Synopsis

A detailed article about the solar system I made up, and from which my armies come from.
There is a list of celestial bodies, their description and further description of planets along with their purpose and meaning in the system.
You can also learn system's history, from the very beginning, about its struggles throughout the history, up to current state and future plans, and also how people live, how government works, how the armed forces are organized and much more...
There is a list of notable military units and naval assets, along with a very brief description for you to read.
And even some short stories may appear!

Related articles

Discussion thread

more is yet to come

Due to some article system limitations, missing parts are to be included in different pages.

Solar system of Europa

Basic information

Location: Southern edge of Garon Nebulae, Segmentum Tempestus
Affinity:Loyal to the Emperor, cut off from the Imperium
Tithe: Aptus Non
Population: ~14 billion
Goverment: Planetary Council

Nearest known systems: Vakaria, Pranagar, Somonor, Xairus

List of Celestial Bodies

Star:
Europa - A class star, Temperature: 10500k, Luminosity: 5 L⊙, Mass: 4.2 M☉
Shines in bright, blue-white light, has 11 celestial bodies orbiting around.

Planets:
Ardena
Molten dwarf planet, (0,9AU)
A dwarf planet orbiting so close to the sun, that has no solid surface. It's basically a giant sphere of molten magma. It has a temperature of 4800K.

Conflagratum
Dead world, (1,6AU)
Another small planet. Planet's temperature is about 1900K, but because the planet is consisting mostly of Tungsten, the planet surface is still mostly solid. It is the only planet that orbits counter-clockwise. On the same orbit as is this planet, main collecting and focusing mirrors of the Aurora project are located.

Clereth
Dead world, (2,3AU)
Barren, rocky world. Its surface is covered with jagged mountain ridges, deep ravines and an uncountable number of craters. It has 3 tiny moons orbiting around.

Asteroid Belt
Made of billions of floating rocks of various sizes and shapes. Here and there, pieces of old debris of either human or Xeno origin can be found floating around, marking this place as a possible site of a battle of ages thousands of years gone.

Thelyn
Between gas giant and T-class brown dwarf star, 4,6AU
A gargantuan gas giant, 5.5 times bigger than the Jupiter of the Sol system. Thanks to its density and mass, it is not yet capable of supporting full thermonuclear reaction needed to become a regular star, but it is dense and massive enough to fuse lithium and deuterium. Thanks to this, Thelyn radiates mostly in the infrared spectrum, with low portions of visible light, mostly in red and orange spectrum. Thanks to this, moons entering the 'dark period' are not freezing completely. Thelyn has 17 moons, some sized as fully fledged planets, some smaller. 4 of those moons are officially inhabited. It also have it's own ring on the low orbit, created possibly by violent collisions during the birth of the Europa.
Common phenomenon o f Thelyn's moons are irregular cycles of day and night, depending on the moon's own rotation and the position of its mother planet/star. So-called "Long Nights" repeat periodically once a year, when they enter Thelyn's shadow. Temperatures rapidly fall and Thelyn's sinister-looking red dim is the only source of natural light. Depending on the relative distance, length of this period vary, from 130 days for Zoyra to 320 days for Tiron.

Europa Prime

Civilized Jungle World, Thelyn's moon

The biggest civilized moon, just a little bigger than the Holy Terra. Its surface is covered mostly by hills with the thick jungle growing on top of them, with occasional river or rock formation. Flat surfaces are mostly covered in vast swamps. In the equatorial area, arid savannahs can be found and frozen wastelands in the polar area. Twice a year a rain period comes and it is not uncommon to rain for several weeks without stopping, causing continent-wide floodings. During the Long Night periods, Europa Prime is the only moon that does not freeze completely, yet the temperatures are still very close to 273K.

Zoyra

Garden World, former Eldar Maiden World, Thelyn's moon

The second largest moon. Most of its surface is mountainous, covered in jagged mountains, deep ravines and vast, very thick forests and lush jungles, extremely rich in fauna and flora. Most animal species living here are not considered non-life-endangering unless provoked, but there are predators too. Vast forests cover much of the moon's surface, with an exception of polar caps. Thing unique to Zoyra are bluishly luminescent, psycho-reactive crystals that often protrude from the ground.

Risha

Civilised Agri-World, Thelyn's moon

Another inhabited moon, 3rd in the row. The surface of this moon is mostly flat, with occasional rolling hills. Its soil is very fertile, ideal for growing crops or herding animals. Most forests are located near the massive mountain ridge that divides the moon's only continent into two, roughly equally big regions. It reaches almost a dozen kilometers into the sky and it was created by eons of tectonic activity. Only 40% of moon's surface is a habitable landmass, the rest are made of vast seas and oceans, with occasional island atoll.

Aethera

Industrial Sky World, Thelyn's moon

This moon is a peculiar one. It is very mountainous and volcanically very active, with countless lava river and lakes flowing through the deep valleys between the mountain ridges. Due to this, and very high concentrations of methane and other heavy gases of volcanic origin, the only habitable places are at the freezing cold and windy peaks of tall mountains, located high above the cloud level. Although, this moon is very rich in minerals, and specifically, the Ferrum Solar, that is unique only to this very planet. At least, knowingly.

Tiron

Arid penal/landfill world, Thelyn's moon

Tiron is an almost barren, arid moon with little running water and little life. Most of the surface is dusty, or semi-arid, deserts and windswept rock formations. Rivers are scarce, usually very shallow, but that is enough to support at least some vegetation, along with animals that live off said vegetation. And animals that live of animals that live off vegetation. Sandstorms are very common, as well as are droughts that often vaporize entire river and lakes, which makes living here even harder.

