war against Hektor, they left a promise behind. If any man, woman, child or animal threatened the trade route again, the Scribes would burn the planets to ash, slaughter every living being in the Hives, and rebuild with new immigration. For the remainder of the Heresy, not a whisper of rebellion was heard.

After the Heresy ground to its inexorable conclusion, the remaining Foldham elites once again extended their influence. Twice, they tested the Scribes' resolve by fomenting revolts and hiding in the shadows. With no proof of the families' involvement, the Scribes merely crushed the rebel peasantry and withdrew deeper into the Core. It was clear that the Legion, soon to be Chapter, was exhausted. Under most circumstances, what followed would have been unthinkable, but the tradesmen had chosen their time flawlessly and struck without remorse.

They presented the War Scribes with a treaty of "loyalty", stipulating that so long as all tithes were met and resource throughput maintained, that the Foldham System was effectively beholden to none but itself. They would see to their own internal affairs, they would raise their own armies, and if they so chose could even wage war against one another in-system. Many other Atalantos Worlds were in support of this treaty, for without Foldham's approval they could not barter for vital resources. In ancient times as in the modern era, a hydraulic empire held vast strength over its vassals, and this is exactly what the merchant lords sought to obtain. Foldham would be an enclave within an enclave, an autonomous region inside the Atalantos Worlds sitting atop half a dozen vital trade lines. Their tactics were perfect. Their support, ironclad. Their advantages, unmistakable and potent. The time was ripe.

But the oligarchy forgot one thing. Above all else the War Scribes hated traitors, and never more so than having trod the ruins of Holy Terra a handful of months before. That these petty wretches dared to antagonize the Legion during their mourning time was beyond obscene. Critically low on munitions, the Marines struck at the hives with tooth and nail, fist and improvised hand weapon. It was a sobering reminder of just what exactly a Marine was capable of even without bolter or chainsword. 2,000 Marines lost their lives in Foldham, but the battle was won nevertheless.

The hives burned. And new masters sought to ascend the charred thrones. But this time, the masses spoke out. They demanded democratic elections, and an end to the suffering imposed from above. Many times now they suffered the lash of madmen and tyrants, and it could be borne no longer. And the Scribes agreed. Perhaps control could be more easily achieved from below. A ruler was elected for each planet, chosen according to the people's will. One Legionnaire stood watch behind each throne in perpetuity, tithed from the Chapter in order to keep things orderly. It fell to this Marine to ensure that corruption never took hold again. None were permitted to hold firearms or blades in the new Grand Council chambers on Foldham VII, save for these seven Marines. At a word, they could legally decapitate any coup attempts.

As time passed, the people grew more comfortable with self-rule. By holding regular elections, the tribal nature of Foldham slowly ebbed away, replaced with a more nationalist attitude. Immigration was encouraged, and the seven planets entered commercial agreements with one another as often as they traded with the larger Imperium, further diluting the old cabals. But corruption is ever vigilant for opportunities. This time it came in the form of greedy bankers siphoning colossal funds into their own pockets. Flush with cash, they exerted such undue influence on the people that they had become kings in everything but name. When the Administratum investigated the embezzlement, Foldham erupted into rebellion once more.

This time, the war was fought largely in space. Huge mercenary fleets clashed with Imperial Navy cruisers, and both sides received a beating. Privateers roamed across the Atalantos worlds, looting and pillaging as they went and distracting the War Scribes with assaults from every angle. Inexorably the War Scribes' vast fleet mobilized and the noose tightened, though final victory required nearly three long years of war.

Petty tyrants became Foldham's downfall. The people could not rule themselves. And the merchants could not choose wise kings. What was to be done? Foldham fought three separate conflicts with the Imperium in less than one hundred years, the system was a cauldron of instability. Privately, the Scribes suspected Chaotic influence from the many Warp lanes running so nearby, but nothing could be done about that. Ultimately, the decision rested with the Chapter Master, who chose a decidedly unusual approach.

Across the Atalantos Worlds, dozens of Rogue Traders sought wealth and fame in every nook and cranny of the Galactic Core. Not all of them were particularly noble individuals, but on the whole they had proven their loyalty to the War Scribes' satisfaction. Indeed, many of their siblings had become Marines themselves. Seven of the most deserving Trader Houses were rewarded with governorship of one of the Foldham planets, valuable commodities for anyone seeking influence beyond Atalantos. To ensure their loyalty, the War Scribes would hold many of their family members as Chapter Serfs aboard the fleet. They would be treated well, but they would be hostages nonetheless. Should the Traders rebel, they could count on their precious lineage being scoured from the stars.

Though relations have become strained from time to time, this system has endured the passage of millennia well. The Seven Kings rule from a distance, and gain considerable advantage over other Rogue Traders by virtue of a well-fortified home base and the direct support of a First Founding Chapter. In turn, the War Scribes have eyes and ears across the Imperium, a well-managed import-export hub, and a ready-made merchant fleet that can be conscripted at need.

====Kellstone Tertius, the Lost Hive====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kellstone Tertius
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.3 AU
|gravity= .88G
|temp= 30C
|pop= 7,000,000,000
|governor= Lord Protector Michael van Dreis
|system= Kellstone
|sector= Uralis
|subsector= Kellstone
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

There are many worlds which the War Scribes and their allies have pulled from the clutches of decay, barbarism, and the grasping hands of filthy xenos. Those lucky planets grace the screens and holovids of a thousand Imperial worlds, courtesy of the Imperium's ever-vigilant propaganda arm. Worlds like Kellstone Tertius on the other hand, third of five benighted rocks, are rarely spoken of by decent Imperial citizenry.

There were high hopes for Kellstone when the van Dreis family first settled there. They raised tall towers, built vast industrial works, tapped the resources of the other four planets to feed their growing population's needs. The economy grew resilient and diversified, producing refined goods to be shipped across the entire Segmentum. Indeed, few among the Atalantos Worlds could claim such a vaunted position in the hierarchy.

Over time the van Dreis clan extended their reach to the Galaxy at large, and with the Emperor's blessing founded a Rogue Trader house of their very own. It is rare in the Imperium for citizens to elevate themselves to such a position, no matter how deep their coffers, but the van Dreis family's ambitions were boundless. With an entire planetary system under their thrall, it was childs' play to outfit dozens of mighty voidships to spread their influence far and wide.

And so the merchants of Foldham VII took note. This was a bridge too far, and the van Dreises threatened to undermine their economic power so long in the making. And they went to war with knife, legal writ, and Throne gelt. The Imperium keeps few records of the titanic struggle between Kellstone and Foldham, for nearly all was kept behind closed doors and inside back alleys. Even the document-loving War Scribes can shed precious few insights into these mercantile affairs.

What is known speaks volumes though. Within eight years Kellstone Tertius' industrial output had all but collapsed. Internal sabotage, state-sponsored terrorism, economic brain drain, and the vicissitudes of the Heresy all coalesced to bring down a mighty House. Fortunately for Kellstone Tertius, the Foldham merchant guilds met their own obstacles and were crushed mercilessly by Legio Secundus before all was lost. This was little consolation to the returning Rogue Trader family members, expecting a hero's welcome rather than warning shots.

So much had been lost that the Hives themselves were teetering on the brink of social and physical collapse. The effort to rebuild would bankrupt the van Dreises utterly, and their success was no sure thing. Almost as one, they voted to take what they could salvage and leave, abandoning billions to their fate and virtually gutting what resources remained on-planet. Today the van Dreis are one of the most infamous Houses in the Imperium. Though ostensibly loyal to the Golden Throne, they skirt the bleeding edge of legal technicalities at every turn and think nothing of destroying entire worlds for a handful of jewels or the favor of a well-placed noble. For ten thousand years they have been little better than mercenary predators.

All that is, save one. Eric van Dreis, future First Lord Protector of Kellstone Tertius. Lord Commander of the 912th Imperial Expedition Fleet. A thirty year old stripling, tactical and strategic genius, and familial black sheep. So far down the line of inheritance he would need binoculars to see those illustrious names at the forefront from where he stood.

Eric charted his own course through life, and through the Heresy. He rose to prominence rapidly as the Heresy consumed his superior officers like kindling, but proved himself an able commander of men. Performing such "dirty work" was considered beneath his exalted line. He was all but disowned. But when his homeworld teetered on the brink of damnation and Chaos cults seemingly sprang fully formed from every destitute laborer and disillusioned merchant, Eric answered their unspoken cry for help. In fire and wrath he rallied the 912th Fleet to his banner, claiming the authority for independent action in the midst of clear and present Traitor threats.

For five years Kellstone Tertius felt the pain of open conflict. But at the end of it all, Eric stood victorious. Much of the 912th Expeditionary Fleet was broken up and sent elsewhere in the Imperium as were all Army units, but many of its soldiers "voluntarily re-enlisted" in the newly founded Kellstone PDF, and a surprising number of voidship captains transmitted "extended repair and re-armament" requests to Terra.

Ten thousand years and a host of van Dreises have come and gone. Kellstone Tertius has yet to regain its former glory, and almost certainly never will. Most of its hives are damaged, some totally destroyed and fit only for the occasional nomad band's shelter. Industrial output is dismal, barely enough to keep the Hives self-sufficient, to say nothing of profitable exports. Chaos cults are repressed but never truly eliminated. Occasionally the War Scribes deploy a squad or two to crack down on the worst problems, but their resources are stretched thin since the Heresy, and Kellstone is far down on their list of priorities.

To the outside observer Kellstone is a failed world in every way, contributing little to the Imperium but Guard Regiments. But the people believe. Because someone came back for them. Not every van Dreis has been a good leader or a good person. None have clean hands or consciences. But they all put their shoulders to the grindstone and did what they could. Sometimes that just meant staving off total collapse for one more day. And that is enough.

The Guardsmen from Kellstone are not particularly well-equipped, nor are they well trained. Many of them have friends and family who turned to the Ruinous Powers, or sought a better life with privateers and brigands. Quite a few of them harbor unorthodox thoughts regarding the Imperium and the Emperor, and many bear the Inquisition's brand or the Ecclesiarchy's whip-marks on their backs. But they believe in hard work, and a better tomorrow.

As a Hive World, the demanded tithes of manpower are terrifyingly high. Most planets would bleed themselves dry and empty every prison cell to fulfill such quotas.

Every Kellstone Guard Regiment is composed entirely of volunteers.

Not for ten thousand years have Kellstone's requirements gone unmet.

====Velim II, The Madhouse====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Velim II
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= ???????
|orbdist= 1 AU
|gravity= .95G
|temp= 30C
|pop= 100,000
|governor= Whoever is fastest
|system= Velim
|sector= Tygros
|subsector= Velim
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Many planets in the Galaxy are Chaotic with a capital C. The Gods have claimed them for their personal toys, and each day the tortured hunks of rock are wrenched asunder in mad whims of chance. The most famous of these are surely the doomed planets near and within the Eye of Terror, for whom peace is a myth and tranquility only a dream.

And yet there is also chaos with a little c. It is rare but not unheard of that altogether more bizarre fates might befall a world, and one such planet is Velim II, tucked away in a quiet corner of the Atalantos Worlds. Primarch Arelex often made note that Dark Age Mankind sought to push into the Core sectors, but by and large abandoned such attempts for reasons unknown. If they succeeded, a new habitable world joined the human sphere. If not, their wondrous machinery simply lifted off to orbit and disappeared forever. But on Velim II something went wrong.

It is beyond the means of Imperial scholars to determine why, but on Velim II there are hundreds of Dark Age terraforming vehicles still in operation, wider than Emperor-class battleships and taller than Hive Spires. These moving mountains roam the planet at all hours of the day, stopping, starting and changing direction seemingly at random. Mountains are raised and leveled and raised again, seas gouge themselves into trenches where plains once rolled, misty rainforests spring from blackened volcanic debris. The air is constantly roiling with energy and storms of immense power whip themselves into a frenzy only to blow out in hours.

Tech adepts have journeyed to Velim II for ten thousand years trying to make sense of the machines' patterns and deduce their security passcodes, but to no avail. It is hypothesized that Chaotic scrap-code infests them, or that the Core's radiation has driven their machine spirits mad. Perhaps there are Abominable Intelligences at work within the gargantua, or maybe they are simply obeying conflicting orders from men long since dead. All that is known for certain is that anyone foolish enough to approach them is captured, shredded, and used for fertilizer or spare parts. And yet hope springs eternal and the adherents of the Machine God willingly dare the hazards even so.

During the 32nd millennia, to the surprise of absolutely everyone, a handful of human tribes were discovered on Velim II. Although the planet is technically habitable, it was thought impossible that any form of advanced life could sustain itself within the maelstrom. Multiple attempts to contact these people and spread the Imperial Creed went in vain, for the tribes are always on the move. Indeed, when placed into captivity they are quickly driven mad by the stillness, and cannot abide solid floors and walls for long. Anticipating disaster that never comes, their fight or flight reflex drives their hearts to burst.

The fastest and quickest witted among them rule, and their word is law. As soon as warning shouts are raised the people awake from deepest slumber, pumping their legs like machinery before their eyes even open. On Velim II, situational awareness is life itself, and its people can read changes in the air or earth to a degree bordering on precognition.

The War Scribes have largely ignored Velim II, allowing the Mechanicus to make such pilgrimages as they see fit and permitting the ancient machines to continue their tasks. After all, who can say what the minds of ancient Man intended? To destroy the terraformers might be to destroy an ineffable plan millennia in the making, and that possibility is enough to stay the Marines' hand. But they do reap a certain bounty from Velim II nonetheless.

As with any human population, there are children, though childhood is preciously short on Velim II. And though infants know nothing of the world, and adults are so imprinted with the need for constant motion as to be incapable of rest, their young children are a balance between both. They have learned many useful talents and developed immense endurance, but their brains are still mostly pliable enough for hypno-conditioning, and thus can be transformed into a Marine.

The Velim II population is and always will be small, so few Marines are born here. But of those that pass the gene-seed trials, truly exceptional Marines are made. They rarely rise high in the ranks, and they tend to be poorly suited for life aboard the fleet or assaulting enemy positions, but for the Wandering Chapters they are tailor-made. No War Scribes are mentally faster, quicker of foot or reflex. None have keener eyesight or superior situational awareness. Even for Marines their endurance is legendary, it is often said that a man from Velim II could run a thousand years and circle a planet fifty times over before growing tired on the march.

Their restless spirit is tempered into swift but well-planned action, a decisiveness to be envied. It is by no means guaranteed despite their genetic heritage, but almost every Chapter Master of a Wandering Chapter hails from Velim II. They are ruin-raiders, explorers, cartographers, and trailblazers beyond peer in the Imperium, wise in their breadth of experience and much respected among their more sedate brethren.

Thus is the legacy of ancient Man.

====RJ-874-S9 Iota Prime, "Object Eighteen"====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Object Eighteen
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|orbdist= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|gravity= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|temp= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|pop= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|governor= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|system= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|sector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|subsector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Even the War Scribes' librariums do not contain the sum of all Imperial knowledge.

Within the vastness of space is ample room to hide almost anything, and the Atalantos Worlds are no exception.

In the early 34th Millennium, a growing number of Inquisitors became concerned that the War Scribes might be operating too independently. It was well known across the Imperium that the Atalantos Worlds were largely self-sufficient, possessed of a hearty resilience both industrially and in the people's mindset. Forged by a commonality of purpose, the Atalantos Worlds traditionally presented a unified front to external threats, even if they often quarreled amongst themselves. What then might happen if they decided the Imperium itself was an "external threat"? No human could be above suspicion, even less so a collection of worlds capable of stifling Imperial trade and communication to the Ultima Segmentum!

The War Scribes too came under the Inquisiton's baleful gaze. Though Primarch Arelex had long ago consented to break his Legion apart and form Codex-adherent Chapters, the "familial" mentality never truly died. His Successor Chapters regularly communicated with one another, and would often rally together to defeat larger foes. Chapter Masters traveled to Atalantos in order to share their knowledge with one another, and Marines occasionally exchanged themselves across Chapters to foster cooperation and renew ancient trust. To many Inquisitors, this reeked of covert Legion-building. Something would have to be done.

Quietly, without alerting the ever-vigilant Scribes, Inquisitorial operatives gained access to many of the oldest surveys of the Galactic Core. Some of these were even penned by Arelex himself! Scouring these maps took decades, but at last a suitable world was chosen for the Inquisition's purposes. RJ-874-S9 Iota Prime, "Object Eighteen".

Notable for its utter non-notability, RJ-874-S9 Iota Prime is the eighteenth and final planet discovered by Imperial survey probes in a mostly empty sector. Nothing is known about it, for the Inquisition secretly erased virtually every trace that the planet ever existed in Imperial records. It can only be assumed that the planet is now some sort of listening device, and most likely a forward operating base deep in the Atalantos Worlds. But a single planet could never truly threaten the War Scribes or their Successors through force of arms or naval power, even stocked to the brim with weapons and men at arms.

But the darkest rumors whisper of mysterious vessels sighted from time to time, flickering in and out of sensor images like ghosts. Every so often, a crusty old voidship captain or jaded planetary defense officer will tell tall tales of such things in local drinking establishments. And usually, the crowd buys such people a drink or two in appreciation of their tall tales. But some people, wiser and more knowledgeable of the Imperium's capabilities discern more from these riddles.

