vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Accatran - Manufactoria Capabilities: Accatran is known to produce its own patterns of weapons utilised by the forces of the Astra Militarum, especially the regiments of the Elysian Drop Troops and other drop troops because of the weapons' light weight, which includes: Laspistols, Lasguns, Shotguns, Grenade Launchers, Plasma Weapons and Meltaguns.With its natural resources and atmosphere all but gone, the planet has been rendered inhospitable to all except Space Marines and the Mechanicus locals, who use cybernetic enhancements to survive the deadly environment. Little else is known of this Mechanicus Forge World in official Imperial records.
Accatran - Sources: Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition), pp. 13, 34Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy, pg. 8Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project, pg. 136Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two, pg. 149Imperial Armour Volume Eight - Raid on Kastorel-Novem, pg. 92Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara, pg. 101The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 33, 52, 54-55, 57-59, 60, 62, 64, 133-134, 137
Accelerator Autocannon - Accelerator Autocannon: An Accelerator Autocannon is a type of heavy Imperial Autocannon. These rapid-fire weapons unleash shells at a much higher velocity than a standard Autocannon, enabling it to successfully engage moving targets and strike with pinpoint accuracy.A smaller, man-portable version of the Accelerator Autocannon is also used by Primaris Space Marine Vanguard Suppressor Squads.Though lightweight enough to be borne across the battlefield in powered leaps and even fired mid-jump by more experienced Suppressors, these potent weapons hammer foot-long, armour-piercing shells into the enemy at a ferocious rate.Enemy infantry are forced to dive for cover, their advance grinding to a halt lest they be blasted limb-from-limb.Even armoured fighting vehicles are swiftly wrecked as the concentrated hail of shots blows out motive systems, fills crew compartments with lethal shrapnel and touches off fuel and ammunition in catastrophic detonations.
Accelerator Autocannon - Notable Patterns: Herakles Pattern Accelerator Autocannon - Twin-linked Herakles Pattern Accelerator Autocannons are mounted atop the Sicaran Battle Tank as its main turret armament.
Accelerator Cannon - Accelerator Cannon: The Accelerator Cannon, also known as the Fellblade Cannon, was an Imperial ballistic cannon used in twin-linked form as the primary armament of the Fellblade super-heavy tank.Developed by the Forge World of Tigrus, the Accelerator Cannon was capable of using both high-density, armour-piercing shells for use against enemy armoured vehicles and high-explosive fragmentation shells that were highly effective against enemy infantry.Both types of shell were directed to their target by a Logis engine slaved to the Space Marine tank commander's strategium terminal within the Fellblade. This system allowed the commander to target dozens of targets at once, switching between the tank's different shell types at will.The Accelerator Cannon used a special vacuum-based overpressure mechanism to propel its heavy shells with greater acceleration than a conventional cannon of similar calibre. This system was highly efficient and resulted in low recoil, which made the Accelerator Cannon an unusually stable and accurate firing platform.The loading mechanism of the Accelerator Cannon was also of a special type that allowed the Fellblade commander to switch between the two major ammunition types easily and with little notice.
Accipiters - Accipiters: The Accipiters is a Codex Astartes-compliant Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin.
Accipiters - Chapter Colours: The Accipiters Chapter primarily wears black power armour with a black backpack. The arms, shoulder plates and helmet are blue-grey.The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest armour is dark red.The white squad tactical specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder plate.The squad iconography on the right knee guard indicates squad number. Company number is indicated by a white High Gothic numeral centred on the left knee guard.
Accipiters - Chapter Badge: The Accipiters' Chapter badge is a white Imperial Aquila icon with its wings elevated on a field of blue-grey.
Accipiters - Trivia: Accipiter is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Most species in the genus are called goshawks or sparrowhawks, although all New World species of the genus are simply known as "hawks."
Accursed Crozius - Accursed Crozius: An Accursed Crozius is a special form of Daemon Weapon, and serves as the mark of office and primary melee weapon of a Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion. It resembles a heavy mace whose head has been formed into the shape of the eight-pointed Star of Chaos. Twisted and warped from the pure Crozius Arcanum of Loyalist Space Marine Chaplains into something hideously blasphemous, the Accused Crozius mocks the Imperium of Man with its mere existence.Even worse, some are home to vengeful Daemons that seek not only the violence that surrounds a Dark Apostle, but also the endless supplications of the Dark Apostle's mortal followers. An Accursed Crozius is a Power Maul degraded with foul enhancements. Within the matter of the weapon is often bound a Lesser Daemon of Chaos Undivided, put there as a reward to the Dark Apostle for his travails spreading the corrupting influence of Chaos; and as a watchkeeper to ensure the Dark Apostle does not falter in his devotions and actions on behalf of the Ruinous Powers.While not as destructive as some more mundane Daemon Weapons, the inhabitant of the Accursed Crozius grants its bearer unholy resilience, allowing him to shrug off blows that would maim even a Chaos Space Marine. But the most insidious power of the Accursed Crozius is its ability to infuse the very words spoken by its bearer with the energies of the Empyrean.Combined with the oratory prowess of the Apostle, it makes their blasphemous speeches utterly convincing, and many worlds have fallen into Chaotic corruption without a shot being fired in anger, simply by listening to a Dark Apostle spread the words of his Primarch Lorgar.
