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Perpetual

2022-05-10T17:39:34Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A:

[[File:OllPious.jpg|350px|right|thumb|Ollanius Pius, the most famous Perpetual, the man, the myth, the legend.]]
{{topquote|I just want a normal life." "My friend, you will have as many of those as you wish.|The beings who would one day be [[Ollanius Pius]] and the [[God-Emperor of Mankind]]}}

A '''Perpetual''' (''Homo Superior'') is a person of [[40k|the grim darkness of the 41st millennium]] who drew the absolutely shortest straw possible: they are immortal (because [[Dan Abnett]] must REALLY love Highlander and can’t let it go.) And nothing of this "age without youth" or "immortality without indestructibility" bullshit: they do not age (after some point in adulthood that isn't clear but seems to be the mid-to-late 30s or early 40s, maybe [[Alivia Sureka|earlier]] or maybe [[Ollanius Pius|later]]) and can survive the most gruesome deaths imaginable up to and including taking an [[Exterminatus]] to the face because they can reassemble themselves from their constituent atoms. [[/co/|They're like Wolverine on steroids like that]]. And before you suggest throwing them into a sun or launching them out into space, two perpetuals were spaced and just reassembled someplace that was habitable. Which, given [[Grimdark|the relentless sunshine of the Warhammer 40.000 universe is NOT a good thing: not even death will relieve your suffering.]] There are only a [[Sly Marbo|few things]] said to be able to kill a Perpetual for good, but these powers and weapons are known to only a few individuals in the galaxy (and even then it's not known for certain how effective they are, or if they even work). Very little is known about the Perpetuals including their origin (but given the fact that Ollanius Persson was around as far back as the time of Greek myth, they've undoubtedly been around for ages), number, purpose or even if those suspected to be them actually being Perpetuals (all that we know is that during the Horus Heresy, there were exactly 3 Perpetuals living in Ultramar; given that Ultramar consisted of 500 planets at the time, we have to assume that they're extraordinarily rare). Of only eight individuals is the status of Perpetual known or confirmed. Another foible they have is their very existence fucks up farseeing to a considerable degree, which lead Eldrad to kill off as many of them as possible to try and find a way to avoid Chaos winning overall.

We do however know, that people could be turned Perpetual by being resurrected. Which, ironically, might imply that [[Kharn]] and [[Lucius]] at some point became Perpetual too, since they've both came back from dead. It'll explain how Kharn managed to survive for that long despite his suicidal psychotic charges into everything he sees, and how Lucius resurrected without possessing anyone's body after first being outfought by Nykona Sharrowkyn of the [[Raven Guard]], and then subsequently being cut to pieces by an emotionless [[Rubric Marine|Rubric Swordmaster]] (who in any case no longer had a body to possess either).

Recent fluff has revealed that the universe itself (or is it just the Eldar? Assholes that they are.) isn't too keen on Perpetuals as their very existence is a spanner in its gears, because <s>[[meme|people should die when they are killed]]</s> each of their revivals end up fucking farseeing over and altering causality. In order to try and find alternatives to the Cabal's plan of letting humanity die to kill Chaos, Eldrad went on a galaxy wide murder tour bumping off other Perpetuals and members of the Cabal, a choice he deeply regretted when he tried farseeing and saw what the future would eventually hold. It also turns out they're capable of resisting daemonic possession, partly due to any warp entity inhabiting their soul gets fucked up when they die (and then come back). It's still implied to be horrifically traumatic but it explains how both Alivia Sureka and Anval Thawn were able to resist. Some fans speculated that they are related to the [[Men of Gold]] mentioned in old lore.

==Predating the [[Great Crusade]]==

===The Emperor===
A great many of the mysteries surrounding the Emperor would be explained if he was a Perpetual: his age, his knowledge in an era where everyone else on [[Terra]] was too busy [[LARP]]ing a crossover of [[Terminator]] and [[Fist of the North Star]] to learn shit and his massive power (learned over time). On the other hand it would not explain why he didn't just regenerate after his duel with [[Horus]] on the ''Vengeful Spirit''. The best explanation for this (besides Horus being able to injure the Emperor permanently through being the virtual avatar of all four [[Chaos Gods]]) is that the Golden Throne, while maintaining his life functions, is also keeping him from resurrecting himself- in theory, if it was shut down, the only real effect it would have is that the Emperor would "die" for a day or two at most before fully healing from his injuries. A shame that nobody seems to realize this, as it would end most of the Imperium's problems on the spot at the expense of leaving Terra defenseless to being raped, both literally and figuratively, by hordes upon hordes of daemons, even if for a couple days. ''(That's assuming he doesn't turn into a real god the moment he "dies" and use his new god-like powers to seal the broken portal)''. Though it would create some new problems, as quite a few people wouldn't be happy with the return of the original [[Imperial Truth]], especially the Ecclesiarchy. Of course, knowing the Emperor he'd crush them like bugs if they tried to oppose him, or even if they didn't. There is no way he would agree with the current Imperium.

Recent revelations from the Horus Heresy books also suggest that his godlike powers were actually stolen from the Chaos Gods themselves instead of being wholly his own. Needless to say, the Ruinous Powers still have a grudge.
*'''Note''': This is what the Chaos Gods told Horus (since the initial Horus Heresy trilogy, though ''Vengeful Spirit'' had them stick with the story), and we all know how trustworthy they are. Not to mention that this "explanation" is precisely what Horus himself wanted to hear. The most plausible explanation is that Emperor either tried to destroy them but failed or he infiltrated their compound to learn the secrets of the warp so he could divide fragments of his souls and make Primarchs from them. Or possibly, the original "gods" in the portal may also have been referring to Eldar pantheon (or what remains of it), who may have given the Emperor his powers, and possibly an easy way back home (via the webway) since the Emperor didn't need a ship to get back home.

Recent fluff from 7e suggests that the Golden Throne is not a life-support, but a pain engine, better than any [[Dark Eldar|Dark Eldar]] [[Haemonculus|Haemonculus]] could possibly dream of, sapping his strength to keep the seal intact, and that [[Malcador the Sigillite|Malcador]], also stated by Erda and Jaghatai Khan to be a Perpetual, crumbled into dust without resurrection after several hours. Apparently, it damages the soul itself, and even with his psychic gestalt status and powers stolen/bargained from Chaos Gods it has taken a heavy toll on the Emperor.

Welp, as of October of 2018, any ambiguity as to whether or not the Emperor is a perpetual has since been removed, with GW itself stating it outright in an FAQ post. And as of 2020, with the release of ''Saturnine'' in the ''Siege of Terra'' series... Well... While it too makes it damn clear that Big-E's status as a perpetual is confirmed, it does so in a way that raises a metric fuckton of further questions.

===[[Malcador]]===

The Emperor's right-hand man is confirmed to be a Perpetual himself. He claims to be over 6700 years old by the time of the Horus Heresy. Despite being a Perpetual, he manages to die twice during the Siege of Terra. First, Magnus accidentally barbecues him while throwing a psychic tantrum in the Hall of Leng deep beneath the Imperial Palace. Alivia Sureka (see below) sacrifices her own Perpetuality to resurrect him. His second and final death, as we all know, comes from taking the Emperor's place on the Golden Throne so that Big E could go deliver the mother of all bitchslaps to his wayward son.

===[[Erda]]===
<strike>Big E's waifu, mom to the primarchs</strike> Erebus 2: Menopause Boogaloo. A female Perpetual who donated her egg cells and genetic expertise to the Primarch Project, making her their mother minus a lot of her genes. It turns out that ''she'', not Horus or Argel Tal being sent back in time by the Chaos Gods, scattered the Primarchs. What a TWEEST! The Emperor was of course [[Rage|slightly cross]] about this, so Erda fucked off to live quietly in the deserts of Afrik with a specially designed Space Marine bodyguard. Her ultimate fate remains unknown, although there's a big hint [[Erebus|the slimy motherfucker extraordinaire]] perma-killed her when she refused to help him.

(The Valdor novel states that Chaos energy was detected in the room signifying that the Chaos Gods were still involved in the scattering of the Primarchs. It's possible that what Erda did was to disturb the wards around the primarchs' gestation capsules, which let the Chaos gods snatch them up.)

===[[Ollanius Pius]], AKA Oll Persson (Old Person...seriously? Fucking really, Abnett? Truly swung for the fences with that one, didn’t you?)===
A confirmed Perpetual. By the time of the [[Horus Heresy]], Ollanius reckons his age to be around 45,000 ''(give or take)'' and he is fully aware of the connection between the Imperial and the Gregorian calendars, putting his birth at around 15,000BC (or in layman's terms, somewhere in the latter half of the Stone Age) in Biblical Nineveh. [[Ollanius Pius|Oll Persson]] is quite reasonably older than the Emperor, considering that big Emps was born in Anatolia around 8000BC. At some point in time he became a Christian, and maintained his faith until, well, forever. Even once the word "Catholic" was somehow corrupted into "Catheric." This has interesting [[Ollanius Pius#Religion|implications]] given his service to the atheistic Empire of Terra.

He was one of the Argonauts of Greek myth and fought at Austerlitz (described as Napoleon's greatest victory) and Verdun (infamous as one of the bloodiest battles in all of World War I, which is saying something), as well as the First Gulf War, implied to have been [[Team_Yankee#Iraq.2FSyria|fighting on the side of Saddam Hussein]]. In fact, in all of the [[Ollanius Pius#The Eternal Infantryman|references to his military history]], which is extensive—having been apparently a soldier in all his ''documented'' lives, if not all of them, period—it's also implied that he tends to fight on the losing side, or even exclusively has, whether as some sort of curse or by some sort of design. It also explains how he managed to survive boarding Horus' flagship during the [[Siege of Terra]]. It is unknown if Horus actually managed to kill him: while [[Chaos|CHAOS]] [[Dakka|MINDBULLETS]] certainly sound like they could do the trick it still is quite possible that [[Troll|he reassembled himself and walked off, not giving a fuck.]] A man with true balls of steel, especially as it's implied that he's never died once in his whole lifetime (at least until Calth), and most of the time he has come back and back again to fight wars in the (literal at times) trenches. He does not want to be bothered one single fuck with John Grammaticus or the Cabal, but gets suckered in to galaxy saving adventures once and again. Such is the lot of a Perpetual.

At some point in Earth's early history, he also served as the Emperor's first-ever Warmaster, but this ended badly during a war in East Phoenicia. They defeated a cult which had been building a tower [the literal fucking Tower of Babel] that contained a complete lexicon for Enuncia, the weird transcendent language that fucks reality sideways when spoken and which is capable of causing permanent [meaning it isn't fixed once back in the warp] damage to daemons; what this editor henceforth refers to as "Space Thu'um". Ollanius wanted to destroy the tower, regarding Enuncia as an existential threat, but the Emperor wanted to preserve it as a doomsday weapon, and/or a repository of knowledge for their own use. Oll expressed his concern with this decision by shanking the Emperor and wrecking the tower before then running away... By Christ, this is a flashback where nobody comes out looking pretty.

====St. Ollanius Pius: Old Lore and New====
Before Perpetuals were introduced in the [[Horus Heresy]] novels, specifically in ''Legion'' by Dan Abnett, and more on Ollanius is elaborated in the some particularly good stories by Abnett set on Calth stories, especially ''Know no Fear'' and ''Unmarked'' (a short story anthologized in ''The Mark of Calth''), St. Ollanius Pius was just a regular old balls-of-steel Guardsman whose balls turned to adamantium as he threw himself in front of his emperor during the most epic duel of all time, and thus was sanctified in lore and the Imperial cult from then on down. He was later revealed to be a Perpetual, in a [[skub|somewhat controversial]] change. From the point of view of the average Imperial citizen, or indeed, in fact just about anyone perhaps save the Emperor himself, he was that adamantium-testicled Guardsman and remains that holy Saint who is highly revered by the Imperium (the highest decoration in the [[Imperial Guard]], for instance, is named for him.) In fact, of course, he may still be wandering around, probably from what we all know trying to live this all down modestly. Ollanius, no doubt, would prefer the ambiguity as to whether his existence was utterly obliterated in the [[Rip and Tear|horrendous space kablooie]] surrounding the duel between the Emperor and Horus to remain as such. Although, in ''Fury of Magnus'', Magnus was able to permanently kill a Perpetual via the power of sorcery and plot convenience [though it '''STILL''' didn't quite stick], which perhaps makes it more doubtful that Olly is still alive. But ''Fury of Magnus'', while an enjoyable read, poses so many questions and contrived plot points, while answering so few of them, that attempting to deduce any larger implications from it is hardly a sturdy prospect.

===John Grammaticus===
Former officer of the Emperor's armies during the [[Unification Wars]] on Terra and later agent of [[the Cabal]] and a lesser [[psyker]]; [[Perpetual#John Grammaticus|John Grammaticus]] [[meme|<strike>WHO WAS GORDON GRAMMATICUS' BROTHER WAS ONE DAY AT AN OFFICE TYPING ON A COMPUTOR</strike>]] is an interesting case: after he died at Anatol [[Hive]], an [[Eldar]] [[Autarch]] called Slau Dha found his body and made him into a Perpetual. This signaled that it is possible for humans to become Perpetuals; or, Slau Dha was the equivalent of Ramirez and John was Connor MacLeod from Highlander. If this were the case this would make John and Slau Dha at least eight times more [[awesome]]. Grammaticus' skills gained over the course of a millennium of life were instrumental for recruiting [[Alpharius]] to the cause of the Cabal, but he felt bad about this and stepped out of an airlock in the faint hope that it would kill him. (It did, but then he just came back to life again). After the [[Drop Site Massacre]], he spent some time digging up an old relic spear that was actually made from cast-off lightning of the Emperor's divinity, reputed to be able to kill anything, even other immortals. After the apparent failure of the "Alpharius Gambit" ''(two choices, two primarchs, go figure)'' the Cabal had intended to use it to stop Vulkan from reaching Terra and interfering with their future plans. Unfortunately such a powerful relic made Grammaticus into a big giant target, and he ended up getting captured, killed and recaptured by the [[Word Bearers]] and the Shattered Legions before eventually finding his way to [[Macragge]].

On the way he was contacted psychically by [[Eldrad|this dick]] who told him that he could strike back at the Cabal by stabbing Vulkan himself, since if [[derp|another immortal did it it would work differently]], and in this case it would somehow heal the primarch who was mentally broken after years of torture by [[Konrad Curze]]. Because of reasons. So after seeking Vulkan out on Macragge he stabbed him, investing his own immortality into the strike, and sucking it out of himself and making him mortal... also apparently killing Vulkan properly this time and therefore doing what the Cabal wanted in the first place. Also at some point during the invasion of Calth he found Oll Persson and tried to recruit him to the cause, though that didn't go too well as he was only half-hearted in his attempts anyway, plus Oll couldn't be bothered. He was mindwiped after the Vulkan thing, but Eldrad restored his memories and asked him to make sure Oll reached Terra.

===Damon Prytanis===
[[X-Files|Alex Krycek]] in space. Another agent of the Cabal, though unlike John Grammaticus, Damon was more of a soldier/assassin than a spy and got all the killy jobs. It is heavily implied that he was the one who killed Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as other important figures throughout human history. No, really. The novels specifically mention he was responsible for the death of "the good man in Memphis" and "the brother in the City of Angels".

He was apparently more comfortable with his position in the Cabal, even though it meant working against his own species, as seen during his meetings with John Grammaticus, which made him more trustworthy in the eyes of the Cabal. During John's last mission Damon was sent to watch over him and make sure that he didn't falter or chicken out and try to derail their plans. Though he sort of failed to contain Grammaticus, he does kill Vulkan once, shredding him with a pair of shuriken pistols, but it's worth noting the primarch was already pretty shattered after having died a couple of times by that point.

He was the individual who brought Cyrene Valantion into the Cabal's fold, having to die once or twice on board the Word Bearers' starship just to prove a point to her. He's now definitely dead for real after Barthusa Narek shot him in the head with a fulgurite round at point blank.

===[[Alivia Sureka]]===
Another female Perpetual and empathic psyker. Unlike most of the others though she has no apparent connection to the Cabal at all, and in fact is much more closely linked to the Emperor. She had traveled with Him and undisclosed "others" to the planet Molech where the Emperor somehow travelled directly into the Warp and stole portions of the Chaos Gods' powers (or so the Chaos Gods claim).

She was left behind on Molech to guard the gateway to stop anyone else from passing through and doing the same thing. Which apparently she did dutifully for a few thousand years... meaning that she is the only other Perpetual in the Emperor's peer group who is actually loyal to him at the time of the Crusade. When the Great Crusade arrived on the planet, the Emperor fortified the shit out of it, leaving detachments of [[Blood Angels]], [[Ultramarines]], [[Imperial Knight]]s, [[Titans]] and [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] to guard the gate. This made her somewhat redundant, so she just settled down and got married. At least until [[Horus]] arrived during the Heresy and laid waste to most of the Imperial forces in a bid to follow in his father's footsteps and take the same power for himself. Alivia tried to seal the portal, but wound up getting killed before she could complete the ritual. She resurrected, escaped Molech, and headed for Terra with her adopted daughters.

Humorously, Alivia has several affectations brought over from the third millennium; she has a tendency to use "modern-day" phrases such as "Okay", which do not actually exist in the 31st millennium. She also carries around a book of Hans Christian Andersen stories ''(probably one of the most priceless artifacts in the Imperium, if anyone knew what it was)'' which she reads to her adopted children.

She is now definitely dead, having pulled a Grammaticus and sacrificed her Perpetuality to resurrect Malcador after he was killed by Magnus during the Siege of Terra. This is a shame, as she was probably one of the smartest, toughest, and most well-adjusted people in the Imperium.

==Surfaced during and after the Great Crusade==

===Vulkan===
Like his dad, [[Vulkan]] of the [[Salamanders]] was a confirmed Perpetual. This was put to the ultimate test by none other than <s>[[Konrad Curze|the goddamn Night Haunter himself]]</s> [[Konrad Curze|the little emo goth kid on super-steroids]], who captured Vulkan during the Drop Site Massacre and proceeded to perform the [[Daemonculaba|most depraved tortures and murders on the Lord of the Salamanders in an attempt to break his will]], [[/d/|and had to invent several new ones just for the occasion]]. Whether he was [[Grimdark|shot with bolters at point-blank range, cut apart, decapitated, eviscerated, impaled, dismembered, evaporated, getting his throat torn out with a rusty fork, being quite literally mindfucked, or being tossed naked into an active warp drive]], Vulkan would neither break nor stay dead, [[Rage|pissing Curze right the fuck off]]. Eventually, Curze locked him in a maze courtesy of [[Perturabo]] where he would hunt Vulkan himself. Curze's mistake was to place Dawnbringer at the center of the maze. When Vulkan got to his hammer, [[Awesome|he proceeded to hand Curze a helping of it straight to the face]], then [[Just as planned|he activated a built-in teleporter that sent him right over to]] [[Macragge]] where he promptly burned up in the atmosphere like a human meteor, killing him again in the process.

Here things get complicated: Vulkan regenerated on Macragge but lost his mind, so Guilliman kept him locked up until he could figure out what to do with him, even concealing his presence when the Lion arrived. However, when [[Konrad Curze]] arrived on Macragge after stowing away on the Lion's flagship, Vulkan escaped in a moment of lucidity and tore his way across the planet (while naked) hunting Curze down and almost defeating him in a one-on-one duel. Shortly afterwards John Grammaticus found the broken primarch and stabbed him with the fulgurite, a stone spearhead charged with the psychic essence of the Emperor himself. He could not regenerate from this and neither [[Roboute Guilliman]], [[Sanguinius]], nor [[Lion El'Jonson]] could remove the spear from their brother's chest. Given that he was sent back to [[Nocturne]] for burial, we are forced to assume that his casket included a long tube-shaped appendage at least several feet long sticking out at an unusual angle, making this (while [[Grimdark|tragic)]] at least [[Khorne|eight]] times [[Lulz|more amusing]] (assuming that he was ever stabbed in the first place[though it was only the head of a spear not the shaft itself]).

Guilliman was hopeful that Vulkan would resurrect himself in time and insisted that the coffin was a preservation capsule, which Guilliman dubbed "The Unbound Flame". Some Salamanders who maintained a vigil of mourning thought they could hear a heartbeat. After an even more convoluted series of events surrounding the return of Vulkan's remains to Nocturne, the Primarch was found alive and well once more, which is even more confusing given that the fulgurite, which was supposed to kill him permanently, was still sticking out of his chest at the time of his entombment.

