vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Merchant Fleets - Notable Merchant Fleet Starships: Transports are easily the most common starships found in the Imperium. Tasked with the often thankless job of hauling goods and people from one end of the galaxy to the other, transports are large, slow, and designed to carry as much cargo as possible within their hulls. Nevertheless, these vessels are almost single-handedly responsible for maintaining the integrity of Humanity's interstellar domain. Hive Worlds, for example, would not long survive without regular shipments of food and water from Agri-worlds and Ocean Worlds, and for many far-flung colonies, the regular passage of a Chartist Captain or tramp freighter is their only communication with the larger Imperium.Transports sacrifice speed, manoeuvrability, and armour in exchange for cargo space, and while they often have some weapons, they are no match for a true combatant. Thus, transports are often prime targets for pirates. A Rogue Trader with a transport will have to rely on their wits to get them out of sticky situations, rather than their guns. However, if they choose to focus on mercantile pursuits to make their fortune, they will find no better vessels to aid them.Some of the most notable transport ships used in the Imperium are included below:Aquila LanderArmed FreighterArvus LighterDevourer DropshipFast ClipperHeavy TransportImperial TransportCarrack-class TransportCetaceus-class TransportCetaceus-class Transit ShipConquest-class Star GalleonTarask-class MerchantmanGalaxy-class Armed FreighterGoliath-class Forge TenderGoliath-class Factory ShipJericho-class Pilgrim VesselOrion-class Star ClipperUniverse-class Mass ConveyorVagabond-class Merchant Trader
Mercury-class Battlecruiser - Mercury-class Battlecruiser: The Mercury-class Battlecruiser is a powerful capital ship of the Imperial Navy. In the waning years of Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade in the early 41st Millennium, the Adeptus Mechanicus Artisans of Bakka and the officers of Battlefleet Tempestus faced a dilemma. In supporting Battlefleet Obscuras, the problem with pirate bands had become acute and the lack of speed among the standard Imperial Cruiser designs meant that the tactical initiative remained with the pirates.At the direction of Admiral Knightsbridge, the Magi of Bakka set about to construct a new battlecruiser design fitting for the strategy and tactics of the battlefleet yet be able to meet this threat. Through a rather straightforward merging of existing technologies, the Adeptus Mechanicus were able to devise a solution in less than two standard centuries. It is widely believed that this is the fastest a new capital ship design has ever come to fruition in several millennia, and thus the Mercury-class Battlecruiser came into being.Built from the keel up to prosecute raiders and armed with a prow-fitted Nova Cannon, the Mercury combines a basic Cruiser layout with the engineering suite normally used on a Battleship. The result is a faster much more powerful Cruiser with the speed to keep up with the raiders and the firepower to deal with them as an independent unit without Escorts. All this improved performance came at a price, however. While the engines produced Battleship power, the armour protection remained only that of a Cruiser, leaving the Mercury more vulnerable than other Imperial Battlecruisers of similar size. Despite these shortcomings, many Bakka naval officers aspire to someday lead one of these fearsome warships.
Mercury-class Battlecruiser - Notable Mercury-class Battlecruisers: Gorgon - The Gorgon claimed the Eldar Shadow-class Cruiser Swift Striker while protecting a vital Imperial supply convoy.Nemesis - The Nemesis destroyed an Ork Terror Ship and three Ravager Attack Ships single-handed.Long SerpentMedusa - The Plasma Drive overload that destroyed the Medusa also shattered the Lunar-class Cruiser Lord Chalfont, leaving a convoy of transports to the mercies of an Ork raiding squadron.Scylla - When hit by multiple salvos from Chaos raiders in 467.M41, the Scylla suffered a powerful Warp-Drive implosion, destroying her entire squadron of assigned Escorts and heavily damaging the Battleship Mailed Fist.
Mercy of the Dragon (Anthology Short Story) - Mercy of the Dragon (Anthology Short Story): Mercy of the Dragon is a short story published in The Primarchs series that was originally part of an anthology. Mercy of the Dragon was first published as part of the Sons of the Emperor anthology in February 2018. The cover image used is that of Sons of the Emperor, as Mercy of the Dragon has yet to be published separately.
Mercy of the Dragon (Anthology Short Story) - Synopsis: As the Emperor comes to Nocturne in the guise of the Outlander, He tells Vulkan of his destiny in the stars as one of His Primarchs. But the Lord of Drakes is hesitant to leave his world unprotected and so the Emperor must convince him of the worthiness of His Crusade.
Merek Grimaldus - Merek Grimaldus: Merek Grimaldus, the "Hero of Helsreach," is the reclusiarch of the Black Templars Space Marine Chapter. Grimaldus is also a noted veteran of the Third War for Armageddon.During the Battle for Hive Helsreach, Grimaldus led the defence of the Temple of the Emperor Ascendant, which had stood since Armageddon's colonisation. The battle became so heated that the building itself collapsed around the combatants.It was believed that all had perished in the building until Grimaldus, bloody but unbroken, climbed out of the rubble bearing three of the temple's artefacts -- a column from its Major Altar, the Banner of the Emperor Victorious, and holy water from the Stoup of Elucidation.Those Black Templars Apothecaries who examined him later were amazed that Grimaldus had survived. When the war ended, the citizens of Hive Helsreach honoured him with the title of "Hero of Helsreach" and bowed before his passing.No battle is so bleak that Grimaldus' appearance cannot turn the tide and rekindle the fire in his brothers' hearts. Then, an enemy who thought the battle won will find himself beset once more, smashed asunder by a tide of zealots whose arms have been lent fresh strength, Grimaldus at their head carving another victory for his Emperor.At some point following the birth of the Great Rift, Grimaldus crossed the Rubicon Primaris and underwent the agonizing transformation into a Primaris Space Marine.
