Inspired by the return of the entombed Space Marines and an idea I have been bouncing around for a while.
The Vail Pattern Dreadnought.
**Official Report**
Standing at 4.5 M tall, having a very humanoid shape, with two manipulation arms as a standard and carrying a versatile set of weapons, the Vail Pattern Dreadnought has become a significant and valued weapon within the Imperium's arsenal after its rediscovery and reintroduction into the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes. The Vail Pattern Dreadnaught was discovered by Inquisitor Amberly Vail and successfully recovered by the Mechanicus shortly before the arrival of Hive fleet Kraken. In a true show of how faith in the Emperor will always provide what is needed for the Imperium to survive, the STC for this pattern of Dreadnaught was found within a large industrial complex, abandoned by mankind millennia ago, with sufficient hulls prepared to arm the local Astartes in preparation of the arrival of Hive Fleet Kraken. Unfortunately, several examples of these sacred artefacts have been captured or otherwise acquired by traitor forces, to create radical and inferior copies that the Protectorate claims to have invented under the name of Liberator armour.
**Classified by Order of the Ordo Hereticus**
The Vail Pattern of Dreadnaught hull, as it is officially known, is a product of the Cainaite Protectorate and represents a significant threat to the Imperium's abilities to project power and hold dominion as the only legitimate source of strength for mankind. As the designs are believed to be based upon those of a Standard Template Construct, they are almost universally compatible with most forms of Imperial technology and have an alarming level of parity with comparable systems. While technologically inferior to most of the more advanced dreadnaughts that exist in at least some capacity, the fact that these can be produced on-mass provides the unfortunate suggestion that they could be produced in such quantity as to simply overwhelm the more venerated Imperial designs. An example of this can be seen in the fact that the Cainaite Protectorate has been able to provide thousands of them already. Further, the fact that they are willingly giving these to the Imperium suggests that they both have significantly more of them than they are letting on and that these are not their most advanced models but instead outdated systems that they are looking to get rid of.
The Black Commissar is said to use a more advanced version of the system, called the Liberator armour, which he pilots into battle. His own personal armour is no doubt many times superior to the system that the Imperium has been provided in its deal with the Protectorate. The fact that a mere mortal is piloting a suit of Dreadnought armour already shows a great deal of disrespect towards the most venerated Protectors of mankind, but then to simply gift these systems to the Imperium as a mocking gesture of goodwill shows his contempt for mankind and are protectors. Just as the Imperium would not dare to allow our most advanced weapons and venerated artefacts to end up in the hands of the traitor, or the heretic, we must assume that similar precautions have been taken against us as well. His claims of altruism and care for mankind are nothing but lies he creates to try and portray his heresy as a positive force in the Galaxy. After all, the Black Commissar was once a loyal member of the Imperium and thus any manipulation that we can identify would surely occur to him as well.
Officially, these suits are known in the Protectorate as Generation IV " Liberator" powered armour system. This implies the existence of at least three previous generations of powered armour, although whether or not this includes the powered armour used by the USA standard infantry or the members of the previously unknown Space Marine force that the Protectorate is aligned with is not yet clear. Considering the substantial losses that were taken the last time the Protectorate was underestimated, it is going to be assumed that those are entirely separate entities that do not count towards this figure. Thus, we assess that Slawkenberg has been creating comparable systems to Dreadnought hulls for decades by this point, and have even engaged in the Heretical Act of 'innovation' to create newer models.
The Kai model as the variant provided to the remnants of the Cainite Crusade are titled, refers to systems that have supposedly entered mass production as a part of the settlement between the Imperium and the Protectorate. It appears that the name 'Kai' is a simplified version of the Black Commissar's own name, Ciapahas. Many of the creations of the Protectorate seem to use his name as the basis for their naming conventions, and we can rightfully assume that the Black Commissar was instrumental in this system's planning and development. These systems are significantly simplified, coming without proper sanctity seals or gold inlays, and are produced in vast quantities to house the many life-support sarcophagi that the Chapters are now in possession of. However, despite their simplified construction, they are reportedly incredibly powerful, agile and simple to use. These simplified armour systems are supposedly produced on-mass in factories, as opposed to the hand-crafted and venerated dreadnought hulls that other chapters have to use. Unfortunately, due to the debilitation (previously thought to be destruction) of almost 11 chapters worth of Space Marines, certain concessions have been made to protect the Damocles Gulf and the Imperium as a whole against the encroaching Tyranid threat.
