heavy WIP, i should have it done tonight sometime but this is the basic premise.
Because you all have already started i was planning on showing up with an imperial navy boarding party and some problems happen until i join up with you guys or tricked into helping or whatever.
@Jbcool Am I on the right track? Edit: have been changing slightly
Name: Ga'duk
Gender: M
Age:34
Faction/Race/Species: Ogryn
Sub-Faction: Navy Boarding Fighter
Rank/Position: Bone'ead Bullgryn
Mental and Physical Traits: Ga'duk is highly intelligent for an Ogryn, he can count all the way to eight AND spell his name (usually... well, sometimes). after this he is large even compared to most Ogryn making him massively strong, having out muscled many an Ork Nob during a skirmish aboard an Ork Kruiser.
Ga'duk utilizes his bulk with terrifying results as he uses an ax that greatly resembles and Ork Choppa to batter through armor or ship bulkheads. He also carries a thick shield which is simply a large slab of armor with a handle, he is generally good at putting the shield between himself and bullets but it may take a couple of shells hitting his body armor to get his attention. He also has a simple Grenadier Gauntlet but he rarely uses it unless specifically ordered to. This however makes up his entire tactical ability, if he can not simply out-muscle his competition he is at a loss. If carefully directed he can be of assistance in ways other than violence such as "carry this missile" or "do NOT let anyone except ME onto the ship UNTIL i come back" (although this second command may be rather complicated for him)
Ga'duk's belief in the Emperor is ironclad and rock solid, although his severe stupidity allows this to be manipulated easily as he associates any kind of positive concept like "Good" to the Emperor. He even goes so far at attempting to write letters to the Emperor, as he had seen other soldiers writing to their family and loved ones. Unfortunately his letters and entirely unintelligible consisting of random squiggles on the parchment.
Appearance: Ga'duk looks like most other Ogryn that have gone though the neurological enhancements with several cybernetic plugs jutting from his thick skull. He is huge, with bulging muscles straining against his heavy armor, he carries around a large gut as well with an extra hundred pounds of fat on his frame. This however does little more than add more mass for him to throw around. He is face is round and slightly childish, although heavily scarred from his service, he has a messy mop of dark hair sprouting from his head but this is usually covered by an armored environmental mask
He has several tattoos that where applied while being told that the tattoos where the Emperors will, for everyone's safety. They are stylized depictions of rank and unit so that he can be easily identified when he gets lost and returned to his commander without hassle. the first tattoo is his unit number of 55 over a tattoo of a bull's head, the second is a large black aquila eagle across his chest. the aquila was a request by Ga'duk to emulate Astartes armor because he has a slight fascination with them.
Wargear: Ogryn sized Axe - reminicent of Ork choppa, with cleaner imperial design Combat Sheild - A huge slab of armor plating with straps to carry with Grenadier Gauntlet - a rugged gauntlet used to soften targets before Ga'duk charges them with his axe
Name: Gavlan, The War-Smith, Renown Engineseer of Novarupta
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Novarupta - Disignation Dead World (formerly: Forge World) Much like Mars the Novarupta was run by the Mechanicus who had degenerated into a Technocracy where machines where meant to serve the techpriests rather than the reverence like that of mars. The people running the factories where little more than slaves imported from the surrounding feudal worlds which where kept in a state of medieval perpetual war. The endless wars on these worlds supplied the many thousands of slaves to the Novarupta forges. The planet itself is plunged into eternal night by the thick choking atmosphere of acrid exhaust and toxic fumes.
Alignment: Chaos Undivided (Note: Gavlan was (or will be) excommunicated due to use of Forbidden technology)
Fate: Flees to the Eye of terror with the Hereteks in tow, along with many forbidden technological artifacts. Galvan is also severely wounded during the Siege of Terra requiring extensive augmentations to survive.
Appearance: Gavlan stands at about 11'2 much like his siblings, but this is his only major similarity. When not covered by his armor Gavlan often wears robes that are very similar to the robes of a techpriest to cover his extensive cybernetic modifications. The majority of his enchancments are more subtle than that of the Mechanicus with most augments being covered over by skin but if one looked closely they could see machines moving and working underneath. These machines mostly make it so that he does not need nutrition or sleep as often as his siblings, being more than able to function normally for weeks on end without tiring. The machines also give his drastically increased durability, while his organs may become damaged the machines pumping or cleaning his blood are much more robust. Beyond this he has extra limbs attached to his spine, two thick tendrils of synthetic muscle and cable bound in adamantium hang from his shoulder blades and wired to his spine to be directly controlled by Gavlan's thoughts. The tendrils end in four pronged clamps ((like the sentinels from the matrix)) that can grip with enough force to crack ceramite.
