[hider=Shūguan of Jing]
[b]Name:[/b]Shūguan of Jing, given name Huo

[b]Gender:[/b] Nonbinary. Chromosomal sex is Female.

[b]Homeworld:[/b] Penglai
Known in Imperial records as Mundus Planus, Penglai, according to fragmentary data, was one of many worlds in its local sectors that was part of a massive, concerted Terran colonization long before the Long Night. While many of its neighbors maintained a highly impressive level of technological advancement, such as the nearby Forgeworld of Thaxis or the Factory-world of Vossus, or even the packed-full Hiveworld of Thanadus, the people of Penglai regressed to the Gunpowder Age, relying on horse, steel armor, and black powder weapons for much of their warfighting, most of which was done between the ancient Jing Dynasty and the steppe riders of the less-habited parts of the planet. As the local sectors are increasingly secured and settled, Huo has begun the process of selection new names for each world of import, to better reflect the hypothesized origins of their colonists.

Its population was nonetheless enormous, at least for a world that could only just avoid being called Feudal, dotted with great cities, massive canals, and all other manner of wondrous construction. Although dominated in many places by open plains and great oceans, Penglai's terrain is, nonetheless, quite variable, similar in variety to ancient Terra itself.

[b]Appearance:[/b] Truly, Huo is a sight to behold at an exact thirteen feet tall, the picture of androgynous beauty and tightly toned musculature clad in wheat-gold skin, bulkier than most of their AFAB sisters but more slender than their brothers, their entire body powerfully defined, sculpted almost like a marble statue - aside their relatively large breasts. Relatively slender lips sit on a fox-shaped face, deep brown eyes staring out from between thin, black brows, matching their loose, long hair, tied into a moderate topknot at the top. Two ‘legs’ of hair hang down in front of their shoulders, while another two bend back from these, joining up with the rest of their hair in the back.

[b]Personality:[/b] In many ways similar to Malcador, Huo was practically engineered to be the penultimate administrator, calm and collected in even the most intensely stressful situations in ways that few mortals could hope to be. They are not cold, however, but rather gently warm, a calculating mind tempered by an almost parental warmth, alloyed with a keen awareness of the value of mortal beings and the respect which their servants and comrades deserve. Such is this warmth that on most occasions Huo can be found displaying a warm, incredibly gentle smile, showing no teeth but displaying their friendliness nonetheless.

It’s unsurprising, then, that Huo is a genius of statistics as befits a consummate master of logistics, supposedly able to track and organize the numbers of entire armies and even nations with their mind alone, though they lack the ability for artifice of some of their siblings. 

As befits a well-rounded administrator, of course, they are skilled in many arts, too - from teamaking, to calligraphy, painting, and even a handful of instruments, Huo is practically an artist’s collective in themselves, befitting someone so beyond-mortal as a primarch, though their hobbies, of course, take the back-seat to their duties to their people.

Loyalty is, likewise, a trait that Huo exhibits in spades - loyalty not only to their ‘family’, their siblings and ‘father’, but to the Imperium and its people, viewing their work for the Imperium as a required uty in much the same way that a soldier can be said to have a duty to their commander. In other words, though Huo does hold a position of power, they believe that their position is earned only by their suitability for it and, therefore, if they were to become unfit, they would gladly give it up to someone more suitable, just as they readily delegate duties to capable mortals and Astartes within their own Legion.

Of course, even primarchs have secrets - and although Huo is no spy themselves, in their time as an Emperor, they learned to keep secrets - such as their mostly-distant fascination with the Aeldari, held within mental vaults from but the most absolutely trusted in their Legion.

[b]Equipment:[/b] 

[u]Golden Dragon Crescent Blade:[/u] Easily the most legendary of weapons in Huo's armory, the Golden Dragon Crescent Blade is said to descend from one wielded long ago on terra by one of its greatest warriors, though its precise origin is unknown. Superficially similar to a glaive, the long, bladed polearm is in reality an incredibly powerful force-weapon, channeling its primarch's immense power into a point to make an already incredibly sharp weapon extremely deadly. 