What raises an interesting question in Vulkan's case is regarding the source of his powers. If it was given to him by the Emperor, it begs the question why the Emperor did not give all of his sons this ability (though it sort of answers itself with the thought of [[Angron]] becoming the [[Juggernaut]] (bitch!). If it was not the case, it would suggest that the Perpetual trait can be passed down one's bloodline, or at least transferred by cloning. Big E certainly ''knew'' that Vulkan was immortal and depended on that fact in order to get him to bring the Talisman of Seven Hammers back to Terra. This couldn't have been the Emperor's "ultimate plan" for Vulkan, and seems more of a last ditch contingency considering how badly the Golden Throne got fucked over by Magnus; if he had planned to put a self-destruct on it all along, he probably could/should have done it before he got stuck sitting on it. (Granted it is implied that Artellus Numeleon's sacrifice brought back Vulan from his permanent death. The first but not the last time Human sacrifice is used to bring back Perpetuals from certain death)

The Emperor also told Vulkan plainly that his son's "humanity" was his single greatest trait and also his proudest achievement, and that he hoped that Vulkan would eventually teach it to his brothers. Certainly Vulkan was probably the nicest of the Primarchs and as such would probably have been the best bet for an undying son, especially if you were relying on him to tone down the more [[Rip and Tear|extreme]] traits of his brothers after the Great Crusade was finished. When Empy was looking over the petri dishes for which one to add the immortality to he had to choose between (in order): [[Lion El'Jonson|a two faced jerk]], [[Primarch#Two_Missing_Primarchs|a [RECORDS LOST]]], [[Fulgrim|a preening egotistical asshole]], [[Perturabo|a genocidal sociopath with poor impulse control]], [[Jaghatai Khan|Genghis Khan]], [[Leman Russ|a dick with a furry fetish]], [[Rogal Dorn|a stubborn joyless masochist]], [[Konrad Curze|a serial killing terrorist with bipolar mood swings between fatalism and nihilism]], [[Sanguinius|a guy with a terrible terrible secret]], [[Ferrus Manus|a Social Darwinist nerd who'd rather be talking to a toaster]], [[Primarch#Two_Missing_Primarchs|a [RECORDS LOST]]], [[Angron|an explosively violent psychopath]], [[Roboute Guilliman|a patrician jerk with a heart of gold]], [[Mortarion|a bitter aspie maniac with an unhealthy love of toxins]], [[Magnus the Red|a massively powerful arrogant psyker who can't take orders]], [[Horus|a spoiled egomaniac]], [[Lorgar|a petulant zealot with a pathological daddy complex]], [[Corvus Corax|an emo bird]], and [[Alpharius|two people obsessed with]] [[Omegon|secrets and lies]]. On the other hand, a lot of those traits were nurture rather then purely nature. Even so, if he did do it deliberately, he [[Just as Planned|made a decent choice]].

===Dalia Cythera===
Dalia Cythera is a former Administratum Transcriber and a latent psyker during the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy (specifically during the [https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Schism_of_Mars Death of Innocence]). While she was at one point at risk of [[Blam| unemployment]] due to her insatiable desire to learn and actually read the tomes she transcribed, she was soon protected by [https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Koriel_Zeth Adept Koriel Zeth] and delivered to Magma City, her forge on Mars. Dalia has three wow factors going for her: one, she was somehow not a braindead thrall after all that indoctrination; two, she possessed an eidetic memory and could read noospheric data without augments due to her latent psyker abilities; and three, she had a connection to [[Mag%27ladroth| a cold dark thing]] that gave her bad dreams and intuitive knowledge about technology.

Zeth involved her in the development of the Akashic Reader, her pet project to tap into the the sum of all knowledge, which was the hypothesized source of Dalia's ability. Using an array of a thousand sanctioned psykers as a surge protector and another, Jonas, strapped into a gold throne-like device (the Akashic Reader), the plan was to siphon the energy needed to pierce into the [[Warp| aether]] from the Astronomican, shove Jonas' perceptions into the Akashic Records and somehow get that fool enough paper to jot it all down for them before his brain liquefied. Dalia forgot the first rule of engineering which is to overengineer (not helped by faulty data and assumptions on her part); naturally it went tits up, but [[Warp| it would have anyways]].

Such a feat would have been a great leap forward for a rapidly booming age of technology in this wonderful time of development and progress! Unfortunately, the project was utterly annihilated during the Martian Schism due to [[Waifu| Koriel Zeth's]] last stand, in which she chose slagging the entire forge city over allowing the Dark Mechanicum and Kelbor-Hal to plunder the miraculous technologies she had uncovered. Absolutely everything was reclaimed by magma, [[Grimdark|resulting in Mankind's last hope for a golden future dying in hellfire]].

Meanwhile, Dalia and friends are off on a merry adventure to seek out that thing that's calling her out to join it in the void of the Noctis Labyrinth. They meet some jolly characters along the way like [https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Kaban_Machine Kaban-chan] and later Semyon, just a normal (if rather unhinged) unaugmented 10,000 year old dude with a pet servitor living at the bottom of a pitch black chasm. Dalia could relate, having a pet Protector of her own, Rho-Mu 31. Semyon was blessed by the Emperor himself to fulfil the role of 'Guardian of the Dragon,' protector of secrets and warden. Semyon talks about how he is 'running out of time' which implies that Dalia's Perpetuity either has a time limit of 10,000 years, or will begin to wane when her replacement is found. It is clarified that it wasn't the Void Dragon initiating, turns out it was [[The_God-Emperor_of_Mankind| Big E]] all along (at least in part)!

Dalia is The Chosen One (plus her pet too, I guess), and is destined to [[Irony| rot in a hole where her innate abilities will be absolutely useless to everyone]]. Her job duties include somehow keeping folks from releasing the Dragon of Mars, and thwarting any attempts to steal a tome (which [[fail|immediately gets swiped, implicitly by one of her surviving friends]]) which makes sure to [[Derp|explicitly impart the lesson that the Dragon was put on Mars so jerkoffs would make whatever wacky shit it dreamed about in captivity later, without any of the requisite explanations of why he made the book explicitly impart such a damaging secret, so that's not bad or anything]]. As soon as Semyon passes his Perpetual status to Dalia he and his servitor go the way of [[Malcador_the_Sigillite|Malcador]], collapsing into dust.

Come the present day, it's unclear whether or not she's still around, though as the end of the novel indicates that her successor as Guardian of the Dragon is currently being drawn to the Labyrinth of Night, her chances of surviving into the age of the Great Rift seem slim in the extreme, if at all.

===Anval Thawn===
Justicar [[Anval Thawn]] of the [[Grey Knights]] is the biggest mystery of them all. All that is known is that he can walk away from the most gruesome [[Daemon]]-inflicted deaths one can imagine, much to the chagrin of his brothers and bewilderment of the Brotherhood's [[Librarian]]s. It also begs the question of why him being a Perpetual was not detected during his induction into the Grey Knights, [[Gene-seed|either during the tests or abnormal recovery from the involved surgeries or the speed at which he accepted the nineteen organs]]. Perhaps the Perpetualness is undetectable by normal science or it manifests after a person's first death (much like in Highlander or the [[Planeswalker]] spark of [[Magic: The Gathering]]). Another option is that he might be Ollanius Pius or John Grammaticus, who were tired of dicking around for another 10.000 years and wanted a shot at becoming a [[Space Marine]] and then went all in to kill the Chaos bastards as a Grey Knight. And an even better question is how the fuck the [[Eldar]] were able to recognize him for what he was after only a short period of interaction with them.

===Cyrene Valantion===
Cyrene Valantion was a common woman from Khur, a planet conquered by the Word Bearers during the Great Crusade, until the [[Ultramarines]] blew her home city of Monarchia to ashes to send a "Stop Worshipping Me!" message from the [[Emperor|Big E]] to [[Lorgar]]. Since the smurfs weren't complete assholes they evacuated all civilians first (only [[blam|BLAMing]] those who didn't want to in the process). Well, except Cyrene and a couple (hundred) of others. She decided to stay out of the city borders and watch as the orbital bombardment erased her home. Apparently watching an entire city being nuked was not the best decision, since she lost her eyes and almost died due to the extreme flash of light and from radiation burns. When the [[Word Bearers]] arrived they rescued her and figured that she was the only surviving witness of their punishment, because smurfs couldn't be bothered helping civilians whose city they just destroyed. This turned her into some kind of saint in their eyes, so they offered her a position of Confessor/Holy Relic, aka "The Blessed Lady" in their fleet. During the few decades of her service to the Word Bearers she became close to [[Argel Tal]] and guided him on his path to becoming the first [[Possessed Marine]] and overall awesome guy who kills loyalists and doesn't afraid of anything. Everything was fine and dandy until the Heresy, when during the Drop Site Massacre she got herself killed by some Custodes assholes <s>for just being in their way</s> [[FATAL|who thought they'd have an easier way ''obtaining'' answers out of her than from any Word Bearer]]. Needless to say Argel Tal cried manly tears of rage over her corpse and swore revenge on the Custodes, which he delivered just a few hours later, butchering them all amidst the ashes of Istvaan V.

Fast forward one year to [[Erebus]] resurrecting her to facilitate his machinations with Argel Tal, because he's a dick. Mind you, while she was dead for a year, [[Grimdark|he had her soul torn apart and eaten by multiple daemons]], whom Erebus "persuaded" to give the pieces back. Being the badass she was, Cyrene recovered from the shock of being mutilated and tormented in hell surprisingly fast, until the battle for Nuceria, wherein her ship was blown up and she got rescued by none other than Damon Prytanis who told her that being resurrected had turned her into a Perpetual. And then... cliffhanger. During the Siege of Terra, she may have resurfaced as a blind seer named Actaea associated with Damon Prytanis and Alpharius. Actaea claimed to be part of Cyrene Valantion's cult in the Word Bearers, but Zardu Layak did some digging and found that no record of her existed.

===Joaqhuine Desdemondra===
Joaqhuine Desdemondra is a Living Saint and a secret lover of Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak. Formerly a blood-drinking Death Cult assassin from the Path Incarnadine, she was an associate of Czevak. Other names she was known as include Saint Joaqhuine the Renascent - Living Saint of the Imperial Creed, or The Idolatress. She was identified as a form of immortal called a Reanimate upon being introduced in the "Atlas Infernal" novel. Unfortunately for her, she was later captured by Ahriman and was tortured repeatedly by being incinerated to death in front of Czevak in order to break the mental wards placed on his mind so Ahriman can extract knowledge about the Black Library from him. While Czevak was later taken from Ahriman's hands, she remained in captivity. Which is a point of motivation for Bronislav to confront Ahriman again.

{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Space Marines]]

Leagues of Votann

2022-05-10T17:38:38Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* History/Culture */

{{stub}}

[[File:Votann meeting.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Look at my new screen saver.]]

{{topquote|So, we're talking about space dwarfs who need more RAM for their gods?|Anon}}

The '''Leagues of Votann''' is a [[retcon|""new""]] faction in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe. They are gatherings of short abhumans called the Kindred (more commonly known as [[Squats]] by the dirty Necromunda gangers), bound together by the [[Votann]], super-cogitators from the [[Dark Age of Technology]]. Each League has its own Votann, and are organized in strongholds around it. They used the data stored to survive among the stars and maintain their culture across generations. Of course, since some [[Adeptus Mechanicus|factions]] are touchy about AI, the Leagues are very cautious when dealing with [[Imperium of Man|its closest ally]], hence their secretive lifestyle.

However, because of the [[grimdark|setting]], everything is not that simple. Since Windows is not regularly updated anymore and issues that have arisen from having remained active for literal millennia, the Votann began to deteriorate. If they want to repair their computer, <s>[[Dwarf Fortress|they must wage war with other shitcoin miners for more processing power]]</s>, the Kin have to once more brave a galaxy full of danger.

==History/Culture==
Even the oldest living Kin don’t remember what their earliest days were like, though some undeniable “First Truths” remain constant in the Votanns’ data tracks. One such truth is that the First Ancestors departed from ancient Terra prior to the Unification Wars to harvest the untold riches of the galaxy. What became of these Ancestors is unknown, but curiously when the Ancestors begun to fade away…the Votann are first mentioned.

A second First Truth is that the Kindred have always been a cloned people. The Ancestors used genetic systems called “cloneskeins” to manipulate and modify their race’s molecular structure. Over time the Kin became squatter, denser, and stronger than an average human. They’ve even been able to artificially neuter their [[psyker|psychic]] footprint to avoid the attention of [[Chaos]], in a not too dissimilar to how the [[Tau]] souls work. Some fans are now speculating that GW is tying the [[Men of Stone]] thread to the modern Squat civilization given the [[Men of Gold]] and [[Men of Iron]] have already been speculated to be [[Perpetual]]s and [[Machine Spirit|abominable intelligence]].

==Forces of the Kindred==
GW is being coy about their reveal. For now we have one statline to go on

*'''Theyn:''' The sci-fi variation of the old Anglo-Saxon Thegns/Thanes. These are most likely your big leaders in the Leagues.
*'''Hernkyn Pioneer:''' THE TRIKES RETURN! [[Skub|AS HOVERTRIKES!]] And with a female driver. It looks like a spider-tank tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell fucked a Harley and their baby came out a hoverbike.
*'''Hearthkyn Warriors:''' Because replacing i's with y's is so sci-fi and copyright friendly. These are most certainly your basic foot soldiers, giving you a <s>mini-marine</s> Necron Warrior statline of a 4+ save, 3+ WS/BS, and a 4 to Strength and Toughness while having a 5" movement speed. Their special rules are still pending.
*'''[[Ironhead Squat Prospectors]]:''' An off shoot of the Kin that have set up shop on [[Necromunda]] for a long time now, and are busy doing dwarrowesque things, while also dealing with the locals that sometimes try to loot their stuff. While they're only distantly related to the Leagues with no direct affiliation, they're said to get along.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:VotannTrike.jpg|They see me dworfin, they hatin'
File:CNiuMZPWWNpatQNt (1).jpg|dorfy thicc
</gallery>
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Dwarves]]
[[Category:Squats]]
[[Category:Abhumans]]
[[Category:Under Development]]

{{Template:Squats}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

Leagues of Votann

2022-05-10T17:31:51Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* History/Culture */

{{stub}}

[[File:Votann meeting.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Look at my new screen saver.]]

{{topquote|So, we're talking about space dwarfs who need more RAM for their gods?|Anon}}

The '''Leagues of Votann''' is a [[retcon|""new""]] faction in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe. They are gatherings of short abhumans called the Kindred (more commonly known as [[Squats]] by the dirty Necromunda gangers), bound together by the [[Votann]], super-cogitators from the [[Dark Age of Technology]]. Each League has its own Votann, and are organized in strongholds around it. They used the data stored to survive among the stars and maintain their culture across generations. Of course, since some [[Adeptus Mechanicus|factions]] are touchy about AI, the Leagues are very cautious when dealing with [[Imperium of Man|its closest ally]], hence their secretive lifestyle.

However, because of the [[grimdark|setting]], everything is not that simple. Since Windows is not regularly updated anymore and issues that have arisen from having remained active for literal millennia, the Votann began to deteriorate. If they want to repair their computer, <s>[[Dwarf Fortress|they must wage war with other shitcoin miners for more processing power]]</s>, the Kin have to once more brave a galaxy full of danger.

==History/Culture==
Even the oldest living Kin don’t remember what their earliest days were like, though some undeniable “First Truths” remain constant in the Votanns’ data tracks. One such truth is that the First Ancestors departed from ancient Terra prior to the Unification Wars to harvest the untold riches of the galaxy. What became of these Ancestors is unknown, but curiously when the Ancestors begun to fade away…the Votann are first mentioned.

A second First Truth is that the Kindred have always been a cloned people. The Ancestors used genetic systems called “cloneskeins” to manipulate and modify their race’s molecular structure. Over time the Kin became squatter, denser, and stronger than an average human. They’ve even been able to artificially neuter their [[psyker|psychic]] footprint to avoit the attention of [[Chaos]], in a not too dissimilar to how the [[Tau]] souls work. Some fans are now speculating that GW is tying the [[Men of Stone]] thread to the modern Squat civilization given the [[Men of Gold]] and [[Men of Iron]] have already been speculated to be [[Perpetual]]s and [[Machine Spirit|abominable intelligence]].

==Forces of the Kindred==
GW is being coy about their reveal. For now we have one statline to go on

*'''Theyn:''' The sci-fi variation of the old Anglo-Saxon Thegns/Thanes. These are most likely your big leaders in the Leagues.
*'''Hernkyn Pioneer:''' THE TRIKES RETURN! [[Skub|AS HOVERTRIKES!]] And with a female driver. It looks like a spider-tank tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell fucked a Harley and their baby came out a hoverbike.
*'''Hearthkyn Warriors:''' Because replacing i's with y's is so sci-fi and copyright friendly. These are most certainly your basic foot soldiers, giving you a <s>mini-marine</s> Necron Warrior statline of a 4+ save, 3+ WS/BS, and a 4 to Strength and Toughness while having a 5" movement speed. Their special rules are still pending.
*'''[[Ironhead Squat Prospectors]]:''' An off shoot of the Kin that have set up shop on [[Necromunda]] for a long time now, and are busy doing dwarrowesque things, while also dealing with the locals that sometimes try to loot their stuff. While they're only distantly related to the Leagues with no direct affiliation, they're said to get along.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:VotannTrike.jpg|They see me dworfin, they hatin'
File:CNiuMZPWWNpatQNt (1).jpg|dorfy thicc
</gallery>
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Dwarves]]
[[Category:Squats]]
[[Category:Abhumans]]
[[Category:Under Development]]

{{Template:Squats}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

Leagues of Votann

2022-05-10T17:30:07Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* History/Culture */

{{stub}}

[[File:Votann meeting.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Look at my new screen saver.]]

{{topquote|So, we're talking about space dwarfs who need more RAM for their gods?|Anon}}

The '''Leagues of Votann''' is a [[retcon|""new""]] faction in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe. They are gatherings of short abhumans called the Kindred (more commonly known as [[Squats]] by the dirty Necromunda gangers), bound together by the [[Votann]], super-cogitators from the [[Dark Age of Technology]]. Each League has its own Votann, and are organized in strongholds around it. They used the data stored to survive among the stars and maintain their culture across generations. Of course, since some [[Adeptus Mechanicus|factions]] are touchy about AI, the Leagues are very cautious when dealing with [[Imperium of Man|its closest ally]], hence their secretive lifestyle.

However, because of the [[grimdark|setting]], everything is not that simple. Since Windows is not regularly updated anymore and issues that have arisen from having remained active for literal millennia, the Votann began to deteriorate. If they want to repair their computer, <s>[[Dwarf Fortress|they must wage war with other shitcoin miners for more processing power]]</s>, the Kin have to once more brave a galaxy full of danger.

==History/Culture==
Even the oldest living Kin don’t remember what their earliest days were like, though some undeniable “First Truths” remain constant in the Votanns’ data tracks. One such truth is that the First Ancestors departed from ancient Terra prior to the Unification Wars to harvest the untold riches of the galaxy. What became of these Ancestors is unknown, but curiously when the Ancestors begun to fade away…the Votann are first mentioned.

A second First Truth is that the Kindred have always been a cloned people. The Ancestors used genetic systems called “cloneskeins” to manipulate and modify their race’s molecular structure. Over time the Kin became squatter, denser, and stronger than an average human. They’ve even been able to artificially neuter their [[psyker|psychic]] footprint to avoit the attention of [[Chaos]], in a not too dissimilar to how the [[Tau]] souls work. Some fans are now speculating that GW is tying the [[Men of Stone]] thread to the modern Squat civilization given the [[Men of Gold]] and [[Men of Iron]] have already been speculated to be [[Perpetual]]s and abominable intelligence.

==Forces of the Kindred==
GW is being coy about their reveal. For now we have one statline to go on

*'''Theyn:''' The sci-fi variation of the old Anglo-Saxon Thegns/Thanes. These are most likely your big leaders in the Leagues.
*'''Hernkyn Pioneer:''' THE TRIKES RETURN! [[Skub|AS HOVERTRIKES!]] And with a female driver. It looks like a spider-tank tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell fucked a Harley and their baby came out a hoverbike.
*'''Hearthkyn Warriors:''' Because replacing i's with y's is so sci-fi and copyright friendly. These are most certainly your basic foot soldiers, giving you a <s>mini-marine</s> Necron Warrior statline of a 4+ save, 3+ WS/BS, and a 4 to Strength and Toughness while having a 5" movement speed. Their special rules are still pending.
*'''[[Ironhead Squat Prospectors]]:''' An off shoot of the Kin that have set up shop on [[Necromunda]] for a long time now, and are busy doing dwarrowesque things, while also dealing with the locals that sometimes try to loot their stuff. While they're only distantly related to the Leagues with no direct affiliation, they're said to get along.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:VotannTrike.jpg|They see me dworfin, they hatin'
File:CNiuMZPWWNpatQNt (1).jpg|dorfy thicc
</gallery>
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Dwarves]]
[[Category:Squats]]
[[Category:Abhumans]]
[[Category:Under Development]]

{{Template:Squats}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

Men of Stone

2022-05-10T17:28:47Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A:

{{Topquote|Because [[Human|Man]] could not bear the cold of the ocean deeps, he fashioned Men of Stone to go in his place|Kron, Man of Stone. M41}}

The Men of Stone were a race of humanity created during the earliest stages of their first galactic expansion. Unlike the [[Men of Gold]], the Men of Stone were weaker in body, lacked a philosophical disposition, but were far better artificers and engineers (aka they were the NEEEERRRDDDDDSSSSS of humanity). Being so (relatively) early in humanity's history, little is known of these beings. They were basically the 1.0 version of the [[Mechanicus]] of [[Mars]].

==The Journal of Keeper Cripias==
The Journal of Keeper Cripias is the first mention of the Men of Stone:

"...In time, the Second Men of the Stone Race appear, and in their wake come many miracles and marvels of technology that strengthen the Stone Men’s power, but are also harnessed by those of the Golden Race. Although physically inferior to the Golden Race, and not of philosophical temperament and disposition, the Stone Men have in them the conjurations of great artifices and mechanisms. In time, the Golden Race looks to the stars to expand their dominion. The Stone Race builds great machines of power that send both Men of Stone and Men of Gold into the Ether. However, once the burgeoning race of Mankind has taken its first steps into the greater cosmos, the Golden Race dwindles in influence through their dependence on the artifices of the Stone Race. This the Golden Age comes to an end and the Stone Men prevail.

Our calculations, from the most distant and archaic records, and through constellar comparison, have dated the end of the Golden Age at 20.000 years previous to our present time.

For the next 5.000 years, the Stone Race lives through the Dark Age of Technology. Little can be determined from the Dark Age of Technology, for the majority of existing records concerning that period are gathered in the Librarius Omnis of Mars, and none outside the highest ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus can gain access past its most determined Guardians (Keeper Malrubius tried once, but to no avail. We have surmised that during the Dark Age of Technology, the Men of Stone created the Iron Men to help them in the building of their Great Empire. At first, the Iron Men are as servants, willing to do the bidding of their masters with no thoughts.

