Aprior Sector
The Aprior Sector is the home of the Knights Inductor, among others. It's way out on the edge of the galaxy (beyond the Tau Empire and Ultramar), where Imperial oversight is a bit lax, which allows a chapter of Reasonable Marines to make significant changes from mainstream Imperial policy. It was first mentioned in "An Investigation into the Heresy of the Reasonable Marines."
Note: "Aprior" is a name. "Apriori" is an adjective.
History
The Aprior Sector (named for its most powerful subsector, itself named for its most powerful [and first settled] star system) is deep in the Eastern Fringe, where the Astronomican's light pushes out against the intergalactic calm in the Warp, creating massive Warp turbulence. Sometime in M31, the colony ship "Icarus" was sent out to probe the furthest reaches of the galaxy. As their warp drive was of an early generation, the turbulence was too great for them to continue, so they were forced to make an unplanned Realspace transition, which left the ship damaged and unable to continue, so they made an emergency landing on the third planet of the star Aprior. The Icarus was built to run lean, in order to give it the range to reach the edge of the galaxy, and so the emergency strained its resources to their limits, which resulted in the colony fragmenting, falling into civil war; the violence faded with time, especially as the colonists fell into an uneasy truce in the face of the threats of the Fringe, but the divisions remained, and the colonists were never able to unite.
Explorators, pilgrims, and crusaders found their way to the Aprior Sector over the next few millennia, bringing new technology and news with them; these proved to be extremely valuable to whichever Apriori faction could get their hands on them. Even so, the end was looming and inevitable: each new find only delayed it a little.
Then, in 244.M40, the Knights Inductor fleet arrived in the Sector, their Crusade having taken them out to the edge of the galaxy. They immediately intervened on Aprior, offering the residents a deal: cooperate with us, and we will build a noble, bright future together. Only one faction accepted at first, but once the other factions saw how their lives could be improved if they cooperated, they started to come around. A few years into the pacification effort, the Warp turbulence became so strong that the Knights Inductor could not leave the Sector, and so they decided to put down roots and make Aprior their home system, a model of their ideals.
For thirteen hundred years, the Aprior Sector grew in isolation, but in mid-M41, the approaching Tyranid Hive Fleets and awakening Necron Tombs stifled the turbulence, restoring contact with the Imperium. Since then, Inquisitor Rightina Immam has visited the Sector twice to ensure their loyalty, and report to an Inquisitorial Panel on their irregularities. On her second visit, she decided that the Sector was too potentially valuable to the Imperium to be destroyed; Inquisitor Lord Damnos disagreed, and he responded by organizing a Crusade to burn the whole Sector to ashes.
For a detailed list of events pertaining to the Aprior Sector, see the Aprior Sector Timeline.
Worlds of the Aprior Sector
The Aprior System became prosperous under the Knights' guidance, and with that prosperity came growth, and soon, the Apriori were ready to colonize other nearby systems. However, the Warp was too turbulent for jumps longer than a dozen light-years or so. As such, contact with the Imperium would be nonexistent, and communication between systems would be risky at best. It was decided that each system would have to be entirely self-sufficient, just as Aprior itself was, and so the Apriori created a document listing their best practices, a sort of blueprint for creating other systems like theirs. After a few other systems had been colonized along this pattern, they formalized it into the Aprior Sector Charter. The Charter also created a Sector-level ruling body, the Aprior Sector Legislative Assembly, in order to coordinate trade and mutual defense. By now, the Sector has over three hundred inhabited worlds; each one is different, but they are all held to the Charter's standards of economic viability, self-sufficiency, and protection of the rights of citizens. Due to the aforementioned limitations on Warp jumps during the Aprior expansion period the "density" of colonized planets and systems in each given sector is a little higher than the Imperial norm, more analogous to the expansion of Tau Septs.
Aprior Subsector
Since the Knights Inductor rule the Aprior System, and they led the colony ships that settled other worlds, they have the legal option to directly rule every world in the Aprior Sector. Outside of dire emergencies, they limit their rule to the Aprior Subsector, the first few systems to be settled.
Aprior System
The Aprior System proper has six planets in it. Aprior Primus and Secundus are very close to Aprior and are used for mining and manufacturing; Tertius is in the habitable zone and houses the majority of the subsector's population; and Quartus, Quintius, and Sextus are gas giants, with moons used for manufacturing, military research and training, among other things (like the headquarters of Internal Security, on Aprior Sextus Echo).
