Onyx the Indestructible

Onyx
Title/Honours	Onyx the Indestructible, Mountain of Fenris, The Titan-Slayer, Rock of the Empire
Discovered (world)	Neolithus
Discovered (period)	c.908.M30
Legion	Eighteenth
Heraldry/Sigil
Unique Weapon	Two custom artificer power-fists
Distinguishing Traits	Fearless, gregarious, determined
Flaws	Stubborn, blunt, proud
Fate	Turned to stone during the Siege of Terra

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.

"Many powerful people disliked Onyx because he made a habit of telling them the truth, even when it was impolite or outright rude. It was one of my favourite things about him."

(Excerpt from Gaspard Lumey's private correspondence.)

Onyx the Indestructible was the Primarch of the Eighteenth Legion, the Stone Men. The largest and the strongest of the Primarchs, he was a loyal friend and a fearsome enemy. Onyx fought for the Loyalist cause during the Hektor Heresy and continued to fight in the defence of the Reformed Imperium until his mysterious disappearance.

History

Many of the episodes in the life of Onyx the Indestructible seem outlandish, even unbelievable, but to the extent that they can be verified the tales have stood the test of an historian's scrutiny. Some theorise that the Primarch's transcendent nature picked away at the seams of reality, allowing strangeness to bleed into the places he went. Others opine that Onyx was greatly feared by the Ruinous Powers and the most bizarre episodes in his life represent the Hand of Chaos. Our task here is merely to lay out the most reliable narrative.

Youth

According to the traditions of the Stone Men, Onyx the Indestructible was the last of the Primarchs created by the Emperor of Mankind. In this account, the other Primarchs were mere trial runs before the finished product could be assembled, and for this reason the Stone Men and their successors generally hold that the Hektor Heresy was inevitable once Onyx's incubator was stolen away from the Emperor's laboratory beneath the Himalayza Mountains and the Primarchs were deprived of their intended leader.

The Primarchs' loss was Neolithus' gain. A Feral World at the time that Onyx's capsule crashed to its surface, Neolithus was a world of vast, steaming jungles inhabited primarily by a breed of gigantic ant-like cyborgs under the direction of a malevolent supercomputer. We do not know what these creatures called themselves and in Onyx's own account they are referred to simply as "Cybants". Regardless of their identity, the Cybant hive had driven the native humans into savagery and to the brink of extinction, but the coming of Onyx would change all of that. Both the cybants and human hunters nearby saw the descent of the Primarch's capsule and hastened to claim whatever bounty had fallen from the heavens.

Unlike those of his brothers who were welcomed into their worlds by human hands, Onyx fell into the grip of the Cybants. The cybernetic horrors claimed his incubator and carried it away to their lair, where it was investigated by more sophisticated models under the direct control of the central intelligence. After a lengthy investigation, the Cybant hive managed to open the incubator - and infant Onyx, already the height of a human youth, leapt out to smash its sophisticated servitors. The dispatch of warrior models failed to contain the young Primarch and Onyx rampaged through the hive, laying waste to the Cybants until he found the supercomputer itself. The machine tried to bargain with Onyx, but either the infant did not understand or did not care to bargain. With one blow of his mighty fist, the Primarch destroyed a menace that had almost annihilated Neolithus' people.

Destroying the nerve center of the Cybants killed most of the drones. The remainder moved about at random, heedless of any danger until they died. For the humans of Neolithus, it was obvious that a great miracle had delivered them and the wisest among them knew the light in the sky was the cause. Eventually a few bold scouts ventured into the Cybant lair to pick the bones of their nemesis, and there they discovered Onyx supping on Cybant haunch. Incredulous at first, the scouts soon learned that the "boy" was far more than he seemed and hailed him as their saviour. Over the next three years, the Primarch grew to his full stature, mastered the tongue of the natives, was given the name Onyx Lithus - he who banished the night from Lithus - and was recognised as God-King of the Planet. He lived in as much luxury as he desired and directed his adoring subjects to better their condition through many ingenious schemes of his own devising.

The Great Crusade

After training and molding his legion, Onyx went to test their might for the first time by repelling a great ork WAAAGH at the Imperium's doorstep, on the planet of Fenris. He led his legion valiantly, and it is here that he earned himself the moniker "The Mountain of Fenris", as he held is ground even against the greatest of odds. His next challenge was the Wars of the Colossi, in which he led the Stone Men against the horrible Jormmund by defending and retaking worlds in the Segmentum Ultima. He personally felled about 50 titans, leading squads of elite terminators into the aliens' hearts, and detonating melta-charges. It is this that earned him the name "Titan-Slayer", and gained massive popularity within the ranks of the Imperiun.

