Astral Canids

Astral Canids' heraldry

Brother Pheidkleos, Intercessor-Brother of the Astral Canids

### **Number of Marines**

At least 800 when at nominal full strength (200 official Battle Brothers for each company, without counting officers and specialists)

### **Specialty**

Mechanized urban warfare. Planetary insurrections and rebellions.

### Successor Chapter(s)

None

Many have been the possible origins proposed for the **Astral Canids**, though none have been ascertained.

Though the Astral Canids are officially registered as part of the Fourth Founding, right after the conflict known as 'the War of the Beast' and in the context of the coup known as 'the Beheading', these records are contradictory with the battle records of that conflict, for they shown that a Chapter with the same name and livery had already answered to Lord Commander **Koorland**'s summoning to enact the 'Last Wall' protocol, years before the Fourth Founding was declared.

The Astral Canids answered to that call as all the descendants of **Dorn** did. However, they denied belonging to that gene-lineage and they do not attend the Feast of Blades to which all the Sons of Dorn are summoned.

## Chapter History

Many in the Administratum and the Inquisition still believe that the Astral Canids belong to Dorn's Third Founding, known for being mostly a Founding to split the remaining Imperial Fists Legion, thus creating many more Chapters to reinforce a possible enaction of the 'Last Wall'. It is also known that the Third Founding was used to create Chapters from those Founding Chapters, the Primogenitors, still exceeding the numbers sanctioned by the 'Codex '. This last possibility has inspired the theory that the Astral Canids were some illegal or renegade formation that Dorn and the High Lords legalized and formalized. Most of this theory proponents believe that the Astral Canids were probably split from the Black Templars, as an early try to curtail their force and avoid Legion-building.

They are even some that propose even more implausible theories, like those that propose that the Canids were originally a Blackshield coalition born from the Shattered Legions, survivors from the 'Isstvan Massacre', the opening move to the Warmaster's betrayal, who almost got loyal elements from seven legions wipe out. As it is known, several warbands were born through the Heresy from conflicts like that, including the Betrayal at Calth, the Shadow Crusade, the Battle of Phall or the Thramas Crusade. Many of these "renegades", if they didn't turned to piracy or become warlords, had renounced any allegiance to their Legions and to their Primarchs, but not to the Imperial Truth and the Imperium. It is known that many were recruited as Malcador's agents, the Imperial Regent's Knights-Errant. But, just before the Siege of Terra, **Malcador** formally disbanded the short-lived Knights, with only eight of them remaining to found and lead the future Grey Knights. The rest returned to form both, unsanctioned units, not unlike the Blackshields, and the formally recognized Independent Companies, and some believe that it is possible that these renegades, like the Astral Canids themselves, were eventually legalized by **Guilliman** and **Dorn** as Chapters of their own during the Second and Third Foundings.

It cannot be confirmed in which exact scenarios did the Canids take part through the Heresy, or if they even reached Terra to take part in the Solar War and the Siege of the Imperial Palace. It is only confirmed that, at some point, towards the end the Heresy, at leats one of their Independent Companies put itself under the joined command of **Remus Ventanus** and **Evander Garrius**, the respectively so-called Saviour of Calth and the Tyrant of Cthonia, who alongside **The Lion** initiated the counterattack the would eventually become in the massive campaign known as The Scouring, which pushed the remants of the Traitor Legions into the Eye of Terror and The Maelstrom. Taking the composition of that Company back then, it is suppossed that most of the original Canids had already fallen in combat, with the remaining ones already serving as veteran officers and trainers, becausethe backbone of the Company was sustained by Newborn, the rapidly inducted, enhanced and psycho-indoctrinated recruits who had not seen any action before the Heresy (althought it is unknown which gene-seed was used to enhance them and from which source was it secured).

Whatever the truth of their birth, it was lost to the Imperial records before the War of the Beast, but the exemplar service the Canids provided to the Lord Commanders **Koorland** and **Thane,** a veteran himself of the Horus Heresy, including the Siege of the Imperial Palace at Terra, allowed them some concessions. And so, Lord **Thane** got them formally recognized as part of the Fourth Foundation. In return, the Canids pledged themselves to always attend the summon of the Last Wall as if they were Sons of **Dorn** themselves, to assist the Crusades of the Black Templars and to pledge Battle Brothers to the Long Vigil of the recently created Deathwatch.

32nd Millennium

Years 632 - 642: Lord **Koorland's** successor, **Maximus Thane** and **Agnathio**, Chapter Masters of the Imperial Fists and the Ultramarines, lead a coalition of more than half a hundred Chapters, the Astral Canids amongst them, to depose High Lord **Vangorich** and for the other High Lords to stabilize the Imperium.

While **Thane** takes the Halo Brethren and the Sable Swords to **Vangorich** temple at Terra´s northern pole, the Canids remain with **Agnathio** and his Ultramarines to secure the Imperial Palace. **Agnathio**, a veteran Chapter Master and successor of **Marius Gage**, active as such at least since **Guilliman**'s first death a millenium and half before the Beheading, and **Thane**, himself a veteran of the Solar War and the Siege of Terra, recognize the worth of the Astral Canids as one of the few Chapters calling the Terran system home. **Agnathio**, who has already united half a hundred Chapters to pacifie Terran, not one, but twice in the Imperium's history, is the one to reach the Canids to secure them as allies beside the Imperial Fists to act on Terra, in case an upheaval like the Beheading or **Guilliman**'s death happens again. This friendship will be answered by the Canids too, who will support in word and deed, with examples like supporting the irregular Ultramarines Honour Company, not sanctioned by the Codex, by always keeping a Canid taskforce deployed in the Cadian Gate alongside them.

33rd Millennium

Years 860 - 870: In the aftermath of the War of the False Primarch, the High Lords and the Ecclesiarchy convene to create a Pentarchy of five Chapters specially known for their brutal methods and lead a purge of those Chapters and worlds declared Traitors. The Astral Canids are considered fit to join this so-called Pentarchy of Blood but, surprisingly, they refuse the summoning, acting instead in opposition to the Pentarchy. Instead of punishing, they defend several worlds from the excesses of the retributive coalition.

35th Millennium

Years 104 - 500: Novaterra and Moirae secede from the Imperium, while the Ecclesiarch leaves Terra to establish himself on Ophelia. Civil war and insurrections tear apart the Imperium and Chapters as the Astral Canids are torn apart with divided Loyalties. The Astral Canids finally side with Terra, but the mistrust at some of the High Lords is irreparable. The Astral Canids never again trust in them, especially in the Ecclesiarch, which ends up returning to Terra.

36th Millennium

Years 200 - 439: The Astral Canids' fears are realized when Lord **Vandire** takes charge of both, the Ministorum and the Administratum, using they power to depose the other High Lords. He recruits the Sororitas as bodyguards and agents of his will, and the Cardinals of the Ecclesiarchy, foremost of them **Vandire**'s prime rival, **Bucharis**, form their own pocket empires under **Vandire**, persecuting those Chapters and worlds in rebellion against the High Lords and the Cardinals, foremost among them the Wolves of Fenris.

The Astral Canids lend their strength in decisive battles like the defense of the Fang at Fenris, the retaking of Gathalamor (sit of the Cardinal **Bucharis**, who is at the same time a rival and supporter of Bucharis) and the Siege of the Ecclesiarchy's Palace at Terra. Lord **Vandire** and the Cardinals are finally deposed and executed, and the new Ecclesiarch legalizes the Sororitas as the Military Chamber of the Ecclesiarchy and the newly created Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition.

But the damage is done. In the following millennia the Canids will no a few times with these newborn organizations, who represent an even more repressive Imperium that they do. No longer trusting the Ministorum and its Ecclesiarch's and the Inquisition's agenda and status as High Lords of Terra, and despite their pledge millenia ago to the Ultramarines to stay close to Terra, the Canids abandon the Fortress-Monastery at Luna, deeming their closeness to Terra too dangerous to keep operating. From now on, ironically, Terra and the Imperium are best served by keeping its defenders far from it. Beside, the Canids count that itinerating fleet based Chapters like the Imperial FIsts and the Black Templars will keep tabs on the Terran government.

Since their departure, although some worlds are used for recruiting and training, as well as for naval repairs, refitting and resupplying, the Canids practically become a fleet-based Chapter. Anyway. around this time the Canids resettle a planet in the far east of the Imperium, barely inside the reach of the Astronomicon, and rename it Emerita; the closest thing they get to a homeworld.

37th and 38th Millennium

Years 321(M37) - 112(M38): Another corrupted Ecclesiarch, **Basillius**, declares dozens of Chapters as tainted, forcing them to take on a Penitent Crusade to prove their loyalty and be redeemed in the eyes of the High Lords. Many fall to Chaos themselves, becoming Traitor Warbands. Those who do not fall into Heresy or in battle return, almost a millennium later, to denounce the still living **Basillius**. The Astral Canids, still sonsidering themselves the oath-pledged defendants of Terra, assist the survivors into hunting and capturing **Basillius** and into eradicating its memory from the Imperium. For the third time since the Heresy, a taskforce of Marine Chapters must be congregated to take back Terra. **Basillius** is finally executed, and every one of his followers and Shrine-Worlds dedicated to him is eradicated.

Few centuries later, the Canids would have their last prominent participation in the campaign to recover the sectors lost to Angron's Dominion of Fire. After this campaign, the Canids didn't take part in any campaign of renown util de Macharian Heresy more than a millennia later.

41st Millennium

Years 399 - 479: The death of Lord Commander **Macharius** triggers the Macharian Heresy, with his lieutenants competing for their own pocket empires and falling into open rebellion against the Imperium. At least a hundred Chapters are needed to quell the insurrections, amongst them the Astral Canids, who have gone forgotten for most than to millennia after the Abyssal Crusade.

Years 444 - 474: While most of the Chapter is tasked with dealing with the heretical aftermath of Lord Macharius' death, part of the Chapter is charged with quelling the cultist insurrections resulted from **Angron**'s incursion into the Materium realm. Their closeness to Armageddon involves them into the side-conflict known as the Months of Shame, especially after the Great Wolf Grimnar is forced into open conflict with the Inquisition, the Grey Knights and other Chapters allied with the inquisitorial forces.

The Canids try to avoid open conflict against the Inquisition and refrain themselves from directly supporting the Wolves. Its activity is divided into continuing the repression of the Khornate Cults' insurrections, while at the same time they force a stalemate with the Grey Knights and the Sororitas who try to sterilize the civilians and Imperial Guard' regiment caught in the conflict.

Years 680 - 999: The Imperium enters in contact with the first Genestealer Cults. In 745 the Hive-Fleet codenamed Behemoth invades Ultramar, starting the Tyrannic Wars. It happens that, unaware until then, the Canids have already battled a Hive-Fleet, Gaewotan, and are one of the foremost Imperial hunters of Geneastealers (who until then had not been known as part of this greater menace). Soon the Canids redirect as many taskforces as possible to Ultramar.

For the rest of the millennium, the Astral Canids lent their expertise at identifying heretic cults and insurrectionists to root out the Genestealer Cults, including in the invasion of the Red Scar sector at the hand of the Hive-Fleet Leviathan (even thought only the descendants of The Blood were called for). However, the more notable and drastic action of the Canids around this time is their support of Inquisitor **Kryptman** strategy to deprive the Leviathan of sustenance and deviate its course towards the greenskin empire at Octarius. The Canids lead several planetary evacuations only to conduct the Exterminatum of these worlds at the wake of the Leviathan. In a parallel effort, mirroring the operation they once conducted in the Prison-World of Hephestia, the Canids joined the Deathwatch operation to capture Genestealer Patriarchs and smuggle them in the Ork-controlled worlds of Octarius, using their psychic signals as bait to atract and deviate the Leviathan's hive-fleets, mirroring the operation they once conducted in the Prison-World of Hephestia. Anyway, despite their loyalty to **Kryptman**, the Canids later also join the efforts of his rival, Inquisitor **Nashir** **Sahansun**, to form the *Cordon Impenetra* around Octarius.

Years 901 - 905: Master **Huron** of the Astral Claws rebels alongside several other Chapters. The Astral Canids participate as part of the loyalist side of the conflict, and even after the fall of Badab they surveil those Chapters who are forgiven and purge those worlds still rebelling.

WARZONES of the 41st MILLENIUM

**Warzone Cadia:**

Although outside of their area of expertise, the Astral Canids sent all the astartes they could spare from other Warzones. These were mostly reservists who were not assisting deployed taskforces and wounded Marines who, after being left behind by their units to be healed, have just recovered on board **The Kennel*' .*** Deploying directly at the main Fortress-World of Cadia pledged to the command of Captain **Echion***'* of the Ultramarines, the Canids assisted his Honour Company wherever they could, being especially effective against regiments of the Traitor Guard, cults of heretics and outbreaks of Plague zombies. They also kept an eye out for any sings of Genestealer Cults, since some splinter hive-fleets of the Leviathan have been reported.

