The Domain of Mibu

The Domain of Mibu
Other names: Mibu Shogunate, Sector Mibu of the Imperium of Man
Capital: Shimotsuga
Ruler: Sector Governor (de Jure), Grandmaster of the Shadowed Blades (de facto)
Size: 40 planets
Population: 560 Billion
Tech Level: 11
Military: 55 Billion PDF, 7 Billion Guard, 60 Million Serfs, 5000 Oni Bushi, 1500 Space Marines
Estimated Fleet Turn: estimated 660 Capital Ships , estimated 26,000 Escorts
Distance to Imperial Trust: 500 Light years to Midgard (Descendit-East)

## History

The Domain of Mibu, has its origins in Sector Mibu of the Imperium of Man. It was a loyal sector, rich and prosperous under the wise rule of its ancient ruling family, an ancient line whose rule has held uninterrupted since their ancestor was appointed to the position by the emperor himself. Its court was the envy of every surrounding sector, with its brilliant poets, acclaimed songwriters and the legendary Order of the Guarding Hound, an ancient Orders Famulous said to be named after the guardian lion-dogs of ancient Terran Mythos. Yet even such a glorious history can come to an end, as all such things do. In the aftermath of the Emperor’s death there was panic surprise, and shock, yet Sector Mibu endured, aided by the loyalty and skill of their local Astares Chapter, the Shadowed Blades and the valiant Sister’s of Battle [DATA LOST]. Yet 100 years after the death of the Emperor things began to change. Unrest began to build, and some began speaking of the Emperor Reborn, here to purge the unclean. In the confusion and shock the Sector Governor was assassinated by what would later be known to be Slaaneshi cultists, and the Eldest son was lost to the warp. The sector soon fractured, as innumerable cults rose up, orks invaded and the Great Houses squabble over who should be the next governor.

Where less loyal chapters might use this opportunity to claim control of the Sector in the same of saving it, the Shadowed Blades were made of more loyal fibre. Swiftly locating the eldest surviving son of the departed Sector Governor, the then Grandmaster Itō Shunsuke arriving to pledge his allegiance to the rightful ruler of the sector. The new sector governor so moved by the Grandmaster’s declaration of support that he granted Shunsuke with extraordinary powers to reunify the sector. Some of the feuding nobility claimed that this was a coup an usurpation of ancient right that could not stand. The Sector Governor, desiring an end to the bloodshed among those loyal to the Emperor ordered Grandmaster Shunsuke to send companies of his marines to the greatest of the Nobility with a recorded plea. Such was the eloquence and righteousness of the Sector Governor’s words that the Nobility one and all saw the rightness of his actions and agreed to unite under the rightful Sector Governor, and his loyal subordinate Grandmaster Shunsuke to purge the Mutant, the Alien, And the Heretic. A crusade was readied, the Navy Guard and Astartes united to drive out the enemies of Mankind.

Yet is was then that the greatest foe struck, with the local Sisters of Battle falling to the abomination, except for a small guard force on the capital, due to their isolation from the warp and the faith and determination of their leader, Sister Superior Tomoe. They claimed to be busy facing a Minor WAAAGH, and with communication so spotty none were particularly surprised that they arrived at the reconstituted sector capital declaring victory. With the aid of a fallen noble house they then attempted a surprise attack on the noble conclave and the PDF and sole remaining Space Marine squadron found themselves sorely outmatched. Yet salvation would be found in that small honor guard the Sister’s left behind. For the Hounds fought with valour and fury worthy of their militant cousins, and repulsed the invaders. They then donned the armor of their fallen sisters, sanctified in the blood of the righteous and turned their focus to the hive spire of the traitors. The hounds became wolves, and the traitor’s frantic pleas for mercy, were for nought, as the sisters slaughtered the traitors to a man.