Equipped with a large chainsword, hand-mounted missile pod, and a heavy bolter built into the left arm as standard, these suits have quickly been rushed into service to provide breathing room for the Imperium. The prevalence of these dreadnaughts has led to their deployment as massively armoured and armed, 'Breach and Holding' detachments, providing the equivalent of a full company of Devastators firepower in a mere handful of warriors. Recent variants have also been known to include double or triple Auto cannons, Las Destroyers and rocket pods mounted to the shoulders and back that are capable of anti-air, anti-armour and antipersonnel functions. A rumoured super heavy variant also includes the prospect of an adapted rail cannon capable of long-range artillery strikes. Regardless of which system the armour is outfitted with, it is reported to take only a couple of minutes to switch between weapon systems and even early models can be upgraded to include more powerful weapons. The sheer number of Dreadnaughts available to these chapters has led to the re-introduction and recovery of ancient concepts, such as Dreadnaught squads and task forces. This however has led to them increasingly straying away from the Codex Astartes with the use of far more dreadnoughts than is sanctioned by official works.
Despite strenuous objections from multiple organizations, especially certain sects of the Mechanicus, the use of the Kai dreadnaught has been implemented both within the 12 chapters they were offered to, as well as several associate chapters in the Damocles Gulf. This has caused a great deal of friction between local factions of Tech-priests, and the Space Marines themselves, which the Imperial diplomatic service is attempting to heal. Unfortunately, attempting to have these chapters no longer use this pattern has proven difficult, especially since the Imperium cannot offer them an appropriate replacement to supplement chapter numbers and host Sarcophigia. There simply aren't enough dreadnaughts available to match requirements.
The Space Marine chapters that use these Dreadnaughts have been intensely resistant to any attempts to get them to relinquish them. The Ardent Vipers chapter has become belligerent on several occasions, in response to calls to surrender their hulls. Further, they are suspected of conducting negotiations to acquire vast quantities more to use whenever one of their Battle-Brothers falls in combat and cannot be healed. The twin chapter of the Silver and Wind Blade chapter has been suspected of even going so far as to place orders for specialized variants of these dreadnoughts, with reduced armour, upgraded servos, a jump pack and wheels on the legs to allow the Dreadnought to keep up with the bikes and exploitation tactics that their chapters favours. This incredibly alarming dependency upon an unsanctioned piece of technology is especially concerning considering that these chapters were nearly wiped out by the Protectorate, their use of it to such a large degree suggests either an almost addictive quality to the technology itself or hints towards flaws in their Geneseed.
The issue may lie in the method of control for the system itself. The neural interface for these dreadnaughts is remarkably non-invasive and has even been adapted to work with any remaining Black Carapace connection ports. If these do not exist, a helmet can be attached to the head to allow near-seamless integration. The helmets are more similar to a Psykerhood than a standard control system and suggest a very significant psyker presence both within the constrution of these units and their component design. The intended Space Marine is, ideally, not stored within a life-support sarcophagus, but instead plugged directly into the in-built neural interface for the suit, which gives nearly full range of movement and can even simulate the feelings of touch, smell and sight for the space marine within it. This has led to a noticeable decrease in the number of rejections of the dreadnaught system, which often happens when a Space Marine is connected to the sensors and systems of a more typical Dreadnaught hull. This integration is so simple that there are rumours of non-augmented humans using the same systems to Pilot Dreadnaught armour. Without the trauma of proper integration, the Space Marines may not properly be appreciating the significance of dreadnoughts and are becoming dependent on their use.
