Duniya Kanaash

Duniya Kanaash
Title/Honours	High-Adept of the Ordo Reductor, Lord of Blessed Ruin, Father of Destruction
Role	Traitor. One of the four Autopostates of Mars

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Duniya Kanaash was an adept of Mars who turned to the worship of Chaos and fought alongside the Traitors during the Hektor Heresy. He held many titles, such as Lord of Blessed Ruin, the Father of Destruction, the Omnissiah’s Obliterator, High-Adept of the Ordo Reductor. Later, darker ones included the Crimson Lord, the Murderdax, the Brass Vulture and the Gorebringer.

History

War in Sol

The existence of Man is an existence of war, fighting both for their beliefs and causes and against external enemies. For proof, look no further than the Sol System during the Age of Strife.

-Kunaash, Galactic War, Coda 1.7.7

The Mechanicum had been born in war, war had forged and tempered the Machine Cult into the power it had become, and those who made war were highly regarded within the Mechanicum, none more than the Myrmidons, an order of Techpriests who had devoted themselves solely to the arts of war. Duniya Kanaash was one of many who chose war as his profession. Of his life before the Myrmidons nothing is known, but somehow as a menial he impressed the Myrmidax enough that he was let into their number and given the mark of the Skull and Cog.

Thanks to the meticulous records Kanaash kept of himself which were freely given to those who wished to study them, his war service during the Unification Wars is well known. He fought against the Forge Lord of Nili Patera and the Master of Mondus Gamma, He battled Xenos Raiders striking from their bases in Jupiter against the Martian Mines in the Asteroid Belt, and he was part of the Mechanicum force that assaulted Luna to steal the secrets of Pallas Eugenesis’ gene-forge. Throughout all this he fought because that was what he did. Neither he nor any other Myrmidon stopped to ask why they were fighting, for what cause and towards what end. They had been made to fight wars, and that was all they would do.

Most importantly for his future Kanaash was present on Terra twice, both times having a major effect upon him. The first time he was a lowly Secutor who was part of the force sent to defend the Outpost of Iota-Pi 6-0 while the archeotech horde stored there was evacuated to Mars. There he fought hand to hand with the most deadly warriors in the Sol System at the time, the Thunder Warriors. Kanaash lost an arm there, and was left with a deep impression of the savage gene-bred warriors of the Terran Emperor. Of all the foes he had faced, they were by far the deadliest. During his recovery he spent much time examining the records of the engagement, as well as fragmentary reports of the Terran Emperor's conquests of Terra. It was at this moment that he first deducted that the Terran Emperor was the most dangerous foe the Mechanicum had ever faced and one who could even conceivably bring Mars itself to its knees. When he returned to service he found himself with the most unlikely of things: a cause. He was strident in his calls for a preventive war to keep the Terran Emperor from upsetting the delicate balance of power, and began pressing his fellow Myrmidons to join him in petitioning the Fabricator General to make the Terran threat his prime concern.

He found himself with an unlikely ally in the form of Valran Burija, Forge Lord of Urbis Juventas. Burija met several times with Kanaash, pouring over Kanaash’s research into the Thunder Warriors and discussing how easily the Emperor was overrunning his Terran foes. To Kanaash, Burija alone could also see the rising storm. The Terran Emperor could not be underestimated, and nor could he be ignored. To others within the Ordo Myrmidon, Kanaash was too preoccupied on the Terran threat. The Xenos Overlords of Jupiter were considered a greater foe, especially after they tried and failed to raid the Deimos Forges. Kanaash continued to make strident calls for a greater focus on Terra and followed with interest any news from the Homeworld, but for all that he was seen as a crackpot.

War on Terra

I fought many things during the many wars of the Sol System before unity. Hulking Selenar Ironclads, Jovian Xenodrones and Cy-Carnivora swarms. But the screaming Stormbirds, the ruthless discipline of the Astartes as they tore through line after line of Skirarii and Tech-Thralls, and the sight of General Hektor taking apart both the Myrmidax Prime and the Fabricator General with his spear still lingers with me.

-Kunaash, Galactic War, Coda 2.2.6

When Luna fell before the armies of the Emperor, Burija’s arguments became too great to ignore and he was elected as Fabricator General. Straight away he appointed Kanaash to lead the group who would formulate the plans to assault Terra. Kanaash was vindicated and could now put years of work into practice. For even as he battled with Jupiter Xenos and wayward Martian Magi he had been studying the combat tactics of the Thunder Warriors, their reliance on close-quarters combat and frontal assaults. He had a foolproof strategy for fighting the Terran super-soldiers. Martian Firepower would be key to keeping them off the Martian lines, and for that Titans would be the ultimate weapon. His combat protocols for countering Thunder Warriors were copied and spread throughout the Skitarii, Thallaxi and other troops being mustered to assault Terra. His star within the Myrmidon Order was ascending and proof came of this when the supreme master of the Myrmidons, Kaerl Wach appointed Kanaash to be his second for the assault upon Terra.