Neutra
Civilised Ice World, 6,5Au
A cold planet, covered mostly in ice and snow, where only the equatorial area offers lands that are not permanently covered in snow. Further away are vasts taigas, that slowly turns into the tundra and later nothing but frozen wastes with little to no life. Along with vast forests, high mountain ridges are common, as well as oceans, which are mostly ice-cold or outright frozen. This planet has 6 small moons and a very thin ring, consisting of tiny rocks, most probably caused by an asteroid collision.

Eclipsis
Frozen gas giant, 9,9Au
A frozen gas giant of blue-grey color, its atmosphere is rich in methane and hydrogen as well as massive thunderstorms that rage within. It has 2 moons, one of which is probably of asteroidal origin.

Ostrakan

Underground forge/fortress world, Eclypsis's moon

(Hoth on the outside, Mustafar & the City of Ironforge on the inside, Star Wars, WoW)

It looks very similar to its mother planet, but that's just the outside. Under the surface is a massive cave system, that serves as a planet-wide conglomeration of fortresses, manufactorums and city blocks. The moon is volcanically active, so lava rivers and lakes are not uncommon, but still rather rare. It is the main source of heat. This moon has no native wildlife or vegetation, all have been, purposely or not, imported. Local civilization is however self-sufficient in all necessities. It has to be, as it is a fortress world too.

Yurilia
Dead world,16Au
A mineral-rich dwarf planet. Mining operations are still in effect, but there is no more than a couple of hundred people on the entire planet, most of which are mining rig operators and technicians.

Beuter
Dead world, 29Au
A tiny dwarf planet located at the fringe of the solar system. The only interesting this about it is that it ha some automated radio relays and cosmic auspex surveyors installed.

Akeela's Beacon
Nebulae, 25624Au/~0.4,5ly
A gas cloud of purple-blue-white color, made of ionized ozone and iodine. It is located at the very edge of the Garon Nebulae, forming it's closest region to the Europa system and thanks to its colors, it creates a beautiful sight on the night sky.

Remote Colonies

Ipheus IV
Barren mining world, 4ly
Barren, airless planet, yet very rich in Adamantium and other rare elements. Inhabitants live in artificially constructed domes and biospheres.

Skyllian VIII
Civilised death world, 17ly
Unhospitable planet covered in dense jungles, where danger lurks at every step, be it poisonous plants or giant reptile predators. This planet is located within the Garon Nebulae.

Foehn
Orbital Station, 11ly
Abandoned and severely damaged orbital station, orbiting around a slowly dying star. The station has a shape of O'Niell's Ringworld. Its shape is similar to an actual finger ring, which provides life-supporting conditions. Its diameter is about 700km it revolves around its axis every 30 hours. Gravity is provided by gravity generators build within the stations' mainframe.

Back to top

History

The very beginning - The system has been colonized during the ill-fated Garon Nebulae crusade, led by Black Templars chapter. The colony on Europa was established by auxiliary flotilla led by Admiral Chester and his Oberon class battleship, called the Spear of Orion and it's purpose, as a rear base, was to provide service to the crusading Imperial Navy.
Due to the inglorious result of the crusade, the whole fleet hastily retreated and the colony has been left behind, with all of the people and the (mostly damaged) vessels present, then located on one of the Thelyn's moons, which later become Europa Prime.


Ghosts of the past - Time went on and people didn't know what happened. No reports, no new orders, only false rumors, hope, and faith.
About three years after last combat-capable vessel sailed away, long-range scanners detected a group of unidentified vessels, heading directly towards the solar system. All combat forces have been mobilized to fight off any potential invaders, but it turned out that it was a group of badly damaged Imperial vessels, with Spear of Orion sailing among them. Admiral Chester reported that their fleet was attacked by an overwhelming force of the Archenemy and they were ordered to retreat. What happened to the other fleets remains unknown.

Silence - As it's widely known, the Imperium uses Astropaths as the mean of long-range messaging service. Astropaths can hear messages that are not directed to them, but because they lack the deciphering key, they can't understand those message correctly. This did not happen here. There was silence, with an occasional fainting echo of gibberish and often a message sent by other Astropath, but the source was always the Europan solar system. Never from the outside. This phenomenon leads to a theory that Europa is located inside some bubble, that does not allow any kind of telepathic communication. Where is the edge of this bubble is not known, but the source is very likely located deep in the Garon nebulae. The bubble may have been one of the reasons why the crusade was destined to doom.>/br>

First steps - Even though the colonists suspected what happened to the crusaders, the nescience worried them greatly. Still no reports, messager or orders. Repair works on the vessels slowly ceased as supply convoys with spare parts were nowhere to be seen.
After a few more years of waiting, the colonists took their fate into their own hands and started to develop their homeland, instead of focusing on the damaged vessels. Those have been left abandoned in the toroidal orbital docks, which were planned to be built around the whole planet. Only a small part of the Torus has been build as it would take decades, maybe even centuries to build completely.
On the planet surface, colonists have been establishing new cities and rebuilding existing, from ugly prefabricated hab-blocks into something more comfortable and better looking. Other moons have been colonized too. Risha first, then Aethera and lastly Zoyra. For a long time, these four moons were the only colonized bodies. Risha provided the wealth of food as it became an Agriworld, Aethera supplied the other with minerals while Zoyra exported all kinds of wood and rare materials, like the psychoreactive crystals, that are used in fine electronics and astropathic equipment. Also, vast pro-population policies were in effect.


