vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Inceptor - Inceptor: An Inceptor, who is usually part of a close support Inceptor Squad, is the standard Jump Pack-equipped heavy assault unit of the Primaris Space Marines who wear the Gravis variant of Mark X Power Armour and wield twin Assault Bolters into combat.Amongst the swiftest-moving elements of an Adeptus Astartes strike force, Inceptors fill the role of spearhead troops. They hit the enemy in one sudden and overwhelming blow, leaving them reeling as follow-up waves of Space Marines drive home the attack.Inceptors are similar in combat function to an Assault Squad of Firstborn Astartes or a Legion Assault Squad of ancient Legionaries.Inceptors are fast-moving Primaris Marine shock troops. Equipped with heavy, built-in Jump Packs and wearing heat-shielded Mark X Gravis Power Armour, they are capable of making combat drops from a planet's upper atmosphere, streaking down upon the battlefield like living missiles from the troop bays of orbiting battle barges or high-atmosphere gunships.Upon landing, they raise a sweeping storm of fire with their brutally effective Assault Bolters or terrifying Plasma Exterminators. Hails of mass-reactive shells and searing plasma bolts spew from their barrels, blasting apart everything in their vicinity in a tornado of gore and sun-bright energies.Inceptors employ their speed and punishing firepower to launch advance strike missions. They slam down into the midst of the foe to slaughter command personnel and destroy rear-line strategic assets, before leaping away from retribution in huge, rocket-assisted bounds. They are deployed by Space Marine Chapters for beachhead clearance operations, diversionary raids and decapitating strikes, relishing the opportunity to perfect each new role.
Inceptor - Role: In the Codex Astartes, Roboute Guilliman has been very clear about the role and importance of Astartes close support squads. A well-coordinated and perfectly timed assault can break the back of any foe, cracking open their lines and sending the remnants of their army fleeing. To make such breakthrough attacks, the designated troops must be fast, aggressive and hard-hitting.The swiftest of the Primaris Marine battle-brothers, Inceptors fill the role of spearhead troops. They hit the enemy in one sudden and overwhelming blow, leaving them reeling as follow-up waves of Space Marines drive home the attack.Equipped with heavy Jump Packs and reinforced Mark X Gravis Power Armour, Inceptors can be dropped from the very edge of a planet's atmospheric envelope. Leaping from the assault bays of low-orbiting attack craft or battle barges, these daring warriors brave the fury of re-entry before locking their drop coordinates and jetting towards their objective like missiles.If the enemy detects their approach at all, they will often do so under the misapprehension that the Inceptors are stray warheads, or cast-off debris from orbital combat.Some squads intentionally make planetfall amidst such falling detritus, weaving through the blazing, tumbling storm of wreckage before breaking away as it flares to nothing, and plunging down into the enemy's midst. By the time the foe realises that they are under attack, the Inceptors are already upon them.Despite the ground-shattering force with which they land, Inceptors touch down with absolute control, opening fire immediately with the bulky but rapid-firing Assault Bolters that form their primary armaments. Servo-equipped boot-plates allow Inceptor Squads to survive landing at intense speeds, and provide extra boost when they jump from the ground.Often paired with squads attacking by Drop Pod, Inceptors are the perfect troops to blast out a beachhead and then provide fire support to keep it clear. The tornado of firepower generated by an Inceptor Squad is more than enough to sweep away horrified enemy infantry, slaughter crucial command assets or silence flak batteries before the main Space Marine attack descends.
Inceptor - Unit Composition: 2 - 5 Inceptors1 Inceptor Sergeant
Inceptor - Wargear: Mark X Gravis Power Armour2 Assault Bolters2 Plasma Exterminators (Optional replacements for Assault Bolters)
Inceptors - Inceptors: Note: This page is about the Space Marine Chapter. For the Primaris Space Marine unit, see Inceptor.The Inceptors are a Loyalist Codex Astartes-compliant Space Marine Chapter. It is a Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines Legion.The Inceptors participated in the Macharian Crusade, and were involved in a regrettable incident during the Macharian Heresy in the early years of the 41st Millennium.
Inceptors - Chapter History: Of the thousand or so Space Marine Chapters extant throughout the Imperium the great majority can be considered Codex Astartes-compliant. One such Chapter is the Inceptors Chapter. Founded in the dark days following the Horus Heresy the Inceptors Chapter is a Primogenitor Chapter of the Ultramarines, created during the Second Founding.This Founding involved the division of the existing Loyalist Space Marine Legions into the far smaller, 1,000-man autonomous Chapters of the Space Marines as decreed by the new Codex Astartes, written by the Ultramarines' primarch, Roboute Guilliman. The remaining Loyalist Space Marine Legions were divided into smaller Successor Chapters -- one Chapter maintained their parent Legion's original name, badge and colours, while the remaining Chapters took new names and heraldry.Each Second Founding Chapter initially shared their parent Legion's gene-seed -- subsequently each Chapter's gene-seed was isolated by the Adeptus Mechanicus, forming new genetic lines. Because the Space Marines that made up each of the Second Founding Chapters originated from one of the Legions that first served the Emperor, the Chapters that were created were called "Primogenitors," or "First Born," a title not given to later Chapters of the many subsequent Foundings that have been carried out by the Imperium. Like their forebears, the Inceptors have continued to proudly carry on the legacy of Guilliman.
