The Markian Pact

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate 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 Imperial Army 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 Markian 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 vote against. Upon conclusion of the session, the parliament gave three cheers for "Citizen Gaspard," and three more for the future of mankind.

The Great Crusade

Throughout the Great Crusade the grand corps of Markia were attached to the Winged Victory as Imperial Army auxiliaries, often alongside or mistaken for their cousins in the Ciban Chasseurs. In the Pacification of the Chwiorydd Hardd, the Markians, who have not known war for centuries, had their first taste of conflict since the war with old Ghalhal, facing the race of slavers known as the Amatteir. It was not battle itself that unsettled the Markian soldiers, however as they were still professional soldiers; it was the condition of slaves upon the world Chwiorydd Hardd 3 after contrasting with those on CH-4 that greatly disturbed many soldiers. As photo-journalist Verrell Boucher, a Karmian native, said:

"It was not their physical deprivations that struck me so. I had seen men and women lost in the wilds of my homeworld and returned to civilisation starved and sick before. It was their eyes. Our poor kinsmen, brutalised and degraded, looked at me with the mute ignorance of beasts. Foul aliens have taken human beings and made into them animals! How many more worlds is this happening on?"

Upon return to the Pact worlds for various military and civic reasons, veterans much like Boucher brought word of the atrocities committed by the xenos. Tales of the sheer harm and humiliation suffered by their fellow men galvanized the Markians, and aligned them sternly against the enemies of the Imperium. After further encounters with only more brutal aliens such as the full Amatteir's empire, the Dark Eldar of the Harakien star-empire, and the barbaric orks, the Markians' hatred for xenos was further validated, and to this day the Markians do not believe the only kind of xeno friend is one used as a sandbag to protect humans.

During the first part of the Great Crusade the Markian Corps served admirably alongside the Fifth Legion, especially their sapper regiments who proved vital in the Core Worlds and Harakien Sector campaigns. However, it was only after the Winged Victory's exile to the galactic fringe that the Markian Corps showed its greatness. As their masters departed to the fringe, many Markian regiments stayed behind to carry on with their crusade. It is during this time that names such as Grand Marshal Caieton and Marshal Judas Ranc became known to the larger Imperium, their campaigns leading to the pacification of over a hundred more worlds before the Great Crusade's end.

The Great Scouring and the Verdunian Reforms

Before the Hektor Heresy the Markian Corps possessed a vast fleet beyond the venerable voidships used to fight Old Ghalhal, consisting of manyfold battleships and cruisers crewed by indigenous Markians. Though throughout its existence the Markian fleet had replaced its native hands with various press-ganged conscripts, the ships themselves had always been Markia's until the Imperial Reformation post-Heresy, when Markia's fleet, including their eight most ancient voidships, was divided from the Markian Corps and absorbed by the new Imperial Navy to the ire of the Markians. Worse, is that the Imperial Navy demanded the Markian Corps give all their aircraft, from air superiority fighters and bombers to dropships and support craft, to them, an order vehemently opposed especially by Kouralian officers who relied on air support. Ultimately, despite fighting tooth and nail, the Markian Corps surrendered their void and aerial craft, except for Kouralia's airships, and the Markians' fervid defiance made the Navy reluctant to assist the Markian Corps. For centuries the Adeptus Mechanicus, having better relations with the Markian Pact, would ferry the Markian Corps to other worlds; a nonissue, since only the Adeptus Mechanicus had the voidships necessary to carry Kouralia's STR regiments anyway. Meanwhile, Ghalhal continued supplying valkyries and Avengers to Kouralia, but after a second fiasco with the Navy it was barred from giving them other craft such as Marauders and air superiority fighters.

Following changes in warfare's conditions, the Markian Corps too needed to change tactics. Sky Marshal Marius Marie-Gaston Verdun was the first to address this, by inducing many reforms in the Corps. It was Verdun who introduced the Markia-Pattern lasgun which replaced the Atashia-Pattern, as well as the chimera transport. His reforms also more closely integrated Mechanicus support from Ghalhal, with grand corps often including a small detachment of Skitarii and a larger complement of enginseers and servitors.

The Crimson Reign and the Fall of the Markian Pact

As the Imperial Truth could not resist the iron heel of the Ecclesiarchy, neither could Markia weather the Imperium's growing superstitions. The Markian Pact was on a path for destruction, but the Markians could not accept that. They pretended they would forever remain a beacon of reason in the seas of despair and lies, while the galaxy around them fell to pieces. Thanks to the efforts of the aristocrats and the artisans, Markia as an alliance ended not with a bang but a whimper. There were several points that could be considered signs of the Markian Pact's decline-the Imperial Navy Incident, the Flight of the Free Legions, the Lost Corps-but the true death of the Markian Pact came in the wake of the Age of Apostasy, with one Athenais Vernier.