The Inquisition works subtly and quietly most of the time. But occasionally they cannot. And ancient vessels are dispatched, a single one per rebellious world. Then they are gone, doomed world and midnight-black voidcraft alike.

These vessels have yet to be unleashed upon the Atalantos Worlds or the War Scribes, if indeed they are real. But the Inquisition never sleeps. And tomorrow is a new day.

====Anomaly Sagittarius-Scaramanzo 384, The Riptide====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Sagittarius-Scaramanzo 384
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Debris field
|orbdist= None
|gravity= None
|temp= 2.7 Kelvin
|pop= Varies
|governor= None
|system= None
|sector= Scaramanzo
|subsector= 384
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

It is an all too common phenomena in the Galaxy that Warp currents ensnare voidships, both intact and destroyed alike. Many Imperial record speak of claiming valuable salvage from these derelicts and bringing them to new purpose serving the Emperor's needs. Anomaly 384 in the Scaramanzo sub-sector is quite a bit more unusual though. A complex interaction of gravitational fields from the Galaxy's central black hole, the nearby stars, and a rapidly orbiting binary neutron pair have aggregated billions of tons of twisted metal and drifting asteroids together. Like the tail of a comet but a trillion times more massive, this streamer of wreckage stretches for almost a light-year, trailing in the neutron stars' wake.

Approaching the debris is perilous indeed, for at any moment some hapless piece of ancient garbage might impact one of the neutron stars, releasing unimaginable quantities of energy. Nearby Warp routes also suffer from the enormous gravitic strain, snapping and reforming themselves in new patterns on a daily, even hourly basis. The handful of Navigators who have entered this tortured space and lived to tell the tale describe navigation here as "dancing from circus tightrope to tightrope as they snap beneath your weight, all while blindfolded and falling down a mountain".

Though their lust for treasure knows few bounds, even the adventurous War Scribes do not journey too close to the Riptide. More than one Strike Cruiser was been torn apart before the Marines admitted defeat. Regrettably, the price is just too high to risk valuable Marines and their equipment on this sort of treasure hunt, especially when more lucrative pickings lie elsewhere. The Adeptus Mechanicus continues their efforts to plunder the Riptide though, bolstered by their gravitic research on Precipice. With their advanced equipment they have been able to retrieve several small relics, and hope to achieve yet more in time.

A handful of pirates and Rogue Traders have also dared the Riptide's embrace. Almost all have found themselves part of its lifeless entourage, along with their precious voidcraft. Life is tenacious and even here a small community has arisen from these unfortunates. They huddle inside their adamantium shells and scrounge a day to day existence using radiation collectors to fuel hydroponics and water reclamation in place of a proper sun and planetary ecosystem. They are virtually cut off from the entire Galaxy thanks to the Riptide, and few can even begin to speculate what changes the radiation, gravitic anomalies, and more mundane hardships may have wrought upon their bodies and minds.

Someday perhaps the Imperium may learn of their fates, but it will likely not be any time soon.

====Protoplanetary Disc Emmen Prime/"Mork's Eye"/"Gork's Heart"====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= (Name INTENSELY disputed)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Ork-infested asteroid field
|orbdist= Varies
|gravity= Varies
|temp= Varies
|pop= Billions of Orks, 30,000,000 Humans
|governor= General Quro Rimlin
|system= Emmen
|sector= Tuchaniv
|subsector= Emmen
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

A star's youth passes quickly even in geologic time. Planets are born over the course of some millions of years, the star slowly begins to warm up as more helium is fused in the core, and the excess debris is purged by T Tauri winds driving dust and ice particles to the solar system's fringes. Emmen Prime is in the midst of just this process. It is a small whitish-yellow star not much bigger than Sol, with an enormous disc of tumbling rock and ice escorting it through the universe. Someday these lumps will coalesce into planets of various types, but for now they are simply drifting at random.

Some of these protoplanets are molten hot from previous impacts, but many have cooled and solidified through the whims of chance. It is here that Ork upon Ork have chosen to make their fortresses, bursting with fungus life in a million isolated ecosystems. They wage war on one another constantly, destroying anything they can get their green hands on and bickering at the slightest provocation. The Imperium has cordoned off Emmen Prime with a vast net of orbital fortresses carved into asteroids orbiting near the system's outer fringe.

Millions of Guardsmen and naval vessels stand permanent vigil here, remaining hidden until the last possible second to avoid giving the squabbling Orks a target to rally against. When a particularly ambitious Ork gathers a nascent WAAAGH! to himself and threatens to leave the system, concealed weapons extend from unsuspicious rocks and blast the crude Orkish vessels to smithereens, then retract to become invisible once more. The Imperium would love nothing more than to purge the Emmen Prime system of its green infestation, but the sheer number of hiding places and Orks renders this a difficult task at best.

A mighty Crusade will eventually descend upon the myriad Orks, the War Scribes at its head, but such plans are as yet merely paper tigers. There are several prominent backers of this embryonic Crusade though, chief among them the inhabitants of the Govirex system. They would love nothing more than to haul Emmen's nigh-infinite geological wealth to their drifting hab-bubble homes, for they are always in need of mineral resources to forge repair equipment. All the Govirexians need is the support of a prominent Inquisitor or Administratum notable, and the tide of war will turn towards Emmen.

====Anomaly Centroid R-391/C-6====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= R-391/C-6
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Stellar Remnant
|orbdist= N/A
|gravity= 385,000 G
|temp= -270C
|pop= 0
|governor= N/A
|system= N/A
|sector= Peltru
|subsector= Deep Core 81-Gamma
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Within the Galaxy's burning heart, stars are born with reckless abandon. Their light shines through the cosmos, boldly proclaiming the temporary triumph of matter over entropy. And with equal frequency stars die, casting off their outer layers to seed the cosmos with resources. A certain subset of stars, including Terra's own, take the middle path. Large enough to burn helium into carbon, yet not massive enough to go beyond and fuse heavier elements, these stellar bodies live long, placid lives. They swell up into red giants, and gently shed themselves into a planetary nebula, leaving behind a single brilliantly hot white dwarf.

After many cosmic aeons, longer than the Universe has currently existed, these planet-sized embers will cool and go dark. They will cease to emit light and become invisible to all but gravitic scopes. According to the Imperium's finest scientists, some 14 billion years are required for this process. In theory, a star that was dying ''as the Universe was born'' might have reached this inert state in the present Imperial era. Of course, no reputable Magos believed in the possibility. Until a newly established mining colony in the deepest reaches of the Atalantos Worlds reported something mysterious distorting Warp travel and causing orbital disturbances in their system.

The search took more than twenty years and required exhaustive multispatial triangulation to narrow down the anomaly's possible location, but the Scribes adore a good puzzle and took to the task with gusto. And eventually the stellar remnant was identified. Anomaly R-391/C-6 weighs as much as Sol but occupies the volume of Holy Terra, its gravitic pull at the surface nearly four hundred thousand G's. Virtually invisible, its entire mass is composed of molecular carbon left over from stellar fusion, with trace elements captured from interstellar space.

In effect, it is a single quasi-crystalline diamond the size of a planet. And it should not exist.

Though implausible, the Mechanicus and the Scribes came to but one conclusion. Something in the distant past artificially aged a small star to death, carefully controlled its fusion pattern, and cooled it rapidly through means unknown. The anomaly's crystal structure is riddled with stress fractures and compression facets, but no meaningful pattern has ever been identified. Psychic probes have failed to return any useful information, and despite their best efforts no Magos has ever been able to pry physical samples from the terrifying gravitational pull.

Through their network of contacts among Rogue Traders, who will converse with xenos the Scribes refuse to tolerate, a strange fragment of lore does offer tantalizing clues, if true. The Eldar Empire's long-dead bonesingers sung of this object, calling it the ''"Last Tear of a Dying Realm"''. It was their belief that R-391/C-6 does not belong to our universe, that another realm's peerless scientists learned of our universe's physical laws to come and crafted a nigh-indestructible capsule that could exist within those strictures. Casting their payload into whatever maelstrom might have come before the Big Bang, their message in a bottle might one day be read by new life and new civilizations. A way to cheat the ultimate destruction, and prove that they existed.

Sadly, both Eldar and Mankind have fallen far, and neither will likely ever have the technical skill to decode a planet, if indeed there is anything to be decoded. It is entirely possible that some strange Warp anomaly leached the life out of some hapless star during a massive Warpstorm, spitting out nothing more glamorous than a useless rock. Perhaps it is some craft of Tzeentch the Great Deceiver itself, devised for no greater purpose than to drive men mad and cause them to waste their lives on a fool's errand But the quest for knowledge is ever tantalizing. Imperials, Xenos, and the forces of Chaos alike venture here from time to time, in order to take their shot at its secrets.

The Atalantos Worlds

2016-10-11T04:06:05Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* The Codex Atalantos */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

==History of Atalantos==

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Basilikon Atalantos
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Basilikon_Atalantos.jpg|200px]]
|type= Fortress-Monastery
|pop= 10,000,000
|governor= Chapter Master
|system= Atalantos
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Primaris
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Near the Galactic Core, life is harsh and brutal. Intense radiation coming from the tightly clustered stars and the monstrous black hole at the Galaxy's heart sterilize all life from worlds that draw too close. It is an all too common lament for many stillborn races that the vagaries of gravity draw their system's orbit into this tempest, burning them from existence in the uncaring glare. However, the Galactic Core is also one of the most vibrant places in a Galaxy that elsewhere is cold, dark, and all too dead, filled with a plethora of rare resources and ancient ruins that outlived their luckless owners. Many a planet in this region holds ancient troves of knowledge and relics, left behind after their masters demise.

It was these legends that drew [[Arelex Orannis]] and the [[War Scribes]] inward towards the roiling cauldrons of fire, flush with the successes of the early Great Crusade years and eager to bring back treasure and impress the Emperor. The quest to secure these planets was an arduous one, a slow slog of claiming dead worlds, armoring them against the Core's radiation, and then examining them in minute detail for anything useful. Slowly but steadily, the War Scribes pushed the Imperium's boundaries inward, facing off against hideous beings of pure energy, twisted monsters wielding gravity as a weapon, hellish mutants thriving in the wash of radiation, and other things too terrible to mention.

Though progress was slow and the number of habitable worlds claimed was small, the Emperor looked upon these unnatural, eerily powerful beasts with contempt and hatred, proclaiming that it was right and proper that the War Scribes dedicate themselves to their eradication no matter the cost or time required. Additionally, the War Scribes had uncovered many fragmented relics from humanity's past and the STC fragments had proven very useful for upgrading the armies of the [[Legiones Astartes (Hektor Heresy)|Legiones Astartes]] as a whole.

These planets became centers of Imperial might, flush with resources and greedily exploited by humanity. Life on the surface was extremely difficult, though not impossible, and most of the habitats and industries were deep underground to protect the people from radiation. Each of the War Scribes' planets could match the industrial output of much larger Imperial worlds, and they became one of the primary producers of supplies for Imperial operations in the Ultima Segmentum, greatly shortening the supply chains that otherwise would have to run all the way from Terra or Mars.

===Culture of the Atalantos Worlds===

''If your life has no point, earn points for your family! Enlist in the PDF today, and earn extra rewards for time served!''

''If your credit's run dry, you can still die! Enlist in the Atalantos Guard today, and get double points for your loved ones to remember you by!''

''Sample posters from various worlds in the Atalantos Sector''

Once, Atalantos was a name to inspire wonder and joy among the Imperium, a shining beacon of what was possible for humanity and what might someday become standard for the entire Imperium. Such was Arelex's dream. In the modern era however, Atalantos is a shadowed realm, mighty yet battered, whose struggles closely mirror the greater Imperium.

The glories of Atalantos still exist, but without the Primarch's guidance they have become nearly unsustainable on their own. More inefficient manufacturing techniques and the slow attrition of time have demanded ever larger supplies of raw materials to compensate. It is not uncommon for an archaeotech foundry to require two or even three times the material and energy to create the same item as it did in the 30th millennium.

Most of the Atalantos Worlds are merely enormous mining colonies, fed by an inexhaustible stream of expendable, barely sentient manpower from the seven Remnant Worlds and their associated Hive Cities. These people were mindless savages when the War Scribes discovered them, but through brutal genetic and bionic modification they were raised to the level at which they could use tools. Though useless for warfare, they are almost immune to radiation damage, the heritage of their survival near the Core, and they make ideal slave labor within the endlessly hungry mines. Though life in the mines is brutal, the War Scribes at least make it no harder than necessary. They care nothing for the workers, but they do not impose punishments for no reason, as that would cut the efficiency of the process.

Likewise, the Atalantos Worlds as a whole are a meritocracy, enforced by the Scribes. If you serve well, you are rewarded and your skills are adapted for use elsewhere. If you serve poorly, you are sent to the mines. If you still perform poorly, you are executed so that your food rations can be given to more useful citizens. The people are tracked and watched at all times, constantly gaining and losing "credits" based on service. Earn enough, and one can advance up the social ladder. In theory, a truly gifted person could rise from the lowliest gutter scum to become a Planetary Governor. As the Scribes are quick to point out, this has actually happened more than once, something unheard of in the greater Imperium without resorting to open rebellion.

A curious system of passive warfare has emerged because of this social imposition. Direct combat hinders '''both''' parties credits, because time spent fighting is time not spent earning points, and gets '''both''' combatants sent to the mines. Instead, families compete to be better producers than each other so that their rivals will look bad by comparison, and be sent to the mines or the PDF. More than one mining conglomerate has been destroyed en masse when their rivals edged them out in productivity.

While these policies keep the industrial output of the Atalantos Worlds running at a fever pitch, it places immense stress on the population, who rarely even sleep for fear that their neighbors are getting ahead of them. Suicide was commonplace, until the War Scribes, responding to the steady rise in Necron encounters, issued a decree stating that anyone willing to give their lives to fight the Necrons could earn massive points for their families.

Throwing one's life away by suicide is seen as a taboo almost beyond any other, since it carries a very real risk of wiping out your entire family and possibly other families who relied on your work to support their endeavors. A family related to a suicide will often enlist in the Guard en masse save for the youngest children and their caretakers, to wipe away the shame on their family name.

Atalantos is a strange land, where people eagerly hurl themselves into the most brutal of conditions, or stare down the guns of implacable monstrosities, but then again Humanity is a strange species. So long as they feel their efforts matter, they will put the whips to their own backs. A 16-hour work day might be brutally hard, but at least it's not as bad as other Imperial worlds, or so the miners tell themselves. At least for them, the labor is self-imposed. ''"On those miserable planets, they work like dogs and get nowhere. At least we may better ourselves!"'''

And so they go, and so they toil, and so they live, and so they die.

==Hazards of the Atalantos Worlds==

===Necrons===

Aside from the dangers posed by mundane threats like radiation, wandering singularities, rogue planets and supernovae, the Atalantos worlds are often beset by enemies of a more calculating nature. Though the low human population near the Galactic Core offers little food for the Ruinous Powers to feed upon, a significant number of Tomb Worlds have been located in the vicinity during the course of surveying expeditions.

Some of these Tomb Worlds are still inactive, but as the milennia have progressed, the Necron threat has grown significantly. Much of the War Scribes' time is spent containing and repelling these reawakening xenos, attempting to shield the rest of the Imperium from their predation. It is fortunate that the Necron Dynasties seem to despise each other as much as the Imperium, and their infighting has kept the immediate risk lower.

Several Tomb Worlds have been destroyed by the War Scribes, but each time it has come at the cost of a brutally devastating war, a long recovery time, and the depletion of what few Dark Age weaponry the Chapter still possesses. The War Scribes have become more frantic in their quest for relic weaponry lately, spurred on by the fear of being caught unprepared by a major Necron invasion.

====Known Active Necron Dynasties====

*Ulkhesh Dynasty (Known for excessive proportion of Deathmarks. Escaped notice by larger Dynasties by basing much of their forces in alternate dimensions)

*Zelrakh-Khemta Dynasty (Unusual Dynasty with co-ruling Phaerons. Believed by Imperial Scribes to be a merged Dynasty by the Necron equivalent of marriage.)

*Il'Kholas Dynasty (Known for being largely fleet-based. Since activation of Tomb World, majority of forces have warred with other Dynasties for control of spacelanes and resources. Tomb World largely abandoned.)

===Other Xenos===

Though the War Scribes and their Primarch shattered many empires of the native xenos, their hateful remnants still remain, lurking in the glare of enemy stars.

====Deathpulse====

*The deadly xenos species known only as the Deathpulse is composed of pure stellar plasma, riding the currents between stars in endless loops and feeding off any life they encounter. As massive as a small moon, a single Deathpulse creature can sterilize a planet in less than a day. For now, the remaining Deathpulse keep a wary distance from the Atalantos Worlds, held at bay by their vulnerability to plasma weapons, which can disrupt their equivalent of a nervous system. Someday though, they will avenge their dead brethren with the burning of worlds.

