Legio XIII: Consecrators

Legio XIII: Consecrators

Primarch’s Name: Dyal Rulf
Homeworld: Istakh
Background: Thinker
Psychic Potential: Normal
Gene-seed: Stable
Talent: Great General
Colors: Dark Green, Brass Trim
Battle Cry: None, Consecrators attack in silence and without warning

History

At first glance upon his discovery, Rulf did not rule his world nor had he conquered it in great campaigns of grandiose warfare. In point of fact, Dyal Rulf was found ensconced in an understated private librarium in a remote corner of the Central Administration Spire, serving as an ‘advisor’ to the planetary Regent of Istakh from the Ministry of Sciences. The discovery of a primarch in such humble circumstances compared to his brothers was something of a let down to the various organs of the budding Imperium of Man. The presentation of Rulf to the Imperial Court was equally uninspiring - the father of the XIIIth legion was soft spoken, reserved, even detached in manner and quickly dismissed as a wilting scholar before joining his legion on Crusade. Few expected greatness from this unassuming son of the Emperor.

The first campaign by the XIII, previously known as the “Silent Dawn” or “Silent Thirteenth”, after reunited with their gene-sire threw such assumptions to the wind. Confronting a fortified pocket empire calling itself “Stromend” that refused to acknowledge the rule of Terra, the upper echelons of Imperial leadership expected Rulf to become bogged down in a drawn out and bloody siege of several years. What happened instead was a brilliant campaign of rapid dominance executed by the Thirteenth with amazing precision. Space forces were utterly destroyed, fortresses demolished, field armies and garrisons defeated in detail. A dozen hostile worlds were conquered simultaneously in as many hours.

This startling and spectacular success marked not only a change in the perception of the XIIIth by the rest of the Imperium, but a change in their name as well. The Silent Thirteenth were renamed ‘the Consecrators’ by Dyal Rulf, for the legion was dedicated to the singular purpose of reuniting humanity and asserting its dominance of the Galaxy. The surprise of the Consecrators’ first victory prompted a re-examination of Rulf’s past on Istakh. It transpired that Rulf’s victory over the Stromend was a kind familiar to the people of Istakh - prior to Rulf’s installation as an advisor to the Regent, Istakh had been divided into multiple competing states until a series of rapid conflicts solidified all power solely within the hands of the Regency...as advised by Dyal Rulf.

Legion Organization

The Consecrators differ from the standard legion organization proposed by Iskanderos as the pattern for all legions to emulate. Instead, Rulf has restructured the Consecrators to emphasize speed and precision above all else. Gunships, landspeeders, jump troops, bikes and jetbikes are found in larger numbers than in most other legions, and every infantry unit not arriving by drop pod, teleportation or gunship is mounted in an armored transport. The legion of one hundred thousand strong is broken into thousand strong ‘Lances’, organized each as a specialized rapid strike element commanded by a Captain, while companies are led by Lieutenants.

Combat Doctrine

The focus on rapidity and precision in the Consecrators doctrine cannot be overemphasized. Each officer of the Consecrators spends days or even weeks in preparation for a campaign with Rulf, poring through studies, reports and every scrap of information that can be gathered about the enemies of Man. Rulf has been compared to a scholar or surgeon in his approach to warfare, and that characterization bears true in the culture of the Legion’s leadership - enemies are studied, analyzed and dissected, sometimes literally, to prepare the best way for Thirteenth legion to destroy them. After each battle, results are studied, discussed and further analyzed to draw new lessons and ideas for future campaigns. The cold, clinical approach to victory is even present in the terminology of these after-action studies: a victory over an enemy is referred to as an ‘excision’.

Legion Practices and Beliefs

As a whole, the Consecrators are relatively insular and known for their clinical precision and emotional detachment. Rulf keeps his brothers at arm’s length, having no close relationships and his legion does much the same. Those who campaign with the Consecrators have shared tales of the unique interrogation method employed by the legion’s apothecaries and tech-marines: partial servitorization. Enemies taken alive are not subjected to cruel torment and excruciation, but are instead put through a regimen of psycho-surgeries to render them compliant and obedient. Each prisoner will calmly, precisely and freely unburden themselves of every single piece of information before being stored in a stasis vault and shipped away for some unknown purpose. At least one Magos of Mars has attested that these individuals show signs of interlinkage implants but no clear indication of purpose.