Inceptors - Euxcine Incident: Most recently, the Chapter fought during the Macharian Crusade from 392-399.M41, and won great glory. Following the death of the crusade's leader, Lord Solar Macharius in 400.M41, the domains conquered by the Imperium fell into civil war as each senior commander vied for the right of overall command. Soon the various regions fell into anarchy and chaos. This lamentable period of history came to be known as the Macharian Heresy, which would last until 470.M41. The High Lords of Terra called in several Adeptus Astartes Chapters to quell the violence and restore a semblance of order.One of these Chapters was the notorious and brutal Minotaurs Chapter. During this period, the Inceptors and the Doom Warriors Chapter had become locked in a bitter conflict. The two Chapters had come to blows over a matter of honour and were embroiled in a long-running and highly protracted conflict fought under predetermined rules of engagement in the Euxine System. Refusing to cease and desist their internecine rivalry, the Minotaurs were dispatched by the High Lords of Terra to quell the dispute.The Minotaurs cared nothing for the causes or the rights of the two belligerent Chapters, opting to attack both of them in full force, catching both by surprise with their initial strike. The Doom Warriors were outmatched and broken, and were forced to flee the system in a barely organised retreat. The Inceptors were not so lucky, for they found themselves trapped on Euxcine, the majority of their warships either destroyed or captured in orbit. The Inceptors had effectively trapped themselves on the planet, forced to face the Minotaurs' wrath.This Second Founding Chapter was encircled and destroyed piecemeal, until the last remaining Inceptors Space Marines, numbering fewer than 100 battle-brothers, were forced into humiliating surrender. The Minotaurs dishonourably stripped the fallen of many Chapter relics for themselves as well as their ravaged Chapter's flagship, a Great Crusade-era assault transport that had served the Inceptors since their Founding, as a spoil of war.This incident and the circumstances surrounding it sent shockwaves through many of the Space Marine Chapters. It was unheard of for such an ancient and revered Chapter and close scion of the Ultramarines to be almost annihilated in such a fashion, and with the tacit consent of the High Lords themselves. Subsequently, the ranks of the Inceptors were sorely depleted and many of their Chapter relics lost. All across the Realm of Ultramar the Minotaurs were denounced for their perpetrated atrocities and were forbidden to enter its borders. Many of the scions of Roboute Guilliman have sworn vengeance against the Minotaurs, especially if the opportunity arises and honour permits them to carry this vengeance out.
Inceptors - Notable Campaigns: War of the Beast (544-546.M32) - During the War of the Beast, the Inceptors aided the Ultramarines and their other successors in defending the Realm of Ultramar.Euxcine Incident (ca. 400-425.M41) - Following the death of Lord Commander Solar Macharius, the great demesnes he had conquered for the Imperium fell into civil war and anarchy. Many of those within the Macharian Crusade turned upon one another, vying to fill the power vacuum left in the wake of the Lord Commander Solar's death. Space Marine Chapters drew their swords in anger against each other as well. This dark period in history came to be known as the Macharian Heresy. Forced to act decisively, the High Lords of Terra called in several waves of fresh Space Marine Chapters to bring the civil conflict to an end by exterminating heretical forces and bringing order to the region. The infamous Minotaurs were one such Chapter operating under the High Lords' authority. During this period, known as the Suppression of the Macharian Heresy, the Minotaurs' most notable action which gained them much infamy during the Macharian Heresy was the near-destruction of two Space Marine Chapters who had become locked in bitter conflict -- the Inceptors and the Doom Warriors. Caring not which Chapter was in the right, the Minotaurs proceeded to attack both of the belligerent Chapters. The Doom Warriors were beaten and broken, and barely escaped in an unorganised retreat. The Inceptors were not so fortunate, as the Minotaurs nearly destroyed the severely depleted Chapter. Fewer than a hundred battle-brothers survived, and to make matters worse, the Minotaurs claimed many of the Chapter's sacred relics as spoils of war. This enraged many Chapters who are descendants of Roboute Guilliman, who have sworn to carry out their vengeance against the upstart Minotaurs, honour permitting.
Inceptors - Chapter Colours: The Inceptors' Chapter colours are forest green with golden trim on both shoulder plates. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest is silver. The eye lenses on their helms are red.The white squad specialty symbol designates operational specialty -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command. A forest green Low Gothic numeral, indicating squad number, is stenciled in the centre of it. The colour of the shoulder plate trim indicates company number in accordance with the dictates of the Codex Astartes -- i.e. white (1st Company), yellow (2nd Company), red (3rd Company), green (4th Company), etc.
Inceptors - Chapter Badge: The Inceptors' Chapter badge is a white letter "I" representing their name. The Inceptor's Chapter symbol incorporates the upside down Greek letter Omega symbol of their ancestral Chapter centred in the letter "I", representing that they are a successor of the original XIII Legion.
