Fornax

The symbol of Hellforge Fornax.

**Hellforge Fornax** is a notorious Hellforge of the Dark Mechanicus that has plagued the galaxy since the bygone era of the Horus Heresy.

## History

### Origins

Towards the end of the Great Crusade, the dark whispers of Chaos spread throughout the growing Imperium of Mankind. Their Mechanicum allies were equally vulnerable to the influence of the Ruinous Powers, and as the Horus Heresy raged, the Martian Mechanicum saw its own schism as large portions of it sided with the traitors. On the prosperous Forge World of Ferrata, on the border of Segmentums Pacificus and Solar, a conclave of Tech-Priests were corrupted, lead by the planet’s Fabricator Locum, Ignatius Leerax. Leerax lead his followers in an uprising during the Heresy. Those on the planet still loyal to the Imperium fought a desperate battle against Leerax, and after a brutal civil war, they proved victorious. When news of the Siege of Terra reached Ferrata, Leerax seized as much of Ferrata’s defense fleet as he could and fled with his followers, heading into the Eye of Terror. They settled down upon a planet within the Eye, beginning the process of setting up a Hellforge, dubbing the Planet Foculus.

### Birth of the Fornax

For 500 years they operated on Foculus, building forge complexes and centers of research. However, around 550 years after the Siege of Terra, a large fleet arrived. After the Burning of Foculus, they were forced to retreat to the newly formed space hulk *Fornax* , with Foculus’ vessels boarding the Space Hulk with large parts of Foculus’ ground forces. Eventually, the Hulk was left in the hands of the Hereteks, the Ferratans aboard either being killed or driven insane by the Warp energies. The Fornaxian fleet held a defensive formation around their space hulk, only launching minimal excursions outside the system while the Hereteks aboard the hulk built in it, as well as laboring to make it properly spaceworthy.

The *Fornax* was completed just in time for the new Hellforge to witness the end of the Legion Wars, biding its time and watching from the shadows until they were certain in the Black Legion’s victory. Then, they offered their services to Ezekyle Abbadon. Throughout the course of the First Black Crusade, they built armaments and provided limited military aid in the fight against the Imperium, being rewarded handsomely by Abbadon for their services.

## Culture and Ideology

The belief of the population of Hellforge Fornax is that the Omnissiah is a coalescence of the four Chaos Gods. The God Emperor of Mankind is regarded as divine, but is viewed as a false, evil deity which must be destroyed at all costs, lest it pose a threat to the true, rightful Omnissiah. Fornaxian tradition states that the Primarchs who rose up against the Imperium during the Horus Heresy foresaw the Emperor’s ascension, and waged war as a last ditch attempt to stop him. They hold contempt for the members of the Adeptus Mechanicus, viewing them as traitors who went against the Cult Mechanicum and the Fabricator General of Mars in defense of the False Prophet of Terra.

As it is believed that the Omnissiah is a combination of all 4 Gods, Hellforge Fornax worships them in the form of Chaos Undivided. There are, however, sects for each of the Gods, with factions each believing that their God comprises a greater portion of the Omnissiah than the other three. Tech Priests who distinguish themselves in service to a God can attain an honorific title known as an Adpellatio. A Magos Bellum for Khorne, Magos Mutatio for Tzeentch, a Magos Intertius for Nurgle, or a Magos Voluptatis for Slaanesh. Once such a title is attained, it can be added either to the front of the name as a formal or to the back as an additional name, at the discretion of the individual.

Fornax also views the articles of the Treaty of Mars as the Emperor’s attempt to neuter the Cult Mechanicum, to prevent them from becoming strong so that when he decided to ascend they could not stop him. Therefore, all of its restrictions on production and research are cast aside, leaving the Hereteks of Fornax free to experiment with the Warp and Xenotech, something they do to excess. Even the development of Artificial Intelligence is not forbidden, though it gets less attention than more easily attainable studies.

