Part Nine - Pieces of the Imperium

With the collapse of the wider Imperium, and the respite of most enemies dying or disbanding, the Imperium of Man has shattered but not been forgotten. Through the hardships of the Imperium's violent departure and the myraid of foes left to fight has made life still a difficult one, there has been much more room for individuals claiming their worlds as their own, their star systems, even their sectors. Such worlds have such a range of diversity of culture, military, faith, and more.

Some minor Imperiums fared better than others, some claim the title of true Imperium, but one thing is for certain; none truly is.

Armaggedus is a nation of pure military output, producing metric tons of ammunition, vehicles, soldiers, and starships. They've continued to fight the Orks for decades, until finally they had driven them off or captured them, using them for practice in training grounds underneath the planet's surface. Being close to the former Sol System, they had many refugees from Mars and Terra reach Armageddon by the Cataclysm's conclusion, providing them with tens of billions of new possible recruits, as well as a contingent of Crimson and Imperial Fists.

Their governor their Lord Castellan, their diplomats are their Admirals and Commanders. While Armaggedus has mostly kept to themselves for millennia, their fleets and armies have begun to push out recently, waging war against the nearby Ork remnants of Ghaz's Great WAAAGH and even human independents who refused to bow to the military might of Armaggedus. Interestingly enough, the Custodian has been spotted multiple times defending worlds from their invasion. They clash fairly often with the Cthonian Kingdom, mostly due to resource and border disputes, as well as lingering pain from the Age of the Imperium, as the Cthonian Kingdom is known for their grudges. Their battles were fierce and perhaps some of the largest in the Age After.

Most notable were the conflicts between Regiment Commander Greggor Cherko and Astartes Captain Haarkosk Beregit of the Cthonian Kingdom in M44. Less than two millennia after the Cataclysm, the Cthonian Kingdom were doing their best to claim as much as they could of Segmentum Solar, and Haarkosk Beregit was an established and trusted warrior of the then-Warmaster, Haarken Worldclaimer. As Haarken did his best to rally as many Black Legionnaires to his cause as possible, Haarkosk took three companies of Astartes and a regiment of Traitor Guard to secure vital resources from the scattered Imperial colonies.

Unfortunately, Commander Cherko had been sent on a similar mission, and thus six worlds nearby both the remnants of Cthonia and Armageddon became the bloody battlefield of a terrible campaign known as the Battle for the Crown, due to their peculiar stellar organization looking like a rim around Terra. The conflict lasted near forty years, with a long deadlock taking half its duration. The Crown Systems had been divided between the Cthonian Kingdom's three and Armageddon's three. Armageddon's sheer numbers ended up giving them another world, as Haarkosk Beregit ascended to Warmaster after the mysterious assassination of Haarken Worldclaimer. Commander Cherko himself was declared governor of the Crown Systems, and by M51, the Crown Systems are a major supplier of soldiers and war material, with a distinct house of Imperial Knights being formed in the name of Cherko, the Liberator.

The Vostro Republika is a powerful nation in Segmentum Obscurus which has a variety of notable worlds, like the remnants of Old Cadia, New Cadia, Colchis, Pervigilium, and Korolis. Its capital is Vostroya, a frosted forge world with plenty of military output. Proving one of the most stable and strongest of the Imperial Remnants, the Vostro Republika is unique in the fact it prides itself as a democratic institution, with an elected Presideka every twenty years. The Presidekas are inconsistent in quality, either being truly selfless and doing their best to improve the Republika, warmongering oppressive leaders, or self-centered and ignorant. Few made it to the end of their term.

Vostro Republikan Regiments have an unusual amount of Commissars, not because morale is a notable problem within their ranks, but because Commissars have more or less power than usual, depending on their rank. It is not unusual for a Commissar to become effectively a Regiment Commander after distinct combat experience leading, and its low ranking Commissars also become along the lines of line officers.

Lord Commissar-Commander Arkenoviz was one notable leader who led an expedition into the Gothic Sector in M49 to find empty and uncrewed ships, as such a reserve fleet's location had been scraped off an ancient Imperial cogitator found in the remnants of a Cadian stronghold, floating through space. When he arrived, he realized the fleet had also been discovered by Bile Trade Empire employees, and while their operations had yet to start, they had a sizable stronghold groundside and battle was inevitable, unless Arkenoviz wished to leave empty handed.

Such an act would've been an insult to his Republikan pride, and the Vostroyan leader deployed three regiments of Vostroyan Firstborn, a regiment of Cadians, and a house of Knights to the surface of the world, itself a frozen wasteland with plenty of forgotten cities. As the populace were caught in the crossfire, Lord Commissar-Commander Arkenoviz displayed an immense tactical ability, commanding the battle on the ground while dueling Bile Trade Empire ships aboard his Emperor-Pattern Battleship, the Nebulia-II. As his ancient warship proved far too much for the mostly cheap enemy fleet of Lunar Cruisers and Cobra Destroyers, he managed to destroy most of the enemy fleet, their scavengers escaping with not even enough ships to replace their fallen comrades.

