The Protectorate Psyker Corp (The PPC)
Motto - "Nunc Id Vides, Nunc Ne Vides"
This educational pamphlet is written by Sub-Sorcerer Pratt Chett
When the creation of a dedicated Psyker Corp was initially proposed by First Bureaucrat and Senior Sorcerer Jafar, there were many who thought it a vanity project at best. Due to the rarity of Psykers, the sheer variation in their gifts, and the essential unreliability of those born with a direct mental connection to the warp, it was thought that trying to form a effective unified force of them would be a fools errand. However, thanks to some suggestions made by the Liberator at the inception of this project, the Corp has flourished.
Although referred to as a Corp (1), and indeed the members of this organisation can all be called on to serve with the front-line military at a moments notice, the PPC do not spend most of their time in combat, as due to their rarity they are too precious to waste in war, when there are much greater ways they can serve the Protectorate than in shedding blood. Below we find details of the divisions of the PPC, their war-gear, and their recruitment and education process:
Divisions of the PPC
The Diviners
Motto - "Hinc videre possum domum tuam"
The Diviners are the members of the PPC closest to the Tzeentchian Bureaucracy, by the very nature of their gifts. As they can see more clearly and further than the Sorcerer diviners of the Bureaucracy with much less effort, they often lead seer conclaves in their attempts to view the past, present and future of the Protectorate and beyond, or work with the PUN Navigation teams to guide Protectorate ships through the warp. The only issue is the variation in how they process and interpret what they see, as almost no two are alike, so quite a lot of expert extrapolation and explanation is necessary for their visions to be useful.
In combat, they are natural strategists and support operatives, directing combat teams away from incoming artillery barrages, and in turn acting as highly precise observers for directing the USA's own artillery without having to go anywhere near enemy lines. The are also noted for setting up the most unexpected ambushes imaginable, or hitting enemy lines exactly where they are weakest. More directly, they can bless squads with a small fragment of their power, gifting them unnatural luck which lets them almost subconsciously dodge incoming fire, and return it with terrifying precision.
The Biomancers
Motto - "Non Quod Adimimus, Sed Quod Maneat"
It was originally thought that the Biomancers would have to focus on being warriors, as due to Panacea filling their natural healer niche no-one could think of a better use for them. However, a seemingly off-hand comment by the Liberator, which in retrospect was obviously an inspired insight into the full potential of their skills, gave new meaning to their whole order. "It's a shame they can't do something to help mutants".
It turned out they could. The resulting research initiative produced fantastic results, and a whole new psychic artform soon arose, that of 'Micro-biomancy'. By not only changing a mutant's physical form, but learning to focus down to edit them at the genetic level, they found that they could not only exchange agonising mutations for more normal features, but make them able to produce off-spring which did not carry said mutations. They even learnt to leave advantageous mutations in, only pruning away those which were truly harmful or horrifying for the afflicted and those around them, encouraging beneficial evolution within the populace. There is now at least one Psyker Corp Biomancer attached to every major maternity hospital in the Protectorate, and millions of parents who would have wept over the incineration of their child in the Imperium instead have had happy and genetically healthy babes returned to their loving arms. With this in mind, the Biomancers are probably the most widely beloved division of the PPC.
In combat, the Biomancers are truly fearsome. Having learnt the exacting control necessary to rewrite genetic code, they do not waste their energy on breaking limbs or boiling blood. Why do that when simply forming a blood clot in the brain, which requires only the most miniscule exertion of willpower, will cause a man to drop dead at once, or if non-fatal methods are desired, simply stopping bloodflow in the carotid artery for a few seconds will cause immediate unconciousness. They often operate with the USA's elite Kill/Capture teams, facing the most powerful enemies of the Protectorate with the cool confidence of knowing exactly where to hit to make it hurt.