**Warzone Fenris:**

Like Cadia, the Thousand Sons full scale invasion against Fenris and its Chapter was totally outside the Canids' area of expertise but, as myriad other Chapters did, including the Grey Knights, they answered anyway the call of the Supreme Grand Master of the Unforgiven, **Azrael** of the Dark Angels. As in Cadia, the Canids supported the defense of the world by targeting the mutant minions supporting the Traitor Legion. Many Canids remained even when the invasion was expunged, so they were available when the Fenrisians and the Grey Knights, alongside the Unforgiven, launched retributive forces against Prospero and Sortiarus, and so, they witnessed the rescue of Lord **Bulveye**'s 13th Great Company from the Warp.

**Warzone Baal:**

Although as outsiders to the Chapters of the Blood and the Red Scar, for almost eight millennia the Astral Canids have specialized in rooting out rebellious cults and sects, and for almost four centuries they have put this expertise to good use against the Genestealer Cults. Aware of the tendrils of the Leviathan Hive-Fleet, the Astral Canids knew they would be better put to use in this front than against the Traitor Legions and the Black Crusade. Summoning veterans from the Tyrannic Wars and Kill-Teams from seveal Chapters and the Deathwatch respectively, a taskforce of the Astral Canids was sent to the worlds of the so called Shield of Baal, in the Red Scar.

Later, when the counter-offensive campaign know as the Angel's Halo parted from Baal, the Canids left a reinforced taskforce to assist Commander **Dante**'s crusade, being eventually teh first of the Canids to find the new threat of **Abaddon**'s Arks and its allied Balefleets, as well as the surprising presence of the T'au and the Demiurge in the Chalnath sector, far their empire isolated between the fires of Damocles and the storms of the Rift.

**Warzone Ultramar:**

After the Fall of Cadia, the Astral Canids honoured their ancient oaths of alliance to both, the Black Templars and and the Ultramarines. Even though a considerable force of the Sororitas had joined the so-called Celstinian Crusade, the Canids followed **Amalrich**, the Marshall in command, towards Ultramar. Once there, in addition to the warbands sent by **Abaddon**, the Astral Canids found that a strong warband of Honsou's Bloodborn remained at Calth, ready to support the Red Path at Macragge. After millennia of battling against unenhanced mortal rebels, cults and Traitor Guard' regiments, the Canids were well-aware of how common mortals could be useful against Astartes Marines, taking into their hands the training and assistance of the Planetary Defense Force.

**Warzone Damocles:**

The Damocles Crusade officially ended with the irruption of the Tyrannic Wars but many of the Imperials see the following campaigns - Taros, Prefectia, Agrellan, Ziost… - against the T'au Third Spehre of Expansion as a continuation of the nominal crusade. In the following centuries, of all the many Chapters that spared some forces to the Damocles Gulf, none would stand as the Raven Guard, true. T'au Commander **O'Shaserra** "*Shadowsun*" tactics forced the protagonism of the notorious Chapter and, even nowadays is unknown the full strength this secretive Chapter deployed- Some even suspect a full-Chapter deployment, as Chapter Master **Corvin Severax** himself came to lead the crusade, counting at least with forces five Companies, half a Chapter. The only other Chapter Master known to have deployed at Damocles, and only involved for a time at Ziost, was Calgar of the Ultramarines.

However, many other Chapters were deployed against the T'au, with **Kor'sarro** Khan of the Scars or **Taelos** of the Imperial Fists standing out. The former one became specially known to join forces with Shadow Captain **Shrike**, later Master of the Raven Guard after the dead of **Severax**. However, the Astral Canids were not exactly one of these Chapters. Although technically not part of the crusade and campaigns against the xenos, the Canids recognized the threat of the Greater Good philosophy. The T'au were a formidable military foe, indeed, but their real threat was their conversion of Imperial worlds to the Greater Good. Most worlds of the Eastern Fringe would rather fall to the words and trades of the Water Caste than to the shoots of the Fire Warriors. And the Canids were the ideal weapon to be held against both.

Already deployed in strength to combat the growing Tyranid threat, the Canids paid attention to those worlds closest to Damocles, specially those who have been forgotten almost to the point of all but nominal abandonment from the Imperium. Not all the corruption they uncovered was xenos in origin, and in those corrupted by xenos presence, not all were due to the T'au. Several genestealer infestations were uncovered too. But many planets have submitted too to T'au rule. In some the xenos presence was minimal, and the gue'vesa humans were the main corruption to root. In these places were where the Canids excelled, clinically and accurately purging the upper echelons of the Imperial government that allowed their custody of an Emperor's world to be lost without bloodshed. Were numbers were needed, the Imperial Guard and Knights were summoned to attend, sometimes alongside the Sisters of Battles and the Scions. If the Raven Guard were the spearhead of the Imperial Retribution, the Canids were the vanguard of the recovery forces; where the Damocles crusade burned worlds, the Canids would excise the tumor and take back clean planets and moons.

Finally, the Damocles Gulf was engulfed in fire by the Mechanicum and the Great Rift was born at Cadia. These factors seemed to have isolated the T'au for good. Only the Farsight enclaves remained at the border of Damocles. However, nor Farsight nor his former empire were so impervious and hermetically isolated from each other. Survivors from Mu'gulath reached the Enclaves, and so did xenophobic dissenters from the Fourth Sphere of Expansion. Most notorious of all was commander **O'Ryn**, the first T'au beside Commander Farsight himself to openly turn against the Ethereal Council after discovering that he was no longer compelled to obey the Ethereal Supreme.

INDOMITUS ERA

The start of the 42nd Millennium and the Indomitus Crusade found the Astral Canids dispersed across at least three of the four segmentum, with some of them trapped in the Nihilus side of the Imperium. After the rebirth of the Avenging Son, most of the Canids tried to return to Terra with the Primarch, specially those who were deployed at Ultramar and in disposition to follow the so-called Terran Crusade. Congregating at an abandoned Fortress-Monastery at Luna, the first 'Kennel,' in a short amount of time most of the Chapter was ready to join the new Lord Commander's Indomitus Crusade. Unable to identify their gene-sire and lineage, the Canids at first did not received Primaris reinforcements and upgraded gene-seed. However, while accompanying the Indomitus Crusade, the Astral canids were tasked several times with escorting the so-called Torchbearer Fleets so, by the 12 year of the 42nd Millennium, by unknown means, there barely were some dozens of Firstborn battle brothers left. The Astral Canids are so considered to be an almost fully Primaris-based Chapter.

West of the Solar Segmentum, with the eruption of the phenomena known as the Great Rift, where they were already dealing with the remaining greenskin threat at Armageddon and the twin threat of **Ghazghkull** and **Snagrod**, their Ork empires at Octarius and Charadon being possibly the main threat of the Sanctus side of the Ultima Segmentum, the Rift brough the daemonic incursion known as the Blood Crusade with it. Legions of khornate daemons attacked the Ork empires and the Hive-Fleets of the Leviathan. Spearheading these legions were **Kharn** and his Butcherhorde, along with several other warbands collectively known as the Crusade of Slaughter. These incursions materialized at important worlds like Armageddon, Ophelia, Metalica, Rynn and Ryza. Not being enough, **Typhus**' Plague-Fleets, coming directly from their recently acquired foothold at the Scourge Stars, past Ultramar, also invaded the southern sector.

The Astral Canids barely had forces deployed in this warzone, with one taskforce assisting the Crimson Fists at Rynn and another almost back at the Solar Segmentum, at Armageddon, so Chapter Master **Karkharias** summoned the taskforce from Rynn back to Armaggedon. The retreating forces harassed **Kharn**'s rampaging forces as much as they could, but it wasn't until they reached Armageddon, center of a ritual to summon the Daemon Primarch **Angron** back to the Materium, that the Astral Canids were able to hurt the servants of Khorne alongside the Salamanders. Reinforced with both, the garrison at Armageddon and Primaris Battle Brothers from Battlefleet Primus of the Indomitus Crusade, the Astral Canids were finally able to strike back across Octarius and Charadon towards Ultramar, participating in glorious campaigns like the Vengeance for Rynn and the Liberation of Ophelia.

This last one was also part of a secondary campaign under the Indomitus known as the Shrine-Worlds Crusade. **Guilliman** has tasked the Black Templars and his High Marshall with the defense and liberation of the Shrine-Worlds specially targeted by the Word Bearers Legion, leaded by the Apostle **Kor Phaeron**. Although open opponents to the Ecclesiarchy and the Imperial Creed, their longtime alliance with the Black Templar had the Astral Canids oath-bound to assist their crusades.

While still part of the Battlefleet Primus towards Ultramar, the Astral Canids arrived to the Necrontyr-controlled Zone of Silence, which some called the Pariah Nexus. Although the Necrons were not frequently encountered by the Canids, who were most useful as specialists against human rebellions, the threat was at the level of the Great Rift itself, so a new Crusade was called for: the Pariah Crusade. And at least one Canid taskforce attended the call, lead by none other than First Captain Lysimakhos himself.

Another taskforce was dispatched from Fenris. With the Supreme Master **Azrael** of the Dark Angels call to invade the planet and expunge the daemonic presence there, several Chapter, the Astral Canids among them, were caught in the system when the Rift erupted. When Fenris was reached by the Indomitus Campaign, this taskforce was absorbed by the fleet coming from Armageddon. However, instead of joining the main crusade towards Ultramar, this taskforce joined the Dark Angels' the Grey Knights and **Njal** **Stormcaller**'s taskforce to Prospero, were they assaulted both, the ancient home-world of the Thousand Sons and the Planet of Sorcerers. Although Magnus the Red's ritual was only delayed, at least the remaining 13th Great Company of the Wolves was rescued from the Warp. With this task accomplished, the Astral Canids diverted their efforts towards Chogoris, where the White Scars were besieged by the Red Corsairs, the ancient guardians of the Maelstrom challenging the new ones.

But the most important Imperial Warzone of the 42nd Millenium was probably Vigilus, the new Cadia of the 42nd Millennium. Being the only stable route to the Imperium Nihilus at the other side of the Great Rift, the Astral Canids lost no time in attaching a taskforce to the Battlefleet Secundus of the Indomitus Crusade. The Canids' help and experience against insurrections was undeniable, especially after the presence of the Genestealer Cults was revealed and later that of the Chaos cultists. Once **Abaddon** invasion was pushed back to Cadia, Vigilus became the stagepoint to push the Indomitus Crusade into the Imperium Nihilus and assist the Iron Crusade against the Thousand Sons and the Shield of Baal against the Leviathan's invasions.

By the time of the Cryptus Campign, the Canids had already deployed a taskforce to root out Tyranid Geneastealer Cults, alongside several Deathwatch kill-teams and Tyranic Wars veterans from other Chapters. Although the summoning to defend Baal was restricted to those of The Blood, the Canids and the other Chapters knew that the threat of Leviathan was above pride, lineage or territory. The only concession to Lord Commander **Dante** was that they stayed out of Baal's defense, but they assisted anyway in the campaign known as the Shield of Baal, centered around Cryptus and its surrounding systems. Eventually, another taskforce of Astral Canids arrived from Vigilus to the Red Scar, as part of a splinter from the Battlefleet Secundus of the Indomitus Crusade, this time composed of the new Primaris Battle Brothers to join the Firstborns. The Firstborn Canids trapped in the Red Scar were surprisingly amazed to find that a new breed of Astartes bearing their colours and name had come to join them. The cojoined taskforce accompanied the main Battlefleet, leaded by **Guilliman** himself, to relieve Baal of both threats, the Leviathan's Hive-Fleets and **Ka'Bandha**'s daemons.

With the Indomitus Crusade at its ending, **Guilliman** summoned all the Chapters he could muster back to the Plague Wars at Ultramar. Most of these forces belonged to the Primus Battlefleet. Those Astral Canids who were garrisoned or deployed at the Sanctus' side of the Ultima Segmentum, from the far Armageddon to the nearby Medusa across Octarius and Charadon, answered the call of the Lord Commander. Several taskforces congregated at the Medusa System, a former Imperial system lost to the tides of the Empyrean and the growth of a rift known as the Rapidity. Medusa has no value for the Imperium, but there were all Canids' taskforces reunited under the command of First Captain Lysimakhos and High Chaplain Lykourgos. The Rapidity was used to launch most of the Chapter against the rebellious cultist and infected rampaging in the Five Hundred Worlds in just one jump through the Warp, all the way back to the Scourge Stars. When Lysimakhos' and Lykourgos plunged most of the Chapter into the Rapidity, they didn't know if the once stable portal for travels through the inmaterium would not be suicidal, specially when the rift into the Warp was engorged and ragin because of its proximity to the Great Rift and the Chaos activity. However, under the protection of the Gellar fields, the rift seemed to be as useful as ever, in a little bit turbulent.

## Notable Campaigns

**The Hunt for Gaewotan (Unknown Date. At some point between 640-756.M41) -** Even before the first official encounter with a Hive Fleet at Tyran, the Tyranids were known to the Imperium, but just as Genestealers, a species though to have expanded as stowaways from the moons of Ymgarl. By the mid-41st millenium Genestealer have been already found, not only as a predatory species aboard derelict space hulks, but also as parisitic infiltrators of the Imperial society. Aware of the threat these cults posed for the Imperium, the Astral Canids, experts at handling cultist infiltration and other forms of insurrections, sent several taskforces and kill-teams to worlds suspect worlds, hoping to stablish some naval connection between these and Ymgarl.