Wargear: The Hammer of Novarupta - A large power maul with a shortened haft to make it a one handed weapon. Crafted by Gavlan himself
Deus-Machina - A heavily modified Stormblade super heavy tank. It is fitted with a massive plasma blast cannon and several side mounted heavy bolters and las-cannons. The tank is noticeably larger than its sibling Stormblades as it supports Ion shields like that of the Knight titan and a much more powerful generator to fuel the energy demands of the plasma cannon and shields. Atop the primary turret sits a command throne where Galvan will be wired into the tank's vox and auspex sensors.
Skills: Engineseer - He is not a psyker in the traditional sense but is very adept at communing with the machine spirit, while this makes him an excellent Techmarine his use of this ability earns him displeasure from the Mechanicus based on Mars, as he is often overpowering the will of the machine spirit and forcing it to function rather than offering it prayer and reverence.
Augments - Thanks to seveal sensory implants he is able to pick up and process more information than most, sights and sounds are enhanced and processed more completely than that of even a Primarch. These implants also grant him the ability to communicate in Binary with techpriests or techmarines with the proper implants.
Personality: Gavlan is actually quite jovial most of the time, laughing at himself or absurd stories like a drunkard. He is also somewhat of a rabble rouser. he is often found stirring trouble by riling up his siblings, or trying the Emperor's temper. However once the situation is serious or he is on the battlefield he becomes as cold and methodical as any of the Mechanicus.
Galvan however hardly spends time outside of his private workshop. He endlessly tinkers and modifies everything from Imperial guard tactical helmets to the Baneblade in the center of the workshop that has been fully stripped by Galvan alone as he seeks to improve the machine, Already proposing several new Baneblade patterns to his mobile factories.
History: Galvan was dropped on the toxic Forge world of Novarupta, he was found by a low ranking member of the Technocracy and raised as if he where the enginseer's own child. The Enginseer was one of the many on Novarupta who did not follow the restrictions that had governed the Mechanicus as strictly as those on mars. Galvan grew in this environment tinkering and exploring machines constantly developing a bond with the machine spirit that was unmatched even by the most senior techpriests.
Galvan entered the Technocracy younger than any had before, but those Enginseers who had known Galvan where surprised it took him as long as it did. Galvan however cared little for the hierarchy or who controlled the most productive forges, and cared even less for the politics around such petty squabbles. He preferred to experiment in his workshop. He produced many patterns of tanks, armor, generators, water pumps etc. that far surpassed those of his so-called superiors.
The Tecnocrats where happy to let him toil away in his workshop as they knew if Galvan decided to he could wrest control of the forges away from whomever he pleased. Galvan began research into deeper and forbidden technologies that even the priests of Novarupta dared not explore. He worked on producing machines that could think for themselves. He started on a very small scale, producing little more than mechanical rodents who could think on a very basic level. His advances grew slowly for years, even while the Emperor's great fleet burned across the galaxy reclaiming his siblings. The Enginseers of Novarupta began fearing the ever advancing artificial intelligence coming from Galvan's laboratories. When they started sending Skittari Units they where met by autonomous gunturrets that scythed them down.
Galvan began tinkering with a suit of armor from one of the feudal worlds near by, little more than a shell to house the machinery and intelligence of his artificial army. It was a primitive contraption, with only a simple las-gun built into it wrist and crude routines dictating its behavior. Galvan turned his few forges to mass produce the simple robots. The robots where not truly sentient, but he was close and he could feel it. As his autonomous army grew the Technocracy began trying to force him out and destroy the forges, but his army was growing faster than even the might of their tanks or Skitarii legions could destroy.
Galvan ignored the war raging outside his workshop, endlessly tinkering with the brain of his autonomous legion trying to successfully create a new form of life that was entirely mechanical. As he was nearing his goal the forces of the technocracy fell and the planet was Galvan's, but he didn't even notice. Nor did he notice the Emperor and his dropships arrive at the planet and begin slaughtering the Automatons.
It was a slow grueling war that Galvan was entirely oblivious to until the Emperor and a several squads of terminators marched into his workshop and destroyed the first and only truly intelligent being created by Galvan. Galvan was furious and attacked the emperor, but was quickly subdued as he was wearing nothing but a simple robe and fought with his fists and augmented limbs.
The Emperor forced Galvan to abandon his research and utilize the Iron Legion, now named the Nova Guard, to continue the conquest of the galaxy. He agreed but resented the Emperor for destroying his work and forcing him into such a tedious pursuit of conquest, he had accidentally conquered a forge world in a year without any direct involvement and resisted the full might of the Emperor for weeks.
when he claimed his Legion he re-ignited the Forges of his home and turned them to produce the Star Forge, stripping factories and reducing the entirety of the planet's surface to useless stone in the construction. For years his legion did nothing but take the small feudal planets surrounding the forge world and train and grow their ranks as Galvan constructed the gargantuan ship. When it was complete he left the forge world behind stripped bare, making his legion fleet based and only taking recruits from planets they stop at or conquer.