The blade itself is mounted on a long metal pole covered in red, wood-like lacquer carved into the shape of scaled, capped on both ends by intricately carved gold - toward the top, the maw of a dragon from which the blade emerges, and at the bottom, the tip of its tail. A smaller dragon emerges from the golden maw, carved into the surface of the blade, the mere touch of which can destroy the life force of its victim and burst their blood vessels, drenching it in blood. It is said that, in the heat of battle, the weapon has the appearance of a massive calligraphy brush, the blood of its enemies its ink.

[u]The Gold-Vermillion Panoply:[/u] Though they may have once worn another armour, the Gold-Vermillion panoply was forged specifically for Huo’s use, one of the few suits of power armor capable of accommodating their extraordinarily agile fighting style. Despite being relatively slender, the Gold-Vermillion Panoply - so named for its colour scheme, gold accented by vermillion red. Despite its origin, however, the armour is made in imitation of the traditional style of her people - and the local sector, lamellar scale plating in the shape of tiny mountains laid over their chest, arms, thighs, and groin. Their tall helmet, topped with a high red tassel, slopes downward and over their neck in a similar pattern, helping to ensure that no joint can possibly remain weak. Their pauldrons, relatively small compared to most patterns of Imperial power armour, take on the shape of the flattened heads of lions, while the maw of a dragon forms the center ‘buckle’ of their belt.

Aside from it being designed specifically to accommodate Huo’s agile style, the panoply is specifically hardened against the weaponry utilized most by Huo’s legion, from incendiary devices to phosphex and meltas, allowing Huo to wade through the devastation creation by the advance of her Astartes with no fear for their own health. The armour additionally carries large banks of compressed Promethium fuel for the Black Dog Fire-Gauntlet, designed to self-eject in the event of a dangerous rupture or unwanted ignition, along with incredibly high-quality air filters to allow them to breathe safely in even the most polluted of environments.

[u]Heaven-Shaking-Thunder Bombs:[/u] A stun bomb style designed to be wielded by a primarch, the Heaven-Shaking-Thunder bombs produce such intense noise and light that even the audio and light filters of power armor are inadequate, stunning nearly anyone that suffers a detonation, and permanently deafening and blinding most. Though rarely lethal, the bombs are, nonetheless, devastatingly useful in close combat, leaving all but the most resilient people insensate as their means of seeing and hearing the world are robbed from then, either permanently or only temporarily.

[u]Black Dog Fire-Gauntlets:[/u] Designed to work in concert with the Gold-Vermillion panoply, the Black Dogs take the form of a tri-nozzle melta gauntlet nestled in the ornamental mouth of a Black Dog on each wrist. While technically similar to a melta-weapon, the unique design of the Black Dogs allows them to fire in a wide cone akin to a sweeping flame, designed for taking down large groups of armoured enemies, or an ‘ignition’ mode, which produces high heat and induces combustion, but is significantly less effective against armoured foes. 

[b]Skills:[/b] 

[u]The Little Emperor:[/u] Perhaps Huo's greatest skill, above even their martial or psychic prowess, is their near-absolute mastery of civil service and logistics; their skill for the organizing of enormous armies across difficult campaigns in nearly any circumstance, even moreso with the aid of their carefully chosen advisors, both Astartes and human. Intricate, well-insulated systems of logistical supply stretch across their miniature Empire, ensuring that each world is given exactly what it needs, and on campaign, rations and ammunition are doled out in exactly the needed proportion, additional efficiency allowing for plenty of surplus to cushion unexpected pitfalls.

Where their knowledge is insufficient, they are more than happy to delegate duties to selected mortal and Astartes administrators, or, oftentimes, to their siblings - they will frequently request with the Daughters of Iron on matters of weapons development, for example, or the Imperial Star League on matters of fortification. In general, they are quite capable of negotiation and delegation, including as a highly competent diplomat - though there are, of course, few opportunities to practice the art of winning a war by never fighting it at all. In service of all this is perhaps matched perhaps only by Eiohsa, though they absolutely lack the skill for artifice of their sister, instead turning their calculations entirely toward administration, strategy, and logistics, and language.

[u]Sage of Legions:[/u] Like many of their siblings, Huo is a powerful psyker, though just like them, their abilities take on a unique character of their own.