Accursed Crozius - History: The fall of Lorgar Aurelian and his Word Bearers to Chaos is a long and painful story. The Primarch Lorgar was a deeply faithful and devout man, who believed his father, the Emperor of Mankind, to be the one, true god of Mankind. His writings on this subject, the Lectitio Divinitatus, ironically still form the core of the Imperial Cult.But for all His love for His sons, the Emperor could not tolerate the spread of a doctrine in direct violation of the rationalist and secularist Imperial Truth He intended to use to bind together His Imperium, and so He ordered the Ultramarines Legion to raze the city of Monarchia on the planet Khur, the greatest embodiment of the Word Bearers' attempt to spread the worship of the Emperor. At the same time He psychically forced all of the Astartes of the XVII Legion and Lorgar himself to kneel before Him as an outward sign of their obedience to the Imperial will.This demonstration shattered Lorgar's faith, and so he set out on a journey later known as the Pilgrimage of Lorgar to find once and for all if gods truly worthy of Human worship existed in the universe or not. He fell into the eagerly waiting embrace of the Ruinous Powers and turned his back on the Emperor, whom he now saw as a weak-minded fool unwilling to accept His own divinity.Lorgar, with the help of his closest aides First Chaplain Erebus and First Captain Kor Phaeron, quickly but covertly began to convert the entire Word Bearers Legion to the service and worship of the Chaos Gods. At first, it was slow going, for the XVII Legion was still being monitored by the Legio Custodes to prevent any further transgressions.Yet, it was the Emperor Himself who provided Lorgar with the means to spread the influence of Chaos far and wide: when the office of Chaplain was made mandatory in all of the Space Marine Legions after the edicts pronounced by the Council of Nikaea, Lorgar was swift in promoting Erebus, Kor Phaeron and those amongst his converts who were both zealous and good orators to the position. These devils in angelic disguise then spread the fell influence of Chaos to their whole Legion and beyond while working as ambassadors, eventually managing to corrupt Warmaster Horus.When the Horus Heresy broke out, the Word Bearers abandoned all pretense at discretion, and openly enforced worship of the Ruinous Powers wherever they went. The Word Bearers' Chaplains ritually debased their former Imperial wargear, an act that combined with their previous actions pleased the Chaos Gods to no end. They rewarded the former Chaplains, now called "Dark Apostles," by binding a Lesser Daemon into their profaned Crozius Arcanum. In this way were created the weapon known as the Accursed Crozius, a mark of the favour of the Chaos Gods; and of the office of one of their most devout and successful servants.
Acheron-class Heavy Cruiser - Acheron-class Heavy Cruiser: The Acheron-class Heavy Cruiser used by the forces of Chaos is an unusual starship in many ways. It was originally designed by the Imperial Navy to serve as a test bed for a new series of weapons based on the analysis of ancient -- and possibly xenos -- weaponry designs uncovered by the Adeptus Mechanicus in Sector 51, also the home of the ill-fated Portis Cthulhus.Whether the vessel's subsequent defection to the service of Chaos during the Gothic War is related to this unconventional origin is still debated by Imperial naval scholars.The project was evidently a success, producing a starship with a formidable array of long-ranged weapons batteries and even longer-ranged Lances that would ultimately become the basis for the design of the Overlord-class Battlecruiser.No longer needing a test subject, only one Acheron-class Heavy Cruiser, the unnamed BF/67-A, was ever built by the Imperium. Unfortunately, the powerful vessel eventually fell to Chaos during the Gothic War and finally earned its name, dubbed the Chaos Eternus by Imperial Admiral Grove.
Acheron-class Heavy Cruiser - Notable Acheron-class Heavy Cruisers: Chaos Eternus - Originally unnamed and only designated BF/67-A, the solitary and only known Acheron Heavy Cruiser turned to Chaos during the Gothic War. It would earn its name after escaping Imperial forces for the fourth time under Admiral Grove during the Scharnhorst Conflict.
Acheron-class Heavy Cruiser - Canon Conflict: While other sources claim that only one vessel of this class was ever built, another Acheron-class Cruiser type vessel did exist at the time of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. At least one of this vessel type served in the fleet of the XIIth Legion, transporting the World Eaters' 17th Company commanded by Captain Argus Brond.It was destroyed in orbit over Terra during the Siege of Terra. It is not known if this class of cruiser was identical to the future Acheron Heavy Cruiser Chaos Eternus or the Cardinal-class Heavy Cruisers that preceded it.