## Homeworld

Fornax, despite their name, doesn’t possess an actual Hellforge World. Rather, they are based on the Space Hulk known as *Fornax*. Formed initially from the Ferratan fleet that destroyed the planet Foculus, pieces of the planet itself are incorporated into the Vessel near its core. The size of a moon, its most valuable forges and research facilities rest at the center. The midsection consists of a labyrinth of massive twisting halls, some as wide as cities. The exterior is primarily used for resource storage and spaced armor. Its hull is lined with a multitude of gun emplacements of all sorts. From weapons batteries, to lances, to macrocannons, to plasma weaponry, almost everything can be found on the Fornax's hull, making the Hulk itself a veritable fortress, though due to its absolute value as a center of manufacturing, it will be kept out of the direct line of battle at any and all costs.

## Production

The Fornax is a gargantuan vessel, its monolithic interior containing miles and miles of production facilities. This is used to manufacture weapons and wargear for any followers of Chaos who can afford it. Due to the millennia of refining and streamlining of the Fornax’s production facilities, the Space Hulk has surpassed many planetary Hellforges in its production. Due to their ancient origins, they also have access to produce, in limited numbers, some ancient and relic technologies.

Fornax produces everything from the humble Autogun to the venerable Storm Bolter en masse to arm the True Omnissiah mortal servants, as well as twisted versions of the Mechanicus’ own technology. The majority of this technology they don’t use, instead exporting it to various Chaotic warbands and cults. Many Chaotic Warbands are on Fornax’s payroll, with the Hellforge sending them equipment in exchange for slaves, favours, geneseed, and other dark boons.

## Military Forces

### Skitarii

Hellforge Fornax’s armies make use of infantry that can be compared to the Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They are augmented humans, frequently born of Fornax’s population of human slaves. Recruits are taken at a young age, indoctrinated into their perverted version of the Cult Mechanicum, and heavily trained in the art of war. They are augmented with both bionics and the Warp, with those who sport mutations beneficial to their role in battle being enhanced further. Fornax’s Skitarii use modified versions of the Martian Galvanic rifle of their Loyalist counterparts, though Plasma Culverins are also a common sight. Fornax keeps a considerable reserve of Arc weaponry, in case they find themselves in battle with other Servants of the True Omnissiah. They are also very open to use of Radiation and Phospex weapons usually frowned upon for their collateral damage.

Fornax also makes frequent use of the Thallax. These Heretical Thallax take the usual cold nature of the cybernetic warriors to the extreme, and are absolutely ruthless in battle. Their augmentations are also pushed to the absolute limit, with many incorporating rare pieces and even Xenotech. The intense emotions brought about by the Thallax creation process leaves them vulnerable, and such many of Fornax’s Thallax are possessed by Daemons. These Thallax are frequently accompanied by robots from Fornax’s dark equivalent of the Legio Cybernetica.

Another specialist type of Tech Thrall that Fornax makes use of is the Berzerker. Not to be confused with the Heretic Astartes unit of the same name, they fulfill largely a similar purpose. Indeed, they are essentially identical, save that they are heavily augmented baseline humans rather than Astartes. The degree of Mechanization varies, but some are as robotic as the Thallax are. They possess a Fornax-designed version of the Butcher’s Nails of the World Eaters, scaled down to work on humans without killing them. Often an attack by them can only be stopped by wiping the attacking force out, with the survivors of even a desperately outmatched force carrying on with the assault.

### Heretic Astartes

As does many Hellforges across the Galaxy, Fornax has in its service a warband of Heretic Astartes. Indeed, they have two such groups in their service. The first, the Iron Crucifiers, is Fornax’s own Vassal Warband. Descended from the Daemon Primarch Perturabo and the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, the Iron Crucifiers were a small warband when they pledged themselves to Fornax, out of a mutual desire to serve the True Omnissiah. Thanks to the production might of the Hellforge, the Iron Crucifiers have grown stronger over the millennia, increasing their numbers and allowing them to stand out amongst Heretic Astartes as an exceptionally well-equipped Warband.

Hellforge Fornax gets the remainder of its Astartes from its clients. Part of their payment for Fornax’s services and materials is the deployment of a force of Astartes to the Hellforge. This, the Surreptio System, allows Fornax to maintain a flexible fighting force of Astartes from different Warbands. These Astartes are watched carefully by the Iron Crucifiers and Fornax’s other forces, to watch for potential treachery.

