Forlorn Fortress Guard

As keepers of the defiant halls, the Fortress Guard stand at the gates of Gahmuret. For ten millennia they held this world, first to stand against the Thetys Tides, the bulwark of the Immaterium, forever strong in the Emperor's name. They alone remain against the growing dark, where others faltered and were turned away, alone in lost, forgotten places, which were long ago declared forlorn.

## Doctrine and Culture

### Total War

No ally ever shed blood on the soil of Gahmuret, for the fortress stood strong without aid. Since the first millennium following the Great Crusade, Gahmuret was by the Administratum forsaken and forever swore not to rely on the help of others ever again. From these early days on, Gahmuret has waged a total war and has become a world without civilians. Every soul born on this world belongs to the Guard, every life spent is a sacrifice according to its holy oaths of service.

Every last soul upon this world is a soldier in the war for its defense, is born, lives and dies in service to the state, to its survival and the existence of a new generation. Life is organized and ruled in terms of unit and formation, which are dictated by the chain of command reaching from every unborn child to the dead heroes of ages past.

Every resource is rationed – food, ammunition, lives and time – and every instruction in order to be followed exactly to the point. Gahmuret knows few punishments but death and the penal legions, and transgression is rightly judged. At the same time, each and every soul is expected to be in good condition to fight, thus the prevention of famine, illness, and injury is of high priority on this world.

### Effectiveness above all

In measuring worth, Gahmuret knows but one quality: The effectiveness toward the goals of its perpetual war. Neither doctrine nor convention nor ideals stands in the way of the Guard's pursuit of victory. To an unusual degree, the Forlorn Fortress Guard's command tolerates and even encourages the deviation from imperial doctrine should it further the survival of this world. As a result, the guardsmen of Gahmuret are known for ingenuity and resourcefulness on the field of battle as well as in matters of logistics and strategy – a quality both loathed and respected among others in the Imperium.

### Zwinger Doctrine

For the defense of their homeworld, the forces of Gahmuret follow an ancient doctrine engrained in the very architecture of their planetary fortress. The very structure of their world is designed to lure the inevitably coming foe into battlefields of the defender's choosing, keeping an attacker at a constant disadvantage as they progress deeper and deeper into the cthonic labyrinth that is the network of bunkers, halls and underground cities which the forces of Gahmuret hold. Shelters, traps, and ambush points on a global scale perforate the shell and crust of this world, an endless maze of fortifications and strongholds which remained unbroken for ten millennia.

In accordance with this proven doctrine, the Fortress Guard of Gahmuret excels at battle underground, in enclosed bunkers and catacombs, great halls and forgotten depths hewed into naked stone. Heavy infantry, heavy weapons teams and heavy combat vehicles make up the bulk of Gahmuret's planetary force, focussing on direct firepower and endurance to outlast enemies with superior numbers in the confines of a tunnel system where neither artillery nor air support exists.

These main forces of the Guard are renown for unwavering discipline and fighting in the absolute dark, resorting to visors and motion detection for overwhelming the enemy in the everlasting night, buried underneath kilometers of rock and stone.

### Rock and Flame Doctrine

Far from the tunnels and bunkers of their homeworld, the most prominent doctrine of the Fortress Guard is radically changed. With Rock and Flame, the fortress guard strikes at oncoming invasion forces, relying heavily on supermassive artillery pieces and trenches in a brutal confrontation. All throughout the Gahmuret System and the adjacent regions of the No-Man's-Land, the Guard maintains thousands of major outposts and tens of thousands more of smaller garrison stationed on asteroids and small moons, which have been rigged with fusion drives, starship-scaled macro weaponry, and lances. The forces stationed there are tasked with maintaining and protecting these rocks as they lie in waiting in the dark, ready to be sent against any force passing through the system. Each and every last such station has the potential to be converted into a new port-of-call for the Gahmuret Fleet, or to form the bridgehead of a future counter-offensive. On these rocks in the depth of space, the Guard of Gahmuret fulfills the most ancient role of mortal warriors in the Imperium: Paving the way for a greater crusade yet to come.

### Alone in the shadows

Both when fighting in the Zwingers of Gahmuret and on the cold stone of distant asteroids, the Fortress Guard is forced to function in small, independent units independently, following a greater plan with diligence without direct communication. To this end, Gahmuret's Guard forces have been known to be highly disciplined in sticking to the plans set forth by superiors. Where they fight, they make their last stand, knowing their sacrifice will aid in the fulfillment in plans much greater, beyond their knowledge.

## Railways of Gahmuret

The bulwarks, underground cities, and depots of Forlorn Gahmuret are connected by a vast railway network facilitating the majority of all transportation of this world. Ranging from simple transit pods to massive mobile industrial complexes on tracks, these mobile machines are the beating heart keeping the mechanism of the Fortress World functional.

The trains traversing the endless depths of Gahmuret are often in perpetual motion, fueled by reactors and thermal energy from below, dragging thousands of carriages and wagons, entire communities and habitats on endless lanes through the dark. This internal mobility allows Gahmuret to concentrate military and industrial prowess as well as population close to any point of potential enemy incursion to mount the strongest possible defense.

