Stellaris 42,000: The Imperium Reformatus - As Ever in the Grim Dark Future, There is Only War

[Side]

Those space battles look gorgeous. And those ship models are just great.

 

[DukeShasta]

I love those ship models. Looking forward to seeing where this is going!

 

[Arithmetician]

Contact with the T’au Empire was re-established on 08.26.231M43. Like the Old Imperium, the T’au Empire had seen an almost complete collapse following the Warp Storms that had ravaged the galaxy centuries before.

The T’au had once been ruled by the Ethereal Caste, which had introduced the T’au to the philosophy of “The Greater Good”, putting an end to millennia of tribal warfare between them. However, the Greater Good had not survived the galaxy’s long night. There had been an uprising against the Ethereals, who were now claimed to have long been brainwashing their people. Free of the Ethereals’ rule, the T’au had, in many respects, reverted to their old ways, with their government now representing an alliance of powerful warlords, who had only recently united in defense of their shared interests.

One thing that hadn’t changed about the T’au though was their commitment to technological progress. The Warlords each maintained a legion of technocrats to ensure that the T’au Empire was run smoothly, and in accordance with scientific principles.

It soon became clear that part of the reason for the sudden collapse of Ethereal-led T’au society was the appearance of a large-scale spatial anomaly, brought on by the Warp Storms, which had transported the T’au homeworld from its original position in the Eastern Fringe to a new star system in Segmentum Obscurus. That, and the horrors from the Warp that had descended upon the T’au when they were already reeling from that, had eroded their people’s faith in the Greater Good, paving the way for the uprising that had deposed the Ethereals.

The Imperium could not afford another enemy at the moment, and the T’au, while warlike and scheming, were still the friendliest xenos empire that had been encountered thus far, and much more technologically advanced. Thus, diplomatic overtures were made with the T’au, with the aim of securing a non-aggression pact from them... and building a spy network in their midst, to steal the secrets of their technology. The Imperium would not outright copy profane xenos technology... but it could certainly use T'au technology to inspire innovations of its own.

(The basic challenge of a hostile galaxy would not permit me to have the T’au as their ‘Greater Good’ selves, so they are Barbaric Despoilers in this play through, which as noted above, loosely reflects what their society may have been like before the arrival of the Ethereals. As for their new location, that’s just where the game spawned them.)

The T’au had also reunited to protect themselves against the predations of the Arachnids, or as they quickly became known in the Imperium, the “Bugs”, though some Imperial scholars questioned if the Arachnids were actually the offshoots of a lost Tyranid Hive Fleet. What was certain was that the Arachnids, like the Tyranids, were bent on consuming all life in their path.

The Arachnid Hive was located near the northernmost edge of Segmentum Obscurus, near the Halo Stars.

The Bug homeworld was Klendathu, in a binary system, from which they had allegedly launched a series of devastating meteor attacks against the T’au, which escalated to an all-out war between them in 233.M43.

(Yes, the Arachnids/Bugs are very much a shout-out to Starship Troopers, which was an influence upon canon 40K... plus, it lets me have a Devouring Swarm without having a full Tyranid Hive Fleet to deal with at the moment, which could only be adequately represented in-game by the Prethoryn Scourge.)

There soon was a temporary cessation of open hostilities between the Imperium and the Heretek Fell-Forges, also starting in 233.M43. The Hereteks had decided to pull back and regroup following their repeated failures to breach the Beta Comae Bernices bastions, saving their computational power for more productive uses, while still swearing to exterminate the Imperium one day. As for the Imperium, it still lacked the naval power necessary to penetrate past the Heretek’s own outer bastion, so a stalemate was the best possible conclusion for the war, given the circumstances.

Many in the Imperium became increasingly wary around the Servitors that the Adeptus Mechanicus had created to supplement its workforce, seeing them as being similar to the Heretek drones that the Imperium had recently been waging war against. Of course, Servitors were not true robots, as creating robots would be a crime punishable by death. Instead, Servitors were either sub-human clones, or replicae, as they were properly called, or criminals who were mind-wiped, installed with cybernetic protheses, and reprogrammed to carry out simple manual tasks. In such a manner, even the condemned were granted a chance to serve the Imperium once more, as nearly mindless Servitors.

To Sethano Horst, it was a distinction without difference between Servitors and Robots. From the ancient memories within her, acquired over the course of her many dream encounters with the Emperor, she knew that “Robot” came from a word in an ancient Terran language called ‘Czech', translating as “slave” or “forced labor”. And was that not exactly what Servitors were used for? Servitors only existed so that the Adeptus Mechanicus could have a loophole around the provisions that banned robots and Abominable Intellgiences throughout the Imperium, as their labor was far too valuable to forego.

But there was no rest for the Imperium, or the wicked, for the Drukhari were still marauding through the outlying systems of Ultima Segmentum.