Merek Grimaldus - Origins: Chaplain Grimaldus is a veteran of a score of successful Black Templars Crusades. His rise through the ranks of the Chapter was meteoric, for he once stood as the youngest Sword Brother in the Chapter's history.He was soon raised from his Marshal's Sword Brethren and inducted into the mysteries of the Reclusiam after the Battle of Fire and Blood.The Chaplains were impressed by the faith and devotion to the Emperor displayed by the young Grimaldus, for he had the makings of a powerful warrior-priest. As a Chaplain novitiate he learned under the venerable and stern High Chaplain Mordred.The young Chaplain took his vows before the shattered Sword of Dorn aboard the Black Templars' flagship, the Eternal Crusader, and soon justified the Chaplains' faith in him by zealously leading the warriors of the Black Templars in battle. Many times, he suffered grievous wounds in the thickest of the fighting, but always steadfastly refused to succumb.Unlike many of his brother Chaplains, Grimaldus preferred to inspire his warriors through deeds rather than through rhetoric. On those rare occasions when Grimaldus spoke, his voice commanded the attention of all around, the rarity of his speech ensuring not a single word went unheard.Grimaldus' oratory cut straight through his brothers' warrior-spirits and it was no surprise that, upon Mordred's death, the high chaplain named Grimaldus his successor with his final breath.In 987.M41 the Shadow Wolves' homeworld of Varadon was ravaged by the foul xenos of a Tyranid splinter fleet. The Shadow Wolves attempted to defend their homeworld from the predations of the merciless Great Devourer.Astropathic distress beacons were transmitted through the Warp solar weeks before the attack, before their fortress-monastery finally fell to the enemy.Chaplain Grimaldus and the Black Templars swiftly answered their brother Chapter's summons, and attempted to penetrate the swarms of Tyranids besieging the ruins of the Shadow Wolves' fortress-monastery, but the unrelenting ferocity of the alien tide hampered their efforts.Grimaldus had been there at the end, standing witness to the actions of the handful of Shadow Wolves that remained, their blades broken and their bolters spent.They died in honourable battle as they made their defiant last stand, still intoning the litanies of hate against the alien, chanting their bitter fury at their foes even as they were annihilated.A lone Shadow Wolves battle-brother, though horrendously wounded and on his knees beneath the Chapter's standard, attempted to maintain his Chapter's honour to the last, for the Shadow Wolves' War Banner could not be allowed to fall whilst one of the Astartes of the Chapter yet lived.The doomed Space Marine held it aloft defiantly, keeping the banner upright and proud even as the xenos creatures tore into him. He died in what Grimaldus could only describe as a beautiful death.
Merek Grimaldus - Choices: Grimaldus and his charge then departed the Celestial Lions' forward base and made for the Eternal Crusader. He went there to put an audacious plan into motion.The Chaplain knew he could not return to Hive Helsreach, for the Season of Fire played its tempestuous games around the city, harsh enough to kill sky traffic but not quite violent enough to interfere with Vox signals.Utilising the flagship's powerful communication array, he was able to amplify his transmitter's signal to send a message through. Making contact with the Imperial forces on the ground, he relayed a series of orders to one of the Astra Militarum officers present there.It took several more solar hours of coordinating Helsreach's defences from high orbit. Grimaldus knew a great many Imperial Guard officers were going to vox skyward for confirmation in the hours to come.Time passed, as Grimaldus spoke with eighty-one Astra Militarum officers and eleven naval captains. As his clearance was Rubicon-grade, no one dared to question his orders.Cyneric questioned the senior Chaplain's motives, and wondered if he hadn't exceeded his authority. But Grimaldus argued that the Lions' survival would be for the best and he was depleting Hive Helsreach's defences to march alongside the Lions back into the Mannheim Gap.The reclusiarch explained that the city was vastly overdefended now, with entire battalions sitting idle and awaiting redeployment. It was an irritating truth; would that they had such a problem when the real war was being fought.The soldiers in Helsreach were actually bored. They did not do well with tedium, especially when left alone with nothing to do and no one to shoot.Cyneric felt that Grimaldus was playing on the people's regard for him. The Hero of Helsreach called them to war. Of course they would follow.But he was sure it was their war. The reclusiarch argued that it was their world. And it was the only chance the Celestial Lions had, if they were to survive.The Lions' unseen enemies might well allow them to die in the glory they deserved. But their deaths served nothing but to ease the soreness of wounded pride.The Celestial Lions must not die on Armageddon and without help, the Chapter was doomed. Everything depended on just how fast Grimaldus' forces at Helsreach could break out from the storm, and redeploy halfway across the world.
