Vetrovnak

This page details people, events, and organisations from The /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

The vetrovnak are the soldiers and overseers of the eponymous Vetrovnak Human Protectorate - a fringe empire with aspirations of challenging the Imperium of Man for the right to rule over all humanity. They themselves are super soldiers genetically engineered from human stock and augmented by alien nanotechnology designed to resist the corrupting touch of the Warp both in mind and body.

History

Early Beginnings

Mankind could never content itself with just having one of something. A single planet wasn't enough. A single system wasn't enough. A single sector wasn't enough. Hundreds weren't enough. Thousand's weren't enough. So if anyone thought that when humanity reached the very edges of the galaxy they would finally be content they would be fools. That was just another boundary to be crossed - a problem to be solved in due time.

In the start of the 22nd millennium humanity began an ambitious project: they would take a brave leap out of the galaxy through the cold and empty void to small, bright globular cluster that become known in the galactic east as the Hvar Cluster. It was still relatively speaking close to home, hovering 7,000 light years over the galactic plane. None the less it was still an epic undertaking. No expenses were spared in building the expedition fleet, it was outfitted with the best equipment and technology of the age and assembled by masters of the trade. No precaution was too outrageous to include. It would be mankind's finest hour yet, a testament to their perseverance and prestige. The 500,000 strong crew set off into the dark, carrying everything they needed to create humanities' newest outpost - haven of science to study the dark of the void itself.

Upon reaching the Hvar Cluster the fleet set to the work of finding a place to build their new home. While they were equipped to make even an airless rock liveable a terrestrial world was of course preferred. While they had known ahead of time there were in fact worlds for the taking they were surprised to find one already bearing life - primitive life but life none the less - with clear signs that it had been visited by some alien civilization aeons ago. They had left behind a great station that hung in the planet's orbit with a mighty beacon pointed out into the void beyond. Here they settled, naming the world Novi Dinarsko due to the geographical resemblence of much of the world's terrain to the old Dinaric Alps of Earth.

For the next several centuries the colony grew as colonies are wont to do. The rest of the cluster was slowly charted out and planets were explored and for those that were could support it, settled. The region never received any major influx of colonists, despite the prestige of the operation and the provided stipends most preferred to settle slightly closer to the civilization. It evolved into a place where research could be conducted away from prying eyes - the kind of work that governments and institutes would rather the common man not know about. The only way in and out of the Hvar Cluster was cargo convoy that came only times a year to deliver much needed supplies. This was changed to only twice a year in early once the colonies were adequately self sufficient as they found ways to obtain and manufacture the rare materials needed to fuel the research and continued this way for some time. Soon the convoys were more important for taking the fruits of their labor back to mankind at large than supplying them.

The Severance

In the middle of M23 the supply convoys stopped coming without warning. Being cut off from the rest of the galaxy was not as much of a shock as the people of the Hvar cluster had thought it would be. The lack of shock was in fact more shocking to the Hvarians, they had been so wrapped up in their work and the exploration of the cluster that very few of them had ever realized just how little that actually needed their connection with the galaxy to continue on. Still, prepared as they made been the reality of it forced many of the engineers and scientists had to turn their attention away from the secrets of space and alien technology to ensure their fortunes were not merely fleeting things.

When it went from years without contact grew to a decade and a half and the Hvarians realized that maybe now that their futures were secure they should perhaps figure out what happened. Only a small percentage of the actual people that were in the Hvar Cluster were actually born there most were simply out at this end of the cosmos because of their careers and duties. Most had loved ones and family waiting for them to return one day and when it became apparent that day they wouldn't come unless they made it the authorities took the steps to do so. Of course the largest problem was getting a navigator. Given their skill set most of them resided at the sister-station in the galaxy.

The return expedition was a disaster. It could have been an inexperienced navigator. It could have been the ship, designed to function smoothly outside the warp currents of the galaxy being battered by the demands of galactic warp travel. The reasons were lost to time but the results weren't. The ship was spat out of the warp with its hull ravaged and systems crashing from the ordeal but as luck would have it they were able to limp the rest of the journey to the midway station. They welcome they received did not match their hopes. It's AI systems had somehow been corrupted, turning the mostly automated facility into a malevolent deathtrap. More correctly it was a malevolent deathtrap. The crew of the cargo convoys had suffered greatly at its machinations but they had managed to turn to tables on the computer and shut down it - along with their only hope of leaving. By the time the Hvarian expedition arrived there were only thirteen weary souls left to tell the tale. War had broken out back home. The very machines that mankind had come to depend upon had turned upon their creators. They had fled, hoping to escape to safety after gutting the sapient systems of their own ship but their efforts were not enough as the madness turned contagious upon arrival at the midway station. It was not an unthinking madness though- it had let them think they were safe just long enough to get their guard down before launching its attack.

It took two years before they expedition's ship was repaired enough to be called a mockery of functional. Luckily the sheer amount of redundancy built into the vessel meant that it was capable of flying without its AI system. With thirteen extra aboard they limped back to the Hvar cluster. 13 years later they arrived thankful to find that the machine rebellion hadn't yet taken hold of the region. When the news spread around the worlds of the Cluster every precaution they could think to take was taken. Any sapient system was gutted down to simple sentience, those that couldn't be due to their important roles had safe guards installed. It was by no means perfect but it went from all out war for survival down to the occasional rampant AI taking out dozens to hundred before being put down.