Relations: Talvyrn - close brothers (to be detailed) Ophiuchi - Distrusting of his sorcery, very strained relationship Farah - Hated siblings
High in orbit above Orvus II on the great Star-Forge ship Galvan and Farah, along with their aides, huddle around a great war-map of the largest hive city. Techpriests and servitors have been running casualty projections and tactical scenarios for hours, increasingly trying Farah's patience but Galvan insists repeatedly stating in a cold dead voice, "we will not repeat the Alerous disaster" where a great many Nova guard where slain. With several more reports coming from the tactical cogitators the best combat scenario hovers around 25% losses of imperial army forces and 10% losses for the Marines. In response to the new data Galvan simply replies "Unacceptable" which also means to run several more calculations which will take at least an hour.
It was at that point that Farah had walked onto the bridge, her sandled feet barely making a noise, regardless of her heavy form. "I see we are taking in the situation brother. What is it you are deciding for Orvus II? Will we drop the our children into their streets, show them our power and make them bow before us?" She grinned a bit and cracked her knuckles, and began look over the same scenarios that Galvan was looking at. She flicked her hand across the screen a few times, and moved around a few positions of the troops before standing back. "There." The screen now read 7% losses for Astartes, and 19% for Imperial Army. "That's better."
Galvan studied the modifications, letting his own cogitators crunch the numbers, it was better to be sure. 7% however was still far too high in his opinion, it would be weeks to replace the tanks and such alone much less the numbers. With out glancing up from the map he asked "Population estimate of hive?" and waited a moment before the number came up, 1.8 Billion people in the city. He grunted, a smallish hive, would probably be rebuilt and populated at least as many in a few years. Despite the fact that taking the hive would take weeks, if not months of slow costly fighting. "No" he said in the impossible calm of a techpriest, "we raze the city, orbital bombardment"
Farah stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning towards Galvan, and slowly walked over towards him, a hand grabbing his shoulder to turn him towards her. "What? You cannot do that. The losses are more than acceptable, and more than likely off.. That is a standard idea, and you know our Astartes always out perform the predictions." She stared him in the eyes, to see if there was any inclination that he might change his mind. "Galvan, you can't be serious, this is our purpose. TO fight for the Imperium. Not sit here and watch bombs blow up billions of civilians."
Galvan stared he down while dismissing the HUD displays of Farah's heart rate and other vitals, he knew he was upsetting her but it wasn't the point. He sighed and started calling up various numbers in his head even though part of him knew Farah could care less about them. he started spouting them off rapid fire "65% of the population are combatants, at minimum, we will at minimum kill 4 billion enemy combatants and civilians while taking this planet. which will take about a year depending on their resilience. razing this city will save us months, only add 25% to the planets casualties and possibly end the war now if it breaks their spirit... its the most logical decision" he knew it wouldn't help even after he said it, but he hoped it would, it was his sister after all.
She didn't move, she simply looked once more at the scrolling statistics. "Give a show of force then." She looked over the map, and pulled up a single area it was hot with military activity, obviously one of the enemies main locations. "Fire here, destroy this base.. Then.. See if they still want to fight. Show them we are willing to kill them all without mercy, but give them a chance. There are billions of combatants? Billions of potential recruits, for the army, and our sons and daughters alike."
'billions of slaves for the forges' flashed through his mind, followed by thoughts of his artificial army. a new soldier at least as powerful as a space marine but only taking days to produce rather than years... If only father could understand... Galvan shook his head, "its too small, they are a resistance force, not a true military. They have splinter cells in every hive and bases all over the planet. destroying the isolated bases would only remove... 30% of the fighting ability." he finally said, his voice touched with a hint of annoyance which is extremely uncharacteristic.
"You can try, it won't hurt to try. Galvan, I'm not going to let you do this." Farah spoke through clenched teeth as her grip tightened on her brother's shoulder. "I won't let you." She said it more like it was already a fact, than if she was threatening. She knew she was on his ship, but that didn't matter to her. "Listen to me, Father found me long before you, I have seen more... Trust in my judgement."
Galvan's eye twitched, only a fraction of a centimeter, but enough to be seen as he recalled how his legion was decimated when Rebels used nukes to blast the marines from their planet. only recently has he brought his legion back from the brink of extinction. He pulled away from her and stood facing the helm of his ship, looking out at the real surface of the planet. He produced a burst of static white noise, a command in binary code to several of his aides and servitors that Farah didn't understand. he looked at the floor of the hull "i'm sorry Farah, it must be done" he said at the same time commands began circulating on the vox to spin up the orbital bombardment weapons.