The Shadowed Blades were victorious, crushing the Heretic and repulsing the alien, yet they be necessity reclaimed a shattered ruin, with an entire subsector burned to ash. In recognition of the Order of the Guarding Hound gained a special unit, the Oni Bushi an elite guardian formation to ensure the safety and loyalty of the nobility. Originally, they were only that, yet as the galaxy grew steadily darker they have been pressed into use on the front lines more and more, as the Domain’s borders ever so slowly shrink, and the threat of the Nex draws closer and closer. The emergency has even proven so great that every sector governor since has continued to grant the Shadowed Blades emergency powers.

## Forces of Mibu

The Navy of Mibu:
The Navy of Mibu is well equipped and competently led, making heavy use of their superior technology and strategic maneuverability to hold back the numerically superior Nexx forces. They have a fairly standard mix of ship classes, though they make heavy use of Grand Cruisers, as Mibu has but a single, ancient shipyard with the ability to produce battleships, and even then only in the merest trickle. They primarily stand on the defensive, with the occasional spoiling raid when the opportunity presents itself.

The Mibu Guard:
The Mibu guard is a decently equipped, professional force that stands ready to defend the Mibu Domain. Like many Imperial Remnants in this fallen age, the military of Mibu specializes in defense by necessity, as they lack the forces for sustained offensive operations. They make use of standard Imperial patterns, but they also make use of several less common designs. In particular, they make heavy use of the Malcador Tank, finding that its combination of affordability and producibility highly effective against the Nexx and Orkish forces that make up the majority of their enemies. They have recently received a large amount of surplus material from the Imperial Trust, and are using it to rebuild and expand their forces.

The Shadowed Blades:
A loyalist chapter descended from the Dark Angels, the Shadowed Blades are the primary defensive force of Mibu, and the core of its fighting strength. Rumors claim that they have effective control of the Domain of Mibu, rumors that they deny. They simply have emergency powers granted to them by the sector governor, and the fact that every sector governor since the first has renewed those emergency powers simply shows the danger that Mibu is in. They suffered calamitous losses during WAAGGH Urkozz, but donations of Imperial Era equipment from the Blood Dragons, and geneseed stores, have allowed them to rebuild rapidly.

Oni Bushi:
The Oni Bushi are an elite guard force formed out of The Order of the Guarding Hound, an Order Famulous that stayed loyal while their more famous ordos militants fell to the Abomination. They are equipped with remodeled Imperial Era Power armor that does not have the corruptive effects of the Abomination, and transonic naginata as standard. They have recently reorganized, and have an expanded pool of recruits equipped with carapace armor, although they retain the transonic weaponry that is arguably the hallmark of the Mibu Domain.

## Notable Characters

Archmagos Naraka Hibikoo:
Archmagos Narak Hibikoo is an ancient Archmagos, and the most skilled member of the Mibu Mechanicus. Despite this, he does not command the Mechanicus, for he has far more important matters to attend to than mere production and logistics. Instead, he spends his time in his forge, seeking to unlock the secrets of the Machine God, especially in his chosen field of transonic weaponry. He has made numerous improvements to what has become the signature class of weapons available to the Domain of Mibu, providing incremental improvement in penetration, killing power and cost, as well as numerous new patterns such as the Masamune, which he is quite proud of. In contrast he regards his attempts to apply the principles of Transonic weaponry to las weaponry to be an embarrassing failure.

He is currently largely uninvolved in politics, beyond irritation at Mibu’s state reducing his research budget and as a result has little interest in the Imperial Trust. A state that the Shadowed Blades and the Mibu Mechanicus are careful to ensure remains true, for they fear that if he realized how advanced and wealthy the Trust truly is, their greatest mind would seek to leave in search of greater technology and research budgets.

Grand Master Miyata Musashi:
Grand Master Miyata Musashi, Shogun of Mibu, is new to his role and conflicted. The former Master of the Deathwing, he was appointed Grand Master and Shogun after his predecessor's fall in one of the minor branches of WAAGGH Urkozz. He came to power amid a shattered realm, with half of their territory lost in a few short decades, and their military ravaged. A large influx of Imperial era surplus military equipment and an Imperial Trust counter attack to retake those lost worlds that still have a human presence has stabilized the military situation, though it has simultaneously unsettled the political one.