Merek Grimaldus - New Beginnings: Reclusiarch Grimaldus bid his farewell to the newly-installed Chapter Master Ekene Dubaku of the Celestial Lions, escorted by his surviving few warriors onto the Black Templars Strike Cruiser Blade of the Seventh Son, with its course plotted for the distant world of Elysium IX.Dubaku now bore a bionic leg and a noticeable limp, his physiology not entirely adjusted to the augmetic replacement yet. The armour he wore was gold war-plate of an ancient Imperial Fists champion, granted as a gift from the Eternal Crusader's Halls of Memory. His cloak was that of Helbrecht's own Sword Brethren, red on black, elegantly cast over one shoulder.It was not known if this was the very same cloak Helbrecht had granted to Dubaku when he forced him to take the oath of lordship over his depleted Chapter. At his hip, bound by chains of black iron, was the flayed, polished skull of the Greenskin Warlord they had killed together. An honour indeed, to be named on a Chapter Master's prime trophy.The Black Templars Honour Guard raised to bid him good journey consisted of the reclusiarch, the newly promoted Chaplain Cyneric, and the high marshal's household knights, clad in ceremonial colours. The reclusiarch hoped most fervently, as time passed, that Chapter Master Dubaku's efforts in reconstructing the Celestial Lions and training the generation to follow him continued to go well.Grimaldus knew with grim satisfaction that they would most likely never meet again, as Dubaku was sworn to a life of defending what he could hold, and the Black Templars always sailed forth on the attack against the foes of the Emperor.
Merek Grimaldus - Cenobyte Servitors: Chaplain Grimaldus knows well the power of faith, and to this end brings with him icons of devotional fervour. In battle he is accompanied by a group of Cenobyte Servitors bearing the relics saved from the Temple of the Emperor Ascendant in Hive Helsreach.These icons are silent reminders that glory and honour are bought through sacrifice, and they are carried into battle in order to spur the Black Templars to ever greater heights of zeal.
Merek Grimaldus - Wargear: Artificer ArmourSkull Helm - One of the most iconic elements of a Chaplain's wargear is his macabre Skull Helm, a stern visage that depicts the face of the Emperor mordant, evoking the Emperor's wrath. These helmets may take many different forms and have been crafted by numerous Space Marine Artificers across the galaxy. Universally, however, they are all fearsome in aspect.Crozius Arcanum - Shaped in the form of either a staff or a mace topped by the double-headed Aquila of the Imperium or a winged skull that represents the Emperor's sacrifice, the Crozius Arcanum serves as both a melee weapon and the primary badge of office of Space Marine Chaplains.Rosarius - Another symbol of a Chaplain's office, the Rosarius takes the form of a gorget, amulet, or signet ring of adamantium usually shaped into the form of the Imperial Aquila or a Gothic Cross with a jewel in the centre, and houses a powerful protective Conversion Field emitter, protecting the Space Marine Chaplain from attacks, both physical and psychic, that might otherwise break through the protection of even the mighty Space Marine Power Armour or the indomitable psychic strength of a Chaplain's own will.Master-crafted Plasma PistolTerminator Honours (Crux Terminatus) - This is one of the most famous of all Space Marine icons. Only the honoured 1st Company Veterans of a Space Marine Chapter fight in suits of Terminator Armour and wear this badge. The symbol has various forms and designs but all versions are carved from great chunks of stone with a large skull in the center of it, to signify the rank and authority of the Veterans who have earned the right to wear it.Crusader Seals - Crusader Seals are waxen or metallic tokens with vows of piety and Chapter blessings inscribed on hanging strips of parchment that are bestowed upon Space Marines of proven zeal and courage.Frag GrenadesKrak Grenades
Meric Voyen - Meric Voyen: Meric Voyen was the company Apothecary of the Death Guard Legion's 7th Great Company that was commanded by Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro during the Great Crusade and the opening days of the Horus Heresy.
Meridian - Meridian: Meridian is an Imperial Hive World and the capital world of the Sub-sector Aurelia of the Korianis Sector in the Ultima Segmentum. It features huge city-spires rising from urban landscapes the size of continents.Meridian's ancient manufactorum hive city, Angel Forge, produces everything from household goods to Lasguns and Imperial aircraft and is the most important manufacturing facility in its sector.As a major industrial power, Meridian plays a vital role in the Aurelian Sub-sector, accounting for over 90% of the total population and economic output of the entire sub-sector. It is for this reason alone that the Imperial governor of the Aurelia Sub-sector treats the other planets under his rule as nothing more than a source of unending resources for Meridian's industrial complex. This ensures that Meridian maintains links with the Imperium at large.Sergeant Thaddeus of the Blood Ravens Chapter was originally the leader of an underhive gang on Meridian. Before him, no native of Meridian had been recruited by the Blood Ravens for 700 standard years, because its people were regarded as physically weak and morally decadent by the rest of the sub-sector.Thaddeus' recruitment to the Blood Ravens, on the recommendation of Captain Davian Thule, was regarded with skepticism by the rest of the Chapter, but his hive-ganger instincts proved to serve him well once he became the leader of an Assault Squad.