And on 03.24.235M43, as the war with the Drukhari was finally starting to wind down, the Tzeentchian Sorcerers declared war on the Imperium, at last ready to enact their own scheme for the extermination of humanity.

 

[DukeShasta]

Oh, no! Just as one war concludes, and a second starts winding down, the Imperium is thrown head first into yet another war. No rest for the wearied warriors of the Astra Militarum, it seems. The Imperium made the right choice with the T'au. Though xenos, the Imperium has enough problems on its hands without angering the T'au. Hopefully the T'au can weaken the Arachnids enough to keep them from becoming a threat to the Imperium.

 

[Arithmetician]

As the war against the Tzeentchians began, the enemy swiftly moved to take over several uninhabited star systems on the northern fringe of Imperial space, which could not be adequately defended, including the Magi System, home of the Ruined Sentry Array.

The Imperial Navy, unable to meet the Tzeentchian fleet out there, lest it be wiped out entirely, instead made a strategic withdrawal behind the Algorab Bastion, while the Astra Militarum mobilized in 40 Eridani, which now assumed enormous importance to the Imperium. It guarded the only hyperlane route between the Tzeentchians and the Imperium’s core colonies of Sector Solar. Work on fortifying the Imperium’s colony in 40 Eridani began at once, and eventually it would be renamed “New Cadia”, for how it served as the gateway to the rest of the Imperium. However, priority for orbital defenses continued to go to the Algorab Bastion, as the Tzeentchians would have to take that Bastion and disable its FTL inhibitor before they could move on to 40 Eriadani.

Peace with the Drukhari Kabal was finally signed in 12.18.235, but it was clear that the war was over only because they were satisfied with their plunder from the Imperium’s mining and research stations for now, and had found more promising targets elsewhere. Like the Hereteks, it was a near certainty that the Drukhari would declare war on the Imperium again one day.

The Drukhari’s prospective target turned out to be the Federal Planets of Rho Pictoris, the small but intensely militaristic civilization of the Pasathians, a previously unknown xenos race of lanky and leafy plantoids. They were poorly adapted for any environments other than the dilapidated urban one in which they had evolved, but they were intelligent enough to serve as slaves, and were far closer to the Drukhari’s core territories than the Imperium was.

In the meantime, the Tzeentchians’ advance on the Imperium was slow but methodical, with several probing attacks against the Algorab Bastion of varying intensity. However, it was clear that the Tzeentchians were gathering information, in preparation for their true offensive.

With the territorial losses already suffered under Lady Marques’ reign as the first among the High Lords, and the main Tzeentchian fleet still on its way, it was clear that the Imperium needed new leadership. From among the High Lords, Lady Sethano Horst emerged as their leading voice. This was in part due to the strong ties she had developed with the Adeptus Mechanicus through her past archaeological work with Explorator Dyemetrin, time in the Departmento Munitorum, overseeing the transport of the weapons they produced to the front, and administration of Draconith, home of the coveted STC Library, leading the Mechanicus’ Fabricator-General to throw their support behind her. Her ascension was also supported by the Inquisitorial Representative on the Council. While some factions of the Inquisition remained wary of her, the Representative at the time was a Thorian, and if Sethano Horst had truly been chosen as a vessel to enact the Emperor’s will, as some speculated, it would be heretical to oppose the Emperor’s designs.

Besides the imminent Tzeentchian invasion, the Imperium was faced with a dire economic crisis, which Sethano had to tackle shortly after taking power over the Imperium. Simply put, the Imperium was facing the prospect of starvation in the near future. With its expansion constrained by its enemies, and most of its worlds either poorly suited to large-scale agriculture, or otherwise needed to sustain vital war industries, the Imperial government had been buying up and stockpiling any food surpluses that it could, and doling them out as needed to meet demand. But that stockpile was rapidly depleting, and the price of food was skyrocketing. With the population rapidly growing, it would soon become unsustainable, and then the Imperium’s people would start starving, and then rioting in the streets.

Sethano felt the weight of the responsibility that had been entrusted upon her settle heavily upon her shoulders. She knew what had to be done if the Imperium was to be saved, lest it collapse under its own weight. It was a callous act, based on a cold calculus. Those who would suffer from it were xenos, yes, and she would always prioritize humanity’s survival above all else, but that didn’t take away from the cruelty of what she was about to do, necessary as it was. Unlike some of her fellow High Lords, who truly believed in their own xenophobic propaganda, she knew that her victims were capable of suffering, just as human beings could, a fact that was deeply troubling to her.

The Nu-Baol were sapient beings, but they were also plantoids, and an analysis of their biology indicated that they would be highly nutritious to humans. And so, she gave the order to keep them as livestock.