The Pyromancers
Motto - "Ignem da homini, calefacit ad diem, Ignescit homo, calefactus est in vita sua"
The Pyromancers learn extreme control of their skills even beyond the other divisions by sheer necessity, as a moments' lost focus from as little as a sneeze can result in the immolation of their comrades, their surroundings, or their own feet, and their wargear is often augmented with built-in fire suppression systems. Another case which was thought to be only useful in the front lines, it was again the Liberator who gave the Pyromancers' purpose beyond dealing death. While watching a demonstration of a Pyromancer team melting holes in the side of scrap tanks, he made a comment to Fabricator General Tessilon-Kappa, who was standing next to him; "All that heat being focused at a point without any fuel, fascinating". This obvious hint naturally gave the Fabricator General an idea, and the next day he had borrowed a number of Pyromancers to run experiments with him. It was discovered that with the correct training the Pyromancers could produce exact temperatures thousands of degrees high in areas smaller than a pinhead, and without any of the contaminants that are inevitably introduced by using fuel based heat sources, and even in vacuum chambers, allowing for the sort of fine work that the BORG had only dreamed of up to that point. The Pyromancers mostly now work closely with the BORG in custom built and highly insulated Warp forges, producing the finest and most delicate components of the Protectorate's arsenal with an efficiency and speed that could not previously have been imagined.
In combat, the Pyromancers are masters of battlefield control. No normal Imperial regiment will willingly charge a firewall (Though in a society like the Imperium there are always sufficiently mad exceptions, such as the Krieg Death Corp or the Adeptus Sororitas), allowing Protectorate forces to pick them off at range, or alternatively covering injured or outnumbered troops as they retreat. They are also often deployed against the tainted forces of Nurgle, due to their ability to casually render the contagion laced monstrosities who follow the Maggot God to ash, preventing transmission of the plagues and poxes they carry.
The Telepaths
Motto - "Cuius Testiculos Habes, Habeas Cardia Et Cerebellum"
The Telepaths are the most secretive and subtle of the PPC's divisions, as their abilities make them ideal interrogators, infiltrators, and spies. Often placed onto Imperial worlds for extended periods, they must learn to blend seamlessly into any society, their natural abilities making this remarkably easy. However, they do have a public face, and it is as the Protectorate's premier mind healers and conflict negotiators that they present themselves, their ability to immediately and fully empathise with their clientele allowing them to perform these duties with alacrity and efficiency. In the worst cases they have to deal with, where the patient's psyche is so badly scarred that it could never heal under normal circumstances, and with the express permission of the patient or their guardians, they can even work in teams to perform 'psychic surgery', carefully and exactingly removing the offending memories or thought processes from the injured mind, and either replacing them with new ones or simply smoothing over the area as blank. When undercover they can also perform quick and dirty versions of this, just removing the memory of themself being present with minimal damage.
In combat, they are the undisputed maestro's of terror tactics. Their psychic screams can echo across a battlefield, striking fear and terror into the hearts of all who hear it, or render their victims temporarily deaf and blind. The most powerful of their number can even completely rupture a human psyche, causing their foes to simply sit down and weep, or even make them attack their former allies in a blind rage. They are reputedly also the most cautious of the divisions in how they utilise their power, as their other role makes them more than aware of how hard the injuries they cause are to heal.
Wargear of the PPC
The Tzeentchian Bureaucracy and the BORG were initially at a bit of a loss as to how to outfit the PPC, with multiple different equipment specifications being proposed to maximise their psychic potential, often based on captured equipment from the Imperium. However, the Liberator reoriented the direction of their thinking completely when asked for his opinion on the matter, with five simple words, "Power is nothing without Control". This brilliant comment, now immortalised by being inscribed on the psychic hood of every single member of the PPC, led the BORG to start almost completely from scratch, focusing instead on allowing the psykers to use their gifts without endangering themselves or others. They also tend to carry normal Las-weapons, as they are aware that there are things in this galaxy that are capable of fighting psykers on more than equal terms (2).
Mark III 'Channeler' Power Armour
This model of power armour, while being visually very similar to the Mark II 'Liberum' model made for the line troops of the USA, differentiates from the standard issue in a number of crucial ways.