Acheron-Pattern Flame Cannon - Acheron-Pattern Flame Cannon: The Acheron-Pattern Flame Cannon or simply the Acheron Flame Cannon is a massive Flamer Weapon that is used by the combat walkers of the Questor Imperialis, the Imperial Knights, and by the Renegade Knights of the Questor Traitoris. This Flame Cannon is deployed solely by the ancient Cerastus Knight-Acheron.Usually carried on the Knight's left arm, the Acheron-Pattern Flame Cannon is employed as a weapon of extermination and to inspire fear in the foe. Nothing will sway the attack of a Knight-Acheron until the enemy is utterly crushed, never to rise again from the flame-scoured ruins of their strongholds.Due to the inherited memories of uncounted massacres and slaughters, the anima of a Cerastus Knight-Acheron's Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence) is one of a tortured soul that relishes the carnage it wreaks on the field of battle. The Acheron-Pattern Flame Cannon contains two Flamer units, each fueled by a large promethium tank on the Knight's back, and connected to the weapon by an armoured fuel line.
Acheron-Pattern Flame Cannon - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 307The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 128Imperial Armour Index: Forces of the Astra Militarum (8th Edition), pg. 96Imperial Armour Index: Forces of Chaos (8th Edition), pg. 58Forge World Webstore - Cerastus Knight Acheron
Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider - Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider: The Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider is one of, if not the most durable vehicle ever deployed by the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. These vehicles were constructed with enhanced ferromantic armour that can shrug off weapon strikes that would cripple or outright destroy most others, including titanic warmachines such as the Fellblade and are proof against even the most toxic environments.Each Achilles-Alpha is constructed under the direct supervision of a Forge World's Macro-tek Magos, and is the result of solar months of painstaking labour. Every one is so costly to produce that no Legion was able to field more than a handful at a time.The vehicle came at such a cost in materials, time, and labour that a lesser version, the Land Raider Achilles, was eventually designed. Despite being a highly durable vehicle in its own right, the Land Raider Achilles is nothing more than a lesser copy, one that can be reproduced with the use of fewer resources, but only possessing a fraction of the original's might.During combat any Legion that possessed one of these mighty warmachines would utilise them as the spear-point of any assault, trusting Achilles-Alpha's near-impregnable armour to break any defensive position.By the time of the Horus Heresy the Land Raider Achilles had almost completely replaced the Achilles-Alpha, yet it was still the rarest of all Land Raider variants fielded by the Legions. The few Achilles-Alpha Land Raiders that were left were jealously guarded as command vehicles for the lords of the Legions.In the late 41st Millennium it is unknown if any of these vehicles still exist, hidden deep within the Armouries of the oldest Chapters, waiting to be unleashed upon the enemy once more.
Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider - Armament: The Achilles-Alpha Land Raider is armed with with a fearsome array of weapons, all of which complement its extreme durability with extreme firepower. The vehicle replaces the standard Land Raider's hull-mounted, twin-linked Heavy Bolters with a single, hull-mounted Astartes Quad Mortar that can be loaded with Frag Shells and Shatter Shells depending on its target.The sponson Lascannons are replaced with two sets of twin-linked Volkite Culverins per sponson.The Achilles-Alpha was also able to be equipped with Extra Armour Plating, a Searchlight, and Smoke Launchers. The vehicle was able to carry up to six Space Marines or three Terminator Marines into combat.
Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider - Unit Composition: 1 Legion Achilles-Alpha Land Raider (31st Millennium Only)
Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider - Wargear: A standard Legion Achilles-Alpha Land Raider is armed and equipped with:Astartes Quad LauncherTwin-linked Volkite CulverinsSearchlightSmoke LaunchersExtra Armour PlatingMachine Spirit (Artificial Intelligence)Enhanced Ferromantic Rites - The hull of the Achilles-Alpha was specially constructed to resist even the most determined assault and was almost preternaturally resilient, capable of withstanding hits from Melta Weapons and even starship Lance strikes.Galvanic Traction Drive - The Achilles-Alpha Land Raider is capable of traversing through even the most difficult and dangerous of terrain.The Legion Achilles-Alpha Land Raider's Quad Launcher can be outfitted with the following ammunition types:Frag Shells (Standard)Shatter Shells (Standard)Incendiary ShellsSplinter ShellsPhosphex Canister Shot (Only when the detachment of which the Achilles-Alpha is a part contains a Siege Master Consul)
Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider - Derivatives: There is one vehicle that is derived from the Achilles-Alpha design:Land Raider Achilles - The Land Raider Achilles is a derivative of the Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider. The Land Raider Achilles is nothing more than a lesser copy, one that can be reproduced with the use of fewer resources, but only possessing a fraction of the original's might. Despite this, the Land Raider Achilles is still one of the most durable vehicles used by the Space Marines, and is still highly prized in the 41st Millennium.
Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 239The Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes - Age of Darkness Army List, pg. 67Forge World Webstore - Achilles-Alpha Land Raider
Achilles Ridgerunner - Achilles Ridgerunner: The Achilles Ridgerunner is an Imperial light exploratory vehicle often used to scout out new ore seams by mining guild prospectors and newly discovered terrain on Frontier Worlds by geological surveyors.Because of its speed, range and sheer durability, the Achilles Ridgerunner also has proven to be very popular for use with the outriders and scouts of the Genestealer Cults.
