Aquila Legion

There once was an Apothecary of Iron Champions by the name of Vibius Leptis who, believing himself inspired by the Emperor himself to create the next step in humanity, began tampering with abhuman DNA to try to make “stronger” adeptus astartes. These “visions” were actually the result of an infection transmitted to him while he harvested the gene seed of a dead comrade during a campaign against a warband of Nurgle. His experiments, carried out by agents on a far off planet, tried to bring about the creation of Ogryn space marines. Many failures lead Leptis to near insanity and it was only when he used his own genetic material as the basis (which had been infected with Nurgle’s taint) that it was successful. Before he could even lay eyes on his children the chaplain of his chapter discovered him and Leptis soon died under interrogation. The newborn Ogryn-marines were stolen while a deamonic incursion provided a distraction and they were brought to the Eye of Terror. Now they march as the “Aquilis Leptis” or “Aquila Legion”.
The Aquila Legion are bizzare looking marines. They stand about 2 feet taller than your average marine, are flabby, infected, and have two (or more) heads. They are of sub-human intelligence (on par with your typical Ogryn Bone'ead) but are guided by priests of Nurgle. They are disgustingly strong, able to rip a tank apart with their bare hands and each is resilient enough to take a tank round to the chest and keep going (due to a mixture of space marine enhancements, Nurgle’s modifications, and Ogryn physiology). They spew bile and reek of putrefaction- a cloud of filth spilling out before them. They reproduce, in a manner of speaking; when one of the heads grows too large it falls off and grows a new body. Heads bud from the main one randomly and sometimes to the detriment of the marine as they fight for control over the body sometimes if they are of equal size.
== Relationship With Other Warbands ==
More “true” chaos space marine chapters view them with disgust and do not regard them as actual marines- just a science experiment gone wrong. Among the faithful pustules of Nurgel’s army they are celebrated as the “next step” in marine design. They are also joked about due to their slow intelligence but in an endearing way- they are just Pappa Nurgle’s “slower” children (but he loves them just the same).
== Notable Marines ==
* Lord Hecatoncheires Leptis: A Daemon Prince Ogryn that rules the warband with a hundred iron fists. Hecatoncheires is one of the oldest in the warband and constantly grows arms that are not under his control. He resembles nothing so much as a writhing ball of claws, tentacles, and talons that pull his bloated carcass across the ground.
* Chiptus “Chippy” Leptis: “Chippy” is a Chaos Lord of Nurgle and is second in command. He’s blissfully ignorant of just about everything but his ignorance is actually the result of a transmissible disease. Those who enter the cloudy haze of filth, bugs, and bacteria that constantly flows around him will soon lose all thought and be rendered as intelligent as an animal. Chiptus maintains his own mind in a glass jar many miles away from the battlefield, constantly poked and prodded by cultists into action, which maintains a psychic link with his physical form.
* Ivan Leptis the All Drinker: Ivan is a plague sorcerer that has been cursed to constantly drool filthy liquids from his many mouths. The liquid is so infected and the diseases it carries are so virulent that they can infect an entire water supply with just one mouthful. He used his filth as ammunition for a special kind of virus grenade the warband, sometimes referred to as a “Puking Ivan”.
* Dashodun “Dash” Leptis: Leader of the Raptor Cult of the warband Dash is famous for his ability to “bud” new marines off him at an alarming rate. All raptors of the warband are essentially the clone/children of Dash Leptis and all owe the ancient ogryn a sort of paternal respect. He is sometimes referred to as “Pappy Leptis”.
== Notable Campaigns ==
* The Filth Wars: Around the time of the Grim Harvest in 666.M38, the Aquila Legion made its first strike. They manifested on an Imperial trash-moon and turned it into a disgusting paradise. They eventually crashed their sludgy moon into the surface of a nearby hiveworld- infecting the entire planet and collapsing its ecosystem. The planet was later entirely destroyed after an exterminatus was declare.
* Snake Venom Party: The Aquila Legion sent cultists to gather a disturbing amount of snake venom from all corners of the Imperium. Using a ritual they created thousands of profane weapons (known as the Slithering Spears) and distributed them to thousands of people in warzones. This lead to a dozens of assassinations, rebellions, and cults that would not have otherwise been successful. The Aquila Legion then exploited these openings with a half dozen small raids and missions. It is noted by the Ordo Hereticus that this is far to “smart” for the Aquila Legion so it is suspected that they were simply the tool rather than the actual brains behind this.
* All Is Rust: The Aquila Legion was “invited” by a Cult of Nurgle to a minor industrial world which soon was shown to be a tombworld. The Aquila Legion did battle against the small Abraxas Dynasty and lost but infected the Necrons with a never-ending plague of rust and decay that will someday consume them entirely. The battle between the Abraxas Dynasty Necrons and the Aquila Legion rendered the planet uninhabitable to humanity.
* Rasmodine Raids: The Aquila Legion was dispatched by one of Pappa Nurgle's plans to spread the joy of his diseases across the stars. He had the Aquila Legion infected with a disease of the mind that would infect the locust-like xenos race known as the Rasmodine who were encroaching on Imperial space. The resulting raids spread the disease, fed the Aquila Legion, and ultimately ended in the Rasmodine becoming thralls of Nurgle and their greatest champion his slave. (See the article on Operation Helsing for more information.)
* Rain of Tears: The Aquila Legion appeared on the Imperial world of Oberon's Sword and infected the population with a disease that made them sob so extensively that they died of a mixture of exhaustion and dehydration. Two space marine chapters, the Yoddha and the Emperor’s Servants struck hard and fast, with support from the 12th Neo-Jerionite Regiment's biohazard companies. The infection was contained and the Aquila Legion forced to retreat to the crashed hulk of their plagueship. The 1st Company of the Yoddha, famous for their deamon-killing, slew many but not without heavy losses. Eventually the Aquila Legion was forced to evacuate and lick their festering wounds.
* War of Broken Dreams: The Family (a legion of Chaos Space Marines) was dispatched to "gallantly guard chemicals vital to the Imperium's continued war effort" which, in reality, was actually an order to guard the psychotropic vats of an Important chaos cult. Klan Nork, the orks in question, had been raiding it for the drugs they so desired and a system-spanning conflict developed between the two powers. Eventually they attracted the notice of the Aquila Legion who helped turn the tide against the ork klan. In the end the 5 worlds of the systems were dusted with hallucinogens, covered with diseases, and laid to waste.
* The Battle of Blue Hope River: After liquidating several imperial cities the Aquila Legion began to infect the Blue Hope River. Following the mysterious Noven Prophecies Eldar from Craftworld Nova'cor struck at them. This sudden support surprised the Imperial forces (who had fought the Craftworld a year earlier) and threw them into disarray. However, the Aquila Legion was thwarted and the water system of the planet was only mildly tainted. The Order of the Stone Lion were dispatched to attempt to defeat them. Inquisitor Grace Parmenion made the first recorded observations of Eldar Dust Cannons and the Adder Super Heavy Grav Tank at this battle.