Although no such connetion was made, the Canids were able to stablish other common provenances to the infection of these worlds. World by world, with the assistance of agents of the Ordos Xenos and Hereticus, the Canids eventually arrived to Gaewotan. Despite its promethium-mining resources, the world's heavyly forested surface was suppossed to be barely touched, gaining officialy the Forest-World classification intead of the Mining World. Expecting to arrive to a green world pretending to need resupplying, the Canid taskforce arrived to a planet bare to the rock, stripped of even the atmosphere and unable to hold no life. However, the low orbit of the planet was plagued with massive hibernating creatures, pointing out to something strange present at the planet. The Canids made planetfall through the unaware bioships.

At first the Astral Canids found nothing but an apparently unhabited world, but the auspex reading comming form the Strike Cruisers above started showing thermically active lakes spread across the worlds surface. The kill-teams marhed toward the closest lake, until they found swarms of Genestealer-like lifeforms. Unaware then of the Tyranids biomorphs existence, the Canids just assumed that the local fauna at some point had been infected by the Genestealers. The swarms reacted to the Canids' presence with a headlong charge, while at orbit the hive-fleet started awakening. Some kill-teams were able to get back to the gunships as they pushed the swarms back, while the Strike Cruisers above surgically bombarded the planet to prevent them from being surrounded. Soon the fleet had to start shooting at the coming leviathans and it was soon clear that the strike force wasn't enough to face what was later known as a Hive-Fleet, forcing the Astral Canids to flee the system.

For years, the Canids tried to keep trace of this hive-fleet which, once identified as the same enos invader that nearly deatroyed Ultramar and Macragge, and following the custom after the Second Tyrannic War of naming such swarms, have baptized as Hive Fleet Gaewotan. However, the Imperial savants believe that the Canids have maybe erronously attributed the actions of other early minor Hive-Fleets to Gaevodan, exagerating the extension and threat the actual Hive-Fleet encompased. However, preferring to prepare for the worst, some of the Astral Canids' Apothecaries and started working with the Ordo Xenos and the Deathwatch to develop a countermeasure.

At some point after the Battle of Macragge and before the Salamanders' purge of Ymgarl, the Canids were contacted by a Lord Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos: The Canids Apothecaries seconded to the Deathwatch have developed an infection for the Tyranids. Behind the myriads of insurrection they have suppressed through the millennia, the Canids have encountered several mutants who through exposure to warp-tainted alchemicals or even possession, developed seemingly beneficial gifts. These creatures became strong, fast, highly resilient and long lived. However, as with all the gifts coming from the Chaos and its Ruinous Powers, the sacrificial side of the coin to pay was the development of animalistic feral traits and some sort od unquenchable hunger, as well as a weakness to the radiation of the sun. But the Canids Apothecaries had developed a serum with the blood of the mutants to put at use against the Tyranids.

The Canids chose the Penal World of Hephestia, infecting the whole colony inmates with the serum. In days millions of inmates have already become ravenous beatsmen. Not being enough, the Canids requested for more prisoners to be transferred to the colony. Through the weeks the Canids carefully took care of infecting masses of prisoners and, onece turned, hibernating them in cryostasis. Finally, the last phase of the plan was unfolded. The last ship with prisoners was not carrying any class of inmates. Al of them were Genestealer hybrids, collected from several worlds across the Imperium in a special psi-warded Black Ship, once belonging to the Astra Telepathica. These Genestealers were carried into the prison-hives of Hephestia and, once them, they were forced to form hundreds of Astropathic Choirs, being forcefully integrated into the Astropathic Relays. The signal successfully attract several tendrils from Hive Fleet Gaevotan, who soon discharged untold numbers of hungering biomorphs to consume the world.

However, the Canids and the Deatchwatch have layed a trap. The whole cryostasis system was triggered to shut down as soon as the Shadow in the Warp cut of the feedback signal from the Canids' astropathic choir. As the biomorphs entered the hundreds of prison-hive, they were faced with the vampiric beastmen. When bitten by one of these mutants or when feeding on them, their affliction turned the infected biomorph into a cannibalistic beast itself, who could not discern foe from ally. It started with some of the biomorphs just ignoring the commands of the Hive-Mind and acting on their own, attacking and infecting the unninfected. But others just started backfeeding the psychic side of their sickness, contaminating the Hive-Fleet's collective mind itself. The feedback turned unstoppable when the "Astropathic" Genestealers, those forced into the Choirs were infected itselves while being devoured alike by mutants and biomorphs, boosting a last signal of the hunger.

As the Hive-Fleet chose to disconnect itself from its biomorphs, the Canids triggered the second phase of their plan. Coming out of the Warp perilously but successfully close to the planet, their fleet assaulted the xenos one. The Canids unleashed a new form of virus, one loaded with the vampiric infection, and started shooting the bioships with these. As the Hive-Mind finally and successfully disconected from the fleet of bioships, and as these started tearing apart at each other, the final phase was triggered, for Hephastia was not casually chosen to serve as a prison.

For undiscerned reasons, though believed to be because of a weak magnetosphere and a closeness to its sun, the planet's temperature on the sunny side would rise to the point that the atmosphere would almost ignite. For the first hours of the conflict, the Astral Canids had tried to maintain the Hive-Fleet and its swarms occupied on the dark side of Hephastia. However, slowly, those present at the battlefield risked dawn, so the Canids started withdrawing to closed areas of the hives, deep underground. As Hephestia burned the Tyranids burned too. Even those creatures who avoided the direct atmospheric combustion weakened at the contact of the solar radiation, for now they were highly photosensible to the lights as the mutants, and with some of them even burning or bursting. Even the orbiting bioships, supposed to be safe as they were outside of the fiery atmosphere, were affected. Lost to madness or radiation, the Hive-Fleet was done, easy prey to the lances and macrocannons of the Canid fleet.

Regretfully, although the battle at Hephestia was won, the Hive-Mind learned from its defeat. As the Great Devourer's biomorph were immunized, the Canids, finally aware that the species thet had faced was the same one that had ravaged Ultramar, were never again able to successfully infect another a Hive-Fleet.

**- Satrapian Campaign (Unknown Date. Early M42) - Satrapia** is a world that was strategically located in the center Ultima Sanctum (the terran side of the Ultima Segmentum from the Great Rift), this world was surrounded by untouched by the Snagrod's greenskin empire. At the same time, the Great Devourer's hive-fleets seemed to surround Satrapia's sphere of influence, halted and entertained by Snagrod's empire itself.
For a long time, Satrapia's north have been protected too, by Huron's empire but, with the former Chapter Master turned traitor, that protection was gone. In his stead, Genestealer Cults have flourished from the worlds of the Abattoir Cluster and from Cirillo Prime, and its corruption was rampaging barely opposed. With the Great Rift barring them from going north, these cults were traveling south, through an opening in Sangrod's ringed empire, and their expansion had not gone unnoticed. East of Snagrod's empire, the main mass of the Leviathan's hive-fleets felt pulled by the collective minds of the cults. While until then they have surrounded the greenskin "waagh" through Badab, the pull now forced them to cross the Arch-Arsonist's domains. South of Charadon, the same was happening with the hive-fleet Kronos, who until them had tried to cross through Ultramar. East of Charadon, the remnants of Kraken and Behemoth too pushed forward. Soon, by sheer forth of numbers, the Tyranids crossed past Snagrod's space and their living fleets marched to absorb the northern focus of Tyranid cults.

Satrapia, however, could not be abandoned. It has long stood as the political and economical center of the sub-sector, a strategical sea of calmness that allowed fleets to anchor safely. Distant worlds like Ryza and Badab, or even Terra had been long connected to Metalica and Ultramar through Satrapia. With the Plague Wars and the Charadon Campaign demands, the Indomitus Fleets needed to diverge their attention and hold the oasis of calmness that Satrapia had been. Although no Marine Chapter was spared, Militarum regiments were diverged in untold numbers. However, the hive-fleets were not the only inhuman menace to pay attention to this new warzone. The Traveler's warbands took advantage of the Tyranids' breaches into Snagrod's empire to enter themselves in their wake and, looking for hunt,fight and fun, Snagrod's greenskin too have gave chase to the Traitors . The Imperial Guard was overwhelmed: Unnatural sicknesses and mutation, the brutality and horrors of biomorphs and greenskins… No sane man would have gone unbroken.

Then came the worst: the Genestealer infiltration and infection. Some say that, as the guards became infected and felt the call of the Hive-Mind, whatever sense of individuality they kept begged for salvation, and the Grandfather answered. Others say that the Genestealer infection tapped into someone's psychic potential, opening and uncontrolled portal to the Warp. It does not matter the how, but soon many regiments pledged themselves to the Ruinous Powers and joined the Traveller's host. With the multiple threat of both, Chaos and xenos alike, pushing the remaining Loyalists in body, mind and soul, these started pulling back towards Satrapia to make a last stand.

The Traitors and the Genestealers, however, started waging war with each other, and the Orks were happy to fight both of them. With all the enemy factions entertained, the Satrapians gathered and reorganized their forces and make a last astropathic call for help, one that the Astral Canids stationed at the void station known simply as *'The Cog*' answered. Fortunately for the Satrapan improvised sub-sector, Captain Lysimakhos of the Canid 1st Company had summoned a gathering of representatives and volunteers from ally Chapters. These Chapters belonged to the Errant Crusade, a gathering of Chapters that had gone for at least five millennia. Lysimakhos, with the help of some rogue gene-cults and tech-sects, had intended to stablish a Deathwatch-like force to study and try to cross the relatively safe and stable Rapidity.

The Astartes and auxiliary strength gathered at *the Cog* was strong, but not enough to turn the tide of the Satrapian Campaign. However, they were strong enough to force open a corridor from Sub-sector Satrapia to the system Medusa, and from here to the greater Ultramar. Soon full Chapters of the Errant Crusade, led by the Astral Canids converged into this corridor to definitively open it to the Five Hundred Worlds and end the Satrapian isolationism. However, that was not the end of it. The increment of Chaos-worshiping cults and Traitors in the Satrapian sub-sector drew the attention of more renegades. Organized fleets from all over the Rift poured towards the new warzone: Regiments of the Traitor Guard, dozens of pirates once belonging to the Imperial Navy, and even Knights and Titans of the Dark Mechanicum. They all have gathered in a sect-like congregation, not unlike the Blood Pact found at the Sabbat Crusade. And at the head of this was **Viruel**, one of **Abaddon**'s lieutenants, and his Bloodforged.

**- The Conflagration of the Shroud (Unknown Date. Early M42) -** Unknowingly to the T'au Empire, the Nexus rift they were using to avoid the fires of Damocles and penetrate deeep into the Imperium Nihilus space, it didn't just habilitate travel to the territories of the Fifth Expansion Sphere. As any rift into the Warp, it has the potential to connect to anywhere in the galaxy. When three fourths of the Fourth Expansion fleet were considered lost to the Warp, Commander Surestrike and the Ethereal Council never became aware that a sizable portion of the lost fleet emerged in the opposite direction.

Trapped in a space of overlapping reality and unreality, the perception of time for the T'au was distorted. When they finally emerged, barely some months had passed since they launched. But for them it had been like centuries. However, the trauma of surviving to the madness and perils of the Warp was soon surpassed by joy. They have bypassed the fires of Damocles and survived the hellish dimension the humans feed and travelled.  Even unaware of their position in the galaxy, the T'au soon started their colonization efforts. However, the good news of their survival soon turned dire. They had emerged out of the Shroud, a rift-storm in the southwest of Ultramar. Many of the inhabitable planets of the southwestern outer rim of the galaxy had been consumed by the Tyranids, or were under the domain of the recently awakened Necrontyr from the major dynasties like the Charnovokh and the Nihilakh, who have recently joined the Silent King. When not striped of any resource, the T'au had to fight hard to claim and colonize the new Septs. Help arrived in the unexpected form of a red-colored fleet of T'au. Some Farsight Enclaves had also developed Warp travel by reverse engineering and mixing Kroot and human technologies, and had ended up coming out of the Shroud like the Fourth Expansionists. Choosing to join efforts as T'au rather than let their differences set them apart, both factions bonded. Soon the Fourth Expansionists learnt to reject the influence and control of the Ethereals, while the Farsights embraced the Fourth Expansionists xenophobia. Soon the T'au took their newfound strength against the Necrontyr and their Tomb Worlds. The surprise of the first attacks gave the T'au some successes, but soon the superior numbers and technology of the Necrontyr turned the tables. The T'au have brought the unwanted attention of the Necrontyr and were risking obliteration at the Necron counter-attack when, again, help came for them. The far-reaching Aeldari of Alaitoc, thanks to their seers and pathfinders, have become aware of the T'au presence. Enemies of the Necrontyr since the times of the War in Heaven, Alaitoc called for help to save the young species. The did not do it because they sympathized with the T'au, but because the T'au were worthy and much needed allies in predicament against a common and hated foe. However, Alaitoc's forces by themselves were not going to be enough to turn the tables against the Necrontyr. And so the Asuryani made a call to arms from Alaitoc to both, craftworlders and comorrites. Surprisingly, the first to attend were a coalition of Drukhari known as the 'Drethuchii' (The Kabal of the 'Broken Sigil' or 'Shattered Harmony), who have already been raiding the Necrons to the north for a long time, in order to destroy their C'tan fragments. Soon riders from Saim Hann came too to help, but thet were not alone. Craftwrolds Altansar and Lugganath, and Ynnari followers of Yvraine and Farseer Ulthran had answered too, no matter how little Alaitoc trusted them, of how little both factions goals had once seemed to stand apart.
But these T'au were not like their imperialist counterparts and had turned too xenophobic in their isolation (probably because of the gue'la humans corruptibility at War exposure). Instead of gratefully accepting the Eldar help, they took advantage of both factions vulnerability and turned too against them. But that not worst. The Drukhari had been breeding for some time hybridized Tyranid biomorphs for slave work and gladiatorial games, including the insidious infiltrator and shock troopers known to the humans as Genestealers. The Drukhari chose to unleash these monsters against the Necrontyr, recklessly ignoring that the psychic signal would act as a beacon to the remnants of the Hive Fleets, still numerous and strong beyond the reach of Ultramar.