Grand Marshal Athenais Vernier was commander of the 73rd Army of the Markian Corps, whose tale from guardsman to grand marshal was a story worth hearing ten times over. Vernier became a distant darling of the Markian people, her feats reaching across the galaxy back to Subsector Markia. An aristocrat of Atashia invited Vernier home for a party, which she accepted, returning home a hero. However, Vernier did not see familiar faces; even those who she once knew well were now as strange and alien as the creatures she fought in the darkest corners of space. Vernier was no longer like her former brethren; she succumbed to the ruthless pragmatism befitting of an Imperial general, and now saw only weakness in the false idealism of Markia. As she reacquainted herself oath the nobility she could not help but feel disgusted at the willful ignorance of the aristocracy, playing their games and acting as if their soldiers were only wasting their lives fighting for an Imperium already safe.

Vernier left the Markian Pact once again, only to return with not one but three armies of the Markian Corps. The Markian Corps stormed the capital, and Vernier personally marched into the council chambers, and randomly shot several councilors. Upon a steel throne atop a Leman Russ Vernier ensconced herself in those chambers, surrounded by politicians too terrified to so much as move or utter a word. The Crimson Reign of Vernier had begun, but it would not be Vernier but the people of Markia themselves who would enact bloody vengeance upon each other, for they had at last succumbed to the despair that consumed the purest of hearts. The Crimson Reign would continued for only a year, however, as Vernier committed suicide by throwing herself into the seas of Atashia, her own spirit broken by years of tragedy and war.

When the Crimson Reign ended, the Markian Pact simply… Ceased. The ties between worlds were severed down to a gilded string of trade, and the old council dissolved. The Markian Corps, the last vestiges of the old Pact of Verdun and Ranc, drifted with the warp's winds, the various grand corps finding new lives as Navy armsmen, Inquisitorial militants, rogue trader mercenaries, planetary defense forces, Ghalhallan auxiliaries, or the simple Imperial Guardsmen they always were; and to this day, they maintain their old traditions even with new commanders and soldiers. Only Ghalhal escaped the dissolution unscathed, as it was only ever an honorary member. Today there is no Markian Pact, only Greater Markia where the old alliance once lay, with Atashia, Kouralia, Karmia, Lemartia, and Thenar; five insignificant worlds which once mattered.

Worlds of the Markian Pact

Atashia

Atashia
Population	20,000,000,000
Gravity	1.01 Gs
Temperature	Temperate

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, and sniper mantlets. 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 optimism, and 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
Population	9,000,000,000
Temperature	Temperate

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
Population	3,000,000,000
Temperature	Tropical

Kouralia is a water world. With less than 14% landmass on the surface divided into hundreds of island chains, its inhabitants 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

Lemartia
Population	3,600,000,000
Gravity	1.6 Gs

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 particularly keen nose.

The disposition of Lemartian culture is a stark contrast to Atashia's. While Atashians exhibit an enlightened and idealistic perspective, Lemartians are down to earth, utilitarian, and unambitious; traits one would expect from a mining culture. Lemartian society places great emphasis on family and local community, stressing kin and neighbor over commander and king; whereas Atashians and Karmians would take pride in their artisans and statesmen, Lemartians find it easier to look to those closer to them as role models such as the sheriff or even mayor than some celebrity painter.

Thenar

Thenar
Population	4,000,000,000
Temperature	Temperate

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.

While Atashians are content with looking through a window to the trees outside, Thenarans are much more adventurous. Thenar's gorgeous features stretch all across the world, filled with dangerous game and perilous challenges. Thenarans are constantly active; when they're not farming, they're climbing mountains, hunting fierce beasts, chasing skirts, exploring forests, hunting convicts, fishing, eating, or inventing their own entertainment. Since there is little to do alone, the best way to have fun is in groups, and Thenarans find their best experiences with their friends. Their adventurous tendencies make them excellent pathfinders for the Markian Corps, with scouts serving in regiments outside the Mountain Infantry.

Ghalhal

Ghalhal
Population	32,000,000,000
Temperature	Ball-blastingtastic

An honorary member by virtue of providing the bulk of the Markian Pact's equipment, Ghalhal is a forgeworld younger than any other world in the pact. 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 still often sends a token detachment with grand corps, and would assist the Markian Corps directly if the subsector is threatened. Its most revered forces are its Thallax cohorts, which possess an eery djinn-sight unlike any other.

The Markian Corps

The Markian Corps is the collective Imperial Army forces supplied by the combined worlds of the Markian Pact, that share standardized equipment and organization. Though of greater quality than the average Imperial Army force, 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.