Golden Age

Lasting from mid M23 to early M25 the Golden Age was an era of growth and progress. At its start the total population of the Cluster was some 10 billion people but at the peak of the Golden Age right before its end estimates place the total population in the upwards of a few hundred trillion. Comparatively speaking the growth rate was astoundingly sluggish compared to the galaxy below but that was to be expected given the academically oriented nature of Hvarian society. The Sol System and its nearest neighbors at the same time probably held more people than the entirety of the Cluster.

Tempest Era

In M25 the Golden Age came to a crashing halt. The concurrent warp storms in the galaxy below were producing a torrential surge that washed all the way out to the Hvar cluster to mix with its own nascent warp brought forth by the human presence in the region. The result was disastrous for the region - even if the storms were tepid in comparison to those that raged in the galaxy proper. Hvarian ships were designed to take advantage of the faint and tranquil signature of the warp in the region; they simply could not hack the "waves" that were being thrown their way. Hundreds of worlds were cut off from one another and orbital stations were left adrift to fend for themselves as interstellar navigation became impossible.

Cut off the once manageable problem of AIs going rampant spiraled out of control. To make matters worse psykers began to appear and with them came the denizens of the warp. Death and destruction became common place as worlds fell to anarchy. The population of the entire cluster is estimated to have been cut to a tenth of its peak during this time as societies crumbled. Only the world of Novi Dinarsko - the first colony settled so long ago - survived with what could be solved a semblance of civility thanks to the seemingly anti-psychic properties of the alien beacon that hung in its orbit. It though was not without its problems: it had long outgrown its own ability to support itself are required imports from near by worlds result in wide spread famine that would take centuries to break free of.

Reclamation Era

Shortly after Novi Dinarsko had solved the famine that had gripped the scientific establishment turned its gaze toward the problem of psychic phenomenon with the same clinical detachment the applied to all problems big and small. It wasn't long before a correlation was discerned between emotional instability along violent or otherwise criminal tendencies and the horrifying psychic phenomenon. Though it was a long way off from a definite sign of causation the people of Novi Dinarsko wanted solutions and soon. The means to expose and analyze the human mind and heart for such qualities were devised post haste resulting at first in implants that were linked to a vast network of computers that could actively measure the populace's mental states, personalities, and the probability that individuals afflicted by these psychic diseases will manifest symptoms. It couldn't detect for sure if someone was afflicted until it started to interfere with their behavior but it worked well enough as an early warning system.

As the years turned to decades the system was continually refined. Soon any indications of criminal behavior were watched for by the system, hoping to catch not just those afflicted with what was "aprophrenic" diseases but other ways an individual could disturb society. Besides, most sufferers of aprophrenic dyspsyrrheaosis (Psykers in Imperial parlance) ended up turning to crime anyway. The system was hardly infallible but the holes in it were easily solved by using other means. The continually expanding influence of the system turned the world to unprecedented levels of peace and prosperity; only a few were even capable of thinking of committing an act of violence even under duress. It's implementation spread over the entire world until there was not a single soul outside of its influence. The plan had always been to stabilize Novi Dinarsko before attempting to reclaim the nearby worlds. While the leaders of the world had succeeded spectacularly with the first step but it came at the cost of making it virtually impossible to assemble enough soldiers to form an army. Their brothers and sisters among the stars would have to wait for a solution to be devised.

The first several attempts left something to be desired. If none of their own population could be used the only clear solution was to use an army of machines or engineered clones. The former was an obvious bad idea - the rampancy issue had yet to be addressed in the class sapience an AI would need to command an army; it would simply be too dangerous. The clone solution was adopted. The first several attempts at raising an army used flash grown clones but that fell apart rapidly as their minds were as resistant to warp exposure as a wet paper bag was to tearing. The first fleet had to be gunned down by the planetary defenses. The second was lost to the warp and the third and fourth were taken out by their self-destruct systems. It seemed there would be no corners that could be cut. The clones would have to be grown at at a normal pace and indoctrinated using more traditional methods. Technology was not yet advanced enough to skip that it seemed. That was marginally more successful but still left much to be desired, only the nearest systems could be reclaimed but only for a time before they fell through their fingers as their soldiers became stricken with the feared apophrenic diseases.

A better solution had to be found; there had to be a way to make their soldiers resistant to these afflictions. They turned their attention to the Beacon that hung in their sky which soothed the storms that ravaged the outer limits of their system. If there a solution existed it would be there. The solution would come in M27. It had long been known the Beacon used nanomachines to maintain itself and they had been successfully reverse engineered to some extent centuries ago of experiments regarding their application in Gellar field generators which lead to a dead end. It took decades of work and countless experiments but eventually the scientists managed to generically engineer the human body in such a way to coexist with the xeno-nanites with out breaking down or suffering any of the serious conditions issues the prototypes did. The original generation was born and put through every test their masters could imagine to ensure the countless man-hours and resources put to the project were well spent. All thirty one of the tests would graduate with flying colors to pave way for the first "production" generation with but a single quirk - these vetrovnak were still fertile and perfectly capable of passing on both their genes and their nanomachines to their offspring. None saw this a problem thanks to the heavy handed imperatives programmed right into their genes to ensure their stability and loyalty, in fact it was even welcomed by their masters. It'd certainly save on the expenses of the artificial conception that could be put to better use elsewhere.