However, the Iron Men, as all creatures do, evolve and grow until they are the equal of the Stone Race and beside each other they set about conquering the galaxy. The Dark Age of Technology is an era of machines and artificial devices, used by the Stone Men, and later the Iron Men, in their endeavours. Many of the technical marvels that the Priesthood of Mars sustain can be traced to their origins in the Dark Age of Technology, and it is at the end of this period that the great organisation now known as the Adeptus Mechanicus was founded. During the Dark Age of Technology, the austere ancestors of the Imperium’s Navis Nobilite are born, and through their unique prowess, mankind forges through the stars. Weapons of great destruction cow the aggression of alien enemies, pushing back the frontiers of Mankind’s dominions.

The end of the Dark Age of Technology is the most obscure region in mankind’s evolutionary tale. For whatever reasons and differences in ideology, the Stone Men and the Iron Men fell to warring with each other. The Iron Men are possessed of no Soul, an anathema to any true Man. The Stone Men in their final acts of self-preservation, annihilated the Iron Men who have turned from ally to foe..."

==Kron's story==
In the short story "Ancient Histories", a shipman working aboard the [[Imperial Navy]] Cruiser, ''Retribution'', tells a story to a greenhorn recently press-ganged aboard the ship. In it, he focuses a bit more and sheds some more light on the Men of Stone.

"'But in time food and water and air ran short on Man's island and he looked to the far islands again. Because he could not bear the cold of the ocean deeps, he fashioned Men of Stone to go in his place, and the Stone Men fashioned Men of Steel to become their hands and eyes. And the Stone Men went forth with their servants and swam in the deep oceans. They found many strange things on the far islands, but none as strange or as wicked as the things that swam in the depths between them; ancient, hungry things older than Man himself. 'But these beasts of the deep hungered for the true life of Man, not the half-life of Stone, so the Stone Men swam unmolested. At first all was well and the Men of Stone planted Man's Seed on many islands, and in time Man learned to travel the oceans himself, hiding in Stone ships to keep out the cold and the hunger of the beasts. All was well and Men spread to many islands far across the ocean, such that some even forgot how they came to be there and that they ever came from just one island at all.’ Kron's tale wound on, telling of how the stone men became estranged from humanity by their journeys through the void. This led to a time of strife when the Men of Steel turned against their stone masters and mankind was riven asunder by wars. A thousand worlds were scoured by the ancient, terrible weapons of those days before the Men of Stone were overthrown, and a million more burned as flesh fought against steel."

==What exactly are the Men of Stone?==
The basics of what is told of the Men of Stone is that they were an artificially created race of humanity, purpose built to lead humanity's first colonization of other worlds. Given Kron's description, they were somehow unappealing to the daemons of the Warp, so could more safely travel through it.

If characters like Kron are anything to go by, the Men of Stone are a cross between organic human and A.I., sort of like a full A.I. servitor. The bionics house the A.I., which represses the consciousness of the organic body its attached to, while taking full control of his body. This repression of the human's consciousness would also prevent the person from experience emotions or thoughts, likely accounting for why warp entities had little interest in them. The "half life" of the Men of Stone likely referring to how the body of a Man of Stone has a soul, but the soul was made completely dormant and suppressed by the A.I. of the bionics.

It was in all likelihood the Men of Stone who created most of the Dark Age of Technology tech. Such as: the first Warp capable void-ships, warp-drives, and the [[Standard Template Construct|STC]] systems. And, of course, they created the [[Men of Iron]].

Essentially, the Men of Stone are like prototype, mobile STC, sapient, A.I. servitors.

==Likely Men of Stone==
===Kron===
During the events of the short story "Ancient Histories", the character named "Kron" is made apparent to be one of these "Men of Stone". Kron is an old shipman who has had half his skull replaced with cybernetics, including a glowing red eye (that is made out to give '''HEAVY''' [[HAL 9000]] vibes). While fighting off a Mechanicus ambush aboard his ship, he is knocked out cold, and his bionics are knocked off line. When he comes too, he is obviously not the same person shown before. Completely confused about his surroundings, his voice completely changed, he starts to panic and begs his shipmate Nathan to get the cybernetics off of him, while trying to pull them off. Nathan stops him, confused as all bloody hell as to what is going on. Kron's bionics then come back online and he is back to acting like nothing was wrong.

Later, while talking with Nathan, he gives the history of the ship, saying how it got stuck in a space hulk for 2,000 years, before being recovered by the Imperium and returned to service for abother 1,800 years. He ''ALMOST'' lets it slip that he had been with the ship that whole time, before managing to shut himself up. Later still, he managed survive getting hit square in the chest by a [[Chaos Space Marine]]'s bolt pistol round, blowing his chest wide open. Not only did he survive, but he killed the bastard by firing a blast of lightning, like a [[Electro Priest]] (thought when Nathan calls him one, he outright denies that he is anything of the sort. Its likely that Kron salvaged the Electro-Priest's electoos and installed them into himself). He then rescued Nathan by giving him his void-suit's helmet (as the chamber had become depressurized), which should have seen him suffocate. Though when Nathan wakes up, he finds Kron had patch up his wounded arm (which got shredded by a chainsword) and given him a bionic eye to replace his organic one that had been popped when the Chaos Marine pistol-whipped the fuck outta him. The new eye had PERFECT vision, something that is rarely-to-never seen in 40k augmetics, and Kron had apparently made it for him, from scrap laying around, in only a matter of 5 hours.

===Olamic Quietude===
The Olamic Quietude were a civilization of humans who are implanted with bionics from birth which linked them together to a social network (so like Facebook, but you can't log off). They would cyberize themselves to the point of leaving very little organic matter remaining. They also considered the Imperium as a bunch of xeno-tainted mutants, while they themselves were the true humans. If they were Men of Stone, then they wouldn't be wrong or lying.

===House Van Saar===
This noble house from Necromunda has its origins in the survivors of a Dark Age colony ship that was lost in the warp and crashed upon Necromunda in M35. The ship was called the Van Saar (where the house gets its name). Even in modern 40k, House Van Saar has retained its relatively fresh knowledge of technology.

===[[Leagues of Votann]]===
With the recent reveal that the Squats originated from generation ships of humans with AI cores that emerged from being genetically engineered as a race of modified clones that are altered every generation to the point of being specialized in void adaptivity and altered warp signature to hide from warp predation, it seems that spce dorfs might fit the Stone archetype down to the capital S.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Men of Stone

2022-05-10T17:28:18Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* Likely Men of Stone */

{{Topquote|Because [[Human|Man]] could not bear the cold of the ocean deeps, he fashioned Men of Stone to go in his place|Kron, Man of Stone. M41}}

The Men of Stone were a race of humanity created during the earliest stages of their first galactic expansion. Unlike the [[Men of Gold]], the Men of Stone were weaker in body, lacked a philosophical disposition, but were far better artificers and engineers (aka they were the NEEEERRRDDDDDSSSSS of humanity). Being so (relatively) early in humanity's history, little is known of these beings. They were basically the 1.0 version of the [[Mechanicus]] of [[Mars]].

==The Journal of Keeper Cripias==
The Journal of Keeper Cripias is the first mention of the Men of Stone:

"...In time, the Second Men of the Stone Race appear, and in their wake come many miracles and marvels of technology that strengthen the Stone Men’s power, but are also harnessed by those of the Golden Race. Although physically inferior to the Golden Race, and not of philosophical temperament and disposition, the Stone Men have in them the conjurations of great artifices and mechanisms. In time, the Golden Race looks to the stars to expand their dominion. The Stone Race builds great machines of power that send both Men of Stone and Men of Gold into the Ether. However, once the burgeoning race of Mankind has taken its first steps into the greater cosmos, the Golden Race dwindles in influence through their dependence on the artifices of the Stone Race. This the Golden Age comes to an end and the Stone Men prevail.

Our calculations, from the most distant and archaic records, and through constellar comparison, have dated the end of the Golden Age at 20.000 years previous to our present time.

For the next 5.000 years, the Stone Race lives through the Dark Age of Technology. Little can be determined from the Dark Age of Technology, for the majority of existing records concerning that period are gathered in the Librarius Omnis of Mars, and none outside the highest ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus can gain access past its most determined Guardians (Keeper Malrubius tried once, but to no avail. We have surmised that during the Dark Age of Technology, the Men of Stone created the Iron Men to help them in the building of their Great Empire. At first, the Iron Men are as servants, willing to do the bidding of their masters with no thoughts.

However, the Iron Men, as all creatures do, evolve and grow until they are the equal of the Stone Race and beside each other they set about conquering the galaxy. The Dark Age of Technology is an era of machines and artificial devices, used by the Stone Men, and later the Iron Men, in their endeavours. Many of the technical marvels that the Priesthood of Mars sustain can be traced to their origins in the Dark Age of Technology, and it is at the end of this period that the great organisation now known as the Adeptus Mechanicus was founded. During the Dark Age of Technology, the austere ancestors of the Imperium’s Navis Nobilite are born, and through their unique prowess, mankind forges through the stars. Weapons of great destruction cow the aggression of alien enemies, pushing back the frontiers of Mankind’s dominions.

The end of the Dark Age of Technology is the most obscure region in mankind’s evolutionary tale. For whatever reasons and differences in ideology, the Stone Men and the Iron Men fell to warring with each other. The Iron Men are possessed of no Soul, an anathema to any true Man. The Stone Men in their final acts of self-preservation, annihilated the Iron Men who have turned from ally to foe..."

==Kron's story==
In the short story "Ancient Histories", a shipman working aboard the [[Imperial Navy]] Cruiser, ''Retribution'', tells a story to a greenhorn recently press-ganged aboard the ship. In it, he focuses a bit more and sheds some more light on the Men of Stone.

"'But in time food and water and air ran short on Man's island and he looked to the far islands again. Because he could not bear the cold of the ocean deeps, he fashioned Men of Stone to go in his place, and the Stone Men fashioned Men of Steel to become their hands and eyes. And the Stone Men went forth with their servants and swam in the deep oceans. They found many strange things on the far islands, but none as strange or as wicked as the things that swam in the depths between them; ancient, hungry things older than Man himself. 'But these beasts of the deep hungered for the true life of Man, not the half-life of Stone, so the Stone Men swam unmolested. At first all was well and the Men of Stone planted Man's Seed on many islands, and in time Man learned to travel the oceans himself, hiding in Stone ships to keep out the cold and the hunger of the beasts. All was well and Men spread to many islands far across the ocean, such that some even forgot how they came to be there and that they ever came from just one island at all.’ Kron's tale wound on, telling of how the stone men became estranged from humanity by their journeys through the void. This led to a time of strife when the Men of Steel turned against their stone masters and mankind was riven asunder by wars. A thousand worlds were scoured by the ancient, terrible weapons of those days before the Men of Stone were overthrown, and a million more burned as flesh fought against steel."

==What exactly are the Men of Stone?==
The basics of what is told of the Men of Stone is that they were an artificially created race of humanity, purpose built to lead humanity's first colonization of other worlds. Given Kron's description, they were somehow unappealing to the daemons of the Warp, so could more safely travel through it.

If characters like Kron are anything to go by, the Men of Stone are a cross between organic human and A.I., sort of like a full A.I. servitor. The bionics house the A.I., which represses the consciousness of the organic body its attached to, while taking full control of his body. This repression of the human's consciousness would also prevent the person from experience emotions or thoughts, likely accounting for why warp entities had little interest in them. The "half life" of the Men of Stone likely referring to how the body of a Man of Stone has a soul, but the soul was made completely dormant and suppressed by the A.I. of the bionics.

It was in all likelihood the Men of Stone who created most of the Dark Age of Technology tech. Such as: the first Warp capable void-ships, warp-drives, and the [[Standard Template Construct|STC]] systems. And, of course, they created the [[Men of Iron]].

Essentially, the Men of Stone are like prototype, mobile STC, sapient, A.I. servitors.

==Likely Men of Stone==
===Kron===
During the events of the short story "Ancient Histories", the character named "Kron" is made apparent to be one of these "Men of Stone". Kron is an old shipman who has had half his skull replaced with cybernetics, including a glowing red eye (that is made out to give '''HEAVY''' [[HAL 9000]] vibes). While fighting off a Mechanicus ambush aboard his ship, he is knocked out cold, and his bionics are knocked off line. When he comes too, he is obviously not the same person shown before. Completely confused about his surroundings, his voice completely changed, he starts to panic and begs his shipmate Nathan to get the cybernetics off of him, while trying to pull them off. Nathan stops him, confused as all bloody hell as to what is going on. Kron's bionics then come back online and he is back to acting like nothing was wrong.

Later, while talking with Nathan, he gives the history of the ship, saying how it got stuck in a space hulk for 2,000 years, before being recovered by the Imperium and returned to service for abother 1,800 years. He ''ALMOST'' lets it slip that he had been with the ship that whole time, before managing to shut himself up. Later still, he managed survive getting hit square in the chest by a [[Chaos Space Marine]]'s bolt pistol round, blowing his chest wide open. Not only did he survive, but he killed the bastard by firing a blast of lightning, like a [[Electro Priest]] (thought when Nathan calls him one, he outright denies that he is anything of the sort. Its likely that Kron salvaged the Electro-Priest's electoos and installed them into himself). He then rescued Nathan by giving him his void-suit's helmet (as the chamber had become depressurized), which should have seen him suffocate. Though when Nathan wakes up, he finds Kron had patch up his wounded arm (which got shredded by a chainsword) and given him a bionic eye to replace his organic one that had been popped when the Chaos Marine pistol-whipped the fuck outta him. The new eye had PERFECT vision, something that is rarely-to-never seen in 40k augmetics, and Kron had apparently made it for him, from scrap laying around, in only a matter of 5 hours.

===Olamic Quietude===
The Olamic Quietude were a civilization of humans who are implanted with bionics from birth which linked them together to a social network (so like Facebook, but you can't log off). They would cyberize themselves to the point of leaving very little organic matter remaining. They also considered the Imperium as a bunch of xeno-tainted mutants, while they themselves were the true humans. If they were Men of Stone, then they wouldn't be wrong or lying.

===House Van Saar===
This noble house from Necromunda has its origins in the survivors of a Dark Age colony ship that was lost in the warp and crashed upon Necromunda in M35. The ship was called the Van Saar (where the house gets its name). Even in modern 40k, House Van Saar has retained its relatively fresh knowledge of technology.

==[[Leagues of Votann]]==
With the recent reveal that the Squats originated from generation ships of humans with AI cores that emerged from being genetically engineered as a race of modified clones that are altered every generation to the point of being specialized in void adaptivity and altered warp signature to hide from warp predation, it seems that spce dorfs might fit the Stone archetype down to the capital S.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Leagues of Votann

2022-05-10T17:25:04Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* History/Culture */

{{stub}}

[[File:Votann meeting.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Look at my new screen saver.]]

{{topquote|So, we're talking about space dwarfs who need more RAM for their gods?|Anon}}

The '''Leagues of Votann''' is a [[retcon|""new""]] faction in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe. They are gatherings of short abhumans called the Kindred (more commonly known as [[Squats]] by the dirty Necromunda gangers), bound together by the [[Votann]], super-cogitators from the [[Dark Age of Technology]]. Each League has its own Votann, and are organized in strongholds around it. They used the data stored to survive among the stars and maintain their culture across generations. Of course, since some [[Adeptus Mechanicus|factions]] are touchy about AI, the Leagues are very cautious when dealing with [[Imperium of Man|its closest ally]], hence their secretive lifestyle.

However, because of the [[grimdark|setting]], everything is not that simple. Since Windows is not regularly updated anymore and issues that have arisen from having remained active for literal millennia, the Votann began to deteriorate. If they want to repair their computer, <s>[[Dwarf Fortress|they must wage war with other shitcoin miners for more processing power]]</s>, the Kin have to once more brave a galaxy full of danger.

==History/Culture==
Even the oldest living Kin don’t remember what their earliest days were like, though some undeniable “First Truths” remain constant in the Votanns’ data tracks. One such truth is that the First Ancestors departed from ancient Terra prior to the Unification Wars to harvest the untold riches of the galaxy. What became of these Ancestors is unknown, but curiously when the Ancestors begun to fade away…the Votann are first mentioned.

A second First Truth is that the Kindred have always been a cloned people. The Ancestors used genetic systems called “cloneskeins” to manipulate and modify their race’s molecular structure. Over time the Kin became squatter, denser, and stronger than an average human. They’ve even been able to artificially neuter their [[psyker|psychic]] footprint to avoit the attention of [[Chaos]], in a not too dissimilar to how the [[Tau]] souls work. Some fans are now speculating that GW is tying the [[Men of Stone]] thread to the modern Squat civilization given the Men of Gold and Men of Iron have already been speculated to be Perpetuals and abominable intelligence.

==Forces of the Kindred==
GW is being coy about their reveal. For now we have one statline to go on

*'''Theyn:''' The sci-fi variation of the old Anglo-Saxon Thegns/Thanes. These are most likely your big leaders in the Leagues.
*'''Hernkyn Pioneer:''' THE TRIKES RETURN! [[Skub|AS HOVERTRIKES!]] And with a female driver. It looks like a spider-tank tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell fucked a Harley and their baby came out a hoverbike.
*'''Hearthkyn Warriors:''' Because replacing i's with y's is so sci-fi and copyright friendly. These are most certainly your basic foot soldiers, giving you a <s>mini-marine</s> Necron Warrior statline of a 4+ save, 3+ WS/BS, and a 4 to Strength and Toughness while having a 5" movement speed. Their special rules are still pending.
*'''[[Ironhead Squat Prospectors]]:''' An off shoot of the Kin that have set up shop on [[Necromunda]] for a long time now, and are busy doing dwarrowesque things, while also dealing with the locals that sometimes try to loot their stuff. While they're only distantly related to the Leagues with no direct affiliation, they're said to get along.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:VotannTrike.jpg|They see me dworfin, they hatin'
File:CNiuMZPWWNpatQNt (1).jpg|dorfy thicc
</gallery>
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Dwarves]]
[[Category:Squats]]
[[Category:Abhumans]]
[[Category:Under Development]]

{{Template:Squats}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

Thunder Warriors

2022-05-09T19:44:31Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* Lifespans */

[[File:T5b26bd95vs41.jpg|350px|right|thumb|I'm better than any of you [[Space Marines|bitches]]...if only I could live longer and not get my ass kicked by the [[Custodes]] and the [[Dark Angels]]. [[Dreadwing|Though if you consider what I may have been fighting]]. You wouldn't have survived either.]]

{{Awesome}}
The '''Thunder Warriors''' were the first soldiers of the man who eventually became the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]]. In many ways, they were the precursors to the [[Space Marines]].

==Origins==
Known as the Legio Cataegis (Latin: Storm Legion), they were formed during the [[Age of Strife]], when the Emperor judged that it was the right time to make His presence known. He needed some advantage over the warlords, techno-barbarians, and other would-be world rulers that were currently reenacting Mad Max all over Terra, and so He created twenty regiments consisting of hundreds of genetically enhanced soldiers, led by commanding officers known as "primarchs" (one of these primarchs was named Ushotan, and he was in command of the [[Iron Warriors|IV Legion, who specialized in siege warfare]]). These soldiers wore simple, smog producing, yet flamboyant and decorative powered armor. Because the Emperor's symbol at the time was a raptor and thunderbolt, this symbol was prominently displayed on the chestplate of the armor, the armor came to be known as [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Thunder Armor]] and the warriors who wore said armor were called Thunder Warriors in Low Gothic.

Created using a simplified cookie-cutter version of the Custodes' bio-alchemy on adult subjects (in contrast the Custodes' custom-tailored process subjected on infants), the Thunder Warriors were devastatingly effective and quickly became icons of the Emperor's armies; just the threat of the Thunder Warriors' arrival could convince a warlord to surrender, and those who refused quickly learned that the Thunder Warriors' reputation was not exaggerated. According to the fluff, they were even more physically powerful and ruthless than the Space Marines. And while physically stronger, they were not nearly as mentally or physiologically stable, and overall '''FAR''' inferior to the Custodes.

And yet, for all their successes, the Thunder Warriors were not perfect. Though at the time, it was believed they were, in fact, the pinnacle of mass produced military genetic engineering. However, along with Amar Astarte (the "mother" of the Thunder Warriors, Primarchs and Space Marines), the Emperor was able to refine the process and stabilize the genetic instability that ran amok in the Thunder Warriors, utilizing the Astartes Primarchs as templates to stabilise a new breed of warrior.

None of them could be counted on to last long, as either their minds or bodies gave out at unpredictable intervals, and the technology didn't yet exist to give them a lifespan longer than the average human's. They were suitable for fighting the barbarian [[human]] armies of the [[Age of Strife]], but not for the long, star-spanning campaign of the [[Great Crusade]] that the Emperor had set as His next goal, so as soon as He had enough territory to set up a secure laboratory and enough scientists to man it, He set to work on the next generation of warriors: the [[Primarch]]s. Interesting to note, when confronted by Chaotic energy, whilst the Custodes were immune to Chaos, the Thunder Warriors seemed strengthened by it at the cost of mental control. During the war against the Confederacy of Maulland Sen (one of the earliest conquests in the Unification Wars), they were exposed to Warp energy, which drove them into a berserk frenzy and caused them to butcher everyone in their way, even noncombatants and those whom the Emperor would have preferred to keep alive. The amount of carnage from their exposure to sorcery was the first serious cause for concern in all Imperial chains of command.