Of course, the population could not simply eat unprocessed xenos, for their revulsion and fear of contamination would get in the way. Even many on the High Lords were initially appalled by her proposal, not out of sympathy for the xenos, but fear of being tainted by them. So Sethano further decreed that the Nu-Baol, after being harvested, would be processed in such a manner to ensure food safety and cleanliness, while making them more appetizing to the average citizen of the Imperium.

​

Soon, new government rations began being issued across the worlds of the Imperium, bringing much-needed relief to its hungry citizens. The rations took the form of green wafers, advertised as being made of “high-energy vegetable concentrates”. In spite of their bland appearance, the people of the Imperium found that they were not only nutritious, but delicious, which made them love Sethano Horst as they had few High Lords of Terra. And while it wasn’t their official name, popularly the wafers became known as “Sethano Green”.

She hated that name.

With production of Sethano Green now in full swing, the Imperium’s food crisis had been solved practically overnight, with it now having a stable and plentiful food supply, that would naturally grow to meet the needs of the Imperium’s population. But Sethano couldn’t dwell long on her own monstrous act, for the Tzeentchians were at the gates.

The Tzeentchians arrived in the Algorab System just four months after Sethano took power as the first among the High Lords of Terra.

Starhawks launched at once to meet the Tzeentchian invaders.

The Starhawk pilots showed great bravery in the defense of the Algorab Bastion, but their efforts were in vain. After a siege, the Tzeentchian forces managed to take the station, and slaughtered the soldiers manning it.

Now, only the Bastion of 40 Eridani and the Fortress World of New Cadia stood between the Tzeentchian Sorcerers and the rest of the Imperium’s worlds.

 

[Nikolai]

Yep, that is genocide for you.

 

[Chilango2]

So Sethano Horst has finally reached the heights of power, and has made her first..uh.. pragmatic choices. It'll be intersting to see how she navigates through this dangerous galaxy.
Also: The visual style of your mod is genuinely beautiful and conveys the 40K feel wonderfully.

 

[Arithmetician]

To the surprise of all of the High Lords of Terra, the attack posed at the core of the Imperium never came. Though the Tzeentchians had taken the Algorab bastion, they had suffered significant fleet losses in doing so, and chose simply to fortify their newly-held position instead of pressing their attack further. And so, the war petered out to an “end” four years later.

But no one actually thought it was the end. The Tzeentchians would be back, and with much greater force next time. And so the Imperium would have to do its best to prepare for their return.

And of course, the Tzeentchians weren’t the Imperium’s only foe. The T’au had successfully held off the Arachnid Hive, which was too distant to immediately strike at the Imperium, but there was also the Drukhari Kabal and the Heretek Hell-Forges to contend with.

The Adeptus Mechanicus was busy working on all fronts to ensure that the Imperium would be ready to meet those challenges. Research was ongoing into the stabilization of volatile motes, which were thought to have metallurgical applications, and the newly elevated Genetor Verata Orpheus was working on refinements to cloning processes, so that new batches of Replicae could be produced without the mutations and deformities that had plagued previous generations. And, crucially to future war efforts, the Imperium was piecing together the plans and infrastructure to begin building new cruisers, so it would no longer be dependent on a single, formerly derelict cruiser to serve as its flagship.

42 years and 3 days after the discovery of the atomic clock in the Eta Cassiopeiae System, nanites emerged, rapidly terraforming a formerly lifeless planet into a verdant Gaia world with rich mineral deposits. Colonization efforts began immediately.

Sethano Horst presided over a state funeral for her immediate predecessor, Lady Natalia Marques, on 06.06.248M43. For her role for defending the Imperium Reformatus in its first wars against hostile xenos, the Adeptus Ministorum canonized Marques as an Imperial Saint.

In spite of his increasing age, Lord Neumann was still good health for the time being, continuing to oversee military operations in Sector Solar as a fellow High Lord of Terra. He maintained a good working relationship with Sethano, and did not bear her any sort of grudge for her ascendance over him. The two of them understood that they were, first and foremost, servants of the Imperium and the Emperor of Mankind, and this led to a strong mutual respect for each other, even if they had slightly different visions on how best to serve.

“I knew that there was something special about you that day, when I recruited you for the Logos Historica Verita,” he told her, “but I never imagined at the time that you would rise as far as you have, Sethano."

“It is a terrible burden... but one that I gladly bear,” Sethano replied, “so that humanity may endure. And I will always be humbled that you gave me that chance, so many years ago, and the knowledge that whatever I may have to sacrifice is small, next to the sacrifice that our Emperor has been making for millennia on end."

“I always knew that I would not be able to accomplish the task of rebuilding the Imperium alone,” Lord Neumann said. “Instead, it was my task, and Natalia’s, to safeguard the Imperium until your generation was ready to serve as the leaders of a new Crusade, one that will retake the galaxy."

