The Markian Pact

This page details people, events, and organisations from The /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

The Markian Pact is a military alliance of five Imperial planets and a forgeworld that share similar cultures and work in unison to produce effective regiments specializing in combined arms and operational maneuvers. The regiments of the Markian Corps are insignificant individually; what the Markian regiments derive their power from is combined arms and unit cohesion, utilizing versatility to attain victory. Instead of going their separate ways, the regiments raised in the Markian Pact unify into a Grand Corps consisting of artillery, infantry, armor, and specialist elements combined to assault a single stubborn foe. This oddity of unity is accomplished with the approval of their Astartes benefactors, the Void Angels, who see the versatility and close ties of the Grand Corps as advantageous in planetary-scale warfare.

History of the Markian Pact

Before the Crusade

The Markian Colonies were a collection of settlements founded late in the Dark Age of Technology by intellectuals and independents, just in time for the Age of Strife; as such the colonies had little time to develop, with Atashia being the most advanced when warp storms isolated the five planets' systems. Fortunately, these five colonies were conveniently located in a warp bubble, an anomaly that leaves a small area possible to traverse; thus, contact between the colonies remained throughout the age of strife. Unfortunately, transport was limited to ten poorly armed voidships, as not even Atashia had the infrastructure to build spacefaring vessels. Contact remained, but the Markian colonies were woefully unprepared for naval warfare.

In M28, Lemartia was invaded by the forces of Ghalhal, a world that laid just beyond the warp bubble. With a force of twenty ships and millions of men the Ghalhallans quickly seized the surface of the world, but found the labyrinthine mines that Lemartian guerrillas hid in to be unassailable, and was unaware of any allies to Lemartia. When the Ghalhallans fleet split to explore the warp bubble their force bound for Thenar discovered too late the Markian Allied Fleet, who jumped from system to system, taking on the divided elements individually and destroying eleven ships before the enemy fleet retreated to Ghalhal without retrieving ground forces on Thenar, Kouralia, and Lemartia. Once the remnants were dealt with, the Markian Fleet braved the warp storms and attacked Ghalhal itself. After a long void battle the Markian fleet triumphed, forcing the remaining Ghalhallan fleet to flee deeper into the warp storms where they were presumably lost; however, instead of landing troops to seize Ghalhal the Markians simply bombarded the surface in revenge for both men lost in the colonies' defense and the three ships destroyed in the counteroffensive, leaving the once-fertile surface uninhabitable and barren.

Following the war against Ghalhal there was a long period of peace in the Markian colonies. Deeper bonds developed between the worlds, and the planetary governments decided to officially unite in a mutually beneficial alliance. The five worlds of Markia established the Markian Pact, a confederation dedicated to the defense of the Markians' ideals. A central parliament was put in place on Atashia, the new bureaucracy monitored the economic output of worlds, the Markian armed forces were standardized into the Markian Corps, and Atashia used what infrastructure it had to improve the defense and production of its allies.

To the horror of the Markian Pact, a new power had taken root in the wastes of Ghalhal: the techpriests of the Mechanicum. Worse, is the new lords of Ghalhal were confirmed to have had a superior fleet to the Markians', and there were rumors that the techpriests' allies were manyfold. Though they were frightened for good reason (The Markians' bombardment years ago was not thorough, as they could not kill everyone underground), the Markians' fears were proven false when Mechanicus diplomats arrived on Lemartia to trade for ore. Most suspicion was lifted by the time of the Great Crusade, as Ghalhal had become close allies to the Markian Pact, providing materiel in exchange for resources.

Angels from the Void

The Mechanicum was merely the first to contact the Markians, and in 851.M30 a new power made itself known. In this year the Primarch Gaspard Lumey of the Winged Victory Legion visited the world of Kouralia. At first the Primarch was rather blunt about his purpose-to integrate the Markian Pact into the Imperium of Man-but he did not follow his introduction with an ultimatum; curious of Markian culture, he instead simply requested freedom to travel through the Pact. Although still suspicious, and honestly doubting he would keep his promise of refraining from espionage, the Markians returned Lumey's courtesy with courtesy, granting him travel rights to the entirety of the Markian Pact (Barring Ghalhal).

