Author Information
I'm a fairly specific fan of Warhammer; but I like Fantasy and Sci-Fi in general; with a preference for role playing. I was brought into the hobby by the Inquisition as a whole so I loved the idea of making up my 'own' part of fluff. My articles will grow as I expand my fluff; to even include reports of battles. (Though I wish I was an artist, to be able to draw my world and its inhabitants! hah!)
Army Forces of Noctis
Although the Inquisition is who receives the recruits from Noctis; the Imperial Guard may petition the Inquisition asking for specialised forces from Noctis if they feel there is a requirement for them.
Usually when asking; one of the reasons sited is the need for an elite Stormtrooper regiment. Noctis forces are quite diverse but not nearly as diverse as other Imperial Guard forces due to the role Noctis plays in the Inquisition. Primarily the Noctis Imperial Guard are focused around three traits:
1) Elite. The closest equivalent to conscripts for Noctis forces (as they are in other Imperial Guard armies) is the Nightstalkers. Even then; these forces are already experts at fighting in the dark; though are only experienced with minor weapons. Stub guns and Laspistols (if they are lucky to find one while scavenging). The rest of the infantry forces are made up of Stormtroopers, Combat Veterans, Elite Scouts and Shadowdrop Troops.
2) Urban Fighters. The Noctis forces; being trained and raised in a ruined Hive megacity has led to them being completely specialised around fighting in an urban enviroment. In fact; the more ruined the building surroundings get; the stronger the advantage the Noctis forces get.
3) Fear Troops. The people of Noctis live on a world with no sense of even remote security that other Hives have; and thats saying something. There is no Arbites. There is no Churches present. There is only the gangs and other unmentionable horrors that come out at night. Living in fear most of their life has given the men of Noctis an understanding of fear and how to cause fear. These troops can show this through guerilla warfare; along with other hard-hitting tactics that have proven infallible at quelling uprisings. A good example of this would have been the Noctis 1st Fear Corps's victory in the campaign to quell the uprising of Twilight Prime; a world on the edge of the sub-sector.
Overall; the Noctis forces are requisitioned by the Imperial Guard occassionally, not commonly but not enough to say that it was rare. One important thing is that each time the Imperial Guard is given control of a regiment; the Inquisition expects such favors in return in times of need.
The Guard has proven completely loyal in that regard. A particularly disastrous time was when a world near Noctis; Ghelo Minor was in the way of an Ork Waaaagh. Without needing to invoke the Inquisitorial Mandate; Lord General Charn was sent with a taskforce consisting of forces of the Cadian 113th Mechanised Infantry and the Krieg 3rd Siege Artillery. These combined with the Noctis 6th 'Dead Men' Infantry and the Noctis 8th 'Shadow Walkers' Drop Troops secured a victory for the Lord General Charn and protected the sub-sector from being overrun.
Overall; the men of Noctis are highly respected by those who have ever had the chance to work alongside them in the name of the Emperor.
Noctis: The Empty World
Noctis is a world that appears to have traits in common with Krieg and Nostramo. The world is mostly dark and civilisation while still existing does not appear to be anywhere near the level of another Hive World.
But there are some key differences. For a start; the world is comprised of one, massive Megacity that goes around the world. Which goes by the name of Maero. 3/4 of the world is roughly covered in this city; with 1/4 being unusable desert devoid of life.
The world used to be a centre of great production for the imperium; producing mainly parts for chimera and leman russ vehicles. Local delicacies were traded with the rest of the imperium as a whole; and many a wealthy lord in the imperium had a fondness for the wine produced by Noctis's dwellers; an example being the sharp-tasting Voidwine.
Now...nothing much is left in the world. The hive city is left ruined; rusted; falling into disrepair as time passes. The locals are unable to fix the giant Necropolis-like city as they do not remember how; the world's Hivecity dating back to the Great Crusade itself; while the loss of information was caused by the people's dark time in history. (This shall be explored soon enough.). The locals themselves live among the ruins...scraping out a harsh existance in a bleak; silent landscape. But while there are significantly less people here than in other hive worlds...they still are able to form regiments for the Imperial Guard.
All thats left to say however; is that the planet is fairly unique in its relationship to the imperium. No tithe of men is payed to the Imperial Guard; instead it pays its men straight to the Inquisition. The resourcefulness of the men of Noctis is exemplar and it rivals any other regiment currently in the line of duty to this day. The Inquisition has taken a careful note of this and decided it was fit to act as a prime source of recruits for its Inquisitorial Stormtrooper forces, for future Inquisitors and for the ease it is to hide things in Noctis.
After all...who would look in a dead world?
