Titan Marchers

Titan Marchers
Battle Cry	"March! Onward!" and "For the Titan Lord!"
Number	XVII
Founding	First Founding
Successor Chapters	Moon Raiders, Guardians Reforged, Honorable Cyclones, Diamond Smiths, Iron Ancients
Chapter Master	Jagan Lodhara
Primarch	Raj Vokar
Homeworld	Manaan
Strength	103,000
Specialty	Titanicus support operations. Heavy ordnance. Siege. Execution of Exterminati.
Allegiance	Loyalist
Colours	Blaze Orange, Azure Blue

This page is part of the Warmasters Triumvirate, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the Warmasters Triumvirate page for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Titan Marchers were XVIIth Legiones Astartes. Led by Raj Vokar, they would crush the enemies of mankind with heavy weaponry and the collossal might of the Titan warmachines. During the Brotherwar that followed the Great Crusade they would remain loyal to humanity, at the cost of their beloved gene-sire. They are still proud defenders of humanity deep into the 41st millenium, even after splintering into many different successor chapters.

History

Pre-Primarch History & Reunion

The XVIIth legion was founded in the waning years of the Unification Wars, recruits drawn primarily from the hive cities of Ursh. During their short tenure without a Primarch, they would go by 'the Steel XVIIth' and were already known for their characteristic calm and calculated stoicism. Unlike their late years however, the early XVIIth carried itself with a grim and dour nihilism. They thought of themselves as workhorses, grinding their way through the Great Crusade without much joy or purpose beyond the perpetuation of Mankind and service to the Emperor. The legion would only exist like this for a small number of decades.

Raj Vokar was the fifth Primarch to be rediscovered. After being spirited away from Terra, he had ended up on the forge world of Manaan on the border of Segmentum Solar and Pacificus. There, he had ultimately risen up against the noble class who had ruled the world from their paradise moon for millenia. With the use of cunning and brutal force, as well as the massive Titan-like war machines known as the Raakshas, Raj had set fire to the paradise moon and united Manaan under his banner.

Reunited with his gene-sons relatively early in Great Crusade, Raj had more than enough time to reshape the legion to his ideals and tactics. Upon his reunion with the Imperium and his legion, he found himself fascinated by the collosal Titans of the Adeptus Titanicus. Those massive walkers were very similar to ones found on Manaan. The Raakshas were based on the same technologies as the Imperium's Titans, but had diverted from the designs of the Machine God. Still they proved to be of great interest to the techpriests and in exchange for the secrets and facilities of Manaan, the Titanicus would provide the XVIIth legion with more Titan Legio cohorts than any other. This would lay the foundation of the future for the Steel XVIIth, or as they were now know, the Titan Marchers.

Not only did the Liberator of Manaan overhaul the Titan Marchers tactically, he also overhauled them culturally. Gone was the dour nihilism of the old days, replaced by optimistic self-reflection and a desire for self-improvement. Where Marchers had once thought of themselves as nothing more than tools who would work until they were broken, now they were proud warriors fighting not only for a better future for humanity, but for a better future for themselves.

The Great Crusade

When the Titan Marchers rejoined the Great Crusade after their reunion with their gene-sire, their role would be different from before, and every other legion. Instead of taking to a single front and pushing the borders of the Imperium, the Titan Marchers became a support legion that attached itself to other fleets and legions. This meant that over the course of the Great Crusade the Titan Marchers fought alongside their cousins from the other Legiones Astartes more than any other legion. This allowed them to build many strong relationships with their cousins, particularly the Silver Blades, Chosen of Hecate and Sentinels. Entire chapters of the XVIIth legion were attached to the main expedition fleets of other Primarchs, as a sign of unity and trust.

Over the course of the Great Crusade the Titan Marchers faced many of the terrifying horrors that skulked the galaxy, from the savage [Ork] WAAAGH!s to the mysterious and devious [Eldar]. They also faced the onslaught of the Rangdan Xenocides, crushed the Gykon, killed many Hrud and brought down countless non-compliant human cultures.

A Titan Marcher during the Great Crusade

The Titan Marchers were present during the Ullanor Campaign. Here Raj would first field his greatest creation: Apocalypse-class Super Battle Titan: the Apocalyptican. Assigned to the same prong of the campaign as Deshain Kane and the Emperor, the Marchers would follow behind the speartip of Custodes and Gunslingers lead by their primogenitors. Cut off from the rest and with the Custodians and Gunslingers slain, Deshain Kane, in an unprecedented act of selfish insolence, decided not to save the Emperor from the brutal Warboss Urlakk Urg. When Raj and his sons came to rescue the Emperor and the Primarch of the IIIrd, they found the Lone Gun defending his incapacitated father. He told them that the Emperor had come to his rescue and payed the price for it. Raj, while outraged, believed his brother and retired from the campaign with his legion in order to safely return the Emperor to Terra.

