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Broken Aquila

2017-06-04T17:35:47Z

2A02:C7D:CA0:8500:B94E:A8AD:5AE4:221B:

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The Warband of the Broken Aquila, formerly the [[Night Lords]] 10th Company, is a warband of Chaos Space Marines, of the Night Lords Legion if we still had to point that out. They're the guys you see in [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden]]'s Night Lords trilogy.

It was known as the Warband of the Exalted when it was headed by the Exalted/Vandread. Its name was changed informally to the Warband of the Broken Aquila when [[Talos]] took over, because his breastplate has an Aquila that was broken with a hammer to signify that they piss on their old ties to the Imperium. [[FAIL|It was originally inspired when Talos took a bolt shell to the chest on Isstvaan and his friend Cyrion said it looked good.]]

==Members==

Talos : The leader of First Claw and former apothecary. His main schtick is that he has part of the Night Haunter's precognition, which is occasionally useful, but is also breaking his body down. Is oddly principled for a traitor marine and spends a lot of his time looking for some purpose other than just terror murdering. He also makes a point of looking after his serfs well, provided they do what he tells them. A notable part of his character is that he isn't the most powerful or even the best fighter ; instead he's the best at keeping a cohesive squad together and focused, which considering how dysfunctional the Night Lords are is saying something. He's also notable for being the one who hunted down and killed Curze's assassin, although she [[Blood Ravens|got away with the relics]] first. Dies with most the squad taking down Jain Zar herself, although given that she's a Phoenix Lord she'll be back at some point in the future.

Xarl : The beatstick of First Claw. Talos's childhood friend (less so now) and regarded as the best fighter in the company. He's used as a threat by Talos to make anyone trying to edge for command by murdering their superiors. Apart from being an abrasive snarker, there isn't a lot else to say about him. Dies after headbutting a loyalist marine champion to death through his HELMET - Xarl wasn't wearing one.

Cyrion : The snarky, witty one. The closest thing to a friend Talos has and would appear to the be most normal of the claw. Unknown to everyone, he has a Slaaneshi curse that lets him sense the fear of everyone around him. This would normally be considered an absolute chaos-godsend for a Night Lord but has the rather drastic drawback of not being able to turn it off and being horribly addictive, forcing him to go on secret serial-killing spree's of the ships crew. Luckily for Cyrion, he has an eminently suitable patsy in..

Uzas : The one no likes but keeps around because he's useful. The most obviously corrupted member of the squad, openly worshipping Khorne and going into beserker furiess. Whilst he usually targets crew serfs, he occasionally attacks his fellow Night Lords. Even Xarl has problems keeping him at bay during his rages. He's put on execution notice by Talos for his various transgression, though the sad part is that it's not entirely his fault - he doesn't remember anything he does when he loses control and Cyrion keeps getting him to take the fall for his own murder sprees. He's more than a bit tetchy when he finds out the truth.

Mercutian : The closest thing to a normal member of the squad, being First Claw's heavy weapons guy. Not originally a member of 10th Company but is adopted after the events of the first book. Unlike the others, who were typical gangsters on Nostromo, Mercutian was a spire born aristo, something the others don't let him forget. Is a believer in the in-universe fan theory that Sevetar is still alive in the present.

Variel : A Red Corsair who joins the Night Lords because they're more his style (and the Red Corsairs are pricks). Former Apothecary Secundus, neat-freak, and medic / torturer extraordinaire. Comes across as borderline autistic; hates being touched and incapable of picking up on relevant social cues. Despite this, he and Talos have a bond of loyalty based on principle rather than friendship. Is the only member of the squad to survive the events of the books.

Lucoryphus : The leader of the Bleeding Eyes raptor cult (which his in fact do, somehow through his helmet) and all round creepy bastard. Is sufficiently mutated that he finds walking on all fours easier. Has no sense of personal space and gives off the impression of being ready to betray his commander at a moment's notice. He's not a great commander as he gets most of his cult killed by taking on a group of Salamander terminators in the cramped confines of a space hulk but makes up for it by having lightning claws for feet.

