History

### First Contact War

Little is known of man's arrival to  Acheron Rho, much has been lost to time. We know that xenos once filled the sector and that the houses banned together and defeated the Xenos completely.

This is but a part of the truth, as any Aquilan knows, for though much as been lost, through stories and tales some knowledge of the events of the arrival remain in Aquilan Oral history.

Told by Centurions to their men; Accounts of mighty heroes, the paragons of Aquila.

#### Tales from the First Contact War:

##### **Marcus Aquila Aurelius Julius**

Tribune Marcus Aquila Aurelius Julius was a Junior officer in Legio XXXII and commanded the second cohort. He arrived on what is now Diomikato, dropping through atmosphere in their Stella Crustae (Star shells) the legion landed upon a mountain in the planets north atmosphere.

The enemy awaited them. Soon it became all too clear that this initial first invasion was destined to fail, for one legion was not enough to fight the aliens here. The legion therefore ordered a general retreat to a hastily constructed star pad and awaited extraction. 10,000 legionaries waited had to be ferried from the ground and into the safety of the fleet in orbit.

The Legion needed time to get their men off the ground and thus it was asked of those assembled, for 500 among them to form a rearguard. For minutes the Legion was silent, then Tribune Aquila Aurelius Julius stepped forward a declared that he would hold the line, fiercly and faithfully until he died or the legion was safely evacuated. A chorus of voices followed his.

And 500 brave soldiers fought for 17 hours against countless alien hordes to see their brothers exit the trap they had fell into.

All 500 soldiers died, though it is said that the last war cry of the tribune was heard from orbit.

## The Blood Eagle

Though hundreds of years ago, the time of the Aquilan Emperor is known by many to have been a bloody century. The moniker for this leader was, The Blood Eagle. This name isn’t spoken in public or in the company of certain people for fear of insult.

-Blood Eagle Rise to power

Hundreds of years ago the empire was in turmoil, the last empress was a good, kind ruler, but slow to act and lacked initiative. Pirates roamed the sector and the common folk were in a state of unrest. These conditions created the environment necessary for a young Praetor to gain the support of the worried nobility and quickly establish them as a contender for the throne.

The situation worsened as mysterious groups of so called "Blood Gangs" popped up on the high worlds of the imperium with a desire to only cause chaos and shed blood.

The Praetor promised legions on every world, previously against imperial law, harsher punishments for found gang members and the swiftest possible solution to the crisis.

The Praetor was charismatic and was given a new title by the provisional government. Dictator. By now it had become clear to all that this new Aquilan, this Eagle was surely the next Emperor. Then out of the blue the Eagle was asked to go to Hroa, to speak with their council regarding disturbing visions they had seen.

After the meeting the Eagle was noted to looked displeased and didn't comment on the meeting at all. Over the next few weeks each High Minstra on the council was found dead, all of them through mysterious accidents. Question were raised but the vote continued and the Eagle become the Eagle Emperor.

Immediately following

-Martial Law/ Reign of Blood - The Dark days

-The Sword of Damocles - Plan to destroy all of the noble houses if they attempt to Rebel/

-Blood Eagle Rebellion

-Noble Legions vs Blood Legions - Legions split between loyalist and rebels

-The Coalition of Noble houses - All noble houses band together to defeat the blood Eagle

-Diomikatian 1st rebellion - A few legions Revolt. It is put down swiftly

-Imperial Prime Campaign - Legions fight on Imperial Prime, the planet turns into an urban warzone

-Assault on Gats - Cygnus is attacked by loyalist legions, initially things go badly for cygnus

-Defeat of the Eagle's Fleet - The imperial fleet over Gats is destroyed, blood eagle retreats to Diomikato

-Encirclment on Gats - The Loyalist legions on Gats are surrounded and are contained for the remainer for the war. Many die from starvation.

-Siege of Diomikato - The Final assault on the Eagles nest.

-The Eagle Vanishes - The body of the blood eagle is never recovered.

## The Blood Eagle Conspiracy

Within House Aquila it is Taboo to speak of Blood Eagle aloud, such is the shame upon our house. However mutterings of dissent exist, a few of the higher ranking officers within Aquila doubt the tales of mass murder, pillage and genocide. They believe that history has been rewritten by other noble houses in order to prevent an Aquila on the throne. Until recently spoken only in whispers and in shadows, but with house Crux's edited history of Cygnus, the conspirators become more vocal every day.

## The Fall of Cygnus and Loss of the Synth

Before the fall of House Cygnus, House Aquila used Synths extensively in almost every aspect of the legions. From front line combat to the the low intensity engineering and logistical work a synth could be seen in every legion. But even in their highest numbers, Synths weren’t a mainstay of every legion. Some legions were made up entirely of Synths, save for the Lorica pilot, whilst others only had syths in low priority roles. Regardless before the crisis it was estimated that Synths made up between 20%-80% of the Aquilian Comitatenses Legion. Therefore fighting during the crisis was extremely widespread with high casualty rates across Imperial space, some of the most prestigious Legions in Empire ceased to exist and their Eagle standards lost. After the conflict, the Legions were left hollow and in desperate need of soldiers to replace both the Synths amongst the ranks who had been removed and those who had been removed by the Synths.

-Synth Wars a historical Outline

-Gats Campaign: Human Legions split between loyalist and rebel. Human legions defend themselves and fortify themselves.

-Diomikato Campaign: Legions on Diomikato largely split between Synth Majority vs Human Majority. Fighting is intense.

-Imperial Prime Campaign. Legions on Imperial Prime Attempt to protect civilians while fighting synth.

-Assassination of the emperor - Emperor's assassination ruins chain of command.

-Turn of the tide. - Legions gain superiority and start the extermination of synths. Cygnus legions are destroyed by orbital fire.

-Victory on the Diomikato -After years of fighting the last loyalist legion is defeated in the ruins. Victory is declared.