Xenos

“The void is an unutterably vast and inhuman place, a place of ancient dangers and unknown perils. In this cold darkness have bred things as obscene, terrible, and dangerous as any daemon of the warp... In the face of such dire knowledge, you must hold onto this single truth: it is mankind’s destiny to rule the stars and rule them alone.”
—Lord Inquisitor Knael, A Discursive Primer for Initiates of the Ordo Xenos, Vol. I
It is mankind’s manifest destiny to rule this galaxy, of that there is no doubt. Spiritual perils may beset us, the physical universe may assail us, but it is the Emperor’s will that mankind and mankind alone will bestride the stars, and to that end we fervently bend our lives. There are many other creatures in this galaxy, unclean creatures born of worlds far from the sacred soil of Holy Terra, whose misbegotten forms are an insult to those who wear the shape decreed by the Lord of Man as fitting and right. Some of these creatures are weak and harmless, and easily extirpated, their planets expropriated for the true masters of the stars, their memory expunged. But there are other, stronger races that would see the will of the Emperor foiled and mankind cast down.
Among them are the savage greenskin Orks, whose numberless multitudes plague the galaxy with their endless desire for war. Hulking creatures, bigger than a man, they are mindless, yet powerful and unafraid. Elsewhere can be found the fickle Eldar, those who cannot be trusted, beings which extend the hand of friendship whilst clasping a dagger behind their back. Beware these fiends; their machineries of war are as swift and as deadly as their lying tongues. Likewise the Tyranids, blasphemous monstrosities who reduce worlds to bare rocks in their feeding frenzy, their endless armies made up of hellspawned bio-constructs.
Other things dwell in the dark places of space---the Hrud, whose very presence is poison even to the rightful progression of time; the Tau, whose heretical technicians enslave technology to their grotesque ends with no thought for the proper rites; the Verminthiculians, wild mercenaries and reavers. But fear not, the alien may be legion but man is the stronger, and their warmongering is but the desperate savagery of those who know that their end draws near.
The primary remit of the Ordo Xenos is to defend the
Imperium against the threat of the alien, a duty that goes
far beyond merely confronting non-human creatures in
open conflict alongside the Imperial Guard or Astartes. In order
to oppose the xenos threat, the Ordo Xenos must undertake
the dangerous task of investigating and studying alien races
with a mind to destroying any that is deemed to be a threat
to humanity. It must learn the nature of its inhuman foes, seek
out their weaknesses and learn how to counter their strengths.
More than this, it must be ever watchful, not only against what
lies in the void beyond, but against other, often more subtle and
insidious threats that arise much closer to home. Such threats
are often posed by renegade humans, some corrupt, others
merely opportunistic. Such individuals are known to trade
in alien technology, or seek to hide alien species within the
Imperium’s midst—often for the purposes of experimentation,
profit, or bloody entertainment.
Many Ordo Xenos Inquisitors are quite open in their
dealings with some alien races. Only the most Puritan Alien
Hunter would consider it a great sin to make common cause
with such species as the Eldar for example, and the annals of
the Imperium contain many records of Human and Eldar forces
fighting together against such foes as the Orks or Tyranids.
More divisive however is the use of alien mercenaries, such
as the barbaric and flesh-devouring Kroot. Many Imperial
Governors, faced with an immediate emergency, have turned
to alien mercenaries for aid, knowing that a response from
the Imperium might arrive too late. In such instances, it is not
uncommon for an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus to instigate
hearings and trials, and to test soldiers exposed to the aliens
for signs of corruption. In most instances, the matter may pass
with relatively few consequences, but should the Inquisitor in
question be of a particularly Puritan mindset, entire regiments
might be purged and the planetary government deposed as
punishment.
==The Acute Threat of the Alien==
Many of the Ordo Xenos’s operations are not focused
outward, but inward on the Imperium itself, and with good
cause. The Ordo’s records are littered with bloody atrocities
and vast losses of life that have resulted where the alien has
taken hold of an Imperial world via stealth, infiltration, or
slow taint, as well as countless incidents where the influence
of alien technology, misunderstood artefacts, and xeno-lore
have resulted in unintended disaster and tragic consequence.
Within the Calixis Sector, the job of the Ordo Xenos is a
particularly complex and difficult one. This challenge is in no
small part because the sector itself lies on the very edge of the
Imperium. It is a borderland flanked for much of its perimeter
by the uncharted void of space beyond the Emperor’s light.
No complete or even meaningful control can be kept over
this vast, open border, and human and alien vessels can pass
largely unobserved and unchallenged despite the best efforts of
Battlefleet Calixis and the Imperial listening stations.
This dark horizon is crossed regularly by Rogue Traders, the
exploratory fleets of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and even by smaller
independent merchant and prospecting vessels quite legitimately.
Where such legal traffic ends and outlaw traffic (such as smugglers,
renegades, non-compliants, and pirates) begins is often a blurred
line. Each one of these is a vector, a means by which the alien and
alien influences can flow like poison into the Imperium’s veins,
and the eyes of the Ordo Xenos cannot be everywhere at once.
== The Manifold Dangers of the Alien ==
Although the potential threats posed to humanity and the
Imperium by alien influences are many and varied, the
doctrine of the Ordo Xenos defines five broad avenues by
which the xeno can afflict mankind: discord, temptation,
corruption, dominion, and destruction.