Inceptors - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet)Codex: Space Marines (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 115Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 8Imperial Armour Volume Ten: The Badab War - Part Two, pp. 107, 109Shadow of Ullanor (Novel) by Rob Sanders, Ch. 1
Incinerator - Incinerator: An Incinerator is a powerful Flamer weapon specifically created for the use of the Grey Knights Space Marines.It has many of the same characteristics as the standard Imperial Heavy Flamer but is fueled by a special mix of consecrated promethium and Ecclesiarchy-blessed oils which are especially effective against Daemons.An Incinerator is a heavily modified variant of the Heavy Flamer, its fire projectors and containment vessels significantly altered in order toaccommodate its unique, psychically-impregnated promethium fuel.When triggered, the weapon gouts forth an incandescent torrent of azure or white flame that burns far hotter than any "normal" combustion ever could with the added power of the pure faith of the billions who believe in the divinity of the Emperor of Mankind.
Incinerator - Heavy Incinerator: A Heavy incinerator is a much larger and more powerful version of the standard Incinerator.It is only known to be mounted on Nemesis Dreadknights.
Incinerator - Flamestorm Incinerator: A Flamestorm Incinerator is a large, vehicle-mounted version of the Incinerator that is mounted on the Vortimer Pattern Land Raider Redeemer used by the Grey Knights.
Incinerator - Atalan Incinerator: The Atalan Incinerator is a Heavy Weapon very similar to that of the Grey Knights which unleashes blasts of blazing promethium but without the the special consecration of the addition of the oils blessed by the Adeptus Ministorum.The Atalan Incinerator is a favoured weapon of the Atalan Jackal outriders who serve the Genestealer Cults that infest many Imperial worlds.
Incubus - Incubus: An Incubus (pl. Incubi) is a member of an elite, mercenary warrior order of Drukhari, very similar to the Aspect Warriors of their Craftworld Aeldari counterparts, who dedicate themselves to the perfection of the killing strike.Their services are in great demand, whether as bodyguards or shock troops, and the Incubi will fight for any who can afford to purchase their loyalty. Their obsession is the mastery of the Klaive, a two-handed, greatsword-like melee weapon that becomes as much a part of an Incubus as their own murderous heart. In battle the Incubi wield these weapons with lethal precision, their every swing severing limbs and shattering blades with contemptuous ease.The act of becoming an Incubus is dangerous in the extreme; through long and gruelling practice, the strong prosper, while the weak are cut down and their bodies burnt as an offering to the statue of Khaine, the Aeldari god of war, that lies at the heart of each Incubus shrine.
Incubus - Beliefs: The Incubi focus not on the artistry of death-dealing like the Wych Cults, but on the pragmatic method of killing their opponent as efficiently and quickly as possible. Though they are trained in the use of every form of blade and ranged weapon, they favour the use of the potent Aeldari power swords they call Klaives.A Drukhari Klaive is a master-crafted weapon, displaying the exquisite balance and form to be expected from a work of Aeldari craftsmanship. The Incubi consider the Klaive to be the only weapon properly used by any true warrior, though the Incubi's warleaders, who bear the title of "Klaivex," sometimes favour the usage of such variants as the Demi-klaive, two smaller powered blades that can be wielded separately or clasped together to form a much larger sword that adds to the wielder's strength.Every Klaivex is a born killer whose skill in taking lives is so extraordinary that even other Drukhari believe there must be something supernatural about their power.Despite their skill in one-on-one duels, Incubi scorn fair fights in actual combat conditions. When they close with their enemy, they send out waves of damaging neural energy, leaving their enemies wracked with pain before the killing can truly begin. Some Incubi also possess special Tormentor Helms outfitted with what are known as "Bloodstones" that are crafted from the broken Spirit Stone of a slain Asuryani Exarch. These weapons can fire a neural pulse so powerful that they can boil an enemy's blood, killing them outright from afar.
Incubus - Hierarchs: Hierarchs are the leaders of each Incubi shrine. They are powerful mercenaries who rule over a shrine of their order and all of its Incubi like a warrior-king. They are known to flaunt their wealth and status among the Drukhari.Unlike other institutions of the Drukhari, where assassination is an accepted form of succession, Hierarchs can only be replaced through a combat to the death among the surviving Incubi of their shrine to determine their successor.
Incubus - Notable Incubi Shrines: Shrine of Cursed Night - A notable Incubi shrine of Commorragh. There is very little information on this shrine in official Imperial records.Shrine of Splintered Bone - These Incubi claim the bones of slain foes, carving them into fetishes that line the inside of their segmented warplate, pressed close to their pale flesh.
Incubus - Wargear: Incubi are trained in the use of many different weapons unique to their warrior sect. Almost all Incubi favour a great two-handed power sword they call a Klaive. A Klaive is a masterpiece of balance and form; the Incubi consider Klaives to be the one and only true weapon.However some Incubus shrines prefer to promote the use of a Punisher, a two-handed power weapon resembling a halberd, manufactured in such a way as to assist the wielder when swinging, effectively increasing the strength and reach of their attacks.All Incubi are equipped with an extremely resilient suit of armor, called an Incubus Warsuit. The Incubi jealously keep the procedures to manufacture and repair such armour to themselves, and as such they are the only ones to wear them.An Incubus Warsuit offers protection similar to a Space Marine's power armour, without inhibiting its bearer's movement in the least. The helmet of the suit incorporates the signature Tormentor Helm of the Incubi.Some Incubi possess special Tormentor Helms outfitted with what are known as "Bloodstones", a rare and exotic weapon forged from the broken Spirit Stone of an Asuryani Exarch, that can boil an enemy's blood with a pulse of potent psychic energy.The more skilled and experienced Incubi known as Klaivexes who serve in the role of squad leader to their fellows sometimes favour swapping their Klaivex for the more versatile Demi-klaives, paired power weapons which can be wielded either separately to increase the amount of strikes the user can make, or clasped together to form a much larger blade, thus increasing the force of the blows.