Ruven : The one EVERYONE doesn't like, not just the Night Lords. Former librarian, sorcerer, and all-round prick. Ditches the Night Lords to join the Black Legion but is quickly ditched by them when his plans don't work. Joins the Red Corsairs but fucks up again, and is chained up in a room with no food or water and really powerful spotlights shining in his eyes, which is a very effective method of torturing a Night Lord. Is allowed to rejoin the Warband for probably the most elaborately stupid heist to steal a strike cruiser back (by attacking a loyalist fortress monastery as a distraction). Is so unpopular that two baseline humans, a navigator, and a blind mutant with a sawnoff basically tell him to fuck off and succeed. Stupidly decides that betraying the only people who took him back in was a good idea but Talos was sensible enough to cut him in half before he could even try.

Malcharion: The War-Sage and former Captain of the 10th company before he was interred in a Dreadnought. Due to the difficulty of reactivating him, he was left in the care of 10th Company's resident tech priest, who mostly just let him sleep. Was reawakened on Talos's orders when a leadership dispute threatened what little cohesion the Warband of the Exalted had. His first action was to turn an assault terminator who had been sent to stop his awakening into swiss cheese with his autocannon. Was "killed" again taking down the Blood Angel's equivalent of Bjorn the Fell-Handed. Unknown to the rest of the crew, his casket was saved and he was reactivated for the events of Void Stalker.

Vandred / The Exalted : Leader of the warband before Talos took over. Is in the slow process of possession by a Tzeentch demon, who keeps Vandred's soul bottled down. Is a genius at naval warfare but only whilst it can draw on Vandred's memories - it starts panicking when it can't do this. It has a love / hate relationship with Talos ; seeing him as a threat to it's authority but acknowledging his influence and precognitive gifts. Vandred's soul plays a veeery long game of patience with it, saving enough willpower over the centuries to take control back at the right moment, save the rest of the warband, and then relinquishing control back so the demon would be destroyed in his body.

Septimus / Coreth : A human serf of Talos, the 7th if the name wasn't a giveaway. A former Imperial shuttle pilot, he became Talos's artificer after being captured on a raid, which makes him rather invaluable to the crew in general. Loyal to 10th company rather than Chaos or traitor forces in general. Also survives the events of the series, with a slim vestige of a happy ending (WHAT?! IN MY 40k!)

Octavia / Eurydice Mervallion : Talos's 8th serf and a Navigator. Quite young and unmutated for a member of the Nobilite (explained by her family being a weak one genetically and not very powerful on Earth). Got snatched from a 4th rate rogue trader and suddenly becoming the Navigator of an Astartes warship. Reality ensues when her inexperience and lack of power make this a very difficult job to perform. Gets knocked up by Septimus, earning the latter a pretty big beating from Talos when he hears her babies heartbeat. Has an odd relationshop with Talos, hating his guts for enslaving her and betraying the Imperium but kind of resigned to it. Also escapes the end of the books with a potentially happy ending.

Deltrian : The Tech-Priest assigned to 10th Company and the Warband(s). Looks like a taller thinner version of the terminator in a robe, partly as a move to inspire the same kind of fear his masters have. Creates a stealth device by broadcasting the torture screams of a Warhound princeps and converting it into a jamming signal. The other Night Lords were impressed by this practical application of their usual MO. Also survives the events of the books.

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[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Chaos]][[Category:Space Marines]][[Category:Stubs]]

Navigator

2017-06-04T17:03:33Z

2A02:C7D:CA0:8500:B94E:A8AD:5AE4:221B: /* In the beginning */

'''Navigators''' (''Homo navigo'') are <s>Warp tainted freaks</s> 3-eyed [[psyker]]s that are responsible for keeping [[Imperial Navy|your sorry-ass ship]] from getting lost in the [[warp]] and stop the [[Daemon|evil little critters]] from attacking. Well-known as arrogant cock-suckers who have families richer than Bill Gates and twice as corrupt as any 3rd world country's government.[[File:Navigator.jpg|270px|thumb|right|For when you have too much money and too many mutations...]]

Also, one of those parts of the [[Imperium of Man]] blatantly stolen from ''[[Dune]].''