While Malcador the Sigillite declared the Warmasters Triumvirate, placing the Great Crusade in the hands of Jon-Frederic Aristide, Je'She of the Watch and Marduk Engur, Raj began reinforcing the defences of the Imperial Palace. Many chapters of Titan Marchers joined Raj on Terra during his time of mourning, while many other chapters continued the Crusade alongside other fleets, taking out their grief on the enemies of mankind. During this time, Raj was declared Praetorian of Terra.

A second devastating blow against the legion's morale would come a short fifteen years later. Several decades earlier, during the Council of Nikaea, the Emperor had decreed the ban of Psychic powers by the Astartes legions. When Malcador the Sigillite detected the echoes in the warp of a powerful dark spell being cast by the Primarch of the Chosen of Hecate, Lambach Kropor, Warmaster Je'She reluctantly sent two of Lambach's closest brothers. Linares of the Silver Blades was sent along with Raj to bring Lambach back to Terra. The Titan Marchers' 30th chapter, informally known as the Iron Ancients, had been attached to Lambach's personal expedition fleet for over a century. Raj hoped that through them he could make Lambach and the Chosen see reason. This turned out to be incorrect however, as when Lambach refused to return to Terra war broke out across the Chosen's homeworld of Miletus. The Iron Ancients, refusing to open fire upon the legion that they had crusaded alongside of for decades, fled with the traitors as they abandoned Miletus.

Brotherwar

The Warmasters Triumvirate was originally envisioned as a way to continue the Great Crusade, while ensuring that the power of the Astartes legions would not be abused. It proved impossible to prevent conflict however, as Warmaster Aristide came into conflict with Warmaster Je'She. Malcador the Sigillite, Regent of Terra, began transitioning power over the Imperium from the Astartes legions to the Council of Terra. Aristide fundamentally disagreed with this decision, believing that humanity should be ruled by those best suited for leadership. To him, this meant that the Primarchs and Astartes would ultimately be placed in charge of the Imperium. In defiance of Malcador's decrees, Aristide put down several planetary governors in the Ultima Segmentum and openly declared himself in favor of pro-Astartes policies. To prevent further hostilities Malcador called for a summit on the world of New Hope. Warmaster Je'She, who was in favor of mortal rule, brought the Silver Blades and Titan Marchers with him.

After several days of negotiation between the two Warmasters, with Warmaster Engur overlooking the Summit, Malcador's ship finally arrived in system. To everyone's horror however most of the ship's crew was dead, including the Regent of Terra. Conflicting reports from the survivors quickly lead to fingers being pointed between the pro-Mortal and pro-Astartes groups and before long the Brotherwar had begun.

The Titan Marchers, along with the Silver Blades and Sentinels, fought against the pro-Astartes Ussaran Liberators, Iron Guard and Emperor's Dragoons for several days. Before long the "neutral" forces of the Soaring Host, Smoke Stalkers and Leviathan Host also joined the fray. Countless marines died in the first days of the Brotherwar and the fighting continued until the arrival of Valorn Adras and his Pale Hounds broke the stalemate. The loyalist forces quickly fled from the system, but were separated from one another.

The Titan Marchers found themselves in quite the dilemma. This third blow against their morale caused some of the Astartes of the legion to call for a return to Manaan, where they could wait out the conflict. Others called for an immediate return to Terra, to return to their posts and to guard the wall. Raj ultimately decided to bring the Titan Lord's fury to all enemies of the Imperium, both the traitors and the deserters. During this time it also became apparent that several more chapters of Marchers had fallen to the Ruinous Powers, specifically those that had been attached to the fleets of the traitor legions. Those who had been attached to the separatist legions quickly returned to the Imperial fold. After nearly a decade of constant fighting, they ultimately decided to return to Terra.

On Terra, the Astartes of the XVIIth quickly took back their posts on the walls of the Imperial Palace. When the Siege of Terra finally came, they would be some of the first to enter the fray. When the Siege reached it's climax the full force of present Titan Marchers defended the Eternity Gate, lead by Raj Vokar himself. The Marchers of Manaan stood in the shadow of the Apocalyptican for days, until the traitorous Gunslinger Primarch Deshain Kane burst through the ranks and managed to infiltrate the Apocalyptican. He killed Raj and brought down the Super Battle Titan, it's explosion killing thousands of marines, loyalists and traitors both.

On the burnt and broken remnants of the battlefield, Deshain Kane ascended into daemonhood. Linares arrived on the scene in order to fight the newly ascended Daemon Primarch and avenge his beloved brother. The Blademaster received unexpected aid from the equally traitorous Lambach Kropor, who had never wanted to Raj to die. After the burning form of Deshain Kane was banished to the warp, Lambach Kropor took Raj's corpse back with him. Linares knew he was unable to stop him.

Post-Brotherwar

After Marduk Engur had been slain by the combined effort Linares, Pacha the Earthquake and Warmaster Je'She, the Brotherwar had ended. This allowed the Titan Marchers to focus on rebuilding. Taarush Amin, Chapter Master of the legion's second chapter, was unanimously elected to the position of Legion Master.

Legion Doctrine

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