Apriori Public Service Announcements

The following article is a /tg/ related story or fanfic. Should you continue, expect to find tl;dr and an occasional amount of awesome.

The Knights Inductor and Aprior Sector believe in informing their citizens of the dangers of the galaxy, so that they are prepared to deal with them (though “deal with” usually means “don't touch it and call us”). One tool by which they accomplish this is through Public Service Announcements. By Not LongPoster.

The Threat Beyond: Chaos, Daemons, Cults and You

Humanity owes much to the Warp: communications and vessels travel through it far faster than they ever could in the material realm. However, it is a dangerous, alien thing that is best left to those equipped to handle it – Librarians, Astropaths, and other Imperially-trained and accredited psykers. Those who seek to tamper with the Warp are a danger to themselves and to everyone around them, like an untrained child playing with a lasgun, but the dangers of the Warp are more subtle and potentially more devastating than any material weapon.

There are creatures that dwell within the Warp, the daemons of Chaos, and their goal is nothing less than the destruction of reality as we know it. Many millennia ago, the God-Emperor of Mankind sacrificed His material existence and ascended into the Warp so that He could guide all of humanity and protect them from these creatures, but there are humans who would cooperate with them and undermine His efforts. Daemons promise power to those who cooperate with them, in exchange for performing rituals that weaken the boundary between our world and theirs.

The resulting exposure to the Warp can cause physical injury and mutation, both in those exposed and in their descendents. While cult leaders and other individuals who deliberately and directly traffic with the Warp can fairly be blamed for whatever fate befalls them, innocent bystanders cannot. The vast majority of mutants are no more to blame for their conditions than a Space Marine candidate is to blame for his gene-seed compatibility, and treating them as if their physical condition indicates moral inferiority will only drive them into the service of Chaos. By the grace of the God-Emperor and His servants in the Medicae and Adeptus Mechanicus, treatment and recovery is possible.

The other danger of the Warp is to the mind. Cults will dominate and manipulate the minds of would-be “recruits” to swell their numbers. In general, if members of a cult are unwilling to describe their rituals to outsiders, or are expected to cut all ties from society, or return to society with drastic personality changes, you should be suspicious and report them to Internal Security; we will investigate, and determine if they are a threat. Again, with counseling, support from friends and family, and faith in the God-Emperor, it is possible for the enthralled to be treated.

If you should find yourself confronted by the forces of Chaos, do not panic. Instead, try to discern their goal. If their goal is violent, such as using you for a sacrifice, attempt to disengage; running to a populated, well-lit area will most likely suffice. As Chaos cults prefer to stay under the radar until they can build a critical mass, they will typically not pursue. If you can get away, inform the authorities immediately, as a Chaos cult will only seek sacrifices when they are on the brink of taking action.

A more likely reason for an encounter with Chaos is that they are seeking new followers. If this is the case, gently but firmly refuse them – this may be made difficult by warp-magics, but always be aware that, however tempting their offer may be, the Ruinous Powers do not care about you, and their followers will betray you at the drop of a hat should they feel it advantageous to do so; only the Imperium and the God-Emperor have humanity's best interests at heart. Once the situation is defused, report your encounter to a trusted authority, and consider getting a medical examination, as close contact with Chaos can result in minor corruption.

Infiltrators and Manipulators: The Eldar

Eldar often proclaim to humans that they live in isolation from “lesser creatures” such as ourselves, but repeated encounters with Eldar infiltrators who live among humans in secret prove that this claim is (as are so many other things the Eldar claim) a lie. It is true that they do not overtly interact with humans; rather, they prefer to work from the shadows. It is entirely possible to live alongside a disguised Eldar and never become aware of the fact. Nevertheless, their disguises and glamors do fall from time to time, and so you may occasionally catch a glimpse of their true nature. If this should happen to you, give no sign that you have seen anything out of the ordinary – the Eldar will almost certainly not react well if it realizes that its deception has been discovered. Instead, take a note of whether its armor and weapons are smooth or sharp and spiky.

Smooth-armored Eldar (known to themselves as “Craftworld” Eldar) are seldom as hostile to humanity as, for example, the forces of Chaos, but they must not be considered friendly, either. To them, we are inferior creatures, second-class citizens of the galaxy at best, and ignorant savages which must be destroyed at worst. They are too few to stand directly against us, but they are more than willing to manipulate human affairs to serve their ends, regardless of how many human beings may die as a result. Craftworld Eldar can also be powerful allies of circumstance, but be wary: they always have ulterior motives.

Spiky-armored Eldar (called “Dark Eldar” by Craftworld Eldar – that they are considered “dark” by consummate manipulators speaks ill of their nature) are similarly manipulative, but their goals are not so veiled as the Craftworld Eldar's are: they wish to capture humans in as great quantities as possible, for an end unknown to us but undoubtedly wicked. Do not trust them or traffic with them for any reason, or you may discover those ends personally.