The Threat of Discord
Perhaps the most insidious threat the alien can pose to the
Imperium is through the deviancy of its ways and ideas,
exposure to which might inspire envy, apostasy, or even
adoration, leading humanity away from the Imperial fold and
into heresy and rebellion. The Imperial Creed is the greatest
weapon against such wrong-thinking. But the further from
the centers of civilization one goes, the more the risk of
mental and moral contamination increases.
The Threat of Temptation
The alien is a thing of lies and false promises, offering gifts
and trinkets, powerful technology, or alliances—all of which
are ready lures for the weak-minded, avaricious, or infirm of
faith. There is a shameful roll call of traitors and deviants who
have succumbed to such temptations in the past. The dubious
treasures and lost secrets of xeno-civilizations long extinct can
hold equal threat for those who disturb their resting places.
The Threat of Corruption
The alien can pose a threat of bodily taint and corruption
just as easily as the powers of the warp. This taint may take
the form of parasitism for the purpose of vile promulgation
of its own species or to appease its hunger, such as with
the Lacyramole. Alternately there is the crime of transgenic
blasphemy; the deliberate combination of human and nonhuman
DNA or tissue falls into this category.
The Threat of Dominion
Some xeno-forms have dark powers to dominate and control
humanity by psychic or other means, perhaps even forcing
others to worship them as false gods. Abhorred creatures such
as the Nostrafex, the Simulacra, and the Cryptos pose insidious
and subtle dangers, turning humans against their own and
treating them as little more than cattle or playthings.
The Threat of Destruction
Some aliens seek to invade, conquer, and destroy by overt
means, from the murderous swathes cut by great Ork Waaaghs
to the invasions of the enigmatic Thyrrus. Likewise, some
non-sentient species, be they dangerous predators like the
feared Void-Cacaradon or ecology destroying vermin such
as the Xothic Blood Locust, are simply too hazardous to be
allowed to live whenever encountered.
==In the Calixis Sector==
"I have met many aliens in my travels both within the Imperium and without. There are many who are interested in the stars of the Calixis Sector---some for plunder, some for revenge, and some who seek to feed upon citizens of the Emperor’s realm. Xenos species are as varied and inconstant as the stars themselves, and I have met none I would consider worthy of trust.
"Above all others, I avoid the Slaugth. The maggot–men of Hazeroth are foul and debased carrion–feeders. Nothing good comes from contact with them. I suffer from lingering nightmares of the worm–who–walks.
"Above all others, I hate the Greenskins. Orks are nothing more than bullying, conquest–minded beasts. They seek battle, and I give it to them gladly whenever I encounter one of their rattletrap ships.
"Above all others, I fear the Eldar. Rare they may be in the Calixis stars, but those who do remain are not to be trifled with. I fear them because the Eldar know many secrets, and such knowledge they do not share unless it suits their needs. I have done business with an Eldar only once, and I have regretted it ever since."
–Rogue Trader Ansellion Aquairre
Although the Imperium of Man dominates the Calixis
Sector, it was not always so. The Angevin Crusade
encountered and destroyed a number of alien
civilizations who dared defy the will of the Emperor, leaving
only ruins on a scattering of worlds. Others fled rather than
face the might of the Imperium, escaping to distant worlds
and far stars. However, some xenos species still lurk within
the sector or among the depths of the nearby Halo Star
region where they watch... and wait. Other xenos actively
seek the downfall of the Calixis sector; Hordes of Orks
have assaulted the world of Kulth for decades, while the
mercenary Enoulians and the shape-changing Simulacra haunt
many Imperial worlds in the Drusus Marches. The alien is often equal parts insidious and mysterious, hiding in plain sight or through the manipulation of others, as in the case of the Enslavers and the Cryptos. Every alien culture represents an acute threat to mankind's dominance of the stars.
Less easily classified is a wide range of species that exist
as parasites in one form or another. Many void-farers across
the Calixis Sector and beyond tell tales of a species often
called ‘Flukes’ or, appropriately, ‘Brain Worms’, which slowly
rewrite the genetic identity of infected host creatures and thus
reproduce in the most hideous manner imaginable. Others
would enslave Mankind, making of their prey a sort of worker
class over which they would rule.
Still more aliens are so exotic in form as to be nigh impossible
to classify. Some appear based on materials other than carbon,
such as the silica-based ‘Stylites’ encountered across several
worlds beyond the Periphery sub-sector of the Calixis Sector.
The bestiaries of the Ordo Xenos make reference to a host
of even more extreme life forms, including some that exist as
gaseous clouds, and even one described as an energy being that
derives its sustenance from the essence of suns.
Most aliens regard the Imperium with a mixture of fear
and dread, and rightly so, as they know it is only a matter of
time before they draw the attention of the Ordo Xenos. But
not all xenos await extermination like a Grox being led to the
slaughter. There are those, secure in their perceived might,
who seek to oppose the Imperium at any opportunity, and take
great pleasure in attacking the works of Man, destroying his
mighty starships, sacking distant colony worlds, plundering
them of goods, and enslaving its citizens.
The nearby Halo Stars are a fringe region where many
Xenos remain, glimpsed only dimly by Imperial citizens
inside the Calixis Sector. Rumors persist that many alien
civilizations that were driven out by the Angevin Crusade
are only biding their time, someday to return and wreak a
terrible vengeance upon the worlds of Man.