The Cainite Protectorate has supposedly begun to create entire facilities dedicated to the construction of these hulls, to ensure that Hive fleet Kraken does not manage to reach their territory. This is ontop of reportedly converting a large amount of their preexisting industry to create each of the induvial components. As part of the agreement in the aftermath of the failed invasion, the Imperium is paying for the construction of these facilities, their upkeep, the materials needed to make these Dreadnoughts and the wages of all of the individuals involved. Despite these unbearable concessions, the actual price has not reached nearly as high as was predicted. Instead, for the most part, the cost so far has remained within the subsector operational budget. This has led to speculation about the actual origin of these powerful weapons, and the suspicion that the Black Commissar is essentially running a massive embezzlement scheme.
Procurement of these machines is centred entirely around the Protectorate, with almost none of the planets in the Imperium able to reproduce them. While there is the possibility of reproducing individual components to conduct repairs, no planet seems to have the knowledge, tools, or appropriate rituals, to construct a full set of armour. Furthermore, an estimation by Tech Magos Rotor has estimated that the cost to produce a single suit, including the proper sanctification rituals, the refining of enough blessed materials, and the sheer number of people required to build each component means that they are massively inefficient to build, never mind produce on such a significant scale. How the Protectorate can produce tens of thousands of these hulls is unknown and has not been answered to any official satisfaction. The best theory that we have is that they are either in contact with an entire alliance of Forge worlds that the Imperium has lost contact with, or that they have massive stockpiles of these suits from previous ages, likely from the dark age of technology, which they are now selling to the Imperium at a massively inflated price. Instead of creating facilities to make these weapons, he is simply pocketing the compensation and resources and distributing it to his cronies.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Imperium will have to pay this price for the foreseeable future. The best estimates of both the only remaining active apothecary of the crusade, as well as those of closely associated chapters who were summoned to assist, have placed the recovery time of the chapters involved, at at least a century away, for a full restoration of any of the chapters. This is of course assuming that they are given sufficient equipment from the Mechanicus to rebuild their chapter strength. Alternative suggestions such as the creation of 12 additional chapters to fill the whole left in the Imperium's defences have been under consideration but would take significantly longer than the century estimate. The amalgamation of all surviving members into a single United chapter has also been rejected for the threat of creating a chimeric gene-seed.
A proposal for a second Cainaite crusade has been made and soundly rejected by the chapters who were contacted to take part. This disregard for Imperial Authority is not unheard of amongst those who had taken part in the ill-fated Crusade but still reflects an intensely dangerous precedent being set by their refusal to acknowledge the Inquisition's authority. This has included both a noticeable lack of communication from some chapters and a direct refusal of mobilisation orders from others. This has included no less than two incidents where contacted chapters have suffered mysterious bolter malfunctions on board their vessels that have taken out the Vox equipment.
**
Official reply from First Captain Sarius of the Emerald Hawk chapter, in response to the order to attack worlds claimed by the Protectorate, while travelling through their claimed territory, to fight a tendril of hive fleet Kraken:
"No."
**
Notes:
The near complete entombment of multiple chapters, along with the complete entombment of the Stone Knuckles and Swords of Absolution chapters have led to the formation of what has become known unofficially as the Dreadnaught Legion. These whole formations of Dreadnaught have been deployed as the initial vanguard against Hive fleet Kraken. The goal of these formations is to attempt to hold back the Hive Fleet until Imperial reinforcements can be mobilized to make up for the disastrous losses of the recently failed crusade. This has proven moderately successful so far but has also led to the issue of more dreadnaughts being needed to replace or repair the existing stock that is destroyed in battle.
The need to resupply valuable chapters with these same kinds of equipment and the lack of available supply has led to the prospect of repossessing the Kai Dreadnaughts to better supply more important chapters and formations. At the moment this is being considered by the High Lords of Terra, with the prospect of informing other chapters of the possibility of acquiring these dreadnaughts directly from the source being written off. A suggestion, which was further developed to the prospect of having it be the exclusive domain of the Deathwatch and the Minotaur chapter, As two of the only forces which can be assured to be both clear of corruption, and to actually be able to handle such dangerous equipment properly.
Vice ambassador Londo of the Imperial Diplomatic Service had suggested the possibility of incorporating the Protectorate back into the imperium with certain concessions given to their independence so that their technology and knowledge could be used to better deal with the current crises. He and all of those employed by his office have been executed as traitors.