Editing Union Astarte (section)

==Notable Figures==

>Haraan Ban'Doon

There is a common misconception in the UA that the vast majority of Imperial servants are unwashed peasants, illiterate zealots who fear the sky. Likewise, the Imperium pontificates about mindless Union drones, milling about in sunless hives, faithless slaves to the merciless technocratic regime. In reality, the Imperium has just as many hive and industrial worlds as the UA on average, and base literacy is common in many worlds to promote reading scripture. Meanwhile in the Union there are scores of feral worlds that are dedicated to producing Astartes aspirants and Union Defense Force conscripts. This particular practice is relatively common on both sides of the Hellreef, and these are prized assets to claim by the humans superpowers, afterall, a fighter competent with a crossbow or arquebus is downright lethal with a lasgun. Devilsharks will often target these worlds close to their domain in the hopes that they will deny the opposition prime recruitment material. Scaddébraugh was one such world, embedded within the Hellreef itself. Under Imperial control the world was buffeted by Ork incursions on all sides, often Devilsharks warring with invading Klans. When such campaigns were poised to cost the Imperium the planet, they would send a Chapter of Marines to liberate it, and select the surviving adolescent males for recruitment, and the adult veterans for Guard service or induction in the Fratis or Sororitas Templars. After a warp storm cut off Imperial reinforcements the planet and its late medieval level of technology was left to fend for itself against a Devilshark raiding party.
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The defenders took to their keeps, their forts and their citadels, but the might of the Orks and their allies pushed them to breaking, even with their centuries of experience. A Corsair Explorator fleet caught wind of the situation, and with UDF support in tow, entered the fray. The Corsairs were well versed in dueling the Xenos of the Hellreef, and rebuffed them handily with the unexpected flank. The planet was liberated, and ostensibly, in Union control. To their surprise, the Imperial Faith was fairly sparse on this world. They venerated the Emperor as a distant and powerful High King, having united the warring clans in a time forgotten. Ancestor worship was far more common, as was worship of Imperial Saints as minor gods of various domains. The clanfolk of Scaddébraugh and their lax approach to the Faith allowed for them to be "integrated" into the Union with only minor Iron Guard reeducation protocols. The planet was then sold by the Corsairs to the central Union government, who used it extensively for UDF conscription and for the Stormtrooper programs, similar to the Imperium.
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Haraan Ban'Doon was one such conscript. Made an orphan by yet another Devilshark attack he was pressed into the local lord's service, a kindness to war orphans in his lands, and raised till adolescence in the levied forces. Haraan adopted his lord's clan name, a privilege afforded to him after taking command on the battlefield when his senior man-at-arms was struck down by an enemy huscarl during a land dispute. Despite his age he was able to seize the initiative and reform the scattered ranks, ultimately seeing the day won. It was clear he was destined for great things in the service of his lord, but his potential was also noticed by the Union in an Orkish assault, where under his leadership the clan's forces prevented even a single ork from breaching the keep's walls. 
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He was conscripted into Stormtrooper school, on the cusp of being too old for the gruelling reeducation and indoctrination the school instills in its prospects, but he took well to the training and excelled in his tasks and assessments. Once fully inducted into the force, he participated in several black ops missions deep in enemy lines. He performed admirably, even if it became apparent that his "rustic" upbringing wasn't completely stamped out by the rigours of the school. Often he would resort to using a power sword or ordinary commando stiletto to save himself ammunition. In his own words, "A blade never needs reloading, has no recoil, no muzzle flash, and is overall more satisfying." No matter the enemy he was determined and professional, but he always became more vicious and daring against the greenskins, always bearing down on them in a fashion borderline suicidal. 
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His excellence as a Stormtrooper and general disposition as a leader, he was sent to Commissar Selections. To the surprise of no one he was instated and promoted into the UDF Commissariat. Here he truly shone as a peerless leader of troops, as his stalwart and bold presence inspired troops from across the Union, cases of desertion and cowardice in battle became unheard of. In many cases, troops simply didn't want to be the one to desert under Commissar Ban'Doon. At this point in his career his knowledge and understanding of Ork psychology and "culture" became apparent. Inbetween campaigns he would be invited to lectures on the greenskins, and indeed he was amongst the first to infer that the differences between the Devilsharks and other Klans were deeper than simply cultural, and that the presence of the "Admiral" induced a sort of physiological change.