This may indicate that the Thunder Warriors' augmentations involved Warpcraft. Which would make sense as Thunder Warriors and Astartes alike commonly demonstrate superhuman physical abilities far beyond any augmentation could hope to justify. Such as relatively unequipped Thunder Warriors slaughtering [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] with several Astartes killed for each Thunder Warrior dead even after many years of genetic degradation. Valdor even obliquely states in context with the Thunder Warriors that it was necessary to create subjects [The Primarchs] that were in ''greater control over their powers''. So it's clear psychic mumbo jumbo is at work and that it was not working right with the Thunder Warriors. He also states that the project failed and [after the Scattering] only the smallest fragments remained - hinting that the Astartes and Thunder Warriors were supposed to be much more.

===Eventual Fate===
[[File:Thunder_warriors.jpg|200px|thumb|right|P.S. the man in the picture is not an actual thunder warrior, he just stole the armor from a copy of one.]]
The Thunder Warriors were not what He [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|envisioned]] as the defenders of humanity; they were blunt tools of destruction and little else. It is very important to note that the Astartes were already in circulation before the Thunder Warriors were "retired", the [[Dark Angels|First Legion]] had already been established and Proto-Legions all the way up to the [[Salamanders|XVIIIth]] were seeing active combat. The Emperor saw no great loss in removing them for good now that they were obsolete. The Imperial records indicate that the last of the Thunder Warriors all perished at the '''Battle of Mount Ararat''', which is strongly believed to be a cover story. Though the details are scarce, the battle did actually happen and there were survivors, hinting at a possible betrayal and a cull instigated by the Custodians.

However, contrary to this popular viewpoint, the retirement of the Thunder Warriors may not have been a betrayal and perhaps something less dickish; more like putting down an old guard dog with cancer than a complete betrayal. The Thunder Warriors leader: '''Arik Taranis''' is vague on the details and admits he holds no ill will towards the Emperor for what he did. Another survivor: '''Dahren Heruk''' still considers himself loyal to the Emperor and holds to his pre-Unity oaths. More interestingly, when Heruk rescues a Custodian from a group of Alpha Legion hiding on Terra, the surprised Custodian thanks him and seems prepared to leave him where he is, at least until a mortally wounded Heruk halts him to request and be granted an "honoured death" (basically a mercy kill with a blade through the heart). Like Arik and Ghota, Heruk's group of Thunder Warriors are all failing physically, filled with cancer, and required to undergo regular organ transplantation just to stay alive; and are failing mentally, wracked with hallucinations of the Unity Wars like soldiers with PTSD. It may be that the last of the Thunder Warriors went willingly to their ends at Mount Ararat at the very height of their eminence, knowing that they could go no further than that. The alternative being eventual madness and inevitable biological collapse, coupled with being rendered obsolete in the shadow of the newly rising Astartes. Heruk remembers the battle of Mount Ararat to have been glorious with little to no bitterness, and he and his companions all believe that they have simply [[Death Korps of Krieg|''lived too long'']].

The 8th Edition Custodes Codex explained that the Thunder Warriors were purged after they rebelled due to learning that they were engineered with intentionally short lifespans. More specifically, they revolted over what they perceived as the Emperor's betrayal for deliberately giving them a shortened lifespan. Ironically, the remaining Thunder Warriors were purged by the first few thousand prototype Astartes from the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]] in their first combat engagement after joining forces with Imperial officials planning a coup. As such, it would make sense that any surviving Thunder Warriors would be those whose loyalty to the Emperor prevented them from holding such a grudge.

[[File:Thunder Warrior Model.jpg|200px|thumb|left|If only GW bothered to re-make the model like they did with the Space Marines... It seems big E wasn't the only one who abandoned them.]]

The so-called "cull" wasn't the end of the Thunder Warriors, though, as some of them managed to escape and spread throughout the Imperium. Per Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, scattered bands of survivors endured in hiding through out Terra and the immediate space around the Sol System but most were systematically hunted down and liquidated by the I Legion. In one notable incident during the [[Great Crusade]], there was an insurrection on the asteroid prison colony of Cerberus. Though the Thunder Warriors ''were not'' the only members of the rebellion, there were enough of them to form a group calling themselves the '''Dait'Tar'''. The Emperor did not like that and sent an army of [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] to crush the prison riot with impunity. The Astartes having gotten bored with maiming and killing prisoners not worthy of their challenge, found themselves some Thunder Warriors grouping up in a defensive position. Instead of just showering bullets on the surviving Warriors like a more sensible Legion might have, the War Hounds rushed in and engaged them in close combat. But Thunder Warriors are basically mini-[[Primarchs]] without the immortality, and were able to claim three to four Marine kills in melee for each Warrior that went down. After five hours of carnage and RAEG of old vs. new, the [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] forces waiting in orbit got bored and decided to join the party, but the party was already done and left nothing but Thunder Warrior corpses, lots of War Hound corpses, and lots and lots of regular prisoner corpses cut down apparently trying to escape the melee.

Others descended into the Underworld of Terra, taking roles amongst the criminal element or eking out a living as gladiators. One group managed to steal an Astartes progenoid gland to extend their lifespans and went into hiding, so far not to be seen again. This itself is not unprecedented as the [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|World Eater Blackshield]], Endryd Haar, was rumored to be a proto-legionnaire that was converted into an Astartes from Cataegis gene-stock; being mentioned to be a giant even among Space marines, having killed one of the Dait'Tar by breaking his neck in single combat, and was recognized by Malcador as one of the first Terran War Hounds. [[Trazyn]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7bf6tIzWs is known to have at least one in stasis] on Solemnace, which could perhaps be the enigmatic "giant in baroque armor" mentioned in the Necron Codex.

==Capabilities==
It is generally accepted that peak Thunder Warriors probably ''(the fluff is hazy on this)'' fall somewhere between Astartes and Custodes on the scale of who-beats-who. Though their exact capabilities are not covered in any great detail. As a military force, the Thunder Warriors were considered unmatched even in their time, yet were recorded as being lacking in discipline. Custodes vs Thunder Warriors has gone both ways with both being said to be unmatched even though both existed concurrently. So it may simply be that Custodes utilize teamwork and Thunder Warriors do not or who knows what. Since Custodes are made using the Emperor's own blood, they likely more potent fuck-physics superhuman capabilities.

During the Unification Wars, every Warlord and his dog had access to some form of advanced technology, whether through cyber-augmentation, bio-alchemical processes or genetic tampering, the Thunder Warrior was supposed to be superior to all of them. In '''HH1''' they were claimed to have ''"unprecedented superhuman physical power, gene-programmed resistance to environment"'' and most notably: resistance to "psychic attack". However, in the context of the statement the Thunder Warriors were explicitly superior to anything the Emperor's enemies could field '''against''' him rather than '''by''' him; however the '''HH7''' entry for Custodians explicitly states that they were designed to be ''"stronger, faster, more acute of sense and more resilient than even the doomed Thunder Warriors"'', pretty much putting the matter to bed. Yet in their time the Thunder Warriors existed as a legion while there were only a handful of Custodians attending the Emperor, so they easily projected a far more dangerous military threat. Even by the final '''Battle of Ararat''' there were only a few hundred Custodes, so the Thunder Warriors remained the deadlier force while the Custodians were still some barely understood figures who remained at the Emperor's side and it took the new Astartes warriors to eventually take down the Thunder Warriors.

Resistance to psychic attack is particularly notable, since while his Custodians and Astartes are possessed of some impressive willpower and determination, as well as a lot of hypno-indoctrinated mental safeguards, they seem to be no more or less able to resist psykers than any other human. What's more is that we can possibly narrow this down even further and credit it to the Emperor directly, rather than any form of genetic/biological upgrade. [[Fallen Angels|Merir Astelan]] and the [[Dark Angels|first 5000 Space Marines]] all had similar psychic wards build into their minds granted from the Emperor himself, manifesting as a golden aura that seems to make psychic compulsions have no affect on them, and giving telepaths headaches for trying to read them. This is probably why the later Astartes don't share this capability, as the Emperor probably didn't have the time to mind-lock every soldier under his command. Additionally, while they did not seem vulnerable to mutation or mind control upon being exposed to sorcery, the Battle of Maulland Sen demonstrated that Warp energy exposure made them go berserk in a manner that would make even pre-Heresy Angron surprised in his more lucid moments. This implies the Thunder Warriors' psychic resistance was actually part of their enhancements and not from the Emperor's personal attention. And "resistance" probably translated to "murderize everything in range until you kill the psyker".

In terms of tactics and physical combat, it was noted by observers that the Astartes and Cataegis were very different in combat style and doctrine during the Palace Coup's battle between Valdor's first batch of Dark Angels initiates against the Thunder Warrior Survivors and their allies. Whereas the Thunder Warriors and their Primarch, Ushotan, were described as flamboyant; emotionally unrestricted; and individually imposing, the first Dark Angels were described as functional; mechanical in nature; and methodical. Additionally, while the book, Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, made clear that each Thunder Warrior and Ushotan were individually larger and more powerful than each Dark Angel they fought, the latter were described as almost always wounding or maiming their Cataegis opponents before they died and were replaced by reinforcements that would eventually wear their opponents down. Whereas Ushotan was described as a single berserk bear (in contrast to the Thunder Warrior Dahren Heruk's description of the Custodes as an indomitable pride of lions), the Astartes were described as a pack of instinctively coordinated wolves that gave him significantly more trouble than the power armored techno-barbarians he typically mowed down with contempt. The fact that they were on the verge of overwhelming him made Constantin challenge Ushotan himself to give the Cataegis Primarch a more fitting and honorable death.

In any case, a few things are clear. While they do have additional organs (seeing as they had to harvest organs from their own dead rather than from normal humans to prolong their lives), there are a number of organs/abilities they do not have.
*No Black Carapace; the original [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Mk. 1 Thunder Armour]] was never designed to function with one, so Thunder Warriors wore their heavy armour like any mortal would, rather than interfacing with it like a second skin.
*They don't have a secondary heart, as seen with their tradition of "Honoured Deaths" with fellow warriors mercy killing mortally wounded comrades with a blade through the heart.
*They also don't have a Betcher's Gland; one of Dahren Heruk's companions, Vezula Vult, forgot about this when he tangled with a group of Alpha Legionnaires in the slums of Terra, getting sizzled in the face by acid because he wasn't paying attention and joked about how ''"[[Emperor|He]] gave them all the gifts. Didn't He?" ''
*They may not have a Larramans Organ ''(or equivalent)'' as each of Heruk's companions were shown bleeding out at various points rather than have it clot in moments the same way that Astartes do: Kabe, after being stabbed with a spear was shown to have a pool of blood forming beneath him and was beyond saving by the time it was accumulating in his lungs; Gairok had blood bubbling from his lips after being run through with a sword; while Vult was also shown to be slowly dying from a wet and dark wound to the gut some time after the wound had been inflicted.
*Finally, and probably most importantly, they don't have a Progenoid Gland, which for Space Marine is the ''eau de Astartes'', making them everything that they are and providing the means to make more of them.

These points aside, the fact the Thunder Warriors are physically superior to Astartes is not really in doubt, with each conflict in the fluff between them generally resulting in it taking several Astartes just to bring down a single Thunder Warrior, and even in most of these reported situations, the Thunder Warriors in question are long past their physical prime and are undoubtedly in the throes of genetic degredation, so who knows that they might have been capable of at the peak of their power. They might have been directly superior to Custodians, who knows? The best example thus far is the duel between Primarch Ushotan and Constantin Valdor; both the highest exemplars of their respective breeds. Though Ushotan was wounded by several Astartes he slew before the duel actually started, with both combatants having started the battle at the same time and Valdor had since gone through a number of Thunder Warriors singlehandedly so it's still a fair starting point. Ushotan still had the strength to check several of Valdor's blows which Valdor had to return by piling more strength upon strength ''(even in his superior auramite armour)''. However, Ushotan was tiring from lactic acid build-up, which Valdor exploited with a perfectly timed strike. The Thunder Warrior ''may'' have been stronger, but the Custodian fought with unmatched martial perfection and could perceive the flow of the fight even while it was happening and presumably didn't apply one hundred percent strength and was able to work his way up while his foe had to go one hundred percent and stay there trying to fight exhaustion as he had no other advantage.

All things considered: a Dreadnought is deadlier than a single Space Marine, but the Imperium does not force healthy Space Marines to become dreadnoughts simply because they are deadlier. An Ogryn might be capable of tearing a Marines arm off, while an Assassin might be swift enough to punch through power armour, but they are all reserved for specific situations and purposes. The same should be said between the differences between the three different branches of superhuman: The Custodians were intended to be peers and guardians of the Emperor himself; and remain with him in whatever future he had planned for humanity. The Astartes were designed for long campaigns that stretch out over centuries, and were capable of fighting in any number of environments against strange alien foes. In a similar way that a lance is better at stabbing than a shorter but more versatile sword, the Thunder Warriors were designed to fight in '''one''' environment against '''one''' set of foes from '''one''' planet: [[Terra]]. A single campaign against some of the deadliest examples humanity could throw back at them, so it is no wonder they seem to do so well compared against Space Marines and Custodians, since they are more a tool/weapon designed for only one circumstance.

===Lifespans===
{{Topquote|There was never time for perfection, and so the Cataegis were always a compromise. They were the best that could have been created under such conditions, but nobody believed they were permanent.|Amar Astarte}}

As to the issue of longevity, the Custodians and Astartes don't age (well, they get the cosmetics of aging but it's only skin-deep and in a sexy GILF way instead of spots and wrinkles). The Emperor could have granted the Thunder Warriors longer lifespans, even biological immortality ''(it's actually pretty simple since aging is caused by imperfect DNA caused by cellular division; make division create perfect copies and there is no aging)'', but what would be the point of extending their lifespan if he did not intend to make any more of them since they were only required to take over one world (and maybe in a best case scenario Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and the gas giants to suicide against the biggest nasties present) anyway?

The Emperor had twenty more groups of transhumans ready to take over the known galaxy - the sheer number of worlds and the distances between them practically demands the creation of a military force that can stand the test of time. One could then propose that if the Thunder Warriors had longer lifespans then they could have fulfilled that role instead of the Astartes. But as mentioned above, while they might have been physically superior, they simply weren't equipped with the same augmentations that might be useful in more varied environments. Thunder Warriors were designed for a task and they performed it well, providing them with immortality to survive beyond this would have been needlessly sentimental.

It is also interesting that the issue of raising new Thunder Warrior regiments hasn't been brought up; The Thunder Warriors clearly had the medical knowledge to attempt to delay the failure of their physiologies, but either lacked the facilities or the desire to make more of themselves. Very little is known about Thunder Warrior recruitment and augmentation processes such as how long they take, what standards they must adhere to and what specialised equipment is required to create them. By contrast the Space Marines are equipped with their own means of reproduction; the Gene Seed allows them to make more of themselves from varied human sources ''(for example, the [[Blood Angels|IXth Legion]] were even able to recruit from mutated stock)'' and without direct oversight even when on campaign far from their home-worlds. Even if the Thunder Warriors were superior combatants in every conceivable way, the ability to replicate virtually unlimited "lesser" superhumans anywhere in the galaxy is an advantage too great to give up. Similar to how the genetic diversity and adaptivity of the Grey Wolf (which could still interbreed with coyotes and dogs) enabled it to supplant the larger Dire Wolf (which had a more specialized diet and a more restricted gene-pool).

===Development===
The Emperor could have simply made custom augmentations for each Regiment/Legion of Thunder Warriors to specialize them for each intended purpose and could have used the knowledge from the Mechanicum and cybernetics to correct the genetic flaws and smooth things out. Considering that this was how he ended up with twenty Astartes Legions, then why not bring both programs together and create Thunder Warriors with added organs so they could adapt to different environments, or make Astartes with greater size, strength, and resilience on a par with the warriors that preceded them? Considering his development of Primarchs, Astartes, and Custodes, he clearly had enough knowledge, and skill, and tools to do this, whether it was cost effective or not is a different matter; as Constantin Valdor once mentioned that to make an army of Custodians on a similar scale to the Thunder Warriors would have practically bankrupted Terra, and who knows if the programs were even compatible with each other? The existence of the World Eater Blackshield, Endryd Haar, as well as Arik Taranis’ success in splicing Astartes gene-seed into his body to stabilize his lifespan also suggests that it is possible that the Thunder Warriors could’ve been “upgraded and repurposed” as senior advisory cadres to supplement the Astartes but the rebellion and the cost to do so before Luna and Mars were subjugated was too prohibitive and moot if they had to be purged after the Palace Coup. Even then, it would’ve been imperfect in the same manner Khor Phaeron, Amon, and Luther weren’t able to truly fit into their adopted legions as augmented adult humans; particularly when Endryd Haar was still a berserker (albeit, an intelligent one, as Malcador remarked) without the Butcher’s Nails and killed any subordinates who defied his orders.

In any case: As much as people try to put the blame squarely at his feet for being lazy or short-sighted; Amar Astarte claimed that while his influence certainly sped things along, ''the Emperor'' was not the only person working on his transhuman projects. He had enormous laboratories with hundreds, if not thousands of scientists working in secrecy just to get as far as they did with the Space Marines, and had been working on the Space Marine project even before the Thunder Warriors exists, they were just a stop-gap. Bearing in mind that the project was set-back and all of the laboratories were destroyed '''twice'''. First with the Scattering of the Primarchs due to the fucking moron [[Erda]] dropping the anti Chaos God defenses to protect the Primarchs (which would severely backfire), secondly when Amar Astarte herself decided that the loss of said Primarchs was going to doom the Astartes Program to the same failures as the Thunder Warriors ''- a very telling reason indeed-'' This means the Great Crusade race was essentially started early, as the Emperor was now on a timer in order to reclaim them before they were irretrievable and still needed to build the [[Astronomican]], claim [[Mars]] and get ''himself'' out into the galaxy to meet his sons.

The fact that [[Primaris Marines]] now exist that are larger, stronger, and more resilient than basic Space Marines shows that the gap has finally been filled. They are still not the equals of Custodians on the tabletop, but we're only talking the about the level of variance within a single point. They are probably much closer to Thunder Warriors and are potentially what the Emperor always intended, if he had the time to focus on his project and continue, or at the very least just one or two steps below, Thunder Warrior level fighters with all the stability and mass production capability of Astartes.

Considering the threats to Unity and dangers of Terra at the time; From nations of psykers to Men of Iron hidden within the core of the planet, and [[Chaos]] licking their lips the whole time, let alone everything else like the [[Rangdan Xenocides|Rangda]] and [[Ork]]s hitting critical mass and bulldozing everything. It's unsurprising the Emperor moved as quickly as he did and used every tool at his disposal.

===Armaments===
Thunder Warriors seem to have been poorly armed compared to [[Custodes]] and [[Space Marines]]. While some assumed [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], [[Plasma]] and [[Radium_Weaponry|Rad weapons]] would have been standard issue. This was not the case. They used larger versions of [[Bolters]] and [[Lasgun|Lasrifles]]. Yes the standard issue weapon of the [[Solar Auxilia]]. That's like making the standard issue weapon of the [[Custodes]] [[Hotshot_Lasgun|Hotshot Lasguns]]. Some also had what looked like Power Weapons or some equivalent. No wonder their shit was pushed in by Empys bodyguards and the [[Dark Angels]]. Their weapons were utter garbage compared to the stuff the new boys got. Good thing for them [[Terminator]] armor didn't (or shouldn't) exist at this time.(disclaimer because Black Library writers tend to forget their own fluff) The battle described in Valdor: Birth of the Imperium would have wound up even more one sided in favor of the fucking new guys.

They also employed Skylance, the predecessor of [[Stormbird]]. So one can guess they had decent air support at the very least.

== Arik Taranis ==

The first badass granddaddy of all Space Marines and Thunder Warriors who would make Guilliman and Dante envious for his existence. He was known to win lots and lots of battles for the Emperor, survive dozens of suicidal fights in which countless Thunder Warriors (who are stronger than space marines) would die, especially the last battle in which he barely made it to victory with his comrade. The Emperor, knowing the Thunder Warrior's limited lifespan would not serve any good for his [[Great Crusade|future conquest]], decided to abandon the Thunder Warriors by arranging an utter betrayal with Arik that would make Horus look like a saint. [[Grimdark|As a result, Arik was forced witness the killing pretty much all his surviving comrades while according to the record, it would be reported that Arik and the Thunder Warriors had been honorably slain during the last battle]]. Despite the betrayal, Arik had no sense of hatred towards the Emperor, for he knew that Thunder Warriors would only serve as an impediment to their [[Space Marines|future cousins]] and he understood the stakes of the Great Crusade.

Anyway, Arik would later hide among Terra's population with his large, obvious body and become the Kingpin of Terra. He started out in the Petitioner's City of the Imperial Palace as the leader of some pissant gang named Dhakal, gang raping his way up the food chain with his only remaining Thunder Warrior buddy, Ghota (who, as described in The Outcast Dead, is an overgrown, cantankerous motherfucker with eyes like the rage zombies from 28 Days Later, apparently a side effect of the Thunder Warriors' painful physical degradation) and at least thirty other survivors, until he was effectively the big cheese of gangsters. Calling himself Babu Dhakal (or at least everyone else called him that... the man was crazy, but he wasn't crazy enough to address himself in the third person), Arik expanded his control until it encompassed [[Drugs]], bitches, gambling, weapons, and even toilets--the absolute madman! He would go on to control criminals and heretics alike, causing the Adeptus Arbites to rage quit because they couldn't handle Arik's near swaglord level reputation and rampant (to the point of being fucking psycho) badassery.

He somehow got lucky and found a secret and surprisingly advance lab with all the necessary equipment buried within Terra which is about as common as finding a functional buried starship on a post-apocalyptic Terra. Meaning it probably wasn't an accident at all. This, coupled with the scientific knowledge he somehow got from the Emperor (which it is not explained whether Emperor "shared" it, Arik being a badass and learned it from just watching, or [[just as planned| the Emperor directly taught him in order prepare for some kind of backup plan]].) would help him to genetically modify and increase his life span (but not really enough to keep him alive -- until the Horus Heresy came around).