### Titans

When the initial Ferratan Hereteks fled the planet, few of Legio Ferrata’s Titans that had been garrisoned on the planet joined them. They did, however, grab the necessary data to produce the God Machines. When the time came to evacuate the planet of Fornax, the forges and blueprints for the Titans were among the first things to come off the planet. They were set up at the heart of the Space Hulk Fornax, churning out more Titans for Fornax’s own Legion, the Dark Legio Inprobus.

### Renegade Knights

The Renegade Knights of Hellforge Fornax, House Iacertus, come from a variety of sources. Some are ancient machines that date back to the Heresy itself, coming from the initial branch of House Ferrum that defected to the Ruinous Powers during the Ferratan Schism. Others have been absorbed into the House over Millennia. Some machines are built by the Forge itself to be manned by its members. Others are constructed only to be offered up as hosts for Daemons. Others still are Loyalist knights who are captured and tortured so severely that Pilot and Machine Spirit alike break and embrace the True Omnissiah. Regardless of their source, House Iacertus has proven an extremely valuable fighting arm of Hellforge Fornax. Its Knights wade through the enemies of the True Omnissiah, slaughtering them in great number with their mighty armaments.

### Hellforge Fleet

Since they operate from a Space Hulk, Fornax is essentially a fleet based Hellforge. To protect the *Fornax* they operate a sizable fleet of Heretical warships. This fleet consists of everything from vessels of the Imperial Navy, to the warships frequented by the Heretic Astartes, to captured Xenos ships.

### Combat Doctrines

Fornax’s military forces fight in a variety of ways depending on the particular dark Magos in command and the battlefield’s conditions. Their centuries of campaigning have yielded them experience in many types of warfare. Generally, however, Fornaxian tactics are centered around fixing the enemy force with a large body of infantry, then grinding them down via superior firepower. This can be done via heavy weapons and armored forces, Knights, Titans, Heretic Astartes, Daemons, or whatever else the Hereteks of Fornax can scrounge together. The fixing force is usually composed of Skitarii. Thallax are valued especially as a powerful breakthrough unit.

## Major Campaigns

### Burning of Foculus, 620.M31

Around 550 years after the Siege of Terra, and taking advantage of an ebb in the Warp Storms around Hellforge Foculus, a massive fleet of Ferratan warships arrived, determined to end their traitorous brethren. A fierce naval battle raged for a week in the Foculus system, with Dozens of ships being lost on both sides. Finally, the Ferratan fleet pushed the Traitors back into orbit of their homeworld. During the final Ferratan assault, the Traitors made use of several space stations mounted with large gravitational weaponry to concentrate the Ferratan fleet, clustering their ships dangerously close to one another.

When the Ferratan fleet finally closed to range on the planet itself. One of their Ark Mechanicus vessels fired a new weapon: a two-stage cyclonic torpedo. The Torpedo impacted Foculus right at the equator, burying into the core and detonating. This blast destroyed Foculus, but it had disastrous unintended consequences. The explosion, and the accompanying rush of Warp Energy flowing over the ships, caused them to collide and fuse, turning almost at once into a massive Space Hulk.

## Notable Personnel

### Fabricator General Ignatius Leerax

During the waning years of the Great Crusade, Ignatius Leerax was the Fabricator Locum of Forge World Ferrata, overseeing the planet’s industrial boom while the Fabricator General lead the World’s military forces from the front. When he pledged allegiance to the Fabricator General of Mars Kelbor Hal, and the Ruinous Powers, his influence alone was enough to sway a considerable portion of Ferrata’s resources to the service of the True Omnissiah. Ignatius has since lead the Hereteks, through the world of Foculus and on ever since, supplanting himself as the unquestionable head of the Hellforge. He is far more machine than man, having experimented heavily on himself over the millennia to improve his physical form and his mental capacity.

## Relations

### Allies

* Servants of the Truth
* Knights of Laeran

### Enemies

* Ferrata
* Templarii Scientae
* Ferunus