Incubus - Sources: Codex: Drukhari (8th Edition), pg. 97Codex: Dark Eldar (3rd Edition), pp. 12, 18, 36Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), pp. 14-17, 22, 52Codex: Dark Eldar (7th Edition), pp. 20, 41-43, 155-156, 163-164, 206, 226Rogue Trader: The Soul Reaver (RPG), pp. 5, 100Path of the Renegade (Novel) by Andy ChambersPath of the Incubus (Novel) by Andy ChambersPath of the Eldar (Omnibus), "Dark Son" (Short Story) by Gav ThorpePath of the Warrior (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
Inculcators - Inculcators: The Inculcators is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin. Almost nothing is known about this Chapter in the Imperial records.
Inculcators - Chapter Colours: The Inculcators' Chapter colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Inculcators - Chapter Badge: The Inculcators' Chapter badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Incursor - Incursor: An Incursor, usually part of an Incursor Squad, is a close support Primaris Space Marine unit that fulfils an aggressive, close-quartersgun-fighting role within Adeptus Astartes forces.Their missions typically see them storming defended positions, sweeping the flanks of spearhead advances or rapidly knocking out strategic enemy assets such as power generatorums and communication centres.Key to this role are the paired wargear technologies of their Occulus Bolt Carbines and the Divinator-class auspexes that feed directly into their highly advanced transpectral combat visors.
Incursor - Role: This remarkable combination of visual and multi-spectral observation-and-analysis technologies contained in the paired Divinator-class auspex and Occulus Bolt Carbine gathers every scrap of data from the wearer's surroundings. It employs a slaved Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence) to collate the findings at a thousand times the speed of Human thought and feed the resultant data into the Incursor's field of vision.Armed with this tightly-controlled flood of intelligence, these warriors fight in an almost precognitive fashion.Incursors can see their foes through solid walls, thick smoke and absolute darkness; they can detect the high-altitude telltales of incoming drop troops, the prematerialisation energy signatures of teleporting foes and the tectonic tremors that indicate enemies about to emerge from tunnels, ducts and the like.They can even build predictive models of their opponents' fighting patterns in real time, allowing them to foreshadow their foes' attacks with killing shots fired before the enemy even moves into their gunsights.Coupled with potent close-quarters firepower, specialist training in vicious knife-fighting techniques and heavy duty Haywire Mines to knock out enemy armour, these warriors are a truly potent asset.Whether fighting through the corridors of an enemy fortress or engaging in brutal pitched firefights on the battlefield, few foes can withstand the Incursors' assault.
Incursor - Unit Composition: 4-9 Incursors1 Incursor Sergeant
Incursor - Wargear: Mark X Phobos Power Armour with transpectral combat visor in helmDivinator-class AuspexBolt PistolOcculus Bolt CarbinePaired Combat BladesFrag GrenadesKrak GrenadesSmoke GrenadesHaywire Mines
Indiga - Indiga: Indiga is an Imperial Death World known for being home to various species of deadly macrofauna and as the source of the famed Indigan Praefects regiments of the Astra Militarum. Because of the history of their homeworld, the Indigan Praefects are considered especially skilled at killing megamorphic lifeforms and hunting xenos.
Indiga - History: On the former Menagerie World of Indiga, the Astra Militarum regiments of the Indigan Praefects have the unenviable task of protecting the planet's natives from the megafauna that prowl their verdant realm.The giant predators had once been the pride and joy of the pompous planetary governor, Constantine Principa Argoy, who spent the planet's copious mineral wealth on the purchase of breeding pairs of every dangerous creature he could acquire from planets across the segmentum. Unfortunately, after a catastrophic earthquake shattered the governor's zoos, the giant animals escaped into the wilds to breed and hybridise.Now a man-made Death World, Indigans are ever on the move across their planet in vast mobile settlements, trying to stay one step ahead of the giant monstrosities gifted with advantages both natural and unnatural.As a formal and highly ritualised part of their training, the Indigan Praefect regiments must become experts at slaying large and dangerous beasts; failure at basic training on Indiga is a terminal experience.The Praefects' reputation is now such they have been requested as reinforcements in multiple Imperial war zones assailed by Tyranids, Greyva and other unknown beasts. Where these requests have been honoured, the Praefects set about eradicating the xenos fiends with practised efficiency.Veterans who have faced the Tyranid swarms help to drill new recruits, instructing them on how to bring down a Carnifex using Lascannon fire and how to bait Mawlocs with tightly-packed infantry formations.Despite the dangers that now beset the world, the planet established the Indigan Xeno-Safari Tourist Board to promote safaris on the Death World to the Imperium. However, the board's most recent astropathic message was filled with garbled screaming and visions of broken cages.
Indigan Praefects - Indigan Praefects: The Indigan Praefects are a Militarum Regimentum of the Astra Militarum who specialise in combating large alien beasts, particularly Tyranids. They are primarily deployed in the Segmentum Tempestus and the Segmentum Ultima, and are considered especially skilled at killing megamorphic lifeforms and hunting xenos.
