Warhammer The Iron Empire (Warhammer 40k)

[PsihoKekec]

I guess we are getting into final stretch of the plan, so this chapter is possibly already in the lifetime of Isolde. Jarn surely wouldn't be willing to give this speech if liberation of Kimara wasn't already put in motion.

In but a moment Tristan realized why his kin were celebrating, and he could not help but look in awe out towards a 'Battleship' that could contest the might of the Phalanx, or even outright defeat it.

How many Astartes does Iron Legion have? Because Imperial Fists have trouble manning Phalanx and Iron Legion must have even more commitments for their astartes than Fists

This past century we have worked alongside expert Genetors, including the renowned Fabius Bile,

Even if they had to take this route, cooperation with Fabulous Bile(s) is not exactly something you publicly admit, even to such limited audience, there is always chance of someone getting captured and interrogated, or having their brains chomped on. And knowledge of their association with Bile would surely enlarge the bull's eye on them for both Imperium and Chaos.

"Just as it is now, it will be the duty of each and every Astarte to cultivate the next generation. From each pairing eight children can be born: four male with Gene-Seed naturally incorporated into their being, and four female with their their Omnis Gravidae. While our ranks will grow slower at first, successive generations will exponentially increase our numbers and rival the Astarte Legions of old. In centuries we shall surpass even those, and none will be able to stand in the way of our vision."

[Porn music starts playing]
I can see why Bile would be interested in this project and why he will probably continue his involvement as this would play into vision of the uplifted humanity. Though if he finds results unsatisfactory...
I guess Isolde is the first and possibly there already additional enhanced girls in existence as failure in this regard is simply not an option. This changes mental composition of the astartes significantly, because right now they warrior monks, their only legacy is their deeds, but now this will change and in the future they will serve alongside their sons, grandsons... How will this impact their psyche, as before their battle brothers were but comrades, but now will be their kin - their flesh anf blood.

Henceforth, to this end, our Iron Legion shall be known as the 'Iron Krakens' of Kimara, 'successors' of the Iron Hands of Medusa.

A sensible approach as even with their mighty super-battleship and Kimara's potent orbital and ground defenses, Imperium has resources of millions of words to draw upon if threat of Iron Empire becomes too overt.

 

[Thunderscourge]

Wait a minute, does this mean that Kimara is made up of descendants of Italians?

I have been drawing from European names and words for many of their names, such as Jarn coming from Welsh, but I decided to use Italian in this instance because the Commandant is essentially the Kimaran Godfather.

oh snap!

To what part?

I guess we are getting into final stretch of the plan, so this chapter is possibly already in the lifetime of Isolde. Jarn surely wouldn't be willing to give this speech if liberation of Kimara wasn't already put in motion.

Yeah, I'm working on a "X years until Siege of Kimara" style timeline for the pdf version that will give people a good idea about that sort of thing. I give frames of reference in the story itself, but since I write so much they might get missed by people and so a simple framing device for each update being X amount of time before the big day will help I feel.

How many Astartes does Iron Legion have? Because Imperial Fists have trouble manning Phalanx and Iron Legion must have even more commitments for their astartes than Fists

Oh it's absolutely going to be an issue at first, but the Utopia-class Star Fortress was built with their future in mind of an expanding Legion rather than their present manpower. Right now their active field personnel are the size of a Chapter, with about three times that in support personnel who are too battered by centuries of attrition warfare to take to the field.

However since they designed it themselves a lot of its functions will be able to be automated to a degree to compensate, but automated systems won't perform as optimally as if you had an actual Legionnaire doing so. Now they have their own Phalanx tier vessel though, so they just have to grow into it.

Even if they had to take this route, cooperation with Fabulous Bile(s) is not exactly something you publicly admit, even to such limited audience, there is always chance of someone getting captured and interrogated, or having their brains chomped on. And knowledge of their association with Bile would surely enlarge the bull's eye on them for both Imperium and Chaos.

Plenty work with Fabius in an open manner since for many warbands he is the only option they have to do certain things. Just about everything they've done could draw a bigger target on their back from both the Imperium and Chaos, so Bile isn't really unique in that manner: they just have been hiding their tracks when possible, or have allowed the Word Bearers on their heels to do so for them.