Aprior Tertius is similar to Old Earth, although it is larger, with surface gravity almost twice that of Terra. Because it was the first world in the sector to be colonized, Aprior Tertius is the sector capital, and the primary base of the Knights. It is usually called Regius to set it apart from the other worlds. Regius is largely urbanized and industrialized, although the Regians have instituted environmental and social policies to prevent the pollution and decay normally associated with industrialized, highly populated worlds.
One major feature of Regius is the Torch, the Fortress-monastery of the Knights Inductor, buried within a ridge of extinct volcanoes.
Nyx
Nyx is a white dwarf from an eons-old supernova; its sole remaining world, Thanatos, is a dead, cold lump of rock notable for containing a metal with potent anti-Warp properties, which the Apriori forge into weapons. A Necron tomb was discovered in the process of mining; it seems that its presence is related to that of the metal, though it is unclear which came first. Subject to change, pending new Necron Codex.
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are a binary star with two planets: one gas giant orbiting both (Roma Dista), and one hot rocky world orbiting Romulus (Roma Proxima).
Tarquin
Tarquin is a star similar to Aprior, with a "double planet" orbiting it: two Agri Worlds (Tarquin Ventrus in front, and Tarquin Dorsus in the rear) in each others' Lagrange points. The remnants of Hive Fleet Draco orbit Tarquin Ventrus.
Marion Subsector
The Marion Subsector faces the center of the galaxy, so it faces the Imperium and the Tau Empire. As such, it receives the most Imperial and Tau traffic.
Marion System
In mid-M39, this system was settled by a Commandery of the Order of the Sacred Rose. The Eldar attempted to dislodge them, as Chatur-Marion (the fourth world) was a Maiden World, though the actual Commandery is on Dvi-Marion, the second world. When the Sisters learned what the Knights Inductor had in mind for the Sector, and especially their unusual (to say the least) policies, they decided to stage a coup, or failing that, to burn the whole Sector to cinders. They were stopped when the Knights' fleet destroyed their orbital assets and reformed them into the Order of Reason's Light; since then, they have used their expertise in hunting and destroying heretic cults to grow their influence, expand their numbers, and become the dominant institution in their system and Sub-Sector and a major player in Sector politics.
Norion
A border system that tends to suffer heavy losses from outside attackers, especially in the Tau Empire's Third Sphere Expansion. Its history, combined with proximity to the Imperium and distance from major population and government centers in the central Sector means that it is the most pro-Imperial system in the Sector.
Norion V is the most populous world in the Norion System. After an economic depression, resentment over the various non-human populations (inflamed by Puritan Preachers sent by the Ecclesiarchy) boiled over, resulting in anti-Sector protests, riots against Radical Preachers and their allies, and an attempt to withdraw from the Sector Charter. The Norion System was Inquisitor Lord Damnos's first target for his Crusade.
Subsector Lida
In M28, Lida was settled by some Eldar who sought to avoid the impending Fall. When the Aprior Sector was being settled by humans, the Apriori did not have sufficient firepower to dislodge the Eldar from Lida and withstand the inevitable counter-attack, so they left Lida with a whole subsector to itself. The threat of an Emperor's Children Strike Cruiser convinced the Apriori to reach out to Lida and assist in repelling the invasion; they parted amicably.
Organizations and Characters
The Aprior Sector is home to more than the Knights Inductor – it is inhabited by a trillion and a half human beings, not to mention millions of xenos (friendly and otherwise).
Coming soon!
Technologies
In their long isolation, the Apriori have had to develop novel technologies to fill gaps left by lack of access to Forge Worlds and other STC patterns.
STC's
The majority of novel STC's claimed by the Tech Adepts in the Aprior System are militaristic in nature, relics from the outermost reaches of the Great Crusade and more warlike times even before then.
Invisibility STC- The first one lays down the groundwork for superior visual stealth systems, though it is actually very costly to produce due to the STC being somewhat corrupted from time. The complete systems are utilized exclusively by the Knights Inductor for now until the relatively rare materials needed for the system's production can be simplified or replaced. Virtually all Knight Inductor power armor features a lesser form of this visual distortion technology while the Terminator armor alone has the space to house a complete stealth generator. Contrary to what most outsiders believe, the original stealth systems are not based off of Tau technology, though influences and later assimilation did later incorporate Tau aspects into the design to increase efficiency. It was this assumption that caused great tensions between the Apriori Mechanicus and their more traditional counterparts.