The Legions of Mars set out for Terra in high spirits, but the assault ended in the disaster known later as Burija's Folly. Kanaash’s protocols for fighting Thunder Warriors were useless against the Astartes who made up the assaulting Army. Wach was killed defending the Fabricator General from Hektor Cincinnatus, broadcasting his command protocols to Kanaash even as his broken shell was crushed beneath Hektor’s boot. Kanaash rallied his Myrmidon Secutors to defend the stricken Titan landers, for there would be no higher stain on the honor of the Mechanicum or insult to the Machine God than if the Terran Emperor captured a God-Engine intact. Even then they could not save the downed Legio Mortis Imperator Titan Martialis Hyaenidae, and that most ancient and renowned Titan had to be destroyed to prevent it falling into the hands of the Astartes. The Myrmidons reaped a fearsome toll among the assaulting Astartes, but faced with a foe for whom they had no effective counter there was never a doubt as to the ultimate outcome. Kanaash wished to remain with his Myrmidons as the rearguard, but Zorr Yenser, who was in overall command forced him into joining the Martian Forces as they evacuated.

Kanaash returned to Mars beaten and despondent. Mars could not hope to prevent the Unification of Terra now. Five Titans were lost including Martialis Hyaenidae, a crime that all of Mars felt keenly. Years of work had been wasted, and all Kannash’s plans and schemes were laid waste. Kanaash the Crackpot was the nickname spread throughout the Ordo Myrmidon, and even as he was inaugurated as Myrmidax Prime a score of challengers rose up to wrest the title from him.

For several days Kanaash locked himself away in the data-archives of the Ordo Reductor, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong, what he had done wrong. After countless hours of reading through endless documents on war, Kanaash reached a revelation. They had been going at it all wrong. He had been fighting, but he had not been fighting for anything. The Ordo Myrmidon had fought their battles because that was all they knew. But there needed to be something greater to why they fought. The Terran Emperor’s men fought for a cause, and that was what the Mechanicum needed. And that cause was Terra. The threat of Terra was a cause all the Mechanicum could believe in, could fight for, could die for.

Kanaash emerged from his seclusion and straight away accepted his many challenges. Though he won them all, his body was rent and broken. He deduced that his personal combat skills were lacking, and given that the Terran General Hektor had felled his predecessor and the Fabricator General in close-quarters combat, Kanaash would need to improve his own skills in that area if he had a hope of winning the second round.

With his body still broken and his new form yet unforged, Kanaash addressed the assembled Myrmidax of the order. There had been a setback, yes, but the chance would come to even the score. They needed to be ready for the second round. He would give the Myrmidons a purpose, a foe to face and a task to perform. They would learn how to kill Astartes.

War Averted

There is much fear of the Emperor's Astartes. But never forget this: they can bleed, and they can die.

-Kanaash, speaking in council to the Martian Parliament

Kanaash began a deep study into the ancient military philosophers of the human past. Machulius and Antaxus, Von Klowswitts and Soo, all of them Kanaash devoured with a frightening intensity. The notions of a Just War, of Eschatological Conflict and war as a tool of states were all absorbed and synthesized by Kanaash. He defined the coming War with Terra in all three categories. It was a Just War because the Terran Emperor posed a threat not just to Mars, but to the entire Sol System. It was an Eschatological Conflict because the ultimate outcome was to remove the threat of Terra forever. And war was a tool of the Emperor to achieve his goals of unification and pacification of all threats to his power, and thus would also be a tool of Mars to oppose him.

Alongside his philosophical education came a martial one. Kanaash began to study and practice as many forms of single combat as he could, learning each in turn before moving on to the next. The Terran Warlord Hektor was surely the greatest opponent any could ever hope to face, but Kanaash would defeat him. He taught himself the Maku Skara of Europa, the Baresark of Skandermark and every other unique style of fighting he could find. He routinely practiced his skills on those Myrmidons who continued to challenge his position as head of the order, and soon he inaugurated fighting tournaments where all the Myrmidons could test their skills on each other, giving yet another outlet for the martial order to improve itself. Kanaash's popularity within the Myrmidon Order swiftly grew, and he gave the order a new sense of purpose and being. No more did they make war for war's sake, but to improve both themselves and the Mechanicum they were a part of.

Throughout all this he continued to press for a second crack at Terra. The Martian Fleet still outnumbered and outgunned anything Terra possessed. Once the recovered Vid and Pict-caps of the Astartes were properly analyzed, they would know how to fight and kill them. There would be no repeat of Burija’s folly. This almost became an obsession. To the peace party on Mars Kanaash was crazy, one who would see half the Mechanicum sacrificed if it would put the threat of Terra down for good.

No-one, certainly not Kanaash could have predicted what came next. The Emperor slipped through the Iron Ring alone and landed atop Olympus Mons, and there the Fabricator General simply caved in and swore allegiance to the Terran Warlord. Kanaash was rocked by this sudden turn of events, and he swiftly sent out feelers to Urbis Juventas to find out where they stood. Terra had long loomed in his mind and he had been planning for the war he knew was coming, for Mars and Terra simply could not co-exist within the Solar System, not when the Terran Emperor had already proven his lust for conquest.