Appearance

A true colossus, Onyx was by far the largest of his brothers. He stood like a mountain given life and his powerful laugh sounded like an avalanche. His rugged looks tempted many to carry stony metaphors too far, but for all the trappings of inhumanity Onyx's grey eyes were full of the light and warmth that is the treasure of mankind. Onyx cultivated an impressive beard and was rarely seen out of his armour, even on those rare occasions when he was not on the campaign.

Wargear

Uniquely for an Astartes, Onyx's set of Terminator Armour was not made from the modern materials typical for the Imperium, but was instead chiselled out of great monolithic slabs of Neolithan rock. Even for him, a set of armour of such enormous weight was sometimes a bit bothersome to carry on his shoulders, so he reluctantly allowed his Techmarines to mechanise it with parts salvaged from old mining machines. These rugged industrial parts protruding from under the stone of his armour made the Primarch appear as brutal as humanly possible. While Neolithan rock offered unmatched protection, it was nearly impossible to repair, so Onyx's armour was always covered in chips and small cracks from the last couple of battles, giving it a stark resemblance to natural stone worn down by erosion. In accordance with the ancient Neolithan tradition of painting scenes of a successful hunt on the cave walls before the hunt to ensure good luck, he painted scenes of glorious victory on his armour before every battle. Onyx was admittedly not the best artist, but very few in his Legion were brave enough to point that out.

His weapons of choice reflected his preference of close combat. In most circumstances, Onyx went into battle equipped with twin Artificer power fists. These weapons gave him the feeling closest to pummelling the enemy with his own hands, which he enjoyed immensely. Sometimes in a reckless feat of bravado he threw his weapons to the ground, continuing to fight the foes with his bare hands, punching their heads off and breaking their necks like twigs. The Primarch's legendary strength ensured that even this radical minimalist approach was fairly effective, though effectiveness was near the top of the long list of things Onyx didn't care for in the slightest. Besides, the Primarch often carried a traditional Neolithan stone pickaxe with him, though this one was more for decoration than anything. This is not to say that Onyx never used it to break a couple of skulls; but then again, he also used a chair leg, a lamppost and a cow leg to break a couple of skulls at different points in his life.

Sometimes the circumstances forced him to use ranged weaponry. In these cases, he dusted off his Igneous Cannon, a one of a kind weapon based on a modified STC found by his Legion. This gun shot lumps of lava as its projectiles and used obsidian dust for ammo. While the range of these projectiles left much to be desired, their effect on any kind of armour was nothing short of magnificent. Lava could melt through through most of the materials used for armour or at least contaminated them, overheating the systems.

A fan's attempt at rules

	PTS	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Onyx:	465	6	3	8	8	7	5	5	10	2+/4++

Unit type: Independent Character, Infantry.

Wargear: Cragplate Armor, Gloves, Igneous Canon

Special Rules: ADAMANTIUMEST WILL!!!, Very Bulky, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Fearless, HAH! A FEEBLE EFFORT!, Independent Character, It Will Not Die, Master of the Legion, NO YOU FOOLS, THEY RUN FROM US!

Cragplate Armor: It's armor made of rocks, yo. 2+/4++. Reduces the strength of all ranged attacks by onyx remaining wounds

Gloves: The twin mastercrafted powerfists crafted by the Stone Man's artificers, Onyx never reffered to them as anything other than "My gloves," though he was enthusiastically grateful to their makers. IStrike with the following profile: S:x2 AP1, Armorbane, Concussive, Paired (+1A), Strikedown. Every to wound roll of 6 reduces targets attacks by 1d3 in challenge

Igneous Canon: A bizarre weapon, to say the least. Shoots chunks of lava. It may not burn as hot as plasma, but its more solid state of matter means that the heat sticks around longer, overheating flesh and circuit alike. It shoots with the following profile: S:10 AP4 Assault 1, 16 inch range, Blast, Deflagrate, Fleshbane, Haywire.

ADAMANTIUMEST WILL!!!: Upon hearing of the "Adamantium Will" of his brothers, Onyx proclaimed that he had the ADAMANTIUMEST WILL OF ALL!!!. Resisting psykers is about strength of character and simply denying the warp's right to affect you, and no one does denial like Onyx does. 2+ deny the witch, baby.

HAH! A FEEBLE EFFORT!: Onyx has zero fucks to give about the following: Concussive, Strikedown, Fleshbane.

No you fools, THEY run from US!: No Stone Man would run in the sight of their primarch. No Stone Man. Ever. They all get fearless.

ONYX SMASH!!! Onyx has two and only two purposes. First, he wrecks shit. 7 S8 AP1 Armorbane, Concussive, Strikedown hits on the charge are going to kill anything up to and including a Landraider. Due to his high strength and resilience, Onyx is one of the more formidable Primarchs, though his low initiative and attacks are definitely a weakness. His immunity to most status affects and psychic powers helps make up for that to some degree. He also makes all his sons fearless, which is just awesome. Not exactly a tactical genius, but he makes a good battering ram.