=== The Outcast Dead incident ===
When heresy first became a thing that happened in the Imperium, Arik managed to get a functioning Progenoid Gland from one of the outcast dead space marines (it's unclear which one, but they probably didn't mind too much--being outcast and dead and all). He was able to extract at least some of the information he needed to replicate the gland, and was then able to plant a functioning copy he had created within his own body, as well as Ghota's. Since GW never expanded their storyline, we can assume that either they have successfully outlived the Emperor and become more raidy, pillagey, and space piratey than the Dark Eldar, or that the result of all their careful work was that they up and turned into uber powerful heroes of the Imperium... we have no idea. They may have just settled down on Terra. However, since the Siege of Terra is getting its own series, it is possible for them to show up again.

=== Arik Taranis Facts ===
Despite being outdated and retired, Arik has demonstrated some epic Primarch-level shits:

*He knocked down the "Azurite Tower" during the Unification Wars, as well as earning tons of fucking countless titles.
*He survived the Battle of Mount Ararat, a final yet deadly battle that nearly wiped out his army, meaning he gets shit done even if it almost killed him.
*His Thunder Warrior subordinate Ghota can fight 5 elite Astartes to a stalemate even killing one of them, yet Ghota bows to Arik. Although that doesn't mean Arik is physically stronger than Ghota, is just Ghota having more loyalty to his master.
*Arik has the Emperor's knowledge on gene-seed which the Emperor somehow allows. If Arik were still be alive today, he could probably be the greatest Apothecary in the Imperium, next to The Emperor and Eldar goddess [[Isha]] (and [[Fabius Bile|Apothecary Fabius]] if he hadn't turned [[heresy|bad]]).
*Atharva, one of the outcast dead and a powerful Thousand Sons psyker observed Arik and commented that he has an: "aura too bright to look upon. His presence had a gravity all it's own, demanding all attention and fear." and he "could barely stand to turn his psychic senses on him for fear of being overwhelmed.". Keep in mind only the Emperor and the Primarchs has that kind of aura, yet Arik, a Thunder Warrior has that kind of aura surrounding him. This also raised an interesting theory about him being the test subject of the Primarch project, where the Emperor imbued part of his soul onto a living being using somekind of forgotten psychic technique.
*He is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranis Taranis], the Celtic god of... [[Just as Planned|thunder]]. So yeah, the guy is literally a god-tier (thunder) warrior. Interestingly, this actually could be evidence of his fandom's pseudo-Primarch/proto-Primarch (the physical prototype as opposed to [[The Angel]] being the soul prototype) view of him. Because being a Thunder Warrior named after a god of thunder has some...implications.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mk1 Thunder Armour.jpg| Thunder armor is said to be inferior to space marine armor, but it is nonetheless more badass because it comes with a biker shade.
File:Thunder Warrior 1.jpg|One of the Thunder Warriors officers. May or may not be Arik Taranis.
File:Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
File:Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]

Thunder Warriors

2022-05-09T17:20:43Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* Development */

[[File:T5b26bd95vs41.jpg|350px|right|thumb|I'm better than any of you [[Space Marines|bitches]]...if only I could live longer and not get my ass kicked by the [[Custodes]] and the [[Dark Angels]]. [[Dreadwing|Though if you consider what I may have been fighting]]. You wouldn't have survived either.]]

{{Awesome}}
The '''Thunder Warriors''' were the first soldiers of the man who eventually became the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]]. In many ways, they were the precursors to the [[Space Marines]].

==Origins==
Known as the Legio Cataegis (Latin: Storm Legion), they were formed during the [[Age of Strife]], when the Emperor judged that it was the right time to make His presence known. He needed some advantage over the warlords, techno-barbarians, and other would-be world rulers that were currently reenacting Mad Max all over Terra, and so He created twenty regiments consisting of hundreds of genetically enhanced soldiers, led by commanding officers known as "primarchs" (one of these primarchs was named Ushotan, and he was in command of the [[Iron Warriors|IV Legion, who specialized in siege warfare]]). These soldiers wore simple, smog producing, yet flamboyant and decorative powered armor. Because the Emperor's symbol at the time was a raptor and thunderbolt, this symbol was prominently displayed on the chestplate of the armor, the armor came to be known as [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Thunder Armor]] and the warriors who wore said armor were called Thunder Warriors in Low Gothic.

Created using a simplified cookie-cutter version of the Custodes' bio-alchemy on adult subjects (in contrast the Custodes' custom-tailored process subjected on infants), the Thunder Warriors were devastatingly effective and quickly became icons of the Emperor's armies; just the threat of the Thunder Warriors' arrival could convince a warlord to surrender, and those who refused quickly learned that the Thunder Warriors' reputation was not exaggerated. According to the fluff, they were even more physically powerful and ruthless than the Space Marines. And while physically stronger, they were not nearly as mentally or physiologically stable, and overall '''FAR''' inferior to the Custodes.

And yet, for all their successes, the Thunder Warriors were not perfect. Though at the time, it was believed they were, in fact, the pinnacle of mass produced military genetic engineering. However, along with Amar Astarte (the "mother" of the Thunder Warriors, Primarchs and Space Marines), the Emperor was able to refine the process and stabilize the genetic instability that ran amok in the Thunder Warriors, utilizing the Astartes Primarchs as templates to stabilise a new breed of warrior.

None of them could be counted on to last long, as either their minds or bodies gave out at unpredictable intervals, and the technology didn't yet exist to give them a lifespan longer than the average human's. They were suitable for fighting the barbarian [[human]] armies of the [[Age of Strife]], but not for the long, star-spanning campaign of the [[Great Crusade]] that the Emperor had set as His next goal, so as soon as He had enough territory to set up a secure laboratory and enough scientists to man it, He set to work on the next generation of warriors: the [[Primarch]]s. Interesting to note, when confronted by Chaotic energy, whilst the Custodes were immune to Chaos, the Thunder Warriors seemed strengthened by it at the cost of mental control. During the war against the Confederacy of Maulland Sen (one of the earliest conquests in the Unification Wars), they were exposed to Warp energy, which drove them into a berserk frenzy and caused them to butcher everyone in their way, even noncombatants and those whom the Emperor would have preferred to keep alive. The amount of carnage from their exposure to sorcery was the first serious cause for concern in all Imperial chains of command.

This may indicate that the Thunder Warriors' augmentations involved Warpcraft. Which would make sense as Thunder Warriors and Astartes alike commonly demonstrate superhuman physical abilities far beyond any augmentation could hope to justify. Such as relatively unequipped Thunder Warriors slaughtering [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] with several Astartes killed for each Thunder Warrior dead even after many years of genetic degradation. Valdor even obliquely states in context with the Thunder Warriors that it was necessary to create subjects [The Primarchs] that were in ''greater control over their powers''. So it's clear psychic mumbo jumbo is at work and that it was not working right with the Thunder Warriors. He also states that the project failed and [after the Scattering] only the smallest fragments remained - hinting that the Astartes and Thunder Warriors were supposed to be much more.

===Eventual Fate===
[[File:Thunder_warriors.jpg|200px|thumb|right|P.S. the man in the picture is not an actual thunder warrior, he just stole the armor from a copy of one.]]
The Thunder Warriors were not what He [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|envisioned]] as the defenders of humanity; they were blunt tools of destruction and little else. It is very important to note that the Astartes were already in circulation before the Thunder Warriors were "retired", the [[Dark Angels|First Legion]] had already been established and Proto-Legions all the way up to the [[Salamanders|XVIIIth]] were seeing active combat. The Emperor saw no great loss in removing them for good now that they were obsolete. The Imperial records indicate that the last of the Thunder Warriors all perished at the '''Battle of Mount Ararat''', which is strongly believed to be a cover story. Though the details are scarce, the battle did actually happen and there were survivors, hinting at a possible betrayal and a cull instigated by the Custodians.

However, contrary to this popular viewpoint, the retirement of the Thunder Warriors may not have been a betrayal and perhaps something less dickish; more like putting down an old guard dog with cancer than a complete betrayal. The Thunder Warriors leader: '''Arik Taranis''' is vague on the details and admits he holds no ill will towards the Emperor for what he did. Another survivor: '''Dahren Heruk''' still considers himself loyal to the Emperor and holds to his pre-Unity oaths. More interestingly, when Heruk rescues a Custodian from a group of Alpha Legion hiding on Terra, the surprised Custodian thanks him and seems prepared to leave him where he is, at least until a mortally wounded Heruk halts him to request and be granted an "honoured death" (basically a mercy kill with a blade through the heart). Like Arik and Ghota, Heruk's group of Thunder Warriors are all failing physically, filled with cancer, and required to undergo regular organ transplantation just to stay alive; and are failing mentally, wracked with hallucinations of the Unity Wars like soldiers with PTSD. It may be that the last of the Thunder Warriors went willingly to their ends at Mount Ararat at the very height of their eminence, knowing that they could go no further than that. The alternative being eventual madness and inevitable biological collapse, coupled with being rendered obsolete in the shadow of the newly rising Astartes. Heruk remembers the battle of Mount Ararat to have been glorious with little to no bitterness, and he and his companions all believe that they have simply [[Death Korps of Krieg|''lived too long'']].

The 8th Edition Custodes Codex explained that the Thunder Warriors were purged after they rebelled due to learning that they were engineered with intentionally short lifespans. More specifically, they revolted over what they perceived as the Emperor's betrayal for deliberately giving them a shortened lifespan. Ironically, the remaining Thunder Warriors were purged by the first few thousand prototype Astartes from the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]] in their first combat engagement after joining forces with Imperial officials planning a coup. As such, it would make sense that any surviving Thunder Warriors would be those whose loyalty to the Emperor prevented them from holding such a grudge.

[[File:Thunder Warrior Model.jpg|200px|thumb|left|If only GW bothered to re-make the model like they did with the Space Marines... It seems big E wasn't the only one who abandoned them.]]

The so-called "cull" wasn't the end of the Thunder Warriors, though, as some of them managed to escape and spread throughout the Imperium. Per Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, scattered bands of survivors endured in hiding through out Terra and the immediate space around the Sol System but most were systematically hunted down and liquidated by the I Legion. In one notable incident during the [[Great Crusade]], there was an insurrection on the asteroid prison colony of Cerberus. Though the Thunder Warriors ''were not'' the only members of the rebellion, there were enough of them to form a group calling themselves the '''Dait'Tar'''. The Emperor did not like that and sent an army of [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] to crush the prison riot with impunity. The Astartes having gotten bored with maiming and killing prisoners not worthy of their challenge, found themselves some Thunder Warriors grouping up in a defensive position. Instead of just showering bullets on the surviving Warriors like a more sensible Legion might have, the War Hounds rushed in and engaged them in close combat. But Thunder Warriors are basically mini-[[Primarchs]] without the immortality, and were able to claim three to four Marine kills in melee for each Warrior that went down. After five hours of carnage and RAEG of old vs. new, the [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] forces waiting in orbit got bored and decided to join the party, but the party was already done and left nothing but Thunder Warrior corpses, lots of War Hound corpses, and lots and lots of regular prisoner corpses cut down apparently trying to escape the melee.

Others descended into the Underworld of Terra, taking roles amongst the criminal element or eking out a living as gladiators. One group managed to steal an Astartes progenoid gland to extend their lifespans and went into hiding, so far not to be seen again. This itself is not unprecedented as the [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|World Eater Blackshield]], Endryd Haar, was rumored to be a proto-legionnaire that was converted into an Astartes from Cataegis gene-stock; being mentioned to be a giant even among Space marines, having killed one of the Dait'Tar by breaking his neck in single combat, and was recognized by Malcador as one of the first Terran War Hounds. [[Trazyn]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7bf6tIzWs is known to have at least one in stasis] on Solemnace, which could perhaps be the enigmatic "giant in baroque armor" mentioned in the Necron Codex.

==Capabilities==
It is generally accepted that peak Thunder Warriors probably ''(the fluff is hazy on this)'' fall somewhere between Astartes and Custodes on the scale of who-beats-who. Though their exact capabilities are not covered in any great detail. As a military force, the Thunder Warriors were considered unmatched even in their time, yet were recorded as being lacking in discipline. Custodes vs Thunder Warriors has gone both ways with both being said to be unmatched even though both existed concurrently. So it may simply be that Custodes utilize teamwork and Thunder Warriors do not or who knows what. Since Custodes are made using the Emperor's own blood, they likely more potent fuck-physics superhuman capabilities.

During the Unification Wars, every Warlord and his dog had access to some form of advanced technology, whether through cyber-augmentation, bio-alchemical processes or genetic tampering, the Thunder Warrior was supposed to be superior to all of them. In '''HH1''' they were claimed to have ''"unprecedented superhuman physical power, gene-programmed resistance to environment"'' and most notably: resistance to "psychic attack". However, in the context of the statement the Thunder Warriors were explicitly superior to anything the Emperor's enemies could field '''against''' him rather than '''by''' him; however the '''HH7''' entry for Custodians explicitly states that they were designed to be ''"stronger, faster, more acute of sense and more resilient than even the doomed Thunder Warriors"'', pretty much putting the matter to bed. Yet in their time the Thunder Warriors existed as a legion while there were only a handful of Custodians attending the Emperor, so they easily projected a far more dangerous military threat. Even by the final '''Battle of Ararat''' there were only a few hundred Custodes, so the Thunder Warriors remained the deadlier force while the Custodians were still some barely understood figures who remained at the Emperor's side and it took the new Astartes warriors to eventually take down the Thunder Warriors.

Resistance to psychic attack is particularly notable, since while his Custodians and Astartes are possessed of some impressive willpower and determination, as well as a lot of hypno-indoctrinated mental safeguards, they seem to be no more or less able to resist psykers than any other human. What's more is that we can possibly narrow this down even further and credit it to the Emperor directly, rather than any form of genetic/biological upgrade. [[Fallen Angels|Merir Astelan]] and the [[Dark Angels|first 5000 Space Marines]] all had similar psychic wards build into their minds granted from the Emperor himself, manifesting as a golden aura that seems to make psychic compulsions have no affect on them, and giving telepaths headaches for trying to read them. This is probably why the later Astartes don't share this capability, as the Emperor probably didn't have the time to mind-lock every soldier under his command. Additionally, while they did not seem vulnerable to mutation or mind control upon being exposed to sorcery, the Battle of Maulland Sen demonstrated that Warp energy exposure made them go berserk in a manner that would make even pre-Heresy Angron surprised in his more lucid moments. This implies the Thunder Warriors' psychic resistance was actually part of their enhancements and not from the Emperor's personal attention. And "resistance" probably translated to "murderize everything in range until you kill the psyker".

In terms of tactics and physical combat, it was noted by observers that the Astartes and Cataegis were very different in combat style and doctrine during the Palace Coup's battle between Valdor's first batch of Dark Angels initiates against the Thunder Warrior Survivors and their allies. Whereas the Thunder Warriors and their Primarch, Ushotan, were described as flamboyant; emotionally unrestricted; and individually imposing, the first Dark Angels were described as functional; mechanical in nature; and methodical. Additionally, while the book, Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, made clear that each Thunder Warrior and Ushotan were individually larger and more powerful than each Dark Angel they fought, the latter were described as almost always wounding or maiming their Cataegis opponents before they died and were replaced by reinforcements that would eventually wear their opponents down. Whereas Ushotan was described as a single berserk bear (in contrast to the Thunder Warrior Dahren Heruk's description of the Custodes as an indomitable pride of lions), the Astartes were described as a pack of instinctively coordinated wolves that gave him significantly more trouble than the power armored techno-barbarians he typically mowed down with contempt. The fact that they were on the verge of overwhelming him made Constantin challenge Ushotan himself to give the Cataegis Primarch a more fitting and honorable death.

In any case, a few things are clear. While they do have additional organs (seeing as they had to harvest organs from their own dead rather than from normal humans to prolong their lives), there are a number of organs/abilities they do not have.
*No Black Carapace; the original [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Mk. 1 Thunder Armour]] was never designed to function with one, so Thunder Warriors wore their heavy armour like any mortal would, rather than interfacing with it like a second skin.
*They don't have a secondary heart, as seen with their tradition of "Honoured Deaths" with fellow warriors mercy killing mortally wounded comrades with a blade through the heart.
*They also don't have a Betcher's Gland; one of Dahren Heruk's companions, Vezula Vult, forgot about this when he tangled with a group of Alpha Legionnaires in the slums of Terra, getting sizzled in the face by acid because he wasn't paying attention and joked about how ''"[[Emperor|He]] gave them all the gifts. Didn't He?" ''
*They may not have a Larramans Organ ''(or equivalent)'' as each of Heruk's companions were shown bleeding out at various points rather than have it clot in moments the same way that Astartes do: Kabe, after being stabbed with a spear was shown to have a pool of blood forming beneath him and was beyond saving by the time it was accumulating in his lungs; Gairok had blood bubbling from his lips after being run through with a sword; while Vult was also shown to be slowly dying from a wet and dark wound to the gut some time after the wound had been inflicted.
*Finally, and probably most importantly, they don't have a Progenoid Gland, which for Space Marine is the ''eau de Astartes'', making them everything that they are and providing the means to make more of them.

These points aside, the fact the Thunder Warriors are physically superior to Astartes is not really in doubt, with each conflict in the fluff between them generally resulting in it taking several Astartes just to bring down a single Thunder Warrior, and even in most of these reported situations, the Thunder Warriors in question are long past their physical prime and are undoubtedly in the throes of genetic degredation, so who knows that they might have been capable of at the peak of their power. They might have been directly superior to Custodians, who knows? The best example thus far is the duel between Primarch Ushotan and Constantin Valdor; both the highest exemplars of their respective breeds. Though Ushotan was wounded by several Astartes he slew before the duel actually started, with both combatants having started the battle at the same time and Valdor had since gone through a number of Thunder Warriors singlehandedly so it's still a fair starting point. Ushotan still had the strength to check several of Valdor's blows which Valdor had to return by piling more strength upon strength ''(even in his superior auramite armour)''. However, Ushotan was tiring from lactic acid build-up, which Valdor exploited with a perfectly timed strike. The Thunder Warrior ''may'' have been stronger, but the Custodian fought with unmatched martial perfection and could perceive the flow of the fight even while it was happening and presumably didn't apply one hundred percent strength and was able to work his way up while his foe had to go one hundred percent and stay there trying to fight exhaustion as he had no other advantage.

All things considered: a Dreadnought is deadlier than a single Space Marine, but the Imperium does not force healthy Space Marines to become dreadnoughts simply because they are deadlier. An Ogryn might be capable of tearing a Marines arm off, while an Assassin might be swift enough to punch through power armour, but they are all reserved for specific situations and purposes. The same should be said between the differences between the three different branches of superhuman: The Custodians were intended to be peers and guardians of the Emperor himself; and remain with him in whatever future he had planned for humanity. The Astartes were designed for long campaigns that stretch out over centuries, and were capable of fighting in any number of environments against strange alien foes. In a similar way that a lance is better at stabbing than a shorter but more versatile sword, the Thunder Warriors were designed to fight in '''one''' environment against '''one''' set of foes from '''one''' planet: [[Terra]]. A single campaign against some of the deadliest examples humanity could throw back at them, so it is no wonder they seem to do so well compared against Space Marines and Custodians, since they are more a tool/weapon designed for only one circumstance.

===Lifespans===
{{Topquote|There was never time for perfection, and so the Cataegis were always a compromise. They were the best that could have been created under such conditions, but nobody believed they were permanent.|Amar Astarte}}

As to the issue of longevity, the Custodians and Astartes don't age (well, they get the cosmetics of aging but it's only skin-deep and in a sexy GILF way instead of spots and wrinkles). The Emperor could have granted the Thunder Warriors longer lifespans, even biological immortality ''(it's actually pretty simple since aging is caused by imperfect DNA caused by cellular division; make division create perfect copies and there is no aging)'', but what would be the point of extending their lifespan if he did not intend to make any more of them since they were only required to take over one world (and maybe in a best case scenario Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and the gas giants to suicide against the biggest nasties present) anyway?

The Emperor had twenty more groups of transhumans ready to take over the known galaxy - the sheer number of worlds and the distances between them practically demands the creation of a military force that can stand the test of time. One could then propose that if the Thunder Warriors had longer lifespans then they could have fulfilled that role instead of the Astartes. But as mentioned above, while they might have been physically superior, they simply weren't equipped with the same augmentations that might be useful in more varied environments. Thunder Warriors were designed for a task and they performed it well, providing them with immortality to survive beyond this would have been needlessly sentimental.

It is also interesting that the issue of raising new Thunder Warrior regiments hasn't been brought up; The Thunder Warriors clearly had the medical knowledge to attempt to delay the failure of their physiologies, but either lacked the facilities or the desire to make more of themselves. Very little is known about Thunder Warrior recruitment and augmentation processes such as how long they take, what standards they must adhere to and what specialised equipment is required to create them. By contrast the Space Marines are equipped with their own means of reproduction; the Gene Seed allows them to make more of themselves from varied human sources ''(for example, the [[Blood Angels|IXth Legion]] were even able to recruit from mutated stock)'' and without direct oversight even when on campaign far from their home-worlds. Even if the Thunder Warriors were superior combatants in every conceivable way, the ability to replicate virtually unlimited "lesser" superhumans anywhere in the galaxy is an advantage too great to give up. Similar to how the genetic diversity and adaptivity of the Grey Wolf enabled it to supplant the larger Dire Wolf.