Horizons far far away- With help of Adeptus Mechanicus (which always had great presence, especially in the orbital docks) some of the vessels have been fully repaired and made functional. With the help of those vessels, the planet of Neutra has been also colonized, on which were formed basics of the professional army, or the Planetary Defence Force. Neutra is inhospitable and the harsh planet and people stayed mostly in the equatorial zone, where the weather isn't so extreme. Only the bravest dared to go further from the equator into the taigas and tundras. Those people most often live in small villages with a population of few hundreds. And especially those people are most favored by the army recruiters, as they are tough, stubborn and they can take care of themselves.
Next colony was established on the planet Ostrakan and it was decided that due to the cavern system, the planet will become one giant fortress, able to withstand all but the exterminatus-grade weaponry. Caves have been divided into sectors for administrative and security reasons. People live exclusively under artificial light and only a few lucky people are ever allowed to leave the caverns and see the sky. On the surface, everything is masked so it looks like a barren planet.
To summon things, small Imperium within Imperium has been created. Also, more vessels were repaired, as parts started to be manufactured locally. Those were happy times of great determination and cooperation, and feeling of liberation just underlined it all, as people ceased to be mere menials and became free people building something solely theirs. A small empire within an empire is created and repaired ships formed the backbone of the early interplanetary infrastructure system and new, mainly civilian clippers and cargo haulers are being built anew.


The great vegetable war - Population of Risha was always divided into two parts by the massive mountain ridge, which effectively separated the continent into the east and west part. With separation comes healthy rivalry, motivating both parties to grow, raise and produce more than the other, but few people took it too seriously and started to sabotage the others. It began more or less innocently when a group of Westerns started rerouting the convoys of Easterns, carrying goods to the starport on the north by forcing them to take longer and more dangerous routes by lying them about non-existent road blockages. Not long after Easterns learned about it and began to block western convoys entirely. Entire conflict step by step escalated into something nobody ever expected and that is a full-scale civil war. It begun with destroyed convoys, slaughtered herds of cattle, burned off the farms and factories, and even murders were happening on a daily basis. Local peacekeeping force never expected something like this to happen and was practically powerless against the thousands of rioters laying waste to the farms, towns, and cities (Adeptus Arbites as we know them, were yet to be established). Infrastructure slowly collapsed until the planet fell into one, big playground for violent anarchists.
Riots were finally suppressed months later with the help of several thousand Guardsmen and hundreds died on both sides, and in some location, it took several weeks of fighting until order was restored again. Total damage was tremendous and it took several years until production was on the comparable level as it were before the rebellion. Risha wasn't the only affected, as food from Risha is distributed into the entire system, specially Neutra, Aethera and partially Ostrakan too, which aren't able to effectively support themselves with the food supply. In the aftermath, PDF presence was significantly strengthened to prevent this happening ever again.


Living Slime - Again on Risha, there is a hidden thread in form of amorphic slime. It is an intelligent life form based on sea algae. They do not possess any spoken language or use any technologies. They communicate through touch and electrical impulses. Since they are amorphic, they can change their shape at will, although they can't make themselves bigger or smaller, merge or divide themselves. The only exception is the process of mating, where two individuals merge into one to produce a small ball of slime as their offspring. The older the individual is, the bigger it usually is, but it also depends on the amount of food they digest. The biggest individuals were reported to have several meters across. They also possess excellent regenerative skills, which make them very resilient. The best way how to kill an Asmora, they were named like this, is to use explosives, that tears them apart. Small arms fire is mostly ineffective.
Until now they might look harmless, but they are not. They often attack fishing ships returning from open seas, with an intention to steal their catch. What is really disturbing is their ability to connect to the nerve system and 'hijack' the body. To achieve this, the Asmora uses body orifices to get inside the victim's body to control them from there. The victim is fully aware, it just can't control its own body. Despite Asmora being a water-based creature, they can survive in their hosts' body for prolonged periods of time.
Asmora's victim is, thankfully, easily recognizable, as its body looks inflated, bloated or swollen. Their behavior also changes, as victim often hoards food, eats large amounts of it and defends it aggressively. Individuals controlled by an Asmora often die of organ failure or drowning, as Asmora makes them walk into the sea, so it can safely escape their body. If the victim dies with Asmora inside, the parasite often dies as well, unless it manages to get into the sea in time. If the victim survives, it very often dies later from organ damage or nerve system failure. Victims are mostly often sea creatures, but several humans being possessed were reported as well.


Metal of Gods - During undergrounds mining operations on Aethera, an unknown, yellowish colored element was found. Further investigation revealed that it can withstand extremely high temperatures and when disposed to intensified sunlight, it becomes a room-temperature electrical power source with no internal resistance. It has been named Ferrum Solar, and it's refined form is called Solar Steel.
This led to the creation of a megalomaniacal plan which had to solve all problems coupled with the production of electrical energy. After years of planning, construction of one giant solar power plant began. In a close distance from the sun, a giant array of mirrors and lenses have been built. Those arrays concentrated sunlight into beams of sunlight and directed them to router arrays. The system of routers allowed to redirect, focus or disperse the sunlight beams. Next step is routers located not in interplanetary space, but on planet's orbit. Those routers bend the sunbeam and focus it on a single point on planet's surface and on this point, large plates of Solar Steel are located, creating huge amounts of energy, day or light alike. This can be also used as a very potent weapon, able to burn, melt and vaporize anything located both on planet's surface or in space.
The system is advanced enough that it can compensate for any broken part of the system. Successful trajectory prediction and timing is a matter of course, as we are speaking about of dozens of minutes of travel time between the sun and planet of Neutra, which is the furthermost destination. Ostrakan gets its power from mostly geothermal sources. This project was named Aurora, as the relay stations are often visible as bright points in the night sky.