Meridian - Society: As a typical Imperial Hive World, Meridian is ruled by a wealthy feudal aristocracy that dominates the upper levels of its hive cities and are the owners of the enterprises that comprise the planetary economy.The use of the Angel Forge facility is highly bureaucratic and follows a strict schedule of use set by the planet's governor and their Privy Council standard years in advance. The Meridian elite of these upper hive spires remains largely indifferent, or ignorant, of the billions of middle and working-class citizens who inhabit the lower levels of all the other hive cities on the planet.Among these lower levels, competition for scarce food, clean water and the other necessities and luxuries of Imperial life can be brutal. Food riots and savage gang warfare are particularly frequent in the lowest regions of these cities, known as the "underhive."
Meridian - Canon Note: In the novel Dawn of War II by Chris Roberson, Planetary Governor Gregor Vandis is caught by Sergeant Aramus (who served as the PC game's Force Commander player character in the novels) with a large collection of alien and Chaos artefacts, as well as a cache of Blood Ravens Chapter relics.Among these relics was the power sword once wielded by Captain Davian Thule. Instead of fleeing the planet as he did in the events of the PC game, Vandis was executed on the spot by Aramus for his heresy and grave affront to the honour of the Blood Ravens.
Meridian Swords - Meridian Swords: Meridian Swords are twin Power Swords wielded by some members of the Adeptus Custodes. Custodians who use these weapons in close combat are highly-skilled in their use, and use them in such a way that they appear to be dancing through battle.Meridian Swords are secondary weapons for Custodians who get caught up in melee combat. They are only used until their Armour Thralls have had the time to reload the Bolt Casters built into the Guardian Spears and Sentinel Blades which serve as their primary ranged weapons.
Merir Astelan - Merir Astelan: Merir Astelan was a Terra-born Chapter Master of the Dark Angels Legion of Space Marines and is considered one of the most notorious of the Fallen Angels who betrayed the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. He was recaptured by the Dark Angels in the late 41st Millennium and was secretly imprisoned for a time on their mobile fortress-monastery, The Rock, before making his escape. During his time in captivity, he revealed details about the early days of the Dark Angels and what had happened during the Heresy that made many of his interrogators very uneasy about the history of their Chapter.He achieved his position as an officer of the Dark Angels after the I Legion was formed on Terra in the 30th Millennium and before it was reunited with its Primarch, Lion El'Jonson, on the Death World of Caliban. Astelan's name now appears at the top of the secret list kept by the Grand Master of Chaplains of the Dark Angels Chapter, the list of the names of the one hundred and thirty-six Space Marines who first swore allegiance to the Archtraitor Luther when he rebelled against the Dark Angels Primarch, Lion El'Jonson. As a result, he is currently being hunted by the Dark Angels as one of the most sought-after members of the Fallen.
Merir Astelan - Origins: Merir Astelan was a member of the Dark Angels Space Marine Legion before the discovery by Imperial forces of the whereabouts of the Primarch Lion El'Jonson. Astelan was born on Terra, hailing from the Sibran Steppes. Merir came from a family whose forefathers had helped to free the ancient birthplace of humanity from the evil grip of the Age of Strife. After the Emperor of Mankind had revealed Himself and His purpose during the Unification Wars, Astelan's people had fought alongside Him.When he first began to create a new type of transhuman warrior, it was from the Sibran people that the Emperor took His first willing volunteers for the genetic testing that was required to ultimately create the Space Marines. With the aid of Sibran troops, the Emperor reunited Terra under His rule and prepared to unleash the Great Crusade intended to reunite all the scattered colony worlds of Mankind across the galaxy. So it is not strange that when he perfected his techniques for the creation of the Space Marines, many of Astelan's people were chosen to become the first Astartes of the I Legion, and Astelan was amongst them.Prior to the start of the Horus Heresy, during the Great Crusade, Astelan rose to the esteemed rank of Chapter Commander of the I Legion and was stationed aboard the Dark Angels' flagship, the Spear of Truth. When the Emperor discovered Lion El'Jonson on the world of Caliban, the Space Marines of the I Legion celebrated. The Emperor informed them that the Dark Angels now had a new homeworld. This good news filled the Dark Angels with joy, for they were now far from their beloved Terra.The Dark Angels adopted Caliban as their own, and when El'Jonson was given command of the I Legion that had been created from his genome, the Terran-borne Space Marines of the Dark Angels thought it fitting. Astelan and his fellow Battle-Brothers thought it good that new Chapters of Dark Angels would be raised from Caliban's people, for it gave them identity and focus, something that was precious in those tumultuous times.
Merir Astelan - Exile: Astelan was one of the few Terrans serving with the I Legion on Caliban, and was sent back to serve at Aldurukh, the central fortress-monastery of the Dark Angels on Caliban, some fifteen Terran years after Luther and the rest of the training cadre had returned to the Dark Angels' homeworld in the wake of the campaign on Sarosh.As a Veteran Astartes who had risen quickly to command of a full Chapter of the Legion in the years following Jonson's ascension to Primarch, Astelan's sudden reassignment from the frontlines of the Great Crusade was every bit as baffling to his fellow training cadre members on Caliban as their own had been fifteen years before. Reassignment to Caliban was considered a form of exile by those stationed there, and a single, Veteran Terran Chapter Master being posted there from active duty on the Great Crusade was thought baffling, especially as Astelan was himself apparently at Sarosh and had avoided the initial reassignment cull. They presumed that Luther was aware of the circumstances surrounding Astelan's transfer, but if Astelan had been exiled from the Legion's Expeditionary Fleets like the rest of them, the Master of Caliban did not make that fact public.Luther however, quickly made a great show of support for Astelan and immediately assigned the Terran to lead one of the newly reorganised training Chapters, and treated Astelan with all the respect and esteem that he showed his other Battle-Brothers. Luther's charisma and leadership skills quickly won Astelan over, and soon there was no other member of the Legion more loyal to the Master of Caliban.