====Void Eaters====

*As insidious as the Deathpulse are bombastic, the Void Eaters live in the shadows and cracks of the Galaxy. Wherever there is a dead world, a dead star, or a dead life form, there may be a Void Eater there, feeding off the essence of death. They are creatures of total blackness, absorbing any light that falls on them into their core, never to be seen again. Their guns are all gravitic in nature, and can twist a man in half with contemptuous ease, or bend a tank back on itself. Though they look like holes in reality, there is a living being of sorts underneath their void-black exterior, and by the grace of the Emperor, sustained bolter fire can bring them down. Las-weapons have no effect on these monsters, nor do plasma weapons or electromagnetic assaults of any kind. When hit by such devices, the blast simply... disappears. There may be only a few Void Eaters, or there may be billions. They are the nightmare that disturbs the thoughts of the Atalantos Worlds, for none can say when they may return.

==The Codex Atalantos==

===Atalantos===
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Atalantos
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Atalantos.jpg|200px]]
|type= Agri-World/Space Marine Chapter Homeworld
|orbdist= 1.08AU ± .2AU
|gravity= 1.05G
|temp= Temperate
|pop= 5,000,000
|governor= An Veles Rezuhon
|system= Atalantos System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Primaris
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Atalantos is the jewel of the conglomerate of worlds that shares its name. More distant from the Core than most of the Atalantos Worlds, its surface is actually habitable for unshielded humans, protected by an unusually strong magnetic field. It is a young world, hot and tectonically active, and its biosphere is energetically fecund. Atalantos has few accessible resources, unusual for a Core World, and instead of producing mineral wealth, Atalantos feeds a dozen mining worlds as one of the most productive breadbaskets in the Imperium. Almost every scrap of land is dedicated to cropland, and the oceans have been channeled and mastered by the Scribes in order to ensure proper irrigation at all times. The light of the stars is bright enough that the night sky is never darker than a deep blue color, and plants grow at all latitudes year round.

The capitol city, known as the Basilikon Atalantos, is a fortress formerly constructed by Dark Age Man for purposes unknown. Though the people that lived within did not survive, the nearly indestructible buildings did, and it was these relics that first attracted Arelex's attention. Much knowledge was recovered from the deep catacombs, and Arelex was able to deliver these treasures to the Emperor personally.

It is here that the War Scribes test their recruits for physical and mental strength. The colossal Basilikon has endless rooms for exercising the body and the mind, and the Scribes have filled the building with everything they need to support the Chapter and its successors. Below the Basilikon are some of their mist advanced manufactorums, assembling the most powerful weapons of war available.

====Other Agricultural Worlds====

*Kelemvor III

*Belerog IX

*Broken Stone

*Dantolis

===Yojan VII, Primary Mining World===
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Yojan VII
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Yojan_VII.jpg|200px]]
|type= Mining World
|orbdist= 436AU ± 8.3AU
|gravity= 1.24G
|temp= Temperate/Irradiated
|pop= 10,000,000 (Miners)
20,000 (Rogue Traders/Others)
|governor=
|system= Yojan System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Yojan
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Yojan VII and its massive moon Yojan Beta orbit a brilliant blue giant star of roughly 30 solar masses, only barely avoiding incineration by virtue of their distended orbit, more than ten times as distant from the parent star as Pluto is from Sol. It takes slightly more than 2,000 years for Yojan VII to circle its star, so no man ever celebrates his first Yojan birthday.

Though Yojan VII has less than four million years before its star dies, that is more than long enough for the Imperium's needs. No life exists on Yojan VII, though the planet does possess liquid water and a full water cycle. It is harsh and rugged, barely finished cooling its oceans and solidifying its crust. In the mines dozens of kilometers below the surface, it is said that one cannot fire a mining laser for more than 30 seconds without striking some valuable node of ore or priceless jewel, and the endless conveyor belts and smelters are full to bursting with wealth. No world in the Atalantos Cluster produces such value for the Imperium.

Yojan Beta has few of the mineral resources its parent carries in such abundance, much like Luna compared to Holy Terra. To conserve resources and save on travel time, the gigantic moon's crust has been all but hollowed out and replaced with city-sized smelters and ore purifiers of every type. Yojan Beta is larger than Mars, but even with its titanic machinery can barely keep pace with the parent world's output.

Life in the mines is brutally hard for the indentured servants, but a large number of independent mining companies and even a few Rogue Trader dynasties have also made treaties with the Scribes to exploit Yojan VII's immense wealth. These individuals tend to be able to afford better equipment for their skilled laborers. Both groups, indentured and salaried alike, are required to provide the Scribes with recruits, and those Scribes that come from Yojan VII are tough, rugged individuals even by the standards of Space Marines, well used to backbreaking labor and other tests of endurance.

====Other Mining Worlds====

As time marches on, the Atalantos Worlds have become more and more dependent on increasing supplies of raw materials to maintain their ancient relics. To meet the demands, even the most barren, blasted planetoids are being examined for mineral wealth, and the War Scribes are claiming them at a breakneck pace.

Most Mining Worlds in the Atalantos Worlds are sparsely populated, largely given over to armies of tunneling machinery and transient populations of indentured servants, slaves, and criminals.

*To-Lek Prime

*Arphalos III

*Delta Ophan II

*Mologe Valonis

*Fleshboiler (Penal Colony)

*Tenalor II

*Porit-Xen Alpha

*Tikon Eklem

*Firefall

*Blackstone

*Korvis X

*The Bad Lands

*Golden Cave

*Boteh'nel VI

*Ophachix I, II, III

*Teleos V

*Aklan Maklen

*Uriel Prime

===The Remnant, Primary Hive System===
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Bastion Orannis
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Emperors_Eye.jpg|200px]]
|type= Fortress World/Galactic Core Observatory
|orbdist= 1.5AU ± 0.23AU
|gravity= 1.11G
|temp= Temperate
|pop= 14,000,000,000
|governor=
|system= Remnos System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Remnos
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

The Remnant is a strange collection of seven planets, orbiting farther above the galactic plane than the other Atalantos Worlds. From this elevated vantage point the spiral of the Galaxy is readily visible, as well as a good angle on the Galactic Core above the clouds of interstellar dust. The Remnant worlds are ancient beyond the knowledge of the Imperium to discern, dating back to the Dark Age of humanity. Cut off from the rest of civilization for millennia, the human inhabitants devolved into savagery and barbarism, crawling through the colossal relics of their ancestors with no more comprehension of their potential than a grox has of the inner workings of a Plasma Drive.

When the Scribes came upon these planets they immediately set to work reclaiming them for the Imperium. After two decades of brutal culling, genetic manipulation, bionic enhancement and relentless training, the people of the Remnant worlds regained some of their humanity and intelligence, much as Ogryns can be somewhat rehabilitated with the Bone'Ead procedure. At the Emperor's request, the Scribes constructed a mighty observatory on the largest Remnant world, using its powerful optics to look deep into the galaxy and help guide the Great Crusade by spotting threats in its path through the Ultima Segmentum. Now that the Crusade has passed into myth and legend, these telescopes are used to examine the Galactic Core, seeking new worlds within its furious heat into space where the Imperium may harvest them.

The Scribes lament that the regression of the Remnant Worlds' former inhabitants destroyed almost all relics of value, but nevertheless appreciate the bounty of seven closely linked hive worlds from which to recruit Marines and draw an endless stream of indentured labor for the Atalantos mining worlds. Marines from the Remnant Worlds are rarely the Legion's finest specimens, but even among the ever-resilient Scribes they are endowed with rugged endurance bordering on the supernatural.

====Remnant Worlds====

*Thanden (Capitol world and later, primary Cardinal World of the Atalantos Cluster)

*Keilos (Hive World)

*Volgaz (Agri-world)

*Beneumos (Manufacturing world)

*Xivo (Hive World)

*Cerelex Loja (Hive World)

*Bastion Orannis (Fortress World, Observatory location)

===Other Notable Worlds of the Atalantos Sector===

====Narhadul, Legion Naval Yard and Resupply Center====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Narhadul
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Narhadul.jpg|200px]]
|type= Shipyard/Manufactorum
|orbdist= 1.2AU ± .025 AU
|gravity= 1.09G
|temp= 35 C
|pop= 8,000,000,000 (Surface)
10,000,000 (Orbital)
|governor= Dock Lord (Title)
|system= Narhadul System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Narhadul
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Narhadul, azure jewel of the Atalantos Worlds. Narhadul, the Ringed World. Narhadul, supply world for the greatest naval fleet of any Legion. Primarch Arelex labored long and hard to forge the enormous naval base above Narhadul's atmosphere, and as the War Scribes' fleet expanded, so did the dockyards. By the time of the Heresy they had grown to encompass the planet entirely, forming an enormous broad ring of industrial might, capable of servicing any number of vessels.

For a time, the entire Imperial fleet for the Ultima Segmentum based out of Narhadul for resupply and repair, though as the Crusade pressed onward to the Galactic Fringes other hubs of industry would take up some of the load. The world is of immense importance to the War Scribes and to the Ultima Segmentum, and so it drew the eye of Hektor himself who had visited it on more than one occasion to see what his brother had created. Commanding the [[Sons of Fire]] and the [[Eternal Zealots]] to do whatever was necessary to remove the industrial power of Narhadul, [[Hektor Cincinnatus]] sealed the world's fate, though it would be Arelex himself who struck the most painful blows.

The two Traitor Legions descended on the world in force, choosing it as one of the first targets for the Burning Crusade. The vast naval yards were shot through and burned, though Primarch Aubrey well knew the ring itself was simply too massive to destroy outright. The true prize lay below. On Narhadul itself were endless ranks of manufactorums, producing Warp Drives, power plants, naval weaponry, armor, ammunition and ten thousand other essential ingredients for a functional naval fleet. All were put to the torch, defenseless in the War Scribes' weakened state.

Knowing that the planet could not be saved, Arelex ordered the few ships surviving in orbit to deploy their payloads of Phosphex torpedoes, condemning the planet to fiery contamination for a thousand years.

----
*''Narhadul: 009 M31, the Dawn of the Burning Crusade.''

Aubrey watched as the first of the orbital strikes hit to the north. There was a blinding flash, and rising green flame mushroomed into the air beyond the horizon, heaving thousands of feet into the air. Others were coming down overhead, closer than the first. Aubrey sheathed his twin blades as he mused over this development. For the enemy to unleash world-killers was a stunning development. It was not a strategic possibility that he had even considered the War Scribes Legion undertaking. He had thought they would rather bleed and die to defend the enclave they had carved out for themselves then give in to despair, allowing him to give their souls to the Dark Gods and further the great path.

'This world is going to die, along with countless thousands of two Legions, yet you seem impressed my Lord,' said Master of Signals Cadauzes. His voice betrayed a note of unease. He did not know how they would get offworld now.

'I am,' said Aubrey, already reaching out for the power the Gods had granted him. 'I didn't think they had it in them.'

There was no way anyone would believe that Arelex would ever sanction the use of phosphex on such a scale, particularly against one of his own worlds. The blame would surely fall on him and Inferox for this. It matched Inferox’s MO, after all.

He had ordered the evacuation, but there was little chance that more than a fraction of the two legions deployed would make it off-world before the bombs struck. Now, the vox was awash with static.

Aubrey chanted the words he had learned in the heart of the void, and felt the power he had been bestowed come to him. His body became surrounded by a nimbus of corpse-light.

‘Is there any news of Inferox?’ he asked Cadauzes.

‘Nothing my Lord.’

‘Get to the ships. We’re far enough away that there’s still some time before the Phosphex reaches us.’

‘And you my lord?’

‘I go to find my brother.’

----

After the Heresy, the War Scribes suffered immense hardship trying to rebuild Narhadul, successfully bringing the dockyards back online after a century of labor.

The Phosphex bombs were eventually undone, though it took enormous effort to devise methods by which Phosphex fires could be slowly contained and extinguished. More than five hundred years would pass before the first manufactorum again rose upon Narhadul's surface. The battered world would never again regain its full glory, but Narhadul is still more than capable of servicing the War Scribes and many other Chapters and it is honored in their annals indeed.

Of all the Chapter Serfs none is more honored than the Dock Lord of Narhadul, charged with overseeing every aspect of Narhadul's operation from the lowest laborer to the mightiest war vessel. Though the War Scribes maintain a Marine presence in the system, day-to-day administration is performed by lesser men.

====Volhak Seinal, the Power Core====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Volhak Seinal
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Power_Core.jpg|200px]]
|type= Research World/Power Generator
|orbdist= .5AU ± 1.6AU
|gravity= .32G
|temp= 1200 C
|pop= 8,000 (Power technicians)
1,000 (Various researchers)
|governor=
|system= Seinal System
|sector= Volhak
|subsector= Volhak
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Volhak Seinal is a world forged in death and fire. A remnant of an ancient supernova explosion, the planet collected itself from leftover debris after the death of its parent star. The War Scribes took advantage of the pulsar's raging torrent of energy and set up facilities to tap that endless flow of power.

The planet, though small, is coated in row upon row of power collectors, and an endless stream of vessels plies the transport route to and from Volhak, collecting full capacitors and deploying new empty ones to be filled. The sheer quantity of electromagnetic interference is ruinous to machine spirits, so it is brute manpower that controls these vessels. Few crews survive more than a handful of trips into and out of the system, as no shielding is sufficient to protect the living tissue inside, and this duty is the final punishment in the Atalantos Worlds' codes of law and justice. Only the most heinous criminals are sentenced to this transport run, and their deaths are not lamented.

The Power Core provides much of the energy that fuels the technology of the other Atalantos Worlds, powering the mining equipment and the more power-hungry Dark Age relics, as well as fuel cells for the War Scribes' vehicles.

Strangely, the Volhak Seinal system is one of the few Atalantos Worlds to have never known the touch of Necrons. Something about the pulsar's radiation seems to disrupt their reanimation protocols, and they dare not approach. Were the system not so hostile to human life, it would be a valuable safe haven.

====Gomelis and Wolasqu, the Frenzied Worlds====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Gomelis and Wolasqu
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Twin_worlds.jpg|200px]]
|type= Death/Civilized Worlds
|orbdist= 1.09 AU ± .03AU
|gravity= .96G
|temp= Warm Temperate
|pop= 900,000,000 (Gomelis)
1,500,000,000 (Wolasqu)
|governor=
|system= Talek System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Talek
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

These two planets appear very friendly and welcoming to human life from orbit, drifting around their parent star at a nearly ideal distance for habitation, and bursting with all manner of flora and fauna. Indeed, perhaps in some long-lost era of humanity, this system was engineered for use by humanity, but any evidence beyond vague genetic links has clouded the truth of this matter forever.

What is known is that Gomelis and Wolasqu are perhaps the richest worlds for 1000 light-years for biomass and species diversity. Some of them bear a passing resemblance to Terran life, causing hypotheses of a common origin, but just as many match no known species. Essentially all of them are deadly to human life though, and they violently slaughtered the original colonists seeking to carve out what they hoped would be a new pair of Agri-Worlds in the vein of Atalantos.

Instead of a garden of Eden they got a vicious pair of hells much like Catachan, but unlike Catachan, no native human population existed to make it worth their while to use as a recruiting world. Instead, the War Scribes blasted holes in the endless jungle from orbit, and the colonists put down armored fortresses and prefab buildings in the craters before the forests could reclaim them. For the past ten thousand years, the War Scribes and the colonists have waged savage war against the irrepressible biospheres, buying land a mile at a time with the blood of millions.

With the passage of time, several Hive cities sprang up on each Death World, armored and sealed against the probing tendrils of the biosphere. It is a tenuous balance, and on more than one occasion the War Scribes' fleet was required to clean the outer surfaces of the armored walls with orbital fire.

The Frenzied Worlds do produce valuable agricultural products, but most of their output goes to feeding the colonists rather than the rest of the Atalantos Worlds. Less than half of either world is remotely safe for human habitation, but the War Scribes have embarked upon this quest, and they will not stop until the Frenzied Worlds are tamed.

The battle for these two planets has entered a new, more intense phase of its existence because of the increased Necron predation of recent centuries. The War Scribes predict that without these two worlds and their potential output, the Atalantos Worlds will be unable to feed the manpower necessary to repel the xenos. Tithes have been increased Sector-wide, and a full quarter of the War Scribes' fleet has been dispatched, along with the entire 5th Company, to bring the planets to heel.

If they must, they will incinerate the entire biosphere and re-seed the world in the fertile ashes. The Atalantos Worlds can accept nothing less than success.

====Greyland, the Ancient World====

{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Greyland
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=[[File:Greyland.jpg|200px]]
|type= Refuge World
|orbdist= 3AU ± 0.001AU
|gravity= .87G
|temp= 30 C
|pop= 100 archaeologists, occasionally a couple War Scribes Marines
|governor= None
|system= Meleau System
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Meleau
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Greyland, orbiting the pale white star known as Meleau, is a strange world drifting in a lonely orbit around a lonely star. Two minute moons circle Greyland, along with a large, slender ring system of tumbling debris.

Greyland is the oldest known planet in the Galactic Core, an anomaly in a region of such tumult. Usually, planets in the Core are very young, just born alongside their parent stars, or reassembled after some cataclysmic explosion or impact. Not Greyland. This world is nearly as old as the Universe itself, at least ten billion years of age, if not more, and the Imperium cannot explain how it came to be here. Indeed, the planet is older than the star it orbits!