Uninvited guest - After several centuries of peaceful living, when the population thrived, drew and expanded, long-range scanners detected a single vessel. From depths of the Warp, a Space Hulk emerged. A conglomeration of ancient vessels of all possible origins packed one against each other, aimlessly drifting through space. Navy command immediately mobilized all available assets for a recon mission. Ships closed into the space hulk, engaged all kinds of scanners and everyone's worries were confirmed. It was not empty.
After wild discussion at the naval command, strike force was formed and the target was a transport ship, called Valerian Starliner, which was still in the records and marked as missing. The reason, why this ship has to be boarded, is a fact that it carried, at least by the records, reinforcements to the Imperial Guard force somewhere on the other side of the galaxy, three thousand years ago, and the command hoped that something valuable might be still present on board.
Strike force consisted out of four platoons of Neutran Grenadiers, supported by Ostrakan combat engineers and dozens of Techpriests with bodyguards. A cruised called "Thunderstrike" which carried a mobile solar router created a landing zone and the soldiers boarded. The resistance of the Orks, who inhabited this hulk was weak as they were surprised, but they quickly rallied and returned fire at the grenadiers. After several hours long firefight Ork lines finally collapsed and they got eventually eradicated. Storage areas were found pretty quickly and because they were sealed off, no Ork had a chance to damage the dozens of Chimeras, Basilisks, Leman Russ tanks it carried. The more valuable find was, among others, two Baneblade tanks, three Macharius tanks, and several aerial assets. Vehicles were extracted while scout parties searched the rest of the ship. Many orks were encountered, by they were disorganized and easily defeated. Other things that were looted were tons of medical and military supplies including weapons and armor and other valuable things or relics, along with most "valuable" thing, a thousand-year-old bottles of Amasec from captain's cabinet.
The operation was very successful and several more raids were performed over the course of several days, including other vessels of both Imperial and Xenos origin, and all of them were more or less successful in securing a large number of valuable assets. Once no other potential targets were found, fleet detonated the warp drive of the Valerian Starliner using a large number of explosives, resulting in warp rift which consumed the entire Space Hulk once and for good. Debris that wasn't consumed by the warp slowly floated into the interstellar space, where it doesn't cause any harm.


Ages of the Dark - Until now, the Europans lived in relative peace and abundance, but times are passing and a new era began, as the governor's seat has been occupied by a self-centered and power-hungry despot. His reign begun with small and unnoticeable restriction of freedom, continued with a secret personal army, removal of undesirable people and ended with martial law. His name was Victor Keeling.
He was an unscrupulous, self-obsessed, power-hungry megalomaniac. To satiate his megalomania, he ordered to build many various buildings, most frequently his own villas, and residences, many of which he never visited and many of which were left abandoned. Next thing he ordered to be built were various monuments to himself or things he liked. His biggest and most ambitious project of an underwater city called Palanea, which had to be built on the seabed in one of the Europa Primaris' seas. The entire city had savor of elegance and utopia and yet during it's planning phase, every possible need of the future inhabitant was considered, be its transportation, housing, entertainment or services. This city was planned to house the only the handful of Keeling's most loyal and favorable friends and companions, therefore it was built very opulent and full of luxury. Palanea was one of the few projects that survived to the current era. True, some section was sealed off due to safety reasons, some were additionally built, but Palanea is still inhabited by thousands of people, who live their ordinary lives like in every other city, with only one difference, and that is hundreds of meters of water above their heads.
People didn't like Keeling's actions in general, but every act against them or his rule was brutally suppressed. Secret cells of resistance started to form, who informed people about the current situation as official media were full of propaganda and lies. Keeling became an absolute leader. He still had his opponents even between high-ranking officers, but those people didn't dare to say anything as they would be immediately executed. His brutal reign lasted for several decades and during it, thousands of people were executed, tortured or worked to death.
Keeling never appeared in public as he knew it was a high-security risk. Only his doubles ever appeared and many of them ended up dead, as they were assassinated in believing it's the real Keeling. After every assassination attempt, there were widespread purges of both civilian population and governmental ranks alike.
In fact, one assassination attempt was successful in killing the right Keeling. It was performed by one of the resistance cells by faking an innocent-looking car accident in front of Keeling's convoy right before blowing up the entire avenue with powerful explosives hidden in sewers. Keeling survived, but was captured by the resistance fighters and day after, he was hanged in front of his palace, with many of his henchmen and sycophants. Almost everybody who had something to do with Keeling's reign was either hanged or sent no Aethera to work in mines as a penal laborer, including over twenty children he fathered with his harem of concubines.
After all was resolved, many new laws passed and the planetary council was formed to prevent anything like this to happen ever again.


The light of hope - Long range scanners once again detected a vessel, broadcasting a distress signal. A patrol has been sent to investigate the source and found a heavily damaged transport vessel, named "Eternal Servitude". The crew identified themselves as survivors from the planet of Vakaria, which has been invaded by the Arch Enemy.
Majority of them were civilians, who managed to escape the planet, with help of local resistance force. Another part of the crew was actual resistance fighters equipped in everything they managed to get their hands on. From simple uniform through carapace armor to parade uniforms. Their guns were in a similar state, ranging from basic autoguns, through lasguns, hellguns, plasma guns, and power weapons up to a very rare piece of Volkite Charger. Members of the Ecclesiarchy from the Order of the Silver Hand were also on board. They were evacuated first as they would end up tortured to death. Especially the holiest person, Saint Beltaine herself.
When the Arch Enemy invaded Vakaria, the governor fled the planet cowardly and left it to its own fate. Military command was ill-trained and prepared, thus the defense was ineffective. Chaos swept through the loyal forces like a power sword through an ork. Once they took control, many of the commanders decided to take the initiative and formed many cells of resistance. They were sabotaging convoys, blowing up storages and munition piles. New overlords quickly lost patience and launched massive scale hunt for any resistance members. Meanwhile, evacuation operation was in effect. Many warriors fell, but a lot of innocent people were saved from torture and slavery. Captain set course to the closest known position of the Imperial forces and ignited engines at full power. Shop took few hits from the defense batteries but were soon out of range. 16 years of uncertainty lay ahead of them.