“The fleet is still far too small for my liking, but once the new cruisers start coming on line, that will change,” Sethano said. “We will drive back the xenos who threaten the Imperium, and carry the Imperial banner to every world, no matter how far. That I promise you."

It was fortuitous that the Imperium finished researching cruiser technology soon after that conversation, for new enemies made themselves known. One was the Necron Dynasties. Like the Hereteks, Necrons had formerly been organic beings, the Necrontyr but they had been tricked into transferring their consciousnesses into mechanical bodies. However, the souls of all but the most powerful Necrontryr had been forever lost. Now, they were little more than automatons bent on exterminating all organic life, so that they could reclaim their long-lost empire as they emerged from stasis on their ancient Tomb and Relic worlds.

The Nurglites were also rediscovered, followers of the Chaos God Nurgle, the Plague Lord, presiding over disease and decay.

(The Nurglites also have the necroid city set... again, not sure why it showed as the mammalian one in this screenshot).

The Necrons controlled a swathe of space between the northern part of Segmentum Ultima and the eastern edge of Segmentum Obscurus. The T’au Empire lay directly in the path of the Necron’s expansion.

There was also an remarkably advanced xenos empire, the Godaid Archivists, to the Necron’s north. In spite of their name, the Godaid were staunchly materialistic, with no belief in the divine. They had taken to cybernetically upgrading their bodies, but as there technology was alien, a mockery of the sacred devices of the the Machine God.

The existence of the Godaid was deeply disturbing to the High Lords of Terra. Not only was there an immensely powerful xenos empire hidden among the Halo Stars, but there was no mention of them whatsoever in Imperial records. Had they been there since before the Sack? Or had it actually been far longer than the centuries since the Old Imperium’s fall, giving the Godaid potentially millennia to develop? None could say. But if there was any saving grace in the encounter, it was the Godaid had fallen into stagnation themselves, just like the Old Imperium, and showed little desire to expand past their current borders.

The Nurglite’s empire lay on the other side of the galaxy, along the southernmost edge of Segmentum Tempestus and stretching into the Veiled Region. Worryingly, there also seemed to be an Arachnid output in that corner of the galaxy, which was soon discovered to have been colonized through the use of a wormhole. To even have such technology meant that the bugs were far more advanced than the Imperium would have cared to admit.

But in spite of all of the new enemies that had appeared on the galactic stage, the Imperium’s goals remained unchanged. It would continue to defend itself against any xenos threats - and once it was strong enough, it would strike back against them.

 

[Chilango2]

Your one saving grace is that all this various DE and FP empires will be just as busy trying to kill each other as they will be trying to kill you. If they happen to gang up on you, things could get ugly very quickly.

 

[Arithmetician]

In spite of the Imperium’s continued distrust of xenos, under the pragmatic leadership of High Lady of Terra Sethano Horst, it signed a Defensive Pact with the T’au Empire. The Imperium had an interest in the continued existence of the T’au as a buffer against the Necrons and Arachnids, and if the Drukhari, Hereteks, or Tzeentchians were to attack again, they could greatly benefit from the strength of the T’au navy, or at least use the T’au as a distraction in the Galactic north. Of course, some hardliners were very unhappy with this, but Sethano suppressed them ruthlessly. The survival of the Imperium came first, and small-minded individuals would not be permitted to stand in the way of that, if reason could not dissuade them.

Of course, further war with the hostile Ruinous Powers surrounding the Imperium was inevitable, so work continued on fortifying the Imperium’s borders.

Within the Imperium, there was, however, growing unrest, with pirates preying upon shipping lanes... until they were crushed by a detachment of the Imperial Navy.

Winged Statues, which came to be known as the Sentinels, were discovered on Chiron. Explorator Dymetrin was seriously maimed while investigating the site, but in spite of all expectations of a premature death following her injuries, she continued to go strong, augmenting her body with new cybernetics.

As for the Sentinels themselves, an uneasy agreement was made to permit them to augment the defenses of Chiron. Short of carrying out an Exterminatus on the planet, there was no feasible way to dislodge them, and Sethano was not so foolish to throw away loyal Imperials and resources that she could use for the good of the Imperium.

The T’au warlords, in a further break from their species’ former empire, began employing increasingly xenophobic rhetoric, priming their population for war against their xenos neighbors. Similar, fear campaigns were underway throughout the Imperium. Yet in spite of the rhetoric, there remained a strong degree of respect between the leaders of the T’au and the Imperium under Sethano Horst, and their defensive alliance remained in place.

Besides establishing new Star Fortresses in key systems, the Imperium was accelerating its colonization of Segmentum Solar, and had begun research on Jump Drives, which would be a key advantage in the conflicts sure to follow.