Even the dead serve to tell the Consecrators much about their enemies. If foes refuse to be taken alive by the legionaries, their corpses are taken instead. Thorough dissection and autopsies are carried out by the Consecrators to study the conditions and environments their foes live in, which has time and again provided vital insight for Dyal Rulf to sculpt victory.

Recruitment and Gene-Seed

After reuniting with Dyal Rulf above Istakh, the Consecrators have begun to recruit solely from Istakh’s population under the belief that a more uniform recruiting pool will more tightly bind the legion together and to its icy ideology. Rulf’s gene-seed has proven to be perfectly stable, having very low tendency towards rejection when paired with the sterile, surgical implantation procedures and academy-style recruitment program established on Istakh.

The Great Crusade

While not one of the flashier Legions, the Consecrators were quietly responsible for greatly expanding the Imperial borders during the high point of the Great Crusade. Keeping with Dyal Rulf’s somewhat unassuming nature, the Legion was often at the forefront of particularly dangerous campaigns, however, the Consecrators were usually content to depart the war zone once their primary objectives were achieved. Some of the latter-day historians argued that the Thirteenth Legion should have been given credit for considerably more compliances than their peers, who would often sweep through the territories of enemies broken by the Consecrators’ assault and claim the spoils, however, the Consecrators themselves did not seem particularly concerned of these omissions.

Though both the Primarch and the Legion were somewhat aloof  and did not necessarily make ostentatious alliances with many other Imperial institutions, Dyal Rulf was a highly respected leader of the Crusade, and was recognized as one of the key Primarchs during the formation of Council of Terra. While bereft of direct holdings, the Consecrators were a powerful force whose leaders had the aptitude for rapid insertions, fast responses to crises, and independent thinking. Combined with Rulf’s own understanding of human nature and the Legion’s considerable intelligence apparatus, these traits led to Dyal Rulf’s inclusion on the Council, where he was often the voice of calm, rational reason against the histrionics of his more emotional brothers.

During the Heresy

The actions of the Consecrators during the civil war are considered one of the great enigmas of the conflict. As a Legion specializing in fast, rapid, precision strikes against all manners of enemies, the Consecrators were naturally suited for taking the war to Iskanderos, or perhaps to leading the kind of operations like Starfall. It is certain that had the Thirteenth Legion been present at Apella in lieu of the more psychically attuned yet less reliable forces, the outcome might have been considerably different, and might have prevented the Heresy before it had a chance to take root.

The true reasons for the Consecrators remaining at Terra might be obscured by the passage of time, but some historians suggest that the Council’s war against Iskanderos might have had another hidden motif – expending the forces that were considered unreliable or outright dangerous in the peacetime. Seen in this light, the composition of Operation Starfall may be seen as an attempt to erode the power of the more savage Legions such as the Iconoclasts and the Gargoyles, while leaving the considerably more reliable Grim Angels, Lion Guard, or the Consecrators whole.

Whatever the truth, the majority of the Consecrators Legion remained curiously unengaged through most of the conflict, though it would be a mistake to believe them idle during that time. Smaller Lance-strength forces were frequently dispatched on missions away from the Throne World, though only Dyal Rulf himself knew the reasons for those missions. This ensured frequent rotation of garrison forces at Terra, and also served the purpose of obscuring the Legion’s true strength, as not all Lances returning to Terra were the same Lances that once left it…

It is very likely that Rulf maintained at least a degree of contact with Malcador, though it is uncertain how much involvement the Consecrators had with the creation of Imperium Secundus. More curiously, there were continued sightings of Consecrator vessels near the Angel Kings space up through – and even subsequent to – the fall of Terra, as if the Thirteenth Legion maintained some clandestine connections with Corwin’s own empire. Moreover, Rulf was known to entertain several attaches from the Spears of Eternity Legion throughout the conflict, though for what ends, no one could attest with certainty. Whatever the truth, it seemed that the Consecrators had acquired a considerable and unexpected amount of insight into the nature of their Chaos-tainted enemies.