Achilles Ridgerunner - Role: The Achilles Ridgerunner is a common sight throughout the Imperium. Although not specifically designed for military use, like so many of the utilitarian machines favoured by the Genestealer Cults, it has proven remarkably effective as an outrider and scout vehicle.Employed by Imperial mining guilds and geological surveyors as exploration vehicles, Ridgerunners range into deadly frontier environments, their pilots scanning for promising resource deposits and communicating their location back to base.The Mining Lasers mounted on the vehicle are typically used to unearth rich seams of valuable minerals and rare metals, but these powerful directed energy emitters can burn through protective plating and flesh as easily as they carve through rock strata, giving the Ridgerunner a powerful weapon with which to destroy enemy infantry or light armour.Standard armaments also include Heavy Stubbers for repelling hostile fauna, opportunistic scavengers and xenos threats -- ever-present hazards when exploring Frontier Worlds.As is their practice, the warriors of the Genestealer Cults have supplemented the Ridgerunner's arsenal with various additional weapons: Mortars and Missile Launchers offer invaluable firepower against heavily armoured targets, adding an offensive punch to these fast and rugged trucks.Though well-equipped to engage enemy scouts and outriders, the Achilles Ridgerunner's true qualities lie in its ability to range ahead of the cult's main insurrection forces, scouting out potential ambush sites and new routes of ingress into the foe's territory.Many Ridgerunner crews include a spotter equipped with magnoculars, whose task it is to identify and relay enemy troop movements and weak points in the opposition's defence.This vital data is transmitted to the cult gene-sect's headquarters, where it can be absorbed and disseminated by a Nexos strategist. Other Ridgerunners carry flare launchers, usually employed for signalling and coordinating ambushes and outflanking manoeuvres -- though at a pinch they can also level a smokescreen to hide the vehicle's advance.With their heavy chassis and rigorous suspension, Achilles Ridgerunners are particularly well-suited to navigating bombed-out cities and thick sprawls of hostile terrain -- the saying goes that the driver will give out long before the Ridgerunner does.Whether thundering across overgrown expanses of wilderness, prowling caverns or smashing their way through the rockcrete wasteland of shattered hive cities while spitting signal flares into the sky, Achilles Ridgerunners are vital components in the Genestealer Cult's grand uprising.
Achilles Ridgerunner - Unit Composition: 1-3 Achilles Ridgerunners
Achilles Ridgerunner - Wargear: 2 Heavy StubbersHeavy Mining LaserFlare LauncherMissile Launcher or Heavy Mortar (As replacement for Heavy Mining Laser)Frag Missiles (For Missile Launcher)Krak Missiles (For Missile Launcher)Survey Augur (As replacement for Flare Launcher)Spotter (As replacement for Flare Launcher, increases weapon ranges)
Achilus Crusade - Achilus Crusade: The Achilus Crusade is an ongoing Imperial Crusade that began in 777.M41 to bring the Jericho Reach in the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy back into the dominion of the God-Emperor of Mankind. It has been waged for over four solar decades, and in that time, it has consumed millions of lives and seen the destruction of dozens of worlds. Its possible end is lost in a blood-soaked future that none now living may see.The crusade began because of the discovery of a stable Warp Gate linking the Jericho Reach and the eastern Halo Stars in the Segmentum Ultima to the far-off Calixis Sector of the Segmentum Obscurus half a galaxy away. The first stage of the crusade was launched through the Warp Gate within only years of its discovery.The Achilus Crusade represented a bold attempt to retake the Jericho Reach quickly and use it as a staging point from which a greater re-conquest of lost areas of the Eastern Fringe could begin. From there, the Imperium could start a second front against the encroaching designs of the expanding T'au Empire.At first, the forces of Lord Militant Tiber Achilus enjoyed rapid success, taking several worlds and establishing a core of star systems to act as the basis for further conquests. Since these early victories, however, the crusade has seen the death of its leader and his replacement by Solomon Tetrarchus, the division of its armies to fight wars on many fronts, and the bleeding dry of its forces by attrition and the onslaught of deadly enemies with unexpected numbers and strength.In the heart of the Jericho Reach, the forces of Chaos -- entrenched in the millennia-long dark ages since the ancient Jericho Sector fell -- have battled the crusade to a corpse-choked standstill. Here, amid these worlds of horror, death, and iron, the slaves of the Dark Gods have drowned entire armies in their own blood.Yet this has not been the extent of the crusade's woes. The expansionist forces of the T'au have also made inroads into parts of the region and clashed head-on with the crusade's outer edges in a war for control of inhabitable planets and the resources needed to fuel their war effort.Pirates, raiders, and hostile aliens have proven far more numerous and troublesome than many of the crusade's high command had believed possible.So the situation has stood for several solar decades, but worse was to come. A new threat, perhaps greater than any other, now casts its long shadow from the lifeless voids towards the galactic rim, and this war teeters on the edge of disaster.In that rising tide brought by the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Dagon, whole worlds have died, naval battlegroups have been lost to the howling dark, and a smothering cloud has spread across the Warp.It is a war begun in secret, waged in darkness, and without mercy or quarter. Yet the truth is that the carnage seen so far is only the beginning.