Primarily, the various pieces and layers of the Power Armour are inscribed with hexagrammic wards in a fashion very similar to the Liberator Armour used by Lord Cain, designed to protect the wearer from hostile Warp forces. However, the wards on this pattern not only face outwards, but also inwards, channeling the wearer's own excess energies from the use of their psychic powers away from them, preventing psychic phenomena build-up and the near-inevitable disasters that follow. They are also fitted with intricately woven psycho-ætheric induction circuitry which acts as a loadstone, absorbing and negating psychic forces around the wearer. Together these systems allow the user to harness more psychic power than they would normally dare to when not wearing it, with a much lower level of risk. Finally, the neck and shoulders are fitted with attachments for the next piece of equipment in their arsenal.
Mark I 'Equilibrium' Psychic Hood
Copied and miniaturised from a fallen Space Marine Librarian of the Bone Knives Chapter, this piece of highly sophisticated equipment is a potent tool in the hands of a truly controlled psyker, using a core of intricately aligned psychically active crystals to both amplify the user's power, and suppress the powers of opposing psykers. However, due to the smaller size of the equipment when compared to an Astartes, some power had to be sacrificed, so it cannot amplify the wearers abilities as much as a standard one. However, the inefficiencies of the archaic design of the original were ruthlessly stamped out, so it wasn't as weakened as could be imagined, and the suppressive abilities are as potent as ever.
Perhaps most crucially, they have also had an automatic routine installed, which in the event of the wearer suffering an uncontrolled psychic cascade causes the hood to fully focus its suppressive functions inwards, shutting them down completely. This usually knocks the wearer out, but better unconscious than dead or mutated into a warp-spawn, an opinion unanimously held within the PPC.
Mark I 'Shillelagh' Force Stave
Very loosely based on a unique and far more potent and dangerous staff owned by Rogue Trader Areelu von Yastobaal, this model of stave is in no way the terrible weapon of immense power and mass destruction that its precursor is, instead being almost completely focused on channeling energy with extreme care, aiding its user in performing the fine work necessary for their non-combat duties, whether in the divination chamber, the hospital, the warp forge, the mind healing suite, or on an infiltrated Imperial world. Surprisingly light and normally between 80cm and 1.2m long depending on the height of the wielder, they resemble a decorative metal walking stick with a knob on the end rather than anything used to channel the energies of the Immaterium.
However, it is still a very much a potent Force weapon, Its robust psi-matrix allowing its wielder to store their excess psychic output for safe use later, channeling that energy into blows which can shatter rockcrete and smite entropic warp entities with equal efficacy.
Almost always carried by all Crèche of the Gifted trained psykers, they are widely viewed within the Protectorate as the unofficial badge of office of members of the PPC.
Mark I 'Hush' and Mark II 'Whisper' Psychic Bodygloves
Issued as part of their standard uniform to all students at the Crèche for the Gifted, the Mark I is a flatteringly form fitting armoured suit laced with the same psycho-ætheric induction circuitry as the Channeler armour, at least partially negating the wearers psychic emanations. Its close fit allows it to be worn under other clothes, so it is also worn by most graduated psykers in their day to day lives.
The Mark II is far more advanced, and as well as suppressing the wearers psychic emanations it can allow them to channel energy directly into it, allowing the wearer to move with extraordinary speed, or reinforce the suit against most conventional light weaponry including small amounts of bolter fire. This model is mostly used by Telepaths on undercover operations.
Recruitment and Education of the PPC
Facilities
Usually found at a very early age, the young psykers of the protectorate and their immediate families are brought to Slawkenburg for their own safety, and housed in the Creche for the Gifted, originally part of the Liberation Palace, but it was outgrown as the Protectorate expanded, and so a custom built facility was constructed in the palace grounds. From the outset it was constructed with the safety and comfort of its inhabitants in mind, and the very bricks in the walls of the Creche are inlaid with sigils designed to disperse psychic energy, and the methods only gets more elaborate from there, with the corridors set into shapes of hexagrammic wards, and copper being inlaid everywhere as it was discovered that Ork wierdboys use it to discharge their latent energies into the ground, and if they can make it work, why can't we. The Creche contains classrooms, training labs, meditation chambers, and other vital facilities, including separate chapels for Tzeentch, Slaanesh, the Omnissiah, and The Emperor (3). Only Khorne is not represented, as he is generally not fond of Psykers, but a daily shuttle is run to the main Khornate temple in Cainopolis for those of a more martial disposition.