Imperial scholars suspect that Greyland was somehow moved into our Galaxy for reasons unknown, and this theory is supported by the ring system, which contains uncountable forcefield generators and null-stasis devices, all conspiring to keep the space around Greyland inviolate from all forms of stellar hazards. What is truly odd is that no habitation has ever existed on Greyland of any kind, but evidence of xenos industry, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and storage is everywhere. It is as if the planet was moved here, ready to become an important world in some xenos empire, but for some reason was never used. These xenos ruins are very concentrated into small areas, and much of it is underground, so from orbit or from the planet's surface, it is nothing but a grey expanse of emptiness.

Though many have considered claiming Greyland for the Imperium, something causes any settlers that attempt to land to leave within a year. It is simply the most boring, quiet, unnatural planet that humanity might choose to live upon. There is no vegetation, no color beyond the black, white, and grey shades of the planet's minerals, and sound itself seems oddly dampened in the still, stormless air. Humanity cannot abide such thundering, crushing *absence*.

The War Scribes use Greyland as a mediation world, requiring prospective Captains to take a pilgrimage into the trackless emptiness and meditate on the Chapter's long history, the lore they've learned, and their place in the Imperium and the cosmos. It is a distinctly humbling experience, forcing the warrior to confront just how small a thing he truly is in comparison to the Galaxy.

A few Scribes return to Greyland time and time again, embracing the peace and stillness and using Greyland as a sort of sensory-deprivation chamber.

'''RECORDS FOR CHAPTER MASTER EYES ONLY:'' '''Greyland is also the cold storage facility for any Chaotic relics the War Scribes uncover but cannot destroy, as well as dangerous archaeotech. Something about Greyland exerts a dampening effect on rogue devices and Chaotic taint, just like it does on the flora, fauna, and any who try to settle upon it. The Inquisition maintains a small presence on Greyland to help keep an eye on such items, and to assist in research and purging efforts.''

====Hod's Hole: The Last Resort====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Hod's Hole
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hidden World
|orbdist= 12 AU Perihelion, 1,327 AU Aphelion
|gravity= .65G
|temp= -300 Kelvin
|pop= 4,000,000 (Servitors/Cybernetica)
200 (System Overseers/Maintenance specialists)
|governor= Overseer Primus Rallim Feldus
|system= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|sector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|subsector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Hod's Hole, located by Rogue Trader Hod Wellmarn in the early 31st Millennium, is a tiny chunk of rock on an extraordinarily elliptical orbit around its small red dwarf parent star. A frozen iceball, the planet never reaches its star's warmth, and spends most of its existence alone in the vastness of the void. Normally the minute orb would never meet the Imperium's notice. It has no mineral wealth, no strategic position, no xenos stronghold in need of purging. But Rogue Trader Wellmarn was hunting elusive prey. The Void Krakens. His family had lost dozens of ships to the beasts, but with the help of the War Scribes the shoe was on the other foot, and Hod was on the warpath. Over the course of several years, he and the Marines hunted down almost a dozen of the titans and at last came to Hod's Hole where the Kraken broodmaster dwelled. Over the course of countless unknown years and generations, the Krakens had etched a hole completely through the planetoid, eating and feeding as they pleased. Inside were hundreds of destroyed ships from every race and time period in the galaxy, chewed up and digested. Their remnants were embedded in the tunnel's walls, encased in vile excretions created by the Krakens to strengthen the tunnel and prevent gravity from crushing their nest.

Once the void-beasts were slain to the last, the War Scribes took possession of this unique planetoid and sought what relics they could in its wreckage. Fifty years went by with no results. The Heresy came and went, and from the ashes of that horrible conflict, an idea was born. The myth that the Imperium was unshakeable and immortal had gone, to be replaced with a new and bitter pragmatism among the Scribes. And so they began to build in secret. Hod's Hole was a perfect hiding place, unknown to all and nearly invisible in the blackness of space. No wealth was ever found there, so no treasure hunters sought to trace its location through myths and legends. The Rogue Trader who discovered Hod's Hole died a satisfied man, full in his accomplished vengeance. But he died alone with his knowledge, the last of his Kraken-eaten lineage. This world would belong to the Scribes alone. Their tool of last resort, the ultimate trump card to be used when all else might be lost.

As the Scribes learned more of the dangers Chaos represented, they also noticed that the power of Chaos seemed to grow thin at the Galaxy's edge. Explorations across the Milky Way confirmed this. Perhaps beyond the Galaxy, there was no Chaos at all. Over the next ten millennia, the Scribes quietly diverted a small fraction of the Atalantos Worlds' immense industrial output, layering Hod's hole with vast arrays of cogitators, batteries the size of battleships, staggering quantities of capacitors and relays. And through the hole dug by Krakens, they embedded a colossal mass driver, ''Ultimum Dictamen Vernerum''. A staggering two thousand kilometers long, an almighty Ordinatus engine capable of hurling a projectile out of the Galaxy's gravity well with brute force alone.

Knowing full well that the circumstances in which this gun might be used would likely mean that the Gods had tainted the Warp irrevocably, this launcher would obey Materium physics exclusively, rejecting the Warp's seductive swiftness. Though the journey might take two and a half million years or more in real time, the projectile itself and the inhabitants within would travel at almost the speed of light. For them, the time-dilated journey would be over in a few years. And at the end of the road lay the vast unknown called the Andromeda Galaxy. With this device, perhaps some fragment of Mankind could be saved. Or perhaps it was all a fool's errand, and those resources might have saved this galaxy instead of being wasted on another. But such is the way of the Scribes. If they deem it necessary, no project is too vast in scale to be considered.

For now the question remains unanswered. The supergun rests idle in cold storage, tended by a small army of servitors and cybernetica. Only a few hundred living beings reside here, having given their lives in tithe to monitor the facility in exchange for familial rewards. It is possible the ''Vernerum'' may never awaken, never be needed. And it is the fervent hope of every War Scribes Chapter master that this be so.

But only time will tell.

====Slagshed Station, the Cleansing World====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Slagshed
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Reclamation Facility
|orbdist= 30 AU
|gravity= 1.64G
|temp= -200C (darkside) +1,200C (sunside) +10,000C (during Flare)
|pop= 750,000,000 (mostly mutants)
|governor= Slagmaster Borx "the Burner" Chelmon
|system= Philovia
|sector= Peltru
|subsector= Ortremen
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Deep in the Galactic Core lurks a behemoth star. Nearly eighty solar masses, Philovia boils with energy, shedding hot gases and ionizing radiation across a dozen Imperial sectors. It is a marvelous sight, a brilliant blue-white titan which humbles all those nearby. One could easily be forgiven for overlooking its much smaller partner. Just beside Philovia lurks the Slag, a tiny neutron star. The Slag is all that remains of another massive companion, Philovia's long-dead sibling. But the greedy dead still need to eat, and a tendril of indescribably hot gas connects the two. A vampiric umbilical cord devouring Philovia a little piece at a time.

The Slag is wasteful in its consumption, and the entire system is shrouded in hot gas and tumbling debris that missed its mark. From these ashes, a handful of planets clawed their way into existence at the system's fringes. Life would never evolve here, and even if it did Philovia would soon join its sibling in death, as do all massive stars. No time for evolution. The Slagshed is by far the largest of these remnant embers, significantly more massive than than Terra. It is barren and lifeless, awash in radiation. No useful minerals, no water. Slagshed cannot even boast an atmosphere despite its large size.

But there is one characteristic that the resourceful Scribes have found use for. The binary pair have a very regular history of abuse. Once every eighteen hours, clockwork precise as the finest Imperial timepieces, the Slag consumes too much. Its accretion disk overflows and a colossal shockwave propagates through the system at incredible speeds. By the time the outburst reaches Slagshed, it is spread into a gigantic cloud, and the planet's exposed hemisphere roasts for hours as it passes through. For unknown millennia this cycle has repeated itself, turning one half of the slowly rotating world into molten lava, while the other half remains perpetually frozen.

The Atalantos Worlds produce a titanic amount of raw material and industrial goods, but despite Arelex's best efforts they produce an equally tremendous amount of waste. No recycling or reclamation system in the galaxy could handle such a burden. Except for the Slagshed. Every day, thousands of merchant barges dump gigatons of material onto Slagshed's sunside. And every day, those gigatons go up in flames all at once. The repeated cycles of melting and remelting allow the heavy metals to sink and the lighter materials to rise, serving as a colossal molecular sieve for everything imaginable. Organic compounds are broken down, and everything is totally sterilized. By the time any given point on the surface has made it to the night side, it has seen hundreds of flares. As Slagheap's lethargic rotation finally brings cool relief to the boiling material, thousands of Imperial mobile refineries salvage everything they possibly can from the newly cooled slice, launching valuable payloads into the sheltering darkness of the Slagshed's shadow. As the dawn threatens to catch up, they move a few dozen kilometers, burrow as deeply as they can, and wait for the next flare.

The only law on Slagshed is that work means life. Most of the laborers are hardened criminals and Imperial deserters. Mutants are commonly shipped here in droves. The punishment for any crime is to be given a void suit and chained to the surface, awaiting the victim's final sunrise. And yet, Slagshed is a kind of refuge for many. Despite the danger, most of the work is maintaining machinery. The actual digging is done by colossal mining bores and dredge haulers, for no amount of human labor could do the job quickly enough. It is a harsh, unpleasant planet, but the Slagmaster is fair. Without prejudice or malice, he adheres to the one law of Slagshed absolutely. All workers are equal in his eyes, so long as they work. Philovia's seething sunlight provides them with all the energy they could possibly need to sustain life's necessities, and virtually anything can be synthesized from the slag residue. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and dozens of other raw elements feed into the recombinators, offering luxury undreamt of on most worlds. Inside the vast machinery, there is clean air, distilled water, and endless food. Everything is pure and unpolluted, for it is created fresh after each flare delivers new energy. Pollution never lingers long in a world designed from the ground up for reclamation and purification.

In this way Slagshed has become a rallying point for mutants across the Atalantos Worlds. Though they are despised in the public eye, Slagshed gives them a safety valve when faced with execution, a bolthole to hide in. If one can get past the fear of living next to a routinely exploding star, caged in a shell of moving metal, Slagshed is actually a cut above many other worlds. Even the most wretched mutants can sometimes be purified here. Freed of the environmental toxins from their birth worlds, many mutants begin to expel their poisons and heal. Deformed parents occasionally give birth to healthy children, to the celebration of all. The War Scribes use these lucky ones as propaganda, trumpeting the resilience of the human genome over all obstacles in order to mock the xenos. Not everyone can be cleansed in such a way, but it provides something more essential than air, water, or food. Hope.

A most unusual world.

====Precipice, the Point of No Return====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Precipice
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Research Outpost
|orbdist= 3.7 Light Years
|gravity= Variable
|temp= Variable
|pop= 100 researchers
|governor= Magos Entrem Go-Shang
|system= Sagittarius A*
|sector= Core
|subsector= Core
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Welcome to the Precipice. Go no further.

Beyond this point there is nothing. This is the final stop. The power within the Milky Way's heart has consumed all else. Only a handful of stars get anywhere near this close, whipping around the central black hole faster than any other natural object ever moves. Precipice is even closer in. Time flows strangely on Precipice. As does gravity. As does space itself. All are linked here, and all bear immense strain.

Precipice itself is largely a nickel-iron ball, probably the remnants of some ancient gas giant. Only a little rocky crust yet remains from its formation, mostly scoured off by stellar encounters of unimaginable energy. It has no parent star to give it light, only the countless points of flickering energy filling the sky. Precipice is a world awash in radiation of every type, spared from complete annihilation only by the remarkably quiet nature of the Milky Way's black hole. Though heavier than 4 million Suns, our galaxy is among the 10% that slumber deeply. Few flares emerge here, and no relativistic jets carve swathes through the heavens. Indeed, were it not so, life might never have evolved on Terra.

Precipice's one protection is its incredible rate of spin and massive molten core. The planet's magnetic field is hundreds of times stronger than Terra's, deflecting much of the radiation from reaching the surface. Inside this protective envelope, a handful of Magi have established a research base on the black hole's very doorstep. From here direct observation of Sagittarius A* is possible, and despite the planet's immense size and gravity, at the equator its incredibly rapid spin counteracts what would otherwise be tens of G's. Far too much force for even enhanced Magi to bear. There is even some thin atmosphere, though the winds regularly top 2,000 kilometers per hour, and are primarily inert noble gases.

This may be the single most dangerous place in the Materium, save for a planet orbiting an impending supernova or falling into the Eye of Terror. At any time, accreting gas or debris could cause an apocalyptic outburst, sterilizing everything for hundreds of light years around. No trade ships dare traverse this part of space. Only the Mechanicus' most hardened vessels can make such a journey, and only with rigorous preparation.

And yet there is much to learn. The Precipice is a physics laboratory beyond compare, where extraordinary events are laid bare for the observation on a daily basis. Every new mote of gas drifting past, every asteroid, every doomed star, all these and more offer precious data that could not be obtained in any manmade research facility. With the assistance of the War Scribes, a single Ark Mechanicus has been constructed to supply Precipice, the mighty ''Last Horizon''. It carries no armaments, instead sheathing itself in adamantium plates a hundred meters thick, and powering dozens of shield batteries with genetoriums the size of hab spires. Ten colossal plasma drives propel the behemoth, each one capable of moving an Emperor-class Battleship on their own. Even such an immense force is barely sufficient to manage the tremendous gravitational load. A marvelous vessel, but nothing less could survive the trip. Every three years it makes the perilous trek, delivering sustenance and harvesting thousands of datastacks.

From these efforts, much fruit has been yielded. Few can say what exactly the Mechanicus have done with their data, but the annals of the War Scribes provide valuable historical context. Without the efforts of Precipice's scientists, the Legion's Jetbikes, Land Speeders, Centurions, and Grav-guns would long since have ceased to function. Their knowledge of the bending of space and time has allowed the Scribes to continue replicating the wonders of the past.

Step not beyond the Precipice. But do stop by and have a look around.

====Govirex System, the Fountain Cluster====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Govirex System
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hydrological Supply Worlds
|orbdist= Multiple planets
|gravity= Variable
|temp= Variable
|pop= 10,000,000,000
|governor= Lord Sustainer Melia Veissner
|system= Govirex
|sector= Volhak
|subsector= Govirex
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Many stars in the Galactic Core are vast giants, full of fire and power. Few of these stars serve Humanity's needs, for they are too luminous to tolerate, and destroy all that orbit them. The smaller suns usually offer more value, and perhaps none more so than humble Govirex, an orange-yellow dwarf star about ten percent smaller than Sol. Imperial Magi have firmly established Govirex as an anomaly, a star that should by all rights have been one of the titans. It is near a thick nebula full of gas reserves, which would have offered the infant sun ample fuel to grow.

Unfortunately, Volhak Seinal's progenitor star got there first. That long-dead sun aged, swelled into a red supergiant and died in a cataclysmic supernova. Though the shockwave likely triggered Govirex's formation, it also disrupted the primordial nebula and blew away much of the gas into long, looping streamers like smoke on the wind. And so Govirex came to be. But not all of that ancient nebula attained escape velocity.

Falling back towards Govirex, the gaseous strands entwined upon themselves, gravitationally collapsing just as their parent star had. Granted too much angular momentum by Volhak Seinal Prime, they could not fall into Govirex but instead entered orbit. After some millions of years, Govirex became the parent of a bountiful solar system filled with gas giants. Originally there were perhaps fifteen worlds, but orbital eccentricities and collisions condensed the crowded system down to a more stable six.

Hydrogen and Helium, being light gases, were driven farthest and fastest by the ancient supernova and hurled out of the system almost entirely. Heavier gases like water, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide remained closer to home. Accordingly, Govirex I, II, III, IV, V, and VI are all classified as ice giants, rich in useful elements. There are no equivalents to Jupiter or Saturn here, but rather they are analogous to Uranus and Neptune, even further enriched in heavy elements. Govirex VI is even considered a brown dwarf, or "failed star". It is by far the largest, weighing in at just shy of 75 times Jupiter's mass. Thanks to Govirex VI's enormous mass, Govirex Prime has a gravitational counterweight that keeps its planetary orbits stable in the congested Core environment.

All six planets are relatively warm, still filled with much of their birth heat. Their atmospheres roil and churn, regularly bringing vast plumes of fresh vapor from the deep interior. From these planet-sized rivers of moisture, the Atalantos Worlds drink deeply. Every year, thousands of atmospheric trawlers siphon gigatons of moisture from the Govirex System, conveying it to barren planets across the Ultima Segmentum. Without this lifeline, habitation would be impossible on many worlds.

Inside the ice giants themselves, countless floating hab-bubbles drift through the sky, harvesting heavier gases for transport. Billions of Imperial citizens call these wandering cities home, navigating through powerful storms and lighting bolts that could wrap around Holy Terra five times over. Mundane materials are simply collected for local use, but more exotic compounds get compressed and shipped onward. Many of the hab-bubbles are dedicated to hydroponics, and feed a multitude of worlds.

Even in the most unlikely places, the Imperium finds usable resources. Where there is water and sunlight, there is life.

