MedHammer 40,000 Macharios

" Macharios the one who righted what Lorgar Destroyed"

– Lupercal

Macharios Solar, Macharios Pacificus, Macharios the Anathema, Macharios Megalos, Macharios the Young, Macharios The Tragic, Macharios The Conqueror. There are thousands of names for this man, as is his right. For outside of the Emperor himself, there has been none so influential as Macharios. Lacking no resources other than his contacts and his naked ambition, he led a great conquest through the Segmentum Pacificus liberating them from the forces of The Ruinous Powers.

For many across the Galaxy, Macharios was the herald for a new era, before his birth, The Imperium was stagnating under its own weight in a bloody mellennia long war with the Ruinous powers. After Macharios died, the Empire shook off its weary slumber and began to assert itself anew on the galaxy. Macharios was the great bringer of hope, showing the galaxy that The Forces of Chaos were a threat that could not only be fought, but beaten, even overwhelmed.

Life of Macharios

Early Life

"Macharius grew up a caretaker of the great monuments and shrines to Humanity's great heroes. As all caretakers do, He lived among the monuments of great conquerors, great statesmen, and great leaders, showing their glory to travellers and scholars. But archivist was not to be his destiny. One night as a youth his caretaker found him weeping bitter tears before the statues he was attending. When the caretaker asked him what the matter this is what the young Macharius said. "This is not a shrine, this is a tomb! All of Terra is an Ossuary to our ancestors. We do not follow their example. I am surrounded by greatness it does nothing. When Izen`owre, Kaizre, Neapolitan, Bazilbee, and Karldegros were my age they shaped great kingdoms. They conquered their worlds, and what have I done? Nothing! I serve their bones!" "

– Ibn Suqrat - "The Life and Times of Maxarios Megalos"

The Tallarn Marriage

Long ago The Tallarn were from a planet of harsh unforgiving desert, scorching heat and shifting sands. It was a hard land, but the hard people who lived there called it home. That changed when Rogal Dorn, for reasons known only to him, abandoned his legion to take over the Segmentum Tempestus. It is unknown what made Dorn return from his exile, but whatever it was, he and his select fists were unendingly building and preparing against it. Origionally the Tallarn enjoyed the benign neglect of Dorn, who shared very little interest in the actual civic management of the Segmentum he governed, so long as material quotas were on schedule, of acceptable quality, and without complications. The People of Tallarn continued to live as they did following the great crusade, with their imperial tithes, and nomadic life.

Eventually the orchestrations of the Mad Castellan came for Tallarn. The planet Tallarn had outlived its usefullness, and now only the energy of Tallarn's Harsh sun, offered anything for Dorn's designs. Dorn heard no pleas, and offered no comfort, and aid. They were only informed that their home would become a frozen uninhabitable planet, whether they were on it or not.

Taking inspiration from The Legends of Tarasha and Gulliman's "Grande Exode d`Ultramar." The Tallarn traded anything and everything they had for the ships needed to evacuate the planet. Though many were left to die on Tallarn, and those that were survived were heavily in debt to the Rogue Traders who financed the evacuation, the Tallarn set about on their new life as Void Nomads. Entrapped in a debt they could never hope to repay, the Tallarn were little more than mercenary companies, corsairs, assassins, and other disreputable professions, to appease their debtors.

This was likely to be their fate for eternity, until the forces of the galaxy finally snuffed them out, but 39th millenium offered a shining star to navigate to. This star was Solar Macharios, the rogue adventurer with dreams of rivaling the great conquerors of ancient Terra. The Promising adventurer had built a sizable warband of his own, and charmed his Captain, the Admiral Hedya Roqsenh. The New Union worked to unite the disparate tribal bands of Tallarni ships and carve out a kingdom for themselves.

With the Support of The Tallarn, the exiled and forgotten denizens of The Imperium, the clandestine support of The Lion El'Johnson (Segmentarch of Obscura), and Macharios' own Strategic brilliance, the adventurers were able to carve their own little Imperium out of what was supposedly in the Thrall of Chaos, sending shockwaves felt by most of the galactic powers.

Conquest

""The Vices are more clever than us, are more powerful than us, more numerous than us, and are more resourceful than us, but all that does not compensate for their fatal flaw. The Vices are Myopic and are incapable of sacrificing for something greater. A vice is doomed to serve itself." "

– Macharios

Grand Macharia, The Humbled Legacy

The Government that rules in Macharios is name is a hollow shell of the Magnificence of its founder.

Hegemon

The Hegemon is the Commander of Macharia. Nearly every aspect of the State is under his discretion. The Hegemon is selected from among the Generals of Macharia.

Selection

When Macharius died, he willed his empire to "The Strongest," fearing that The High Lords of Terra or worse would take advantage of their infighting, it was devised by the generals to create a method of selection that could pass for a peaceful transition of government.