Without even a thought Farah's feet carried her to stand at her brother's back. Immediately her hand was on the back of Galvan's neck, and wrenched him backwards, and down so that his knees were bending. This was followed by a blow from Farah's fist across her brother's mouth, and nose to send him down onto the floor at her feet. "You fool! Idiot! Condemning them to die without even a chance to surrender! Sitting in your ship, and blasting them from orbit.. Coward!" She growled through her teeth, her fist raising again as she prepared to pummel Galvan's features further.
Surprised at the extremity of Farah's actions he didn't have the chance to react, but his mechanical tentacles clamped down onto the hull and pushed him up even while he brought up his hands to block any farther blows from his sister. Being accused of cowardice stung rather deeply however. "Cease your attack sister, it is done" he said once he regained his feet, even as he said the words dozens of heavy bombers where streaking towards the planet's surface while battleships and cruisers aligned themselves to start the bombardment.
"It's not done, you can stop it right now!" She swung her fist once more, but a member of the Nova guard had grabbed her arm. Slowly she turned her head, and stared at the Marine who had dared to touch her. Her fist was a blur as she cracked him across the jaw and sent him sprawling across the floor, the single punch rendering him unconscious. She then immediately turned to deliver that punch she had about to render unto her brother.
Galvan sighed as one of his marines was struck, he would live... probably, but he noticed Farah begin to turn back towards him. She was going to attack him again, he was sure, so he lashed out with one of the octopus arms trying to coil it around his sister's arm, rendering it immobile. With his arms of flesh he covered his face to catch the blow if his mechanical arm was too slow. He also heard a binary report that the bombers had started their attack run but the orbital cannons had not started yet.
As her arm became immobilized she frowned, and reached over to grab the tendril, and squeeze it till it shattered if he didn't stop her. Her eyes narrowed a bit. "Stop the bombardment now. Galvan, listen to the common sense I am giving you."
Galvan was becoming increasingly frustrated at the confrontation, 'why didn't she understand, they are just slav- Civilians.' Galvan thought to himself. 'All this could be avoided if FATHER would let me continue my research...' Suddenly furious he shoved Farah hard with both arms and one of his mechanical limbs sending her sliding away several feet on the smooth hull. "Begin the bombardment" he said with a fiery edge to his voice that Farah had never heard before.
For a moment, she was surprised, but only for a moment. And as the order to begin the bombardment was issued from Galvan's lips, she looked towards the planet. "I see." She slowly shook her head and started to walk from the bridge. "We will leave as soon as possible, and I will return to my fleet." She stops before leaving. "What a cowardly child of our father you turned out to be Galvan. Maybe you should have gone the way of the Ninth legion."
Galvan whorled on his sister, "You don't understand!" he shouted furious, now crossing the line of uncharacteristic to out right bizarre. "I have taken dozens of systems for father, one leaving my legion in ruin... there is a better w-.." he stopped himself before he said more knowing it would earn more rage from his sister and Father would surely hear of it if he said more. "I will not condemn my legion to ruin again, call it cowardice if you will.. but you are wrong"
She pushed the door open. "No you'll just condemn them, and yourself to being the very thing we seek to safeguard the Imperium against." Moving swiftly through the doors she let them shut behind her.
Galvan ground his teeth and turned to watch the main batteries pummel the hive to ash. He watched for several moments pondering the exchange, maybe she didn't know about the Artificial Intelligence project, maybe father wouldn't hear of that... the Emperor would scold him for razing a hive but that would pale in comparison to the fury the Emperor would bring if he caught wind of the project. He left the bridge and descended into his workshop, trying to remember his old research as he pulled a suit of terminator armor apart.
Legion Name: The Nova Guard (Formerly: The Steel Legion)
Legion Number: XX
Legion Strength: Fleet Based, No legion home world 60,000 Marines 10,000,000 Imperial Guard 500,000 Mechanicum auxillery (mostly Skitarii) Large Orbital fleet: 1 Starforge Super-Heavy Battleship (for size see Abyss) The Starforge is a titan unparalleled in the Imperium, supporting a small city within its hull and many factories that manufacture tanks and munitions on the move making re-supply from the Mechanicus rare, acting as a mobile Forgeworld and shipyard as well as the home of the entire XXth legion. (On the Starforge) 20,000 Marines 500,000 Imperial Navy 100,000 Mechanicus 500,000 Factory Labor
2 Emperor Class Battleships (mostly fitted to be Carriers of attack craft) 4 Exorcist Cruiser (also attack craft carriers) 12 Overlord Battlecruisers +support and smaller escort vessels
Armor Appearance:
Warcry: "Leave no stone atop another!"
Important Figures: WIP Senior Techmarine Senior Librarian (and some more)
Tactics/Roles: Vehicle specialists, primarily siege and orbital tactics. They will combine Artillery and orbital bombardment with an ever advancing line of tanks and other combat vehicles to grind an enemy to dust. They combine their forces heavily with the Imperial Guard making an unstoppable wall of tanks and super-heavy tanks and a few Knight Titans. Because of this they have relatively few dedicated infantrymen, the Infantry marines are generally paired with many Imperial Guard soldiers, 5 Marine squad is usually paired with a 30 man platoon of guardsmen.