Indigan Praefects - Regimental History: On the former Menagerie World of Indiga that is their home planet, the Praefects have the unenviable task of protecting the planet's natives from the megafauna that prowl their verdant realm.The giant predators had once been the pride and joy of the pompous planetary governor, Constantine Principa Argoy, who spent the planet's copious mineral wealth on the purchase of breeding pairs of every dangerous creature he could acquire from planets across the segmentum. Unfortunately, after a catastrophic earthquake shattered the governor's zoos, the giant animals escaped into the wilds to breed and hybridise.Now a man-made Death World, Indigans are ever on the move across their planet in vast mobile settlements, trying to stay one step ahead of the giant monstrosities gifted with advantages both natural and unnatural.As a formal and highly ritualised part of their training, the Indigan Praefect regiments must become experts at slaying large and dangerous beasts; failure at basic training on Indiga is a terminal experience.The Praefects' reputation is now such they have been requested as reinforcements in multiple Imperial war zones assailed by Tyranids, Greyva and other unknown beasts. Where these requests have been honoured, the Praefects set about eradicating the xenos fiends with practised efficiency.Veterans who have faced the Tyranid swarms help to drill new recruits, instructing them on how to bring down a Carnifex using Lascannon fire and how to bait Mawlocs with tightly-packed infantry formations.
Indigan Praefects - Notable Indigan Praefects Regiments: Indigan 47th Regiment, "Lictor Killers" - The Indigan 47th has become so skilled at slaying the Tyranid monstrosities known as Lictors that it has taken the nickname "Lictor Killers" for its own.
Indomitus Crusade - Indomitus Crusade: The Indomitus Crusade was the massive, multifleet Imperial Crusade initiated by Lord Commander of the Imperium Roboute Guilliman from Terra at the start of the period known as the Noctis Aeterna in the 41st Millennium.Its purpose was to defend and reclaim those regions of the Imperium of Man threatened by the surging forces of Chaos and the threats of xenos such as the Orks, T'au, Drukhari and Tyranids in the wake of the 13th Black Crusade and the birth of the Great Rift in ca. 999.M41. Its operations are still ongoing.The crusade's first phase lasted for approximately 12 standard years by the reckoning of the original Imperial Calendar, coming to an end at the Battle of Raukos.As its first phase was completed, Guilliman held a great triumphal review and dispersed many of its military elements across the Imperium, reinforcing many worlds with new Chapters of Primaris Space Marines.In the course of the first phase of the Indomitus Crusade, the Imperium, especially the half of Human space known as the Imperium Sanctus which still knew the light of the Astronomican, was stabilised from imminent collapse in the face of myriad threats, though there was no clear victory over those forces that still sought to exterminate Mankind's light from the galaxy.At the end of the crusade's first phase in ca. 012.M42, Guilliman returned home to the Realm of Ultramar with Imperial reinforcements.He met his brother, the Daemon Primarch Mortarion, in battle to prevent him from adding Ultramar to those worlds already claimed by the servants of the Plague God Nurgle during the so-called "Plague Wars."The period of time in the Age of the Imperium when the Indomitus Crusade was ongoing was known as the "Era Indomitus" or the "Age of the Dark Imperium."
Indomitus Crusade - History: In the later years of the 41st Millennium, a devastating cascade of Warp storms ripped their way across the stars. It was as though the Dark Gods had dragged a ragged blade across the throat of the galaxy; the taut skin of realspace split again and again, and from the ineffable spaces beyond, the malevolent energies of the Warp spilled forth to create the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Great Rift.As the unnatural storm fronts spread, they multiplied and crashed together like ectoplasmic tidal waves. Countless worlds were engulfed in raging tempests of insanity. Armies were swallowed up by the darkness while starships in transit were smashed to haunted wreckage or hurled millions of light years off-course.Amidst the death and mayhem, one band of heroes forged on against the odds. This was the Terran Crusade, a combined force of Space Marines from dozens of Chapters allied to Adepta Sororitas, Astra Militarum, Inquisitorial, and Adeptus Mechanicus forces.Their ships were engaged in a desperate bid to reach Terra before the billowing storm fronts could consume them. At their head fought Roboute Guilliman, the awakened Primarch of the noble Ultramarines, the warrior demigod who had called this desperate crusade and would accept no end to it but victory.Many heroic tales are told of the Terran Crusade. Legends claim that its warriors forged on despite the machinations of Heretics and xenos alike, that they defeated the cruel snares of daemons and despots to finally come by strange roads to the surface of Luna, Holy Terra's only moon.On Luna the crusade army was forced to fight one last savage battle against Magnus the Red and his traitorous Thousand Sons. The Daemon Primarch sought to prevent his Loyalist brother from reaching the Throneworld. It was only by leading the combined strength of the crusade's survivors -- reinforced in their hour of need by military forces dispatched from the defences around Terra itself -- that Guilliman was able to prevail.