Achilus Crusade - The Orpheus Salient: The Orpheus Salient is the rimward-most advanced salient of the Achilus Crusade's penetration into the Jericho Reach.Intended by Lord Militant Tetrarchus to advance swiftly through what were largely uncontested and barren star systems, the Orpheus Salient was once the most successful of the Achilus Crusade, gaining ground rapidly ahead of the others and bringing more than sixty systems under the crusade's control.These successes are no more, and its forces are now shattered and scattered, while the majority of its commanders are lost and likely dead.The doom that came upon the Orpheus Salient very recently has come out of the distant void like a surging tide sweeping away all past gains in a welter of confusion and death. In four standard years, the all-devouring xenos-horror known as the Tyranids has come to besiege and consume all before it.Unprepared for its fury, the salient's crusade forces have crumbled into bloody shambles. Only a few worlds are known to be holding out for certain against the onslaught of the Great Devourer, and dozens are believed to have perished.Others yet may be desperately fighting the enemy, their plight unknown, or huddling ignorant and fearful in the silent dark, not knowing that the jaws of a monstrous enemy are fastening around them.The possibility of complete disaster now looms, as only one thing is certain: what has happened so far is only the beginning.
Achilus Crusade - Fall of Eleusis: The battle for Eleusis was the most significant success of the Orpheus Salient. When the "Age of Shadows" descended upon the Jericho Reach, the Shrine World of Eleusis was changed in a way most foul. The priests and attendants of the world slowly began to change the tone of their sermons. Where once they spoke of the golden light of the God-Emperor, they now only spoke of that glow dimming with another flare becoming brighter.This, they said, was obvious to anyone who looked to the sky. The bright glow of red light from the far-off Hadex Anomaly was plain to see, while the astropaths brought no more messages from the Imperium. This was clearly a portent that a greater power would rise to guide the people of Eleusis to new glory and prosperity.With clever words, superstition, and likely help from beyond, the priests of Eleusis slowly began to turn the populace to the worship of the Dark Gods of Chaos. Those that gratefully began the worship of their new saviours were given special assignments to remake the temples of the Shrine World into a new and more fitting tribute to their masters. Those that remained pure to the Emperor were hunted down.Many were used as sacrifices to appease the Dark Gods, while others were used as slaves to rebuild the temples and create new ones. So did darkness come to Eleusis.Upon the cessation of the Warp Storms that had hidden Eleusis from discovery, General Curas deemed that the reconquest of the Shrine World would be his most glorious victory. Not only was the planet of strategic value to his overall plans, but it carried with it the possibility of being a great moral victory for his troops.They would be able to see firsthand that the cause to which they dedicated themselves was righteous and good. Assisting Curas with his plans were his three most senior advisors: Lord Commissar Vance Theren, General Derian Arkelius, and Lord Admiral Anastasia Arkelius.Together with Curas they represented the greatest tactical minds within the Orpheus Salient. Additionally, General Arkelius and his sister Anastasia Arkelius had been able to use their highly-placed family connections to speed up requisition requests for their respective battlegroups.This allowed their forces to be equipped with the best possible gear and kept their general supplies at maximum capacity. For seven solar days, the four officers met in strategic planning sessions. They did not leave the suite, as General Curas had decreed that they would not return to their normal duties until a plan to retake Eleusis was formulated.On the seventh day, General Arkelius proposed Operation Onslaught. Within moments of hearing the proposal, General Curas declared that they were finished. This was the plan that would retake the fallen Shrine World.
Achilus Crusade - Command of the Orpheus Salient: As the planets began to fall for General Curas, portions of his task force started to redeploy to different salients. Lord Militant Tetrarchus felt that they would be put to better use in the more hostile zones of the crusade. This was to be a costly miscalculation on the part of the Lord Militant. On 999.812.M41, astropathic communications began to flicker in and out.The salient's Sanctioned Psykers and astropaths began receiving strange dreams of terrible creatures devouring all they saw. Hearing of this unknown shadow that was interfering with his communications, General Curas transferred his command to Battlegroup Argo and immediately ordered them into the heart of the shadow.Six solar months had gone by without any word from Battlegroup Argo when a stray picket ship was found floating in space by Lord Admiral Arkelius. Taking the ship into the hold, she recovered the ship's logs and discovered the grim fate of Battlegroup Argo.After plunging his group into the location of the disruption in the Warp, General Curas discovered that the disruption was a previously unknown force of Tyranids, a numberless fleet of massive bio-ships and ravening alien organisms. The very presence of these terrible creatures created a Shadow in the Warp that disrupted all communications.All of the ships within his battlegroup had been destroyed, and the general himself was killed when his vessel was boarded by the Tyranids. Knowing the damage that this information could do to the crusade's morale, Lord Admiral Arkelius sealed the logs and made all haste to meet up with the late general's senior advisors.In orbit around the Fortress World of Hethgard, General Derian Arkelius, Lord Admiral Anastasia Arkelius, and Lord Commissar Vance Theren met aboard the general's flagship to discuss what should be done.