Merir Astelan - Post-Heresy: After the Fall of Caliban, Astelan and the other Fallen Angels were sucked through the Warp and scattered throughout time and space. After reemergin the galaxy of the 41st Millennium, he would spend two hundred Terran years at large from his (then unknown) pursuers in the Dark Angels Chapter, before ultimately coming to their attention.
Merir Astelan - Scappe Delve: Astelan emerged from the Warp 9,000 Terran years later in the 41st Millennium, finding himself cast to a distant world called Scappe Delve, whose inhabitants were forced to live in underground shelters due to the hazardous nature of the environment. Falling in with the inhabitants, he was shocked to discover that so much time had passed. After absorbing this information, and spending time reading all the available Imperial historical and cultural databases, he grew to pity the current state of the Imperium of Man.Determined to attempt to "light a signal fire" to respark the philosophies of the Great Crusade, he left the planet on the starship of the Rogue Trader Trialartes, the Saint Carthen. However, Astelan soon discovered that Trialartes was secretly smuggling weapons to unsavoury organisations, and he accompanied the smuggler to the mercenary void station of Port Imperial. There he met two other Fallen Angels, Methelas and Anovel, who had arrived one hundred Terran years earlier and become the commanders of the void station. Caliban-born Fallen, Astelan did not recognise them, but they knew him instantly, and placed themselves under his command. The trio proceeded to systematically commandeer weapons systems and armour plating from the other starships in the docks in an attempt to jump-start a new era of greatness for the Imperium, before turning their newly acquired weapons on the ships they had stolen from as well as the Port Imperial itself. As the three Fallen began their crusade by hunting down and exterminating the pirates who used Port Imperial as a waystation, Astelan was further informed of the changes to the Dark Angels, and its division into separate Chapters during the Second Founding, by the other two.
Merir Astelan - Tharsis: Due to differences in their vision for a "Greater Imperium," Astelan eventually left the other two Fallen after the events on Scappe Delve. When the Saint Carthen was attacked by Imperial vessels who took it for a Renegade ship, it became clear that the two Calibanite Dark Angels believed more in vengeance upon those they believed betrayed them at Caliban than in upholding the Emperor's philosophies. Recognising this reality, Astelan left them behind on the small world of Tharsis. The planet was in the midst of a civil war, and Astelan saw his chance to make a difference and fight for the Emperor's ideals once more. He approached Imperial Commander Dax and was immediately put in charge of the Imperial military presence on the planet. Tharsis had been primarily an Agri-World until Astelan's arrival, after which it was dominated by crime-rife cities and sprawling factories for making the weapons he used to win the war.After eight more standard years and much bloodshed, Astelan delivered what he had promised the Imperial Commander: victory. When he realised that Dax meant to reestablish leaders from the old noble houses in control of the world again once the war was finished, Astelan's "sacred bands" of elite warriors staged another revolution and killed the Imperial Commander, insisting that Astelan take his place as the new Planetary Governor.This wish was rebuffed by various Imperial authorities on the planet, particularly that of the Ecclesiarchy, who were horrified by Astelan's assertion that the Emperor, while of course a guide for all human behaviour and the rightful leader of the Imperium whose wishes and philosophies must be obeyed, was not actually divine.The leaders of the Ecclesiarchy delivered to Astelan an ultimatum that he acknowledge the Emperor as a god or face a third revolt. Astelan, disgusted with their close-minded religious dogma and seeing it a direct rejection of the Imperial Truth, violently removed them and all the other members of the Adeptus Terra on the planet who felt the same from power, setting himself up as the sole authority on Tharsis. Over the next seven solar decades he ruled the world and turned his thoughts to building up the armies of Tharsis into a crusading force, so that he could continue on with the Great Crusade and restore the Imperium as he had once known it.But unknown to Astelan, during the final stages of his revolt against the Imperial Commander of Tharsis, one lone Imperial life pod escaped from the star system and placed a distress call. This call was picked up by a Dark Angels' starship passing by the sector, who retrieved the survivor and learned the story of what had unfolded upon Tharsis.
Merir Astelan - The Tuchulcha: Sometime in the late 41st Millennium, Astelan eventually escaped from his captivity on The Rock, and rendezvoused with his former comrades among the Fallen, Methelas and Anovel. Together, these three Fallen Angels conspired with the infamous Typhus, the former First Captain of the Death Guard Legion, to enact a diabolical plan to unite the three separate devices that made up the so-called Tuchulcha Engine, an ancient sentient device and possible Warp entity of unknown origin, with its brother devices in order to open a portal through time and space to ten millennia earlier.This would allow the original legions of Fallen Angels to enter the 41st Millennium. Utilising captured gene-seed, Astelan planned to have the Fallen, the Death Guard and newly-created Dark Angels Astartes, merged together into one unstoppable Space Marine Legion that would be known as the "Death Angels" in order to conquer the galaxy.The most notorious of the Fallen Angels, Cypher, allowed himself to be captured and warned the Dark Angels that the Tuchulcha was embedded within the bowels of The Rock, and that the history of the Dark Angels would be irrevocably changed if they allowed the device to be reunited with the other two engines. Fortunately, this grand scheme of Astelan and Typhus was ultimately foiled at the Battle of the Caliban System thanks to the efforts of the Dark Angels' Supreme Grand Master Azrael and Cypher, who managed to turn Anonvel to their cause and get him betray his former allies.