The selection process is a mock battle in which the generals and their honor guard fight on the fields of Macharia. Each general and his exactly 200 soldiers are required to take ceremonial non-lethal weapons in which they will fight. At the center of the battlefield is a fasces, which the general must bring to a ceremonial stand near where he begins. Because all elements of this battle is standardized except the techniques, strategems, and skill of the warriors, it is thought that this manner best exemplifies Macharius' last dictum, and ensures that the most skilled tactician is made to lead the State.

The 35 Generals

Macharia is a Military Dictatorship, and as such it is one that is managed by the generals. Each general technically governs over the entirity of macharia along with the other generals. In practice the generals are usually given territory to control upon the selection of a new Hegemon.

Junta

The Junta is the body of Generals assembled for the management of Macharia. When they act unanimously they can overrule the Hegemon. Additionally any member of the Junta can challenge the Hegemon in a fight to the death. Upon doing so he will be made Acting-Hegemon until the next selection.

Tallarn Flotilla

Once Tallarn was a planet in The Segmentum Tempestus, but that was before Rogal Dorn, the Segmentarch, decided that Tallarn's sun would better serve his plans if encased in a dyson sphere, and the sands of Tallarn would make for useful building materials. Helpless to resist, the Tallarns were forced to flee, and migrated throughout the Imperium. They had been stellar nomads for millennia before Macharius organized his great crusade. Lacking a true military, The Tallarn represented one of Macharius' greatest assets and both Tallarn Soldiers and Tallarn Ships brought many victories against the forces of chaos. Following Macharius' death the Tallarn are a major political force in Grand Macharia, and have no less than 10 of the 35 generals, who usually act as a single bloc.

Far away from their place of origin, and enduring the trials of a thousand years. The Tallarni people have taken to their new way of life and carved out a new place of power for themselves in the Segmentum Pacificus. No longer the Scions, the Tallarni Fleets are the most powerful force in Gran Macharia, an Independent Vassal of The Imperium of Man. The Tallarni represent the single most powerful faction within Gran Macharia, to the point where the Head Admiral of the Tallarni Fleets is considered the De Facto leader of the Junta of The 35.

Rogue Trader Enclaves

The Macharian government has very little interest in actually managing the domestic affairs of the country. Consequently it is not uncommon for the State to Lease out authority to tax and develop entire subsectors of the State to Wealthy Traders and Rogue Traders. These Enclaves agree to provide the Macharian state with an agreed upon portion of wealth, raw materials or equipment.

House Hastfanstauffen

Contracts are usually renewed once a century, but when the Generals were more careless there were a few contracts made in Macharia that were leased in Perpetuity. This is the case with House Hastfanstauffen. Shortly after Macharius' death, the processed foods vendor Enrique Hastfanstauffen made an agreement for the development of two undeveloped sectors. Desperate for resources, the Junta agreed. The Hastfanstauffen lease should have expired after its death, but because of a loophole in the contract, the lease was returned to the Junta following the closure of the Estate. As such, "The Executor" continues to manage the Estate of The Late Enrique Hastfanstauffen.

Ecclesiarchy and other Cults

The Unofficial other branch of Macharian government, because the Macharian junta's general disinterest in Civil government, it often falls on other civic organizations to tend to the many needs of Macharius' citizens These Cults often build themselves into missions, communes, or enclaves, where the faithful can have some modicum of normalcy. Though the Aurelian Cult is significant, there are many more far flung and exotic religions in macharia. Even the Imperial Soter Cult, thought long since destroyed has a not insignificant following in Macharia. Given its proximity to the Eye of Terror, nearly all of Macharia, including its leadership are generally highly devout, giving the various cults considerable influence.

Impact of Macharios

""Let it be known, that when Mankind was made to stare into the black abyss, it was the abyss that blinked."

– Monument of The Katholeans: Olanius Pius, Juris Lucia Annamis, and Macharius Megalos.

The unmitigated success of The Macharian Crusade jolted a sleeping Empire to life. There was a great awakening as its citizens and leaders were no longer satisfied with waiting until the Emperor was awakened for Mankind to return to glory. A new movement and ideology was founded "Cathacathedrism" believing that the Imperium should be prepared for the Emperor's inevitable return, through great victories and reforms. Even outside of the Imperium of Man, the Macharian crusade sent shockwaves across the galaxy signaling that the end of the war with Chaos was in sight.

The Death of Chaos Undivided

Chaos Undivided was not formally repudiated or dissolved, indeed there were even several Black Crusades mounted against the Imperium under the Black Legion following the Death of Macharios. What did die, however was anyone's faith in the Movement. Lorgar's vision of the secret harmony of Chaos was proven to be the Apophenia of a Deluded Fanatic. The different champions of Chaos instead saw themselves as rivals to a dwindling supply of resources. There was only the fight for survival, and the Great Game.