Throught the Warp and far away - Many decades after the Keeling's reign, the situation calmed down, so the Planetary council decided to expand their sphere of influence by colonizing nearby solar systems. Survey vessels were sent and in total, three locations were selected. It was Ipheus IV, Skyllian VIII, and Foehn, colonized in this order.

Ipheus IV was colonised first. It is a barren, airless dead world at the first glance, but it's immense mineral deposits were found desired to fuel insatiable demand of Europan orbital docks. Hab-blocks and storage areas were built on the surface, where workers dressed in void suits labored, constructing the vast hab-domes and biospheres, what were to become their new home. Later, cargo ships brought tons of fertile soil and billions of liters of water, that were used to kick-start local, artificially made eco-system, that was designed to support local life. Life in the biodomes is not easy. Supply ships arrive only when they are about to leave fully loaded with ores, and manufacturing or security means are also limited.

Deep inside the jungle of Skyllian VIII has been found a number of various abhuman tribes, described as Homo Sapiens Equus a Homo Sapiens Bovinus, that are generally known as beastmen. They bear a common element, and that is an animal head, fur, hooves, and tails. In the case of Bovinus, they have horns protruding from their skull and long, thin tail. In the case of Equus, they have pointy ears, a mane, and long, bushy tail. Males are usually towering, muscular creatures while females tend to be weaker and smaller.
They live in tribes mostly with matriarchal structure, (especially the Bovinus), under the government of the alpha pair, where the female is the one with more power over the tribe. Her mate is usually a chief of security and a leader of the tribal warriors.
These tribes waged a brutal, genocidal war for resources and lands, long before they were discovered by the humans, and they wage them to this day. After the first Imperial base was built, the colonists were under frequent raids, but when several companies of the Guard was deployed, the raids had ceased as most tribal warriors were simply killed by lasgun fire. It helped for some time, but when the tribes built up numbers, it began anew. Instead of slaughtering them, the humans closed a deal with one tribe, promising them safety and access to human-controlled zones in exchange for cooperation. The allied beastmen were trained in usage of simple firearms and in return, the beastmen helped the humans to settle down.
Other tribes learned about this unholy alliance, they allied with one another and attacked the tribe which cooperated with humans. Said tribe was almost entirely slaughtered, and only a couple of hundred remaining members, mostly females and children managed to seek protection behind the walls of the human strongholds. The upcoming battle was again mostly a one-sided massacre, where simple leather armor provides no protection against lasguns and heavy bolters. The new settlers then counter-attacked, capturing vast areas and drove the savage beastmen deep into the jungles. That day they learned their lesson, that going against the Fire rods(Lasgun) is not the brightest idea.
After the allied tribe gained numbers thanks to new, young warriors, the first auxiliary platoon was formed exclusively from the beastmen. More popular among human soldiers however were the heavy shock troop units, sporting all but the strongest, fiercest warriors, serving the similar purpose as otherwise absent Ogryns.
As years went, beastmen more or less integrated to the human society. Most of them still prefer living in the jungle, but they do not fear or avoid humans and trading is quite common. Plenty of beastmen live in Skyllian cities, but meeting one outside Skyllian VIII is rare. Risha might be the only exception to this, though.

Foehn is an old, space station that used to host an entire civilization. Now, it's its cold grave. It is not known what exactly happened, but all clues lead to a claim that this place was once a battlefield. From all forty-eight sectors, only three are intact and able to support life. Its inhabitants are mostly Tech-priests and work crew, trying to repair this station. Hordes of servitors and laborers are clearing out debris, or they build, repair and seal the outer hull of the individual sectors, while Tech-priests research and analyze station's systems in order to understand, repair or replicate them.
Although the research is very slow and difficult, it gives results. Maybe the most important discovery was the plans for anti-gravity drive, which was the main mean of transportation on this station. There were no roads, only landing pads. Another discovery was various exo-sceletons, originally designed as work tools, but many units that were found were purely a combat design, sporting thick armor plates, and built-in weapons. This technology was successfully replicated and exoskeletons are already in use in the civilian sector. Military versions are still in the testing phase. Another interesting find was a Calladius-pattern heavy hover combat vehicle, that was found in low numbers in one of the security force garages. Some vehicles were brought to Neutra to undergo an extensive testing.
Later the Tech-priests found out that the Foehn isn't the name of this station, but the name of a local ruling family. People lived in a pseudo-feudal regime, where every sector had its 'lord', who was subordinated only to a 'king', who ruled the entire station.
The real name is ORS-038b Croatea CXVIII which stands for: Orbital Ringworld Station, model 038, b variant, orbiting around a star known as Croatea 118.
The final goal is to restore this station to its former state.