Such a four-sided focus of xenos activity finally draw the interest of the Imperium. A patrol of the Fire Lords in route toward the nearby Fortress-World of Talasa Prime barely survived the perils of the travel. The Necrontyr technology and the Tyranids' "Shadow in the Warp" pulled their cruiser once and again from the *inmaterium*. The Fire Lords almost risked entering into hibernation and making the less-conventional and years-long travel at supra-light speed. However, the xenos presence would not allow traveling while the Marines hibernated, and the vessel was not equipped to cryo-preserve the staff until Talasa was reached. However, the same way they could not constantly travel through the Warp, the Tyranid and Necron influences had deprived the Warp, where it could be accessed, of the daemonic presence. And so, the Fire Lords risked traveling by plunging in and dropping out of the Warp as much as they were allowed, surviving the xenos harassment until the Deathwatch at Talasa was warned via astropathy.

Reaching the Deathwatch did not only warn the famed xenos hunters. Beside the Fire Lords themselves, the talasan Deathwatch had strong-standing alliances with the Ultramarines, the Imperial Scythes at Sotha and the fleet-based Lamenters. These Chapters repeated the summon to arms to as many allies as there were ready to help. Fearing the malignant xenos influence, one of the Chapters were the Astral Canids themselves. Al three xenos species, the T'au, the Tyranids and the Necrontyr were known to corrupt humanity; the T'au by converting them to their Greater Good, the Tyranids by infecting them and having them join their cults to the Star Children and Four-Armed Emperor and, finally, the Necrons by harvesting humans to find or create the so-called "Pariahs".

Pushed by humans, T'au, Tyranids and Necrontyr alike, the Aeldari son valued retreating to Alaitoc, maybe even to Comorragh and Lugganath in the Webway, for they were surpassed in numbers and strength at arms, and Eldar life was too scarce and precious to waste were other species could be sacrificed against the Great Devourer and the Necrontyr. Abyway, most of the Aeldar forces have been trapped and isolated from the nearest gates to the Webway. Yet, unexpectedly, the human astropaths reached their seers with a surprising offer. The Imperium would assist them in opening a retreat to the nearest safe gate to the webway. In exchange, the Imperials wanted an indirect access to the Webway. They would not use themselves the interdimensional labyrinth, but would give a payload of warheads, replicas of the same ones used at the Agrellan Campaigns. While they retreated, the fleeing Aeldari were to drop these through any available web-gate inside and surrounding the Shroud.

The detonations would have burned the whole Warp-consumed sector and its surrounding in hellfire, but time-space disrupting effects of the rift contained the damage. Anyway, the Hive Fleets splinters were consumed by unnatural fire, although their spawning branches just retreated back to the north to regain strength. The forces of the Charnovokh and the Nihilakh dynasties to suffered grand losses, but the essence of their warrior was just recovered. However, both dynasties were again separated by the sub-sector spanning flare, and it would take some time to join forces again under their Silent King's rule. But the worst brunt was taken by the T'au coalition. If any of them got to survive or escape, there was no trace of it. Hopefully, the humans just expected that, isolated as they were, neither the T'au Empire nor the Farsight Enclaves were aware of how far their forces have reached for a time.

**- The Medusan Expedition (Unknown Date. Early M42) -** With the First Captain Lysimakhos and Chaplain Lykourgo's success, Chapter Master **Karkharias** sanctioned an expedition to test the Rapidity's capabilities. He also petitioned for assistance to the High Lords and other Chapter Masters. Although he hoped it to be unattended, Master **Karkharias** was surprised when dozens of Chapters and Forge-Worlds belonging to minor sects of the Mechanicus pledged their resources to the task. Most surprising of all was the donation of a Ramilles-class fort from the Deathwatch, which the Mechanicus soon started expanding after code-naming it 'The Cog'.

Soon, several Chapters spared minor taskforces and garrisons, including kill-teams from the Deathwatch, and attached them to the Cog's own garrison. With the honour to dive first into the tides of the Rapidity reserved for the Canids', Master **Karkharias** found himself again with the difficult choice to choose which one of his Captains and Lieutenants could he sacrifice, for one successful jump was no promise that the task wasn't suicidal at all. It wasn't even before the eruption of the Great Rift. Again, Lysimakhos and Lykourgos were announced to lead the expedition. Some say that **Karkharias** chose them for having already braved such a travel, other that the two officers volunteered themselves again confidently.

However, the mission would not be easy. Not long after arriving into 'the Cog' and announcing their intention to jump into the Rapidity to cross into the Nihilus side of the Rift, the station was sabotaged by infiltrated Genestealer cults of the Kraken Hive-Fleet. Summoned by the saboteurs, a tendril of the Hive-Fleet ambushed *the Cog*' to devour its habitants. Ever ready to take advantage, a Plague Fleet under the command of one **Abaddon**'s chief sorcerers burst into the system, hoping to sacrifice both, Imperials and Tyranids to the Chaos and feed the Rapidity and join it to the Crimson Path. Only the timely intervention of the Necrontyr from the nearby Medusa VII saved the Imperials, allowing them to desperately plunge *the Cog* into the Rapidity, safely jumping into the Imperium Nihilus, west of the Red Scar.

**- Others:** Lieutenant Reginheros was dispatched from the Canids forces assisting Commander Dante. The troubling reports of both, Typhus’ Plaguefleet and the 5th T’au Sphere of Expansion has him and his taskforce sent toward the Chalnath Expanse to contribute to the war efforts there alongside others taskforces gathered from the Chapters of The Blood and, if possible, to look for signs of the MIA forces of Captain Lysimakhos and Reclusiarch Lykourgos.

However, two things worsened the already difficult campaign known as the Angel’s Halo. Typhus’ followers entered in an alliance with Abaddon, and were so given access to the distorted hulking vessels known as the Arks of Omen, as well as their accompanying “Balefleets”. On the other hand, the Demiurgs, now revealed to the abhuman known as the “Squats”, started openly assisting the T’au in battle. With the numbers limited, Reginheros didn’t have much more option than conscript those Militarum and Navis Imperialis forces who had not still joined the Lord Dante’s campaign, for the Tau and the Demiurgs strenght in number and technology could only be countered with numbers and firepower. However, the presence of the Inquisition and their Sororitas allies risked censure, for doing so was against the Codex mandate for the Astartes to never again recruit and command directly the Imperial Guard and Navy, like in the times of the Great Crusade and its old Expeditionary Fleets.

However, censure was halted by a sudden need to fall back and give space to a new player, for the neighboring Orruscar Dinasty of the Necrons attacked to push back when the forces of the three sides, to avoid the three-sided conflict entering their domains. With both, Typhus’ Balefleets and main Plaguefleet, and the T’au Sphered of Expansion acourged by the Necrons, Reginheros allowed himself to disband his conscripted forces and pull back to Dante’s consolidated domains. Once there, Reginheros received a new command: Across the Imperium, worlds like Tsadrekha and Malakbael had located and congregated Astropaths powerful enough to act as beacons second only to the Astronomican itself, speacially when arranged in modified Astropathic Choruses. Reginheros was ordered by Dante to locate such beacons closest to Baal and organize their military resources, so they were act as beacons for the Red Scar, same as once the Pharos dis for Ultramar during the Heresy.

## Chapter Homeworld

### Fortress-Monastery

The Astral Canids call their fortress-monastery *The Kennel.* However, the records about this flying fortress are contradictory.

It seems that, until the early 36th Millennium, the Astral Canids were based at Luna, were they had built their colossal fortress-monastery over the deserted ruins of an ancient Selenar city. The Astral Canids settled at Luna after the War of the Beast, long after the Selenar gene-cults were deposed and persecuted for allying with the Warmaster at the Heresy. The fortress the Canids built on the foundations of one of their former cities was the first *Kennel*. However, the coup known as the Beheading proved early that, especially for independent entities as the Astartes Chapters, being close to Terra could be dangerous. At first, the Canids proved themselves to be an efficient oppresive tool for the High Lords, but by the early 36th Millenium they were also known as firm partisans of the Imperial Truth and have openly antagonized the High Lords, particularly the Ecclesiarchs. So, after High Lord **Vandire'**s coup, the Canids abandoned their fortress-monastery to become a fleet-based Chapter.

After that, many of the Astral Canids' ships different class and size have been identified as *The Kennel*. Some in the Munitorum believe that the logic behind this is that flagship designated to be the Kennel has been destroyed or disabled many times, transferring the title to a new flagship. Others theorize that each time a new Chapter Master has been designated, the command of the Chapter has gone to his ship, along with the title. Of course, each new *Kennel* would have received important resources and modifications. In case to be true, this would mean that the Canids have many battlebarge-grade ships at their command, with many reaching or surpassing the 9 kilometers, barely below small Gloriana-class barges like the *Eternal Crusader.*

But, with the coming of the Great Rift and the Indomitus Era, Chapter Master **Karkharias** made all the available fleet fall back to Terra, with the intention of purging any possible cult of rebel activity triggered by Khorne's daemonic invasion of the Lion's Gate, part of the Imperial Palace, or Magnus' Thousand Sons incursion into Luna. Intending to join **Guilliman**'s crusade and knowing that they would need every ship available as well as a common headquarter to gather all the Chapter, the Chapter Master has reclaimed the abandoned lunar Fortress-Monastery. Reparations and expansions have been ordered by **Karkharias** to get back their ancient home to functionality. Although Selakhos **Karkharias**' battle brother is still the official Fortress-Monastery of the Astral Canids, it is expected that once the recovery of the old fortress is finished the Chapter's command will be transferred back to it, after almost six millennia of being abandoned by its masters.

It must be mentioned, however, that since the Apostasy the Canids have maintained a permanent hold over two backwater worlds of the Imperial eastern border: Emerita and its moon, Augusta. Emerita is a hellish world, also known to the Canids as "*the World of Ice and Fire"*. Emerita is too close to both, its neighboring gas giants and its moon Augusta. The gravity pull of both heatens the molten core of Emerita, increasing the tectonic activity of its outer layers. This heat and pressure keeps Emerita on a constant volcanic upheaval of everchanging landmasses. The volcanic heat is only countered by the other extreme condition of the planet: Emerita is too far from its sun, giving the planet a extremely cold atmosphere, so everything on the surface that is not volcanic rock and lava are glaciers of frozen sea.

Natural life on Emerita is almost impossible. The hive-cities are protected by integrity and conversion fields, sustaining the cities as if they were floating voidships instead of terrestrial estructures. Outside of the cities and their fields, the air is choked with volcanic ash or gelid snow, making unaided breath difficult. Its moon, however, is another story altogether. Everything in Augusta is covered and saturated with microbiological life. Enormous lichen covered reefs plague its surface. While ash and snow saturate Emerita's atmosphere, a mixture of fungal and coral life chokes Augusta's. Algae and funguses join a terrestrial coral colony, shaping the surface with uncountably divere shapes of reefs, while the clouds covering the skies are more spores than water particles. The microlife feeds on everything it gets into contact with, including adamantium, making Augusta even more difficult to settle than Emerita. The virulent workings of Augusta's life is so dangerous that the Canid Techmarines have even theorised that they may be the consequences of a terraforming experiment gone wrong, back at when Augusta and Emerita were intended to be settled for the first time.

However, Augusta and Emerita are so close that some form of gravitational corridor has been formed between the two, to the point that their atmospheres are joined by a tube-like air corridor called **the Joining**. The air and spores permeating Augusta's surface are transported through the air currents and gravity shifts of this corridor to Emerita. Once in the volcanic world, the spores feed on the airborne ashes until they die from exposure to the extreme temperatures, leaving just the oxygen and their nutrient-rich ashes. This is the reason why Emerita has a "breathable" atmosphere, despite a lack of photosyntetic life of its own. Augusta functions like a planetary lung, one that release air that the inhabitants of Emerita just have to filter. Beside, the spores feeding on the ashes quickens this process by partially cleaning the air of ashes for a time.