Achilus Crusade - The Great Deception: During their closed meeting, the remaining senior members of the Orpheus Salient command structure began discussing what should be done about General Curas' death. Within solar minutes it devolved into petty bickering between the general and the admiral over who would take command. Lord Commissar Theren allowed this to go on for approximately thirty seconds before he fired his Bolt Pistol into the ceiling.Warning that the next round would go into the head of the first person to interrupt him, he outlined a plan for the command structure that was bold to say the least. Theren's plan was to inform the other salient commanders of General Curas' death at the hands of the Tyranids, but with communication blackouts he knew that it could take Terran years for such a message to be received and years beyond that for a response to be sent back.During this period no one beyond the three of them and the crusade's High Command was to know of the death of General Curas until a replacement had been sent. In the meantime, and to keep the discipline and morale of the Orpheus Salient at workable levels, Theren proposed that a "Triumvirate" be formed to command the salient.General Arkelius would be in command of all ground operations, Admiral Arkelius would be in command of all naval actions, and Lord Commissar Theren would play the mediator, as well as having final say over any disagreements that cropped up.Now commanding from the flagship of Battlegroup Cerberus, Lord Commissar Theren is able to effectively deceive the rest of the ranking members of the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy by combining his authority with that of either one of the Arkelius siblings. The word of a Lord Commissar backed up by either a lord admiral or a general is something no lower-ranking officer would dare question.
Achilus Crusade - Notable Orpheus Salient Worlds: 919-BetaArkhas SystemAtonementAurumAvalosBeseritorCastobelCocijoThe CoilCryptis XEleusisFreyaHerisorHethgardJove's DescentManuxetMelkior PrimeNyanthorPhonosRymerSkaura IIITreyenVanir SystemXyanZanatov's Harbour
Achilus Crusade - Notable Orpheus Space Stations: Research Station EpsilonWatch Station ArkhasWatch Station CastielWatch Station Tryphon
Achilus Crusade - Notable Acheros Salient Worlds: AlphosBlood TrinityCalisiKaraberaKarlackKazianaKhazantNullholmOmicron OmegaOssua IVParino SecondusPyrathasScepterTabius RasaUndercroftVanityVesoasuaWicked Sisters
Achilus Crusade - Notable Acheros Salient Watch Stations: Watch Station Hlesan SecundusWatch Station IobelWatch Station MidaelWatch Station Resgulus
Achilus Crusade - Cellebos Warzone: Since the Acheros Salient's appalling reversal of fortune, Lord Militant Tetrarchus has resumed his assault on the region, pouring all the reinforcements he can muster into what has become a war of bloody grinding attrition spanning over fifty star systems and twenty-five Terran years of struggle.The war has focused around the control of key systems in what is now referred to as the Cellebos Warzone, most notably Khazant, Vanity, and the Blood Trinity. Solid Imperial gains have been few and hard-fought, with the Heretic forces giving ground in some areas, but control of others remaining elusive or outright impossible.Meanwhile, the baleful influence of whatever unnatural powers reside in the Charon Stars and the Hadex Anomaly have become ever more apparent as time progresses.Despite these difficulties, the Acheros Salient was at last beginning to show slow signs of progress, with fresh Imperial reinforcements channeled in from the Calixis Sector and stripped from the other crusade salients adding to its power.However all this ended thanks to the recent disasters on the Orpheus Salient and the coming of the Tyranid menace. This has led to a retrenchment in the face of a possible onslaught on a second front and could cause the collapse of the entire Orpheus arm, threatening the very existence of the Achilus Crusade.In these last years of tribulation, the character of Solomon Tetrarchus himself has changed, and while he remains a charismatic leader, he has become subject to paranoia about "traitors" in the ranks, a paranoia perhaps well justified, given the nature of the enemies he faces, but a very dangerous behaviour for a man with a Lord Militant's unbridled authority.
Achilus Crusade - Deserter's Coil: The battles against the T'au and the Tyranids in the Canis Salient produce plenty of refugees and deserters from the Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy.There are no punishments for desertion in the Imperial military other than death, so such deserters are keen to find somewhere to hide from Imperial authorities, or even somewhere that would welcome such desperate yet capable men.Many deserters choose to follow the rumours of the Deserter's Coil, a region of the Canis Salient hemmed in by nebulae and gravity wells, and one which Imperial forces are too thinly-stretched to control.There, it is said, colonies of free-minded men and women can live demanding but ultimately free lives among untouched alien worlds. Rumours claim that these worlds have been abandoned, leaving whole cities untouched save for their lack of inhabitants.Riches lie undisturbed and a new life waits for anyone who can make it to these flawed but free planets. Some Renegades in the Imperial Navy can offer safe passage along the hidden routes to the Coil, as long as they are handsomely paid.All of these rumours, however, are lies. The truth is infinitely more malevolent. The Deserter's Coil is real, but it is ruled by emissaries of the Dark Gods from the Cellebos Warzone, who have set up their petty kingdoms among these benighted planets.These Chaos Cult leaders hope to appease their masters by forging insane armies from those lured to the Deserter's Coil, then launching attacks on the Canis Salient to further divert Imperial forces from the Cellebos Warzone.The worlds and settlements in the Deserter's Coil are places of cruelty and nightmare, ruled over by petty tyrants who grow closer to true Champions of Chaos with every passing day.