====The Cannonball, Fortress World====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= The Cannonball
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= 35 AU
|gravity= 1.85 G
|temp= -270 C
|pop= 1,000,000
|governor= Lady General Militant Alissandra de Cherenev
|system= Atalantos
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Primaris
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Deep in the Atalantos System's recesses hides a small, shriveled companion to Atalantos' green finery. Dark Age Man protected Atalantos itself with the Basilikon Atalantos' technological prowess, but either they ignored the Cannonball or they could not defend it from whatever cataclysm scoured the very crust from its surface. Almost all of the Cannonball's mass is metallic, only a few hundred meters of solidified mantle hide the dense interior from view. Once, the Cannonball was a small gas giant, perhaps the size of Uranus or Neptune.

The Imperium has sunk deep tunnels into the Cannonball, for it lacks a magnetic field and its burning heart has cooled and solidified with the passage of ages. No gaseous blanket meant nothing to keep heat from radiating into space. Once the other Atalantos Worlds brought their industrial capacity to maximum volume, mining the Cannonball became economically unviable, and the mighty drills and smelters moved on to more valuable hunting grounds. But the War Scribes do not like to leave potential resources unclaimed.

It fell to the War Scribes' second Chapter Master, a far-sighted Marine named Danilov Holmis, to make use of the Cannonball. A veteran of the post-Heresy Scouring, he had first hand experience of the many horrors the Imperium would now face. His thoughts turned back to the still-young Atalantos Worlds, and he resolved to do all in his power to protect them. Underneath the Cannonball's battered surface, Chapter Master Danilov constructed vast military storehouses, colossal docking bays, huge armaments factories, and everything else needed to supply an entire Imperial Crusade if need be. Here, they would be protected with hundreds of miles of hardened metal. What more could a warlord ask for? Anything that ''could'' crack the Cannonball open would not be halted by Imperial arms, and so was not worth worrying about.

One million Imperial Guardsmen are on station at all times, and at need the Cannonball can feed and house nearly ten billion within its endless metal warrens. In case of siege, food, water, and medical supplies sufficient to last 1,000 years are bunkered within the deepest catacombs. The only outward sign that humanity has claimed this desolate chunk of metal are the vast sensor arrays and shield projectors dotting the surface. Nothing comes within ten light-years of Atalantos without the Imperium knowing about it. Providing offensive capabilies are thousands of anti-voidship macrobatteries, tucked beneath retractable metal plates the size of hive-cities.

As a special request to the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Adeptus Ministorium, the Cannonball has been engraved both inside and out with anti-Warp wards similar to those used in Geller Fields and Warpsbane hulls. Tiny scuttling drill-servitors carved billions of miles of finger-sized tunnels, lining the planet's bulk with endless arcane filigree made from silver, gold, platinum and other precious metals. The task required 1,000 years of exhaustive labor, but the more the Scribes learned of Chaos' insidious nature, the more urgent it became that they do all in their power to create a strongpoint with at least a faint hope of resisting the Gods' twisted desires.

To this day, the Cannonball has yielded to no foe.

''But the Gods have yet to take notice of it.''

====Morania, the Grudge====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Morania
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Paradise/Maiden World
|orbdist= .97 AU
|gravity= 1.02 G
|temp= 20 C
|pop= 500,000 Eldar Exodites, 500,000 Humans
|governor= None
|system= Morania
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Nolannov
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Morania should not be here. The Galactic Core should have destroyed this verdant world's vibrant ecosystem millions of years ago. Some invader should have burned it to the ground and looted the ashes in distant eons. And yet, Morania lives. First colonized by Eldar Exodites who chose to hide in the Core rather than follow most of their kindred into the dark Galactic Fringe, then receiving human colonists fleeing the Men of Iron, Morania rests in an uneasy balance.

Though unimaginably fertile, the planet offers few resources by which either party could return to the stars. The long ages have worn away its inhabitants technical knowledge. More than once, Ork raids have been turned aside by Eldar sorcery. And Necron attacks, equally blunted with Dark Age relics. And so both tribes have come to rely on one another for survival though locked in deepest hatred. The clans are descendants of fiercely independent pioneers and loathe that they must rely on another's skills. The population is held in check through a careful balance and whenever births outnumber deaths, both sides send their excess to fight and die in gruesome bloodsport tournaments. To the winners go status, wealth and breeding rights, to the losers a bed of earth.

Without this safety valve, the slow-breeding Eldar surely would have been overwhelmed. It is in the humans' interest to continue the bloodsport as well, for without Eldar management the planet would swiftly grow barren and die. Dark Age weapons the humans have, but not Dark Age terraformers. Despite mutual animosity, these ancient rituals carry far more force than any written law, and are adhered to absolutely.

When the War Scribes arrived on Morania, the Primarch's first thought was to exterminate these Eldar at once and remove them from the Galaxy like the vermin they are. At the advice of his command staff, he stayed his hand. They had a much more devious plan in mind. The Legion's hate for the Eldar runs deep and strong, and inspires their darkest brilliance. What better way to flaunt their superiority than to assume rulership over the proud Eldar's distant cousins? They would hold the planet in their hands like a priceless gem, daring anyone to take it from them. And what better way to keep some ''lab rats'' safely contained for experimentation? The tournaments produced plenty of invalids and corpses, after all. Greedy Mars might appreciate such... resources.

And for the Space Marines, they harvested recruits tempered against Eldar more physically powerful and savage than any others. Craftworld Eldar lived too deeply entrenched in their rigid caste systems to truly abandon restraint and unleash everything their xenos bodies were capable of, but not so their tribal brethren. Where else in the Galaxy could Marine Aspirants gain such valuable experience? No, even through the red haze of Arelex's hatred, the logic was beyond challenge. Morania became a protectorate of the Second Legion, and remains so to this day. Holding Morania has come at immense cost in gold and iron, and thousands of War Scribes have died over the long millennia to secure their rule, but to this day no Eldar strike force has been able to breach the perimeter and rescue their errant kin.

====Seven Kings, the Clearinghouse====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Seven Kings
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= 1.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= 25 C
|pop= 4,000,000,000
|governor= The Council
|system= Foldham
|sector= Atalantos
|subsector= Kingsrien
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

''Seven Hives touch the sky, seven thrones of old. Seven threads tie seven lands, where the void runs cold. And Seven Kings hums and rings, chasing after gold.''

Seven Kings, known to Imperial scholars as Foldham VII, is one of the oldest inhabited worlds in the Atalantos region. As the War Scribes mapped out the Core's often treacherous Warp currents, they found themselves returning over and over to the unassuming Foldham system. There, a multitude of Immaterium ripples converged, creating a sort of natural harbor where Imperial ships might make port. Some long ago catastrophe has stripped the Foldham system of any large planets it might have contained, leaving the yellow dwarf star with only a handful of small rocky bodies to call children. Of these, only Foldham VII is large enough to naturally support human life.

As the Atalantos Worlds expanded into maturity, Foldham took on new importance. Much of the Core is isolated by vast Warp Storms and radiation belts churned up by the tumultuous stars, and Foldham sits astride many of the safest entryways. Seven major Warp routes run within easy travel of Foldham, leading deep within the Galactic Core. Accordingly, the otherwise unremarkable system entered a gold rush of Imperial trade from which it still benefits to this day. Vast numbers of immigrants flooded in, looking to take their cut of the Atalantos Worlds' torrential streams of mineral wealth. And the most cutthroat, brutal, clever and aggressive among them rose to the top with frightening speed.

Though the remaining 6 Foldham planets were naturally barren, desperate settlers staked their territory nevertheless. Hab-domes rose into airless skies, and endless tunnel-warrens snaked their way below primordial stone. Each of Foldham's planets became host to an entire human ecosystem, and upon each grew capital cities flush with Imperial Thrones for the spending. Families grew from individual success. Before many years had passed, a nouveau riche oligarchy dominated the Foldham system, seven clans ruling a planet each. But only one of those cartels rested contentedly. Only those who ruled Foldham VII could truly say they ruled a planet, the others ground their teeth in envy staring at its green and blue colors.

When the Heresy brought turmoil to the entire Imperial Galaxy, matters likewise came to a crescendo on Foldham. As soon as Arelex's watchful eye turned towards Terra, savage inter-clan warfare threatened to destroy Foldham and countless millions lost their lives a the behest of greedy masters. Unfortunately for the families, their pent-up rage blinded them to greater responsibilities. By throwing Foldham into war, they put a tight squeeze on the War Scribes' supply lines and became a maximum Legion priority. Less than six months into their conflict, 7,000 Legionnaires made planetfall across the system, slaughtering anyone in their path as they took the Hive Spires back under control.

Within weeks, Foldham burned to the ground. The War Scribes showed none of the mercy they might have extended in gentler times, for their hand was forced and time drew critically short. Virtually every member of the ruling houses was summarily executed, and one in every three citizens that survived their civil war lost their lives during the Scribes' subsequent intervention. Martial law was imposed with terrifying brutality. It took less than a month before war materiel flowed freely once more. When the Legionnaires broke orbit to rejoin the war against Hektor, they left a promise behind. If any man, woman, child or animal threatened the trade route again, the Scribes would burn the planets to ash, slaughter every living being in the Hives, and rebuild with new immigration. For the remainder of the Heresy, not a whisper of rebellion was heard.

After the Heresy ground to its inexorable conclusion, the remaining Foldham elites once again extended their influence. Twice, they tested the Scribes' resolve by fomenting revolts and hiding in the shadows. With no proof of the families' involvement, the Scribes merely crushed the rebel peasantry and withdrew deeper into the Core. It was clear that the Legion, soon to be Chapter, was exhausted. Under most circumstances, what followed would have been unthinkable, but the tradesmen had chosen their time flawlessly and struck without remorse.

They presented the War Scribes with a treaty of "loyalty", stipulating that so long as all tithes were met and resource throughput maintained, that the Foldham System was effectively beholden to none but itself. They would see to their own internal affairs, they would raise their own armies, and if they so chose could even wage war against one another in-system. Many other Atalantos Worlds were in support of this treaty, for without Foldham's approval they could not barter for vital resources. In ancient times as in the modern era, a hydraulic empire held vast strength over its vassals, and this is exactly what the merchant lords sought to obtain. Foldham would be an enclave within an enclave, an autonomous region inside the Atalantos Worlds sitting atop half a dozen vital trade lines. Their tactics were perfect. Their support, ironclad. Their advantages, unmistakable and potent. The time was ripe.

But the oligarchy forgot one thing. Above all else the War Scribes hated traitors, and never more so than having trod the ruins of Holy Terra a handful of months before. That these petty wretches dared to antagonize the Legion during their mourning time was beyond obscene. Critically low on munitions, the Marines struck at the hives with tooth and nail, fist and improvised hand weapon. It was a sobering reminder of just what exactly a Marine was capable of even without bolter or chainsword. 2,000 Marines lost their lives in Foldham, but the battle was won nevertheless.

The hives burned. And new masters sought to ascend the charred thrones. But this time, the masses spoke out. They demanded democratic elections, and an end to the suffering imposed from above. Many times now they suffered the lash of madmen and tyrants, and it could be borne no longer. And the Scribes agreed. Perhaps control could be more easily achieved from below. A ruler was elected for each planet, chosen according to the people's will. One Legionnaire stood watch behind each throne in perpetuity, tithed from the Chapter in order to keep things orderly. It fell to this Marine to ensure that corruption never took hold again. None were permitted to hold firearms or blades in the new Grand Council chambers on Foldham VII, save for these seven Marines. At a word, they could legally decapitate any coup attempts.

As time passed, the people grew more comfortable with self-rule. By holding regular elections, the tribal nature of Foldham slowly ebbed away, replaced with a more nationalist attitude. Immigration was encouraged, and the seven planets entered commercial agreements with one another as often as they traded with the larger Imperium, further diluting the old cabals. But corruption is ever vigilant for opportunities. This time it came in the form of greedy bankers siphoning colossal funds into their own pockets. Flush with cash, they exerted such undue influence on the people that they had become kings in everything but name. When the Administratum investigated the embezzlement, Foldham erupted into rebellion once more.

This time, the war was fought largely in space. Huge mercenary fleets clashed with Imperial Navy cruisers, and both sides received a beating. Privateers roamed across the Atalantos worlds, looting and pillaging as they went and distracting the War Scribes with assaults from every angle. Inexorably the War Scribes' vast fleet mobilized and the noose tightened, though final victory required nearly three long years of war.

Petty tyrants became Foldham's downfall. The people could not rule themselves. And the merchants could not choose wise kings. What was to be done? Foldham fought three separate conflicts with the Imperium in less than one hundred years, the system was a cauldron of instability. Privately, the Scribes suspected Chaotic influence from the many Warp lanes running so nearby, but nothing could be done about that. Ultimately, the decision rested with the Chapter Master, who chose a decidedly unusual approach.

Across the Atalantos Worlds, dozens of Rogue Traders sought wealth and fame in every nook and cranny of the Galactic Core. Not all of them were particularly noble individuals, but on the whole they had proven their loyalty to the War Scribes' satisfaction. Indeed, many of their siblings had become Marines themselves. Seven of the most deserving Trader Houses were rewarded with governorship of one of the Foldham planets, valuable commodities for anyone seeking influence beyond Atalantos. To ensure their loyalty, the War Scribes would hold many of their family members as Chapter Serfs aboard the fleet. They would be treated well, but they would be hostages nonetheless. Should the Traders rebel, they could count on their precious lineage being scoured from the stars.

Though relations have become strained from time to time, this system has endured the passage of millennia well. The Seven Kings rule from a distance, and gain considerable advantage over other Rogue Traders by virtue of a well-fortified home base and the direct support of a First Founding Chapter. In turn, the War Scribes have eyes and ears across the Imperium, a well-managed import-export hub, and a ready-made merchant fleet that can be conscripted at need.

====Kellstone Tertius, the Lost Hive====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kellstone Tertius
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.3 AU
|gravity= .88G
|temp= 30C
|pop= 7,000,000,000
|governor= Lord Protector Michael van Dreis
|system= Kellstone
|sector= Uralis
|subsector= Kellstone
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

There are many worlds which the War Scribes and their allies have pulled from the clutches of decay, barbarism, and the grasping hands of filthy xenos. Those lucky planets grace the screens and holovids of a thousand Imperial worlds, courtesy of the Imperium's ever-vigilant propaganda arm. Worlds like Kellstone Tertius on the other hand, third of five benighted rocks, are rarely spoken of by decent Imperial citizenry.

There were high hopes for Kellstone when the van Dreis family first settled there. They raised tall towers, built vast industrial works, tapped the resources of the other four planets to feed their growing population's needs. The economy grew resilient and diversified, producing refined goods to be shipped across the entire Segmentum. Indeed, few among the Atalantos Worlds could claim such a vaunted position in the hierarchy.

Over time the van Dreis clan extended their reach to the Galaxy at large, and with the Emperor's blessing founded a Rogue Trader house of their very own. It is rare in the Imperium for citizens to elevate themselves to such a position, no matter how deep their coffers, but the van Dreis family's ambitions were boundless. With an entire planetary system under their thrall, it was childs' play to outfit dozens of mighty voidships to spread their influence far and wide.

And so the merchants of Foldham VII took note. This was a bridge too far, and the van Dreises threatened to undermine their economic power so long in the making. And they went to war with knife, legal writ, and Throne gelt. The Imperium keeps few records of the titanic struggle between Kellstone and Foldham, for nearly all was kept behind closed doors and inside back alleys. Even the document-loving War Scribes can shed precious few insights into these mercantile affairs.

What is known speaks volumes though. Within eight years Kellstone Tertius' industrial output had all but collapsed. Internal sabotage, state-sponsored terrorism, economic brain drain, and the vicissitudes of the Heresy all coalesced to bring down a mighty House. Fortunately for Kellstone Tertius, the Foldham merchant guilds met their own obstacles and were crushed mercilessly by Legio Secundus before all was lost. This was little consolation to the returning Rogue Trader family members, expecting a hero's welcome rather than warning shots.

So much had been lost that the Hives themselves were teetering on the brink of social and physical collapse. The effort to rebuild would bankrupt the van Dreises utterly, and their success was no sure thing. Almost as one, they voted to take what they could salvage and leave, abandoning billions to their fate and virtually gutting what resources remained on-planet. Today the van Dreis are one of the most infamous Houses in the Imperium. Though ostensibly loyal to the Golden Throne, they skirt the bleeding edge of legal technicalities at every turn and think nothing of destroying entire worlds for a handful of jewels or the favor of a well-placed noble. For ten thousand years they have been little better than mercenary predators.

All that is, save one. Eric van Dreis, future First Lord Protector of Kellstone Tertius. Lord Commander of the 912th Imperial Expedition Fleet. A thirty year old stripling, tactical and strategic genius, and familial black sheep. So far down the line of inheritance he would need binoculars to see those illustrious names at the forefront from where he stood.

Eric charted his own course through life, and through the Heresy. He rose to prominence rapidly as the Heresy consumed his superior officers like kindling, but proved himself an able commander of men. Performing such "dirty work" was considered beneath his exalted line. He was all but disowned. But when his homeworld teetered on the brink of damnation and Chaos cults seemingly sprang fully formed from every destitute laborer and disillusioned merchant, Eric answered their unspoken cry for help. In fire and wrath he rallied the 912th Fleet to his banner, claiming the authority for independent action in the midst of clear and present Traitor threats.