[Porn music starts playing]
I can see why Bile would be interested in this project and why he will probably continue his involvement as this would play into vision of the uplifted humanity. Though if he finds results unsatisfactory...

To Bile it would be something to further refine his own research and projects, so to him it's a stepping stone: to Jarn and his forces it is essentially the end goal as they do not desire something further, and thus won't be spinning their wheels trying to make the new next best thing.

I guess Isolde is the first and possibly there already additional enhanced girls in existence as failure in this regard is simply not an option. This changes mental composition of the astartes significantly, because right now they warrior monks, their only legacy is their deeds, but now this will change and in the future they will serve alongside their sons, grandsons... How will this impact their psyche, as before their battle brothers were but comrades, but now will be their kin - their flesh anf blood.

Isolde very likely is a second generation inheritor given that her supplementary organs are 'natural' and weren't surgically implanted, though given the likely massive amount of gene-crafting put into her creation those specifics are deliberately unclear and vague.

As for others being enhanced already, we've actually already seen the result of one: Momon the new guy in Urkamus squad with the odd medical file who was given a 'test run' of sorts during the Inwit invasion. They wouldn't test run the tech only when they've gotten to Kimara, instead they would want to know what they have works and thus Momon exists as a 'born' Astarte.

You are correct though regarding the shift in culture it would cause for these Iron Warriors, and that is something they are going to have to tackle moving forward.

A sensible approach as even with their mighty super-battleship and Kimara's potent orbital and ground defenses, Imperium has resources of millions of words to draw upon if threat of Iron Empire becomes too overt.

Swap the skulls for krakens, add some gears as trim, and suddenly you're a totally loyal Iron Hands successor instead of a totally heretical Iron Warrior. What do you mean there's barely any difference between their Legions? The Iron Hands are the dark grey (sometimes black) armored tech enthusiasts who use a lot of cybernetics and detest weakness, while the Iron Warriors are dark grey (sometimes lighter grey) armored tech enthusiasts with a lot of cybernetics and detest weakness AND use siege weapons a lot. Totally different.

 

[ATP]

Wait a minute, does this mean that Kimara is made up of descendants of Italians?

Of course! and to explain why they could fight,they are descendents of higlanders who formed alpini dyvisions.They fought very well - in 1943 they break from soviet encirclent in bayonet charge!

Jokes aside - very good chapter,but - one super spaceship do not win war.

Besides,they plan to take over as loyalist legion,right?
If they plan to cosplay as loyalist,how they would deal with Inquisition? do they have more friendly inquisitors then poor dude who died on Kimara making some poor SoB sad?

P.S making big families is good,but....8 children do not look safe.It is Chaos number,if i remember correctly.

 

[PsihoKekec]

If you ban all of the chaos sacred numbers then only allowed numbers would be 0-5 and 10-11, because all other numbers are chaos sacred numbers or combinations of chaos sacred numbers.

 

[ATP]

If you ban all of the chaos sacred numbers then only allowed numbers would be 0-5 and 10-11, because all other numbers are chaos sacred numbers or combinations of chaos sacred numbers.

What is wrong with 10 children? it is lucky number!

 

[The Whispering Monk]

P.S making big families is good,but....8 children do not look safe.It is Chaos number,if i remember correctly.

Take the numbers BACK from Chaos!!

They have no right to them, and only stole them from the Imperium!!!

 

[Thunderscourge]

Truth be told the reason is that 8 kids split evenly by SCIENCE is 4 and 4, and the Iron Warriors are the 4th Legion so when possible I've been using the number 4 up to and including the statline for a certain character whose weapons have stats that are related to 4 in some way.

I could arbitrarily make it any number, so I made it the number that is a hidden nod to their Legion. As mentioned, a lot of numbers have Chaos interpretations, but that doesn't mean the Tau Crisis suits are beholden to Chaos just because they have an 8 in their moniker.

 

[PsihoKekec]

Though that might have more to do with Tau being soulless bio-NPCs.

 

[ATP]

Though that might have more to do with Tau being soulless bio-NPCs.