Achilus Crusade - Notable Cellebos Warzone Worlds: Blood Trinity (System)KhazantMeniscusVanity
Achilus Crusade - Notable Hadex Anomaly Worlds: BolgraBulwarkCoraninDurellMagogMalehiSamechVenkrous
Achilus Crusade - The Canis Salient: The Canis Salient is the largest and oldest warzone in the Jericho Reach. Lying on the coreward side of the Reach, its first battles were fought in a crusade to liberate dozens of human-inhabited worlds from T'au expansion.All did not go well, however, for the Imperial Crusade became the target of a very different, but equally malevolent, xenos species: the Tyranids. A splinter of Hive Fleet Dagon slammed into the Imperial line of advance and only terrible sacrifices stopped the aliens from invading and stripping life from every world in the salient and beyond.Under Lord Commander Sebiascor Ebongrave, Imperial forces in the Canis Salient fight a war on two fronts. Regiments of the Astra Militarum fight endless conventional battles against the T'au and their auxiliaries, hoping for the foothold that will let them push on to the Sept capital.The second front is a bloody defensive action to stem the Tyranid tide. Imperial forces are stretched thin, fighting both wars at once, and few truly believe that the Tyranids can be held at bay forever.With the T'au fomenting rebellion and desertion on Imperial worlds and in Imperial forces through their Water Caste ambassadors, it is surely only a matter of time before the Imperial lines break and an alien tide pours over Fortress Spite and into Imperial space.Without some master plan to break the stalemate, the millions of Imperial lives sacrificed in the Canis Salient will be for nought.
Achilus Crusade - The Madness of Lord Commander Ebongrave: The Canis Salient is a vast swathe of Imperium-occupied space over which Lord Commander Ebongrave casts his eye with ever-increasing bitterness and desperation.Across the Salient, several primary themes have come to dominate—those of Ebongrave's brutal and paranoid (but necessary) repression, T'au infiltration, the Tyranid invasion, and the activities of the Deathwatch. The core worlds of the Salient are ruled with a vice-like grip, while total war tears the Greyhell Front apart.The agents of the T'au attempt to penetrate ever deeper, as the leading edges of Hive Fleet Dagon threaten to overwhelm all.While Ebongrave rules over the battles of the Canis Salient from his command bunker beneath Fortress Spite, internal security issues are the purview of a range of bodies occupying the bastions of the Fortress World of Wrath.The so-called "Eyes of Wrath" (as the populace terms the myriad divisions of enforcers, purgation details, and purity patrols) see everywhere, from the scented arbours of Carmyn to the musty catacombs beneath Bekrin.It is said that the average subject has but to walk from his barracks to his place of work to be observed by upwards of a thousand spy-drones.Many believe that potent psykers are used to scry the dreams of the populace as they slumber after a long work shift, sifting through the nightmares for the slightest hint of sedition or treachery. Few would be surprised to learn that such rumours are true, but in truth they are the least of the concerns that a subject suspected of treachery should be troubled with.Those accused of sedition or any one of a thousand different forms of treachery are taken away to one of the many gulags to be found on every world under Lord Commander Ebongrave's control. The fortunate are then consigned to service in one of the newly raised Penal Legions, to suffer a quick death at the hands of the Tyranids.Those less fortunate are dragged screaming to an excoriation chamber, to confess whatever sins they have committed and, in an effort to avert the dreadful attentions of their interrogators, many they have not.As all-seeing as the Eyes of Wrath are, the paranoid Lord Commander Ebongrave would be horrified to learn that they have in fact been compromised by an outside agency. Fortunately for the Imperium, that agency is not the Tau (not yet at least), but the servants of the Ordo Xenos, and through them, the Deathwatch.Unknown to Ebongrave, the Inquisition has long utilised the Eyes of Wrath as a means of gathering information on both the populace and those enemies who would seek to infiltrate it.To date, dozens of Tau agents have been intercepted by the Ordo Xenos or neutralised by Deathwatch Kill-teams long before the authorities have become aware of them. Better Lord Commander Ebongrave remains ignorant of the infiltration of the Eyes of Wrath, for were he to discover it, he would no doubt descend to yet greater depths of paranoia and bitterness.