With the majority of the reserve fleet captured, including a Long Serpent Battlecruiser, the warships were brought back to the Vostro Republika to be crewed, while Lord Commissar-Commander Arkenoviz led his forces in the cleanup on the ground. While the planet was too far away to justify inviting to the Republika proper, he did indeed offer the people of the world to come with him back to the Republika's space and become citizens. Almost all agreed, and left back to the Vostro Republika with the population of a world, an immense fleet which near matched Vostroya's defense fleet, and barely any casualities on his end, while dealing a devastating blow to the rotten scum and villainy of the Bile Trade Empire. Needless to say, Arkenoviz became Presideka of the Republika within a few years and survived his term.

The Holy Clergy of the Emperor's Will is one of the Imperial remnants who refuse to accept the Emperor's death was anything of the sort. Usually such delusions are reserved for backwater colonies or worlds that their leaders use faith to keep the masses in line. But the Holy Clergy is far larger than one world. Though it only directly rules one named simply Paradise, it might as well rule thousands; its holy crusade has created an alliance of former Temple Worlds ruled by Sororitas Warlords and those worlds devout for other reasons, like Krieg.

Their borders overlap with many more, like the aforementioned Krieg, which is currently under the partial ownership of the Bile Trade Empire. They use the offerings of faith and impartiality to invade and infest worlds with their teachings, and they are more than prepared to crusade against worlds they deem far too heretical to be left alive. But at this point, the words of their holy texts have been long since edited, forgotten, written and retold to the point where minor civil wars and worlds and systems cede and join the Clergy's regime on a whim.

Such chaos is the constant within the Holy Clergy's purview, but an exception graced the Clergy's lands, once. In M48, the Phoenix Imperialis assaulted Ferkra, a planet within the control of Armaggedus. Despite the fact a holy Imperial Church was on the planet, the Phoenix Imperialis' forces were kept from burning it down, and thus the Holy Clergy saw no reason to assist Armaggedus' outlying colonies, despite the fact its war with the Cthonian Kingdom was drawing too much of its forces to respond itself.

Reclusiarch Felon of the Black Templars did not agree with the Clergy's decision to abandon Armaggedus's faithful to death by heretic blades, and he rallied forces to his cause. A hundred Templars, a Titan, four Imperial Knights, a thousand Sisters of Battle and the 24th Paradisian Mechanized Infantry Regiment went aboard a Strike Cruiser and took a small transport fleet to Ferkra in defense of the planet. As the former Emperor's Children and their mortal assistants laughed among the burning ruins of a world once devout, the Reclusiarch and his forces slaughtered the opposition with holy fervor. Though Felon was a potent leader and warrior, his numbers had difficulty fighting the Phoenix Imperialis' forces, due to the enemy commander being Lucius himself.

Felon decided that a decapitation strike would be a blessing to the galaxy, on top of being the key to victory against the enemy on Ferkra. So Felon had Lucius's position bombed from orbit, before going in himself with his command squad and a hundred Sisters and a Knight to deal with whatever remained. But more than expected of the enemy's forces survived the bombing, including Lucius. As battle was engaged, Felon and his Command Squad fought Lucius himself, but Lucius was a terrifying monster of a combatant. Stronger and faster than even a Primaris Space Marine due to Fabius Bile's upgrades, Lucius killed the Standard Bearer and two Veteran Marines quickly, gutting them with his sword. The Apothecary, Felon, and his Company Champion dueled Lucius, but his enjoyment of battle no longer stemmed to toying, scarred by his failures by the end of the Cataclysm.

Lucius decapitated the Apothecary and killed the Champion with his own sword, before being dealt a violent blow as Felon left a deep scar on Lucius's once-perfect face. Fabius Bile had repaired his devastated face to its state of pre-Heresy purity, but now, Felon had ruined it once more. And Lucius' cruel nature was let loose. He cut and nicked at the Reclusiarch, making him feel the most pain possible and made him bleed the most without truly killing him. Dragging on the fight for near thirty minutes, Lucius finally ended the tragically bloodied Reclusiarch, covered in his own hallowed crimson yet still fighting with a burning pride and zeal. As he did this, however, he realized his own forces had been bested and that Felon has distracted him so utterly that Lucius was among the last allied Astartes left. Angrily ordering a retreat, Lucius and his devastated men left the world back to the Phoenix Imperialis in failure.

Had the Clergy allowed the counterattack, Felon would've been labeled a martyr or saint. But since they did not approve the attack, the Black Templar was simply forgotten in the annals of time by the Clergy, only remembered by his brothers and the other survivors of the attack, who sought asylum with Armageddus as the Clergy wanted to murder them for defiance.