### War Trains of Gahmuret

To the Forlorn Fortress Guard of Gahmuret, the underground railway network represents the best means for rapid deployment, supply lines, and reinforcements. As such, an entire branch of the Fortress Military is tasked with the protection of these lanes alone.

Mighty war rigs and locomotives have been forged in the depot stations far below, to act as an unrelenting, unstoppable force in the closely confined battlefields of the Forlorn Fortress World. Even more massive war trains act as mobile command and control centers, keeping away from the enemy and changing strategic positions quickly.

## Astrography

One the forefront of Subsector Cambria, Gahmuret lies close to the Castellum Rifersceith of the Limes Gondwana, where the Surge of the Thetys Rift once struck furthest into Imperial Territory. The forces of the Fortress Guard are deployed all along this vast front on many worlds far from living stars. In the shadows of the Void, they are on the lookout, awaiting any invading fleet, and prepared to strike down any enemy incursion.

Seldom are forces of Gahmuret deployed on other imperial worlds, in offensive operations or to quell seditious forces. Too isolated are they still and to specialized has their doctrine become to often fight alongside allies and in battles upon different worlds. The victories of the Fortress Guard are won alone and survival often their greatest trophy.

## History

First established by the hallowed forces of the Great Crusade, the permanent garrison force of Gahmuret stood five and a half centuries ready, before word of Terra came, that the conquest of Gondwana would not resume. This order, written and rewritten by generations of chroniclers at the heart of the Fortress, was the founding document of the Gahmuret Fortress Guard, which from that moment on, would stand as the first vanguard against the Thetys Rift.

### The Last Garrison waiting

For long, the guard of Gahmuret held out on its homeworld alone thereafter, before the Limes Gondwana was established by forces of Trantor. Already, the declaration of Gahmuret as a forlorn world had driven a deep divide between these two worlds, and as such one of the greatest fortresses of the Limes, line remained isolated from the sector-wide fortification. This division only diminished when Trantor's grasp of the Limes lessened and the Castellan fleets sought the aid of Gahmuret in its stead. From there on, advisors and military equipment produced in Gahmuret's own forges were stationed on Star Forts and outposts all along the Rift, as watchmen on the verge of reality.

### Breeding for War

When the long Shadow of Thetys fell, the Forlon Fortress Guard began preparing for the largest war since the ending of the Great Crusade, building reserves in ammunition and equipment to fit its population ten-fold.

As the war was expected in the coming millennia, the war council of the Fortress Guard began introducing a strict breeding program to increase the population and make the world fit for war.

Fuel and resources were gathered, foodstuffs and supplies to outlast a siege for centuries, and the Castellan Fleets were instructed to fight under the leadership of the Fortress Fleet. About half of the fortresses along the Limes Gondwana followed and would see forces of the Fortress Guard deployed over the coming centuries of preparations for war. Even though the age of respite, the guard of Gahmuret did not cease and finally reached its population goals during this time.

### The War for Gahmuret

The Surge of the Thetys Rift saw the fall of many worlds close to the Rift and finally, the siege of Trantor. Amid this chaotic age of perpetual war, one world stood locked in unending battle. On Gahmuret, generations bred, destined to fight on these fronts, rose to the ultimate sacrifice for their world. As the forces of ruinous powers ground down the cells of resistance and remainder of the Fleet, the Fortress stood, unchanged, drenching every corner and corridor in the blood of the invaders daring to set foot on its ancient soil.

## Notable Units and Branches

### Fortress Guard

The fortress guard makes up the bulk of Gahmuret's active fighting force, encompassing every last soul born on the Forlorn Fortress World. Every member of the state receives training and base-equipment and spends decades in service on the frontline before retiring to factory work or administrative duty as a reservist to the Fortress Guard.

These are well-trained and experienced troops, using conventional, but well-maintained equipment. Specializing in battle underground, in tunnels and urban infrastructure, they are an unrelenting force of heavy infantry and shock troopers.

### Ferrivia Guard

Maintain and protect the railways of Forlorn Gahmuret are the Ferrivia Guardsmen aboard their mighty war machines. Prone to work closely with priests and engineers, these soldiers are said to live in close relation to mechanical systems and technology. They know their weapons well and how to use them without destroying the machinery they protect. Precise, methodical and swift they fight in the endless tunnel network of their world.

### Offworld Skirmishers

Skirmishers deployed on rocks and moons far from home are most well-known for their skill in combat wearing heavy environmental suits and operating the vast machinery holding their rock-fortresses of the void together. Not unlike the Ferrivia Guard, they work closely with machinery and have the foremost task of avoiding direct confrontation outside their perfectly outlined plans. But once the hammer of rock and flame falls, there is little which could withstand its wrath.

### Offworld Regiments

Rarely are regiments from Gahmuret raised to fight off-world, as they are highly reclusive and specialized people. Nonetheless, when the Imperium calls, Gahmuret heeds its duty. Often times, children of a new generation are assigned equipment and arms especially forged for the new regiment's assignment and sent on their way to be trained during the long journey.