Accommodation and Upbringing
From ages 1 to 11 (Imperial standard years) children stay with their families in small but comfortable apartments within the residential area of the Creche, to keep everyone happy and safe and to prevent loneliness in their developing minds. If the children have no families they are assigned a volunteer guardian to care for them, usually a retired Tzeentchian Bureaucrat or Handmaiden of Emeli who have no family of their own, who usually end up formally adopting the young psykers within the first standard year or two. From 12 to 16 they are placed in single sex dormitories, and their parents and siblings are moved to nearby accommodation outside the palace grounds, to allow the youngsters to develop independently and to reinforce friendship amongst themselves, although they usually stay with their families one day out of seven, which is judged a healthy move. For the ages of 17 and 18 they are assigned their own room, given a small stipend, and outside of their class periods are allowed to come and go as they please from the Palace grounds, to enable them to establish their own identity with Protectorate society. Once they graduate, they are free individuals, with the same rights to liberty and self-determination as any citizen of the Protectorate, although to date out of hundreds of graduates the number who have chosen not to dedicate their life to the ideals of the Liberation can be counted on both hands.
The few fully grown unsanctioned psykers who are found on newly Liberated worlds, having spent their lives hiding from the Imperial Tithe, are admitted to the 'Post Graduate Programme', and are required to spend 3 or more years in intense study at the Creche learning the Protectorate way of doing things, and the self control, emotional stability, and rigorous methodology required of a member of the PPC, during which time they are allocated comfortable suites and allowed the same privileges as senior students. If they refuse to join the programme, their decision is of course accepted, but if they can't prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they are not a danger to their fellow citizens they are offered sufficient funds to cover their basic living expenses for the next 3 standard years, and are politely but firmly asked to take a berth on the next Rogue Trader ship to pass through on its way back to the Imperium, after which most seem to change their minds for some reason.
Education
All young psykers in the Creche for the Gifted undergo the same standard curriculum as their fellow students in the Protectorate's normal scholas, as well as the special education specific to them, to help them become more than just a channeler of the Warp, but a well rounded citizen of the Protectorate. What areas of warpcraft they study are up to them, although they are given advice depending on their natural talents, which they usually follow.
There are compulsory classes however, the most important being 'Mastery of Self'. This class, often taught by Ferrik Jurgen himself whenever he and the Liberator are on Slawkenburg (4), is considered crucial for making sure that the youngsters do not succumb to their own gifts, or become possessed by warp entities, as it teaches them how to exert true control over their own minds, and how they do not need the crutch of Imperial Sanctionite mental wards in order to protect themselves if they can make their own and edit them as they will. Should any of them find this more difficult than normal, then additional tutoring sessions are assigned to them, often with Jurgen or Jafar themselves, as this is simply considered too important to skimp time on.
As they grow, they are also taught how to correctly use the previously mentioned wargear that they will be issued should they choose to join the PPC. They are also taught sports such as Grudgeball and Grasshopper, during which they are not allowed to use psychic abilities of any kind, as they must learn to be more than just their warp talents, and it is considered to be healthy to spend time distracted from such things. Various extracurricular activities are also offered, including martial arts classes, music and dancing lessons, community projects, and even occasional seminars on leadership and governance, given by the Liberator himself.
In conclusion, it is widely considered that the joint wisdom of Senior Sorcerer Jafar and the Liberator has created a system for educating and mentally anchoring psykers second to none, and certainly superior to that of the Imperium. It gives them purpose beyond being a weapon, a sense of belonging, and hope for the future of all psykers. As the Liberation claims the hearts and minds of more worlds, it is intended that the Creche will expand to take yet more students, and the role of the PPC will also expand, demonstrating to the galaxy that being a psyker need not be a curse.