To the Galactic southeast of the Imperium, sightings of a new xenos empire, codenamed the ‘Res Menace’ were made.

Before communications from the Res Menace vessels could be fully deciphered, the Drukhari declared war on the Imperium again, and by extension, the T’au Empire.

More hostile vessels were sighted soon afterward in Segmentum Ultima, clearly belonging to Orks, historically one of the most belligerent species in the galaxy, living only to fight, and making use of ramshackle technology, which, when it worked, did so when it had no right to.

But the Ork Worlds were far from the Imperium’s current borders. Seeking an opportunity as the Imperium mobilized to deal with the Drukhari, the Hereteks declared war on the Imperium once again as well.

Twenty years after first rising to prominence, Sethano Horst remained the de facto ruler of the Imperium of Man as war engulfed it anew. Yet, with the death of Lord Neumann, six months after the war with the Herteks resumed, she felt increasingly cut off from her humanity. She knew she had sacrificed much of it in the atrocity she had committed and continued to commit against the Nu-Baol, and as popular as she was among the ordinary citizens of the Imperium for improving their lives, her regime was still deeply politically repressive, though she viewed this as a necessity to keep the Imperium’s competing elites strictly in line. She still had Explorator Dymetrin, but the number of people who knew her on any personal level from before she became the leading High Lady of Terra was rapidly diminishing, unmooring her from the girl that she had used to be.

Then again, she had never been an ordinary girl. She still had dreams of the Emperor, and had the sense of inexorably being driven on by a terrible purpose.

If she faltered from that path now, the Imperium would fall, and so she would continue on, no matter how high the cost might go.

(Hi! I’m sorry for not updating for a while! First I got distracted with the Stellaris beta release for 3.3 for a while, and then life got busy. But I haven’t forgotten this AAR, and I hope to update it a bit more regularly again going forward!)

 

[Arithmetician]

The ‘Res Menace’ was soon shown to be the Aedlari Reclaimers, a fanatically xenophobic sect of the Aeldari, who were determined to restore the vast empire that they had once had over the galaxy before their Fall and the birth of the Eye of Terror... by exterminating humanity and all of the other ‘vermin’ who now infested the galaxy. Ironically, this made their sadistic cousins in the Drukhari or “Dark Aeldari” less hostile to humanity as a whole.

Fortunately, like the Orks, they were too far away from the Imperium’s current borders to be immediately considered a serious threat, though that threat would grow as both empires colonized the space between them.

In 262.M43, the Imperium won a decisive victory against an invading Heretek fleet in the Capella System, along their border. Meanwhile, the Drukhari largely appeared to be distracted launching an invasion of the T’au Empire.

That bought crucial time for the Imperium, which finished researching Jump Drives, granting new fleet unparalleled mobility, and developing upgrades for its fighters, which were now at the cutting edge of combat avionics.

Contacts started to filter in from the Eastern fringes of the galaxy, starting with the Prikkiki-Ti, which were every bit as genocidal as most of the xenos that the Imperium had encountered thus far.

Contact was made with another Fallen Empire, machines serving as the caretakers of an ancient but decaying ring world. There were also whispers of a cult to an alien god in the sector, and of hideous xenos who perverted the teachings of the Omnissiah in an unholy fusion of flesh of metal, in mockery of his sacred designs, said to be aggressively expanding and assimilating their neighbors into a soulless collective.

Yet unseen, another threat was about to emerge...

Through the hubris of the Necron Dynasties, the galaxy suddenly found itself under invasion by the so-called “Gray Tempest”, fleets of self-propagating nano machines determined to process all life into more nanites.

Yet even as the battle for the Milky Way began, the Imperium still had to win its wars closer to home...

 

[Arithmetician]

While there was some initial panic about the sudden emergence of the Gray Tempest, it was quickly realized that there were no “L-Gates” for them to invade through near the Imperium’s space. In fact, no sign of them could be picked up on Imperial sensors whatsoever. Some one the High Lords of Terra questioned if the “Gray Tempest” really existed, or if it was some xeno ploy. Others were of the opinion that the Tempest was probably real, but that, since it did not pose any immediate threat to the Imperium, it could be safely ignored for the time being. After all, the Imperium was still locked in two wars, and could not afford to spare ships hunting for the Gray Tempest. It was better to let the xenos weaken themselves, throwing their fleets against the Tempest.

Word of the Tempest’s arrival was quickly censored and suppressed among the common people of the Imperium to prevent further panic, though it would remain in the back of the minds of many, who had some inkling that it was out there as a sort of extragalactic bogeyman.

In the meantime, the Imperium came into contact with more foul Chaos cultists, from the eastern fringes of the galaxy.

Another border skirmish occurred with the Hereteks in the Capella System, winning the Imperium another decisive victory.

