@Emperor Tippy
Say, ever read any of Robert E. Howard’s works?
Because a “barbarian” Angron with the surprising intellectual ability to analyse, keep up with bureacracy and trade, be surprisingly eloquent and constantly disgusted with the “decadence” of even the least advanced iron age civilizations sorta sounds awesome
Yes, I've read some of his stuff before. I mean can you call yourself a proper sci-fi/fantasy fan and not have read Conan at least once?
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SI!Angron idea stuffs
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When Angron is first recovered, in response to the Emperor's offer for Angron's followers to be inducted into the 12th:
"Sir, we're with you." spoke Solomance.
Angron met the eyes of the man who had been by his side from the very beginning; the first of his fellow gladiators that Angron had judged worthy of life, the first to have been freed after his resurrection, and the first among his commanders. Then he met the rest of their eyes one by one.
In the end though Angron shook his head and spoke with finality, "No. When I started this fight I swore an oath to see you all freed from your chains and I will not bind you so again."
Solomance spoke with anger plain in his voice "It is not slavery to fight besides you friend. Why do you deny us this choice?"
"Because a choice without understanding is no choice at all and to fight by my side in this cause is slavery most final.
"I was created as the very embodiment of combat, I am humanity's vengeance against those who would enslave us made manifest, I am the very embodiment of wrath without mercy, temperament, qualification, equivocation, or limitation.
"I am not my brothers and my legion will not be as theirs. In my legion there will be no personal glory, honors, or legacy. All I will offer is service as humanities sword and shield against its enemies, and the price I will demand for the privilege of being that sword and shield is
everything. They will be melted down and reforged in body, mind, and soul to be nothing more, or less, than the most perfect tools for me to wield in my task.
"No, to join my legion is slavery on a level, and with a finality, that you can not comprehend and so I will deny you the opportunity. I will not be named oathbreaker for even you, Solomance."
Than man seemed anguished but still seemed to accept than Angron would not be changing his mind in this. "Then what would you have us do? Would you simply abandon us now that you father has arrived?"
I gave my closest companion a fond smile, "No, I would instead ask you to do me the favor of turning Nuceria into an exemplar of what I and my legion fight for. I would ask you to give us that most precious of things; a light when we are at our darkest, living proof that humanity is worthy of the sacrifices that we have made in its name.
"Turn this world into the very embodiment of what my fathers ideology promises humanity."
There, among the flowers hesitantly poking themselves out of soil so steeped in blood that it was a wonder it was not permanently red, his companions took a knee and one by one swore what would be recorded as the Promise of Nuceria; to build a world worthy of the sacrifices its finest sons made in humanities name.
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Muster yard of the XII legion, Terra, first full muster since the discovery of Angron:
Angron stood on the dais, looking out over the serried ranks of the hundred and sixty three thousand, six hundred and twenty nine full Astartes who composed his legion.
"Astartes of the Twelfth, you have served my father and the Great Crusade well; at the forefront of every battle, always to be found where the fighting was thickest. You earned your moniker, the Emperor's War Hounds, justly and paid the price in blood; your own and your enemies.
"You have rightly earned honors, and some of you have even become legends whose tales will be told for centuries to come."
The rumbling of approval as their primarch praised them seemed to come from every throat and shake the very buildings around them with its volume. Angron gave it a few moments, waiting for it to quiet before continuing.
"And yet the task given me by the Emperor allows no room for honor, no room for legacy. As I told those who fought besides me on Nuceria and demanded to continue to fight by my side in the greater galaxy; I was created as the very embodiment of combat, I am humanity's vengeance against those who would enslave us made manifest, I am the very embodiment of wrath without mercy, temperament, qualification, equivocation, or limitation.
"In my service you will only ever take one oath; a pledge to sacrifice all that you are, will, or every could be in service to humanity. You will be expected to do whatever is needed to ensure humanity remains free to chart its own destiny, to make whatever sacrifices that task requires of you without hesitation, regret, or doubt.
"Your lives will consist of nothing but training to kill humanities enemies as efficiently as possible or killing humanities enemies as efficiently as possible.
"From my forces I demand far more than my brothers demand from their own, for they have their own tasks to accomplish in their own ways. Indeed, what I demand from you is equal to what my father demands from his own Custodes."
Angron was again silent, taking in the barely restrained tension singing in the minds and souls of his Astartes.
"That is why I have spoken with my father and brothers, those who choose not to make the sacrifices that I demand will suffer no dishonor and will be allowed to join their legions as full brothers."
The War Hounds recoiled at that, regardless of my words it could be nothing less than a great dishonor to be deemed unworthy of their own primarch.