Traits/Ideology: The Nova Guard are a cold bunch, their armor only being painted a simple base coat and grudgingly given some aesthetic trim. Which was only done at the Emperor's express order. They have a larger proportion of Techmarines than any other Legion who all train under the Techpriests of Novarupta rather than the more common training on mars. This gives them a quirk when compared to the Martian Techmarines. The nova Guard Techmarines are much less respectful of the great machines they work with, often forcing the machine spirit to work rather than offering prayers. The few Martian Techpriests that have joined the Legion are often disgusted by the practice, but work closely after battle when each and every Techmarine and priest work to restore the machine spirit to its ideal.
the many Techmarines and priests, many of whom take after their Primarch, endlessly tinker with augments or machinery. Because of this a great deal of custom wargear has been distributed among the legion, some even making it into the hands of the Imperial Army attachments.
Name: Gavlan, The War-Smith, Renown Engineseer of Novarupta
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Novarupta - Disignation Dead World (formerly: Forge World) Much like Mars the Novarupta was run by the Mechanicus who had degenerated into a Technocracy where machines where meant to serve the techpriests rather than the reverence like that of mars. The people running the factories where little more than slaves imported from the surrounding feudal worlds which where kept in a state of medieval perpetual war. The endless wars on these worlds supplied the many thousands of slaves to the Novarupta forges. The planet itself is plunged into eternal night by the thick choking atmosphere of acrid exhaust and toxic fumes.
Alignment: Chaos Undivided (Note: Gavlan was (or will be) excommunicated due to use of Forbidden technology)
Fate: Flees to the Eye of terror with the Hereteks in tow, along with many forbidden technological artifacts. Galvan is also severely wounded during the Siege of Terra requiring extensive augmentations to survive.
Appearance: Gavlan stands at about 11'2 much like his siblings, but this is his only major similarity. When not covered by his armor Gavlan often wears robes that are very similar to the robes of a techpriest to cover his extensive cybernetic modifications. The majority of his enchancments are more subtle than that of the Mechanicus with most augments being covered over by skin but if one looked closely they could see machines moving and working underneath. These machines mostly make it so that he does not need nutrition or sleep as often as his siblings, being more than able to function normally for weeks on end without tiring. The machines also give his drastically increased durability, while his organs may become damaged the machines pumping or cleaning his blood are much more robust. Beyond this he has extra limbs attached to his spine, two thick tendrils of synthetic muscle and cable bound in adamantium hang from his shoulder blades and wired to his spine to be directly controlled by Gavlan's thoughts. The tendrils end in four pronged clamps ((like the sentinels from the matrix)) that can grip with enough force to crack ceramite.
Wargear: The Hammer of Novarupta - A large power maul with a shortened haft to make it a one handed weapon. Crafted by Gavlan himself
Deus-Machina - A heavily modified Stormblade super heavy tank. It is fitted with a massive plasma blast cannon and several side mounted heavy bolters and las-cannons. The tank is noticeably larger than its sibling Stormblades as it supports Ion shields like that of the Knight titan and a much more powerful generator to fuel the energy demands of the plasma cannon and shields. Atop the primary turret sits a command throne where Galvan will be wired into the tank's vox and auspex sensors.
Skills: Engineseer - He is not a psyker in the traditional sense but is very adept at communing with the machine spirit, while this makes him an excellent Techmarine his use of this ability earns him displeasure from the Mechanicus based on Mars, as he is often overpowering the will of the machine spirit and forcing it to function rather than offering it prayer and reverence.
Augments - Thanks to seveal sensory implants he is able to pick up and process more information than most, sights and sounds are enhanced and processed more completely than that of even a Primarch. These implants also grant him the ability to communicate in Binary with techpriests or techmarines with the proper implants.
Personality: Gavlan is actually quite jovial most of the time, laughing at himself or absurd stories like a drunkard. He is also somewhat of a rabble rouser. he is often found stirring trouble by riling up his siblings, or trying the Emperor's temper. However once the situation is serious or he is on the battlefield he becomes as cold and methodical as any of the Mechanicus.
Galvan however hardly spends time outside of his private workshop. He endlessly tinkers and modifies everything from Imperial guard tactical helmets to the Baneblade in the center of the workshop that has been fully stripped by Galvan alone as he seeks to improve the machine, Already proposing several new Baneblade patterns to his mobile factories.
History: Galvan was dropped on the toxic Forge world of Novarupta, he was found by a low ranking member of the Technocracy and raised as if he where the enginseer's own child. The Enginseer was one of the many on Novarupta who did not follow the restrictions that had governed the Mechanicus as strictly as those on mars. Galvan grew in this environment tinkering and exploring machines constantly developing a bond with the machine spirit that was unmatched even by the most senior techpriests.