The characteristic of Emerita have made of it a proper prison world for lifers, for escape its impossible for its inmates. Not just from the planet, but from the hives themselves. The Canids accept prisoners from all the Imperium, mostly deserters and other criminals once belonging to the Militarum, and them have their neophytes join them. Canid neophytes become wardens, vigilantes and sometimes slavers of the inmate population, even giving chase and hunting those who prefer exposure to the killing elements of the surface than servitude in the hive-cities (it's not rare for inmates to try to breakout when the hives are exposed to the less inimical circunstances of the Joining). These labours harden the Canids to the needs of their future self as oppressors for the Imperium. Specially when a neophyte survives one of these hunts on the surface is when he is deemed fit to join one of the active taskforces deployed at warzones as a full-fledged Battle Brother.

Beside Emerita's value as a training world, its economical value just comes from the extraction and process of rare volcanic ores and nutrient-rich ashes. Emerita does not have an industrial production of vehicles, weapons, tools or any item of mechanical nature, with its manufactorums instead being mostly used for maintenance and repairs. And although the Astartes Chapters are allowed to maintain keeps or more than one recruiting world, the Canids' hold over Emerita and Augusta is important enough that the High Lords have denied them the right to be considered a crusading chapter like the Black Templars, meaning that they must avoid recruiting over the thousand Battle Brothers. Anyway, and despite their fame as enforcers of the oppressive rule of the Imperium, since the Canids are also known to ignore the commands of the Inquisition, the High Lords and the Ecclesiarchy, the presence of the Sororitas and the Arbites has been forced in the planet, with their convents and precinct being an usual sight on the hives. However, far from rejecting their presence or treting the with hostility, the Canids use the Sisters and the Arbitrators to keep order and to train both, their Neophytes, PDF and local Enforcers.

## Chapter Organization

The Astral Canids are a loosely Codex-compliant Chapter who obey the essence of its decrees instead of the letter.

### Companies:

Unlike the standard Codex-compliant Chapters, the Astral Canids are not organized into 10 Companies of a hundred Battle Brothers each. Instead, the Chapter is divided into 4 Companies of some couple hundred battle brothers each. These are not classified as Reserve or Battle Companies. Instead, each Company is an highly autonomous body charged to maintain its own Fleet, Reserve, Vanguard, Armoury and recruitment independently (Although one of the four Captains, or a delegate Lieutenant, will still hold the rank of Master of the Fleet, making him the first among equals to which the other should relinquish command when in joined naval operations. In the same way, another of the four Captains or their Lieutenants will be charged with the responsabilities and title of the Master of Recruitment, giving him the last word over that topic).

It is rare to see full Companies deployed, specially while the Captains usually try to keep the Reserve demi-companies to garrison and reinforcement duties (not much unlike true Codex-compliant Chapters and their 6th to 9th Companies). If this was so, it would mean that the Canids would rarely have more than 400 Battle Brothers deployed in all the warzones and campaigns. Unfortunately, the events of the 41st and 42nd Millennia demand that most, if not all of the Chapter be deployed. Also, with Guilliman's own transgression of his Codex by creating and 11th Ultramarine Company, codenamed the Chosen of Vespator and under the command of Tetrach Felix Decimus, Chapter Master Selakhos has decreed that the Canids are gonna increase their Companies to eleven. This would increase the intended formal number of Canid Battle Brothers to 2.200. Although well below the known numbers of Chapters like the Vlka Fenryka or the Black Templar, it remains to be seen if the Canids are gonna receive any form of censure from the High Lords of Terra or the Inquisition.

Anyway, again, the Chapter rarely deploy in Company or demi-Company strength, cause the Canids prefer to deploy smaller taskforces lead by a Lieutenant. Sometimes, by coincidence, opportunity and need, and in clear emulation of the ancient Hosts of the Hexagrammaton, nearby taskforces from different Companies would merge into a greater specialized and informal taskforces. This merging and partition of units have become so common that it has not been strange for a taskforce to be formally transferred to another Company after being absorbed by a greater taskforces for too long. Even rarely, sometimes great and outstanding enough taskforces have become a formal Company on their own. Sometimes as the 5th Honorary Companie while there still were the main four ones, and sometimes being used to substitute a previously lost or fallen Company. It wouldn't be even unusual for the main Companies to strengthen the new Company with a transference of units from their Reserves.

### Officer Ranks:

For the Astral Canids, an officer is any Brother who has attained a role or command above the standard Intercessor (with the current Canids using the newly coined term to design rank instead of role). Of these officers, in the same way that the Canids only have four nominal Companies, only four will bear the rank of Captain. However, despite their division in only four formal Companies, the Canids can still field between eight hundred to a thousand Marines when at full strength, meaning that they still need a high number of officers to keep order. And so, while in the standard Chapters each Captains is assisted by a couple of Lieutenants, this number is normally doubled or even tripled amongst the Astral Canids.

### Specialist Ranks:

The Canis do not use the rank of Sergeant. Instead, each squad (or "pack" in they own terminology) is commanded by a minor officer known as the Disciplinary Chaplain or Disciplinary Priest, not unlike how the old Legions used the Consuls Opsequiari or the Astra Militarum's use of the Commissars. This is because the Astral Canids believe that a squad does not need to be personally lead by a tactician, but by the most charismatic and emotionally stable member of the unit, who just have to ensure that the his Battle Brothers follow the orders of a Lieutenant or the Captain to the letter. Should a Chaplain prove himself to be a tactically fit individual, he could progress by being inducted in his Captain retinue of Lieutenants. If not, should he survive, he will eventually become a full-fledged Chaplain; one of the foremost spiritual leaders and advisers of his Company and Captain.

Beside, although not technically a rank, the Astral Canids maintain a Codex-sanctioned First Company-like formation known as the Sword Brethren. Although emulating the homonymous formation of the Black Templars crusades, the Canids maintain just one of these, intead of one for every crusade. Being so, the formation works more as a kind of warrior-lodge, quite similar to the III Legion's Palatine Blades, instead of a veteran rank indicating belonging to a particular formation or unit. This Sword Brethren is led by the Canids' Champion (a role emulating the Black Templar's Emperor's Champion or the Company Champion of most Codex-adherent Chapters), Perkleos, and are usually seconded to the Chapter Master himself.

## Combat Doctrine

The Astral Canids prefer mechanised warfare and the use of ranged weaponry over close combat. This means that they will preferably try to combat supported by their gunships and tanks, be it an ancient Land Raider or the modern Repulsors. Canids will always try to make planetfall in gunships, which after disembarking will stay at low altitude to give aerial support. After landing, tanks will be used for transporting Battle Brothers or to give cover, advancing in the front through streets to draw enemy fire while the squad advance from behind.

The other side of this preferred method of warfare is that the Canids have discarded the use of close combat oriented squads. Most unit will follow the configuration of Tactical Squads or Tactical Support Squads (although the Canids will shape and deploy these squads in Seeker, Breacher, Despoiler or Destroyer squads to meet the needs of each battle), usually discarding some assault formations like the Inceptors and the Suppressors. Some squads will still use the Omnis-pattern backpack with gravchute fins to control jumping from gunships and buildings, but they will never engage into aerial combat. In addition to that, most Canids will carry two to three weapons options, so they can switch between these options according to the situation. Most of the time, this will cover the use of the standard bolter or it's more modern carbine variant, backed up by some handgun option as a sidearm. When preferring longer ranged options and more firepower, the squad will make use of the bolter rifle and its heavy variant. Anyway, despite their lack of preference for melee combat, all Battle Brother will carry one or two combat-blades just in case, and the Chapters-armouries are well stocked with heavy Thunder Hammers, Siege Shields and Chainswords, specially for combat in the narrow spaces inside buildings and starships.

Astral Canids do not make use of the Phobos variant of the Mark X armour. Although some elements of the Vanguard technology is added into each armour for tactical advantage, the Canids know that their preferred method of warfare need to sustain heavy fire in close space like streets and the interior of buildings. Being so, no Battle Brother will go for lighter options than the Tacticus configuration, with many going for the extra protection of the Gravis configuration. Non-Intercessor based formations are also discarded. And so, while some Battle Brothers will make use of the Plasma Incinerator, the Melta Rifle or the Flamestrom Gauntlets, this usually will be reduced to one or a couple of brothers for each squad, never assuming full squads of Eradicators, Hellblasters or Agressors, unless adhoc auxiliary formations called Destroyer Squads (for the ancient infamous squads) are formed temporarily. This means that each Canid will go individually armoured with customized armour and weapon choices, instead of uniformly fitting into the demands of the squad. In this way, the Canids closely resemble the Deathwatch Kill-Teams (In fact, this custom comes from the Deathwatch itself, since most Canids have served in for long terms in the Vigil). This belief in individuallity over uniformality has also make the Canids practice something that almost no Chapter has done: while the Primaris of most Chapters have formed new squads and units, the Primaris Canids have joined the Chapters existing ones to fight alongside the veterans Firstborns.

As an added note, the few remaining Firstborn will go to war cladded with the Chapter's remaining armours. Master **Karkharias**' armour itself seems, at first sight, some form of highly customized Mark VII or VIII battle plate. The truth is that the armour started as a mixture Mark IV and VI pieces (the more advanced available gear back at the Heresy), including pieces from the Terminator-class Tartaros armour, with its most baroque pieces being reshaped ones from the already outdated but then-numerous Mark I to III. Most of the Canid gear dating back to that acient era follows that mixture pattern. The use of mixed pieces has been so traditional that, until the arrival of the **Cawl**-designed Mark X, the more advanced suit a Canid could wear (and the more rare) was also a mixture of Mark IV Tartaros and Indomitus-pattern Terminator suit. In the same way, most jump-packs of the lighter Assault Squads are well-kept Mark IV Maximus-class, with the twin thrusters of the newer Mark VI Mars-class being used more to repair the Maximus or the oldest Sepha V models intead or replacing them (althoug the opposite being true too when necessary, with the irremediably unrepairable marks used to patch the newer ones). And of course, same thing was true for the bolters, with most of them, until the coming of the **Cawl**-patterns, being of the Tigris and Phobos patterns; quite recognizable even with after being highly modificated with Godwyn-class pieces (is expected that the same will happen to the latest **Cawl**-pattern "carbines")

Close combat formations are normally used ad hoc, with normal Intercessors and Tactical Squads usually discarding bolter rifles to make use of of swords, axes and hammers, all taken from the Company's Armoury. However, this is a temporary formation, not a permanent one, not unlike the Breachers and Despoilers of the Great Crusade. The Canids' distaste for melee combat is so, that most Battle Brother will rather use the alternate option of grabbing boarding shields and similars to keep themselves from physical contact, yet they will still use their bolters one-handedly to keep firing at the enemy at close range or blank point, or even just bludgeon enemies with the butts of their firearms.

Astral Canids rarely display full Company-strength. Most of the time the Captains will divide their Companies: first, formally into Sections or Platoons of half a hundref Battle Brothers leaded by a Lieutenant. These Sections, at the same time, could be gathered or dispersed in several taskforces of a few dozens to half a hundred Battle Brothers (a full section) under a Lieutenant Commander, sending each to different warzones. This means that, at full strength, the Chapter can spare from a dozens taskforces of a few warrior to all over the Imperium (normally to support other Imperial forces, mostly Inquisitorial investigations of cults) when not deploying full Companies, twice or thrice the sice of an standard Marine Company. Beside, even the squads will usually divide their forces even further acting in demi-squads of no more than half a dozen Battle Brothers, rather than use full squads. While in open fields of combat this could be a handicap, in close ranged and limited spaces combat in buildings and streets, the armoured firepower a Marine represents has been proved to be a leverage against his usually non-enhanced and lightly armoured enemies.

## Chapter Culture & Beliefs

The Chapter is a firm defender of the Emperor's main decrees: the Imperial Truth and the Edict of Nikaea. As such, the Astral Canids reject the notion that the Emperor is a mythical messianic figure like the Mechanicus' Omnissiah or the Ecclesiarchy's God-Emperor. Their support and preaching of the Imperial Truth also brought them trouble cooperating with those branches of the Imperium of religious nature, mostly the Orders of the Sororitas and the agents belonging to the Ordo Hereticus. But, because of that, cooperation with Mechanicus-aligned Forge-Worlds is also difficult and the Canids only reluctantly resort to that. Instead, the Canids resort to the independent manofactorums on worlds they have defended or swore to protect, and some scarce Forge-World that are not aligned with the Mechanicus. This feudal-like arrangements keep the Astral Canids functional and, to avoid indoctrination of their Techmarines, these specialist Battle Brothers avoid the pilgrimage to Mars to receive their training. Instead, each veteran Techmarine will train those Neophytes promising enough to deserve their teachings.

Another and more evident result of the Canids compliance with the Emperor's command is their lack of Librarians. Instead of maintaining a single centralised Librarius and Reclusiam, each Company maintains its own one, but attended by the Chapter's Chaplains and Astropaths. These complexes are called Scriptorums, like the dedicated part of the Black Templars' Temple of **Dorn**. In compliance with the Edict of Nikaea, active psykers are barred from recruitment. However, in case of a latent psykers manifesting previously dormant psychic abilities after being enhanced, they won't be lobotomized nor executed, but they will be forced to restrict and suppress the connection to the Warp. Despite this, psykers are not viewed with fear by their fellow Battle Brothers and Chaplains, who force the Edict out of obedience and not because of any prejudice. And so, psyker Battle Brothers can progress normally in the Canids' hierarchy, including attaining the role of Chaplain, originally created to control them.