“Großdeutschland” - During a common patrol near the edge of the Garon's Nebula, a patrol fleet led by the Pride of Europa battlecruiser, a small and rather strange, cigar-shaped vessel was found. It emitted no biological or electronic sighs, and so was considered dead. Upon closer look, the vessel was identified as probably of human origin, as it had a large, black-white cross painted on both sides, with “Großdeutschland” written underneath. A boarding party was dispatched to examine this vessel and inside, frozen human corpses were found, a large portion of them stuck in their death spasm, as they suffocated to death when the hull was pierced. The ship was then towed to the Europan orbital docks, where it was examined more thoroughly.
The captain's dairy revealed some very unexpected information. The ship was 40 millennia old and of human origin. Dairy was written in a long extinct language of the Old Terra and described the vessel as L-RmKzr - 38, Leichter RaumKreuzer - 38. Light space cruiser, type 38. The RaumKreuzer was 422 meters long and crewed by 185 crewmen. It was armed by a plethora of conventional guns, ranging from small 20mm autocannons to three twins of 380mm guns in turrets and carried 12 triangular-shaped fighters. In the cargo holds, hundreds of guns and equipment pieces were found, along with several types of armored vehicles, both examined and later adapted for usage by the Guard regiments, as it was technologically more advanced in many ways than the otherwise common Leman Russ tank and Chimera APC.
On board, a wide range of various items was found, from personal belonging to books. One particular book revealed the history of the civilization that operated this vessel. The book was called Historia Germania. It started in 932.M1 when a prophecy of a great empire that will last for a thousand years was proclaimed. In 945.M1 the empire crumbles, however. Some important individuals and their families managed to escape to Luna, where they built a secret base in previous years, with the help of many scientists that time could offer. They planned to leave the Terra and continue building their utopia elsewhere. A man names Nicola Tesla was the key to their plans, so in 943.M1 he was kidnapped and his death faked. He was brought to the moon to build a device capable of breaching into the so-called hyperspace. Tesla performed such experiments in the past, that is known as the Philadelphia Experiment. In 951.M1, Tesla died of natural causes, leaving the device unfinished. In 979.M1, the device was finally finished. As a target, a planet known as Ross 128b (They referred to it as Germaniae Novum) was selected. It was the most Earth-like planet known to man at that time.
In 982.M1, they entered the orbit of their new home. The device worked, but from 6 vessels prepared to depart, only 3 arrived. Next chapters tell how they established the colony, the struggles they had, etc., but in the end, they succeeded. Captain's diary then add to this by telling this ship was launched in 291.M3 and last entry is at 347.M3, where Captain gives the order to evacuate the ship, as they got crippled by another vessel of unknown origin. The description would fit an Eldar ship, but we are not sure.
The ship was restored and now it can be found in the national museum on Europa Primaris.


Eugenic program - Due to relatively low population, the government is forced to look not only on quantity, as it is usual in the wider Imperium, but on quality as well. To combat those two problems, a eugenic clinic was founded in order to improve the Europan gene pool through selective breeding. It might sound dystopic, but it isn't. It is completely voluntary and the women participating have all their needs covered, same as their children. When a woman wishes to participate, she's housed within the clinic and tested in many various tests. Based on her results, a donor is selected based on their genetical compatibility and the woman undergoes IVF procedure. When the baby is born, the mother can stay in the clinic and continue in the program, or leave both with or without the child. In either case, she's rewarded with the status if the citizen and given a monetary reward. The amount of money depends on her previous choices, but the usual rule that the longer she stays the more she gets. And children that are raised at the clinic live in a friendly environment, where every other participant is an 'aunt.'
When children reach 10th year of their lives, they are tested and their education is adjusted accordingly to take full advantage of their inborn capabilities. Physically strong children spend more time at the gym, clever kids study more, psychoactive children train to control their skills, etc...
After reaching the adult age, the kids are given a choice to join one of the institutions that suit them. The Guard, the Navy, Police force, Adeptus Mechanicus, Ecclesiarchy and more, or become a civilian. It rarely happens that somebody chooses to become a civilian, though. Furthermore, women have one more option and that is to stay at the clinic and continue in the program, now as the future mothers. Men are, however, required to provide several samples of their semen for further use, before they leave.


Gamma + - The crew of Eternal Servitude wasn't only a bunch of pitiful civilians, religious fanatics and ragged soldiers. There was one very important person named Alexandra.
She was born on board of the ship several months after departure. She wore an unusual, bright red necklace on her chest, which she got from her mother after birth. She gained it from her husband, reputable jeweler from Vakaria who bought it from an unknown man from little money. Unfortunately, he did not make it to the rescue shuttle. A bullet to the back sealed his fate.
As the little girl grew up, unusual things started to happen around her. She could hear other's thoughts, she could move things without touching them, slow the time down or force others her feelings or opinions. She didn't know what's happening, but she had full control of it.
Just for sure, she was never alone, the Sisters of the Silver hand guarded her non-stop, utilizing null-emitters to weaken her powers. They knew she was a psyker, but nobody knew they have the honor with a very powerful psyker.
That has been proven then the vessel was attacked by pirates, who thought that the vessel is abandoned. They boarded and killed everyone they met, including Alexandra's mother. The girl, who was in the teenage now, saw it and got enraged by the loss of her mother. She used her powers to set ablaze several of the invaders, to tore a ceiling crane down to crush some pirates underneath it, and to cause unbearable agony on the rest of them. All caused by mere thought. Once all calmed down, she was explained what she was and once the ship finally docked at the Europan orbital docks and the newcomers went through medical examination and interrogation, then was sent to psyker school. They found out that she was a Gamma+ level psyker, and that her necklace is, in fact, an Eldar spirit stone. Alexandra absorbed some of its power and the stone protected her from being possessed by a daemon. There are also rumors that she might be a distant relative to the Emperor himself, known also as the Sensei, which might be the source of her power. If this is true or not is not known.


Latest events - Many years after the Eternal Servitude arrived, has happened something nobody ever expected. The stable light af the Astronomical flickered, which means something happened, and it is most probably very good. The astropaths has begun hearing an echo of a desperate call for help from many places from the Imperium, which confirmed the darkest apprehensions. The forces of Chaos launched a massive attack against the Imperial forces. The government immediately approved a massive, but the subtle military build-up to keep people from asking, yet to prepare themselves for a potential confrontation. Both underground forges on Ostrakan and Europan orbital docks work at full capacity, producing hundreds of tons of military material a month, from basic body armor to space-faring vessels.
Then the worst happened. A realspace near Ipheus IV was torn apart and a fleet of blood-red vessels imbued with malicious energies emerged, immediately launching an invasion force. Local security forces desperately defended one of the domes, holding the enemy, that closely resembled those who originally attacked the Vakaria, at bay, buying time with their own blood for the other units to dig in on the other side of the access tunnels. Since then, the whole fight was a status quo, as both the attackers and the defenders did not manage to take hold in the enemy territory, despite numerous attempts. Rapid response force was immediately dispatched and right now, the vessels Pride of Europa and Barisan, along with several smaller ships are flying at full speed towards the Ipheus IV, with several Guard brigades on board. If the situation proves desperate enough, Captains are instructed to try rescue as much as possible from the terms of manpower and abandon the planet.