From Novi Dinarsko they spread outward. It was a slow advance, they still relied upon warp travel. Though they had no navigators they were equipped with technologies derived from the Beacon to aid them. The first worlds they set upon proved their worth. Foul places twisted by the touch of the warp - or phasmachoron as they called it. There was hardly anything that could be called a modern society on these first few worlds, just feral bands of humans eking out a meager existence under the yoke of the afflicted. This vetrovnak proved their worth as they cut through them and rescued those that could still be called human. They were not exactly welcomed with open arms but their masters had anticipated this. It was no matter, the primitives were rounded up and transported to space stations to rehabilitate them and eventually integrate them into the system that worked so well for Novi Dinarsko. It was slow going, but the time was hardly wasted. When the vetrovnak were not marching to a new world they were rebuilding the one just taken. This gave time for their numbers to grow and much needed ships and equipment to be manufactured.

Not all worlds were as primitive and afflicted as the High Commanded back in Novi Dinarsko had anticipated. One such world was Rila, second only to Novi Dinarsko during the Golden Age. The storms had been light into the havoc here. Rila had lost millennia of advancements and development but they were not so weak that the vetrovnak could simply do as their masters pleased. Especially since the vast majority of the Rilans were categorized as humans. The High Commanded was having none of that, they had no interest in co-opting others they wanted full compliance and hegemony. They would have it too as they turned once more to their technology for the answer. Soon the vetrovnak were armed with weapons that would merely disable their foes rather than kill them to allow the vetrovnak to advance without violating their genetically imperative to protect baseline humans. More often than not, this would be how it played out as they reclaimed the Hvar Cluster over the next few centuries: enforced compliance and integration.

Revolt

The vetrovnak were not always agreeable with their handlers objectives. Being functionally immortal this was especially true of the elders who had seen the changing of the guard back in Novi Dinarsko High Commanded dozens if not hundreds of time. The ever growing politicization of the Reclamation, mismanaged aggressive compliance campaigns by high command, and the dozens of war torn worlds lead the elders to a single conclusion: humans rarely acted in their own best interests. Even when doing so the vetrovnak noticed it was usually a stepping stone to greater power for the individual. The discontent elders lobbied their masters for more autonomy, arguing they were more suited to running the Reclamation. They were shot down of course but given their clout and power they could not simply be made to disappear into the night - the only humans left who had the mentality capable of pulling that off were usually locked up tight in an isolation facility to prevent them from contamination the peaceful public at large. Those who held the leash were confident they wouldn't need to, the genetic imperative wouldn't allow them to harm them. Even if that failed they had a back up.

During a lull in the campaign - one that usually coincided with election season back in Novi Dinarsko the vetrovnak elders took it upon themselves to remedy the situation. They were numerous enough that they massively outnumbered the robotic elements of the military or the few humans that were kept around who could handle this sort of stuff. It was an easy task to simply arrive in orbit around Novi Dinarsko in enough to blot out the sun. They hoped the threat would be enough to cow them, it had after all worked well elsewhere. At first glance, it appeared to work. High Commanded appeared to show every sign of acquiescing to the vetrovnak's demands. It was all a ploy though, to get as many of them on the ground as possible to lure them into a trap. At the ceremony where the power was to be transferred the trap was sprung: the vetrovnak's masters released a nanomechanical virus that would ravage the vetrovnak. Every twelve out of thirteen vetrovnak in attendance found themselves gasping for air they thought they didn't need, dying as the nanites that they owed their existence to turned on them at the virus's behest. They died agonizing deaths as their masters gloated and laughed at their gall.

However the thirteenth that didn't fall over gasping and dying were overcome with a sudden voracious hunger. They rose from the ground, baring their teeth their fangs at those who had betrayed their trust. Somehow, the nano-virus triggered a mutation of sorts in them and instead of dying it made them crave the life-force of their human masters. Each and every human in attendance there died that night their blood drained from the bodies. When the surviving vetrovnak came to they were aghast at what happened - at their former masters and most of all at themselves. They had been turned into cannibalistic vampires in return for their freedom.

Founding Era

The nano-virus had been released anywhere there were vetrovnak, so their forces were now dangerously depleted. Many recently pacified worlds stood liable to become problems once again. Rather than fight and possibly lose the vetrovnak retreated to Novi Dinarsko to consolidate their numbers. Their first problem as they now required a diet of blood. Synthesized blood wouldn't do, it had to come from a living breathing human. It was rationalized that the tiny phasmachoronic signature that all humans appeared to had some effect on it that they now required to survive. Research would have to wait though, the more pressing matter was securing the food supply in a way that didn't drive them mad trying to fight the guardian imperative.