First and foremost, perhaps, is their ability to influence the weather - it is said that, during their time before the Yellow-Gold Emperor's arrival, they would trap opponent armies into crossing ancient riverbeds only to drown them under torrential rains, or that they can even transform a cool, breezy day into a searing sirocco capable of cutting steel with a mere thought. These abilities, of course, have limited usefulness against many enemies they would face in this new millennium, but they nonetheless hold utility for manipulating the battlefield itself and hindering enemy logistics. There is some utility to their ability in void combat, allowing them to generate localized geomagnetic storms and other weather-like phenomena.

Second, while no sorcerer-queen, Huo shows some impressive ability for pyromancy, both in manipulating the flames they create and conjuring them from thin air. Whether utilized to burn out the crew of a tank or even to cauterize and heal wounds, Huo’s mastery of fire and potential for raw destruction is nearly outmatched...

Aside from their ‘family’, a handful of xenos, and, perhaps, the Sigillite himself.

Additionally, Huo is unusually resistant to psychic power themselves, though not entirely immune - and dedicates a not-insignificant portion of their psychic ability to this role, hardening herself against and unbinding the predations of the Warp. There are, however, relatively few opportunities for them to hone this power.

[u]Martial Artist:[/u] Huo's fighting style is relatively unique among their siblings for its emphasis on quick, fluid movements, leaving them terrifyingly agile despite their enormous (compared to mortal humans) size and the strength of their armour. Put simply, they move too quickly for mere mortals to track or strike them effectively, in some ways fighting like a strange hybrid of both Aeldari and Terran styles. They are, likewise, skilled with many weapons, but most impressive is their ability when fighting unarmed, and, of course, with their trusted Guandao, though they are quite fully capable of killing with their bare limbs alone. Part of their martial art, also, is a supernatural ability to maintain calm in the heat of battle, leveraging their analytic mind to predict the enemy's moves and calculate the best places to strike. So impressive is their agility that they are said to be able to jump in mid air, though this ability, in reality, is a result of psychic power, allowing them to be carrier far higher with a single jump than would otherwise be possible.

[u]Artist:[/u] Much like Eiohsa, Huo is skilled in many arts, from the ancient [i]danqing[/i] style of painting to the native instruments of their people; these styles, however, are quite distinct from any practiced by their siblings, just as culturally distinguished as their individual worlds of origin. Many of their Astartes practice the same arts, and although Huo rarely has the time for it, any free time they can find is usually spent on their artistic or rhetorical skills.

[b]Assignment Grade:[/b] Beta

[hider=Biography] When Huo, then unnamed, appeared in a humble woodcutter’s land on the edge of a tiny village at the border of the Palatine’s empire, few, even the Palatine himself, for he was never informed - could have anticipated what it meant. To Palatine and his bureaucrats, the flash of light across the sky was but a meteor, for the woodcutter, Qiáng, wise beyond what anyone knew, carefully hid the device and the massive child inside within his home before anyone could be the wiser. Qiáng knew nothing of the child’s origins, but he knew that, for their size and unclear sex, the cruel Palatine would likely have them torn apart and dissected by their Imperial alchemists or, worse, trained to become a terrible warrior as they grew. 

Thankfully, the child, named Huo by Qiáng’s wife, Xiá, showed no proclities to the latter, far more interested in the books and mythological tales the infertile couple could bring to them, while their unusual strength and size left them quite able to work around the home, bringing the family much more wealth that woodcutting otherwise could. So rapid was their growth, in fact, that they were able to work and more than a third of the age most children could, and began reading and performing arithmetic even earlier than that, speaking with the eloquence of an adult at less than a third of that age. 

Of course, with their found child’s incredible growth came ever-growing concern that Palatine would find out, a fact they made their child well aware of so they’d know when to hide if the need arose. Word was quickly travelling, too, and by the age of five, everyone in the village knew of the child’s unusual size and maturity; it would only be a short time, surely, before the local administrator saw fit to inform the Emperor.

Huo, however, had other plans - if not to protect themselves, then to protect their parents, and the people of Penglai; for Palatine was cruel, and every year of his rule was a year in which countless millions suffered.

Huo promptly began whispering words of rebellion in the ears of those around them - in the village market, in the markets of other villages, and everywhere else they thought there could be a chance of success. 