"If you choose to make this most ultimate of sacrifices then know that you take your last breaths among the living, for when you kneel and make your oath you will be dead men. Your names, your honors, and your feats die with your oath. You will rise a true Angel of Death; one of my Death Dealers.
"Your existence from that moment forth will be spent with the dead as your only company; either reaping by your side or being crushed under your feet to fertilize the soil for humanities growth.
"As a Death Dealer you will not fight or engage in combat; you will simply deal death to humanities enemies in whatever manner is most efficient and move onto the next enemy in line. As a Death Dealer you will not kill with fury, hatreted, anger, or joy for those are all emotions and emotions cloud judgement and interfere with efficiency; you will simply dispatch your foes clinically and with calm dispassion, they are dying because their death serves humanity and that is all that matters.
"So, men of the War Hounds, the fiercest of the Legiones Astartes, your worth of the field of battle has earned you the honor of an invitation to become the first of my Death Dealers. Who among you will die this day in service to humanity? Who among you will die not in the raging maelstrom of battle or a quirk of bad luck but knowingly, willingly, and calmly for no reason save that service to humanity asks of you the ultimate sacrifice?"
One by one they knelt until none stood; history would record that the War Hounds to the last man that day and the Emperor would personally honor the legion for the supreme sacrifice that they willingly made. In their place would rise a force clad in black, unadorned save for a blood red, three headed dog.
Angron was pleased, and not at all surprised, that they all knelt; but even as they rose he knew that a great many of them would die in the near future. Most of them weren't truly suitable for the reimagined twelfth and so he would spend the lives of the less suitable to preserve the lives of the more suitable even as he reformed the Legions selection process to produce Astartes in the mold that he desired.
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Planet Elysium, Hades System, Segmentum Solar
As the last of the recruits were chivvied into place, Angron began to address them from the balcony that he stood on.
"Welcome to Elysium. You are here because you volunteered and testing has shown that you have the physical potential to become one of my Death Dealers. You stand besides a million other young men just like you, about to be tested in mind, body, and spirit to the breaking point and beyond. This testing is entirely voluntary and you are free to quit at any time with no dishonor; for this testing is also lethal to a great many who attempt it.
"To give you a foretaste of how lethal, you will each be split into groups of one hundred and dropped on Niflheim with nothing but a Lasgun, a basic survival pack, and a destination. If all one hundred of your group reach your destination then a shuttle will be immediately dispatched to pick you up; the shuttle will be delayed for one day for every member of your group who is missing.
"I should mention that Niflheim was a jungle death world before we arrived in system and decided that it was insufficiently deadly for our purposes. So we seeded the world with a great many orks, imported a few exceptionally nasty critters from across the galaxy, and turned it into a dumping ground for the Mechanicum's defective combat servitors."
Seeing the horror on the faces of the potential recruits, Angron gave a kind smile and continued in a gentler voice "Remember, you may quit at any time. Just use the Vox bead that you will be provided to say that you quit and have decided that being a Death Dealer is not for you and one of us will be down to pick you up. Remember though, for everyone missing at the end it will be another day that your fellow aspirants need to hold out."
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Last test of the Aspirants
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"Congratulations Aspirants, you have passed all of our tests and proving yourself potential Death Dealers. Alas, it seems that this cadres training was a bit too easy and we only have one opening for you hundred aspirants to fill. Furthermore, you have passed our selection process and learned our secrets.
"Your final task is to select from amongst yourself who is best suited to become a Death Dealer. Once you have decided on your candidate, he must gain ninety nine votes to be confirmed. To vote you will come up to me, tell me your vote, and then drink from the Chalice of Silence; the poison within will insure you an instant and painless death."
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The chosen Aspirant was led from a room of corpses, the corpses of his fellow aspirants who had selected him as the most suitable amongst them and willingly died to give him this opportunity, by the Astartes and into the Necropolis. There to take their oath and be entered into one of the sarchopgi present. They would spend the next two years floating in those wonders of science as their geneseed was implanted, and while their bodies were being rebuilt their minds would be with their liege watching the battles of their fellow Death Dealers and learning the arts of war from those masters of the art.
It was only after they were interred that their fellow Aspirants were given the antidote to the substance that they had drank, to be then sent to the ranks of the Imperial Army or Navy as officers; their minds bound to never share the secrets that they had learned in the Hades system.
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Hades System
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The fortress system of the Death Dealers, it has nine planets. Elysium is a garden world and the home of the Legions headquarters. Vhan is a Mechanicum Forge World dedicated to keeping the XII supplied. The other seven planets and eight moons in the system are dedicated hostile environment training grounds. Several of them have been deliberately seeded with orks for live fire training.