Impakt Armor- The second STC is for a lighter armor composite that can stand up to the penetrating power of bolt weapons, though it only has limited kinetic dispersal capabilities. Unlike the stealth system STC, this composite is very easy to produce and the Apriori Guard have completely phased out flak and carapace jackets in favor of the lighter and more durable Impakt Armor. The only drawback if it even is one is that there is little room for improvement to Impakt Armor, the design being highly optimized to begin with. Power Armor also proves itself to be more durable so Impakt armor finds little use amongst the Knights. Aprior Scientists find the way the composition is melded together to form a stronger whole more interesting than the components themselves, hoping to apply the technique to even more durable materials.
As with all technology the Apriori Tech Adepts would be more than happy to share their findings with the greater Imperium... were it not for the Adeptus Mechanicus mistakenly deeming such technology as heresy against the Omnissiah. They are well aware of the perversions of technology that the R&D departments of the Apriori Mechanicus makes on a daily basis and link that to the "STC" technology that the Apriori Armed Forces use.
Research and Development
The Apriori Adeptus Mechanicus has three major branches or departments in terms of developing technology. Simply put, there is Applied Research, Domestic Application Development, and Military Application Development.
For a simple example, we'll take the small headway into reverse engineering gravitic manipulation by study of the Landspeeder design. Enough was gleaned from the merest fragment of the STC to grant the Tech Adepts to apply the anti-gravity concepts and technology they learned to other things. This is Applied Research, testing and experimenting with what they had to work with to partially recreate a forgetten technology.
Domestic Application Development is the use of the knowledge taken from Applied Research to better the lives of civilians and planetary populations in general. The anti-grav trains running on the advanced planets in the Aprior Sector are an example of such. They are improved and function based off of the technology gained from Applied Research and are continually developed to be more efficient.
Military Application Development for the gravitic manipulation technology can be summed up in the massive headway made into the Gravitic Accelerator Cannon and its derivatives. The ability to fling a suitable projectile using a controlled series of gravity wells even faster than a Tau Rail Cannon is something currently being developed for widespread use in the Apriori Armed Forces. The Grav Mass Driver is a massively downsized version of the GAC, meant for eventual use with standard infantry not unlike Pulse Rifles of the Tau, though the materials needed to make it aren't cheap, and the massive recoil means it can only be used by those in Trooper armor or better. The biggest example of the GAC technology series would be the Harbinger. It is a bow mounted weapon of massive proportions that takes up much of the length of a Strike Cruiser, and it fires with the force and power of Necron technology. It currently out-ranges all Imperial space weapons and has such an extreme effective range that making it accurate for "space artillery" use is becoming an issue. Applications like these are what may save humanity from falling in the face of encroaching enemies...
Technological Breakthroughs
The following is a more comprehensive list of what a little over one thousand three hundred years of peace and hard research brought to the Aprior Sector...
- Gravity-Manipulation Mass Driver- The most common form of this is the Gravitic Accelerator Cannon, which uses anti-grav plates to create a frictionless barrel along with a reversible grav well emitter allows a projectile to be flung even harder than a rail cannon. The smallest form of this is the Gravitic Mass Driver infantry portable rifle, with the biggest being the Strike Cruiser mounted Harbinger cannon. Combined with the skimmer drive, a flanking volley across a vanguard of battleships can instantly cripple a small fleet. The Apriori Armed Forces and the Knights Inductor together own three Strike Cruisers armed with the latest technology available at the time of the Damnos Crusade against the Sector.
- Skimmer Drives- Gleaned from the capture of a Tau ship and with help of the Underminer and other Tau engineers, it allows for limited but highly accurate semi-Warp jumps. The violent Warp currents makes even short-distance hops by Warp Drive extremely dangerous, but ships equipped with skimmer drives can jump without fear. Skirting the boundary between the Materium and the Warp, a ship so equipped avoids all but the very strongest Warp currents. While not quite as fast as a Warp Drive for the same reasons, skimmer drives execute much safer and more predictable jumps, capable of delivering entire fleets in close formation with little trouble. With improved cogitator logic engines and inertial dampeners, this provides devastating mobility in space warfare. It however cannot be mounted on ships of older designs, as they have proved too risky to modify so extensively.