Palatine was cruel.

Palatine was a competent military leader, but an incompotent civil servant.

Palatine would bring ruin to Penglai - did he really deserve to rule?

Eventually, Huo’s words began to take root, yet they did not reach Palatine, for many people feared repercussions if they were merely associated with the rebellion, and many people had already grown discontent with his tyrannical regime; Huo merely intended to create the tinder needed to light the fire.

When word finally reached Palatine of Huo, the child had grown into an enormously powerful, intelligent adult, but he dispatched a small force to bring them into custody nonetheless.

When the soldiers attempted to take Huo, they struck one down with their fist,, then another, and another... And soon enough, the entire village, no longer willing to languish under his rule, had joined in, including the aging Jing Qiáng and his wife, utterly unwilling to let Palatine take their beloved child.

Word of the uprising spread, and where it did, more uprisings followed, entire Imperial garrisons slaughtered and starved by local citizens in wonderment at the tale of a single person slaughtering nearly a dozen soldiers with their bare hands, while other garrisons and generals took the sudden upheaval as their chance to claim fiefdoms of their own. Palatine was deprived of much of their army, though the Imperial soldiers that remained loyal were a powerful threat to Huo nonetheless; and so, the budding primarch took advantage of the legend of their arrival and initial uprising to position themselves as a leader of the rebels, defeating imperial armies sent to dispatch them one after the other with motley bands of peasants and traitorous soldiers. Some armies never even reached their destinations, or were hindered by storms conjured by Huo, only adding to their renown.

One by one, Huo destroyed Imperial armies in feats of tactical and strategic mastery, until, finally, the time came to lay siege to the capital itself, and the Palatine was slain just as the first soldier was by the primarch’s bare hand.

Not long after, however, Huo’s parents passed away of old age, secure in the knowledge that their beloved child was safe, and Huo, honouring them, named the new dynasty ‘Jing’ after their parents. 

As the Imperial court was reorganized, the Empire of Jing saw a new golden age, cruelty lifted away in the face of an efficient, fair Empire, even the steppe and plains people eventually brought into the fold over a series of multiple decade-long military campaigns. Technology advanced at a rapid pace, and before long, the Jing were on the cusp of an industrial revolution, maintaining an empire the size of which had never before been seen on Penglai.

That was until, one day, a strange old man appeared at the gates of the Imperial palace, invited inside after requesting an audience with the Emperor, for even the most humble deserved to have their voices heard.

Nearly three days later of the Emperor not being seen, they emerged with a towering, dominating presence clad in golden robes - the rightful Emperor of all Mankind and the heavens themselves: the legendary Huangdi himself. Huo announced that it had now become their duty to lead an army of soldiers to expand Huangdi’s Celestial Empire, and though they would occasionally return to Penglai, they would appoint a council of trusted advisors to govern the planet in their stead.

First among their conquests was the surrounding section of the Segmentum Ultima, cleanly brought to heel by the Celestial Dragons, formerly the Imperial Devastators, and the powerful weapons at their disposal, though only after an extensive, apologetic reorganization of the Legion by its new primarch, all while Huo arranged meeting after meeting with their fellow Primarchs, quickly taking to the company of their sister, Eiohsa, in long philosophical discussions over cups of hand-brewed tea.

The Legion went on to conquer large parts of the outer Ultima Segmentum, but most seminal of its great works, perhaps, were its forays into the Ghoul Stars against the Barghesi, a brutal campaign that even the devastating weaponry of the Dragons could not quicken. Casualties were nonetheless severe, especially for attached Imperial Army units, but even the Dragon Astartes. Through Huo’s tactical genius, however, and deployment of the proscribed armaments assigned to the Third Legion. Fearing the devastation that could result if the Barghesi were able to break out into the wider galaxy, Huo was regretfully forced to order the deployment of a number of Modalis-class Atmospheric incinerators and a mass of incendiary weapons the likes of which has never been seen before, burning a handful of worlds to ash, while others, despite extensive damage, were eventually re-colonized after the destruction of the Barghesi, while elsewhere the Rangdan xenocides came to a close. For nearly three days after the campaign, however, Huo was rarely seen, even by their closest advisors, and refused to this day to speak of what transpired in that time. Most, including their closest advisors, believe the Primarch was so distraught over their inability to participate in the Xenocides, and the devastation and distress their absence may have caused, that they were sent into an emotional catatonia by the event.