Miyata Musashi is a superlative general and expert combatant, traits that have only increased as he fought alongside the Imperial Trust in the greatest offensive that his chapter had participated in in over 1000 years, and solidified his control of the often fractious Inner Circle of the Silent Blades.

Now the Grand Master juggles a resurgent noble class, with the wider diplomatic and military situation of Mibu, and ponders some disturbing information he has learned from the Imperial Trust. Where did his Primarch, Lion El’Jonson, go… and why did he leave the Shadowed Blades behind?

Sector Lord Takeda Mutsuhito:
Sector Lord Takeda Mutsuhito was born as a member of the immensely prestigious, and utterly powerless, Takeda family. As the second son, he was not expected to inherit the prestigious sector lordship, and but to serve the life of a dilliante, perhaps finding some useful post in the Administratum, or a prestigious but powerless post in the Domain Court. This path in life was derailed by two things, the first of which was his immense competence. He started out in a court administrative post, to oversee the Oni Bushi’s supplies, or rather to pretend to while others actually did the work. He proved extremely talented in this role, managing to cut costs and allow for a moderate expansion of the Mibu Forces. He used the contacts gained through his efforts to transfer to a series of more important posts, each time performing ably both in doing his job, and outmaneuvering his rivals. Indeed, most expected him to rise quite high in the Administratum, and he undoubtedly would have, if not for his father and elder brother’s death to a catastrophic mechanical dysfunction on their orbital shuttle. He was quietly but rigorously questioned by the interrogator-chaplains of the Shadowed Blades in the aftermath, but cleared of any wrongdoing.

He found himself promoted to Sector Lord, where he was soon approached by one of the factions at court, who were interested in renegotiating the balance of power between the Shadowed Blades and the Court. Mutsuhito was suspicious, and quietly worked with his contacts in the Oni Bushi, and later the Shadowed Blades, as it became increasingly clear that the faction at court was in fact a Tzeentchian Cult. They were caught and executed, and Mutsihito’s standing rose in the aftermath, having been proven loyal and capable to the Silent Blades, and Mibu at large.

However, tensions slowly increased between the Sector Lord and the Silent Blades have increased over the years, as it became quietly obvious that while he was indeed loyal and capable, and certainly had no desire to start any sort of civil war, he had his own opinions on how Mibu should be run.

Sector Lord Takeda Mutsuhito sees in closer relations with the Imperial Trust an opportunity to renegotiate the division of authority between the Shogun and the Imperial Court and to provide desperately needed technological, military and industrial support for his battered dominion.

Legatine Advance Takeda Toshiko:
Legatine Advance Takeda Toshiko is a member of the Oni Bushi of the Mibu Domian, the grandniece of the Sector Lord, and the greatest human duelist in the Mibu Domain. She desired to go into the Oni Bushi from a young age, and her skill with a blade convinced her favorite granduncle to grant her wish. His connections ensured that she was granted a spot in the elite formation, and under the tutelage of a vetran of immense skill. She thrived in this environment, her skills rapidly increasing as she gained ever more prestigious and elite assignments.

During WAAGGH Urkozz she fought excellently, surviving several major battles and defeating a minor underboss when it attacked her position. These accolades were as ash in the face of the devastating losses Mibu suffered, however much some praised her skill. Her granduncle approached her in the aftermath, and mentioned the importance of building bridges with the more powerful members of the Imperial Trust to get the equipment and aid that Mibu needed to survive, through dynastic marriage if need be. Toshiko agreed, with the stipulation that any husband of hers be at least capable in combat. Her granduncle symply smiled, and ensured that her unit was attached to a Helguard Brigade during the Trust’s counteroffensive.

Her opinion of the Imperial Trust is one of interest and hope, and she is in favour of closer relations. She wishes to go to the Imperial Trust to see things firsthand, and visit the tomb of the Saint if at all possible. She is also reasonably certain that the Avernites she met were exaggerating about their world and the insanity within it. It can’t be that bad, right?