Lorgar, following his blunder at Cadia, saw his position of favor to Chaos fall to Be'lakor once again. Lorgar was forced to organize his crusades sulking in the shadows. Be'lakor tossed aside the Anthroprocentric focus of Lorgar's chaos for a return to the old ways. The Black Crusades against the Imperium were discarded in favor of a return to encouraging corruption throughout the Galaxy. Thinking that this approach would stop the bleeding and allow Chaos to recover so much of its loss strength, Be'lakor actually accelerated Chaos' territorial decline. Too much had changed since M25 and rather than prodding one awakening Galactic power, he instead foolishly prodded all of them. Most devastatingly, Be'lakor's greater emphasis on corruption of the eldar only strengthened the growing Yndarri, and permanently sided the complacent Dark Eldar toward the Imperium of Man. Following this even more disastrous 2000 year governorship, where the Eldar began reclaiming croneworlds, Lorgar Once again re-asserted his role as Champion of Chaos to attempt to clean up Be'lakor's damage.

Outside of The Imperium

Eldari

In the Eldar Craftworlds, the complacency that they felt towards the Imperium was shattered. Previously they had thought of Mankind as a pathetic force "Propped up" by the Wounded Emperor and His remaining Primarchs. Previously the position of the Eldar towards humanity was one of outlasting, figuring that they could wait for humanity's inevitable return to the chaos and self destruction of The Age of Strife. Now they were not so sure. The grand army of Macharios with his unaugmented, unaltered humans was able to outmaneuver the immortal forces of chaos. The eldar instead began turning their criticism inward, as they asked themselves how a collection of pathetic mon'keigh were able to recover more territory than they had in their entire history since the birth of Eye of Terror. Perhaps the greatest impact of the Macharian crusade on the Eldari is two fold.

1. The rise of the Ynnari.

The Success of the Macharian Crusade saw witness to a rise of widespread dissent and contempt against the Craftworld Leadership. Whether it was fears of a new resurgent Humanity comming after them, or disappointment that no such military successes were present in Eldar history, the cautious and patient approach of the Farseers was quickly losing support among the Eldar, assasinations and mutinies were rampant, as well as a "great awakening" of Craftworld Eldars towards the remaining Deities of Cegorach and Ynnead. The latter in particular gained the most from the Post-Macharios upheaval, as Yvraine, champion of Ynnead, took full advantage of this dissent to lead a mellinia long civil war against the craftworlds, which she eventually united.

1. Eldar Rift

As the Yndari rose in power and began to win the Eldar Civil War, the few remaining Craftworlds and The Dark Eldar found themselves drawing closer together, finding their each other's company significantly less repulsive than the fanatical Yndarri theocracy.

1. Escalation of the Tau Proxy war.

Origionally little more than the Dark Eldar's "experiment" into finding greater leverage with The Imperium, the Eldar's T'au Proxy was now seen as a vital counterweight to not only The Imperium, but the rising Yndarri threat. The T'au saw a rapid rise in both technological advancement and expansion during this time, aided by the Eldar, who even began encouraging the T'au to fight against the Necrons.

T'au Empire

For the T'au, the Macharian Crusade had less direct impact. The idea that individuals could join forces and unite successfully for a greater good wasn't exactly news. The T'au were more indirectly affected by a greater escalation of the Imperium/T'au Conflict. Both from the increased attention by the Aeldari as well as the reshifting of Imperial forces from the Obscura to Ultima Segmentum.

Tyrannids

The Tyrannids were about as affected by the Macharian Crusade as one could expect a galaxy consuming hivemind to be influenced by a brief blip in itheir food's quabbles. It wasn't completely immune to its influence however, as the Conquest of the Segmentum Pacificus saw the Imperium reshifting its center of military gravity from fighting Chaos to fighting Tau and Tyrannids. The greatest result of this was a significant slowdown of Hive Fleet Hydra's expansion into Ultramar.

Necrons

The Silent King had been watching human developments with interest. The Macharian conquest of the Segmentum Pacificus convinced the Silent King to once again reach out to Sanguinius for an alliance against the Tau, Tyrannids and Eldar. Seeing them as a useful tool in defeating the Old one's legacy once and for all.

The Rise of the "Independent Auxillaries"

""After Lorgar, the Imperium has been fighting as if it had a withered hand. We thought it was because the traitor cut the other off, but Macharios has forced us to confront the truth. It was we who tied off its circulation. We treated our human subjects as delicate glass ornaments sitting precariously on a shelf. Now I can only ask myself in shame, where would my Sons be if I were not so haughty?""