As large armored tenth-foot space men are wont to do, Lumey attracted the attention of literally everyone in Markia. He was invited to cultural and scientific events, and given many opportunities to lecture both to elite and general audiences. The Markians impressed Lumey with their sophistication and outlook, and he did likewise with his own rhetoric and intellect. When the Primarch ended his tour of the Pact with a speech, the entirety of the parliament listened with utmost sincerity; when he asked to be granted citizenship, the parliament's vote for was unanimous; when he asked that they be peacefully absorbed into the Imperium, few dared against. Upon conclusion of the session, the parliament gave three cheers for "Citizen Gaspard," and three more for the future of mankind.

Worlds of the Markian Pact

Atashia

Atashia is the capital world of the Markian Pact, where representatives of all the Pact worlds meet to discuss the weighty matters of cultural exchange, foreign policy, and mutual defence. Though inferior to Ghalhal in production, it is the industrial center of the Markian Pact proper. The Atashia-Pattern lasgun is produced here, along with the Markian Corps' testudos, Centaurs, sniper mantlets, and uniforms. Atashia is a temperate world, much like a youthful Terra with a slightly lower global temperature and a smaller tropical area. At the end of the Age of Strife, Atashia was the birthplace of the Markians' ideals of rationalism and healthy skepticism the world remains the center of the Markian enlightenment. What Atashia is most famous for, however is its Imperial Army forces, which are the most numerous among the Markian Corps and includes line infantry, mechanized, armored, and artillery formations.

Karmia

Karmia is a civilized world and the artistic capital of the subsector. Besides great works of sculpture, murals, compositions, and of course its export of gifted artists to other, less enlightened worlds, Karmia is also the second most prominent source of regiments for the Corps. Its forces include infantry and artillery regiments. Karmia also provides the Karmia-Pattern lasgun to tank crews, mechanized regiments, and its own forces. However, the preservation of Karmia's inspiring natural environment prohibits substantial industrial development.

Kouralia

Kouralia is a water world. With less than 14% landmass on the surface divided into hundreds of island chains, its inhabitants to travel the world through alternate means. The most popular methods of travel are by sea-going vessels, both surface and submersible, but Kouralians also use a wide variety of air-borne vehicles, from massive dirigibles to agile fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Their travel habits are reflected in their military forces. Kouralia produces drop and air-mobile artillery regiments supported by airships, as well as L'Infanterie de Marine that travel the seas of Imperial worlds. Resource-wise, Kouralia exports huge quantities of seafood, and drills promethium from the sea-floor.

Lemartia

A high-gravity mining world, Lemartia has a pull 1.6 times greater than Atashia's, forcing the Lemartians to become stronger and stockier. A Lemartian native is stouter than the average human, and more well-built as well. Besides its tithes to Ghalhal and Atashia, Lemartia provides to the Markian Corps Les Régiments de la Sapeurs de la Lemartia, engineers specializing in tunnel-fighting, trench warfare, and sieges. Lemartia is also home to the Lemartian Bloodhound, a tough and purposeful dog breed with a keen nose.

Thenar

Thenar is a mountainous agri-world responsible for feeding the Markian Pact covered in sprawling mountain ranges and fertile valley plains. It is from here that roughrider and mountain infantry regiments hail, in addition to line infantry. Thenar is home to the Thenaran shepherd, a dog beloved across the Markian Pact for its intelligence and loyalty.

Ghalhal

An honorary member by virtue of providing the bulk of equipment to the Markian Pact, Ghalhal is a forgeworld younger than any other world in the sector. Founded in the ruins of the old Ghalhal which was lost in an interstellar war from the Age of Strife, Ghalhal's culture is a strange blend of old Ghalhal, the Markian Pact, and the Mechanicum. Although the techpriests of the Markian Corps hail from here, Ghalhal is under no obligation to provide troops; though it would assist the Markian Corps directly if the subsector is threatened.

The Markian Corps

The strength of the Markian Corps is not prowess in a particular kind of warfare, but in the ability for its regiments to communicate and coordinate. When the Markian Corps' regiments are raised they are not sent their separate ways across the galaxy, but rather formed into crand corps containing as many as dozens of regiments of many kinds. Thanks to rigorous joint training by the five worlds the grand corps have a level of combined arms rarely found in the Imperial Army, with high morale and a camaraderie between soldiers from many different regiments.