Achilus Crusade - Notable Canis Salient Worlds: Ag'NiAmenophis IVArgothAthertran IIIBarabanBellom (Star System)Black OmenBlack ZoneCarmynCredenceEaHolst's BlockadeInnanaIphigeniaJayaJustertiiKaggeranKrrk'tikitMeniscusMeskailePelegiusScansion BetaSepulchre SigmaThe SorrowSpiteRheelasThemiskon PointTsua'MalorValliaVa'JiyaWaystoneWitchwoodWrathZurcon
Achilus Crusade - Notable Canis Space Stations: Watch Station AndronicusWatch Station BellomWatch Station CredenceWatch Station HestusWatch Station Skapula
Achilus Crusade - Quarantined Worlds: Lord Commander Ebongrave is aggressive, some say fanatical, in rooting out the T'au influence on the Imperial worlds of the Canis Salient. Three such worlds -- Argoth, Kaggeran and Rheelas -- were deemed by Ebongrave so riddled with T'au emissaries and sympathisers that they were beyond hope.Under his infamous General Order 169 Ebongrave had the worlds quarantined, meaning that no voidcraft were allowed in or out. Fragmented vox and astropathic transmissions from these planets, which are clustered close to Fortress Spite, paint a picture of mass starvation, riots and apocalyptic cult activity.Ebongrave has not permitted any cargo to reach the planets, fearing that moral threats will escape on returning transports, and has said on many occasions that he would call down the fleet to bomb their cities into oblivion if he could. To many, the horrible fates of the quarantined worlds are the starkest evidence of Ebongrave's madness.ArgothKaggeranRheelas
Achilus Crusade - Black Reef: Much of the T'au world of Tsua'Malor's suitability as the Velk'Han Sept capital planet comes from the Black Reef, a stellar phenomenon that protects it from most angles of approach. The reef is a series of gravitational anomalies that few but the bravest human pilots and the fastest voidships could hope to navigate.Hundreds of planets and millions of asteroids are caught in the Black Reef, endlessly dancing through the contorted orbits as the fluctuating gravities pull them apart. Some of these planets were once inhabited, long before the Age of the Imperium, and the tormented ruins of ancient cities can just be glimpsed on slabs of planetary crust as they float through the reef's currents.The Black Reef's reflection in the Warp is an impassable mass of positive and negative energies constantly colliding and annihilating one another, in a dance of destruction that no Navigator would conscience sailing through.The presence of the Black Reef makes it much easier for the T'au fleets to watch over the approaches to Tsua'Malor. This does not satisfy the Mal'caor Shi, however, and several cadres of T'au auxiliary species well suited to space exploration have been dispatched to explore the Black Reef and chart any possible routes through it.These xenos suffer a high attrition rate, even though they can survive conditions that would kill a T'au or Human. The information they are bringing back is worth their sacrifice, however, for along with charts of the Reef they are bringing back glimpses of a catastrophe that created the Reef and the beings that once inhabited it before the cataclysm.
Achilus Crusade - The Main Advance: The main advance of the Canis Salient runs in a line between the Fortress Worlds of Spite in the Iron Collar, and Hex on the verges of the Greyhell Front, following the course of the Arethusa Flux Warp conduit.The worlds between these two mighty bastion systems are largely under Ebongrave's heel, though T'au-inspired insurrection, Tyranid incursion, and localised rebellion mean that the Imperium's control is far from absolute and no world is entirely untouched by war.Nevertheless, Ebongrave's forces rule these worlds with a vicelike grip, squeezing them of every resource that can be turned towards the ongoing war against the Velk'Han Sept. Life for the average subject within the Canis Salient is brutal and often short, with forced labour the only toil most will ever know.Those unwilling to accept their fate may turn towards the T'au, but in so doing condemn themselves to a painful death at the hands of Ebongrave's ruthless enforcers.Those who so much as slacken the pace of their toil are dragged screaming from their workstations and shipped off to one of Ebongrave's many gulags, and soon after assigned to one of the Penal Legions raised to defend against the creeping menace of Hive Fleet Dagon.Like the warzones of the other two salients, the most strategically important worlds in the Canis Salient are those that lie along the axis of its major Warp routes. The worlds occupying these vital nodes may not be of any great significance themselves, but their positions along those routes make it vital they remain under the Imperium's control.Thus, the most important systems in the main axis of the Canis Salient are Spite, Bellom and Themiskon Point, simply because of their locations. Many other worlds are to be found in the salient however, and each has its part to play in the ceaseless war against the enemy.
Achilus Crusade - Greyhell Front: One of the two main battlezones where Imperial forces are concentrated alongside the Celebos Warzone of the Acheros Salient, the Greyhell Front is a belt of worlds where the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy are struggling to establish footholds closer to T'au space.They are opposed in this by some T'au auxiliaries, but most of all by Fire Warrior cadres. Chief among the auxiliaries are armies of Kroot, who are well suited to the lush Jungle Worlds especially common along the front. The Kroot's capacity to rapidly evolve according to the genetic material they absorb has led to the development of many new strains of Kroot along the Greyhell Front.Human armies are also fighting here under orders from the T'au, leading to a paranoid atmosphere where any soldier's squadmate could be an infiltrator sent by the other side. Ebongrave's purges are most frequent on the Greyhell Front and an Imperial Guardsman is almost as likely to be executed by their own side as they are to be killed by the xenos.Life is no better for the Gue'la auxiliaries, who are wont to be abandoned by their T'au overlords or betrayed by Imperial intelligence officers who have worked their way into the the T'au ranks.The Greyhell Front is regarded as a meat grinder by the troops serving there, but Lord Commander Ebongrave is adamant that only by forcing through the front and reaching T'au space can the crusade push on into a direct assault on the Velk'Han Sept.In spite of the thinly stretched nature of Imperial forces in the Canis Salient, Ebongrave refuses any suggestion that Imperial forces should withdraw from the Greyhell Front.
Achilus Crusade - Notable Greyhell Front Worlds: BarabanBelkrinD'Shas'KaDakinorRavaceneVeren