Editing Astral Wardens (section)

==Special units==

'''The Hellbenders''': As Calael Bishop first came to grips with his new position as Primarch of the V<sup>th</sup> Legion, he was faced with the herculean task of re-educating thousands of men to fight in a fashion completely unfamiliar to them, without the help of hypno-indoctrination to speed the process along. His answer to this dilemma was the Hellbenders, his Breacher squad from Providence, and his closest comrades-in-arms. The fighting portion of the Hellbenders was conveniently all male and close enough to human, and so at Bishop's request were swiftly granted the gene-augmentation necessary to become Half-Astartes, the closest an adult man could be to one of the Emperor's Angels. Each of the nine fighting Hellbenders was granted a ninth of the Legion to train in the year Bishop was given to settle his affairs on Providence before joining the Crusade, with Bishop, the tenth, overseeing the affair.
In the years that followed, the Hellbenders became Calael's honor guard. Their numbers dwindled throughout the Crusade, and full Astartes filled their positions, one by one. Only Endeavor Jones survived into the 41st millennium, haggard and scarred but determined to keep the Primarch's vision for the V<sup>th</sup> alive even after Calael's demise.

'''Luminary Corps''': Due to the V<sup>th</sup> Legion's small numbers and heavy focus on ten-man squads, a robust mortal auxilia corps is required to fill in the roles the Astartes cannot afford to take. Human soldiers take on the majority of duties in vehicular support, and they draw upon much of the same philosophy as their Astartes comrades-in-arms.

Unique among the Luminary Corps is the position of "Polestar." Aspirants with psychic potential who fail to meet the qualifications to become Astartes often volunteer for this position, and each mortal crew will have one or more Polestars whose task it is to establish a Weave amongst the group, giving them a faint echo of the psychic rapport that makes the V<sup>th</sup> so deadly. This practice affords the Luminary Corps great precision, and the ultra-agile ''Odonata''-pattern Aerovoid Fighter was developed specifically to exploit this advantage, almost being more of a stunt craft than a weapon of war.

'''Endlings''':  The psychic bond of the Weave is a tremendous boon for the Wardens, but it is a double-edged blade. To be linked in mind to your brothers-in-arms, to feel what they feel and to communicate without a spoken word, comes with the unspoken knowledge-  should they die, that death will be felt as keenly as if it was your own.

The loss of a squad member is a traumatic event, mollified only by the final goodbye afforded by the psychic shadows a fallen Warden leaves behind- but for those unfortunate few fated to survive where ''all'' their brothers perish, the guilt is often too much to bear. Members of the V<sup>th</sup>'s mortal Luminary support corps, and even some Marines, are often left so broken by these experiences they are unable to integrate with a new squad, their minds instinctively rejecting any psychic touch as a beaten dog flinches from a raised hand.

These individuals are known as Endlings among the V<sup>th</sup>, and are usually given the option of a quiet retirement, an offer that most mortals accept. However, even with the lessened hypno-indoctrination, a Marine's mind grieves differently than a mortal's. Some Endling Astartes submit to have their Geneseed harvested and retire for their remaining years, but many instead follow another path, exemplified by the first recognized as one of their kind- the Legion Champion, Finnavius Taggart. These men cast aside their shields and repaint their armor in the simple colors of the Greenboots who came before the Primarch's discovery. They are counted among the dead, and seek to take as many foes as possible into that good night before they are reunited with their fallen brothers.

Endlings are deployed to the field primarily as linebreakers, one-man armies given great discretion with their choice of armament and prosecution of their objectives. These men do not fear death, having already tasted of it- they fight with abandon and welcome the void as an old friend.
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