Regiments

• Line Infantry Regiments (LIR) are the most common units in a grand corps, consisting primarily of infantry with light armored and artillery support. Highly disciplined and able to handle any situation, though not excelling in any in particular.
• Artillery Regiments (HAR) are highly prominent in grand corps, being able to smash a hole in any line. Artillery regiments are rather large, possessing a mix of mortars, basilisks, medusas, and mountain guns. In case multiple grand corps come together to form an army, the artillery regiments form a single artillery corps of their own.
• Tank Regiments (LTR) are hardly notable. Though well-equipped and handled by trained crewmen, the tank regiments of Markia are simply there to fill a niche, and do not hold a distinct advantage over true tread-heads.
• Mechanized Regiments (HIR) are mobile elements of the Markian Corps meant to exploit breakthroughs and plug gaps in the line, originating from Atashia.
• Les Régiments de la Sapeurs de la Lemartia (SIR), or simply sapper regiments, are heavy siege specialists equipped with breaching drills, mole weapons (No word on mole transports. Yet.), heavy armor, and special weapons. Its men, being from the high-gravity world of Lemartia, are thick-skinned and stocky, and their smallish stature and experience let them maneuver tunnels with little hassle.
• Drop regiments (AIR) originate from the world of Kouralia, trained in high-altitude insertion. As with most other regiments, drop regiments are disciplined but far from the best at their job; though they do have mountain guns for more punch. If multiple grand corps come together to form an army, drop regiments come together with air-mobile artillery regiments and air support elements to form a shrike corps.
• The Air-Mobile Artillery (AAR) regiments of Kouralia are a strange contradiction. The linchpin of the air-mobile regiment is the mountain gun; a light, powerful gun capable of every form of transport from horse-drawn to hand-pushed to airlift. A key component of the mountain gun is that it is compact and can easily be disassembled and reassembled quickly, making rapid deployment via valkyrie within the realm of possibility. AARs also contain at least one airship as a command and heavy lifting vehicle.
• L’Infanterie de Marine (STR) are another unique force from Kouralia, as each regiment is an entire fleet of maritime vessels with supporting naval infantry for use in the oceans of the Imperium’s worlds. Vessels within an IMR are designed to be easily transported by specialized Mechanicus voidships from Ghalhal, and are equipped with enough firepower to match an artillery regiment, and supported with a complement of highly trained marines to take shore positions and perform maritime operations.
• The Mountain Infantry Regiments (MIR) of Thenar are light infantry specialized in alpine warfare as their name suggests, although they also have experience with forests and plains. What sets apart the mountain infantry from other light regiments the most is the mountain gun, which provides long-range anti-armor firepower to the regiment without losing much in terms of mobility.

Armaments

• The main armament of the Markian Corps during the Heresy is the Atashia-Pattern bold-action lasgun. Based on primitive designs from the Age of Strife, the Atashia-Pattern's powerful but easily-fried capacitors require a new cell to be loaded after every shot, sacrificing rate of fire for extra punch. It should be noted, however, that expert users of the Atashia-Pattern lasgun can fire dozens of times in only a minute, even including reloading of the ten-shot magazine. After the Verdunian Reforms, the Atashia-Pattern was phased out and replaced with the Markia-Pattern, though the Atashia-Pattern continues to see use as a ceremonial weapon.
• The Karmia-Pattern lascarbine is an improvement upon the Atashia-Pattern. Produced for drop regiments, L'Infanterie de Marine, mechanized regiments, sappers, and tank crews, the Karmia-Pattern is semiautomatic unlike the Atashia-Pattern, and is loaded via a twenty- or thirty- capacitor magazine on the bottom. Though it was replaced by the Markia-Pattern lasgun after the Heresy, Karmian regiments continue using it out of tradition.
• The main service weapon after the Hektor Heresy is the Markia-Pattern lasgun, designed to receive the laspacks used by the rest of the Imperial Guard. It boasts equal firepower to the Atashia-Pattern, but is semiautomatic and modular, which allows it to be modified for use by snipers, drop troops, light infantry, sappers, and tank and artillery crews.
• The mountain gun is the main piece of air-mobile artillery and mountain infantry regiments for many reasons. Besides being light enough for transport by valkyries or horses, the mountain gun can also be disassembled easily, allowing it to be moved around in pieces and stored with ease.
• The sniper mantlet is a high-caliber anti-materiel rifle mounted on a heavy shield. Built for trench warfare and countering light armor, the sniper mantlet is capable of sharpshooting enemies, even on the frontline of a siege.
• No word on mole transports for sappers like in ye olden days. Yet...