Since, Huo and their legion have spent much of their existence forging a path into the Segmentum Obscurus near the warp-rift at the center of the galaxy, most recently bringing a forge-world known as the Orb of a Thousand Scars into Imperial compliance. 

[b]The Meeting:[/b] A strange, decrepit old man, dressed in the clothing of a peasant, asking oh-so-politely to be allowed to meet the Emperor themselves.

[i]Why?[/i], Huo wondered, staring down at the small, wooden table before them, arrayed upon in a gorgeous porcelain tea set, so hot the two prepared cups still steamed.

Few people held the bravery to approach the palace; after all, friendly as they were, Huo was an Emperor, and if every peasant that approached was allowed entry, they would never have the time to perform the day-to-day work of running a country, and yet...

They heard the noise of creaking doors, looking up, across the tea room, as a pair of their Imperial Guard [i]pushed[/i] them open - and between them, a single, hunched-over old man.

[i]I suppose I am about to find out,[/i] they thought, making a broad gesture across the prepared tea-cups.

“Come, stranger. I’ve prepared tea for you - sit. Talk. I assume that is why you have come here, and not to put a knife through my belly.” They said, smiling playfully at the old man as he stepped toward them. 

“No, I have no need of knives. Only words,” the man said, and Huo watched as their guards visibly stumbled, collapsing clumsily to their knees. And Huo felt a strange weight fall on their shoulders, beckoning them to sink - no, [i]demanding[/i] it - yet they refused, remaining utterly, resolutely calm.


[i]Certainly not an insane old man, then. A sorcerer, come to offer their services?[/i] They wondered, looking the old man up-and down, noting how firm his words had been as they’d left his mouth, utterly bereft of the shake and stutter of extreme age. [i]No, no. Not to offer their services. Something else.[/i]

“Only words,” they said, “but we should share these words over tea, don’t you think?” They continued, repeating the beckoning gesture... And so the old man did, moving to sit opposite to Huo as they gestured for their guards to stand and leave, briefly staring through the open ceiling of the tea garden into the sky above.

[i]Silence,[/i] they thought, watching him as he sipped his tea, staring back at them, into their soul. His gaze was far more intense than any they’d ever seen before - simple, brown eyes, staring out from an unremarkable, leather-tanned face, and yet...

They felt as if he was seeing [i]into[/i] them. As if he opted not to speak because he knew that they were examining him. Analyzing him, confused and perplexed by him.

[i]He does know. But how?[/i]

“An old man, asking entrance to an Emperor’s palace, cowing their elite guards with his voice alone... What [i]have[/i] you come here for? I mean no rudeness, but-”

“You are an Emperor,” he said, and again, they felt his voice [i]crash[/i] into them, just as before.

“I understand. I am an Emperor, too.”

Were this old man anyone else, they would doubt him, and yet... Yes, it made sense. The way his voice subsumed all other others, the way it commanded submission from obedience with the sheer force it was spoken... [i]Yes[/i], that was the voice of an Emperor, but no mere mortal Emperor - for who else could speak in such a sovereign way?

“I can sense that,” they replied, taking a single sip of their tea, still staring, rarely blinking. “But an Emperor of what, exactly? I know of all Emperors on this world, and I know of none like you. My spies, as I...”
[i]He knows. The way he is staring at me... He must. Gazing into my eyes... Does he even know what I’m going to say, perhaps?[/i] They paused, opting to test their theory.

“To answer your questions - an Empire from the stars, and yes. Yes, I do.” He said, smirking slightly just as Huo let a snort of laughter escape their mouth. 

“An Empire of the Stars? I came from the stars, but I-” Huo began, abruptly stopping as their pupils shrank ever-so-slightly, imperceptible to mortal eyes... But not to His. His presence, the power of his voice, his mysterious, auspicious appearance...

“Ah,” They chuckled again, setting down their cup. “I believe I understand, father.” Huo nodded, pouring the Emperor another cup of tea. “And why, then, have you chosen to appear?”