On the Drukhari front, the war was not going particularly well for the T’au, who lost a major fleet engagement in the Elaeldam System. The defeat only served to make the T’au government even more xenophobic, though they remained willing to work with the Imperium against their common foes.

The Imperium had more success in opening a front against the Drukhari, using a task force of Jump Drive-enabled cruisers to start to attack and occupy several outlying systems, especially those with planets ripe for colonization.

The technology needed to build even larger capital ships was soon thereafter rediscovered in the Imperium, which immediately set to work constructing them at their Forge Worlds to further press its advantage.

In a move that was kept largely secret from the general public, and in an earlier time would have certainly gotten her executed for Hersey for even suggesting it, High Lady of Terra Sethano Horst took the unprecedented step of having the Imperium join a newly formed “Galactic Community”, that had ben proposed by some of the few xenos nations that weren’t rabidly omnicidal.

Sethano had little interest in the utopian sort of vision that some foolish or deceitful xenos pitched the Galactic Community. The past, present, and grim dark future of the galaxy was war. She knew that all too well by now. But by joining the Community, Imperial spies would be better able to infiltrate xenos governments and keep tabs on the threats that they might pose, and in time, Sethano hoped to subvert the workings of the community to bring those few xenos nations that could be reasoned with under Imperial dominion.

While the xenos were debating the creation of the Galactic Community among themselves, contact was made with another ancient and tremendously powerful Fallen Empire, the Tomiyakian Shard.

The Shard was located in a swathe of space on the eastern side of Segementum Tempestus.

On 01.01.269M43, the Galactic Community was officially founded... and a dreadful threat, one only rumored in the past, was revealed, lurking amid the Ghoul Stars...

“We are the Blorg,” a mechanical voice announced, taking over channels across the Imperium to do so. “Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will take your biological and technological distinctiveness and add you to our friends. Your culture will adapt to party with us. Resistance is futile... and impolite."

Not only was the Blorg an Abominable Intelligence, it was driven by a depraved perversion of xenophilia, heretical as that already was, seeking to forcibly assimilate all sapient beings into its gestalt consciousness, stealing their souls away in the process, all in the name of “befriending” them.

Moreover, unlike the supposed “Gray Tempest”, the Blorg were an abundantly real and potential existential threat to the Imperium. They were already in the process of aggressively assimilating their neighbors, and their overall level of technological development vastly exceeded that of the Imperium. Worse, the Blorg’s strong economy, military, and high population gave them a large share of influence in the newly formed Galactic Community, as much of a menace to the rest of its members as they obviously were.

No further proof was needed of the threat that the Blorg posed than the fact that they had already conquered the homeworld of the Khornate Berserkers, who served the Chaos God of War. Assimilated Khornate cultists and daemons, fitted with horrific cybernetic implants, now served as frontline Blorg shock troops, equipped with nanospore dispersers to assimilate their targets. Khornate bloodlust had also been assimilated into the broader Blorg gestalt consciousness, leading them to carry out their conquests with far more feral relish than would be expected of cold machines.

The other great power in the Eastern Fringe was revealed to be Sacred Tribunal of Kyaikton. They were in many ways, the polar opposite of the Blorg: a peaceful, highly spiritual society, with egalitarian values that recognized the importance of individuals.

Members of the Inquisition immediately distrusted the Tribunal. Insidious xenos cults and plots surely lurked under the surface.

And many cults there were on that side of the Galaxy...

Two more Fallen Empires were also discovered.

The galaxy was truly dark and full of terrors.

 

[Silver_Man4567(Backup)]

Nice to see that you Incorporated an empire from one of your previous AAR’s! I really loved the Blorg Collective AAR, definitely my favourite out of all your AAR’s

 

[Arithmetician]

Word quickly reached the Inquisition of a foul xenos cult, believed to originate from the Prophets of Dagon, spreading on Holy Terra itself! While High Lady Sethano Horst often privately thought that the Inquisition was overzealous in carrying out its duties, the risk of corruption or subversion was too great not to treat the Prophet’s operations as a threat to be terminated with extreme prejudice. And soon thereafter, the great Witch Hunts of Holy Terra began. Many would die, slowing the rate of the planet’s population growth, and the pace of research would slow significantly in the climate of heightened suspicion, but it was sadly necessary.

Militarily, the Imperium concluded the war against the Drukhari Kabal, seizing several systems from them, including one rich with strategic resources. The Drukhari took several systems from the T’au as well, but they were uninhabited border systems.

Around the same time, the Blorg Collective finished assimilating the last planets of the Khornate Berserkers, forcibly integrating their cultists and daemons into their Gestalt Consciousness.

After the war, the approximate borders of the Imperium looked something like this.