Meritech Clans - Meritech Clans: The Meritech Clans were a group of nomadic Voidborn pirates and technological scavengers who dominated the Merates Cluster region in the void between the Calixis and Ixaniad Sectors of the Segmentum Obscurus in the waning years of the 40th Millennium.Routinely attacking Imperial merchant shipping in the region between the Calixis and Ixaniad Sectors after the clans declared that they had seceded from the Imperium, by 211.M41 their banditry had evolved into an all-out conflict known as the Meritech Wars against the Imperium following the destruction of two Sword-class Frigates of the Imperial Navy's Battlefleet Calixis.After a seventeen-year-long war fought between 211 and 227.M41, Battlefleet Calixis was finally able to crush the Meretich Clans' strongholds. Subsequent investigations by the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus exposed the hand of the cult of Hereteks known as the Logicians behind the Meritech Clans' secession and assaults upon the Calixis Sector.
Meritech Shrike-class Raider - Meritech Shrike-class Raider: The Meritech Shrike-class Raider is an infamous class of Raider vessels built by the Meritech Clans that reside in the border zone worlds of the Merates Cluster in the void between the Calixis Sector and the Ixaniad Sector.
Meritech Shrike-class Raider - History: The Meritech Clans were an infamous rabble of Voidborn stargypsies, wanderers and scavengers, who came to reside in the border zone worlds of the Merates Cluster during the final years of the 40th Millennium. Initially content to forage for parts for their ramshackle fleets from ruined space hulks drifting into their territory, within a standard century they had embarked upon a lifestyle of piracy, and routinely attacked vessels passing between the Calixis and Ixaniad Sectors.In 211.M41 mere banditry gave way to the all-out conflict known as the Meritech Wars when Meritech raiders ambushed a trio of Battlefleet Calixis Sword-class frigates. Only one Sword-class vessel escaped. This plunged the entire region into a seventeen-standard-year-long war between 211 and 226.M41 which only concluded when Battlefleet Calixis crushed the Meritech Clans' strongholds. Subsequent Inquisitorial investigations established that the wars had been instigated and supported by the sinister Hereteks of the cult known as the Logicians.Many of the deadly Raider vessels utilised by the Meritech clanfleet survived, sold to pirates and other rogues to ensure safe passage for the upper echelons of the Renegade clanlords. The vessel designated a Shrike-class is typical of the Meritech warships of the period, and indeed formed the main strength of its bandit squadrons. A lithe, incredibly advanced vessel that utilised heretical technologies unknown to the Adeptus Mechanicus, few Rogue Traders are able to maintain these ships at their original performance levels, given their bizarrely innovative heretech, but they remain dangerous fast Raiders.
Meritech Shrike-class Raider - Dimensions: Hull: RaiderClass: Meritech Shrike-class Raider.Dimensions: Approximately 2 kilometres long, 0.25 kilometres abeam at fins.Mass: Approximately 4.5 megatonnes.Crew: Approximately 15,000 crew.Acceleration: 5.9 gravities maximum sustainable acceleration.
Meritech Wars - Meritech Wars: The Meritech Wars was a regional conflict fought between the Imperium of Man and a group of nomadic Secessionists based in the Merates Cluster of worlds located between the Calixis and Ixaniad Sectors of the Segmentum Obscurus in 211-226.M41. The clans of the Merates Cluster seceded from the Imperium, rallying many Renegade factions to their cause, raiding deep into the Calixis Sector and causing widespread disruption and anarchy.The wars, at their height, pose the greatest threat to the sector’s stability in generations and even threatened to provoke internecine conflict with the bordering Ixaniad Sector. Thanks to the rise in power of Myram Harvala as Sector Governor, the Meritech clans are crushed and the worlds of the cluster are scoured clean of life. In the aftermath, the Heretek conspiracy of the Logicians is proved to have been behind the outbreak of the war by the Inquisition.
Meros - Meros: Meros was an Apothecary Minorius, a junior medicae, who served in the Blood Angels Legion's 9th Company under the command of Captain Furio during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.Initially, Meros was a simple line-Astartes of solid, if unremarkable service. But later on, during the opening days of the Heresy, his fate would become inextricably intertwined with that of his Legion and his Primarch Sanguinius during the Signus Campaign.