– :Magnus The Red on Macharios

""I have always held that purity of will and mastery over one's flesh, was man's greatest assets. And nothing since Gorgon has dissuaded me. For this, my sons rebelled abandoned me for their love of sprockets. Even my brothers view my passion for the perfection of the self as quaint and foolish. Just a simple philosophy for a simple man. But when the mortal remade the Pacificus in his own image their smirks were as useless as their own weapons, and as absent as their troops.""

– -Ferrus Manus

It would be an understatement to say that the Macharian Crusade influenced the Imperium's military strategy. Indeed the Crusade caused a tectonic shift in Sanguinius and Horus' approach to the use of auxillaries and greater military strategy. For the most part, Imperial strategy of Sanguinius had been the same as that of Horus and The Emperor's during the Great Crusade, focusing primarily on the Legiones Astartes. The Human Auxillaries were used either for Support or Cannon fodder, depending upon the legion or segmentarch in question. Normal Humans, requiring significantly larger supply needs than Astartes to be effective, were considered not being worth the logistical cost. Additionally the Human auxiliaries were considered incompetent and untrustworthy, requiring close monitoring.

That changed when Macharios and his companions drove the forces of Chaos out of the Segmentum Pacificus. Suddenly it was clear that Imperial guard had a greater role to play than just defensive guard and minesweepers. Horus, under Sanguinius's command immediately set to work on reorganizing the tithes of soldiers and equipment. The Astra Militarum was reorganized into legions similar to the Astartes. Forgeworlds were now tithed to provide a greater number of commissions for common equipment.

Many of these Astra Militarum Legions were sent on "test" crusades, where they traveled through the imperium eliminating Ork incursions. And as the Tau War continued to escalate, it was the Human Astra Militarum that would pick up the call in greater numbers. This greater desire for more Human troops resulted in widespread reform and militarization of the Imperium. The thirst for conscripts saw the demand for more fortress worlds and new human legions to be created. The Segmentum Guards and auxillary forces were encouraged to provide their expert training to these newly found legions. This rapid escalation and armament of the Imperium further terrified the Eldar, continuing the rapid breakdown of Human-Eldar relations.

The Crusade for Maccragge

{{"And though my faith in Our Lord Guilliman is unshakable, my faith in my brothers is tried. Behold The Queen Mother despairs at her pathetic children. The men of Ultramar are squabbling, and petty. You disgrace the Aurelian and the Emperor with your putrid lives: growing fat on the gifts of The Godson. With nothing but a few battalions, the Katholeans have conquered a 1000 worlds from the Demons. Yet what of the Children of the man who conquered 500 worlds? Our gifts of The mother, ultramarines and valliant soldiers can not even manage to reconquer MacCragge? The great Lord Aurelian's home, where Great Tarasha reared him, and The Ultramarine was first forged. The land where our holy texts were written and the great sacrifice is made, we have allowed it to remain desecrate. As I speak there are demons performing vile obscenities over the throne of our great god king, and our spiritual lieges can only think of their next Banquet!" |Abbess Themaeux Gaugre' "Sermon from the Pulpit of Saranath"}}

The Macharian Crusade inspired a wave of copycats. Most of these varried from embarassing failures (The Crusade for Commoragh) to tragic failures (The Kroot Crusade for Pecha). Perhaps one of the few examples of such a copycat crusade being successful was the "Ancillae Crusade" This crusade, prompted by the Great Daughter of Tarasha, swept Ultramar into a frenzy to finally liberate Holy Maccrage from the Chaotic tain that had held it for 10000 years. Chaos, already weakened by the Macharian crusade, was unable to aid its outpost in Royum Ultramar. Through the Rally of the Forces of Ultramar, the demonic citadels of Maccragge were broken, and the holy relics of Roboute Gulliman were found.

The Capture of Cadia and the End of Chaos

":Though over in Macharia, The Hero lies in state

For Gulliman to wake him up, we will not stand and wait

The General he calls on us to charge Cadia's gate

His soul commands us on!"

"

– Chant of Astra Militarum during the final crusade (To the tune of The Battle Hymmn of the Republic)

During the Macharian Crusade, Macharios made a modest Gambit. Divert Angron and Saporin's navy, by convincing chaos to intercept a percieved assault on Cadia. What he did not expect was the forces of chaos to fall in complete disarray. Between abandonment of the Occular Pacificus in mass, to singular suicide charges into the Obscura, to inter-chaos civil wars, this diversion placed Chaos on the Backfoot and was left scrambling for alternatives. This gargantuan military blunder was not unnoticed by the Imperium, as it was a clear signal that not only was Chaos undivided a Lorgarite fiction, but that Cadia itself was seen as vulnerable by its own forces. Imperial forces was no longer content to weather Chaotic Incursions, but instead became Bolder. Sanguinius led the first of many "Golden Crusades" to retake Cadia. He was ultimately successful in M43, as Cadia was surrounded and seiged into submission. The capture of Perturabo's Citadel of Cadia represented the mortal blow to chaos, from which it would never recover.