===Development===
The Emperor could have simply made custom augmentations for each Regiment/Legion of Thunder Warriors to specialize them for each intended purpose and could have used the knowledge from the Mechanicum and cybernetics to correct the genetic flaws and smooth things out. Considering that this was how he ended up with twenty Astartes Legions, then why not bring both programs together and create Thunder Warriors with added organs so they could adapt to different environments, or make Astartes with greater size, strength, and resilience on a par with the warriors that preceded them? Considering his development of Primarchs, Astartes, and Custodes, he clearly had enough knowledge, and skill, and tools to do this, whether it was cost effective or not is a different matter; as Constantin Valdor once mentioned that to make an army of Custodians on a similar scale to the Thunder Warriors would have practically bankrupted Terra, and who knows if the programs were even compatible with each other? The existence of the World Eater Blackshield, Endryd Haar, as well as Arik Taranis’ success in splicing Astartes gene-seed into his body to stabilize his lifespan also suggests that it is possible that the Thunder Warriors could’ve been “upgraded and repurposed” as senior advisory cadres to supplement the Astartes but the rebellion and the cost to do so before Luna and Mars were subjugated was too prohibitive and moot if they had to be purged after the Palace Coup. Even then, it would’ve been imperfect in the same manner Khor Phaeron, Amon, and Luther weren’t able to truly fit into their adopted legions as augmented adult humans; particularly when Endryd Haar was still a berserker (albeit, an intelligent one, as Malcador remarked) without the Butcher’s Nails and killed any subordinates who defied his orders.

In any case: As much as people try to put the blame squarely at his feet for being lazy or short-sighted; Amar Astarte claimed that while his influence certainly sped things along, ''the Emperor'' was not the only person working on his transhuman projects. He had enormous laboratories with hundreds, if not thousands of scientists working in secrecy just to get as far as they did with the Space Marines, and had been working on the Space Marine project even before the Thunder Warriors exists, they were just a stop-gap. Bearing in mind that the project was set-back and all of the laboratories were destroyed '''twice'''. First with the Scattering of the Primarchs due to the fucking moron [[Erda]] dropping the anti Chaos God defenses to protect the Primarchs (which would severely backfire), secondly when Amar Astarte herself decided that the loss of said Primarchs was going to doom the Astartes Program to the same failures as the Thunder Warriors ''- a very telling reason indeed-'' This means the Great Crusade race was essentially started early, as the Emperor was now on a timer in order to reclaim them before they were irretrievable and still needed to build the [[Astronomican]], claim [[Mars]] and get ''himself'' out into the galaxy to meet his sons.

The fact that [[Primaris Marines]] now exist that are larger, stronger, and more resilient than basic Space Marines shows that the gap has finally been filled. They are still not the equals of Custodians on the tabletop, but we're only talking the about the level of variance within a single point. They are probably much closer to Thunder Warriors and are potentially what the Emperor always intended, if he had the time to focus on his project and continue, or at the very least just one or two steps below, Thunder Warrior level fighters with all the stability and mass production capability of Astartes.

Considering the threats to Unity and dangers of Terra at the time; From nations of psykers to Men of Iron hidden within the core of the planet, and [[Chaos]] licking their lips the whole time, let alone everything else like the [[Rangdan Xenocides|Rangda]] and [[Ork]]s hitting critical mass and bulldozing everything. It's unsurprising the Emperor moved as quickly as he did and used every tool at his disposal.

===Armaments===
Thunder Warriors seem to have been poorly armed compared to [[Custodes]] and [[Space Marines]]. While some assumed [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], [[Plasma]] and [[Radium_Weaponry|Rad weapons]] would have been standard issue. This was not the case. They used larger versions of [[Bolters]] and [[Lasgun|Lasrifles]]. Yes the standard issue weapon of the [[Solar Auxilia]]. That's like making the standard issue weapon of the [[Custodes]] [[Hotshot_Lasgun|Hotshot Lasguns]]. Some also had what looked like Power Weapons or some equivalent. No wonder their shit was pushed in by Empys bodyguards and the [[Dark Angels]]. Their weapons were utter garbage compared to the stuff the new boys got. Good thing for them [[Terminator]] armor didn't (or shouldn't) exist at this time.(disclaimer because Black Library writers tend to forget their own fluff) The battle described in Valdor: Birth of the Imperium would have wound up even more one sided in favor of the fucking new guys.

They also employed Skylance, the predecessor of [[Stormbird]]. So one can guess they had decent air support at the very least.

== Arik Taranis ==

The first badass granddaddy of all Space Marines and Thunder Warriors who would make Guilliman and Dante envious for his existence. He was known to win lots and lots of battles for the Emperor, survive dozens of suicidal fights in which countless Thunder Warriors (who are stronger than space marines) would die, especially the last battle in which he barely made it to victory with his comrade. The Emperor, knowing the Thunder Warrior's limited lifespan would not serve any good for his [[Great Crusade|future conquest]], decided to abandon the Thunder Warriors by arranging an utter betrayal with Arik that would make Horus look like a saint. [[Grimdark|As a result, Arik was forced witness the killing pretty much all his surviving comrades while according to the record, it would be reported that Arik and the Thunder Warriors had been honorably slain during the last battle]]. Despite the betrayal, Arik had no sense of hatred towards the Emperor, for he knew that Thunder Warriors would only serve as an impediment to their [[Space Marines|future cousins]] and he understood the stakes of the Great Crusade.

Anyway, Arik would later hide among Terra's population with his large, obvious body and become the Kingpin of Terra. He started out in the Petitioner's City of the Imperial Palace as the leader of some pissant gang named Dhakal, gang raping his way up the food chain with his only remaining Thunder Warrior buddy, Ghota (who, as described in The Outcast Dead, is an overgrown, cantankerous motherfucker with eyes like the rage zombies from 28 Days Later, apparently a side effect of the Thunder Warriors' painful physical degradation) and at least thirty other survivors, until he was effectively the big cheese of gangsters. Calling himself Babu Dhakal (or at least everyone else called him that... the man was crazy, but he wasn't crazy enough to address himself in the third person), Arik expanded his control until it encompassed [[Drugs]], bitches, gambling, weapons, and even toilets--the absolute madman! He would go on to control criminals and heretics alike, causing the Adeptus Arbites to rage quit because they couldn't handle Arik's near swaglord level reputation and rampant (to the point of being fucking psycho) badassery.

He somehow got lucky and found a secret and surprisingly advance lab with all the necessary equipment buried within Terra which is about as common as finding a functional buried starship on a post-apocalyptic Terra. Meaning it probably wasn't an accident at all. This, coupled with the scientific knowledge he somehow got from the Emperor (which it is not explained whether Emperor "shared" it, Arik being a badass and learned it from just watching, or [[just as planned| the Emperor directly taught him in order prepare for some kind of backup plan]].) would help him to genetically modify and increase his life span (but not really enough to keep him alive -- until the Horus Heresy came around).

=== The Outcast Dead incident ===
When heresy first became a thing that happened in the Imperium, Arik managed to get a functioning Progenoid Gland from one of the outcast dead space marines (it's unclear which one, but they probably didn't mind too much--being outcast and dead and all). He was able to extract at least some of the information he needed to replicate the gland, and was then able to plant a functioning copy he had created within his own body, as well as Ghota's. Since GW never expanded their storyline, we can assume that either they have successfully outlived the Emperor and become more raidy, pillagey, and space piratey than the Dark Eldar, or that the result of all their careful work was that they up and turned into uber powerful heroes of the Imperium... we have no idea. They may have just settled down on Terra. However, since the Siege of Terra is getting its own series, it is possible for them to show up again.

=== Arik Taranis Facts ===
Despite being outdated and retired, Arik has demonstrated some epic Primarch-level shits:

*He knocked down the "Azurite Tower" during the Unification Wars, as well as earning tons of fucking countless titles.
*He survived the Battle of Mount Ararat, a final yet deadly battle that nearly wiped out his army, meaning he gets shit done even if it almost killed him.
*His Thunder Warrior subordinate Ghota can fight 5 elite Astartes to a stalemate even killing one of them, yet Ghota bows to Arik. Although that doesn't mean Arik is physically stronger than Ghota, is just Ghota having more loyalty to his master.
*Arik has the Emperor's knowledge on gene-seed which the Emperor somehow allows. If Arik were still be alive today, he could probably be the greatest Apothecary in the Imperium, next to The Emperor and Eldar goddess [[Isha]] (and [[Fabius Bile|Apothecary Fabius]] if he hadn't turned [[heresy|bad]]).
*Atharva, one of the outcast dead and a powerful Thousand Sons psyker observed Arik and commented that he has an: "aura too bright to look upon. His presence had a gravity all it's own, demanding all attention and fear." and he "could barely stand to turn his psychic senses on him for fear of being overwhelmed.". Keep in mind only the Emperor and the Primarchs has that kind of aura, yet Arik, a Thunder Warrior has that kind of aura surrounding him. This also raised an interesting theory about him being the test subject of the Primarch project, where the Emperor imbued part of his soul onto a living being using somekind of forgotten psychic technique.
*He is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranis Taranis], the Celtic god of... [[Just as Planned|thunder]]. So yeah, the guy is literally a god-tier (thunder) warrior. Interestingly, this actually could be evidence of his fandom's pseudo-Primarch/proto-Primarch (the physical prototype as opposed to [[The Angel]] being the soul prototype) view of him. Because being a Thunder Warrior named after a god of thunder has some...implications.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mk1 Thunder Armour.jpg| Thunder armor is said to be inferior to space marine armor, but it is nonetheless more badass because it comes with a biker shade.
File:Thunder Warrior 1.jpg|One of the Thunder Warriors officers. May or may not be Arik Taranis.
File:Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
File:Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]

Thunder Warriors

2022-05-09T17:18:18Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* Development */

[[File:T5b26bd95vs41.jpg|350px|right|thumb|I'm better than any of you [[Space Marines|bitches]]...if only I could live longer and not get my ass kicked by the [[Custodes]] and the [[Dark Angels]]. [[Dreadwing|Though if you consider what I may have been fighting]]. You wouldn't have survived either.]]

{{Awesome}}
The '''Thunder Warriors''' were the first soldiers of the man who eventually became the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]]. In many ways, they were the precursors to the [[Space Marines]].

==Origins==
Known as the Legio Cataegis (Latin: Storm Legion), they were formed during the [[Age of Strife]], when the Emperor judged that it was the right time to make His presence known. He needed some advantage over the warlords, techno-barbarians, and other would-be world rulers that were currently reenacting Mad Max all over Terra, and so He created twenty regiments consisting of hundreds of genetically enhanced soldiers, led by commanding officers known as "primarchs" (one of these primarchs was named Ushotan, and he was in command of the [[Iron Warriors|IV Legion, who specialized in siege warfare]]). These soldiers wore simple, smog producing, yet flamboyant and decorative powered armor. Because the Emperor's symbol at the time was a raptor and thunderbolt, this symbol was prominently displayed on the chestplate of the armor, the armor came to be known as [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Thunder Armor]] and the warriors who wore said armor were called Thunder Warriors in Low Gothic.

Created using a simplified cookie-cutter version of the Custodes' bio-alchemy on adult subjects (in contrast the Custodes' custom-tailored process subjected on infants), the Thunder Warriors were devastatingly effective and quickly became icons of the Emperor's armies; just the threat of the Thunder Warriors' arrival could convince a warlord to surrender, and those who refused quickly learned that the Thunder Warriors' reputation was not exaggerated. According to the fluff, they were even more physically powerful and ruthless than the Space Marines. And while physically stronger, they were not nearly as mentally or physiologically stable, and overall '''FAR''' inferior to the Custodes.

And yet, for all their successes, the Thunder Warriors were not perfect. Though at the time, it was believed they were, in fact, the pinnacle of mass produced military genetic engineering. However, along with Amar Astarte (the "mother" of the Thunder Warriors, Primarchs and Space Marines), the Emperor was able to refine the process and stabilize the genetic instability that ran amok in the Thunder Warriors, utilizing the Astartes Primarchs as templates to stabilise a new breed of warrior.

None of them could be counted on to last long, as either their minds or bodies gave out at unpredictable intervals, and the technology didn't yet exist to give them a lifespan longer than the average human's. They were suitable for fighting the barbarian [[human]] armies of the [[Age of Strife]], but not for the long, star-spanning campaign of the [[Great Crusade]] that the Emperor had set as His next goal, so as soon as He had enough territory to set up a secure laboratory and enough scientists to man it, He set to work on the next generation of warriors: the [[Primarch]]s. Interesting to note, when confronted by Chaotic energy, whilst the Custodes were immune to Chaos, the Thunder Warriors seemed strengthened by it at the cost of mental control. During the war against the Confederacy of Maulland Sen (one of the earliest conquests in the Unification Wars), they were exposed to Warp energy, which drove them into a berserk frenzy and caused them to butcher everyone in their way, even noncombatants and those whom the Emperor would have preferred to keep alive. The amount of carnage from their exposure to sorcery was the first serious cause for concern in all Imperial chains of command.

This may indicate that the Thunder Warriors' augmentations involved Warpcraft. Which would make sense as Thunder Warriors and Astartes alike commonly demonstrate superhuman physical abilities far beyond any augmentation could hope to justify. Such as relatively unequipped Thunder Warriors slaughtering [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] with several Astartes killed for each Thunder Warrior dead even after many years of genetic degradation. Valdor even obliquely states in context with the Thunder Warriors that it was necessary to create subjects [The Primarchs] that were in ''greater control over their powers''. So it's clear psychic mumbo jumbo is at work and that it was not working right with the Thunder Warriors. He also states that the project failed and [after the Scattering] only the smallest fragments remained - hinting that the Astartes and Thunder Warriors were supposed to be much more.

===Eventual Fate===
[[File:Thunder_warriors.jpg|200px|thumb|right|P.S. the man in the picture is not an actual thunder warrior, he just stole the armor from a copy of one.]]
The Thunder Warriors were not what He [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|envisioned]] as the defenders of humanity; they were blunt tools of destruction and little else. It is very important to note that the Astartes were already in circulation before the Thunder Warriors were "retired", the [[Dark Angels|First Legion]] had already been established and Proto-Legions all the way up to the [[Salamanders|XVIIIth]] were seeing active combat. The Emperor saw no great loss in removing them for good now that they were obsolete. The Imperial records indicate that the last of the Thunder Warriors all perished at the '''Battle of Mount Ararat''', which is strongly believed to be a cover story. Though the details are scarce, the battle did actually happen and there were survivors, hinting at a possible betrayal and a cull instigated by the Custodians.

However, contrary to this popular viewpoint, the retirement of the Thunder Warriors may not have been a betrayal and perhaps something less dickish; more like putting down an old guard dog with cancer than a complete betrayal. The Thunder Warriors leader: '''Arik Taranis''' is vague on the details and admits he holds no ill will towards the Emperor for what he did. Another survivor: '''Dahren Heruk''' still considers himself loyal to the Emperor and holds to his pre-Unity oaths. More interestingly, when Heruk rescues a Custodian from a group of Alpha Legion hiding on Terra, the surprised Custodian thanks him and seems prepared to leave him where he is, at least until a mortally wounded Heruk halts him to request and be granted an "honoured death" (basically a mercy kill with a blade through the heart). Like Arik and Ghota, Heruk's group of Thunder Warriors are all failing physically, filled with cancer, and required to undergo regular organ transplantation just to stay alive; and are failing mentally, wracked with hallucinations of the Unity Wars like soldiers with PTSD. It may be that the last of the Thunder Warriors went willingly to their ends at Mount Ararat at the very height of their eminence, knowing that they could go no further than that. The alternative being eventual madness and inevitable biological collapse, coupled with being rendered obsolete in the shadow of the newly rising Astartes. Heruk remembers the battle of Mount Ararat to have been glorious with little to no bitterness, and he and his companions all believe that they have simply [[Death Korps of Krieg|''lived too long'']].

The 8th Edition Custodes Codex explained that the Thunder Warriors were purged after they rebelled due to learning that they were engineered with intentionally short lifespans. More specifically, they revolted over what they perceived as the Emperor's betrayal for deliberately giving them a shortened lifespan. Ironically, the remaining Thunder Warriors were purged by the first few thousand prototype Astartes from the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]] in their first combat engagement after joining forces with Imperial officials planning a coup. As such, it would make sense that any surviving Thunder Warriors would be those whose loyalty to the Emperor prevented them from holding such a grudge.

[[File:Thunder Warrior Model.jpg|200px|thumb|left|If only GW bothered to re-make the model like they did with the Space Marines... It seems big E wasn't the only one who abandoned them.]]

The so-called "cull" wasn't the end of the Thunder Warriors, though, as some of them managed to escape and spread throughout the Imperium. Per Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, scattered bands of survivors endured in hiding through out Terra and the immediate space around the Sol System but most were systematically hunted down and liquidated by the I Legion. In one notable incident during the [[Great Crusade]], there was an insurrection on the asteroid prison colony of Cerberus. Though the Thunder Warriors ''were not'' the only members of the rebellion, there were enough of them to form a group calling themselves the '''Dait'Tar'''. The Emperor did not like that and sent an army of [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] to crush the prison riot with impunity. The Astartes having gotten bored with maiming and killing prisoners not worthy of their challenge, found themselves some Thunder Warriors grouping up in a defensive position. Instead of just showering bullets on the surviving Warriors like a more sensible Legion might have, the War Hounds rushed in and engaged them in close combat. But Thunder Warriors are basically mini-[[Primarchs]] without the immortality, and were able to claim three to four Marine kills in melee for each Warrior that went down. After five hours of carnage and RAEG of old vs. new, the [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] forces waiting in orbit got bored and decided to join the party, but the party was already done and left nothing but Thunder Warrior corpses, lots of War Hound corpses, and lots and lots of regular prisoner corpses cut down apparently trying to escape the melee.

Others descended into the Underworld of Terra, taking roles amongst the criminal element or eking out a living as gladiators. One group managed to steal an Astartes progenoid gland to extend their lifespans and went into hiding, so far not to be seen again. This itself is not unprecedented as the [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|World Eater Blackshield]], Endryd Haar, was rumored to be a proto-legionnaire that was converted into an Astartes from Cataegis gene-stock; being mentioned to be a giant even among Space marines, having killed one of the Dait'Tar by breaking his neck in single combat, and was recognized by Malcador as one of the first Terran War Hounds. [[Trazyn]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7bf6tIzWs is known to have at least one in stasis] on Solemnace, which could perhaps be the enigmatic "giant in baroque armor" mentioned in the Necron Codex.

==Capabilities==
It is generally accepted that peak Thunder Warriors probably ''(the fluff is hazy on this)'' fall somewhere between Astartes and Custodes on the scale of who-beats-who. Though their exact capabilities are not covered in any great detail. As a military force, the Thunder Warriors were considered unmatched even in their time, yet were recorded as being lacking in discipline. Custodes vs Thunder Warriors has gone both ways with both being said to be unmatched even though both existed concurrently. So it may simply be that Custodes utilize teamwork and Thunder Warriors do not or who knows what. Since Custodes are made using the Emperor's own blood, they likely more potent fuck-physics superhuman capabilities.

During the Unification Wars, every Warlord and his dog had access to some form of advanced technology, whether through cyber-augmentation, bio-alchemical processes or genetic tampering, the Thunder Warrior was supposed to be superior to all of them. In '''HH1''' they were claimed to have ''"unprecedented superhuman physical power, gene-programmed resistance to environment"'' and most notably: resistance to "psychic attack". However, in the context of the statement the Thunder Warriors were explicitly superior to anything the Emperor's enemies could field '''against''' him rather than '''by''' him; however the '''HH7''' entry for Custodians explicitly states that they were designed to be ''"stronger, faster, more acute of sense and more resilient than even the doomed Thunder Warriors"'', pretty much putting the matter to bed. Yet in their time the Thunder Warriors existed as a legion while there were only a handful of Custodians attending the Emperor, so they easily projected a far more dangerous military threat. Even by the final '''Battle of Ararat''' there were only a few hundred Custodes, so the Thunder Warriors remained the deadlier force while the Custodians were still some barely understood figures who remained at the Emperor's side and it took the new Astartes warriors to eventually take down the Thunder Warriors.

Resistance to psychic attack is particularly notable, since while his Custodians and Astartes are possessed of some impressive willpower and determination, as well as a lot of hypno-indoctrinated mental safeguards, they seem to be no more or less able to resist psykers than any other human. What's more is that we can possibly narrow this down even further and credit it to the Emperor directly, rather than any form of genetic/biological upgrade. [[Fallen Angels|Merir Astelan]] and the [[Dark Angels|first 5000 Space Marines]] all had similar psychic wards build into their minds granted from the Emperor himself, manifesting as a golden aura that seems to make psychic compulsions have no affect on them, and giving telepaths headaches for trying to read them. This is probably why the later Astartes don't share this capability, as the Emperor probably didn't have the time to mind-lock every soldier under his command. Additionally, while they did not seem vulnerable to mutation or mind control upon being exposed to sorcery, the Battle of Maulland Sen demonstrated that Warp energy exposure made them go berserk in a manner that would make even pre-Heresy Angron surprised in his more lucid moments. This implies the Thunder Warriors' psychic resistance was actually part of their enhancements and not from the Emperor's personal attention. And "resistance" probably translated to "murderize everything in range until you kill the psyker".

In terms of tactics and physical combat, it was noted by observers that the Astartes and Cataegis were very different in combat style and doctrine during the Palace Coup's battle between Valdor's first batch of Dark Angels initiates against the Thunder Warrior Survivors and their allies. Whereas the Thunder Warriors and their Primarch, Ushotan, were described as flamboyant; emotionally unrestricted; and individually imposing, the first Dark Angels were described as functional; mechanical in nature; and methodical. Additionally, while the book, Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, made clear that each Thunder Warrior and Ushotan were individually larger and more powerful than each Dark Angel they fought, the latter were described as almost always wounding or maiming their Cataegis opponents before they died and were replaced by reinforcements that would eventually wear their opponents down. Whereas Ushotan was described as a single berserk bear (in contrast to the Thunder Warrior Dahren Heruk's description of the Custodes as an indomitable pride of lions), the Astartes were described as a pack of instinctively coordinated wolves that gave him significantly more trouble than the power armored techno-barbarians he typically mowed down with contempt. The fact that they were on the verge of overwhelming him made Constantin challenge Ushotan himself to give the Cataegis Primarch a more fitting and honorable death.