Galvan entered the Technocracy younger than any had before, but those Enginseers who had known Galvan where surprised it took him as long as it did. Galvan however cared little for the hierarchy or who controlled the most productive forges, and cared even less for the politics around such petty squabbles. He preferred to experiment in his workshop. He produced many patterns of tanks, armor, generators, water pumps etc. that far surpassed those of his so-called superiors.
The Tecnocrats where happy to let him toil away in his workshop as they knew if Galvan decided to he could wrest control of the forges away from whomever he pleased. Galvan began research into deeper and forbidden technologies that even the priests of Novarupta dared not explore. He worked on producing machines that could think for themselves. He started on a very small scale, producing little more than mechanical rodents who could think on a very basic level. His advances grew slowly for years, even while the Emperor's great fleet burned across the galaxy reclaiming his siblings. The Enginseers of Novarupta began fearing the ever advancing artificial intelligence coming from Galvan's laboratories. When they started sending Skittari Units they where met by autonomous gunturrets that scythed them down.
Galvan began tinkering with a suit of armor from one of the feudal worlds near by, little more than a shell to house the machinery and intelligence of his artificial army. It was a primitive contraption, with only a simple las-gun built into it wrist and crude routines dictating its behavior. Galvan turned his few forges to mass produce the simple robots. The robots where not truly sentient, but he was close and he could feel it. As his autonomous army grew the Technocracy began trying to force him out and destroy the forges, but his army was growing faster than even the might of their tanks or Skitarii legions could destroy.
Galvan ignored the war raging outside his workshop, endlessly tinkering with the brain of his autonomous legion trying to successfully create a new form of life that was entirely mechanical. As he was nearing his goal the forces of the technocracy fell and the planet was Galvan's, but he didn't even notice. Nor did he notice the Emperor and his dropships arrive at the planet and begin slaughtering the Automatons.
It was a slow grueling war that Galvan was entirely oblivious to until the Emperor and a several squads of terminators marched into his workshop and destroyed the first and only truly intelligent being created by Galvan. Galvan was furious and attacked the emperor, but was quickly subdued as he was wearing nothing but a simple robe and fought with his fists and augmented limbs.
The Emperor forced Galvan to abandon his research and utilize the Iron Legion, now named the Nova Guard, to continue the conquest of the galaxy. He agreed but resented the Emperor for destroying his work and forcing him into such a tedious pursuit of conquest, he had accidentally conquered a forge world in a year without any direct involvement and resisted the full might of the Emperor for weeks.
when he claimed his Legion he re-ignited the Forges of his home and turned them to produce the Star Forge, stripping factories and reducing the entirety of the planet's surface to useless stone in the construction. For years his legion did nothing but take the small feudal planets surrounding the forge world and train and grow their ranks as Galvan constructed the gargantuan ship. When it was complete he left the forge world behind stripped bare, making his legion fleet based and only taking recruits from planets they stop at or conquer.
Relations: Talvyrn - close brothers (to be detailed) Ophiuchi - Distrusting of his sorcery, very strained relationship Farah - Hated siblings
High in orbit above Orvus II on the great Star-Forge ship Galvan and Farah, along with their aides, huddle around a great war-map of the largest hive city. Techpriests and servitors have been running casualty projections and tactical scenarios for hours, increasingly trying Farah's patience but Galvan insists repeatedly stating in a cold dead voice, "we will not repeat the Alerous disaster" where a great many Nova guard where slain. With several more reports coming from the tactical cogitators the best combat scenario hovers around 25% losses of imperial army forces and 10% losses for the Marines. In response to the new data Galvan simply replies "Unacceptable" which also means to run several more calculations which will take at least an hour.
It was at that point that Farah had walked onto the bridge, her sandled feet barely making a noise, regardless of her heavy form. "I see we are taking in the situation brother. What is it you are deciding for Orvus II? Will we drop the our children into their streets, show them our power and make them bow before us?" She grinned a bit and cracked her knuckles, and began look over the same scenarios that Galvan was looking at. She flicked her hand across the screen a few times, and moved around a few positions of the troops before standing back. "There." The screen now read 7% losses for Astartes, and 19% for Imperial Army. "That's better."
Galvan studied the modifications, letting his own cogitators crunch the numbers, it was better to be sure. 7% however was still far too high in his opinion, it would be weeks to replace the tanks and such alone much less the numbers. With out glancing up from the map he asked "Population estimate of hive?" and waited a moment before the number came up, 1.8 Billion people in the city. He grunted, a smallish hive, would probably be rebuilt and populated at least as many in a few years. Despite the fact that taking the hive would take weeks, if not months of slow costly fighting. "No" he said in the impossible calm of a techpriest, "we raze the city, orbital bombardment"
Farah stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning towards Galvan, and slowly walked over towards him, a hand grabbing his shoulder to turn him towards her. "What? You cannot do that. The losses are more than acceptable, and more than likely off.. That is a standard idea, and you know our Astartes always out perform the predictions." She stared him in the eyes, to see if there was any inclination that he might change his mind. "Galvan, you can't be serious, this is our purpose. TO fight for the Imperium. Not sit here and watch bombs blow up billions of civilians."