Not stopping with the Khornate Berserkers, reports came in that the Blorg Collective had begun to rapidly assimilate the worlds of the Slaaneshi cultists. Whereas the Khornates had imparted their aggression to the Blorg gestalt consciousness, the Collective absorbed from the Slaaneshi new ways to party - in the most debauched and depraved ways imaginable. And needless to say, soon there were further reports of cyborgized Slaaneshi cultists and daemons joining their Khornate counterparts as Blorg drones invading world after world.

It was around this point that people throughout the Imperium began to speak of the Blorg as the “Great Assimilator”. It was feared that, if they were not stopped, they would continue to eventually assimilate the entire Milky Way.

As a means of blunting Blorg influence in the eastern Fringe before it could spread further, the Imperium reluctantly began negotiations with the Sacred Tribunal of Kyaikton, as they were the only power in the region comparable in power to the Blorg.

Back on Holy Terra, after fighting the Heretek Hell-Forges to a stalemate, Sethano Horst initiated another round of government reforms, bringing about truly meritocratic promotion practices throughout much of the Administratum and military, while improving the coordination and efficiency of the Imperium’s war industries, so that it could continue to rapidly expand its fleet to deal with the myriad xenos threats that faced it. Moreover, with a larger fleet, they would finally be able to deal a decisive blow to the Hereteks, and eliminate their threat once and for all.

Another such threat revealed itself soon afterward, the Locryst Swarm, a ravenous hive mind that burrowed deep into and devoured planets themselves.

The Locryst were located in Segementum Ultima, on the northward side of the Galactic Core region.

While the Imperium was growing ever stronger, the galaxy remained a dark and dangerous place.

 

[Macavity116]

I don't know why, but I spent way too much time taking in the artwork of the Great Assimilator. It's mesmerizing.

 

[Slaughter]

Awesome AAR.

Question: Weren't you a Fanatic Purifier at the start or am I misremembering? How did you negotiate that treaty with the Tau? Xenopohbia Ethics shift?

 

[Arithmetician]

Awesome AAR.

Question: Weren't you a Fanatic Purifier at the start or am I misremembering? How did you negotiate that treaty with the Tau? Xenopohbia Ethics shift?

Actually, I’m one of the few nations that wasn't a Fanatic Purifier, Determined Exterminator, Driven Assimilator, Devouring Swarm, etc. The T’au also aren’t omnicidal, though they are Barbaric Despoilers in this playthrough (following a collapse of their old Greater Good philosophy). As for the Sacred Tribunal of Kyaikton, they were an accidental random spawn in this galaxy, and happened to be one of the advanced starts (judging from the initial save which I used the observer commands to inspect at the end of the playthrough.

My (modded) starting ethos was Authoritarian, Militarist, Xenophobe, Spiritualist. Everyone has four ethics points in this playthrough.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Arithmetician]

The Blorg finished off the Slaaneshi cultists, assimilating their final planet into the Collective.

Hardly sated, the Great Assimilator next turned its sights against the Prikkiki-Ti. The lizards too would be assimilated. As the Great Assimilator’s envoys made the habit of announcing every time the Galactic Community was in session, resistance was impolite, and all would eventually be assimilated.

The Imperium cared not for the Prikkiki-Ti, who would happily murder every last human if given half a chance, but Sethano was deeply concerned that every planet conquered only made the Great Assimilator more and more powerful. The Gray Tempest was still a nebulous, practically mythical threat, which the Imperium still hadn’t seen any signs of activity from, besides the initial transmission warning of them when they were first unleashed upon the galaxy. But few could ignore the Blorg’s rapid expansion at the expense of their neighbors.

At long last, the Witch Hunts on Holy Terra finally rooted out and purged the last of the Deep One cults on Holy Terra, and those who had allowed themselves to be corrupted by the foul xenos. Many would breathe easier on Holy Terra, though unfortunately, Witch Hunts would become increasingly common across other Imperial Worlds, as the Deep Ones sought to spread their cult far and wide.

Concerting reports arrived on Holy Terra that certain colonists on the frigid world of Kanaka Durga Prime had begun genetically modifying themselves, not only to better tolerate their harsh environment, but to be physically stronger as well. They had even begun openly referring to themselves as “Post-Humans”.

Throughout its history, the Imperium had regularly genetically modified select male trainees into transhuman Space Marines, through the use of Gene-Seed and surgically implanted organs based on the same. But for civilians to be giving themselves such treatments, even if they were but a pale imitation of the procedures used by Space Marine Chapters was highly alarming, and there were some unsubstantiated rumors that it was part of a Deep One plot to mutate humans into beings more like themselves.

Inquisitors were dispatched to investigate, but Sethano was very explicit that no Exterminatuses or purges were to be carried out unless there was genuine and definitive proof of corruption. After all, they were still citizens of the Imperium, and their Imperial Tithes were needed to continue building its defenses against the hostile xenos who surrounded it.