Indomitus Crusade - Battle of Lion's Gate: After the fall of the Noctis Aeterna and the birth of the Great Rift in the wake of Abaddon's successful 13th Black Crusade, the citizens of many Imperial worlds looked up with dread at that which pulsed unnaturally above them, fearing what might descend from the stars. Not all were cowed, however, and some endeavoured to leave their isolated planets and reconnect with the wider Imperium.In the wake of the worst Warp Storms recorded in Imperial history, over a dozen expeditions were launched, amongst them the Aquila Crusade and the attempt to reclaim the Donlar Sector by the Revilers Spearhead. Few of these ventures fared well, and some, like the ill-fated Charon Crusade, proved disastrous. There was one undertaking, however, that did more than just succeed.While the Blackness fell across whole segments of the galaxy, Roboute Guilliman refined his grand strategy upon Terra. After standing before the Golden Throne at the conclusion of his Terran Crusade, the Primarch had emerged with a renewed sense of purpose. Not long after the High Lords of Terra declared him Lord Commander of the Imperium, Guilliman called for action, ordering the mustering of a mighty armada.Even as the forces of the Indomitus Crusade gathered, its numbers including Primaris Space Marines from the Ultima Founding, Guilliman's operation was interrupted by a daemonic incursion in service to the Blood God Khorne that erupted out of a sudden Warp Storm.While many panicked over the breach in Terra's multi-spectrum shield defences, the Primarch led the counterattack himself in what became known as the Battle of Lion's Gate. None could stand before the ﬂame-wreathed Sword of the Emperor, and together the Adeptus Custodes, Sisters of Silence and many companies of Ultramarines dismantled the Khornate threat and banished it back to the Empyrean.
Indomitus Crusade - A New Crusade: Many believe it was the Battle of Luna during the Terran Crusade more than any other single engagement that inspired the nature of the Indomitus Crusade. Others cite the conflict that Guilliman was forced to lead only solar days later, he and Captain-General Trajann Valoris leading a mighty Imperial army in the Emperor's defence as the bow wave of the Noctis Aeterna drove a Khornate daemon army against the very gates of the Imperial Palace.Either conflict might have impressed upon Roboute Guilliman the true efficacy of the Imperium's combined armies. Others suggest the Primarch was already well aware of the might of the present-day Imperial war machine after his battles in Ultramar and upon the road of the Terran Crusade.Most likely all played their part, providing raw strategic data for Guilliman to process, enhancing his understanding of the capabilities of the Imperial war machine in the late 41st Millennium and planting the seeds of his plan for a combined-arms counteroffensive against the forces of the Dark Gods.There are those amongst the High Lords who suggest none-too-subtly that Roboute Guilliman may already have harboured the plans for his own self-aggrandizing version of the ancient Great Crusade. They imply that the Primarch only made the journey to Terra so that he could launch his own galactic conquest from the Throneworld as his father did before him, hoping in this way to garner legitimacy for the undertaking.Such notions are based on ten-thousand year-old legends and Ecclesiarchal apocrypha, of course, and likely motivated by jealousy and politicking among the High Lords, many of whom saw their power greatly diminished by the return of the Primarch. For all that, there were those who believed they held a ring of truth, and who resented the Primarch for what they perceived as an attempt to suborn the mantles of the High Lords, perhaps even the Emperor Himself.Then there are those who claim the Indomitus Crusade was not a plan of Roboute Guilliman's devising at all. It is certainly true that the Avenging Son visited his father's throne room upon reaching Terra, though what if anything passed between them behind those gilded doors, none but Guilliman may ever know. It is also true that it was not until Guilliman departed the Emperor's throne room that he set his plans in motion.Perhaps the Indomitus Crusade was indeed the manifest will of the Master of Mankind, a mighty undertaking to rival His own deeds ten thousand years earlier. If so, it was set against darkness and evils that rivalled those of Old Night, prosecuted not in the name of the Imperial Truth but instead undertaken with full and terrible knowledge of the enemies that humanity must overcome if it was to survive this darkest hour.Whatever the case, one thing is certain. Even as the darkness of the Noctis Aeterna began to fade from the Sol System and the light of the Astronomican stretched forth to illuminate a much-changed galaxy, Roboute Guilliman had already begun to muster the greatest crusade fleets humanity had seen since the Imperium's dawning days.