Impossible! best of Custodes,Kittonius,had Tau girlfriend! she had to have soul!

 

[The Whispering Monk]

Impossible! best of Custodes,Kittonius,had Tau girlfriend! she had to have soul!

So the Custodes, who's name was 'Kitton', had a Tau girlfriend...

 

[Thunderscourge]

Speaking of girlfriends, if the theories are true Tristan will be lucky to have Isolde, who I have some more preliminary art for via Stable Diffusion:

 

[PsihoKekec]

Impossible! best of Custodes,Kittonius,had Tau girlfriend! she had to have soul!

To quote Kitten himself ''That is not fucking canon!''

Tristan will be lucky to have Isolde

When the term lucky is cutting it short
[porn music intensifies]

Admit it, the reason you decided to post your story here is due to forum NSFW section, so once Tristan and Isolde meet, all the smut stories, from the people who weren't interested in the story before, will have some place to be posted. Of course internet being cursed as it is, there is a bad chance that most of the stories will be Tristan/Levente slash fics

 

[ATP]

So the Custodes, who's name was 'Kitton', had a Tau girlfriend...

Here is your proof - even when Kittonius deny it!:


P.S it would be fun,if our Krakens meedt commander Shadowsun on battlefield and ask her about Kittonius

 

[Thunderscourge]

When the term lucky is cutting it short
[porn music intensifies]

Admit it, the reason you decided to post your story here is due to forum NSFW section, so once Tristan and Isolde meet, all the smut stories, from the people who weren't interested in the story before, will have some place to be posted.

I'd rather just leave it to the imagination because smut stories are eww. I'm sure you all can put two and two together after all...

Tristan/Levente slash fics

Yaoi fans would hate Isolde, but that is a badge of honor to be honest. Yaoi is a Conomor sanctioned genre.

 

[PsihoKekec]

Slaneesh approves, Inquisition does not. I'm with the exterminatus appreciators

 

[Paladin Wulfen]

Of course! and to explain why they could fight,they are descendents of higlanders who formed alpini dyvisions.They fought very well - in 1943 they break from soviet encirclent in bayonet charge!

Jokes aside - very good chapter,but - one super spaceship do not win war.

Besides,they plan to take over as loyalist legion,right?
If they plan to cosplay as loyalist,how they would deal with Inquisition? do they have more friendly inquisitors then poor dude who died on Kimara making some poor SoB sad?

P.S making big families is good,but....8 children do not look safe.It is Chaos number,if i remember correctly.

Ejem *pointing like Hades to the Olympus*
Remember the Arditi Bro.

I have curiosity about how are physically now Tristan like face

 

[Thunderscourge]

Remember the Arditi Bro.

The Italian iteration of WWI Stormtroopers do have a good record from what I know. Perhaps I can have the elite among the Kimaran Kraken Tempestus Scions be called Brinare Nere, "Black Frost", as a nod to the Arditi's moniker of "Black Flames" (Fiamma Nere).

I have curiosity about how are physically now Tristan like face

If you're asking about Tristan's face, it's still a work in progress, but the end goal would be for it to look like Luther's a bit given the implication his planet were Caliban-descended. Add in long hair like many knights were known to have and you get a good approximation. Stannis from Game of Thrones also works as a general model.

This AI output was too anime, but everything is a work in progress.

 

[PsihoKekec]

I refuse your canon and continue to picture him as bigger MacGyver.

 

[PsihoKekec]

Kind of slipped my mind because conversation veered in another direction, but would Utopia look like utilitarian, borderline brutalist design, or would Jarn have it built in gothic style, like Imperium does it?

Also, I reckon that boys born from astartes and modified women will not be born with second heart, third lung, black carapace and other additional organs, so they will still need organ implants to become full Space Marines. Since Iron Legion is used to doing all the technological stuff themselves they would probably not rely on mechanicus to build their Knights and Titans either, so the pilots could also be Astartes, perhaps with few less organs, I mean would Mech pilots really need the ability to spit acid?

 

[Thunderscourge]

Kind of slipped my mind because conversation veered in another direction, but would Utopia look like utilitarian, borderline brutalist design, or would Jarn have it built in gothic style, like Imperium does it?