“I bring you a legion - and an Empire to serve. Tell me, have you heard the legend of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor?”
[/hider]
[/hider]

[hider=The Celestial Dragons (Legion III)]
[b]Legion Name:[/b] The Celestial Dragons

[b]Legion Number:[/b] III

[b]Legion Strength:[/b] 160,000 legionnaires, plus a large number of human auxiliaries and dedicated support personnel.

[b]Armour Appearance:[/b] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/775243446699950111/995170405079859220/legionairre.png[/img]

Like their primarch, the Celestial Dragons are clad in gold, their icon the very same dragon’s maw on their legendary spear, snarling in a terrifying war-cry. They, too, are equipped with a modified form of power armour; though fundamentally based on the Mark IV, their suits likewise employ lamellar plates to provide additional joint protection in battle, especially around the necks.

[b]Warcry:[/b] Aside from simple roaring accompanied by the Legion’s drums, a handful of basic battle cries are employed.

“Let the dragon swallow them whole!”

“From the Heavens, for Emperor and Imperium!”

[b]Dramatis Personae:[/b] 

[u]Matriarch Ruan:[/u] Unseen in the years since Huo’s rediscovery, Matriarch Ruan, the unquestioned head of the Ruan family of Navigators, serves both as the head of her house and the navigator of Huo’s flag-vessel, the [i]Great Emperor of the Celestial Waters[/i], an ancient vessel believed to date back to the Dark Age of Technology, when Penglai was first colonized. Entire systems on the massive flagship are dedicated to her protection, for her power is so potent and valuable that Huo fears her many children cannot hope to replace it for many centuries. She is, of course, especially capable of navigating the Warp, but Ruan’s greatest ability is to hide herself and those around her from the warp, or even to assault its fabric directly, going so far as to set the taint of Chaos within a soul aflame.

[u]Fleet Admiral Namkoong:[/u] The mortal admiral of Huo’s fleets, Namkoong in an exceptionally skilled fleet commander, and has remained in overall command of Huo’s fleets for several decades. Selected for his relative youth, Huo greatly appreciates Namkoong’s preference for three-dimensional maneuver tactics, taking advantage of the inherent nature of space to strike the foe in unexpected ways.

[u]General Akane:[/u] The eldest currently serving Astartes in Huo’s Legion, Akane presently commands the largest share of living Terran Astartes under Huo’s overall command; the First Division, along with a small corps of heavily augmented human troops.  Her aggressive, hard-bitten tactics make her and the soldiers under her command favoured for shock assaults, made possible by the specialized army’s use of large numbers of Land Raiders, Mastodons, and Terminator armor.

[u]General Wei:[/u] One of Huo’s most trusted generals from before the Emperor’s arrival and a childhood friend of their ‘home’ village, Wei is an impeccably skilled and agile swordswoman, fighting with such agility and quick-thinking that her likewise specialized division commands the large majority of the Dragons’s airmobile infantry, charged with high-speed bite-and-hold operations aerial encirclements. Together with Akane’s shock troops, they are frequently the first to be called upon to form aerial beacheads as the Legion first lands on the surface of a hostile world. We commands the 2nd Division.

[u]General Lao:[/u] Lao is an augmented human given overall command of the garrisons of Penglai and the surrounding systems, a position which she, perhaps surprisingly, takes on with great honour: Penglai is the primarch’s home, after all, and what place would they cherish more? Like Wei, Lao is an old friend of Huo’s, the son of the farmer Huo’s father bought most of his vegetables from. He is not stoic, but he is suitably protective, almost a father to his soldiers. Lao commands the 16th Division.

[u]Commander Zhong (Black Dog Purgation Corps):[/u]

[u]Commander Duy (WIP, special weapons, etc):[/u]

[u]Alchemist-General Hoi:[/u] although the "Division" the Thanadus-born Chirurgeon-turned-Astarted commands is merely theoretical in terms of the actual force it wields, its mere existence represents something important: Shūguan has seen fit to dedicate a large portion of their resources to the advancement and securely of medical science, both for their Astartes and the mortals under their watch. He is are charged both with general medical upkeep and the establishment of battlefield hospital and the maintenance of the Legion's geneseed stocks, stored in dozens of separate vaults across the systems around Penglai to ensure they are incredibly difficult to destroy in one fell swoop. Full data-screeds of each sample are meticulously recorded in each bank, too, ensuring that any emergent flaws or sabotage are easy to search out and repair or eliminate.