## Technology

Though the Mibu domain makes use primarily Imperial Era technology, said technology is well implemented and contains several interesting designs.

Oni Power Armor: Functionally a redesigned Sororitas Power armor, it was commissioned when a high rate of Oni Bushi falling to Tjapa was noted and the cause was swiftly figured out. This mark has a different aesthetic, and is better armored against the now common impaler fire.

Bushi Power Armor: Redesigned Jumpack armor for their Seraphim-equivalents.

Transonic Blade: A weapon utilizing high speed vibrations to counteract armor, it falls between Power and Chain weapons in effectiveness. Traditionally used by the Adeptus Mechanicus, it has been modified to be standard issue for Space Marine and Oni Bushi forces to counteract the increasing pressure that the Mibue domain operates under.

Transonic Naginata: The signature weapon of the Oni Bushi, this polearm gives them a crucial reach advantage over Orks and other common enemies. They also use them on their attack bike formations, which reap the enemies of the emperor with speed and skill.

**Unique Weaponry:**

Over the millennia since the death of the Emperor, the Domain of Mibu has made some efforts to increase their technological abilities, and come up with new patterns of weapons to suite their unique situation. In the main, these efforts have been failures, or marginal improvements at best. Those that Mibu considers successes are of little interest to the Imperial Trust, being far inferior to even the weaponry possessed during the Great Crusade, much less available to the Imperial Trust itself. Nevertheless, there are three designs that are of moderate interest to the Trust, although none are likely to be used as is

Masamune-Pattern Transonic Blade
A knight titan sized transonic blade produced by the greatest archmagos in Mibu history, it is one of the pivotal pieces of equipment that the belegarude forces of Mibu use to ensure their qualitative superiority over the Nex. A brilliant piece of applied engineering by a storied archmagos, it is undoubtedly an impressive accomplishment. However, it is still significantly inferior to the power swords the Trust’s Knight Titans use as standard armament.

Macarius Impaler
A variant pattern of the Macarius heavy tank equipped with twinlinked heavy gatling impalers, the Marcarius impaler is the successor to the Macarius Vulcan, and fulfills a similar role of being the ultimate anti infantry solution. The Macarius Impaler has moderately superior firepower compared to the Macarius Vulcan, though its primary advantage over its older counterpart is its far superior ammunition storage and hence combat endurance. Mibu primarily uses it to kill Nex infantry forces with nigh impunity, as the Nex’s primitive technology makes man portable weapons capable of breaching the Macarius’s armor expensive at best.

TransLas canon
The piece of technology of most interest to the Imperial Trust, and something of a boondoggle to Mibu. The TransLas Rifle, was the brainchild of the same archmagos that created the Masamune-Pattern Transonic Blade, and is and was his attempt to apply the principles of transonic weaponry to the venerable las rifle. Just as transonic weaponry can adjust their sonic field to match the frequency of enemy armor, the TransLas Rifle was intended to adjust its light to match the absorption frequency of enemy armor, drastically improving armor penetration and damage on subsequent hits. The results of this effort was a technical success, but a practical failure as issue after issue rose as part of development. The TransLas cannon required more powerful and complex cogitators than originally intended, making the TransLas Rifle more expensive and bulky than expected. The initial auspex sensors were fragile and unsuited for field use, and the initial redesign had even more bulk issues. Mibu’s Mechanicus attempted to solve these issues by scaling the design up into Las cannon, which introduced complications to the adaptive frequency technology. The end result was over two decades late, far over budget and required handcrafting by a skilled magos. The TransLas Cannon was never put into mass production, and only exists as the occasional relic wielded by Mibu’s greatest champions

The Imperial Trust hopes to adapt and improve upon this technology for use in Neutron weapony, as it is one of the few known approaches that might permit improvement of that Dark Age design. Though this is expected to be difficult at best.