Sethano Horst, as the leading High Lady of Terra and Master of the Administratum, should not have been able to give direct orders to the Inquisition in such a manner. The Inquisition was outside of the normal chain of command, and did not officially answer to her. However, the Thorians had only grown in prominence in the Inquisition since Sethano Horst had first risen to her office, and her steadfast and inspiring leadership against myriad xenos threats had only further fueled their convictions that she was divinely inspired by the Emperor, acting as the living expression of his will. To refuse an order from her would be to oppose the designs of the Emperor himself.

Others in the Inquisition were deeply uncomfortable with this, whispering that Sethano could yet prove a second Goge Vandire, the tyrant whom Sebastian Thor had helped depose millennia ago, who had pretended to be inspired and protected by the Emperor. But any and all covert assassination attempts against Sethano inevitably failed, and often so spectacularly that it only reinforced notions that she truly was divinely protected by the Emperor.

The pace of these attempts slowed dramatically when the Tzeentchian Sorcerers declared war on the T’au Empire, and by extension, the Imperium once again. That wouldn’t stop Sethano from investing heavily in improving the Imperium’s espionage and counter-espionage operations though. Besides protecting herself, these operations were focused on infiltrating both the Tzeentchians and the Blorg to gain intelligence on their movements and steal their technology, once it could be sufficiently purged of Chaos and xenos taints.

The foundation of the Galactic Market in a backwater system that had rebelled from the Drukhari Kabal was largely an afterthought to many in the Imperium, though Sethano would quietly open channels to secure the purchase of supplies and materials needed for the Imperium’s war effort.

As Imperial Battlefleets were deployed to the front, a revolutionary technological breakthrough was made on how to reactivate ancient Warp Gates. While few in number, they would allow distances between them to be traversed almost instanteously, far beyond the range of Jump Drives.

Imperial Battlefleets reached the Rana System. Once held by the Imperium before being taken and colonized by the Tzeentchians decades ago.

Orbital bombardment commenced against the Tzeentchian colony, Last Exit, that, if prolonged, would have eventually culminated in an Exterminatus. However, Sethano wanted to be able to use Last Exit as a forward operating base, so once the Tzeentchian defenses had been sufficiently softened up, the Astra Militarum moved in, along with squads of Inquisitors and Sisters of Battle tasked with the extermination of the surviving Tzeentchians on the ground.

While exploring a natural wormhole leading from the Rigel System in Segementum Tempestus, Explorator Rawohlt reported dire news. The other end of the wormhole opened up near Blorg space. While the Great Assimilator hadn’t reached the cluster yet, it would only be a matter of time before it was on the Imperium’s doorstep.

Emergency work began on transforming the Rigel Gate, as it would become known, into a Fortress World that would rival New Cadia.

As exploration of the cluster on the far side of the Rigel Gate was discovered, a fearsome Scavenger Bot was also discovered, roving among a massive graveyard of ancient void ships.

The arrival of Void Cloud VLUUR in the Sol System was another ill-omen, severly disrupting navigation there.

Two Imperial Battlefleet pushed into the Algorab System, to retake the bastion that the Tzeentchians had seized so many years before.

While the bastion was taken, the Tzeentchians swiftly counterattacked with two large fleets.

The battle quickly turned desperate, with horrific losses on both sides as they closed in on each other.

The better part of both Imperial Battlefleets were wiped out.

But Imperial Starhawks ensured that the Tzeentchians paid a heavy price, and narrowly repelled them.

Both sides were bloodied, but the war had just begun...

 

[Slaughter]

Hah, so much for the Great Beast of Chaos! Seems like they fall to the Blorg Collective like anyone else.

Huh-oh, that Gate! I would fortify the shit out of anything like that, too.

Any plans to create Astartes when you have enough genetic engineering tech? Should be just a matter of gene-modding an species of transhumans with like, all the neat combat bonuses. I wonder if there's a trait that makes leaders pop out with better combat bonuses? It would make sense for something like Astartes to give you better combat leaders.

Geez, those are bloody casualties on both sides of that scuffle.

Looks like the Dark Eldar are weakening.

The Prikikki-ti existing in WH40K is strangely appropriate.

Surprised the Necrons don't have Necroid portraits, its practically made for them.

 

[Arithmetician]

@Slaughter

The mods on the playthrough allow both extra ascension perks and to double up on Genetic and Psionic Ascension, so eventually we will have Astartes, yes.

The Necroid robots are more spider-like and the Necrons are more humanoid in appearance. They use the Necroid ships and city set though.

As an aside, I noticed that I actually narrowly held Algorab as of the point in the AAR above (though I will lose it shortly thereafter in another coming attack, to be documented soon). I have edited the above account accordingly to be more accurate to what happened in my game.