Meros - History: Meros was a line Astartes of the IXth Legion who served as a junior squad medicae under the command of Captain Furio’s 9th Company. After successfully concluding the campaign on the world of Melchior against the vile xenos known as the Nephilim, Meros was summoned by Chapter Master Raldoron, the First Captain of the Blood Angels and Equerry to the Primarch Sanguinius.Entering a fallen chapel once dedicated to the worship of the Nephilim by their human thralls, the Apothecary was ordered to extract the Progenoid Glands of a fallen Blood Angel by the name of Brother Alotros. Unknown to Meros, Alotros had been afflicted by an unknown malady which he had succumbed to during the throes of battle.This affliction would later be known as the genetic flaw called the Red Thirst. The Apothecary reverently placed Alotros’s gene-seed in a hermetic capsule, but before he could drop it into a seal-pouch at his hip, Captain Raldoron reached out and took it from him.The First Captain then asked the Apothecary for his name and unit. Meros obeyed, and immediately identified himself. He then received a strange set of orders from the esteemed commander -- Meros was ordered never to speak of this moment and to understand that both he and the First Captain had never been in the chapel. Then Raldoron held up the capsule and informed Meros that this particular item also did not exist. Not quite understanding the Chapter Master’s meaning, Meros was forced to repeat what Raldoron had just said to him.Obediently, Meros acquiesced to the senior commander’s wishes and saluted. As he backed away, he witnessed another curious occurrence. He saw Raldoron remove an object from his belt pack, a slab of inkstone from the deserts of Baal Primus. With quick motions, Raldoron passed it over the dead warrior’s armour, obscuring the crimson colour of his Power Armour with a layer of glistening, smoky black. The action had a strange, ritual quality to it. Without question, Meros returned to his company, and the strange incident passed from his memory.
Mesh Armour - Mesh Armour: Mesh Armour is the primary type of personal protection worn by the Guardian militia and other front-line infantry of the Craftworld Aeldari. Mesh Armour is comprised of thousands of tiny pieces of a dense ceramic material known as thermoplas that hardens on impact to form effective, lightweight protection much like a suit of high-technology chain mail or fish scales.The thermoplas also disperses heat rapidly, giving reasonable protection against directed energy weapons. The material is also psychically-sensitive, automatically reacting to the wearer's movements and thoughts to maintain a glove-tight fit as they move and fight. Guardian Mesh Armour also contains additional features, including an independent air supply and heat-sensing and auto-targeting lenses to aid the wearer in ranged combat.
Mesh Armour (Imperial) - Mesh Armour (Imperial): Mesh Armour is a suit of Imperial personal armour that takes the form of an anti-ballistic bodysuit usually made from carbon-ceramic polyfibres. It can also be constructed in imitation of the much more advanced Aeldari mesh armour from tiny metal rings or thousands of thermoplas cells that are linked together. Phased out of use by the Astra Militarum in the 31st Millennium and replaced by the cheaper and easier to mass-produce Flak Armour, its use is ubiquitous elsewhere in the galaxy among paramilitary, pirate and other criminal groups; it always has been common among the hive gangs on the major Hive Worlds. The gangs preferred to use Mesh Armour for personal protection as all a ganger needed to make even an inferior quality suit was a powered nanoloom, water, and some powdered bone.Originally designed by the xenos known as the Craftworld Aeldari for their militia forces called Guardians before the Imperium attempted to copy the design using inferior technology, Mesh Armour offers more protection than the standard Flak Armour used by the Astra Militarum, without sacrificing any of the wearer's mobility.A fabric-like material, when exposed to heat or sudden impacts, Mesh Armour becomes momentarily rigid, spreading and dissipating the kinetic force or thermal energy of the attack across the whole torso. Mesh Armour can be manufactured into numerous styles of protective garments including gloves, cowls, vests and cloaks. Though typically light weight and comfortable, when Mesh Armour is worn in especially large quantities, it can become extremely heavy. While the finest variants of this armour can only be manufactured by the Aeldari, even the cruder Human-made variants offer excellent protection.
Meskaile - Meskaile: MeskaileDeath WorldJericho ReachAchilus CrusadeCanis SalientHive Fleet DagonAs with Themiskon Point and Scansion Beta, the Achilus Crusade's high command cannot ascertain the reason for the Tyranids' interest in the world, but have been forced to upgrade its strategic rating in response.Unlike the other two worlds of the triangle, Meskaile is not a Dead World. It is instead the polar opposite, a planet teeming with life, and all of it carnivorous, bloodthirsty and entirely inimical to intrusion by any form of outsider.
Meskaile - History: The Tyranids' presence on Meskaile was first reported by the Deathwatch near the end of the 41st Millennium. They were discovered in the world in response to a scrap of information rendered on ancient parchment from the depths of Watch Fortress Erioch's Omega Vault.Whether it was the Tyranids or some other threat that the vault intended the Deathwatch to combat was never discovered, for the Kill-team was forced to extract in the face of overwhelming opposition from both the native denizens of Meskaile and the newly-arrived Tyranids.Meskaile is now the site of a huge war, one being fought between the invading Tyranids and the carnivorous flora and fauna of the Death World itself. When this fact was first reported to the crusade's high command, it was hoped that the Tyranids would expend their energies fighting a pointless war to capture the world, but that does not appear to be what is happening.Instead, the Tyranids are undergoing a process of frenzied and sustained hyper-evolution as they battle the denizens of Meskaile, each successive generation getting ever more lethal and developing a prodigious immunity to the numerous poisons utilised by the world's native species.The servants of the Ordo Xenos are now concerned as to what form of Tyranid may emerge when their conquest of Meskaile is complete, and several voices have called for an Exterminatus to be enacted upon Meskaile before such monstrosities can escape the crucible of their creation.