For five years Kellstone Tertius felt the pain of open conflict. But at the end of it all, Eric stood victorious. Much of the 912th Expeditionary Fleet was broken up and sent elsewhere in the Imperium as were all Army units, but many of its soldiers "voluntarily re-enlisted" in the newly founded Kellstone PDF, and a surprising number of voidship captains transmitted "extended repair and re-armament" requests to Terra.

Ten thousand years and a host of van Dreises have come and gone. Kellstone Tertius has yet to regain its former glory, and almost certainly never will. Most of its hives are damaged, some totally destroyed and fit only for the occasional nomad band's shelter. Industrial output is dismal, barely enough to keep the Hives self-sufficient, to say nothing of profitable exports. Chaos cults are repressed but never truly eliminated. Occasionally the War Scribes deploy a squad or two to crack down on the worst problems, but their resources are stretched thin since the Heresy, and Kellstone is far down on their list of priorities.

To the outside observer Kellstone is a failed world in every way, contributing little to the Imperium but Guard Regiments. But the people believe. Because someone came back for them. Not every van Dreis has been a good leader or a good person. None have clean hands or consciences. But they all put their shoulders to the grindstone and did what they could. Sometimes that just meant staving off total collapse for one more day. And that is enough.

The Guardsmen from Kellstone are not particularly well-equipped, nor are they well trained. Many of them have friends and family who turned to the Ruinous Powers, or sought a better life with privateers and brigands. Quite a few of them harbor unorthodox thoughts regarding the Imperium and the Emperor, and many bear the Inquisition's brand or the Ecclesiarchy's whip-marks on their backs. But they believe in hard work, and a better tomorrow.

As a Hive World, the demanded tithes of manpower are terrifyingly high. Most planets would bleed themselves dry and empty every prison cell to fulfill such quotas.

Every Kellstone Guard Regiment is composed entirely of volunteers.

Not for ten thousand years have Kellstone's requirements gone unmet.

====Velim II, The Madhouse====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Velim II
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= ???????
|orbdist= 1 AU
|gravity= .95G
|temp= 30C
|pop= 100,000
|governor= Whoever is fastest
|system= Velim
|sector= Tygros
|subsector= Velim
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Many planets in the Galaxy are Chaotic with a capital C. The Gods have claimed them for their personal toys, and each day the tortured hunks of rock are wrenched asunder in mad whims of chance. The most famous of these are surely the doomed planets near and within the Eye of Terror, for whom peace is a myth and tranquility only a dream.

And yet there is also chaos with a little c. It is rare but not unheard of that altogether more bizarre fates might befall a world, and one such planet is Velim II, tucked away in a quiet corner of the Atalantos Worlds. Primarch Arelex often made note that Dark Age Mankind sought to push into the Core sectors, but by and large abandoned such attempts for reasons unknown. If they succeeded, a new habitable world joined the human sphere. If not, their wondrous machinery simply lifted off to orbit and disappeared forever. But on Velim II something went wrong.

It is beyond the means of Imperial scholars to determine why, but on Velim II there are hundreds of Dark Age terraforming vehicles still in operation, wider than Emperor-class battleships and taller than Hive Spires. These moving mountains roam the planet at all hours of the day, stopping, starting and changing direction seemingly at random. Mountains are raised and leveled and raised again, seas gouge themselves into trenches where plains once rolled, misty rainforests spring from blackened volcanic debris. The air is constantly roiling with energy and storms of immense power whip themselves into a frenzy only to blow out in hours.

Tech adepts have journeyed to Velim II for ten thousand years trying to make sense of the machines' patterns and deduce their security passcodes, but to no avail. It is hypothesized that Chaotic scrap-code infests them, or that the Core's radiation has driven their machine spirits mad. Perhaps there are Abominable Intelligences at work within the gargantua, or maybe they are simply obeying conflicting orders from men long since dead. All that is known for certain is that anyone foolish enough to approach them is captured, shredded, and used for fertilizer or spare parts. And yet hope springs eternal and the adherents of the Machine God willingly dare the hazards even so.

During the 32nd millennia, to the surprise of absolutely everyone, a handful of human tribes were discovered on Velim II. Although the planet is technically habitable, it was thought impossible that any form of advanced life could sustain itself within the maelstrom. Multiple attempts to contact these people and spread the Imperial Creed went in vain, for the tribes are always on the move. Indeed, when placed into captivity they are quickly driven mad by the stillness, and cannot abide solid floors and walls for long. Anticipating disaster that never comes, their fight or flight reflex drives their hearts to burst.

The fastest and quickest witted among them rule, and their word is law. As soon as warning shouts are raised the people awake from deepest slumber, pumping their legs like machinery before their eyes even open. On Velim II, situational awareness is life itself, and its people can read changes in the air or earth to a degree bordering on precognition.

The War Scribes have largely ignored Velim II, allowing the Mechanicus to make such pilgrimages as they see fit and permitting the ancient machines to continue their tasks. After all, who can say what the minds of ancient Man intended? To destroy the terraformers might be to destroy an ineffable plan millennia in the making, and that possibility is enough to stay the Marines' hand. But they do reap a certain bounty from Velim II nonetheless.

As with any human population, there are children, though childhood is preciously short on Velim II. And though infants know nothing of the world, and adults are so imprinted with the need for constant motion as to be incapable of rest, their young children are a balance between both. They have learned many useful talents and developed immense endurance, but their brains are still mostly pliable enough for hypno-conditioning, and thus can be transformed into a Marine.

The Velim II population is and always will be small, so few Marines are born here. But of those that pass the gene-seed trials, truly exceptional Marines are made. They rarely rise high in the ranks, and they tend to be poorly suited for life aboard the fleet or assaulting enemy positions, but for the Wandering Chapters they are tailor-made. No War Scribes are mentally faster, quicker of foot or reflex. None have keener eyesight or superior situational awareness. Even for Marines their endurance is legendary, it is often said that a man from Velim II could run a thousand years and circle a planet fifty times over before growing tired on the march.

Their restless spirit is tempered into swift but well-planned action, a decisiveness to be envied. It is by no means guaranteed despite their genetic heritage, but almost every Chapter Master of a Wandering Chapter hails from Velim II. They are ruin-raiders, explorers, cartographers, and trailblazers beyond peer in the Imperium, wise in their breadth of experience and much respected among their more sedate brethren.

Thus is the legacy of ancient Man.

====RJ-874-S9 Iota Prime, "Object Eighteen"====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Object Eighteen
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|orbdist= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|gravity= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|temp= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|pop= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|governor= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|system= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|sector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|subsector= '''-CLASSIFIED-'''
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Even the War Scribes' librariums do not contain the sum of all Imperial knowledge.

Within the vastness of space is ample room to hide almost anything, and the Atalantos Worlds are no exception.

In the early 34th Millennium, a growing number of Inquisitors became concerned that the War Scribes might be operating too independently. It was well known across the Imperium that the Atalantos Worlds were largely self-sufficient, possessed of a hearty resilience both industrially and in the people's mindset. Forged by a commonality of purpose, the Atalantos Worlds traditionally presented a unified front to external threats, even if they often quarreled amongst themselves. What then might happen if they decided the Imperium itself was an "external threat"? No human could be above suspicion, even less so a collection of worlds capable of stifling Imperial trade and communication to the Ultima Segmentum!

The War Scribes too came under the Inquisiton's baleful gaze. Though Primarch Arelex had long ago consented to break his Legion apart and form Codex-adherent Chapters, the "familial" mentality never truly died. His Successor Chapters regularly communicated with one another, and would often rally together to defeat larger foes. Chapter Masters traveled to Atalantos in order to share their knowledge with one another, and Marines occasionally exchanged themselves across Chapters to foster cooperation and renew ancient trust. To many Inquisitors, this reeked of covert Legion-building. Something would have to be done.

Quietly, without alerting the ever-vigilant Scribes, Inquisitorial operatives gained access to many of the oldest surveys of the Galactic Core. Some of these were even penned by Arelex himself! Scouring these maps took decades, but at last a suitable world was chosen for the Inquisition's purposes. RJ-874-S9 Iota Prime, "Object Eighteen".

Notable for its utter non-notability, RJ-874-S9 Iota Prime is the eighteenth and final planet discovered by Imperial survey probes in a mostly empty sector. Nothing is known about it, for the Inquisition secretly erased virtually every trace that the planet ever existed in Imperial records. It can only be assumed that the planet is now some sort of listening device, and most likely a forward operating base deep in the Atalantos Worlds. But a single planet could never truly threaten the War Scribes or their Successors through force of arms or naval power, even stocked to the brim with weapons and men at arms.

But the darkest rumors whisper of mysterious vessels sighted from time to time, flickering in and out of sensor images like ghosts. Every so often, a crusty old voidship captain or jaded planetary defense officer will tell tall tales of such things in local drinking establishments. And usually, the crowd buys such people a drink or two in appreciation of their tall tales. But some people, wiser and more knowledgeable of the Imperium's capabilities discern more from these riddles.

The Inquisition works subtly and quietly most of the time. But occasionally they cannot. And ancient vessels are dispatched, a single one per rebellious world. Then they are gone, doomed world and midnight-black voidcraft alike.

These vessels have yet to be unleashed upon the Atalantos Worlds or the War Scribes, if indeed they are real. But the Inquisition never sleeps. And tomorrow is a new day.

====Anomaly Sagittarius-Scaramanzo 384, The Riptide====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Sagittarius-Scaramanzo 384
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Debris field
|orbdist= None
|gravity= None
|temp= 2.7 Kelvin
|pop= Varies
|governor= None
|system= None
|sector= Scaramanzo
|subsector= 384
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

It is an all too common phenomena in the Galaxy that Warp currents ensnare voidships, both intact and destroyed alike. Many Imperial record speak of claiming valuable salvage from these derelicts and bringing them to new purpose serving the Emperor's needs. Anomaly 384 in the Scaramanzo sub-sector is quite a bit more unusual though. A complex interaction of gravitational fields from the Galaxy's central black hole, the nearby stars, and a rapidly orbiting binary neutron pair have aggregated billions of tons of twisted metal and drifting asteroids together. Like the tail of a comet but a trillion times more massive, this streamer of wreckage stretches for almost a light-year, trailing in the neutron stars' wake.

Approaching the debris is perilous indeed, for at any moment some hapless piece of ancient garbage might impact one of the neutron stars, releasing unimaginable quantities of energy. Nearby Warp routes also suffer from the enormous gravitic strain, snapping and reforming themselves in new patterns on a daily, even hourly basis. The handful of Navigators who have entered this tortured space and lived to tell the tale describe navigation here as "dancing from circus tightrope to tightrope as they snap beneath your weight, all while blindfolded and falling down a mountain".

Though their lust for treasure knows few bounds, even the adventurous War Scribes do not journey too close to the Riptide. More than one Strike Cruiser was been torn apart before the Marines admitted defeat. Regrettably, the price is just too high to risk valuable Marines and their equipment on this sort of treasure hunt, especially when more lucrative pickings lie elsewhere. The Adeptus Mechanicus continues their efforts to plunder the Riptide though, bolstered by their gravitic research on Precipice. With their advanced equipment they have been able to retrieve several small relics, and hope to achieve yet more in time.

A handful of pirates and Rogue Traders have also dared the Riptide's embrace. Almost all have found themselves part of its lifeless entourage, along with their precious voidcraft. Life is tenacious and even here a small community has arisen from these unfortunates. They huddle inside their adamantium shells and scrounge a day to day existence using radiation collectors to fuel hydroponics and water reclamation in place of a proper sun and planetary ecosystem. They are virtually cut off from the entire Galaxy thanks to the Riptide, and few can even begin to speculate what changes the radiation, gravitic anomalies, and more mundane hardships may have wrought upon their bodies and minds.

Someday perhaps the Imperium may learn of their fates, but it will likely not be any time soon.

====Protoplanetary Disc Emmen Prime/"Mork's Eye"/"Gork's Heart"====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= (Name INTENSELY disputed)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Ork-infested asteroid field
|orbdist= Varies
|gravity= Varies
|temp= Varies
|pop= Billions of Orks, 30,000,000 Humans
|governor= General Quro Rimlin
|system= Emmen
|sector= Tuchaniv
|subsector= Emmen
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

A star's youth passes quickly even in geologic time. Planets are born over the course of some millions of years, the star slowly begins to warm up as more helium is fused in the core, and the excess debris is purged by T Tauri winds driving dust and ice particles to the solar system's fringes. Emmen Prime is in the midst of just this process. It is a small whitish-yellow star not much bigger than Sol, with an enormous disc of tumbling rock and ice escorting it through the universe. Someday these lumps will coalesce into planets of various types, but for now they are simply drifting at random.

Some of these protoplanets are molten hot from previous impacts, but many have cooled and solidified through the whims of chance. It is here that Ork upon Ork have chosen to make their fortresses, bursting with fungus life in a million isolated ecosystems. They wage war on one another constantly, destroying anything they can get their green hands on and bickering at the slightest provocation. The Imperium has cordoned off Emmen Prime with a vast net of orbital fortresses carved into asteroids orbiting near the system's outer fringe.

Millions of Guardsmen and naval vessels stand permanent vigil here, remaining hidden until the last possible second to avoid giving the squabbling Orks a target to rally against. When a particularly ambitious Ork gathers a nascent WAAAGH! to himself and threatens to leave the system, concealed weapons extend from unsuspicious rocks and blast the crude Orkish vessels to smithereens, then retract to become invisible once more. The Imperium would love nothing more than to purge the Emmen Prime system of its green infestation, but the sheer number of hiding places and Orks renders this a difficult task at best.

A mighty Crusade will eventually descend upon the myriad Orks, the War Scribes at its head, but such plans are as yet merely paper tigers. There are several prominent backers of this embryonic Crusade though, chief among them the inhabitants of the Govirex system. They would love nothing more than to haul Emmen's nigh-infinite geological wealth to their drifting hab-bubble homes, for they are always in need of mineral resources to forge repair equipment. All the Govirexians need is the support of a prominent Inquisitor or Administratum notable, and the tide of war will turn towards Emmen.

====Anomaly Centroid R-391/C-6====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= R-391/C-6
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Stellar Remnant
|orbdist= N/A
|gravity= 385,000 G
|temp= -270C
|pop= 0
|governor= N/A
|system= N/A
|sector= Peltru
|subsector= Deep Core 81-Gamma
|segmentum= Ultima Segmentum
}}

Within the Galaxy's burning heart, stars are born with reckless abandon. Their light shines through the cosmos, boldly proclaiming the temporary triumph of matter over entropy. And with equal frequency stars die, casting off their outer layers to seed the cosmos with resources. A certain subset of stars, including Terra's own, take the middle path. Large enough to burn helium into carbon, yet not massive enough to go beyond and fuse heavier elements, these stellar bodies live long, placid lives. They swell up into red giants, and gently shed themselves into a planetary nebula, leaving behind a single brilliantly hot white dwarf.

After many cosmic aeons, longer than the Universe has currently existed, these planet-sized embers will cool and go dark. They will cease to emit light and become invisible to all but gravitic scopes. According to the Imperium's finest scientists, some 14 billion years are required for this process. In theory, a star that was dying ''as the Universe was born'' might have reached this inert state. Of course, no reputable Magos believed in the possibility. Until a newly established mining colony in the deepest reaches of the Atalantos Worlds reported something mysterious distorting Warp travel and causing orbital disturbances in their system.

The search took more than twenty years and required exhaustive multispatial triangulation to narrow down the anomaly's possible location, but the Scribes adore a good puzzle and took to the task with gusto. And eventually the stellar remnant was identified. Anomaly R-391/C-6 weighs as much as Sol but occupies the volume of Holy Terra, its gravitic pull at the surface nearly four hundred thousand G's. Virtually invisible, its entire mass is composed of molecular carbon left over from stellar fusion, with trace elements captured from interstellar space.

In effect, it is a single quasi-crystalline diamond the size of a planet. And it should not exist.

Though implausible, the Mechanicus and the Scribes came to but one conclusion. Something in the distant past artificially aged a small star to death, carefully controlled its fusion pattern, and cooled it rapidly through means unknown. The anomaly's crystal structure is riddled with stress fractures and compression facets, but no meaningful pattern has ever been identified. Psychic probes have failed to return any useful information, and despite their best efforts no Magos has ever been able to pry physical samples from the terrifying gravitational pull.

Through their network of contacts among Rogue Traders, who will converse with xenos the Scribes refuse to tolerate, a strange fragment of lore does offer tantalizing clues, if true. The Eldar Empire's long-dead bonesingers sung of this object, calling it the ''"Last Tear of a Dying Realm"''. It was their belief that R-391/C-6 does not belong to our universe, that another realm's peerless scientists learned of our universe's physical laws to come and crafted a nigh-indestructible capsule that could exist within those strictures. Casting their payload into whatever maelstrom might have come before the Big Bang, their message in a bottle might one day be read by new life and new civilizations. A way to cheat the ultimate destruction, and prove that they existed.

Sadly, both Eldar and Mankind have fallen far, and neither will likely ever have the technical skill to decode a planet, if indeed there is anything to be decoded. It is entirely possible that some strange Warp anomaly leached the life out of some hapless star during a massive Warpstorm, spitting out nothing more glamorous than a useless rock. Perhaps it is some craft of Tzeentch the Great Deceiver itself, devised for no greater purpose than to drive men mad and cause them to waste their lives on a fool's errand But the quest for knowledge is ever tantalizing. Imperials, Xenos, and the forces of Chaos alike venture here from time to time, in order to take their shot at its secrets.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T22:39:14Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Kamnets Primaris */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warp lanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families!