Back to top

Detailed summary of inhabited worlds

Europa Prime

Europa Prime is considered to be the "main" world in the system, as every important institution is located here, including the Planetary Council, Cathedral of St. Beltaine, Imperial Guard HQ, Naval Command and much more, that are required for smooth run of the system.
The population is roughly two billion people, concentrated mostly in cities, Aquilea being the largest.
As the planet is mostly covered in dense jungles, where treetops are commonly 200 meters high, aerial transport is largely limited, yet still the only reliable. The main mean of transportations is above-the-ground highways and Maglev railway. Remote areas are especially difficult to reach, as even VTOL aircraft have a hard time looking for a landing zone other than those attached to the settlements, and if there is an open space, it's most probably a swamp.
Live outside of fortified cities is harch. Fauna and Flora aren't inherently hostile, but the jungle, difficult terrain and everpresent swamps along with long distances don't make the life much easier. Sometimes you can even find settlements dozens of meters above the ground, anchored to the giant tree trunks, that protect the citizens from the commonly occurring floodings.
Around Europa Prime, there is an unfinished toroidal space station, serving as both military and civilian docks and housing for voidsmen, merchants and service crews, along with resident population.

Zoyra

Zoyra has a very small permanent population, only about 9 million. Reason for this is that the planet is not inhabitable, but has very little to offer except for its natural beauties and exotic experience. The surface is covered in jungles, with trees not so high as on Europa prime, but even denser.
This moon hosts a specific sect of hedonists and epicures. Those people are most frequently from higher classes when they do not have to work hard to make a living and they devoted their lives to seeking of (most frequently erotic) delights. Their distinguishing mark is their clothes, usually consisted out of simple tunic or robe and sandals, with nothing more. More devoted members may wear very revealing, translucent or even no clothes at all. In fact, complete nakedness is quite rare
This group of people, which has its followers all over the system, but it's most widespread on Zoyra, has been investigated many times by the governmental agents or police under suspicion of Chaos worshipping or summoning Slaneeshi daemons, but no threat has been confirmed.
Speaking of the industry, Zoyra is a large producer of wood and wooden products, but the main export articles are the still regenerating, psychoreactive crystals. Tourism is also a significant source of income, as people travel here to relax and learn new things.
What made Zoyra famous it the Temple of the Night. A millennia-old temple, probably older than the humanity itself. Every time then the Long night period comes, the temple lights up with bright, blue light and projects a column of light into the cosmic darkness. The temple is probably of Eldar origin, as they inhabited this world until their race fell from its grace.
Another unique occurrence to this world is the Ayram Mountains. Technically, it's not mountains, but flying rock formations, that are held afloat by magnetic forces of the moon's core, magnified by large deposits of magnetite on the moon's crust and the rocks themselves.
Next thing worth mentioning is that Zoyra hosts the base of Europan Ecclesiarchy. Not far away from the Ayram mountains, their abbey provides absolute peace and tranquility, disturbed only by the occasional roar of supply ships or ongoing military drill of the Battle Sisters.

Risha

Risha is an agricultural superpower. Planet surface is one, supercontinent. which takes about two-fifths of the planet's surface, surrounded by one, an immense ocean. The landscape is more or less flat and is covered in vast crops fields, pastures, and greenhouses, along with various food plants. The ocean is also a great source of food and crude, unrefined promethium is mined from the rocks under the seabed.
On the eleventh meridian, the supercontinent is traversed by a massive mountain ridge, which is a result of tectonic plates movement. Mountain ridge can be safely crossed only a few places and use of aircraft is largely limited by the weather which is usually irreconcilable with safe flight.
Most of the population, which is about 800 million, live decentralized, in settlements, villages or small towns. and the majority of them works in agriculture, fishing or light industry.
Separation of the population to the western and eastern part creates natural and healthy competition, where both are trying to grow, catch and manufacture more than the other part. Time to time, the healthy competition overgrows into a situation that riot control units are deployed, and the initiators are always "the other ones".
Risha also hosts a considerable Beastmen population, who moved away from the violent lifestyle on Skyllian VIII and settled here, along with their families. Most of them began farming, growing crops, fruits or vegetables. Some of them instead supply the local dairy industry, as the milk the Bovinus beastwomen make is very favored thanks to its lavish taste and nutritiousness.

Aethera

Aethera is an unusual, very mountainous planet. A Large part of the atmosphere is consisted out of methane and sulfur, released due to heavy volcanic activity. People live only in high mountains and plateaus above the cloud levels. Speaking of it, the population is relatively small, only about 600 million individuals. Transportation is solved mainly by aircraft (between the cities) and by airtight, armored trains (under the cloud level).
What is unusual about this planet? An immense mineral wealth, but it's hidden deep under the surface, in areas afflicted by volcanic activity and toxic atmosphere. In these mines, brave (or foolish) men dressed in hazmat suits dig for those minerals. It's extremely dangerous, the mortality rate is very high, but it's very well paid. Unless you are a servitor or a convict. Then you work for a loaf of bread and an opportunity surviving another day.

Tiron

Tiron is a barren, rocky moon with breathable air but little water, which serves as a giant junkyard. All of the garbage, except the biological one, which is mostly shipped to Risha, that has not been processed is being sent here to be forgotten.
Officially, the moon is unpopulated, but in fact, on the surface, there are several settlements, inhabited by various outcasts, castaways, salvagers, scavengers, collectors and escaped convicts. Beside endless fields and mountains of rotting and rusting garbage, wreckage, and junk are several compounds known Tiron-1 to Tiron-6, which are, in fact, a huge waste disposal facilities. All of the garbage which is brought inside from the fields is sorted, and what can be recycled is recycled, and what cannot be is incinerated, crushed, compressed and left to its own fate somewhere outside.
Majority of the workers are in fact convicts serving their life sentences, whose offense wasn't serious enough to be sent into the deep mines on Aethera.