In any case, a few things are clear. While they do have additional organs (seeing as they had to harvest organs from their own dead rather than from normal humans to prolong their lives), there are a number of organs/abilities they do not have.
*No Black Carapace; the original [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Mk. 1 Thunder Armour]] was never designed to function with one, so Thunder Warriors wore their heavy armour like any mortal would, rather than interfacing with it like a second skin.
*They don't have a secondary heart, as seen with their tradition of "Honoured Deaths" with fellow warriors mercy killing mortally wounded comrades with a blade through the heart.
*They also don't have a Betcher's Gland; one of Dahren Heruk's companions, Vezula Vult, forgot about this when he tangled with a group of Alpha Legionnaires in the slums of Terra, getting sizzled in the face by acid because he wasn't paying attention and joked about how ''"[[Emperor|He]] gave them all the gifts. Didn't He?" ''
*They may not have a Larramans Organ ''(or equivalent)'' as each of Heruk's companions were shown bleeding out at various points rather than have it clot in moments the same way that Astartes do: Kabe, after being stabbed with a spear was shown to have a pool of blood forming beneath him and was beyond saving by the time it was accumulating in his lungs; Gairok had blood bubbling from his lips after being run through with a sword; while Vult was also shown to be slowly dying from a wet and dark wound to the gut some time after the wound had been inflicted.
*Finally, and probably most importantly, they don't have a Progenoid Gland, which for Space Marine is the ''eau de Astartes'', making them everything that they are and providing the means to make more of them.

These points aside, the fact the Thunder Warriors are physically superior to Astartes is not really in doubt, with each conflict in the fluff between them generally resulting in it taking several Astartes just to bring down a single Thunder Warrior, and even in most of these reported situations, the Thunder Warriors in question are long past their physical prime and are undoubtedly in the throes of genetic degredation, so who knows that they might have been capable of at the peak of their power. They might have been directly superior to Custodians, who knows? The best example thus far is the duel between Primarch Ushotan and Constantin Valdor; both the highest exemplars of their respective breeds. Though Ushotan was wounded by several Astartes he slew before the duel actually started, with both combatants having started the battle at the same time and Valdor had since gone through a number of Thunder Warriors singlehandedly so it's still a fair starting point. Ushotan still had the strength to check several of Valdor's blows which Valdor had to return by piling more strength upon strength ''(even in his superior auramite armour)''. However, Ushotan was tiring from lactic acid build-up, which Valdor exploited with a perfectly timed strike. The Thunder Warrior ''may'' have been stronger, but the Custodian fought with unmatched martial perfection and could perceive the flow of the fight even while it was happening and presumably didn't apply one hundred percent strength and was able to work his way up while his foe had to go one hundred percent and stay there trying to fight exhaustion as he had no other advantage.

All things considered: a Dreadnought is deadlier than a single Space Marine, but the Imperium does not force healthy Space Marines to become dreadnoughts simply because they are deadlier. An Ogryn might be capable of tearing a Marines arm off, while an Assassin might be swift enough to punch through power armour, but they are all reserved for specific situations and purposes. The same should be said between the differences between the three different branches of superhuman: The Custodians were intended to be peers and guardians of the Emperor himself; and remain with him in whatever future he had planned for humanity. The Astartes were designed for long campaigns that stretch out over centuries, and were capable of fighting in any number of environments against strange alien foes. In a similar way that a lance is better at stabbing than a shorter but more versatile sword, the Thunder Warriors were designed to fight in '''one''' environment against '''one''' set of foes from '''one''' planet: [[Terra]]. A single campaign against some of the deadliest examples humanity could throw back at them, so it is no wonder they seem to do so well compared against Space Marines and Custodians, since they are more a tool/weapon designed for only one circumstance.

===Lifespans===
{{Topquote|There was never time for perfection, and so the Cataegis were always a compromise. They were the best that could have been created under such conditions, but nobody believed they were permanent.|Amar Astarte}}

As to the issue of longevity, the Custodians and Astartes don't age (well, they get the cosmetics of aging but it's only skin-deep and in a sexy GILF way instead of spots and wrinkles). The Emperor could have granted the Thunder Warriors longer lifespans, even biological immortality ''(it's actually pretty simple since aging is caused by imperfect DNA caused by cellular division; make division create perfect copies and there is no aging)'', but what would be the point of extending their lifespan if he did not intend to make any more of them since they were only required to take over one world (and maybe in a best case scenario Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and the gas giants to suicide against the biggest nasties present) anyway?

The Emperor had twenty more groups of transhumans ready to take over the known galaxy - the sheer number of worlds and the distances between them practically demands the creation of a military force that can stand the test of time. One could then propose that if the Thunder Warriors had longer lifespans then they could have fulfilled that role instead of the Astartes. But as mentioned above, while they might have been physically superior, they simply weren't equipped with the same augmentations that might be useful in more varied environments. Thunder Warriors were designed for a task and they performed it well, providing them with immortality to survive beyond this would have been needlessly sentimental.

It is also interesting that the issue of raising new Thunder Warrior regiments hasn't been brought up; The Thunder Warriors clearly had the medical knowledge to attempt to delay the failure of their physiologies, but either lacked the facilities or the desire to make more of themselves. Very little is known about Thunder Warrior recruitment and augmentation processes such as how long they take, what standards they must adhere to and what specialised equipment is required to create them. By contrast the Space Marines are equipped with their own means of reproduction; the Gene Seed allows them to make more of themselves from varied human sources ''(for example, the [[Blood Angels|IXth Legion]] were even able to recruit from mutated stock)'' and without direct oversight even when on campaign far from their home-worlds. Even if the Thunder Warriors were superior combatants in every conceivable way, the ability to replicate virtually unlimited "lesser" superhumans anywhere in the galaxy is an advantage too great to give up. Similar to how the genetic diversity and adaptivity of the Grey Wolf enabled it to supplant the larger Dire Wolf.

===Development===
The Emperor could have simply made custom augmentations for each Regiment/Legion of Thunder Warriors to specialize them for each intended purpose and could have used the knowledge from the Mechanicum and cybernetics to correct the genetic flaws and smooth things out. Considering that this was how he ended up with twenty Astartes Legions, then why not bring both programs together and create Thunder Warriors with added organs so they could adapt to different environments, or make Astartes with greater size, strength, and resilience on a par with the warriors that preceded them? Considering his development of Primarchs, Astartes, and Custodes, he clearly had enough knowledge, and skill, and tools to do this, whether it was cost effective or not is a different matter; as Constantin Valdor once mentioned that to make an army of Custodians on a similar scale to the Thunder Warriors would have practically bankrupted Terra, and who knows if the programs were even compatible with each other? The existence of the World Eater Blackshield, Endryd Haar, as well as Arik Taranis’ success in splicing Astartes gene-seed into his body to stabilize his lifespan also suggests that it is possible that the Thunder Warriors could’ve been “upgraded and repurposed” but the rebellion and the cost to do so before Luna and Mars were subjugated was too prohibitive and moot if they had to be purged after the Palace Coup. Even then, it would’ve been imperfect in the same manner Khor Phaeron, Amon, and Luther weren’t able to truly fit into their adopted legions as augmented adult humans; particularly when Endryd Haar was still a berserker (albeit, an intelligent one) without the Butcher’s Nails and killed any subordinates who defied his orders.

In any case: As much as people try to put the blame squarely at his feet for being lazy or short-sighted; Amar Astarte claimed that while his influence certainly sped things along, ''the Emperor'' was not the only person working on his transhuman projects. He had enormous laboratories with hundreds, if not thousands of scientists working in secrecy just to get as far as they did with the Space Marines, and had been working on the Space Marine project even before the Thunder Warriors exists, they were just a stop-gap. Bearing in mind that the project was set-back and all of the laboratories were destroyed '''twice'''. First with the Scattering of the Primarchs due to the fucking moron [[Erda]] dropping the anti Chaos God defenses to protect the Primarchs (which would severely backfire), secondly when Amar Astarte herself decided that the loss of said Primarchs was going to doom the Astartes Program to the same failures as the Thunder Warriors ''- a very telling reason indeed-'' This means the Great Crusade race was essentially started early, as the Emperor was now on a timer in order to reclaim them before they were irretrievable and still needed to build the [[Astronomican]], claim [[Mars]] and get ''himself'' out into the galaxy to meet his sons.

The fact that [[Primaris Marines]] now exist that are larger, stronger, and more resilient than basic Space Marines shows that the gap has finally been filled. They are still not the equals of Custodians on the tabletop, but we're only talking the about the level of variance within a single point. They are probably much closer to Thunder Warriors and are potentially what the Emperor always intended, if he had the time to focus on his project and continue, or at the very least just one or two steps below, Thunder Warrior level fighters with all the stability and mass production capability of Astartes.

Considering the threats to Unity and dangers of Terra at the time; From nations of psykers to Men of Iron hidden within the core of the planet, and [[Chaos]] licking their lips the whole time, let alone everything else like the [[Rangdan Xenocides|Rangda]] and [[Ork]]s hitting critical mass and bulldozing everything. It's unsurprising the Emperor moved as quickly as he did and used every tool at his disposal.

===Armaments===
Thunder Warriors seem to have been poorly armed compared to [[Custodes]] and [[Space Marines]]. While some assumed [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], [[Plasma]] and [[Radium_Weaponry|Rad weapons]] would have been standard issue. This was not the case. They used larger versions of [[Bolters]] and [[Lasgun|Lasrifles]]. Yes the standard issue weapon of the [[Solar Auxilia]]. That's like making the standard issue weapon of the [[Custodes]] [[Hotshot_Lasgun|Hotshot Lasguns]]. Some also had what looked like Power Weapons or some equivalent. No wonder their shit was pushed in by Empys bodyguards and the [[Dark Angels]]. Their weapons were utter garbage compared to the stuff the new boys got. Good thing for them [[Terminator]] armor didn't (or shouldn't) exist at this time.(disclaimer because Black Library writers tend to forget their own fluff) The battle described in Valdor: Birth of the Imperium would have wound up even more one sided in favor of the fucking new guys.

They also employed Skylance, the predecessor of [[Stormbird]]. So one can guess they had decent air support at the very least.

== Arik Taranis ==

The first badass granddaddy of all Space Marines and Thunder Warriors who would make Guilliman and Dante envious for his existence. He was known to win lots and lots of battles for the Emperor, survive dozens of suicidal fights in which countless Thunder Warriors (who are stronger than space marines) would die, especially the last battle in which he barely made it to victory with his comrade. The Emperor, knowing the Thunder Warrior's limited lifespan would not serve any good for his [[Great Crusade|future conquest]], decided to abandon the Thunder Warriors by arranging an utter betrayal with Arik that would make Horus look like a saint. [[Grimdark|As a result, Arik was forced witness the killing pretty much all his surviving comrades while according to the record, it would be reported that Arik and the Thunder Warriors had been honorably slain during the last battle]]. Despite the betrayal, Arik had no sense of hatred towards the Emperor, for he knew that Thunder Warriors would only serve as an impediment to their [[Space Marines|future cousins]] and he understood the stakes of the Great Crusade.

Anyway, Arik would later hide among Terra's population with his large, obvious body and become the Kingpin of Terra. He started out in the Petitioner's City of the Imperial Palace as the leader of some pissant gang named Dhakal, gang raping his way up the food chain with his only remaining Thunder Warrior buddy, Ghota (who, as described in The Outcast Dead, is an overgrown, cantankerous motherfucker with eyes like the rage zombies from 28 Days Later, apparently a side effect of the Thunder Warriors' painful physical degradation) and at least thirty other survivors, until he was effectively the big cheese of gangsters. Calling himself Babu Dhakal (or at least everyone else called him that... the man was crazy, but he wasn't crazy enough to address himself in the third person), Arik expanded his control until it encompassed [[Drugs]], bitches, gambling, weapons, and even toilets--the absolute madman! He would go on to control criminals and heretics alike, causing the Adeptus Arbites to rage quit because they couldn't handle Arik's near swaglord level reputation and rampant (to the point of being fucking psycho) badassery.

He somehow got lucky and found a secret and surprisingly advance lab with all the necessary equipment buried within Terra which is about as common as finding a functional buried starship on a post-apocalyptic Terra. Meaning it probably wasn't an accident at all. This, coupled with the scientific knowledge he somehow got from the Emperor (which it is not explained whether Emperor "shared" it, Arik being a badass and learned it from just watching, or [[just as planned| the Emperor directly taught him in order prepare for some kind of backup plan]].) would help him to genetically modify and increase his life span (but not really enough to keep him alive -- until the Horus Heresy came around).

=== The Outcast Dead incident ===
When heresy first became a thing that happened in the Imperium, Arik managed to get a functioning Progenoid Gland from one of the outcast dead space marines (it's unclear which one, but they probably didn't mind too much--being outcast and dead and all). He was able to extract at least some of the information he needed to replicate the gland, and was then able to plant a functioning copy he had created within his own body, as well as Ghota's. Since GW never expanded their storyline, we can assume that either they have successfully outlived the Emperor and become more raidy, pillagey, and space piratey than the Dark Eldar, or that the result of all their careful work was that they up and turned into uber powerful heroes of the Imperium... we have no idea. They may have just settled down on Terra. However, since the Siege of Terra is getting its own series, it is possible for them to show up again.

=== Arik Taranis Facts ===
Despite being outdated and retired, Arik has demonstrated some epic Primarch-level shits:

*He knocked down the "Azurite Tower" during the Unification Wars, as well as earning tons of fucking countless titles.
*He survived the Battle of Mount Ararat, a final yet deadly battle that nearly wiped out his army, meaning he gets shit done even if it almost killed him.
*His Thunder Warrior subordinate Ghota can fight 5 elite Astartes to a stalemate even killing one of them, yet Ghota bows to Arik. Although that doesn't mean Arik is physically stronger than Ghota, is just Ghota having more loyalty to his master.
*Arik has the Emperor's knowledge on gene-seed which the Emperor somehow allows. If Arik were still be alive today, he could probably be the greatest Apothecary in the Imperium, next to The Emperor and Eldar goddess [[Isha]] (and [[Fabius Bile|Apothecary Fabius]] if he hadn't turned [[heresy|bad]]).
*Atharva, one of the outcast dead and a powerful Thousand Sons psyker observed Arik and commented that he has an: "aura too bright to look upon. His presence had a gravity all it's own, demanding all attention and fear." and he "could barely stand to turn his psychic senses on him for fear of being overwhelmed.". Keep in mind only the Emperor and the Primarchs has that kind of aura, yet Arik, a Thunder Warrior has that kind of aura surrounding him. This also raised an interesting theory about him being the test subject of the Primarch project, where the Emperor imbued part of his soul onto a living being using somekind of forgotten psychic technique.
*He is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranis Taranis], the Celtic god of... [[Just as Planned|thunder]]. So yeah, the guy is literally a god-tier (thunder) warrior. Interestingly, this actually could be evidence of his fandom's pseudo-Primarch/proto-Primarch (the physical prototype as opposed to [[The Angel]] being the soul prototype) view of him. Because being a Thunder Warrior named after a god of thunder has some...implications.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mk1 Thunder Armour.jpg| Thunder armor is said to be inferior to space marine armor, but it is nonetheless more badass because it comes with a biker shade.
File:Thunder Warrior 1.jpg|One of the Thunder Warriors officers. May or may not be Arik Taranis.
File:Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
File:Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]

Thunder Warriors

2022-05-09T17:12:55Z

2607:FB90:6F62:B6E1:543D:18F8:44B0:F15A: /* Lifespans */

[[File:T5b26bd95vs41.jpg|350px|right|thumb|I'm better than any of you [[Space Marines|bitches]]...if only I could live longer and not get my ass kicked by the [[Custodes]] and the [[Dark Angels]]. [[Dreadwing|Though if you consider what I may have been fighting]]. You wouldn't have survived either.]]

{{Awesome}}
The '''Thunder Warriors''' were the first soldiers of the man who eventually became the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]]. In many ways, they were the precursors to the [[Space Marines]].

==Origins==
Known as the Legio Cataegis (Latin: Storm Legion), they were formed during the [[Age of Strife]], when the Emperor judged that it was the right time to make His presence known. He needed some advantage over the warlords, techno-barbarians, and other would-be world rulers that were currently reenacting Mad Max all over Terra, and so He created twenty regiments consisting of hundreds of genetically enhanced soldiers, led by commanding officers known as "primarchs" (one of these primarchs was named Ushotan, and he was in command of the [[Iron Warriors|IV Legion, who specialized in siege warfare]]). These soldiers wore simple, smog producing, yet flamboyant and decorative powered armor. Because the Emperor's symbol at the time was a raptor and thunderbolt, this symbol was prominently displayed on the chestplate of the armor, the armor came to be known as [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Thunder Armor]] and the warriors who wore said armor were called Thunder Warriors in Low Gothic.

Created using a simplified cookie-cutter version of the Custodes' bio-alchemy on adult subjects (in contrast the Custodes' custom-tailored process subjected on infants), the Thunder Warriors were devastatingly effective and quickly became icons of the Emperor's armies; just the threat of the Thunder Warriors' arrival could convince a warlord to surrender, and those who refused quickly learned that the Thunder Warriors' reputation was not exaggerated. According to the fluff, they were even more physically powerful and ruthless than the Space Marines. And while physically stronger, they were not nearly as mentally or physiologically stable, and overall '''FAR''' inferior to the Custodes.

And yet, for all their successes, the Thunder Warriors were not perfect. Though at the time, it was believed they were, in fact, the pinnacle of mass produced military genetic engineering. However, along with Amar Astarte (the "mother" of the Thunder Warriors, Primarchs and Space Marines), the Emperor was able to refine the process and stabilize the genetic instability that ran amok in the Thunder Warriors, utilizing the Astartes Primarchs as templates to stabilise a new breed of warrior.

None of them could be counted on to last long, as either their minds or bodies gave out at unpredictable intervals, and the technology didn't yet exist to give them a lifespan longer than the average human's. They were suitable for fighting the barbarian [[human]] armies of the [[Age of Strife]], but not for the long, star-spanning campaign of the [[Great Crusade]] that the Emperor had set as His next goal, so as soon as He had enough territory to set up a secure laboratory and enough scientists to man it, He set to work on the next generation of warriors: the [[Primarch]]s. Interesting to note, when confronted by Chaotic energy, whilst the Custodes were immune to Chaos, the Thunder Warriors seemed strengthened by it at the cost of mental control. During the war against the Confederacy of Maulland Sen (one of the earliest conquests in the Unification Wars), they were exposed to Warp energy, which drove them into a berserk frenzy and caused them to butcher everyone in their way, even noncombatants and those whom the Emperor would have preferred to keep alive. The amount of carnage from their exposure to sorcery was the first serious cause for concern in all Imperial chains of command.

This may indicate that the Thunder Warriors' augmentations involved Warpcraft. Which would make sense as Thunder Warriors and Astartes alike commonly demonstrate superhuman physical abilities far beyond any augmentation could hope to justify. Such as relatively unequipped Thunder Warriors slaughtering [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] with several Astartes killed for each Thunder Warrior dead even after many years of genetic degradation. Valdor even obliquely states in context with the Thunder Warriors that it was necessary to create subjects [The Primarchs] that were in ''greater control over their powers''. So it's clear psychic mumbo jumbo is at work and that it was not working right with the Thunder Warriors. He also states that the project failed and [after the Scattering] only the smallest fragments remained - hinting that the Astartes and Thunder Warriors were supposed to be much more.

===Eventual Fate===
[[File:Thunder_warriors.jpg|200px|thumb|right|P.S. the man in the picture is not an actual thunder warrior, he just stole the armor from a copy of one.]]
The Thunder Warriors were not what He [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|envisioned]] as the defenders of humanity; they were blunt tools of destruction and little else. It is very important to note that the Astartes were already in circulation before the Thunder Warriors were "retired", the [[Dark Angels|First Legion]] had already been established and Proto-Legions all the way up to the [[Salamanders|XVIIIth]] were seeing active combat. The Emperor saw no great loss in removing them for good now that they were obsolete. The Imperial records indicate that the last of the Thunder Warriors all perished at the '''Battle of Mount Ararat''', which is strongly believed to be a cover story. Though the details are scarce, the battle did actually happen and there were survivors, hinting at a possible betrayal and a cull instigated by the Custodians.

However, contrary to this popular viewpoint, the retirement of the Thunder Warriors may not have been a betrayal and perhaps something less dickish; more like putting down an old guard dog with cancer than a complete betrayal. The Thunder Warriors leader: '''Arik Taranis''' is vague on the details and admits he holds no ill will towards the Emperor for what he did. Another survivor: '''Dahren Heruk''' still considers himself loyal to the Emperor and holds to his pre-Unity oaths. More interestingly, when Heruk rescues a Custodian from a group of Alpha Legion hiding on Terra, the surprised Custodian thanks him and seems prepared to leave him where he is, at least until a mortally wounded Heruk halts him to request and be granted an "honoured death" (basically a mercy kill with a blade through the heart). Like Arik and Ghota, Heruk's group of Thunder Warriors are all failing physically, filled with cancer, and required to undergo regular organ transplantation just to stay alive; and are failing mentally, wracked with hallucinations of the Unity Wars like soldiers with PTSD. It may be that the last of the Thunder Warriors went willingly to their ends at Mount Ararat at the very height of their eminence, knowing that they could go no further than that. The alternative being eventual madness and inevitable biological collapse, coupled with being rendered obsolete in the shadow of the newly rising Astartes. Heruk remembers the battle of Mount Ararat to have been glorious with little to no bitterness, and he and his companions all believe that they have simply [[Death Korps of Krieg|''lived too long'']].