During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

====Kamnets Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kamnets
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= .14 AU
|gravity= .7G
|temp= 120C (Sunside), -60C (Darkside)
|pop= 50,000,000
|governor= General Ibramev Tokrez
|system= Kamnets
|sector= Frombov
|subsector= Kamnets
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Kamnets Primaris orbits a small red dwarf star, all but scraping its photosphere as it does. It has an atmosphere, though a tenuous one, and receives an intolerable amount of ultraviolet and thermal radiation at all times. The planet is tidally locked around its star, and liquid water is present only in a thin ring of twilight between fire and frost. Were it not for the colossal ''White Rift'' stretching across half the sky, it is unlikely the Imperium would take any notice of the battered little rock ball. The ''Rift'' covers much of the Subsector and flares up in rhythm with Kamnets' parent star. Red dwarves are well known for producing titanic solar flares out of all proportion to their size, and Kamnets Alpha is no exception.

When the red dwarf erupts, the ''White Rift'' casts hideously pale light into the void, and from these hateful rays are born creatures that defy Imperial categorization even to this day. Though similar in appearance to any other Warp Storm found in Imperial records, the ''White Rift'' does not appear to lead into that plane of chaos and hatred. Like living lightning bolts, angular serpents of unidentifiable energy slither from a space between worlds to feast on anything in their way, and it falls to the Imperial Navy to fend them off with lance and plasma macrobattery at the ready.

Any soldier unlucky enough to be consumed by the "serpents" simply vanishes. Entire voidships have been swallowed up and disintegrated, or perhaps spirited away to realms unimaginable and deadly. Some believe the ''White Rift'' to be a manifestation of Order itself, passing judgement on the Materium's imperfect creations. Others believe it to be the fell imprint of an unknown fifth Chaos entity beyond the four Ruinous Powers. A few Imperial scholars maintain the ''White Rift'' to be lingering energies from a conflict between Dark Age Mankind and Pre-Fall Eldar, whose powers are now beyond human comprehension. The most frightening whispers, only uttered within a small circle of Inquisitors, declare the ''White Rift'' to be a godling yet to be born. In their eyes, the lethal forces traversing the ''Rift'' can only be the embryonic hungers of Ynnead, the Eldar god of Death, practicing its killing arts.

Whatever the ''Rift's'' true nature, the Imperium stands ever vigilant to meet it, until judgement day arrives.

====Borzhov Secundus and Tertius====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Borzhov
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Forge World and Imperial World
|orbdist= 1.04 AU
|gravity= 1.5 G (Secundus), 1.45 G (Tertius)
|temp= 20 C
|pop= 350,000,000 (Secundus), 12,000,000,000 (Tertius)
|governor= Magos Demevoi Relwa (Secundus) and Governor Maximilian Quirinius (Tertius)
|system= Borzhov
|sector= Mikrulaktos
|subsector= Borzhov
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Deep in the void of space, orbiting a star much like Sol, two Terran class planets drift sedately through the void in an eternal waltz together. It is not uncommon for habitable planets to have large moons, and in some cases a true binary planet is born from stellar ashes. There are six planets in the Borzhov system, one massive gas giant orbiting very close to its primary star, the two inhabited worlds, and three frozen iceballs deep in the system's periphery. The Warp flows calmly around the Borzhov system, and over the millennia it has become known as a welcome resting place for weary Imperial convoys en route to distant lands.

Both planets are deeply forested and quite beautiful from space. It would be hard to tell that Borzhov Secundus is in fact classified as a Forge World, in truth. That planet is dominated by the Magos Genetoris, biologists of great skill who have made their purpose in life to categorize and understand Borzhov Secundus' biodiversity. Organic compounds are produced here that can be found nowhere else in the Imperium, and many of them defy all attempts to synthesize in a laboratorium. It is of course kept very secret from Imperial citizens, but the Inquisition frequently visits here to obtain samples of sap from a particular species of gigantic fern for their own use. This sap changes in thickness and viscosity when bio-electrical fields are applied, growing rigid or flexible whenever the fern requires. Thanks to this chemical, the fern can rapidly turn its leaves to follow the sun. Without this adaptation, the species would never have survived Borzhov's complex day/night cycle. If carefully blended with Polymorphine, the concoction becomes more effective at mimicking small physical details, and significantly improves muscle flexibility and motor control. A single branch of Borzhov Secundus' most valuable export commands a king's ransom, but the Callidus Temple is more than wealthy enough to buy.

For Borzhov Tertius' part, it is exactly as calm as its outward appearance would suggest. It exports metals, timber, meat, vegetables, and various items of industrial importance. Long ago the Tertians adopted a conservationist mindset, and explicitly chose to diversify their resource harvesting so that no one industrial sector would dominate. In many ways it reminds visitors of what ancient Terra might have been before Humanity's rapacious need for resources destroyed its biosphere, and the Tertians take great pride in advertising this. The Tertians are a sturdy folk. They have never failed to provide their Imperial tithes nor their Guardsman regiments, and can be relied upon for honesty and hard work. Their faith runs strong but deep. Visitors will not find grandiose cathedrals to the Holy Emperor, nor miles-long parades of flagellants and faithful. Rather, it is obvious that the Tertians equate work with worship, and every bushel of grain or grav-cart loaded with adamantium plates they load aboard the waiting cargo haulers is considered its own kind of Imperial hymn. A model Imperial world, though they have run into trouble with the Ecclesiarchy for failing to show proper reverence for the firebrand Cardinals that occasionally pass through.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T22:38:57Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Kamnets Primaris */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warp lanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families!

During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

====Kamnets Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kamnets
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= .14 AU
|gravity= .7G
|temp= 120C (Sunside), -60C (Darkside)
|pop= 50,000,000
|governor= General Ibramev Tokrez
|system= Kamnets
|sector= Frombov
|subsector= Kamnets
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Kamnets Primaris orbits a small red dwarf star, all but scraping its photosphere as it does. It has an atmosphere, though a tenuous one, and receives an intolerable amount of ultraviolet and thermal radiation at all times. The planet is tidally locked around its star, and liquid water is present only in a thin ring of twilight between fire and frost. Were it not for the colossal ''White Rift'' stretching across half the sky, it is unlikely the Imperium would take any notice of the battered little rock ball. The ''Rift'' covers much of the Subsector and flares up in rhythm with Kamnets' parent star. Red dwarves are well known for producing titanic solar flares out of all proportion to their size, and Kamnets Alpha is no exception.

When the red dwarf erupts, the ''White Rift'' casts hideously pale light into the void, and from these hateful rays are born creatures that defy Imperial categorization even to this day. Though similar in appearance to any other Warp Storm found in Imperial records, the ''White Rift'' does not appear to lead into that plane of chaos and hatred. Like living lightning bolts, angular serpents of unidentifiable energy slither from a space between worlds to feast on anything in their way, and it falls to the Imperial Navy to fend them off with lance and plasma macrobattery at the ready.

Any soldier unlucky enough to be consumed by the "serpents" simply vanishes. Entire voidships have been swallowed up and disintegrated, or perhaps spirited away to realms unimaginable and deadly. Some believe the ''White Rift'' to be a manifestation of Order itself, passing judgement on the Materium's imperfect creations. Others believe it to be the fell imprint of an unknown fifth Chaos entity beyond the four Ruinous Powers. A few Imperial scholars maintain the ''White Rift'' to be lingering energies from a conflict between Dark Age Mankind and Pre-Fall Eldar, whose powers are now beyond human comprehension. The most frightening whispers, only uttered within a small circle of Inquisitors, declare the ''White Rift'' to be a godling yet to be born. In their eyes, the lethal forces traversing the Rift can only be the embryonic hungers of Ynnead, the Eldar god of Death, practicing its killing arts.

Whatever the ''Rift's'' true nature, the Imperium stands ever vigilant to meet it, until judgement day arrives.

====Borzhov Secundus and Tertius====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Borzhov
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Forge World and Imperial World
|orbdist= 1.04 AU
|gravity= 1.5 G (Secundus), 1.45 G (Tertius)
|temp= 20 C
|pop= 350,000,000 (Secundus), 12,000,000,000 (Tertius)
|governor= Magos Demevoi Relwa (Secundus) and Governor Maximilian Quirinius (Tertius)
|system= Borzhov
|sector= Mikrulaktos
|subsector= Borzhov
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Deep in the void of space, orbiting a star much like Sol, two Terran class planets drift sedately through the void in an eternal waltz together. It is not uncommon for habitable planets to have large moons, and in some cases a true binary planet is born from stellar ashes. There are six planets in the Borzhov system, one massive gas giant orbiting very close to its primary star, the two inhabited worlds, and three frozen iceballs deep in the system's periphery. The Warp flows calmly around the Borzhov system, and over the millennia it has become known as a welcome resting place for weary Imperial convoys en route to distant lands.

Both planets are deeply forested and quite beautiful from space. It would be hard to tell that Borzhov Secundus is in fact classified as a Forge World, in truth. That planet is dominated by the Magos Genetoris, biologists of great skill who have made their purpose in life to categorize and understand Borzhov Secundus' biodiversity. Organic compounds are produced here that can be found nowhere else in the Imperium, and many of them defy all attempts to synthesize in a laboratorium. It is of course kept very secret from Imperial citizens, but the Inquisition frequently visits here to obtain samples of sap from a particular species of gigantic fern for their own use. This sap changes in thickness and viscosity when bio-electrical fields are applied, growing rigid or flexible whenever the fern requires. Thanks to this chemical, the fern can rapidly turn its leaves to follow the sun. Without this adaptation, the species would never have survived Borzhov's complex day/night cycle. If carefully blended with Polymorphine, the concoction becomes more effective at mimicking small physical details, and significantly improves muscle flexibility and motor control. A single branch of Borzhov Secundus' most valuable export commands a king's ransom, but the Callidus Temple is more than wealthy enough to buy.

For Borzhov Tertius' part, it is exactly as calm as its outward appearance would suggest. It exports metals, timber, meat, vegetables, and various items of industrial importance. Long ago the Tertians adopted a conservationist mindset, and explicitly chose to diversify their resource harvesting so that no one industrial sector would dominate. In many ways it reminds visitors of what ancient Terra might have been before Humanity's rapacious need for resources destroyed its biosphere, and the Tertians take great pride in advertising this. The Tertians are a sturdy folk. They have never failed to provide their Imperial tithes nor their Guardsman regiments, and can be relied upon for honesty and hard work. Their faith runs strong but deep. Visitors will not find grandiose cathedrals to the Holy Emperor, nor miles-long parades of flagellants and faithful. Rather, it is obvious that the Tertians equate work with worship, and every bushel of grain or grav-cart loaded with adamantium plates they load aboard the waiting cargo haulers is considered its own kind of Imperial hymn. A model Imperial world, though they have run into trouble with the Ecclesiarchy for failing to show proper reverence for the firebrand Cardinals that occasionally pass through.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T21:10:34Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Worlds */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warp lanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families!

During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

====Kamnets Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kamnets
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= .14 AU
|gravity= .7G
|temp= 120C (Sunside), -60C (Darkside)
|pop= 50,000,000
|governor= General Ibramev Tokrez
|system= Kamnets
|sector= Frombov
|subsector= Kamnets
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Kamnets Primaris orbits a small red dwarf star, all but scraping its photosphere as it does. It has an atmosphere, though a tenuous one, and receives an intolerable amount of ultraviolet and thermal radiation at all times. The planet is tidally locked around its star, and liquid water is present only in a thin ring of twilight between fire and frost. Were it not for the colossal White Rift stretching across half the sky, it is unlikely the Imperium would take any notice of the battered little rock ball. The Rift covers much of the Subsector and flares up in rhythm with Kamnets' parent star. Red dwarves are well known for producing titanic solar flares out of all proportion to their size, and Kamnets Alpha is no exception.

When the red dwarf erupts, the White Rift casts hideously pale light into the void, and from these hateful rays are born creatures that defy Imperial categorization even to this day. Though similar in appearance to any other Warp Storm found in Imperial records, the White Rift does not lead to that plane of chaos and hatred. Like living lightning bolts, angular serpents of unidentifiable energy slither from a space between worlds to feast on anything in their way, and it falls to the Imperial Navy to fend them off with lance and plasma macrobattery at the ready.

Any soldier unlucky enough to be consumed by the "serpents" simply vanishes. Entire voidships have been swallowed up and disintegrated, or perhaps spirited away to realms unimaginable and deadly. Some believe the White Rift to be a manifestation of Order itself, passing judgement on the Materium's imperfect creations. Others believe it to be the fell imprint of an unknown fifth Chaos entity beyond the four Ruinous Powers. A few Imperial scholars maintain the White Rift to be lingering energies from a conflict between Dark Age Mankind and Pre-Fall Eldar, whose powers are now beyond human comprehension. The most frightening whispers, only uttered within a small circle of Inquisitors, declare the White Rift to be a godling yet to be born. In their eyes, the lethal forces traversing the Rift can only be the embryonic hungers of Ynnead, the Eldar god of Death, practicing its killing arts.

Whatever the Rift's true nature, the Imperium stands ever vigilant to meet it, until judgement day arrives.

====Borzhov Secundus and Tertius====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Borzhov
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Forge World and Imperial World
|orbdist= 1.04 AU
|gravity= 1.5 G (Secundus), 1.45 G (Tertius)
|temp= 20 C
|pop= 350,000,000 (Secundus), 12,000,000,000 (Tertius)
|governor= Magos Demevoi Relwa (Secundus) and Governor Maximilian Quirinius (Tertius)
|system= Borzhov
|sector= Mikrulaktos
|subsector= Borzhov
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Deep in the void of space, orbiting a star much like Sol, two Terran class planets drift sedately through the void in an eternal waltz together. It is not uncommon for habitable planets to have large moons, and in some cases a true binary planet is born from stellar ashes. There are six planets in the Borzhov system, one massive gas giant orbiting very close to its primary star, the two inhabited worlds, and three frozen iceballs deep in the system's periphery. The Warp flows calmly around the Borzhov system, and over the millennia it has become known as a welcome resting place for weary Imperial convoys en route to distant lands.

Both planets are deeply forested and quite beautiful from space. It would be hard to tell that Borzhov Secundus is in fact classified as a Forge World, in truth. That planet is dominated by the Magos Genetoris, biologists of great skill who have made their purpose in life to categorize and understand Borzhov Secundus' biodiversity. Organic compounds are produced here that can be found nowhere else in the Imperium, and many of them defy all attempts to synthesize in a laboratorium. It is of course kept very secret from Imperial citizens, but the Inquisition frequently visits here to obtain samples of sap from a particular species of gigantic fern for their own use. This sap changes in thickness and viscosity when bio-electrical fields are applied, growing rigid or flexible whenever the fern requires. Thanks to this chemical, the fern can rapidly turn its leaves to follow the sun. Without this adaptation, the species would never have survived Borzhov's complex day/night cycle. If carefully blended with Polymorphine, the concoction becomes more effective at mimicking small physical details, and significantly improves muscle flexibility and motor control. A single branch of Borzhov Secundus' most valuable export commands a king's ransom, but the Callidus Temple is more than wealthy enough to buy.

For Borzhov Tertius' part, it is exactly as calm as its outward appearance would suggest. It exports metals, timber, meat, vegetables, and various items of industrial importance. Long ago the Tertians adopted a conservationist mindset, and explicitly chose to diversify their resource harvesting so that no one industrial sector would dominate. In many ways it reminds visitors of what ancient Terra might have been before Humanity's rapacious need for resources destroyed its biosphere, and the Tertians take great pride in advertising this. The Tertians are a sturdy folk. They have never failed to provide their Imperial tithes nor their Guardsman regiments, and can be relied upon for honesty and hard work. Their faith runs strong but deep. Visitors will not find grandiose cathedrals to the Holy Emperor, nor miles-long parades of flagellants and faithful. Rather, it is obvious that the Tertians equate work with worship, and every bushel of grain or grav-cart loaded with adamantium plates they load aboard the waiting cargo haulers is considered its own kind of Imperial hymn. A model Imperial world, though they have run into trouble with the Ecclesiarchy for failing to show proper reverence for the firebrand Cardinals that occasionally pass through.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T20:04:43Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Don-Boz Primaris */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warp lanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families!

During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

====Kamnets Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kamnets
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= .14 AU
|gravity= .7G
|temp= 120C (Sunside), -60C (Darkside)
|pop= 50,000,000
|governor= General Ibramev Tokrez
|system= Kamnets
|sector= Frombov
|subsector= Kamnets
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Kamnets Primaris orbits a small red dwarf star, all but scraping its photosphere as it does. It has an atmosphere, though a tenuous one, and receives an intolerable amount of ultraviolet and thermal radiation at all times. The planet is tidally locked around its star, and liquid water is present only in a thin ring of twilight between fire and frost. Were it not for the colossal White Rift stretching across half the sky, it is unlikely the Imperium would take any notice of the battered little rock ball. The Rift covers much of the Subsector and flares up in rhythm with Kamnets' parent star. Red dwarves are well known for producing titanic solar flares out of all proportion to their size, and Kamnets Alpha is no exception.