[u]Fabricator-Locum Qaghan:[/u] the highest tech-priest of the forgeworld of Thaxis, Qaghan, supplies a large portion of the Dragons' armaments through the vast array of forges at its command, both on Thaxis itself and the nearby forgeworld of Vossus. A diplomat in their own right, Qaghan swaps between a wide-array of bodies depending on who it is meeting or whether it is engaging in combat, rarely wearing the same form day after day. Its techpriests can frequently be found serving alongside the Dragons, particularly Magos Explorator others of relatively scientific bent.

[b]Favored Tactics/Battlefield Role:[/b] The Celestial Dragons, put simply, emphasize total war; specifically, the type characterized by mass maneuver, devastating weight of force, and rear-echelon strikes designed to cripple the abilities of an enemy to keep their armies fighting. It's for this very reason that they strongly prefer to fight alongside the Dusk Wardens when able, for Huo was quick to recognize the immense utility of a highly elite force of specialized troops when it came to rear-echelon sabotage and destruction. Dragon Astartes, however, are typically heavily armored, utilized as typical heavy infantry thanks to their supernatural resilience, while smaller, more flexibly non-Astartes are usually preferred for clandestine operations.

As befits a Legion expected to cleanse and purge the most dangerous foes, in addition to unusually large numbers of melta and flame weapons, the Dragons possess stocks of weapons usually proscribed by other Legions to be utilized in the most dire of circumstances: rad-weaponry, a large variety of chemical ordinances, and, in the absolute worst cases, phosphex, though most of the above are only ever deployed when absolutely necessary. The same is not true of incendiaries, however, up to and including specialized thermobaric weapons designed specially to purge underground nests of xenos, or large, bunkerbusting meltas capable of penetrating deep into underground fortified complexes. 

Most devastating of the ordnances the Dragons hold, however, are their exterminatus-class weapons. Although not the exclusive steward of these devastating weapons, the Dragons to possess the largest number out of the Astartes Legions.

[b]Legion Characteristics/Ideology:[/b] The Legionnaires of the Celestial Dragons are expected not just to act as Astartes, but productive citizens of the Imperium, too - it is a fundamental belief of their Primarch, after all, that the soldier who forgets what he is fighting for is nothing but a monster in the making. 

To know what one is fighting for, however, one must not simply consume propaganda. Rather, Huo asserts, they must participate in civilian life wherever possible. They should cultivate camaraderie, they should engage in recreation, and, most of all, they should understand the fundamental harm that war causes, for it is not an end, but an ignoble means. Astartes that violate these strictures might be forcibly assigned to recreation and leave, while those who commit severe violations - in ancient days, termed as “crimes against humanity”, they are stripped of rank, imprisoned, and, in the worst cases, executed by hanging. Many Astartes, therefore, have some sort of training pertinent to the civilian world, and even those who do not are carefully prepared to coordinate and cooperate with non-Astartes support personnel, who themselves form a large, essential part of the warfighting capability of the Celestial Dragons.


[b]Relationships:[/b] 

[u]Daughters of Iron[/u] Most notable of the Legion’s relationships is with the Daughters of Iron, whose primarch Huo counts among their closest friends, even in the wake of Eiohsa’s distance following the Rangdan Xenocides. The Legions cleanly cooperate when fighting in the same theatre of war, and a number of their unique pieces of equipment were contributed to by the Daughters.

[u]Imperial Star League:[/u] Huo endeavors to maintain a close relationship with Wolfram - and although the two primarchs may have initially bonded over mere issues of civics and work, Huo remains one of the few primarchs able to coax Wolfram into a genuine friendship. One might not guess this at first sight, however, for Huo gives Wolfram’s desire for calm and quiet a healthy respect - nonetheless, their conversations and discussions over Huo’s tea are nothing but an expression of that friendship. Their Legions, likewise, frequently work together, collaborating on “nation-building” projects and civil works wherever they meet throughout the Imperium.