- Multiple Void Shield Emitter Array- By using alternating emitters this array effectively doubles the number of Void Shields a ship can boast, or prolong the lifespan of its existing shield system considerably. However it is only able to be mounted on more modern Aprior ships, as the power required to maintain a system of fallback Void shields cannot use standard Plasma fusion generators
- Cold Fusion Reactor- Only three Strike Cruisers in the entire Apriori Armed Forces and the Knights Inductor Chapter Fleet boast the Cold Plasmatic Fusion Reactor. By meticulously lowering the required energy to initiate a reaction, the reactor is able to put out power roughly equal to a plasma reactor while being many times more efficient. So great is the power provided with multiple cold fusion reactors, that the current ships armed with this reactor run the reactors at quarter strength most times to avoid overloading current systems. Should the Apriori Mechanicus manage to implement this and other innovated technologies in the Chapter's Battle Barges or the largest ships in the AS Fleet, the possibilities are almost unfathomable.
- Lux Prismatic Crystal- Study of Eldar Fire Prisms have led to the development of the Lux Prismatic Crystal, which focuses light energy into a more penetrating and direct form that bores through adamantium armor with ease. Upgraded lasweapons of all kinds however have to put more charge into each shot, cutting down energy capacity to about half the amount of typical shots. The sheer penetrating power can be traded off for a higher rate of fire if presented with more numerous, lightly armored targets. The fact that the crystal is the only upgrade to the rifle and extensive modifications are not necessary, virtually all lasguns wielded by the Apriori Imperial Guard have the potential bring down an Astartes with a few well-placed beams. Replacing the bolt weapons of the Knights Inductor have been considered but most of the Astartes prefer the stopping power of a bolt and with Kraken bolts being standard, are not lacking in armor piercing ability either. However, the Knights do make use of the larger if more complicated Lux Cannon, a Lascannon with a larger version of the focus crystal installed, and the Beam of Undying Light which is an upgraded ship-based Lance weapon with the Lux crystal.
- Nanomite Booster Machines- Arguably the most controversial technology the Tech Master of the Knights Inductor has come up with, it allows for near instant internal repair of organs, tissue, and bones. Based upon nano-scarabs kept in stasis by the eccentric Master of the Forge and nearly a hundred years of intensive study, these machines are used exclusively by the Knights Inductor in deference to how expensive they are to make and the sheer superstition surrounding them. It has also been discovered that by binding the microscopically sized repair scarabs to a vehicle's machine spirit, they can be directed to repair the vehicle's "injuries" as well.
- MkI Damocles Powered Assault Armor- The current generation of powered armor used by the entire Knights Inductor, it is considered to be Tech Master Gajet's finest creation. It took over 200 years of development, 82 prototypes for testing, and several tons of oily recaf in order for this armor to be created. It features first-aid nanomite boosters incorporated into the armor and is linked up with the power armor's machine spirit to target the worst of the Knight's injuries, essentially a built-in narthecium of sorts. The gravitic impellers serve to reduce the weight of the armor, allowing the Knight to be able to move faster and longer in his armor, and includes small thrusters in place of the backpack's exhaust ports to provide huge bursts of speed. While initially difficult to control (the testing was highly amusing to the eccentric Master of the Forge), a practiced Knight can use the impellers to traverse great distances within the space of a few seconds. Scouts go into Incursion squads now not only to get close combat training out of the way, but also to get used to the general motion of gravitic impellers in the form of their jump packs. All of this is powered by a Cold Plasmatic Fusion Micro-Reactor, which provides the power necessary to use the Gravitic Impellers to their full capacity.
- Inertial Dampeners- While the Knights have never captured a Necron vessel and never have even come close to doing so, extensive study on their inertialess drives and the research data on gravitic manipulation have allowed the Knights to come up with a technological compromise. By creating an anti-acceleration field that can be manipulated as a fast moving object shifts direction or brakes on a second's notice, the Knights have been able to development a form of inertial dampeners that allow their vessels to make maneuvers that would've otherwise torn the vessel in two. While still a far cry from their Necron counterparts, this form of intertialess drive has been able to be implemented on virtually all ships in the Aprior Battle Fleet, giving them a huge advantage versus slower Imperial ships and helping them to keep on about average footing with Eldar and even Dark Eldar ships, much to the latter's surprise.
(more to come!!!1!)