For Fabricator General Kalkas Tygian, Kanaash was a problem that had to be neutralized or removed. No-one was more opposed to the Emperor and any union with Terra than Kanaash. The entire Myrmidon Order was behind him, and if they joined forces with Urbis Juventas then they could pose a real threat to the Fabricator General. But Kanaash was also one of the most accomplished commanders in the entire Mechanicum, and his death could galvanize the Myrmidons against him.

It was the Emperor who had the answer. He had been studying the many Mechanicum Lords who stood against him, and he found Kanaash a fascinating figure, someone who wanted to elevate War to a philosophy as well as a science. Such a figure could prove useful in his planned conquest of the stars. The Emperor requested to meet with Kanaash in person.

The Emperor's War

Kanaash agreed, for he held a long fascination with the Terran Emperor who had haunted him for so long even as he had worked to combat him. For one of the first times in his life Kanaash was unarmed as he met with the golden Master of Terra. The Emperor was nothing like what Kanaash had expected, someone as well versed in philosophy as war, and he questioned Kanaash's own philosophical underpinnings, asking whether both Mars and Terra could profit from war, or whether any war could be considered to nbe just given the inevitable casualty counts. For several hours the two engaged in a battle of wills, before the Emperor congratulated Kanaash for his wisdom and foresight and offered him a stunning opportunity.

The Emperor spoke of his plans for Galactic Conquest, Wars so big in scale even Kanaash was left stupefied. His wars would give all mankind purpose, and his wars would not the empty ones Kanaash had fought for so many decades. Towards that end, He was already working with the Fabricator General to create an organization that would be used to reduce and destroy any bulwark that would slow the progress of the Great Crusade. But mere destruction would not serve the Emperor's purpose. It had to be destruction with cause, and Kanaash could provide that cause. He offered Kanaash the position of Master of the Ordo Reductor, a position of immense power within the Great Crusade.

There was much that wasn't said however. If Kanaash become the head of the Ordo Reductor than he would be forced to give up his position as head of the Myrmidon order and surrender his holdings on Mars. At a stroke any power he once held over Martian politics would be removed.

Kanaash was no fool, He could see both sides of the debate, and was not entirely swayed by the Emperor's promises to respect the separate identity of Mars. The Emperor had said similar things on Terra, and it had never ended well. Plus the memory of the humiliation of Burija’s folly still lingered. Kanaash cut a deal. He would fight a duel with Hektor, the General who had defeated his predecessor on Terra. If Hektor won, Kanaash would forswear all rights to Mars and leave the Myrmidon Order to serve the Emperor in his plan of galactic conquest. If Kanaash won, then the Emperor would leave Mars for good. While the Fabricator General was horrified, the Emperor merely laughed and agreed.

Hektor's first visit to Mars was for a duel. Kanaash had been spending days studying and practicing as many forms of martial skill as possible and wielding the Axe of his former Master, met Hektor on the Slopes of Olympus Mons. The Battle was short but brutal, and Hektor was bleeding from a score of wounds. But Kanaash was rent of all his limbs and left broken and helpless on the red soil of Mars. Hektor would later boast that Kanaash had 'lasted five minutes more than his predecessor - five minutes and nothing more.' Even to a being as logical and efficient as Kanaash, this was a humiliation that would linger. Perhaps it is here that the first canker of darkness was born, one which would not be seen for over two hundred years, but which would continue to grow and fester.

Kanaash's defection to the Emperor's side was a bitter blow to the lords of Urbis Juventas. They had long held Kanaash as their firmest friend and closest ally in the struggle against Terra. With him gone, they had no more friends and shortly afterward their forge was razed by the Fabricator General. Kanaash gave no comment.

Personality

His magnum opus would be 'Galactic War', a series of tomes covering every angle of the science and philosophy of War. It would be compared to the War Philosophies of Soo and Klowswitts as the seminal work on the subject of War in the modern age. Unknowingly it was completed and released during the 'year of fortune', 850.M30 and one of those who received a copy was the newly found Primarch Gaspard Lumey. Though enamored of the far reach and complex thought of 'Galactic War', Lumey did have a few reservations and sent a list of addendums and corrections based on his own experiences on Ciban. Though many others would have been affronted, Kanaash welcomed the additions and sent a revised copy to Lumey, as well as putting out a second edition including those changes that same year. The 'Lumey Edition' became the definitive one for over a fifty years, though Kanaash continued to tinker with 'Galactic War' throughout the Crusade. 'Galactic War' would survive the Rebellion, and even in M41 it remains a mandatory read for Imperial Warmasters and Lords Solar. However the original author has long been forgotten, and to all but a few Inquisitors and Astartes Chapter Masters, the author of 'Galactic War' is Gaspard Lumey himself.

Later works would not have the same effect or longevity. 'Eternal War', his final work before his fall to darkness was a depressing look at the twin evils of eternal war and lasting peace. It said that of the two, eternal war was preferable, for peace would bring about another decline and another Age of Strife while war unending would continuously test and temper the human race.