The 8th Edition Custodes Codex explained that the Thunder Warriors were purged after they rebelled due to learning that they were engineered with intentionally short lifespans. More specifically, they revolted over what they perceived as the Emperor's betrayal for deliberately giving them a shortened lifespan. Ironically, the remaining Thunder Warriors were purged by the first few thousand prototype Astartes from the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]] in their first combat engagement after joining forces with Imperial officials planning a coup. As such, it would make sense that any surviving Thunder Warriors would be those whose loyalty to the Emperor prevented them from holding such a grudge.

[[File:Thunder Warrior Model.jpg|200px|thumb|left|If only GW bothered to re-make the model like they did with the Space Marines... It seems big E wasn't the only one who abandoned them.]]

The so-called "cull" wasn't the end of the Thunder Warriors, though, as some of them managed to escape and spread throughout the Imperium. Per Horus Heresy Book Nine - Crusade, scattered bands of survivors endured in hiding through out Terra and the immediate space around the Sol System but most were systematically hunted down and liquidated by the I Legion. In one notable incident during the [[Great Crusade]], there was an insurrection on the asteroid prison colony of Cerberus. Though the Thunder Warriors ''were not'' the only members of the rebellion, there were enough of them to form a group calling themselves the '''Dait'Tar'''. The Emperor did not like that and sent an army of [[World Eaters|War Hounds]] to crush the prison riot with impunity. The Astartes having gotten bored with maiming and killing prisoners not worthy of their challenge, found themselves some Thunder Warriors grouping up in a defensive position. Instead of just showering bullets on the surviving Warriors like a more sensible Legion might have, the War Hounds rushed in and engaged them in close combat. But Thunder Warriors are basically mini-[[Primarchs]] without the immortality, and were able to claim three to four Marine kills in melee for each Warrior that went down. After five hours of carnage and RAEG of old vs. new, the [[Imperial Guard|Imperial Army]] forces waiting in orbit got bored and decided to join the party, but the party was already done and left nothing but Thunder Warrior corpses, lots of War Hound corpses, and lots and lots of regular prisoner corpses cut down apparently trying to escape the melee.

Others descended into the Underworld of Terra, taking roles amongst the criminal element or eking out a living as gladiators. One group managed to steal an Astartes progenoid gland to extend their lifespans and went into hiding, so far not to be seen again. This itself is not unprecedented as the [[Traitor Legion Loyalists|World Eater Blackshield]], Endryd Haar, was rumored to be a proto-legionnaire that was converted into an Astartes from Cataegis gene-stock; being mentioned to be a giant even among Space marines, having killed one of the Dait'Tar by breaking his neck in single combat, and was recognized by Malcador as one of the first Terran War Hounds. [[Trazyn]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7bf6tIzWs is known to have at least one in stasis] on Solemnace, which could perhaps be the enigmatic "giant in baroque armor" mentioned in the Necron Codex.

==Capabilities==
It is generally accepted that peak Thunder Warriors probably ''(the fluff is hazy on this)'' fall somewhere between Astartes and Custodes on the scale of who-beats-who. Though their exact capabilities are not covered in any great detail. As a military force, the Thunder Warriors were considered unmatched even in their time, yet were recorded as being lacking in discipline. Custodes vs Thunder Warriors has gone both ways with both being said to be unmatched even though both existed concurrently. So it may simply be that Custodes utilize teamwork and Thunder Warriors do not or who knows what. Since Custodes are made using the Emperor's own blood, they likely more potent fuck-physics superhuman capabilities.

During the Unification Wars, every Warlord and his dog had access to some form of advanced technology, whether through cyber-augmentation, bio-alchemical processes or genetic tampering, the Thunder Warrior was supposed to be superior to all of them. In '''HH1''' they were claimed to have ''"unprecedented superhuman physical power, gene-programmed resistance to environment"'' and most notably: resistance to "psychic attack". However, in the context of the statement the Thunder Warriors were explicitly superior to anything the Emperor's enemies could field '''against''' him rather than '''by''' him; however the '''HH7''' entry for Custodians explicitly states that they were designed to be ''"stronger, faster, more acute of sense and more resilient than even the doomed Thunder Warriors"'', pretty much putting the matter to bed. Yet in their time the Thunder Warriors existed as a legion while there were only a handful of Custodians attending the Emperor, so they easily projected a far more dangerous military threat. Even by the final '''Battle of Ararat''' there were only a few hundred Custodes, so the Thunder Warriors remained the deadlier force while the Custodians were still some barely understood figures who remained at the Emperor's side and it took the new Astartes warriors to eventually take down the Thunder Warriors.

Resistance to psychic attack is particularly notable, since while his Custodians and Astartes are possessed of some impressive willpower and determination, as well as a lot of hypno-indoctrinated mental safeguards, they seem to be no more or less able to resist psykers than any other human. What's more is that we can possibly narrow this down even further and credit it to the Emperor directly, rather than any form of genetic/biological upgrade. [[Fallen Angels|Merir Astelan]] and the [[Dark Angels|first 5000 Space Marines]] all had similar psychic wards build into their minds granted from the Emperor himself, manifesting as a golden aura that seems to make psychic compulsions have no affect on them, and giving telepaths headaches for trying to read them. This is probably why the later Astartes don't share this capability, as the Emperor probably didn't have the time to mind-lock every soldier under his command. Additionally, while they did not seem vulnerable to mutation or mind control upon being exposed to sorcery, the Battle of Maulland Sen demonstrated that Warp energy exposure made them go berserk in a manner that would make even pre-Heresy Angron surprised in his more lucid moments. This implies the Thunder Warriors' psychic resistance was actually part of their enhancements and not from the Emperor's personal attention. And "resistance" probably translated to "murderize everything in range until you kill the psyker".

In terms of tactics and physical combat, it was noted by observers that the Astartes and Cataegis were very different in combat style and doctrine during the Palace Coup's battle between Valdor's first batch of Dark Angels initiates against the Thunder Warrior Survivors and their allies. Whereas the Thunder Warriors and their Primarch, Ushotan, were described as flamboyant; emotionally unrestricted; and individually imposing, the first Dark Angels were described as functional; mechanical in nature; and methodical. Additionally, while the book, Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, made clear that each Thunder Warrior and Ushotan were individually larger and more powerful than each Dark Angel they fought, the latter were described as almost always wounding or maiming their Cataegis opponents before they died and were replaced by reinforcements that would eventually wear their opponents down. Whereas Ushotan was described as a single berserk bear (in contrast to the Thunder Warrior Dahren Heruk's description of the Custodes as an indomitable pride of lions), the Astartes were described as a pack of instinctively coordinated wolves that gave him significantly more trouble than the power armored techno-barbarians he typically mowed down with contempt. The fact that they were on the verge of overwhelming him made Constantin challenge Ushotan himself to give the Cataegis Primarch a more fitting and honorable death.

In any case, a few things are clear. While they do have additional organs (seeing as they had to harvest organs from their own dead rather than from normal humans to prolong their lives), there are a number of organs/abilities they do not have.
*No Black Carapace; the original [[Mark I: Thunder Armour|Mk. 1 Thunder Armour]] was never designed to function with one, so Thunder Warriors wore their heavy armour like any mortal would, rather than interfacing with it like a second skin.
*They don't have a secondary heart, as seen with their tradition of "Honoured Deaths" with fellow warriors mercy killing mortally wounded comrades with a blade through the heart.
*They also don't have a Betcher's Gland; one of Dahren Heruk's companions, Vezula Vult, forgot about this when he tangled with a group of Alpha Legionnaires in the slums of Terra, getting sizzled in the face by acid because he wasn't paying attention and joked about how ''"[[Emperor|He]] gave them all the gifts. Didn't He?" ''
*They may not have a Larramans Organ ''(or equivalent)'' as each of Heruk's companions were shown bleeding out at various points rather than have it clot in moments the same way that Astartes do: Kabe, after being stabbed with a spear was shown to have a pool of blood forming beneath him and was beyond saving by the time it was accumulating in his lungs; Gairok had blood bubbling from his lips after being run through with a sword; while Vult was also shown to be slowly dying from a wet and dark wound to the gut some time after the wound had been inflicted.
*Finally, and probably most importantly, they don't have a Progenoid Gland, which for Space Marine is the ''eau de Astartes'', making them everything that they are and providing the means to make more of them.

These points aside, the fact the Thunder Warriors are physically superior to Astartes is not really in doubt, with each conflict in the fluff between them generally resulting in it taking several Astartes just to bring down a single Thunder Warrior, and even in most of these reported situations, the Thunder Warriors in question are long past their physical prime and are undoubtedly in the throes of genetic degredation, so who knows that they might have been capable of at the peak of their power. They might have been directly superior to Custodians, who knows? The best example thus far is the duel between Primarch Ushotan and Constantin Valdor; both the highest exemplars of their respective breeds. Though Ushotan was wounded by several Astartes he slew before the duel actually started, with both combatants having started the battle at the same time and Valdor had since gone through a number of Thunder Warriors singlehandedly so it's still a fair starting point. Ushotan still had the strength to check several of Valdor's blows which Valdor had to return by piling more strength upon strength ''(even in his superior auramite armour)''. However, Ushotan was tiring from lactic acid build-up, which Valdor exploited with a perfectly timed strike. The Thunder Warrior ''may'' have been stronger, but the Custodian fought with unmatched martial perfection and could perceive the flow of the fight even while it was happening and presumably didn't apply one hundred percent strength and was able to work his way up while his foe had to go one hundred percent and stay there trying to fight exhaustion as he had no other advantage.

All things considered: a Dreadnought is deadlier than a single Space Marine, but the Imperium does not force healthy Space Marines to become dreadnoughts simply because they are deadlier. An Ogryn might be capable of tearing a Marines arm off, while an Assassin might be swift enough to punch through power armour, but they are all reserved for specific situations and purposes. The same should be said between the differences between the three different branches of superhuman: The Custodians were intended to be peers and guardians of the Emperor himself; and remain with him in whatever future he had planned for humanity. The Astartes were designed for long campaigns that stretch out over centuries, and were capable of fighting in any number of environments against strange alien foes. In a similar way that a lance is better at stabbing than a shorter but more versatile sword, the Thunder Warriors were designed to fight in '''one''' environment against '''one''' set of foes from '''one''' planet: [[Terra]]. A single campaign against some of the deadliest examples humanity could throw back at them, so it is no wonder they seem to do so well compared against Space Marines and Custodians, since they are more a tool/weapon designed for only one circumstance.

===Lifespans===
{{Topquote|There was never time for perfection, and so the Cataegis were always a compromise. They were the best that could have been created under such conditions, but nobody believed they were permanent.|Amar Astarte}}

As to the issue of longevity, the Custodians and Astartes don't age (well, they get the cosmetics of aging but it's only skin-deep and in a sexy GILF way instead of spots and wrinkles). The Emperor could have granted the Thunder Warriors longer lifespans, even biological immortality ''(it's actually pretty simple since aging is caused by imperfect DNA caused by cellular division; make division create perfect copies and there is no aging)'', but what would be the point of extending their lifespan if he did not intend to make any more of them since they were only required to take over one world (and maybe in a best case scenario Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and the gas giants to suicide against the biggest nasties present) anyway?

The Emperor had twenty more groups of transhumans ready to take over the known galaxy - the sheer number of worlds and the distances between them practically demands the creation of a military force that can stand the test of time. One could then propose that if the Thunder Warriors had longer lifespans then they could have fulfilled that role instead of the Astartes. But as mentioned above, while they might have been physically superior, they simply weren't equipped with the same augmentations that might be useful in more varied environments. Thunder Warriors were designed for a task and they performed it well, providing them with immortality to survive beyond this would have been needlessly sentimental.

It is also interesting that the issue of raising new Thunder Warrior regiments hasn't been brought up; The Thunder Warriors clearly had the medical knowledge to attempt to delay the failure of their physiologies, but either lacked the facilities or the desire to make more of themselves. Very little is known about Thunder Warrior recruitment and augmentation processes such as how long they take, what standards they must adhere to and what specialised equipment is required to create them. By contrast the Space Marines are equipped with their own means of reproduction; the Gene Seed allows them to make more of themselves from varied human sources ''(for example, the [[Blood Angels|IXth Legion]] were even able to recruit from mutated stock)'' and without direct oversight even when on campaign far from their home-worlds. Even if the Thunder Warriors were superior combatants in every conceivable way, the ability to replicate virtually unlimited "lesser" superhumans anywhere in the galaxy is an advantage too great to give up. Similar to how the genetic diversity and adaptivity of the Grey Wolf enabled it to supplant the larger Dire Wolf.

===Development===
The Emperor could have simply made custom augmentations for each Regiment/Legion of Thunder Warriors to specialize them for each intended purpose and could have used the knowledge from the Mechanicum and cybernetics to correct the genetic flaws and smooth things out. Considering that this was how he ended up with twenty Astartes Legions, then why not bring both programs together and create Thunder Warriors with added organs so they could adapt to different environments, or make Astartes with greater size, strength, and resilience on a par with the warriors that preceded them? Considering his development of Primarchs, Astartes, and Custodes, he clearly had enough knowledge, and skill, and tools to do this, whether it was cost effective or not is a different matter; as Constantin Valdor once mentioned that to make an army of Custodians on a similar scale to the Thunder Warriors would have practically bankrupted Terra, and who knows if the programs were even compatible with each other?

In any case: As much as people try to put the blame squarely at his feet for being lazy or short-sighted; Amar Astarte claimed that while his influence certainly sped things along, ''the Emperor'' was not the only person working on his transhuman projects. He had enormous laboratories with hundreds, if not thousands of scientists working in secrecy just to get as far as they did with the Space Marines, and had been working on the Space Marine project even before the Thunder Warriors exists, they were just a stop-gap. Bearing in mind that the project was set-back and all of the laboratories were destroyed '''twice'''. First with the Scattering of the Primarchs due to the fucking moron [[Erda]] dropping the anti Chaos God defenses to protect the Primarchs (which would severely backfire), secondly when Amar Astarte herself decided that the loss of said Primarchs was going to doom the Astartes Program to the same failures as the Thunder Warriors ''- a very telling reason indeed-'' This means the Great Crusade race was essentially started early, as the Emperor was now on a timer in order to reclaim them before they were irretrievable and still needed to build the [[Astronomican]], claim [[Mars]] and get ''himself'' out into the galaxy to meet his sons.

The fact that [[Primaris Marines]] now exist that are larger, stronger, and more resilient than basic Space Marines shows that the gap has finally been filled. They are still not the equals of Custodians on the tabletop, but we're only talking the about the level of variance within a single point. They are probably much closer to Thunder Warriors and are potentially what the Emperor always intended, if he had the time to focus on his project and continue, or at the very least just one or two steps below, Thunder Warrior level fighters with all the stability and mass production capability of Astartes.

Considering the threats to Unity and dangers of Terra at the time; From nations of psykers to Men of Iron hidden within the core of the planet, and [[Chaos]] licking their lips the whole time, let alone everything else like the [[Rangdan Xenocides|Rangda]] and [[Ork]]s hitting critical mass and bulldozing everything. It's unsurprising the Emperor moved as quickly as he did and used every tool at his disposal.

===Armaments===
Thunder Warriors seem to have been poorly armed compared to [[Custodes]] and [[Space Marines]]. While some assumed [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], [[Plasma]] and [[Radium_Weaponry|Rad weapons]] would have been standard issue. This was not the case. They used larger versions of [[Bolters]] and [[Lasgun|Lasrifles]]. Yes the standard issue weapon of the [[Solar Auxilia]]. That's like making the standard issue weapon of the [[Custodes]] [[Hotshot_Lasgun|Hotshot Lasguns]]. Some also had what looked like Power Weapons or some equivalent. No wonder their shit was pushed in by Empys bodyguards and the [[Dark Angels]]. Their weapons were utter garbage compared to the stuff the new boys got. Good thing for them [[Terminator]] armor didn't (or shouldn't) exist at this time.(disclaimer because Black Library writers tend to forget their own fluff) The battle described in Valdor: Birth of the Imperium would have wound up even more one sided in favor of the fucking new guys.

They also employed Skylance, the predecessor of [[Stormbird]]. So one can guess they had decent air support at the very least.

== Arik Taranis ==

The first badass granddaddy of all Space Marines and Thunder Warriors who would make Guilliman and Dante envious for his existence. He was known to win lots and lots of battles for the Emperor, survive dozens of suicidal fights in which countless Thunder Warriors (who are stronger than space marines) would die, especially the last battle in which he barely made it to victory with his comrade. The Emperor, knowing the Thunder Warrior's limited lifespan would not serve any good for his [[Great Crusade|future conquest]], decided to abandon the Thunder Warriors by arranging an utter betrayal with Arik that would make Horus look like a saint. [[Grimdark|As a result, Arik was forced witness the killing pretty much all his surviving comrades while according to the record, it would be reported that Arik and the Thunder Warriors had been honorably slain during the last battle]]. Despite the betrayal, Arik had no sense of hatred towards the Emperor, for he knew that Thunder Warriors would only serve as an impediment to their [[Space Marines|future cousins]] and he understood the stakes of the Great Crusade.

Anyway, Arik would later hide among Terra's population with his large, obvious body and become the Kingpin of Terra. He started out in the Petitioner's City of the Imperial Palace as the leader of some pissant gang named Dhakal, gang raping his way up the food chain with his only remaining Thunder Warrior buddy, Ghota (who, as described in The Outcast Dead, is an overgrown, cantankerous motherfucker with eyes like the rage zombies from 28 Days Later, apparently a side effect of the Thunder Warriors' painful physical degradation) and at least thirty other survivors, until he was effectively the big cheese of gangsters. Calling himself Babu Dhakal (or at least everyone else called him that... the man was crazy, but he wasn't crazy enough to address himself in the third person), Arik expanded his control until it encompassed [[Drugs]], bitches, gambling, weapons, and even toilets--the absolute madman! He would go on to control criminals and heretics alike, causing the Adeptus Arbites to rage quit because they couldn't handle Arik's near swaglord level reputation and rampant (to the point of being fucking psycho) badassery.

He somehow got lucky and found a secret and surprisingly advance lab with all the necessary equipment buried within Terra which is about as common as finding a functional buried starship on a post-apocalyptic Terra. Meaning it probably wasn't an accident at all. This, coupled with the scientific knowledge he somehow got from the Emperor (which it is not explained whether Emperor "shared" it, Arik being a badass and learned it from just watching, or [[just as planned| the Emperor directly taught him in order prepare for some kind of backup plan]].) would help him to genetically modify and increase his life span (but not really enough to keep him alive -- until the Horus Heresy came around).

=== The Outcast Dead incident ===
When heresy first became a thing that happened in the Imperium, Arik managed to get a functioning Progenoid Gland from one of the outcast dead space marines (it's unclear which one, but they probably didn't mind too much--being outcast and dead and all). He was able to extract at least some of the information he needed to replicate the gland, and was then able to plant a functioning copy he had created within his own body, as well as Ghota's. Since GW never expanded their storyline, we can assume that either they have successfully outlived the Emperor and become more raidy, pillagey, and space piratey than the Dark Eldar, or that the result of all their careful work was that they up and turned into uber powerful heroes of the Imperium... we have no idea. They may have just settled down on Terra. However, since the Siege of Terra is getting its own series, it is possible for them to show up again.

=== Arik Taranis Facts ===
Despite being outdated and retired, Arik has demonstrated some epic Primarch-level shits:

*He knocked down the "Azurite Tower" during the Unification Wars, as well as earning tons of fucking countless titles.
*He survived the Battle of Mount Ararat, a final yet deadly battle that nearly wiped out his army, meaning he gets shit done even if it almost killed him.
*His Thunder Warrior subordinate Ghota can fight 5 elite Astartes to a stalemate even killing one of them, yet Ghota bows to Arik. Although that doesn't mean Arik is physically stronger than Ghota, is just Ghota having more loyalty to his master.
*Arik has the Emperor's knowledge on gene-seed which the Emperor somehow allows. If Arik were still be alive today, he could probably be the greatest Apothecary in the Imperium, next to The Emperor and Eldar goddess [[Isha]] (and [[Fabius Bile|Apothecary Fabius]] if he hadn't turned [[heresy|bad]]).
*Atharva, one of the outcast dead and a powerful Thousand Sons psyker observed Arik and commented that he has an: "aura too bright to look upon. His presence had a gravity all it's own, demanding all attention and fear." and he "could barely stand to turn his psychic senses on him for fear of being overwhelmed.". Keep in mind only the Emperor and the Primarchs has that kind of aura, yet Arik, a Thunder Warrior has that kind of aura surrounding him. This also raised an interesting theory about him being the test subject of the Primarch project, where the Emperor imbued part of his soul onto a living being using somekind of forgotten psychic technique.
*He is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranis Taranis], the Celtic god of... [[Just as Planned|thunder]]. So yeah, the guy is literally a god-tier (thunder) warrior. Interestingly, this actually could be evidence of his fandom's pseudo-Primarch/proto-Primarch (the physical prototype as opposed to [[The Angel]] being the soul prototype) view of him. Because being a Thunder Warrior named after a god of thunder has some...implications.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Mk1 Thunder Armour.jpg| Thunder armor is said to be inferior to space marine armor, but it is nonetheless more badass because it comes with a biker shade.
File:Thunder Warrior 1.jpg|One of the Thunder Warriors officers. May or may not be Arik Taranis.
File:Thunder Warrior 2.jpg
File:Thunder Warrior 3.jpg
</gallery>
{{Imperium}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]