Galvan stared he down while dismissing the HUD displays of Farah's heart rate and other vitals, he knew he was upsetting her but it wasn't the point. He sighed and started calling up various numbers in his head even though part of him knew Farah could care less about them. he started spouting them off rapid fire "65% of the population are combatants, at minimum, we will at minimum kill 4 billion enemy combatants and civilians while taking this planet. which will take about a year depending on their resilience. razing this city will save us months, only add 25% to the planets casualties and possibly end the war now if it breaks their spirit... its the most logical decision" he knew it wouldn't help even after he said it, but he hoped it would, it was his sister after all.
She didn't move, she simply looked once more at the scrolling statistics. "Give a show of force then." She looked over the map, and pulled up a single area it was hot with military activity, obviously one of the enemies main locations. "Fire here, destroy this base.. Then.. See if they still want to fight. Show them we are willing to kill them all without mercy, but give them a chance. There are billions of combatants? Billions of potential recruits, for the army, and our sons and daughters alike."
'billions of slaves for the forges' flashed through his mind, followed by thoughts of his artificial army. a new soldier at least as powerful as a space marine but only taking days to produce rather than years... If only father could understand... Galvan shook his head, "its too small, they are a resistance force, not a true military. They have splinter cells in every hive and bases all over the planet. destroying the isolated bases would only remove... 30% of the fighting ability." he finally said, his voice touched with a hint of annoyance which is extremely uncharacteristic.
"You can try, it won't hurt to try. Galvan, I'm not going to let you do this." Farah spoke through clenched teeth as her grip tightened on her brother's shoulder. "I won't let you." She said it more like it was already a fact, than if she was threatening. She knew she was on his ship, but that didn't matter to her. "Listen to me, Father found me long before you, I have seen more... Trust in my judgement."
Galvan's eye twitched, only a fraction of a centimeter, but enough to be seen as he recalled how his legion was decimated when Rebels used nukes to blast the marines from their planet. only recently has he brought his legion back from the brink of extinction. He pulled away from her and stood facing the helm of his ship, looking out at the real surface of the planet. He produced a burst of static white noise, a command in binary code to several of his aides and servitors that Farah didn't understand. he looked at the floor of the hull "i'm sorry Farah, it must be done" he said at the same time commands began circulating on the vox to spin up the orbital bombardment weapons.
Without even a thought Farah's feet carried her to stand at her brother's back. Immediately her hand was on the back of Galvan's neck, and wrenched him backwards, and down so that his knees were bending. This was followed by a blow from Farah's fist across her brother's mouth, and nose to send him down onto the floor at her feet. "You fool! Idiot! Condemning them to die without even a chance to surrender! Sitting in your ship, and blasting them from orbit.. Coward!" She growled through her teeth, her fist raising again as she prepared to pummel Galvan's features further.
Surprised at the extremity of Farah's actions he didn't have the chance to react, but his mechanical tentacles clamped down onto the hull and pushed him up even while he brought up his hands to block any farther blows from his sister. Being accused of cowardice stung rather deeply however. "Cease your attack sister, it is done" he said once he regained his feet, even as he said the words dozens of heavy bombers where streaking towards the planet's surface while battleships and cruisers aligned themselves to start the bombardment.
"It's not done, you can stop it right now!" She swung her fist once more, but a member of the Nova guard had grabbed her arm. Slowly she turned her head, and stared at the Marine who had dared to touch her. Her fist was a blur as she cracked him across the jaw and sent him sprawling across the floor, the single punch rendering him unconscious. She then immediately turned to deliver that punch she had about to render unto her brother.
Galvan sighed as one of his marines was struck, he would live... probably, but he noticed Farah begin to turn back towards him. She was going to attack him again, he was sure, so he lashed out with one of the octopus arms trying to coil it around his sister's arm, rendering it immobile. With his arms of flesh he covered his face to catch the blow if his mechanical arm was too slow. He also heard a binary report that the bombers had started their attack run but the orbital cannons had not started yet.
As her arm became immobilized she frowned, and reached over to grab the tendril, and squeeze it till it shattered if he didn't stop her. Her eyes narrowed a bit. "Stop the bombardment now. Galvan, listen to the common sense I am giving you."