Indomitus Crusade - Bringing the Emperor's Light: With the Astronomican still ﬂickering sporadically, the Indomitus Crusade's Fleet Primus risked only short jumps through the Warp. They clove a path through system after system. Where worlds could be saved, Guilliman unleashed the full might of his powerful armies.Daemon hordes were driven back from Gathalamor, the Drogos System and the world of Tallarn. In the Lhorm Reaches, the Brass Tyrant was cast down. The entire population of Ophelia VII was freed from the enslavement of the Tyrant of Blueﬂame, although the Greater Daemon escaped the Emperor's justice.The Befouled Beast that claimed Caster was met in battle by Guilliman himself. Although the monster towered over him, it was the Primarch who emerged unharmed from that duel. Word of the crusade's approach alone was enough to quell the rebellion on Necromunda.By the time the Imperial forces reached Catachan, all followers of the Dark Gods there had already been defeated by the local Astra Militarum regiments. The crusade halted there all the same for reinforcement. Despite heavy losses, the Indomitus Crusade was larger when it departed Catachan than when it first left Terra.As the fleets of the Indomitus Crusade worked its way outwards from Terra, the worst eﬀects of the Noctis Aeterna were already lifting across many sectors. Although Warp Storms still drifted out of the Great Rift, the Emperor's Light was slowly burning away the formless murk of the Warp throughout the galactic south.Many citizens that survived the cruel oppressions of daemonic torturers saw divine correlation between the two events. Those that glimpsed the Primarch firsthand whispered that they had seen the Emperor Himself, as if legends from a golden age of myths once more strode amongst them. Vidfeeds and astropathic visions spread still further, allowing hope to rekindle even upon planets whose plight was desperate.Not all was triumph and glory, however. The fleets of the crusade came to many worlds that were beyond salvation. Where there was no hope, Guilliman sought instead to bring vengeance. There could be no saving the Hive World of Bhundar from the bubonic taint that covered it, but once cauterised with cleansing fire, the Warp disease spread no further. The daemonic rituals held atop the mouldering ruins of the Cardinal World Gloriphia were not just halted but annihilated, and there the daemonic ichor ran in rivers.Not all could be avenged, however. The initial combat drop into Secundus Terra suﬀered ambushes and catastrophic malfunctions, having been lured into a terrible trap by the Alpha Legion. Although it pained him to do so, Guilliman made the difficult decision to pull back, skirting the whole Primagenesis System, as he could not aﬀord to become bogged down in a long war of attrition.The crusade's journey later saw it encounter dozens of star systems in which countless Imperial citizens were left in thrall to the Dark Powers. This was a bitter reality for Roboute Guilliman, and even if the Ultramarines Primarch was given to dwelling on the Imperium's misfortunes, there would be no time to do so.
Indomitus Crusade - Early Crusade Years: When he set his plans in motion for the Indomitus Crusade, Roboute Guilliman knew that it would be a logistical undertaking like no other. Many saw it as Humanity's last grim bid to reinforce the failing strength of the Emperor’s realm.Moreover, the crusade saw forces mustered on a scale and scope that dwarfed even famed Imperial Crusades such as the Macharian Crusade or the pacification of the Sabbat Worlds.The Indomitus Crusade required heroes of vision and talent to lead it. It required fleets of warships, immense armies of foot soldiers and armoured fighting vehicles, combat walkers, towering war engines, psyker-witches, and elite killers.It required a bold and decisive plan, robust enough to withstand the anarchy of the galaxy at large yet decisive enough to pull the Imperium back from the brink. But without coordination, without logistical support, without ammunition crates, medi-packs, rations, and fuel in near unimaginable quantities and the reliable information networks to keep the battle groups moving, all would falter and fail.It would be of little value to the Imperium if the crusade fleets swept through like a wildfire, purging Heretics anddaemons but leaving naught but blackened ruin in their wake. With the Great Rift spilling its unholy energies across the void and the veil between the Warp and realspace wearing thin, even traditionally secure reaches of the Imperium Sanctus could not be considered safe or "behind the lines."Soon enough, Humanity's foes would re-emerge to threaten the worlds that lay in the crusade fleets' wake. If steps were not taken to make each system secure, Imperial supply lines would be severed and the Indomitus Crusade would unravel with catastrophic consequences.The tides of the Warp raged, rendering even short Warp jumps perilous. The network of astropathic ducts that had served the Imperium for millennia had burned out like an overloaded nervous system, its remaining functional relays overburdened to the point of collapse.Communications channels to star systems beyond the Great Rift had to be forcibly severed to stem the tide of nightmares flowing into the minds of the screaming Astropaths.The cyclopean bureaucracy of the Adeptus Terra was creaking at the seams, choking on its own contradictory paperwork and riven by scriptoral heresies and wars of the quill caused by contradictory torrents of inrushing information.These were but a handful of the spurs that led Guilliman to establish his Officio Logisticarum. He fashioned an entirely new and aggressively territorial branch of the Adeptus Terra with a mandate to thrust aside all obstructions and ensure the Indomitus Crusade fleets were mustered, supplied, directed, and chronicled at allcosts.To aid his newly formed bureaucratic powerhouse, the Primarch issued the Borachae Decree; not only would the Officio Logisticarum be empowered to request military support and protection up to and including assigning tithed regiments to their own protection, but they would also be furnished with hub-fortresses from which to supply, support, and archive the actions of the Indomitus Crusade battle groups as they advanced.
Indomitus Crusade - Tempus Indomitus: Warp travel has always had a deleterious effect upon the linear flow of time as Humans perceive it. Even a single jump through the Warp has the potential to put those who make it out of synch with Terran sidereal time by a measure of solar days, months, or even standard years.Tales abound of more extreme phenomena being experienced by voidcraft caught amidst the lashing energies of a Warp Storm, with Imperial starships being hurled centuries backward or forward in time.An entire Ordo of the Inquisition existed, known as the Ordo Chronos, whose duty was to track and swiftly neutralise such dangerous temporal heresies lest they bring undue alarm or disruption to the wider operation of the Imperium.Knowing that they would be venturing far across the galaxy, campaigning for many years, and performing Warp jump after Warp jump through an Immaterium whipped to fury by the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Indomitus Crusade fleets attempted to mitigate this effect by each establishing their own "Tempus Indomitus."Each crusade fleet set its own self-contained chronology, fixed upon the temporal coordinates of its fleetmaster's command ship. Even should a battlegroup or task force discover that they had slipped Terran years out of reckoning with their command ship, upon learning where their fleet's Tempus Indomitus stood they would adjust their records and chronometres accordingly, stoically shrugging off the sanity-stretching implications of such arbitrary adjustments and soldiering on regardless.