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At his posting at Vigilus he was involved in the Second and Third Hellreef Wars, where his expertise in the Orks was invaluable. He served alongside Grand Admiral and Fleetmaster Ousmane Keita'màario, and is distinguished amongst mankind in being one of the sparse few to actually encounter the Devilshark Admiral and live to tell the tale. The firsthand accounts by the Legion Master and Ban'Doon are one of the reasons the Galaxy at large even believes the Admiral of the Sharks exists at all. During these campaigns Ban'Doon formed a particularly intimate rivalry with the Devilshark Second in Command, Vise Admirul Thundajaw Uruk Mag Bloodteef. Ban'Doon is actually the reason for Bloodteef's appellation of "Thundajaw", as during their first duel at the culmination of months of tactical maneuvering and protracted engagements, Ban'Doon struck Bloodteef in the face with his powerfist, dislodging the Ork leader's jaw plate and dislocating the jaw itself, but shattering Ban'Doon's arm. The blow sent both sprawling, but they regained their feet, dazed and rung. They continued to duel, and despite his reduced state, Ban'Doon held his ground long enough for reinforcements from both sides to arrive, extracting the now battered fighters. This marked the end of the Second Hellreef War, the conflict ultimately resolving in a stalemate, which would lead to the Third Hellreef War.
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Ban'Doon claimed Bloodteef's imposing jaw plate for himself, adorning it upon his uniform as a pauldron, and replaced his ruined arm with a Power Klaw from an Ork Warboss slain he slew in the conflict. Bloodteef reforged his plate, using the powerclaws from fallen Astartes as a grim reminder to the Union of their losses inflicted in the war. For both commanders, they left the war with something akin to respect for eachother, and Ban'Doon's long history of close combat against Ork-kind elevated him to a sort of hero amongst the greenskins. In their eyes, there was no finer human ever made, a pinnacle amongst his people. His reputation was both a blessing and a curse, due to lesser klans actually fearing him and avoiding his campaigns, and greater contenders actively seeking him out for a scrap. For Ban'Doon, he cared little, as long as Orks fell dead at his feet. 
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He retired soon after the war, settling in Macragge as an instructor at the Union War College, teaching both aspiring UDF high officers and Legion commanders. The effects of old age and a life of warfare began to take their toll, even with the extensive bionics and rejuvenation procedures he underwent to stay in the frontlines. Some pressured him to run for Force Commander of the Union, but he'd rather deal with the dangers of war rather than the dangers of politics. When the Third Hellreef war broke out, now with the Hive Fleets and Leviathan Host and Forge Lords in the conflict, he felt compelled to return to service as a Commisar. Even at his age the return to battle reinvigorated Ban'Doon, and he assumed his position as if he hadn't aged a day. Now joined by the Astral Wardens, Nova Dragoons, and Corsairs Gallant, the Union response was swift and deadly. When the fourfold forces met at Vigilus the Union found, shockingly, that the Devilsharks elected to ignore the Union-held fronts in favour of fighting the Great Devourer and the forces of Chaos.
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When asked about this peculiar behavior, Ban'Doon stated, "Thundajaw doesn't want to share the battlefield. Frankly, I don't care to either." In a bizarre moment of solidarity, the pirate armies and the Union fighters simply ignored each other to engage the other invaders. The Admiral of the Sharks himself did battle with Warmaster Set, a legendary battle that shook the very ground they bloodied, which was brought to an unsatisfying end by Forge Lord orbital bombardment, no doubt intentional. The Warmaster and the Beast escaped narrowly, only for Set to encounter the Dragoons in the next line of defense. Emperor Leothe Merovín led the charge into the traitor lines, which found Set once again dueling a faction leader. This time he was found bested by the Lion of the East, after Leothe planted a melta bomb on Set's person whilst grappling. The victory was short lived as the witch Eris issued a psychic scream that sent Leothe flying. That front was eventually lost before the parallel lines of the Devilshark and Union navies made pressing into Union space impossible.
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Legion Master Erasmus Cochrane of the Astral Wardens meanwhile used his extensive knowledge of combatting Genestealers to repel the Xenos swarms, using easily scuttled space hulks as chokepoints for the encroaching hive fleets. Once the war was simplified to the two factions, the Sharks and the Union, the war began in earnest. Once more Thundajaw and Haraan Ban'Doon sought each other out, the two forces surging into eachother with zeal. The final battle of the war was legendarily bloody, and the tide turned against the Union as the Admiral's hand was revealed. Using dark bargains with the Dark Eldar and other Ork Klans, the enemy force multiplied, and the Union found themselves vastly outnumbered. Only the last minute reinforcement of the Dusk Phantoms and the Iron Guard saved them from losing Vigilus and the entire western front. Even still, it was divine intervention that saved Ban'Doon's life. Struck by a vision, the prophetic Thundajaw saw Gork and Mork calling him elsewhere, and his Devilsharks abandoned the war. The enemy force was broken, and the Dark Eldar and Orks summoned by the Admiral turned against the Sharks, feeling betrayed. The enemy forces collapsing to infighting, Ban'Doon took his dedicated force and took to chasing the Devilsharks through the Helltrench, where he has remained since.