Galvan was becoming increasingly frustrated at the confrontation, 'why didn't she understand, they are just slav- Civilians.' Galvan thought to himself. 'All this could be avoided if FATHER would let me continue my research...' Suddenly furious he shoved Farah hard with both arms and one of his mechanical limbs sending her sliding away several feet on the smooth hull. "Begin the bombardment" he said with a fiery edge to his voice that Farah had never heard before.
For a moment, she was surprised, but only for a moment. And as the order to begin the bombardment was issued from Galvan's lips, she looked towards the planet. "I see." She slowly shook her head and started to walk from the bridge. "We will leave as soon as possible, and I will return to my fleet." She stops before leaving. "What a cowardly child of our father you turned out to be Galvan. Maybe you should have gone the way of the Ninth legion."
Galvan whorled on his sister, "You don't understand!" he shouted furious, now crossing the line of uncharacteristic to out right bizarre. "I have taken dozens of systems for father, one leaving my legion in ruin... there is a better w-.." he stopped himself before he said more knowing it would earn more rage from his sister and Father would surely hear of it if he said more. "I will not condemn my legion to ruin again, call it cowardice if you will.. but you are wrong"
She pushed the door open. "No you'll just condemn them, and yourself to being the very thing we seek to safeguard the Imperium against." Moving swiftly through the doors she let them shut behind her.
Galvan ground his teeth and turned to watch the main batteries pummel the hive to ash. He watched for several moments pondering the exchange, maybe she didn't know about the Artificial Intelligence project, maybe father wouldn't hear of that... the Emperor would scold him for razing a hive but that would pale in comparison to the fury the Emperor would bring if he caught wind of the project. He left the bridge and descended into his workshop, trying to remember his old research as he pulled a suit of terminator armor apart.
Legion Name: The Nova Guard (Formerly: The Steel Legion)
Legion Number: XX
Legion Strength: Fleet Based, No legion home world 60,000 Marines 10,000,000 Imperial Guard 500,000 Mechanicum auxillery (mostly Skitarii) Large Orbital fleet: 1 Starforge Super-Heavy Battleship (for size see Abyss) The Starforge is a titan unparalleled in the Imperium, supporting a small city within its hull and many factories that manufacture tanks and munitions on the move making re-supply from the Mechanicus rare, acting as a mobile Forgeworld and shipyard as well as the home of the entire XXth legion. (On the Starforge) 20,000 Marines 500,000 Imperial Navy 100,000 Mechanicus 500,000 Factory Labor
2 Emperor Class Battleships (mostly fitted to be Carriers of attack craft) 4 Exorcist Cruiser (also attack craft carriers) 12 Overlord Battlecruisers +support and smaller escort vessels
Armor Appearance:
Warcry: "Leave no stone atop another!"
Important Figures: WIP Senior Techmarine Senior Librarian (and some more)
Tactics/Roles: Vehicle specialists, primarily siege and orbital tactics. They will combine Artillery and orbital bombardment with an ever advancing line of tanks and other combat vehicles to grind an enemy to dust. They combine their forces heavily with the Imperial Guard making an unstoppable wall of tanks and super-heavy tanks and a few Knight Titans. Because of this they have relatively few dedicated infantrymen, the Infantry marines are generally paired with many Imperial Guard soldiers, 5 Marine squad is usually paired with a 30 man platoon of guardsmen.
Traits/Ideology: The Nova Guard are a cold bunch, their armor only being painted a simple base coat and grudgingly given some aesthetic trim. Which was only done at the Emperor's express order. They have a larger proportion of Techmarines than any other Legion who all train under the Techpriests of Novarupta rather than the more common training on mars. This gives them a quirk when compared to the Martian Techmarines. The nova Guard Techmarines are much less respectful of the great machines they work with, often forcing the machine spirit to work rather than offering prayers. The few Martian Techpriests that have joined the Legion are often disgusted by the practice, but work closely after battle when each and every Techmarine and priest work to restore the machine spirit to its ideal.
the many Techmarines and priests, many of whom take after their Primarch, endlessly tinker with augments or machinery. Because of this a great deal of custom wargear has been distributed among the legion, some even making it into the hands of the Imperial Army attachments.
Galvan would be pretty indifferent towards magic and the warp normally but during his fall and use of forbidden tech he would try to dabble in psionics even though he isn't psychic himself. Like trying to channel warp energies through machinery or make psychoactive devices.. like, null fields or warp-fire flamers etc.
Edit: actually he probably wouldn't approve of magic all that much because its unreliable and cant be measured and quantified. He wouldnt "hate" psykers, but would absolutely distrust their ability.
@ClocktowerEchos Yeah, I know. I'm just trying to justify it, and realising it doesn't work out so well. Anyway, I'll come up with something else, I think. I have a lot of other stuff I need to sort out about Oph too, so...
Im sure i could come up with some tech to damage the webway, some kind of psychic depth charge in the warp. which i might do anyway cos it would probably disrupt any psykers and probably the emperor to some degree.