==In the beginning==
Navigators were created through genetic engineering during the [[Dark Age of Technology]] when humanity realized that a special kind of psyker could find his way through the Warp better than any piece of technology. Navigators, with the third eye in the middle of their forehead, can look directly upon the Warp and perceive its currents, allowing longer and safer journeys through the very heart of the Warp. It's somewhat analogous to a sailing ship cutting right across the sea rather than hugging the coastline (although when you read the fluff on [[Tau]] ships it gets more confusing). Since the Astronomican didn't exist at the time, we can only assume the humans of the dark Age of Technology had invented artificial warp beacons and didn't need such a big lighthouse. After the Age of Strife the beacon network was destroyed until Big E managed to construct his own on Terra.

The genes that make a Navigator are recessive. If a Navigator mates with a regular human, all their kids will be normal. They thus had to <s>form an endogamous caste</s> resort to lots and lots of in-breeding, giving rise to the oft-told Imperial Navy joke, "How do you tell the difference between the Navigator's sister and father?" "You don't, they're the same person!" [sound of laughing followed by a summary execution] However, their genome is not stable like [[abhuman]]s, and are thus mutants. While their bodies conform to the holy human form while they are younger, prolonged exposure to the Warp, coupled with unstable genetics, will result in the Navigator developing mutations that deviate too far from the human form to be publicly accepted. There is not uniformity to the mutations, but depends on the Navigator. Usually they look like frogs, though. These members are known as the Elders, who actually form the leadership of a House. To maintain a public appearance, the Elders select the patriarch or matriarch of the House, known as either a Novator or Celestarch. In the earlier days of the Imperium, these grand poobahs used to accompany expeditions and were so talented they could guide fleets through the most tempestuous warp storm. Nowadays they're too precious to waste on anything dangerous, save for inter family murder-bickering on Terra.

==The Imperium==
When the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] set about uniting [[Terra]] and preparing to go to the stars, he was presented with a bit of a problem. Part of the [[Imperial Truth]] he was spouting maintained that humans were destined to rule the stars, and he was still centuries away from getting the [[Webway]] project up and running. Simply put, the Emperor needed the Navigators, even if he was fully aware of how "age before beauty" was a horrible lie to the Navigators. Deciding "fuck it, we need space travel", the Big E went to the Paternova (the leader of the Navis Nobilite) and made an agreement: "Keep to yourselves in your part of Terra and your mutant Elders out of sight, and we'll pay you to fly our starships and protect you from some of the more zealous anti-mutant groups". The Paternova agreed, and thus humans can fly through the Warp, using the [[Astronomican]] to navigate.

Who knows what the Emperor would have done with them had he completed his secret Webway project. It was pretty clear that he hated any psyker who wasn't absolutely necessary. <s>One time he even told his Space Marines to get rid of their Librarians.</s> That was only to put a leash on [[Magnus]] before he or [[Thousand Sons|his ilk]] would befriend some warplings during their [[magic]]-research. [[Not as planned|Too bad it backfired]] [[Prospero|spectacularly]].Space Furrys detected

In the 41st millennium, the Navigators are part of the [[High Lords of Terra]], represented by the Paternoval Envoy. A lot of people in the [[Administratum]], the [[Ecclesiarchy]], and the [[Inquisition]] aren't too thrilled with this, but they can't really do anything to the Navigators without irreparably crippling the Imperium. The more extreme ones ''still'' try to do something about it. Imperial dogma is frequently contradictory. Pointing this out is <s>[[Paranoia|treason]]</s> [[heresy]].

Being psykers, Navigators are vulnerable to madness and daemonic possession. The Inquisition (about the only people who can really touch them) keeps a close eye on the Navigator Families and has destroyed more than a few who became corrupted. The Navigators try to resolve such problems internally, knowing how overboard the Inquisition likes to go. Wars between Navigator Houses are not uncommon, but are frequently done on the down low. It is a mutually agreed-upon rule that you can wipe a rival House out and no one bats a third eye, but so much as leak one photograph of their Elders and pretty much every single Navigator in the Imperium will turn on the transgressor ASAP. From birth the Navigators are told just how fragile the whole charade about their mutation into a frog-fish hybrid is and it's very much drilled into them not to tell anyone about their visit to Granny in the basement.

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[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]]