## Chapter Recruitment:

As a fleet-based Chapter, the Astral Canids do not have a homeworld, a single planet to recruit neophytes and serfs from. The serfs and helots of the fleet are easily conscripted from vassal worlds, who readily pay this tithe with dozens of thousands conscripts, just so those billions of citizens left behind are protected. Some of the helots may be promising and young enough to be inducted as a Neophyte. However, the Canids prefer to recruit from a more fitting stock.

Every time a taskforce lands on a planet, the Disciplinary Chaplains keep an eye on the most savage of the local populace: the techno-barbarians and the hive-gangsters. The Chaplain capture as many of these criminals as they can get alive. All of these will be tested by the Apothecaries for genetic compatibility with the gene-seed. Those Neophytes who test positive will not join a Scout Company nor serve as such while they are gradually enhanced. Like the Vlka Fenryka, they will be fully enhanced and clad in a complete set of armour. After a time serving in the prison-world of Emerita, each of these new Battle Brothers will be paired with a veteran one, who will watch for him and train him as squad partners. The more fortunate or promising ones could even have the honour of being paired with one of the many Disciplinary Chaplains.

On the other hand, there are those who fail to become Neophytes. The Astral Canids' ships need from at least tens of thousands of conscripts to crew one of their cruisers, if not hundreds of thousands when manning barges. While those are easily supplied with the tithe of their client worlds, they are never intended to directly serve their Astartes masters. In fact, officially these crewmen belong to the Imperial Navy, a concesión of sorts by the Astral Canids to comply with **Guilliman**'s dictates of never commanding a sizeable force of mortals. But unsuccessful aspirants, while still failing to become the demigodly soldiers the Marines are, are rewarded becoming direct thralls of the Astartes, their failure to serve the imperium as warriors redeemed by attending to their more menial needs. The most worthy of these will become the liaison between their assigned Battle Brother and the mortals needed to attend them. The most fortunate ones could en up serving the Master of the Fleet and becoming Asmirals in anything but name when their masters are absent. Such positions will be physically rewarded too, and while the proof their worth, these mortal will see their lives prolonged by the best of rejuvenants treatments and bionics.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

"*With all due respect to the Lord Commander and that Archmagos Cawl of his, about this Rubicon process that techpriest has developed; for more than eleven millennia we Astartes have defended the Emperor's domains.*

*The Great Crusade was waged by those now you dare to class as outdated and label 'Firstborns' , and after barely a couple of centuries they had conquered most of the known galaxy.  It was the Firstborns who almost drowned the Imperium in blood, flame and Chaos back at the Heresy. And it were Firstborns who stood at them and drove them to the Eye of Terror.*

*When the Primarchs were gone, when the Lord Commander and his brothers were lost to us, it was the Firstborns who defended this empire from the Beasts and Apostasies. It was the Firstborns who stood at the untold mouths of the Great Devourer and pushed them back at Macragge and Baal. We never needed our longevity back! Wasn’t Macharius the greatest warlord we had in the last millennia? And wasn't he a simple unenhanced mortal? Is rare for us not to fall in battle before the century, so why care?*

*So tell the Lord Commander that, with all due respect, I trust more in my apothecaries and techmarines than I trust that techpriest of his. And that, for now, I will allow any of my men who wishes so to undergo the implantation of the Belisarian Revitalizer and the Magnificat Amplifier, but I will not allow them to be implanted those Sinew Coils. That's no enhancement of the body, but a severely complex and invasive procedure to make us more machine than man, more proper for the followers of the Machine God and the descendants of the Tenth, which is probably the cause for the low success rate its implantation has.*

*And I will not have my men dying like lab-rats on the table of medicae personnel and magi biologis, but on the battlefield.**"***

**Selakhos Karkharias, Master of the Kennel, to Torchbearer emissaries of Lord Commander Guilliman.**

The Astral Canids keep their genetic ascendancy secret but, despite their absence from the Feast of Blades that congregates the descendants of **Dorn**, they are suspected of descending from **Rogal Dorn**'s gene-lineage. However, their gene-seed tithes show a degree of "purity" or, better said, stability only seen in the Ultramarines and Dark Angels lineages, although the Biologis Tech-Priests charged with testing the tithes have not been able establish any match with any of the aforementioned three Chapters (that not being strange after at least eight millennia of independent and isolated genetic development).

Beside that, since even before **Cawl**'s "purified" strains of Gene-Seed were developed, the Canids Battle Brothers have never exhibited the degeneration and deficiencies of the organs known as the Hibernator Membrane and the "Poison Bite" Gland, nor the genetic memory and psychic imprint known as **Dorn**'s Darkness, a Black Rage-like affliction that some Chapters like the Excoriators suffer. This lack of traits would point to more stable sources like **the Lion**, **the Khan** or **Guilliman** himself, if it weren't because of the cannibalistic ritual of their fallen the Canids practice. This has brought suspicions that they should share the increased efficiency of the Omophagea Remembrancer that some descendants of **Dorn** display, like the Soul Drinkers.

Unrelatedly, the Primaris Battle Brothers of the Astral Canids lack the implant known as the Sinew Coils. But this lack is intentional and not the consequence of genetic degeneration. The sinew coils are not a truly organic implant, as explained by Tech-Priest Qwo, personal attendant of Archmagos **Cawl**, is something in between and organically grown seed and a complex invasive bionic implant. The Canids' Apothecaries and Techmarines lack of understanding, alongside the implantation's severe invasive nature in those Firstborns trying to undergo the crossing of the Rubicon, has provoked the intended discard of this implant. As an unintended side benefit of this, it seem that the ratio of successful Firstborns who have successfully survived the crossing of Rubicon seem to have vastly increased, but at the cost of the greater strength true Primaris Marines can exhibit.

Another curious trait of the Canids' gene-legacy, despite their apparent stable gene seed and lack of mutations or degenerations, has been the function of growth related implants. And so, organs like Ossmodula Ironheart and the newest Magnificat Amplifier had shown quite an irregular and contradictory performance. While the Firstborns implanted only with the Ossmodula were traditionally slightly taller than average Battle Brother (giving way for a time to rumours of mutation or the recruitment of abhumans of the kind of the Necromundan Goliaths), those Firstborns who have crossed the Rubicon and been implanted with the Magnificat to become Primaris have barely experimented some additional growth, all while the newly recruited Primaris Neophytes have attained similar heights to their former Firstborn brethren. And so, since the Canids do not recruit from a one and only planet, current rumours put to question instead the genetic inheritance of the Canid geneseed, pointing that something about it must at the same time boost yet limit the growth of its Battle Brothers.

The rumours about the Canis recruiting and implanting abhumans are not withiut irony. Although the Canids are tolerant with "natural" abhuman, they see theriantrophy as a sign of Chaotic taint. An example of that is tha chamber the Canids dedicated to the Loyalist Primarchs- The Canids only have 8 stutes dedicated to the Primarchs for, although they respect Sanguinius' loyalty, they see his wings and the Flaw his sons inherited as suspoiciously ointing to some form of corruption that the Ninth Primarch suffered through the Primarchs scattering.

## Notable Members:

**Chapter Master Selakhos Karkharias**: **Selakhos** is the current Master of the Kennel or Chapter Master of the Astral Canids.

**Selakhos** was born into a techno-barbarian clan of the Midterran Dessert, one of the few "unsettled" locations back at Terra. To get resources, his clan would travel to the closest hives and offer their services as mercenaries to the local gangs, until the Arbites captured the clan at one of their raids into Hive Kalypto and sentenced its members to a lifetime of labors in a penal colony. The transport carrying the prisoners was intercepted by xenos pirates, which drew the attention of a nearby Canid patrol. After rescuing the transport, the Company Chaplain took the youngest hive-gangsters and techno-barbarians as rewards, **Selakhos** among them.

**Selakhos** eventually became the High Chaplain of the Chapter, a spiritual position intended to lead by advise and example, not to actually command. However, after the opening of the Great Rift, the Chapters captains were isolated by storms across the five segmentums. When the Kennel itself was assaulted by the Traitors and their Daemonkin, Master Augos Sebastos fell in combat trying to expunge the enemy. With no Captain available to be named Master of the Kennel, **Selakhos** was forced to take command of the Fortress-Monastery as its ranking officer. When contact with the Captains was eventually re-established, they deemed that the Chaplain's time of service and status as the Chapter's spiritual leader was enough to consider him a worthy successor to Sebastos.

As the Chapter Master of the Astral Canids, **Selakhos** wears one of the few lavishly embellished armours that the Chapter keeps. As most of the Firstborns remaining in the Chapter, **Selakhos**' armours was originally dates back to the Heresy, and so it was created as a customized mixture of ancient Mark II and III heavy plates with more modern partial upgrades from the Marks IV and VI, which were something of a novelty back at the break of the Heresy. Through the millennia since the Heresy and their Founding, the Canids have upgraded these armours by repairing or replacing pieces with technology of the Marks VII and VIII, specially when provided by the Deathwatch to those Battle Brothers serving through the Long Vigil, but **Selakhos**' armour has been particularly upgraded with parts from Terminators-class armours, giving some size to the armoured Chapter Master when armoured as to rival the new Primaris brethren.

**First Captain Lysimakhos**: In a Chapter characterized for loosely abiding by the Codex, First Captain Lysimakhos is an oddity. A veteran of the Wars for Armageddon with almost six centuries of experience, Lysimakhos is a proponent of bringing a more Codex-approved structure to the Chapter. And of all the four Companies of the Astral Canids, his is the one resembling more the structure of the ancient tome: It is divided into two sub-companies of a hundred Battle Brothers, with one to conduct primary operations and other for training reservists and reinforcements, and his Disciplinary Chaplains go by the rank of Sergeants. Another trait it's the more frequent use of Codex-sanctioned markings to denote rank and role, something of a scarce sight amongst the Companies of the others Canid Captains.

Should Lysimakhos had not been isolated by the opening of the Great Rift, it is probable that he would have been elected the next Chapter Master. Despite this, he supported **Selakhos** appointment as Chapter Master, while **Selakhos** in exchange has Lysimakhos named his successor and regent in his absences. But,, for now, Lysimakhos continues to serve as a Captain, being always the first to volunteer for the most risking and perilous of missions, making his fellows believe that Lysimakhos is not interested in ruling the Chapter, and prefers to fall in battle before having to succeed **Selakhos** as Chapter Master.

**Reclusiarch Lykourgos**: Known as the Lawmaker, Lykourgos was known as the ethical compass of the Chapter long before succeeding **Selakhos** as the Canids' High Chaplain, what made him the logical successor to the now Chapter Master. Her humorous a cynical character has him always jesting and probing the temper of his fellows, but none more than First Captain Lykourgos. That's why Master **Selakhos** had kept him seconded to the First Captain company even though his new role as the spiritual leader of the Chapter would have him as part of **Selakhos**' retinue; the grim humor of the doctrinal Lysimakhos, natural choice as successor to **Selakhos**, well paired with the lightness of character of Lykourgos.

**Forgemaster Daedalos:** Daedalos is an oddity amongst the Astartes Techmarines. While most of these specialists are trained in their ways by the Techpriests of Mars, most of the time journeying to the Red Planet itself, Daidalos and the Canid Techmarines, like all their Battle Brothers, reject the religious view of technology preached by the Martians. This means that the Canid Techmarines traditionally pass their knowledge through a master-pupil tutelage.

The Forgemaster or Master of the Forge is the principal tutor of the Astral Canids technological ways. While is true that this Chapter's Forgemaster is charged, like in most Chapters, with the care of the armoury, Daidalos foremost responsibility is the instruction of new Techmarines, specially when the remaining senior Techmarines are embedded into deployed taskforces. But, while he is not occupied with the labours of tutelage, Daidalos spends the time dismantling and reassembling any and every weapon he gets into his hands. Daedalos has been known to have what some of his peers call an Orkish mind. He seems to be able to piece together weapons and vehicles of apparently little compatibility. He is specially known for integrating any piece of volkite technology recovered into plasma weaponry, wich seems to give the some stability and accuracy to these weapons. For Daedalos, no class, pattern or variant is sacred, and **Cawl**'s new weaponry is only another opening to the improvement of the Astral Canids armoury.

Secretly, Daidalos is actually Hypemetheos. The origina Daedalos was the Forgemaster back at the Apostasy when the Canids settled the recruitment and training world of Emerita. Daedalos was the overseer of the Canid taking over that world, and who improved the integrity fields that allowed the cities to thrive into hives despite the inimical enviroment. The first Daedalos' successor took his name and panoply to honour him, but each Daedalos proved himself to such degree that each inheritor of the title continued the tradition, until it just seemed like the first Daedalos and the rest were this one and the same immortal being. To continue with the illusion, the tradition was continued in secrecy until Hypemetheos itself became Daedalos, the first one to reveal himself to a Battle Brother Galenos (doing so because of his bond the Chief Apothecary as his twin blood brother).