Mesophet - Mesophet: Mesophet, also called Mesophet the Shadowed Hand, is a Necron phaeron and member of the revived ruling Triarch of the Necron species in the Era Indomitus alongside Hapthatra the Radiant and the Silent King Szarekh himself.When the Triarch goes to war, they do so together upon the Dias of Domination with the aid of the captured C'tan known as the Enchained.
Metal Claw - Metal Claw: The Metal Claw is a Chaos Space Marine warband of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion.
Metal Claw - Warband Colours: The Metal Claw's Power Armour is the same as that of the Iron Warriors, tending to muted and dark metallics, weathered by the aeons and heavily scarred by the rigours of battle.Much could be said of the souls of those who wear such wargear, for Iron Warriors like the Metal Claw never forget the inequities that befall them, using them as fuel for the fires of their hatred.
Metal Claw - Warband Badge: The Metal Claw's warband badge is that of the Iron Warriors, an iron mask formed into a shape of a skull often superimposed over the symbol of the eight-pointed Chaos Star.
Metalica - Metalica: MetalicaImperialForge WorldAdeptus MechanicusCharadon SectorSegmentum UltimaMilky Way GalaxyMetalica is situated in one of the most dangerous parts of the galaxy, near the Ork Empire of Charadon.Its people live in a constant state of readiness as they are always threatened by war. The planet is home to the Legio Metalica, a Loyalist Titan Legion also known as the "Iron Skulls," one of the oldest and most esteemed Titan Legions within the Collegia Titanica.
Metalica - History: Metalica, a Forge World nestled deep in the Ultima Segmentum, is formed almost entirely of metal. No rocky crust covers the dull silver of its surface. No flora or fauna makes its home there. Even the atmosphere is inimical to life. The sole exceptions are the legions of the Cult Mechanicus that purposefully keep the planet bare so their work can continue in blessed sterility. It was not always this way, but the Tech-priests are by nature jealous of their treasures, and have had their Skitarii drive to extinction all other species so their quest for enlightenment can continue at peak efficiency.So it is that Metalica is a world of hissing pistons, glowing forges and strata upon strata of industrial waste. Yet it is far from barren, for the engine-driven monstrosities that growl out of its furnace complexes are born by the hundred with every new dawn. The sheer auditory barrage that rings from its gunmetal mountains is deafening yet oddly inspiring, especially for the Skitarii that are inducted there. All weapons and machinery produced by Metalica can be identified by a distinct blaring sound that is purposefully made louder so that all foes might hear the industrial glory of the Omnissiah before they perish.The hyper-pollution of the planet and its proximity to the Ork Empire of Charadon have prepared its legions well for an age of war -- and the defence of Armageddon. The last millennium has also seen Metalica's Cult Mechanicus united once more against a common threat -- that of the daemon.Metalica's Tech-priests have a special revulsion for anarchy, and when the industrial lynchpin world of Armageddon was invaded by the Forces of Chaos during the First War for Armageddon, their priesthood was quick to answer its call. Metalica's overseers were driven by morbid curiosity as much as a sense of duty and solidarity, but when the Daemon Primarch Angron's nightmarish hosts rampaged across the planet, the Tech-priests met them with every weapon at their disposal -- and harnessed reams of data in the process.Alongside their Imperial Knight allies from the nearby world of Kolossi, Metalica's Skitarii cohorts also fought at the forefront of many battles, including both the Second and Third Wars for Armageddon. With relentless fervour, the armies of Metalica strive to bring their own strict brand of order to the anarchy growing across the galaxy.
Metalica - The Iron Skulls: The Titans that serve the Adeptus Mechanicus are the most powerful ground-based war engines in the Imperium. Giant walking fortresses with firepower enough to level cities, the largest of these God-machines carry great cathedrals to the Omnissiah's glory upon their broad shoulders. Though few in number, the Titan Legions have conquered myriad foes, both within the Omnissiah's domain and without.Almost all Forge Worlds have Titan Legions that defend them, and Metalica is no exception. The "Iron Skulls," formally known as the Legio Metalica, is amongst the most vaunted of its kind. Its glorious history stretches back to pre-Imperial times, and its Titans have been part of Mankind's destiny ever since. Tragically, the Legion was all but destroyed during the Third War for Armageddon, although it has been rebuilding ever since, hoping to reclaim its honour. Princeps Kurtiz Mannheim, realising his allies would soon be overrun, led the Legio Metalica and its Skitarii escort against a wave of Ork Titan-class threats and six million Ork infantry. After slaying an Ork Gargant in a gruelling duel, Mannheim ordered his badly wounded Titan Steel Hammer to self-destruct, his sacrifice killing another two Gargants and burning out the heart out of the Ork offensive in the process.
Metalica - House Raven: House Raven first allied itself with the nearby Forge World of Metalica during the early stages of the Great Crusade. Lord Gregor, Raven's ruler at the time, struck a deal with Metalica's Tech-adepts to ensure that his House had sufficient Sacristans -- artificers of a Knight World trained and inducted into the Cult Mechanicus. For House Raven, these specialists became known as the Iron Brotherhood. In return, Gregor swore eternal fealty to Metalica -- a pact that remains to this day.