Once you have detected the Eldar infiltrator, report your discovery to the authorities – several authorities, just in case. Be aware that you will likely find yourself captivated by its appearance. Always remember to pay attention to the Eldar's actions, and bear in mind that, whatever your feelings towards the Eldar are, it almost certainly will not reciprocate them. The word by which they call humanity translates to that which must be destroyed, and that is all you are to them.

The Not-So-Greater Good: Dissecting and Debunking the Claims of the Tau Empire

The Tau Empire claims to be a beacon of order and progress in a disordered galaxy. As proof, they report that Imperial worlds are readily joining their philosophy of the Greater Good. Our intelligence shows that this cannot be further from the truth.

The Imperium demands much of its citizens in return for its protection, but these demands are applied at every level – from the God-Emperor of Mankind down to the most menial of laborers, all contribute to the Imperium through their sacrifices, and while generals (for example) do not serve in the same way as the guardsmen under their command, they lead from the fore and by example. In contrast, the Ethereals, the ruling body of the Tau Empire, are almost never seen on the battlefield. They receive the benefits of rule without making any sacrifices or taking any risks like those they demand of their vassals.

Reports from Tau defectors suggest that, when taking worlds, the Tau Empire prefers to do so by trickery than with overt violence. The Empire will pay mercenaries to intercept vital shipments, payments, and communications, to convince the people of that planet that the Imperium has abandoned them. The Empire will then appear to gladly supply whatever the world needs, often using the supplies which their mercenaries intercepted, in exchange for involving themselves in the planet's culture. Once they have reached critical mass, and the planet's infrastructure and defense are wholly dependent on the Tau, they will “encourage” people to undergo “re-education” and submit themselves to reproductive control, all in the name of the Greater Good, of course. At that time, the world will belong to the Tau, and they will bend its resources to spreading their Empire even further.

The Metal Lives: Identifying and Dealing With Necrons

We have very little hard information on the Necrons, except that they are almost impossibly old. They do not frequently communicate as we do, but those communications we have received bear messages demanding our submission or declaring that we will be destroyed. Either course of action is, of course, contrary to Imperial interests.

In general, the best way to deal with Necrons is to avoid waking them up in the first place. If you discover ancient ruins, especially if they are built of strange metals or advanced technologies, do not disturb them. Instead, report them to Internal Security, and we will send a team to investigate. Do not excavate or explore the tomb until their investigation is complete.

The Green Tide: Orks

Orks are almost refreshingly straightforward, compared to our more enigmatic foes, as they are driven to fight, and the more and bigger opponents, the better. From afar, their antics can be almost comical, but they are devastating opponents up close and inevitably found in large numbers. Furthermore, their biology appears to be more akin to a fungus than a conventional pest; this means that an Ork invasion will be extremely hard to completely flush out, as their spores can spread far and lie dormant for years before seeding another Waaagh!

For the most part, civilized worlds with advanced sanitation programs will not have problems with Orks, as there is nowhere for the spores to settle and grow. Our Agri Worlds do have recurring Ork problems; thankfully, Orks are not subtle, and so an Ork invasion will be extremely obvious and, if caught early and cauterized diligently, simple to contain.

The All-Devouring Swarm: Tyranids

Although the Tyranids' precise origins are unknown to us, they are not daemons, an expression of the God-Emperor's disapproval, or whatever other apocalyptic rumors are circulating. They are living, flesh-and-blood creatures, no less vulnerable to lasguns and bolter shells than any other living creature. In many ways, though, the Tyranids are not so much a swarm of aliens as a viral ecosystem, and so it is often useful to discuss the Tyranids with the language of the Medicae.

Like viral diseases, a Tyranid infestation progresses through several stages, and preventing an infestation from occurring at all is much easier than exterminating an invasion which has taken root. The exact causal relationship is not entirely clear, but planetary invasions are predated by a Genestealer cult infestation. It is not a coincidence that planets experience rebellions led by these cults in the years leading up to a Tyranid invasion; the cults are softening up their planet for the Swarm's benefit.

The key to surviving the Tyranids, then, is to identify and destroy Genestealer cults, or even prevent them from being founded. Genestealer cults thrive and grow along similar patterns to Chaos cults, and most of the warning signs are similar. The major difference is that there is an additional biological component to their method of exerting control. This provides an additional technique for identifying cults in the form of screening by Medicae facilities, but unlike minor Warp influence, no successes in reversing Genestealer implantation and restoring the individual have been reported. Genestealer cultists sometimes reach out to their friends and family for additional cult recruits, but in light of this biological alteration, it is clear that the individual is already effectively dead by the time this secondary recruitment drive occurs. The only response that honors the person they once were is to report them to the authorities immediately.