Neutra

Neutra is not a moon anymore, it's a separate, individual planet. 5th in a row. It's cold, mountainous planet, covered by the larger part by tundras and taigas with wast frozen wastelands around polar caps and thin, temperament belt in the equatorial area.
Population, which consists roughly of 1 billion, is concentrated in cities around the equator. Only a handful of people live in the boreal zone, usually in small villages or settlements, that live in a hunter-gatherer society, as no other means of getting food are not effective, apart from growing cold-resistant crops. People from those villages are especially favored by military officers, thanks to their natural physical and mental strength, toughness, and independence.
Neutra hosts the largest military training camp, for either military police forces and the navy.
Speaking of industry, wood, minerals, and both light and heavy industry are the main export commodity. Significant 'export' product is well-trained soldiers, as plenty of Neutran families has far-reaching military tradition.

Ostrakan

Ostrakan may seem barren at first look, but all the life is happening down there, under the surface. Ostrakan has a very important role, and that it being a fortress world that can be hermetically sealed off for years and withstand all but the exterminatus grade ordinance. Ostrakan also hosts the emergency management for the entire system and vast hab-blocks to house up to several million refugees. The planet is divided into many sectors, each of them can be hermetically sealed from all other by massive blast doors. A large number of sectors are under the control of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who runs dozens of forges and factories, which makes Ostrakan into partial Forge world. While combined with fortress world, in case of siege, factories can run on full production potential without any great risk. Seeking patrols of Skitarii forces all around the planet is not uncommon. Their deeply black coats and sinister looking, red glowing visors can easily frighten anybody who's not used to their presence. The emergency management also has some less usual options when it comes to defending against potential attacks, like cutting off electricity or air supply to entire sectors, or outright flooding them with water or molten lava to halt the enemy advance.
Speaking of population, there are about 3 billion citizens and most of them work in various factories. The whole world is militarised and every citizen has to undergo through basic military training and is knowledgeable about the use of firearms and basic tactics. Every citizen is to become a solder in case of enemy attack.

Ipheus IV

A mining colony, orbiting a like-named star. It has no atmosphere, so in order to make it habitable, vast domes had to be built on the surface, that sustain livable conditions inside them, both for people and plants. Number of colonists is about tens of thousands and they live either in the biodomes, or refurbished caves or old mining shafts.
Due to its remote location, workers frequently move there with their families and the occasional life losses are replaced by children that were born and grew up here. The only way how to get to or out of this colony is to board one of the ore haulers, that brings food and water supplies, machine parts and generally all necessary supplies required to smooth operation and leaves loaded with thousands of tonnes of ores.
Despite the life not being very easy, colonists have all necessities to live and not to worry about plagues or supply shortages. Leisure and security is also taken care of.
Domes are protected by Void-shield generators, along with automatic weapon turrets that open fire to anything moving, lacking the Europan or Imperial IFF system, being it a simple meteor or void ship.
Furthermore, this colony is not represented in the planetary council. It has its own governor, who are voted by the ministers. This position is not very popular, though.

Skyllian VIII

As it has been said, Skyllian is a jungle death world. The only safe areas are guarded by meters high electrical fences, but even those are not fully able to grant complete safety all the time. the only truly safe zones are the cities, that are guarded by strong walls and hundreds of automated weapon emplacements. There are also manned emplacements, that can control the sentry turrets and deal with threats that the sentries are not able to.
Beastmen tribes have their settlements in the less dangerous areas, but despite this, and lack of any advanced medical knowledge and technologies, mortality among them is very high. That's the reason why most tribes developed a reproduction-focused culture and their females spend most of their adult lives being gravid. Younger members are very promiscuous, mostly among their own age range and older, exceptionally strong individuals are commonly polygamous. Females are usually revered and protected by the male tribesmen and no price is too high for saving a fertile female. Some tribes don't even kill females from enemy tribes, they just capture and integrate them into their own tribe.
Some tribes breed various lizards and pterosaurs, which they use as mounts for transportation, hunting, and combat. Some tribes possess a genetic mutation that results in beastman female giving birth to a centaur or bovitaur, that are four-legged variants of their parents. Giving birth to a centaur or bovitaur is usually fatal to the mother and they themselves are usually not able to reproduce even among themselves. But exceptions exists.
The reason why this planet is colonized it its richness in every aspect, from minerals, through promethium to endemic plants and animals. The inhospitality of this world offers a way how to train soldiers or test new weapons. And civilized beastmen proved to be useful in many ways.

Foehn (ORS-038b Croatea CXVIII)

(Orbital Ringworld Station, model 038, b variant, orbiting around a star known as Croatea 118)
This station has a real shape of a ring, with an angle and rotation speed adjusted that it would mimic the gravity and day cycle of a regular, Terra-like planet. Its ecosystem was designed to support a vast population of about one billion. Problem is, that the station is severely damaged. Hull integrity has been compromised on many places, with some holes measuring hundreds of meters, and sometimes entire chunks of the decks are missing. This resulted in rapid decompression and whole sectors had been hermetically sealed to avoid further damage and life losses. Those unfortunate ones, who were sealed off were of no help. They either suffocated or froze to death and in the end, no survivors were left on the station. When the dead bodies were examined, their age was guessed to twenty thousand years, which means this station pre-dates the Great Crusade and was built sometime during the Age of Technology. As restoration works are in effect, three out of forty-eight sectors are restored and able to support life, however restoring such gigantic structure will take decades, if not centuries.

Back to top

Related articles

Discussion thread