But I can't let you know everything about the world right now can I? You will find out from stories and be able to piece most of it together; However. Its more fun that way!
Title Of this Story
"From Shadows Comes Fear"
Chapter 1: The Clock of Shadow Ticks
Noctis was silent; apart from the occasional creaking of hanging metal or the hum of atmosphere processors; as they spurt out breathable gases. The atmosphere processors were one of the very few objects left that were able to operate in this world. Only them and the great many necropolis spread throughout the planet managed to survive whatever tragedy befell the dead Noctis.
Today seemed different somehow...and the roar of engines could be heard as a small landing craft touched down into a ruined hanger. A mere moments later; an access ramp lowered from the back of the craft. It was Imperial in design; and the man who walked down the ramp was dressed in black robes, with various adornments apon it and a look of neither happiness nor sadness; nor much else. One of these...identified the man almost immediately.
It was an Inquisitorial Rosette.
"Nyx...scanners tell me that there is no one else in the near vicinity. We have touched down undetected." said another man who appeared next.
This other man was older; a touch of sorrow on his expression; as well as age. This man was a scholar with a real ability to pick up and remember useful information. But he was not like his fellow scholars. He was practical. He did not pick up useless information and waste his time.
"Good. This will make our mission that much easier. Gear up; we move out and begin the search within 20 minutes." replied the first.
His name was Nyx Haarn. He was a member of the much-feared Inquisition of the Imperium of Man. A staunch puritan of the Ordo Hereticus he reserved purest hatred for witches and psykers that have not bound themselves in duty to the God-Emperor of Man.
This mission; while would appear trivial to any member of the God-Emperor's other forces such as the Imperial Guard or Space Marines...still had a vital role to play. Why? for a Psyker was born on Noctis. A psyker of considerable power; and Nyx could sense this. Why again do you ask? A simple answer for a simple question; Nyx was a psyker too.
This was not the only reason why he was chosen by the Inquisitor Lord of this sub-sector, it was also because he was a Noctis man himself. Who would know better the landscape of Noctis better than him? For a ruined world like this; knowing how to navigate is absolutely vital.
More sounds were heard as several servitors came out of the craft, carrying crates containing weaponary. A precaution thought Nyx. He had brought along his cache of weapons and artifacts he has collected over the years since becoming a full Inquisitor. His retinue was here also with him consisting of his Warrior Acolyte and his Savant.
Sgt Hurl was previously a sergeant in the Noctis 1st Fear Corps. A highly-distinguished regiment of the world's imperial guard forces. He was trained as a Stormtrooper before hand and was involved in many Inquisitorial campaigns; such as the cleansing of The Unnamed Hive World; in which Inquisitor Karumph lead an Inquisitorial Stormtrooper force against the Cult of Morbid Tastes. The Sgt distingushed himself through his use of Noctis cunning; and his expertise in fighting in pitch dark. Later down the line; he was donated to Inquisitor Nyx by Karumph as a sign of the pact between them to share forces if required.
The sergeant opened the box now and observed the weaponary; choosing a Hot-Shot Lasgun for himself. It was his weapon of preference in all times. Along with this, he picked up several Frag and Krak grenades and 2 melta bombs. These all fit easily into the bandoleers along his pitch-dark armour. He liked to be prepaired.
"Going to start a war Hurl?" chuckled the Savant.
Lorche was himself a cunning man too. A fine trait in the service of the Inquisition. He was raised as a child in one of the great libraries scattered throughout Noctis's ruins. Here, his family was able to hide easily from raiders and the other horrors that stalk the world's corpse, but was also able to thrive thanks to the knowledge he gained from the books. Now, Nyx relied on his ability to predict which knowledge would be potentially useful in the future. He was a crack shot with a laspistol anyway. The savant merely picked up a Laspistol and several spare cells; along with his dataslate.
Nyx sighed and took out several more exotic items for himself. He had a preference for combi-weapons; and so took a combi-flamer; along with a Psi-tracker to assist in hunting down whereever the psyker child was. Nyx specialised in tracking; he was very good at finding people who needed to be found; and thats what this mission was for.
Not long ago several men were captured by a pious men and handed over to the Inquisition for unusual behaviour. The men wore odd clothes; filled with clashing colours. They babbled and spoke occasionally in rhyme. When torture was applied; they revealed that they were hunting for special children 'Born due to wedlock between the real...and the unreal." These children would be exceptionally powerful psykers.
This was of grave concern to the Inquisition; who immediately launched an investigation beginning in the Noctis sub-sector. It took many years of watching but eventually a lead was discovered. Psyker signs were coming from Noctis itself. Nyx's job? to find this child and capture it in the Emperor's name.
The Emperor Protects.