[u]Dusk Wardens:[/u] The relationship between the Malik and and Shūguan is a complicated one, confusing to those not familiar with both primarchs, but to the Primarchs, it is incredibly simple. While they can certainly be said to be on friendly terms, occasionally collaborating on diplomatic matters and exchanging cultures and material aid to their respective worlds, they, like any typical pair of mortal siblings, hold a healthy rivalry with each other. In their case, however, their rivalry is resolved in just the same way as any fanciful diplomatic dispute: through apparently friendly conversation, grievances and hostilities veiled in such a way that only the participants can even tell they exist in the first place. It is through this that their relationship is kept ‘healthy’ - and with tea, of course.

The relationship between the Legions, however, is far more simple: they fight effectively in concert, the Celestial Dragons forming a superb mass front and distraction for the rear-echelon operations of certain elements of the Dusk Wardens, a role with the Dragons are more than happy to fill.

[u]The Navis Nobilite:[/u] while Huo is not content to allow Navigator houses to abuse their positions for the hoarding of power, at least when able, they maintain a healthy respect for the Navigators, and have made clear to a number that they’ve met that they do not believe their continued survival should be dependent on their perceived utility to the Imperium. Those Navigator houses preferred by the Celestial Dragons, particularly House Ruan, are actively aided in proliferation, to the point that Huo is both willing and able to use the Navigators available to them for 

[u]The Mechanicum:[/u] The relationship between the Dragons and the Mechanicum cannot be defined in simple terms. While Huo is highly respectful of the unique faith of the Mechanicum, whether they ‘get along’ with the Mechanicum is entirely dependent on the individual forgeworld or Legio’s moral compass and efficiency. In other words, with sum their relationship is strained, but with equally many, it is generally positive.

[u]The Sigillite and Administratum:[/u] Despite Huo’s quietly-held belief that the Imperial Truth will only cause strife and make bringing worlds into compliance more difficult, preferring a cosmopolitan view, Huo is a consummate Empire-builder, and one perfectly content to leave behind well-established infrastructures and civic works for the Imperium’s civilian government to build upon. Huo deeply enjoys the rare occasions they are able to engage in philosophical discussion with Malcador, also, and always trusts his counsel beyond matters of religion.

[u]The Emperor:[/u] As aforementioned, Huo has little love for the Emperor’s policy of state atheism, though they make no effort to publicly oppose it, keeping themselves within the Emperor’s good graces - for despite their disagreements, who is unfailingly loyal to the Imperium, recognizing the Emperor as the one-and-only suitable to rule humanity aside, though Malcador remains a distant second. Otherwise, they are perfectly content to serve as a loyal advisor and civil servant whenever able.


[u]Imperial Army and Solar Auxilia:[/u] to both major branches of the Imperial military, the Dragons are viewed as powerful allies, bringing a vast array of devastating firepower and quick ends to conflicts wherever they go. 

[u]Imperial Citizens:[/u] When the Dragons encounter Imperial citizenry, it is almost always on the offensive - and when they aren’t on the offensive, they leave a trail of gifts and administrative improvements behind, almost invariably improving the life of the average citizen. As such, away from the battlefield, they are viewed with wonder and relief - on embattled Imperial worlds, however, they are viewed with caution and even anxiety, frequently enlisting large numbers of able-bodied citizens into organized militias or mobilizing entirely planetary industries for war.

[u]The Aeldari:[/u] A relationship secret from even the Emperor (though Huo remains convinced he is aware, but purposely fails to acknowledge it), the Dragons make efforts to keep a cautious distant from Craftworld and Exodite Aeldari, leaving them to their own devices. 

Huo’s actual knowledge of the Aeldari is severely limited, however - primarily to mostly  untranslated fragments of ancient Aeldari records, and the whisperings of worlds lost in the Eye of Terror. Whatever the case may be, one thing is absolutely clear to Huo:
The Aeldari are not to be trifled with, and the Emperor’s choice to exterminate them may very well be a grave error. To this day, the Primarch desperately seeks to establish secret contact with them, hoping that some way, somehow, they can be negotiated with.

[u]The Barghesi:[/u] Purged. The few surviving Barghesi are to be slain on sight and/or captured for execution and summary anatomical study. There are no exceptions.
[/hider]