**Lieutenant Daimyos**. Unlike in the Codex-adherent Chapters, some ranks are not reserved to a Brother-Captain. With comparatively less Captains than traditional Chapters, Canid Lieutenants hold greater power and responsibilities than in these Chapters, including some of the Masterships. Daimyos could be one of these. Although formally attached to the Lysimakhos' First Company, Lieutenant Daimyos is the Canids' Emperor's Champion and leader of their Sword Brethren, both roles adopted from the Canids close relationship with the Black Templars. However, unlike the Templars, who can have a Champion and a Brethren for each Fighting Company, the Astral Canids have just one unit for all the Chapter. This is because the Canids' have almost the numbers of a standard Chapter, while the Templars are not so restricted.

Although most of the Canids' original Sword Brethren died at the wake of **Abaddon**'s Crimson Path, also known as the 13th Black Crusade and the opening of the Great Rift, when Daimyos was raised to the rank of Champion and crossed the Rubicon, he was also tasked to create a new Brethren and raise others to the status of Sword Brother, arming them as Bladeguards. To enforce his role as a leader of the veterans of close quarters combats, Daimyos was seconded to the flagship of the Master of the Fleet, Lord Executioner Skeipiades, where he proved the efficiency of his new Brethren's deadly shield walls. The combination of Skeipiades' naval maneuvers and Daimyos' ship to ship assaults has earned him a permanent site at the Master of the Fleet side, although he still formally belongs to Lysimakhos' Company, his places is at Skeipiades' one, who is already mentoring Daimyos to take his place as Master of the Fleet despite his rank of Lieutenant.

### Relics:

The Canids have never been much of relic keepers but, even being a Chapter known for preferring ranged combat to a melee, it is not unusual for the Neophytes to inherit and reforge the sword of a predecessor or a mentor. Amongst of these weapons there is one known as the Foecleaver, a chainsword simple in shape and design, but rarely matched in craft and edge. Foecleaver combines some traits rarely seen together in Imperial weaponry: Despite being a chain-weapon, Foecleaver's monomolecular'edged teeth channel the matter-disrupting energies of a power weapon. Not unlike some of the Vlka Fenryka so called "frost blades". This combination of edge and matter disruption is what makes this simple weapon rare, so this apparently common chainsword's teeth's edge has rarely seen its equal since the Traitor Palatine Blades' sabres.

The Foecleaver currently belongs to Lieutenant Perkleos, who wields it as the Astral Canids' Emperor's Champion.

## Chapter Fleet

Generalliy speaking, Astartes vessels are not a unified class or pattern but, instead, are the modified result of previously captured or seized vessels. There are not two ship alike and the official class to which each one belongs are quite diverse and vague. This is true too about the Canid fleet.

Speaking about numbers, the Astral Canids currently have at least four Battle Barges, each for one of the Company Captains. Since at some point all of these have served as the Chapter's Fortress-Monastery and flagship of the Canids' fleet, they are exceptionally well kept, modified and slightly expanded in size, with at least one of them surpassing the length of 9 kilometers. Beside these battleships, the Astral Canids usually make use of highly modified Strike Cruisers. The Canids try to have available as many of these as deployed taskforces. Most of the time, this means that the Chapter as a whole needs to have at least a dozen of these Cruisers, if not more. But, since the Canids rarely act as a unified battlefleet, they barely pair their cruises with smaller escort-class vessels.

Beside the proper fleet, for orbital insertion and drops, the Canids fit their fllet like most Chapter with a full compliment of gunships and pods. However, the stand out for having discarded the use of Thunderhawks in favour of other recovered models of gunships, like the Storm Eagle and the Fire Raptor (and their smaller variant, the Storm Raven). It seems that, probably because their good relationships and alliance to the Wolves of Fenris, the Canids also have access to the Stormwolf and Stormfang gunships, and it's known that they have implemented their design into their *Caestus*-pattern Assaul Rams to creat their own variant; the Canid-pattern Assault Ram. This all does not mean that the Astral Canids have completely discarded the Thunderhawk gunship. However, their use have been reduced to the vehicle-transporting variant, which the Canids use to land their vehicles once a spearhead operation has secured a foothold.

## Chapter Appearance

Aesthetically, the Astral Canids are distinguished by keeping their armours bereft of any decorative elements. With the exception of the canine heraldry on the shoulders' pads, the Canids keep their armour almost unmarked, no marking identifying the individual wearing it or the units they belong to are carried. However, as they survive campaigns, veterans will start covering their armour with tabards, tunics and cloaks, usually made with the furry or scaly trophy pelts of beasts they have felled. Exceptionally, some veterans who from units and taskforces who have battle alongside the Black Templars' Crusades, or served for long in the Long Vigil, will end up adding a cross and/or the Imperial "I" to their canid insignia or star bearing it in other places of their armour.

Beside their armour and clothes, when unhelmeted the Canids usually keep militaristic haircuts, to the point that most Battle Brothers choose to just keep it fully shaven or trimmed. However, some still wear short and tidy quiffs and mohawks. Beside, as they get older, most Canid choose to let their beards grow, which they also keep tidy and carefully sculpted, in short yet thick forms.

### Chapter Colours

The colours the Astral Canids wear are not without significance, or so the savants of the Imperium believe. Most of these savants believe that the Canids were not born in the Fourth Founding, after the War of the Beast. Instead, most of them believe that the theories about the Astral Canids' origin as a Blackshield warband at the Heresy are true.

When the Traitor Warmaster and his fellow Primarchs stroke against the Loyalists, the strike was so true that most of them were scattered as the Shattered Legions. Many of the survivors of Isstvan, Calth, Thramas… and other garrisons and taskforces which were not caught in Horus' onslaught, were left isolated by the growing storms of unreality that Lorgar and Horus' deals with Chaos and the massacres they inflicted provoked. While most Imperials would believe that, before the Second Founding, there were not Marines units wearing their own colours and heraldry independently from the Legions, the truth is that many of these makeshift warbands started wearing their own ones after rejecting their parent Legions and Primarchs, even if they were on the same side of the conflict.

The dominant theory implies that the Canids, born or not at the Heresy, chose the Colours because of the Imperial Fists and the Ultramarines. Hence the blue and yellow livery. The real reason why is cause for more theories, the more simple one telling that the Canids chose the colours to honour the foremost defenders and architects of the future for the Imperium. The most extravagant, instead, telling that the reason was a pragmatical one: because most of the replacement pieces for the Canids' armour came from the fallen Brothers of the VIIth and the XIIIth Legion.

The Astral Canids wear a two-tone colour scheme consisting of yellow and dark blue armour. The backpack, helmet, both shoulder pauldron insets and the cuirass (chest) are yellow in colour, while both arms, belt, groin and legs are coloured blue. When present, the winged skulls worn on the chestplate are also blue, while the shoulder pauldron trim is black. Should the Battle Brothers be commanded so, a large blue coloured symbol on the right shoulder will indicate the Battle Brother's squad specialty (Battleline, Fire Support and Close Support). Sometimes, a Battle Brotther will bear this or other additional markings on the knee guards to indicate additional roles or rank, like a fanged skull to show is officer status for example.

As a peculiarity, although the some Canids Captain like Lysimakhos make use of many of the Codex-approved squad markings, most of them do not use colour to denote Company, rank or role. And so, Techmarines do not bear the Martian Red and Apothecaries are not distinguished by white armour. And neither officers and weapon specialist do colour their helmets differently, unless they choose so, with some officer choosing to wear blue helmets to distinguish themselves from common Battle Brothers.

### Chapter Badge

The Astral Canids badge consists of a large black coloured canine head facing towards the enemy. Occasionally, some veterans of the Black Templars' Crusades, to which countless times the Canids have pledged their strength, will add a cross to the background - or bear it in the other pauldron - to mark the honour of having served in such a task.

## Relations

### Allies:

Since the War of the Beast, the Astral Canids are sworn allies of the Black Templars and the Deathwatch. The Canids have sworn to always assist the Templars' Crusades and to pledge Battle Brothers to the Long Vigil. And so, it is not rare for these Chapters to call for assistance in eradicating the last traces of cultist, daemonic or xenos infestations at their wake. If the Templars' Fighting Companies and the Kill Teams of the Deathwatch are the hammer, the Canids are the nails that secure the aftermath of their operations. In exchange, the Canids are always welcome in the keeps and stations these two Chapters had across the Imperium, a much needed aid for the Canids to regroup, resupply and repair, especially because of the Mechanicus' reluctancy to attend the needs of a Chapter that only sees them as a religious sect.

### Enemies:

In the field, the Canids are usually summoned to deal with Chaos and Genestealer Cults. The Canids see the daemonic as another xenos lifeform that infects and inhabits humans like parasites, and so they do not differentiate when dealing with Genestealers or Daemons. They usually assign a taskforce to assist an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos or the Ordo Malleus. While the Inquisitors conducts their investigation, the Astral Canids act just as bodyguards. However, is when the cult erupts into open rebellion or provokes insurrections that the Canids are put to good use, their superior fire-power and infantry rapidly acting against cultist, Traitor Guards, daemonic incursions or invasions from splinter Hive-Fleets.

In the political field, the Canids are open opposers of the Ecclesiarchy and their Imperial Creed, as well as any other Imperial organization that preaches against the Imperial Truth. Commonly, this doesn't provoke nothing more than diplomatic tension with the Ecclesiarchy itself and the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition. However, some fanatical forces like the Sororitas Orders or some extremist Astartes Chapters, like the Red Hunters and the Minotaurs, are another matter. Although the Astral Canids have always tried to avoid open and direct armed conflict with these Imperial factions, it has not been strange for these fanatic forces to fire at first sight of the Canids. In these cases, the Astral Canids have not hesitated to fire back, causing grievous losses on both sides until some ceasefire has been attained. However, despite the treatment they receive from the Ecclesiarchy and the Mechanicus, the Canids have not ever refused a call of help to defend their Forge-Worlds and Shrine-Worlds.

Here are some of the most relevant foes of the Canids:

**The cult to the Wired Flesh:**

The Wired Flesh is a cult of recent foundation and ties to the major Genestealer Cults knowns as the Twisted Helix and the Bladed Cog. Like these cults, the Wired Flesh sect are not unwitting manofactorum labourers infected by a purestrain Patriarch. Instead, they seek intentional infection and genetic manipulation, or even the transplantation and transfusion of infected blood and flesh. The Wired Flesh see the tyranids as an apex predatory form of life, one that questions human galactic supremacy, and the Genestealer infection as a form of enhancement unavailable to the human form, even with augmetics and genomancy. However, the cult is also aware of the mental consequences of the infection. To avoid to be enslaved to the Hive Mind, the Wired Flesh have taken to the use of subtle bionics and use equipment that disrupt psychic fields, like the Psychic Hood, resulting in a weaker displays of a Brood Mind than other cults.

The Wired Flesh need of bionics and other advance technologies push them to infiltrate and invade Mechanicus-affiliated Forge-Worlds, were they incite uprisings of the lower ranking working classes against the tech-priesthood. And so, Mechanicus' worlds provide both, the material and the human resources needed by any cult. And the extension of the Wired Flesh expansion though the Imperium has made them one of the Canids priorities, specially because, despite their weak and tempered Brood Mind, it has been proven that the presence of their sects on Imperial worlds still attracts the Hive Fleets of the Great Devourer. Some Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos even suspect that the Wired Flesh are counting on that, since captured biomorphs are a source of genetic biomatter for their experiments. Other believe that the Wired Flesh is unaware of the Hive Mind's puppeteering, believing themselves to have gotten free of its control and working on their own initiative to supplant humanity with a superior form of life.

With some hive-fleets surrounding and pushing the boundaries of the T'au Empire, it is also not strange that Wired Flesh has entered, via Kroot merchants, into some trade arrangament with the xenos Empire to supply them with the corpses of felled biomorphs. Although the gains of the xenos-infected heretics is plain to see, it is unknown what the T'au and Kroot are getting in return, but is a most worrisome alliance for the Imperium, and one the Canids and their allies in the Deathwatch are hurrying to extinguish.

**Viruel's Bloodforged:**

**The Bloodforged** are a Chaos warband rivaling in size of others like Warsmith Honsou's Bloodborn or 'The Pure' of Prince Nar Kezar. The warband was formed by a coven of twice-exiled Sorcerers, formerly belonging to both, **Abaddon**'s *Sons of the Cyclops* and their allies, **Magnus**' *Crimson Sons*. Only **Viruel**, one of **Abaddon**'s minor lieutenants and those sorcerers are, beside the Warmaster himself, the only ones who know which crime or failure gained them the price of exile, for Viruel was the one charged with executing **Abaddon**'s rule.

Again exiled from their warbands, It was Viruel who chased the sorcerers out of the Eye and into the Maelstrom. And it was Viruel who saw their success and numbers rise despite his continuous chase. The sorcerous coven, weary of Viruel's chase, recruited their manpower from warbands dedicated to the Architect of Fate, like the Crimson Sons themselves, the Oracles of Change or the Seekers of Truth. The Bloodforged kept on absorbing other minor warbands to get the numbers , for they rightly feared the retribution of their former patrons, the Warmaster and the Crimson King, and seeked for the strength to stand back. With time and success, and despite **Viruel**'s everlasting routing of their forces, some disgruntled warlords from prominent war hosts, including even some former lords of the Black Legion and the Red Corsairs, ended up pledging their forces to this coven.