When the red dwarf erupts, the White Rift casts hideously pale light into the void, and from these hateful rays are born creatures that defy Imperial categorization even to this day. Though similar in appearance to any other Warp Storm found in Imperial records, the White Rift does not lead to that plane of chaos and hatred. Like living lightning bolts, angular serpents of unidentifiable energy slither from a space between worlds to feast on anything in their way, and it falls to the Imperial Navy to fend them off with lance and plasma macrobattery at the ready.

Any soldier unlucky enough to be consumed by the "serpents" simply vanishes. Entire voidships have been swallowed up and disintegrated, or perhaps spirited away to realms unimaginable and deadly. Some believe the White Rift to be a manifestation of Order itself, passing judgement on the Materium's imperfect creations. Others believe it to be the fell imprint of an unknown fifth Chaos entity beyond the four Ruinous Powers. A few Imperial scholars maintain the White Rift to be lingering energies from a conflict between Dark Age Mankind and Pre-Fall Eldar, whose powers are now beyond human comprehension. The most frightening whispers, only uttered within a small circle of Inquisitors, declare the White Rift to be a godling yet to be born. In their eyes, the lethal forces traversing the Rift can only be the embryonic hungers of Ynnead, the Eldar god of Death, practicing its killing arts.

Whatever the Rift's true nature, the Imperium stands ever vigilant to meet it, until judgement day arrives.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T19:20:08Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Worlds */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warplanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families!

During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

====Kamnets Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Kamnets
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Fortress World
|orbdist= .14 AU
|gravity= .7G
|temp= 120C (Sunside), -60C (Darkside)
|pop= 50,000,000
|governor= General Ibramev Tokrez
|system= Kamnets
|sector= Frombov
|subsector= Kamnets
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Kamnets Primaris orbits a small red dwarf star, all but scraping its photosphere as it does. It has an atmosphere, though a tenuous one, and receives an intolerable amount of ultraviolet and thermal radiation at all times. The planet is tidally locked around its star, and liquid water is present only in a thin ring of twilight between fire and frost. Were it not for the colossal White Rift stretching across half the sky, it is unlikely the Imperium would take any notice of the battered little rock ball. The Rift covers much of the Subsector and flares up in rhythm with Kamnets' parent star. Red dwarves are well known for producing titanic solar flares out of all proportion to their size, and Kamnets Alpha is no exception.

When the red dwarf erupts, the White Rift casts hideously pale light into the void, and from these hateful rays are born creatures that defy Imperial categorization even to this day. Though similar in appearance to any other Warp Storm found in Imperial records, the White Rift does not lead to that plane of chaos and hatred. Like living lightning bolts, angular serpents of unidentifiable energy slither from a space between worlds to feast on anything in their way, and it falls to the Imperial Navy to fend them off with lance and plasma macrobattery at the ready.

Any soldier unlucky enough to be consumed by the "serpents" simply vanishes. Entire voidships have been swallowed up and disintegrated, or perhaps spirited away to realms unimaginable and deadly. Some believe the White Rift to be a manifestation of Order itself, passing judgement on the Materium's imperfect creations. Others believe it to be the fell imprint of an unknown fifth Chaos entity beyond the four Ruinous Powers. A few Imperial scholars maintain the White Rift to be lingering energies from a conflict between Dark Age Mankind and Pre-Fall Eldar, whose powers are now beyond human comprehension. The most frightening whispers, only uttered within a small circle of Inquisitors, declare the White Rift to be a godling yet to be born. In their eyes, the lethal forces traversing the Rift can only be the embryonic hungers of Ynnead, the Eldar god of Death, practicing its killing arts.

Whatever the Rift's true nature, the Imperium stands ever vigilant to meet it, until judgement day arrives.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T19:01:15Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Vikorm IV */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warplanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families!

During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T18:59:04Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Worlds */

{{/tg/-Heresy-Head}}

[[Image:Blue_cloud_planet_2_0_by_fragile_stock.jpg|thumb|Nueia Rosskiya|right]]

The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere spans the entire width of the Kuzgeta Sector, covering all systems conquered or colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri Ibirien]]. Established before the arrival of the Imperium, the Defense Sphere would remain as a distinct entity long after the Great Crusade. A heartland of Rosskan culture, its industry has allowed it to spread influence far beyond its borders.

==History==

===Formation===
After Rosskar was unified by Alexandri Ibirien, the Primarch's gaze turned towards the stars. Crafting an excellent colonization program, nearby moons of the Rosskar system were transformed into outposts and manufacture hubs. Soon old relics of ships allowed the rediscovery of Warp Travel, allowing the Rosskan colonists to fling themselves out further. Several planets within the nearby worlds had existed in solitude, unknowing of any survivors from the long night existed elsewhere. Seizing opportunity Alexandri created a charter for rulers of other worlds to sign. This would be a mutual agreement of defense, the exchange of ideas allowing the various pockets of humanity to unite in a federation of states. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was born. Rosskar was given executive control over all resources and supreme authority on military decisions.

This was because out of all the worlds, only Alexandri's territories had the ability to make warships. The Forgeworld of [[Kyuw]] assisted in the production of Rosskan Frigates, in return for protection from various raiders. The Kuzgetan Defense Sphere was greatly successful, as Alexandri's leadership gave them an edge over the various Xenos threatening humanity. Over time, the populations of the other worlds decided to take on aspects of the Rosskan culture. Children were raised learning their native tongue, and Rosskan. Alexandri peacefully took over other sixteen worlds, not even needing to seed them with life or fight tooth and nail for them. Because of this the region flourished and would later provide great bounty to the [[Silver Cataphracts]] and [[Rosskan Strelky]].

===Great Crusade===
When the Imperium discovered the Kuzgetan Sphere, and subsequently its Commander in Arms Alexandri, it was immediately dissolved upon his order. All of the planets were drafted into the expanding empire right away. Not a single planet raised umbrage with this turn of events. Each one remained loyal to Rosskar first above Terra, however. Even if they made oaths of fealty to the Emperor, it was Alexandri whom they obeyed. To this end the various worlds served as a tributary of the Silver Cataphracts. Providing over manpower and arms to the growing 15th Legion.

Kuzgeta would play a pivotal role in the beginning conquests of their patron Primarch. Munitions flowed from the worlds into the artillery of the Silver Cataphracts, giving them access to the ammunition they demanded in their unrestricted barrages. Manpower was given up freely to swell the ranks of the Rosskan Strelky, a continuation of the Kuzgetan Troops from yore. This would lead to the War Council, and later Council of Terra, giving special credence to the needs of the Kuzgetan worlds in light of their Crusade contributions.
===Hektor Heresy===
[[Hektor Cincinnatus]] knew the importance of Kuzgeta to the war effort in the Segmentum Pacificus. It was a crossroads where the Imperial forces could recoup losses and launch attacks. Not only this, it was widely known as Alexandri's fiefdom. His responsibility and property, thus any strike against it would be a mark upon his abilities as a leader. A pincer attack was designed by the Traitors to launch out in the direction of the Defense Sphere, for Hektor knew in Alexandri's desire to defend Terra, the entire Kuzgetan region would be bereft of Legionnaires.

The gambit paid off masterfully. Kuzgeta burned, entire worlds razed up before the jewel, Rosskar herself, was attacked in a brutal campaign of destruction. It would not be until relief arrived from another Legion that the destruction stopped. In respect for the late Alexandri, the Imperium after the Scouring reinstated the Kuzgetan Defense Sphere as an autonomous zone within its own borders. This was intended to assist in rebuilding, as the worlds would be free from paying tithe until it healed back from its suffered damage.

===Kuzgetan Secession War===
Imperial Records Corrupted, by order of His Most Holy Inquisition wait until knowledge of this subject can be resurrected.

The God-Emperor Protects.

===Worlds===

====Nueia Rosskiya====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Nueia Rosskiya)
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Hive World
|orbdist= 1.16 AU
|gravity= .96 G
|temp= 15C Average (Temperate/Cold)
|pop= 50,000,000,000
|governor= High General Kordman Treyevin
|system= Zemsvia
|sector= Alpha Nueia
|subsector= Rosska Minoris
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

The first world to be colonized by [[Alexandri of Rosskar|Alexandri]], Nueia Rosskiya would later eclipse its own homeworld. The planet is cool but not uninhabitable, and vast reserves of underground hydrocarbons and other organic matter provide immense amounts of synthetic food to a sprawling population. Adding to the planet's habitability are two large moons used for bio-domes and hydroponic gardens, remnants of a planet-sized body that broke apart in ages long past. Though still reliant on external agricultural imports, this extra food supply allowed explosive population growth, and before the Heresy, Nueia Rosskiya boasted fifty billion inhabitants.

With such an enormous weight of manpower Nueia Rosskiya naturally became the central hub of Kuzgetan culture even beyond Rosskar itself. It would provide the majority of the numbers to the [[Rosskan Strelky]], and produce much of the armor for the [[Silver Cataphracts]]. The Industrial World would be spared the horrors of the Hektor Heresy out of pure chance as the Traitors prioritized other easier targets over it, and focused their efforts on [[Rosskar]] itself.

Long after the events of the Heresy and the Scouring however, Nueia Rosskiya's elite grew confident that their world could perhaps stand alone, and indeed should lead all others. Trusting in their vast weight of armsmen to carry them through all opposition, they led a secessionist movement against Terra to name Nueia Rosskiya as a new Imperium. To justify this traitorous Crusade, the nobles cited Alexandri's leadership as a greater template to follow than other Primarchs who helped establish the modern Imperial systems.

During their rebellion, Nueia's two large moons were brutally attacked and the hydroponic gardens shattered. The ensuing food riots could only be described as nightmarish.

====Don-Boz Primaris====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Don-Boz
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Imperial World
|orbdist= .75 AU
|gravity= 1.10 G
|temp= 28C
|pop= 6,000,000,000 (Pre-Heresy)45,000,000 (Post-Heresy)
|governor= Lord Bessemac Danmers
|system= Don-Boz
|sector= Boroshan
|subsector= Don-Boz
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Don-Boz Primaris, an unlucky world if there ever was one. Settled late in the Great Crusade by emigrants from overcrowded Nueia Rosskiya, Don-Boz promised a warmer climate more conducive to human habitation. Though considerably hotter on average than human norms would prefer, its oceans are broad and shallow and there are few landmasses large enough to permit truly significant desertification. Its star is somewhat cooler than Sol, shining a very pleasant warm orange color, and its years are short and seasons brief. Desalination plants drank of the oceans and gave life to fertile soil, and deep beneath the crust the settlers found rich veins of promethium ore. Times were good for Don-Boz, and life was simple before the Heresy.

Owing to its geographical location, Don-Boz was considered a vital linchpin for controlling multiple Warplanes through the sector and beyond. Accordingly, it was invaded no fewer than six times by the Arch-Traitor's forces, and liberated seven. Fertile fields burned to drifting ash, and both factions drank Don-Boz' promethium nearly dry with greedy mouths in order to fuel their machines. Tanks roamed freely across the land, and the civilian population was decimated by famine, disease and conscription into both Traitor and Imperial armies depending on who held the planet at the time. Indeed, not one Bozite out of a hundred survived.

After the Heresy, the Bozites shifted their focus away from the ruined surface of Don-Boz and enlisted aid from their wealthy neighbors on Nueia Rosskiya. They built a series of impressive space stations and orbital facilities, making their livelihoods from Imperial Chartist vessel tariffs and assisting the Imperial Navy with drydock duties. For many centuries, Don-Boz prospered once more, though never matching its early wealth. Still, its citizens felt contented enough. And then Nueia Rosskiya launched their rebellion.

Citing eminent domain from their ancient investments into the dockyards, the Nueians conscripted every ship in orbit of Don-Boz in order to transport their legions. Unable to defend themselves, the Bozites simply barricaded themselves inside the hab-domes and attempted to ride out the storm. To their dismay, when the inevitable Imperial counterattack arrived they were charged as equally guilty for not destroying ships, shipyards, and hab-stations alike to deny the traitors critical war materiel. Inquisitor Kennelax Poltaris led an Imperial attack squadron to savage Don-Boz, killing the spacers as they cowered in their homes.

Don-Boz today stands in abject ruin. On the ground, a handful of millions eke out a living harvesting what little promethium remains to be had for export. In orbit, small spacer families earn their daily bread breaking up the remnants of the vast shipyards for scrap, still orbiting in a ring around Don-Boz. It is a world like many others in the Imperium. Here can be seen the full price of war.

====Vikorm IV====
{{Infobox 40k Planet
|name= Vikorm
|bgcolor=black
|fgcolor=white
|image=
|type= Cathedral World
|orbdist= 2.2 AU
|gravity= 1 G
|temp= -12 C
|pop= 120,000,000
|governor= Arch-Deacon Constantos Etrura
|system= Vikorm
|sector= Tungrus
|subsector= Vikorm
|segmentum= TO BE DETERMINED BY ALEXANDRI
}}

Ah, to walk along the streets of Vikorm IV during its fleeting summers, when the endless ice melts and shimmering rivers of purest meltwater cascade into the equatorial oceans. Huzzah for Vikorm's savage winters, which toughen and inspire Kuzgetan families! During the Great Crusade, Vikorm IV attracted settlers from across the Imperium who sought that most precious, and yet most overlooked of resources: clean water. The vast majority of Vikorm's water is locked up in ice sheets ten miles thick or more, only briefly melting for a few months to fill up gigantic meltwater lakes. This water runs over deeper ice, and never touches the bedrock below. Accordingly, it picks up neither salt nor sediment, and its mineral content is exceptionally low.

Imperial voidships travel across dozens of sectors to mine this beautiful iceball, and their cargoes of freshwater command unimaginable prices. The citizenry of Vikorm IV lives comfortable lives, merely exacting tariff upon tariff to sustain themselves. Where the ice extractors have passed, vast caverns stand newly open, and it is in these that the Vikormians live. During the Heresy, the Vikormians simply collapsed the entrances to their caves of ice and steel, waiting out the bloodshed safe beneath many kilometers of snow. Unlike so many other planets, Vikorm IV rode out the Heresy completely unscathed, unnoticed by either titanic combatant.

Over the years, Vikorm IV became staggeringly wealthy, and the emerging Imperial religion took notice. As fiery in their preaching as Vikorm's winds blew cold, the Ecclesiarchy claimed this world for their own and elevated its inhabitants to the exalted ranks of clergy. In the ice caves they constructed temples of unbelievable size and scale, whose artistry and grandeur know few equals across the Imperium. Tourism began to supplement the water-sales, and life on Vikorm is good indeed. "Cold builds the Soul, Gold builds the World", say the Vikormians. And it is true. Even after 10,000 years of Imperial habitation, barely 10% of the planet's water has been removed, and there is so very much more room to grow.

==Culture==
Most Kuzgetans did not suffer the somber attitude of their Rosskan cousins. A sense of achievement and pride pervaded most levels of Kuzgetan society. Many could look back at the first colonists sent out to explore the vast darkness with glee in their hearts. That was their heritage, and they were deeply proud of it. In other respects, the Kuzgetans resembled more closely to their fore bearers. Little desire remained in their hearts for inquiry, generally accepting inhuman reality if it provided benefit to the great part of society. This cold logic would lead to certain accepted atrocities, such as harsh judicial sentencing for citizens committing relatively harmless crimes.

The people of Kuzgeta were tirelessly industrious, which explained their meteoric rise in most periods of their history. It was believed that all effort should be put towards the betterment of society as a whole. That this was the highest honor one could achieve. A person had a responsibility to fulfill to their planet first, then community, then family. Divorce rates and broken households were common in Kuzgetan culture. Immediate relations were simply not seen as a pressing priority compared to ensuring productivity continued to run high in your world's foundries.

This attitude fed into the arts, as gifted writers, artists, and musicians would dedicated every waking hour of their life to the craft. To bring the best improvement upon the greater culture as they could. The sciences received a almost religious pursuit of study too. The Adeptus Mechanicus gained many gifted individuals from the Kuzgetan populations who would go on to bring much glory to the Omnissiah.
==Military==
The Kuzgeta Defense Sphere, even after its dissolution, was focused on three stages of defense. The first and most important segment was Response Fleet. This was a collection of warp capable vessels who would respond right away to the threat of an enemy presence. The next line of defense would be inner-system Defense Ships. These would be Ironclads and Gunboats incapable of warp travel, carrying a great arsenal of long range weaponry designed to attack an enemy at a distance. These forces would never directly engage, but be a general nuisance by consistently falling back. They were designed only to buy time for the Response Fleet. The last line, and the most vulnerable, were the Kuzgetan Defense Troops.

The Troops were the Rosskan Strelky, before and after they came to be. The Kuzgetan Troops had less discipline than the Strelky. Acting more as a reservist militia, they would use the same equipment but be far less versed with it. The Troops fought with a tenacity however on their homeworlds. Under proper leadership or the watchful gaze of the Silver Cataphracts, they were capable of achieving greatness on par with their Imperial Army comrades.

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T18:42:55Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Don-Boz Primaris */

Kuzgeta Defense Sphere

2016-10-10T18:42:40Z

2606:A000:1223:800A:BDA7:D432:1886:17D: /* Worlds */