Indomitus Crusade - Requisition Authority: Each Indomitus Crusade fleet was initially organised right down to a regimental level by Roboute Guilliman. However, the Primarch had to accept that hispainstaking organisational work would not long survive contact with the war-torn galaxy.He thus provided fleetmasters and groupmasters alike with powers of requisition to rival those of even the most domineering Inquisitor Lord.Though attrition and the steady fragmentation of the crusade battlegroups took their toll, forces drawn from those worlds and star systems they had rescued sporadically reinforced the Imperial ranks.It was to the credit of some fleet officers that they requisitioned only what they needed to keep their battlegroups moving forward. Others strayed into despotic territory and risked leaving the worlds they had "saved" in a more depleted and desperate state than when they had arrived.In either case, this steady blending of the crusade ranks ensured that each battlegroup soon took on cultural quirks from the worlds it had rescued, while as many bonds of brotherhood as fierce rivalries grew up between the disparate martial elements that comprised each fleet.Campaign badges, battlehonours, shared heraldry, tattoos and scarification; these and countless other unique flourishes spread through the ranks of each battlegroup and even task force as the Indomitus Crusade continued.Here could be seen the language of human solidarity in the face of a hostile galaxy, scribed in painted metal, coloured cloth, and bloodied flesh.
Indomitus Crusade - Fleet Septimus: Of all the Indomitus Crusade fleets, Fleet Septimus alone was commanded to gather far from the Sol System.The exact location of its mustering point was kept a heavily guarded secret, known only to Roboute Guilliman himself and to the senior command officers assigned to its battlegroups.How large or small those battlegroups were, what forces were assigned to them, and what Fleet Septimus' veiled purpose might be, none could be sure.Those assigned to the seventh fleet simply vanished, leaving nothing behind them but dark speculation and persistent rumours of onyx-chased Servo-skulls that drifted through the shadows clutching vermillion-clearance data scrolls in their metallic claws.
Indomitus Crusade - Flights of Crows: The Black Ships were known and feared throughout the Imperium as harbingers of doom and deliverance both. To these ominous craft and the Sisters of Silence who garrisoned them after Guilliman's resurrection fell the duty of visiting the worlds of the Imperium each in turn and weeding out those with the dangerous potential to become psykers.Harvesting such dangerous mutants without mercy, the Black Ships abducted ever more potential psychic humans until their null-shielded holds were packed with miserable human cargo.They then turned their prows for home, returning their bounty to Terra where the assembled psykers would feed the Emperor's rapacious appetite to maintain the Astronomican or undergo the agonising soul binding ritual that allowed them to join choirs of astropaths or serve the Imperium in some fashion as a Sanctioned Psyker.With the opening of the Great Rift it became nigh-impossible for the Black Ships to continue operating as they once had.To say nothing of those that had been lost beyond the rift, the remaining craft found themselves forced to dare roiling war zones wherever they travelled, delving into planet-wide battles in order to extract their tithe.The Sisters of Silence who often commanded the Black Ships after Guilliman's resurrection were formidable warriors, but they recognised that this situation could not continue forever.The solution came in the form of the Indomitus Crusade fleets. While some Black Ships continued to ply the space lanes they always had, and to harvest inthe conventional fashion, many more were deployed as so-called "Flights of Crows" that followed in the wake of the Indomitus battlegroups.Like carrion birds picking over the trail of a campaigning army, the Black Ships fell upon recently reconquered Imperial systems and reaped a rich bounty from populations already battered into absolute compliance and so terrified that they would obey the Silent Sisters without question.So did the Black Ships continue to function, throughout the reconquered systems of the Imperium Sanctus at least, and so did they keep the Golden Throne and the Astronomican from faltering in this desperate hour.
Indomitus Crusade - Notable Indomitus Crusade Fleets: Ten Indomitus Crusade Fleets are known to exist, each given a High Gothic designation as follows:Indomitus Crusade Fleet PrimusIndomitus Crusade Fleet SecundusIndomitus Crusade Fleet TertiusIndomitus Crusade Fleet Quartus (Excommunicate Traitoris)Indomitus Crusade Fleet QuintusIndomitus Crusade Fleet SextusIndomitus Crusade Fleet SeptimusIndomitus Crusade Fleet OctusIndomitus Crusade Fleet Decius
Indomitus Crusade - Notable Commanders: Lord Commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent Roboute GuillimanArchmagos Dominus Belisarius CawlUltramarines Captain Cato SicariusUltramarines Captain Decimus FelixUltramarines Captain AcheranAurora Chapter Codicier Donas MaximAdeptus Custodes Tribune Maldovar ColquanSisters of Silence Commander AphoneSisters of Silence Commander BellasMagos Dominus GiFellivoMagos Cordus-Rho
Indomitus Crusade - Composition of Fleet Primus Battle Group Erastus: The following is the estimated disposition of Fleet Primus Battle Group Erastus at the time of the Ispolin Sub-sector Offensive, as recorded by Officio Logisticarum Arcolocutor 1st Class Tasmere Vanstorvan.