However, the sorcerers still wanted the patronage of some of the major players of the Long War, meaning to join one of the the Traitor Legions. Having earned the ire by recruiting from the forces of both, **Abaddon** and **Huron**, the Bloodforged instead sought the patronage of the Dark Council of Sicarus, the only political power amongst the Traitor Legions capable of opposing the Warmaster and his ally **Blackheart**. Apostle **Koryphaios** of the Darksun Chapter, politically influential but militarily weak, took the large warband into his fold.

When the warband now known returned to the Eye as part the Word Bearers , **Viruel** was the first Black Legionary to know and report to the Warmaster. However, the Warmaster had and ironic new of his own: **Koryphaios** himself had came to pledge himself to the Warmaster. Ironically, in the Word Bearer's internal conflict between Apostles **Kor Phaeron** and **Erebus** factions, both of them wanted the Warmaster's favour. No matter who **Koryphaios** sided with, both Apostles had pledged to support Abaddon's Black Crusades, making the Bloodforged members of the Word Bearers only in name, and again in the employment of one the coven's former patrons. If it was to be so, and despite his sorcerers fear, **Koryphaios** preferred to take the shortcut and serve directly the Warmaster, without intermediaries. And, again ironically, the Warmaster wanted, in return, gifted **Koryphaios**' host to Viruel, now one of the mayor warlords of the Black Legion. **Viruel** accepted and adopted the Bloodforged as his warhost, and Koryphaios as his lieutenant and Apostle. The tug-of-war between **Koryphaios** and **Viruel** has their warband loyalties split among them, with some showing loyalty to the Apostle displaying the Sicaran crimson and Tizcan blue in their plates, while those vying for **Viruel**'s favour displaying the sickly Horusian green of the Thrice-Cursed Traitors. However, both warlord have enough loyalty to the Long War and the Crimson Path to know it's better to keep thei forces united, loosely as that may be, Also, both of them know that separatedly they are not strong enought to fend of each of their rivals, who are not few.

Of Viruel himself, not much is known. Viruel himself tells that he formerly belonged to the Death Guard, and it is also known that he was also one of the former warrying warlords during the conflict known as the Legion Wars. However, Viruel doesn't suffer the Destroyer Plague, though the reason for that is unknown and only presumed. Some believe that Viruel was indeed infected by Nurgle, but that he was spared the affliction when he pledged himself to the service of all four Ruinous Powers. Others had postulated the simplest of the theories: Since Viruel's participation on the Siege cannot be confirmed nor discarded, maybe he was not part of the fleet bound for Terra alongside Mortarion, probably because he was stranded at some other warfront. Some even propose that he is not one of the original Death Guard, but one of the Fallen of the First Legion who, instead of following **Luther** and **Astelan**, joined **Calas Typhon** at the onset of the Heresy.

**Viruel** is also a talented sorcerer but is if unknown if he was already a psyker before his damnation or if he acquired his gift from study and exposure to the Warp. The original Death Guard was suspicious of psykers and disapproving of their practices, so if **Viruel** was indeed one of them, is to be expected that he did not display these gifts until his Legion finally embraced and displayed their sorcerous talents. It is unknown when and in which circumstances **Viruel** joined **Abaddon**, but it is known that he was not one of the Ezekarion. During the Legion Wars, although it is known that he was warlord in his own right, is probable that Viruel joined **Daravek** or **Drecarth**'s factions. Maybe even led some of their warbands after the respective warlords fell. Whatever it happened, what matters is that he and his sizable host of warbands joined **Abaddon**, and **Viruel** embodies **Abaddon** beliefs as few of his lieutenants can.

Despite his patronage by the Ruinous Powers and his psychic talent, **Viruel** despises mutation, possession and daemonhood (but not sorcery). At his command external mutations are surgically removed and subrogated with bionics and cloned tissue, possessions are exorcised and daemons are cast out back to the Warp or, worse, captured and trapped into inanimate objects (A fate that many of his former peers have suffered after becoming Daemon Princes themselves). A warrior and soldier to the core, Viruel longs for a Long War without end, where only martial skill and tactical prowess matters; a war that will only end for him when felled down by enemy fire or blade.

His Bloodforged, however, take more from Koryphaios methods than from Viruel, who must concede the Apostle's form of warfare is effective. The Bloodforged have become known among both, Loyalist and Traitors alike, for their cannibalistic rituals, adopted from partially absorbed warbands like the Bleeding Eye and the Black Feast. To the Canids, however, they are better known for infiltrating planets freed from the Genestealers' grip, to take advantage of the non-infected cultists remaining after Imperial liberation. In their wake, former non-infected cultists to the Great Devourer become 'Corpse-grinders' of Khorne or Nurgle's Unbelievers and Poxwalkers. Many times the Astral Canids have overstayed at apparently liberated worlds not to ensure that the root of the Genesteler corruptions doesn't endure, but to ensure that the Bloodforged do not come to sabotage their success.

The Canids' last encounter with the Bloodforged happened during the Shrine-Worlds Crusade against the Word Bearers. Having recruited several more warbands to fight alongside them, from followers of Khorne coming from the Crusade of Slaughter to mercenaries from the Night Lords, Lord Koryphaios launched a parallel crusade to Kor Phaeron's, called the Scourge. Abandoning his usual modus operandi of creating a cultist base to destabilise a planet, this time the Bloodforged pursued wanton slaughter and daemonic possession. The plan was to turn Imperial planets into Daemon-Worlds, to the point of turning them in open rifts to the Warp that would attract the Great Rift or even create a second Ruinstorm. The Canids' were acting in support of the Black Templars, who were to few to protect all the Shrine-Worlds. Although some worlds were saved, many more were lost to the Bloodforged Scourge, creating more rifts and storms from the Warp and further destabilising the Imperium.

**The T'au:**

After almost three centuries of combating the T'au, the Canids had harshly learnt that the xenos are excellent urban fighters, and probably there is no other xenos race that they hate and respect as much as the followers of the Greater Good, save maybe the Tyranids and their Genestealers. The Canids developed two strategies to face the T'au. Using the resources of the Deathwatch, they identified those planets with early symptoms of genestealer infestation in the path of T'au expansion. All those confirmed to have been infiltrated were deemed lost and beyond recovery. Then they located those worlds with strong Imperial military presence or easy to attend to by nearby forces. With the T'au numbers and firepower, the Canids knew that even in urban warfare they would be outmatched by the xenos. Being so, they would just support in those worlds were the Imperial Guard and allied imperial forces had been or could be deployed in mass. In some worlds the Canid strength to be spared and deployed was barely a squad-strong. In some battles, a lone battle brother would support or lead the PDF and the Enforcers against overhelming T'au numbers. But the Canids weren't fighting to win. They were fighting to push, to have the T'au fell some pressure. Soon the Ethereal Council and the Fire caste commanders started choosing to deploy in the worlds left undefended by the Canids and their allies. It was a mistake. The genestealers revolted against those coming to usurp their prey and their psychic broadcast started drawing tendrils of Tyranid hive-fleets. These worlds were sacrificed so common enemies would mutually annihilate or weaken each other.

Of all the T'au Commanders the Canids have faced, none stands as much as Shas'O Moata Viorl'os '**Twinvoice'. Commander O'Moata** is a Shas'O ranked commander of the Farsight Enclaves. His relationship to the homonymous commander is not known. Some tongues speak that **O'Moata** is just on of the latest byproducts of **O'Vesa** Stonedragon's experiments. These whispers are not far from the truth. The latest **O'Moata**, although sharing the name and position of the late one, is actually an altered clone. In addition to the genes and engram of the Burning Chameleon, **O'Vesa** has experimentally mixed the prime donor's gift with those of the legendary Commander **Puretide**, secretly aspiring that the apparently clone of **O'Moata** will develop some of that latent potential.

O'Moata was probably rapidly developed and activated shortly after the campaign of Arthas Moloch, where his predecessor had died. Since this happened at the year 760.M41, this means that **O'Moata** is currently a quarter terran millenia old. Since T'au lifespan rarely surpasses the half a century, and even less rarely approaches the full terran century, it must be speculated that the current **O'Moata** is just the last of several cloned generations, each with the memories of the previous iterations. Beside, his battlesuits are usually programmed with and artificial intelligence of his collective previous incarnations (apparently **O'Vesa** fitted all of **O'Moata**'s suits with engram diveces that constantly update a copy of his being). Both, the clones and the AI's replicated voice usually maintain conversations with each other to the confusion of unappreciating fellow T'au. Giving off the sensation of being crazed, this has also earned **O'Moata** the informal ninkname of **Twinvoice** or **Twinvoiced**, the only title that differentiates him from his predecessor, called the 'Burning Chameleon'.

While originally compromised to master the Kauyon, a couple centuries under O'Shova's command and tutelage had diverted and mixed his path with that of the Mont'ka. Master Puretides engram had allowed O'Moata to blend and balance both, mastering what he calls "the Patient Killing Blow" or "the Hunt for the Killing Blow". Although apparently risky and aggressive, O'Moata's strategies usually conceals the full strength of his forces until the proper time bids their unleashing. O'Moata usually uses apparently isolated infantry as bait before outflanking and counter-attacking with previously concealed overwhelming forces, usually by deploying every available battlesuited warrior.

As a commander, **O'Moata** usually fights cocooned into a XV battlesuit, although the classes had ranked from the relatively small XV2-classes to the giants XV10 class. The K-class suits, which some like **O'Vesa** no longer consider a battlesuit rather than a walker vehicle, seems to be the only class that O'Moata discards as a warrior and leader, unfit for the role he must play. Anyway, though is not rare that a commander would change his suit for an improved and updated version of new ones (for example, O'Shova himself discarding his old XV8 in favour of the newest XV86 'Coldstar', or **O'Shaserra** discarding his XV22 for a 'Stalker' variant) it is more rare that a Commander would switch between suit classes at need. The only well known instance is when Shadowsun used a decoy cladded in his XV22 to bait Master **Severax** of the Raven Guard, while she used the distraction to outflank and surprise the Raven Lord from behind with a XV95 'Ghostkeel'.

Although both, the Imperium and the T'au Empire officially decreed the end of the Second Sphere of Expansion and the opposing Damocles Crusade at some point of the early lates quarter of the 41st Millennium, the truth is that both Campaigns' continuation somehow blurs that ending with the initiation of the Third Sphere (for the T'au) and the Agrellan Campaign (for the Imperium). It was in this unnamed period the Commander **O'Shova'***Farsight*' and the Eight took back and expanded what later would be called the O'Shova Enclaves. This campaign, called the **O'Shova** Expedition, implied a conflict of its own with the Imperium's Easter Fringe sectors. It was in this conflict the fake **O'Moata** was successfully tested against the Astral Canids, who had left behind a sizable (for a Marine Chapter) force to carry on the purge and liberation of any world remaining in the grasp of the Greater Good or the Great Devourer's Genestealers.

Initially surprised and forced to back away by Commander **Twinvoice'**s battlesuited strikes back, **Twinvoice**'s tactic eventually lost its effectiveness when the Canids just choice to overwhelmed the reinforced T'au cadres, which acted as baits, with a superior number of infantry and tanks from the Imperial Guard. The Fire Cadres would be first overwhelmed with guardsmen on foot, which would act themselves as bait for the battlesuited T'au counterattack, and as the superior T'au were engaged into overcoming the human cannon-fodder, they would be surrounded and overwhelmed themselves by the Guard's mechanized forces. Yet, despite having his own tactic turned tactics of the Marines against him but the cold (even for the Canids, to whom many of Imperial commanders swore to never attend again unless under the pressure of a Comissar's handgun to their temples), **O'Moata** gained enough of their respect to at least deserve the attention of the full Canid taskforce when they chose to overrun his own position. The Canids did not record the **Twinvoiced**'s death but, given the easiness with which **O'Vesa** subrogates each iteration, it should be irrelevant if the Canid finally got to strike him down.

**Hive-Fleet Apophis:**

By the end of the 41st Millenium,two major Hive-Fleets have been kind of desttoyed and their tendril scattered. The first one had been code-named the Behemoth, and the second one the Kraken. The first one eventually joined a splinter of the Leviathan that would later be named Kronos, who was encircling Ultramar to avoid the heavily defended 500 Worlds.

On the other hand, the Kraken, who had been avoiding Ultramar too, was trapped in the Nihilus side of the Imperium with the irruption of the phenomenon known as the Cicatrix Maledictum Rift at the end of the millenium. However, Kronos have developed and enhanced form of the psychic Shadow in the Warp, and psychically reached the Kraken. This connections attracted both Hive-Fleets until their closeness and echo in the Warp forced open a corridor in the Cicatrix, close to the Lysades Sector where Abaddons had been stopped at the end of the Gothic War. Finally, branches of both Hive-Fleets joined in a new strain or Hive-Fleet that the Imperials code-named Apophis. This new Hive-Fleet apparently was purposed to absorb the minor scattered tendrils of other Hive-Fleets and so, one branch started skirting the reach of the Astronomicon towards other minor tendrils belonging to Kraken, Tiamet and Jormungandr., while the other turned towards the galactic core to join the Octarian branch of the Leviathan.

At some point, the Canids discovered the new Hive-Fleet and realized that their homeworld of Emerita was in the path of this branch of the Great Devourer, and a call for all Canid taskforces to return for its defense was issued.

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