Kimara skews towards utilitarian and brutalist overall, but there would be some gothic influence here and there since they do have Imperial influence as well.

Also, I reckon that boys born from astartes and modified women will not be born with second heart, third lung, black carapace and other additional organs, so they will still need organ implants to become full Space Marines. Since Iron Legion is used to doing all the technological stuff themselves they would probably not rely on mechanicus to build their Knights and Titans either, so the pilots could also be Astartes, perhaps with few less organs, I mean would Mech pilots really need the ability to spit acid?

It's funny you mention that, as when designing the concept I actually removed 'superfluous' organs to reduce the complexity of the process. Less organs you need to have naturally grown the easier it is to accomplish, as there's less that can go wrong.

As mentioned the ability to spit acid isn't really 'necessary' for an Astarte, and so that was nixed first actually from the Gene Seed list. I don't have the revised list handy, but to put it simply the stuff that makes you a superhuman Astarte remains while the gimmicky stuff was left out. Given Asier and Fabius were both involved in this process there is also a bonus addition to the organ list in the form of the Immortis Gland that Cawl half-replicated for the Primaris to improve their physical traits, as Asier has access to the data given by the Emperor to Corax to recreate the Raven Guard (that the Alpha Legion sabotaged while stealing the secrets) and Fabius has already recreated entire Primarchs which means he has made the Immortis Gland as well (or else they wouldn't have developed properly, given that it is the cause of their superhuman growth).

They won't be as flashy in many regards as standard Astartes, but they will fulfill the same roles just as well and have a bonus to their durability stemming from the meddling involved in their creation. On tabletop these 'Sons of Iron' will have the basic Astarte statline with improvements to Toughness and Wounds while possessing low Attacks characteristics (1 instead of 2, etc) to both show their Kimaran influence (Kimarans are bio-engineered to be more durable, so along with the Immortis Gland they will be tanky, but said endurance comes at the cost of swiftness aka the Abhuman Helots trait from Horus Heresy).

In a sense they are a narrative replacement for Primaris Marines, being alternate Astartes with positives (which Primaris possess many of) as well as drawbacks (which Primaris essentially don't possess) that more align with the Iron Warrior ethos and with the goals of uplifting Humanity to 'Utopia' that this group seeks. It'd be all too easy to just pull a GW and go "Oh here's this group of new super special Grey Knights Primaris Astartes that are just better than the originals", so I started the design process at removing things rather than just adding to them. It makes sense from an in-universe perspective and from an out-of-universe fairness and balancing one, and so despite the idea of Astartes children itself possibly being controversial I did what I could to lay the groundwork and keep it from being Primaris 2.0.

Since Iron Legion is used to doing all the technological stuff themselves they would probably not rely on mechanicus to build their Knights and Titans either, so the pilots could also be Astartes, perhaps with few less organs, I mean would Mech pilots really need the ability to spit acid?

As for the Knights/Titans vein of thought, funnily enough when designing Jarn I contemplated having his noble family be a Knight family before ultimately deciding against it. His Iron Circle were originally going to be Armigers he controlled remotely, but I decided that the Iron Circle fit the story better and to have the Jarn family's future status stem from his Astartes service rather than having just been born into a massively powerful family (the early Jarns still were leaders of their community, but it was small-scale at the time and only took off after his deeds resulted in the Jarns gaining further notoriety). I figured keeping Jarn simpler in this regard was the correct play, as he's a giant with a good grasp on strategy/tactics and possesses enough charisma to unite other Iron Warriors so making him too special would feel snowflakey.

Given Tristan's predilection for technology however he may very well create his own remotely controlled Armigers down the line, essentially filling the role of battle automata much like his Skitarii-esque Battle Droids but for heavier roles. That way you could have one Iron Warrior with a controller operate numerous Armigers without needing to dedicate more manpower to them. The Techmarine in question would become a target, but when you have more resources than manpower early on in a growing empire it'd be more efficient and could be revised later as your population grows.

Speaking of the Iron Circle, they are in the repair shop in-story so won't be making an appearance for awhile. Palamedes did a number on them, but at least their unique Karceri shielding will be represented by Tristan's suite of overlapping shields.