While one would have expected the Consecrators to become a mobile reserve upon the breach of Segmentum Solar by Iskanderos, the Legion was instead ordered to gather in numbers at Terra. It was believed by the Council that with the Thirteenth Legion’s methodical understanding of enemy forces would allow them to hold the line at Terra in preparations for the return of Council reinforcements.

Though not a Legion typically suited to defensive warfare, the Consecrators set out to prepare Terra’s fortifications with consummate skill and expertise. Unlike the forces more used to static defenses, the Consecrators designed a plan emphasizing their strengths in mobile warfare, using the entirety of the Sol System as their battlefield.

Recognizing that his forces would be likely outnumbered, Dyal Rulf concentrated his men in the inner system, where rapid strike Lances could be redeployed within minimal time. While Terra was garrisoned by the Custodes, large amounts of Lion Guard castoffs, and all Legionaries who could be spared, at least half of the Consecrators were spread across the asteroid belt, where their hidden bases would serve to harry and savage the invading fleet and to buy the defenders of Terra more time.

As the great fleet commanded by Iskanderos himself broke out of the Warp, the Thirteenth Legion set to work. Using the many rocks and dwarf planets in the asteroid belt as their bases, they struck at the rebels again and again, using all their understanding and knowledge of Chaos to inflict casualties. On Terra, the Consecrators were reinforced by the few surviving Illuminators under the pact made by Kian Ranseng with Dyal Rulf, as well as by the million-strong force of conscripted civilians and the strange machinery of Martian Mechanicum.

Unfortunately, while Rulf took pains to account for most factors leading up to battle, he underestimated the loyalty of Mars. As soon as the traitor fleets began to enter the inner system, the red planet rose in revolt, led by corrupted Mechanicum priesthood who were promised access to daemonic technology in return for their fealty. Though Rulf expected a degree of resistance and even outright sedition from the Martian ranks, the magnitude of the revolt threatened his carefully laid plans, forcing him to send a considerable fraction of his forces from Terra to suppress the revolt by any means necessary.

Knowing that the loyalist forces could not afford a lengthy campaign against technologically advanced and numerous Martians, Rulf ordered the Consecrators to capture what technology and resources could be useful for defending Terra, before employing forbidden weaponry of mass destruction to eradicate the threat once and for all. Racing against time, the Thirteenth Legion unleashed nanite swarms, nuclear and radiological bombs, modified scores of Life Eater virus, and a variety of alchemical munitions to eradicate all life on Mars in a matter of hours. While a considerable portion of the corrupted Mechanicus strength survived the first attacks, the sheer totality of bombardment, combined with the Consecrators’ uncanny understanding of their enemies’ secrets and thought processes, ensured that the red planet played no further role in the rebellion.

This victory, however, did not come without a cost. By being forced to reveal some of his strength to make a move against Mars, Dyal Rulf had to leave Terra vulnerable. This opening was exploited by Iskanderos, who was able to gain a foothold on the Throne World through relentless waves of power armored warriors assaulting the loyalist bastions.

Many battles were fought in those days. Many were the tales of heroism and treachery, from the legends of Dyal Rulf himself slaying many greater daemons at the gates of the Imperial Palace to the terrifying stories of grime-encrusted Nihlus and inhuman, transformed Angelus rampaging through the civilian population to feed their abominable hungers. The Consecrators fought bravely, hoping that sooner rather than later, the reinforcements would arrive, and the rebels would be finally destroyed once and for all.

It is said that in the final days of Terra, Dyal Rulf sought out his father, searching through the previously forbidden levels of the Imperial Palace in vain hope that perhaps, the Emperor could be persuaded to take personal interest in the battle. No account exists to tell of what happened, and if Rulf was any more successful in it than Rogr Hemri mere months earlier, but the few survivors of Terra tell of grim, determined stature of the Thirteenth Primarch in the world’s final days, as if he was resigned to whatever fate he learned of.

When the rebels finally breached the walls of the Imperial Palace, the Consecrators took to the streets, fighting in the hab-blocks, in the mountainous peaks and in the secret tunnels where not even vermin managed to thrive. They fought in the dried ocean beds and in the ballrooms where the high and the mighty once held court. They battled the traitors amongst the priceless artworks and the artifacts of mankind’s long-lost near-apotheosis alongside civilian volunteers and Marines whose allegiance was to Terra and the Emperor rather than to distant Primarchs.

