Legio Telesto

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The **Legio Telesto** is a Titan Legio founded on Akira from the ancient and renowned Legio Ignatum. They were created to stand guard over both the Forge World and Madrigal, with which it shared its system. Telesto became the constant allies of the Lightning Bearers, unto the dark days of the Insurrection which would see them follow their allies into treachery.

## History

The Legio Telesto had earned a reputation as one of the mightiest Titan Legions raised since the Great Crusade began, serving both as wardens over the domains of Akira and stalwart allies of the Lightning Bearers during their many campaigns. With the onset of the Insurrection, however, they would follow the changed Ist Legion into treason, and give the Imperium ample reason to rue their power.

They were born as part of Akira’s integration into the Mechanicum as it grew alongside the wider Imperium. Savaged by the rise and reign of the Thunder King, the Akiran Mechanicus had since lacked the ability to construct Titans. This deficiency had left them at the mercy of the tyrant Tokawa until Icarion seized power on Madrigal. It remained a lingering mark upon their prestige and a chink in their armour, even after Icarion’s rise had enabled them to expand their taghmata and colonise a number of nearby worlds. Moreover, the Imperium in this period was vulnerable, as the First Rangdan Xenocide would prove before long. Forge Worlds were too valuable to leave without sufficient protection, still less the homeworld of the first Primarch.

Thus the patent was issued for the Legio Telesto, born of the venerable Ignatum but very much rooted in the distinctive culture of Akira. They grew swiftly, for little was denied to the Emperor’s only known son at this time. Akira was restored to its former might and rose beyond it. The archeotech that had served to sustain them through Old Night was appropriated and modified to arm their new sentinels. When the Lightning Bearers left Madrigal with their first cohort of inductees from their Primarch’s world, four maniples of the new Legio came with them.

As with the new Ist, Telesto’s worth was swiftly proven on the battlefield. Undoubtedly they benefitted from having commanders who could glimpse the future, and the generalship of Icarion. In sources from this period we see, perhaps for the first time, the envy that a Primarch’s close allies inevitably attracted. Yet at the same time, the power of Telesto’s god-machines and the courage and prowess of their crews were never in question. They proved especially able in supporting infantry and armour formations, bringing their might to bear against enemy war machines with the greatest fervour.

Even for a Titan Legio they were an arresting sight, wielding Tesla Cannons - vastly powerful weapons developed from arc guns, which bathed their foes in searing arcs of lightning. At Gneos they routed the foul xenos which infested that world, scouring their Titan-analogues from the field. For such displays they soon earned the name of “Thunder Blades”, and it was said by more than one commentator that the Legio Tempestus were lucky, in that they had such an established claim to the title of Storm Lords.

It was noted with disquiet by some Martian Legios that the loyalties of Telesto were more to the Primarch than to the Fabricator-General, and that certain eccentricities born of Akira manifested themselves in the martial culture of the Legio. Honour was paramount, and on occasion maniples would be brought into dispute as they vied for glory. However, these would be kept in check by the sense of duty fostered in the men and women who made up the Legion’s crews, for they represented the heritage of the Triad Ferrum Morghulis. Cast in the mould of Ignatum, they would thus stand as solemn guardians of a world long denied the protection of Titans.

Even as other Primarchs and Forge Worlds were brought into the fold, Telesto went from strength to strength, for Icarion’s prestige was undimmed and the Madrigal Sphere continued to grow in strength and riches. Under Icarion’s banner, the Thunder Blades battled the behemoth engines of the Golgotha Wastes alongside Tempestus and the Halcyon Wardens. Several times, as on Thranguilas, they formed the Emperor’s own vanguard. On the cusp of the 31st Millenium they contributed forces to the two great wars that the Imperium was waging, with maniples fighting on Qarith Prime even as their brethren brought destruction to AI constructs in the Koloss Syntheticide.

The fierce pride that burned in their hearts at serving Icarion was a multi-faceted thing. Icarion represented either a masterwork by the avatar of the Machine God, or actually embodied some facet of the same. This gave rise to something of an exceptionalist outlook in Telesto which some of their fellows resented, and in particular their relationships with the likes of Auris and Victorum were strained for several years. This was exacerbated by the doubt which some expressed for their merit, given the close relationship they enjoyed with such a powerful force as the Ist Legion. Their heritage earned them the ire of the Legio Mortis, an enmity which would endure despite their shared allegiance to the Stormborn.

Just as their ascendancy had been entwined with that of the Lightning Bearers, so too would Telesto share in Icarion’s damnation. They had always been just as loyal to him as they were to the Emperor, if not more so. The handful of crews deemed unreliable were whittled down, and the rest gradually led down the path of treachery. As Icarion’s armies began their conquests, the Legio Telesto were at the forefront, earning themselves a place among the most feared and hated of the Insurrectionist forces.

### **Material Strength**

The circumstances of their founding, coupled with the mighty forges of Akira, made Telesto a Primus grade Legio on the Day of Revelation, numbering 168 god-machines in total with more under construction. Of the extant Titans, thirty were stationed on Akira and its primary forge-colonies. The balance of Telesto’s god-machines were of the Warlord and Reaver classes, but they also fielded several Titans of the mighty Imperator and Warmonger patterns.

The Thunder Blades eschewed the extreme specialisation observed in some Legions, although fighting alongside the Lightning Bearers and powerful mortal armies ensured that infantry were of little concern to them. As a consequence, there were no known Nightgaunt Titans among their ranks, and precious few Vandal-class Reavers, with the Legio favouring firepower over melee capability. It has been noted that many Titans eschewed such weapons entirely, favouring the fearsome Madrigalan Tesla Cannon to serve their close-combat needs.

Lacking the means to manufacture Titans, the magos of Akira had surrounded themselves with fearsome taghmata, and these were put at the disposal of Telesto upon their founding. They included four Skitarii Auxilia Legions, which integrated substantial armoured and aerial elements, and six Cybernetica cohorts. All of these made use of esoteric technology taken from the vaults of Madrigal, bolstering their already considerable power.

When House Rakham sealed their alliance with Akira and later Sunhava swore their oaths to the Imperium, Icarion saw to it that they made pacts with Telesto. Thereafter they served as skirmishers to the Thunder Blades, and as the Insurrection progressed they would be joined by a host of freeblade Knights. Their worth would be demonstrated on several occasions during the Commena War, with Telesto fighting in cityscapes where a well-laid ambush could bring down even their god-machines.

## Notable Campaigns

### The Battle of Gneos

Gneos was one of the Legio Telesto's first great victories, in which they destroyed the Titan-analogues of the xenos which controlled the planet.

### The Conquest of the Commena Cluster

A war maniple of Telesto participated in the seizure of Commena Prime and several other worlds under the direction of Raiden Athrawes, destroying a force of the Legio Destructor on the core world.

### The Fall of Anvilus

Icarion's assault on this mighty Forge World involved a full Demi-Legio of the Thunder Blades.