As Iskanderos finally made his way to the Emperor’s throne room beneath the palace, Dyal Rulf was there to greet him, surrounded by the surviving Illuminators and Terminator-armored elite of his own Legion. History does not record what was spoken between two brothers, and if there were any revelations, pleas, or offers of surrender. Though Rulf was frequently underestimated by his brothers due to his unassuming, quiet demeanor, he was a superlative swordsman, and a fighter of great patience and poise. Even with the powers of Chaos swelling through him, Iskanderos was hard pressed to defeat his brother for a time – just long enough for Rulf’s final order to be enacted.

As the Arch-Traitor finally gathered his ill-gotten lore of the Immaterium to end his brother’s life, the first ships started to leave Terra in droves, carrying with them the survivors of the Throne World, the warriors who had once sworn to protect it, the priceless artifacts and lore that took millennia to find and preserve. As he lay dying, Rulf smiled, whispering to his brother that the traitor victory could never be complete.

Post-Heresy

One could have been forgiven for expecting the Consecrators to fight to the last, or to break into hundreds of competing warbands in the wake of their Primarch’s death at Terra, however, this was not to happen. While the Legion did suffer horrendous casualties, the sons of Rulf were able to withdraw in good order, aided by their comrades still operating in the asteroid belt. After the Fall of Terra, however, the story of the Consecrators becomes considerably murkier.

Despite encountering Rogr Hemri’s armada on their way out of the Sol System, the Consecrators did not join in with Hemri’s nascent Imperial Remnant. Instead, the Legion continued to retreat further to galactic south-east, using series of strategically selected waystations and outposts to resupply, to gather fellow survivors, and to reestablish the chain of command. Once the remaining Legion strength had reassembled, augmented by forces that were not present at Terra and therefore fresh from the conflict, the Consecrators had disappeared from the annals of recorded history.

By the 33^rd Millennium, the first notions of the Consecrators’ activity began to surface. A small force of unidentified Astartes repelling a xenos invasion; a surprise raid on an Imperial Remnant supply station that was considered too insignificant to warrant true Legion garrison; a rogue trader reporting evidence of suspicious fleet activity on a world previously thought dead. These actions did not seem to follow a singular purpose, or to be limited to any particular section of the galaxy, however, they all bore hallmark of fast, precise attacks long associated with the sons of Dyal Rulf, leaving little unnecessary collateral damage and no survivors or reliable witnesses.

At the close of the 34^th Millennium, the forces of Griven Kall, targeted by a number of these raids, sought out the Consecrators’ homeworld of Isktakh, attempting to force the Thirteenth Legion out of hiding. A great armada was gathered, comprised of the warriors from all the Legions which had once thrown in their lot with Iskanderos, and led by an ambitious champion of the Imperial Redeemers seeking to elevate himself in the eyes of the Ruinous Powers. Hungry for slaughter and plunder, the traitor forces sailed the treacherous Warp, navigating only by the ancient star charts made unreliable by stellar drift and the twisting, warping influence of Chaos.

When the Chaos armada emerged into realspace on the outskirts of Isktakh system, they expected to find a thriving empire, or, at the very least, to meet waves of desperate attackers. The truth, however, was much stranger. Of the Consecrators former homeworld, there was not a sign, its place on the orbital path occupied by a small black hole of uncertain origin. Though the rest of the Istakh system conformed to the ancient records, there were no traces of recent human activity save for the small number of drifters, corsairs, and scavengers who, in their last few moments before being ritually sacrificed, remained blissfully unaware of Istakh’s significance.

It is not clear what happened to Istakh itself, or if the planet still exists, but if anything, the raids of the Space Marines presumed to be the Consecrators became even more frequent as the centuries passed. On several occasions, they were accompanied by crimson-armored Astartes bearing another, nearly forgotten symbol, though it is not clear if those warriors had any connection to the Legion of old. Whatever goal the Thirteenth Legion is pursuing seems to be an overriding obsession, and its forces continue to work together with uncanny – some may say sinister – coordination pointing to the presence of some grand design yet to bear fruit, or, perhaps, a singular, guiding intelligence …