Post by Paradill on Jan 15, 2011 14:44:38 GMT -5
Homeworld
Lyceria is somewhat of an oddity in a galaxy of oddities, it's irregular orbit, manufactorum districts and vast, sprawling hives are all common features in the Imperium of Man but what it orbits is not. Lyceria's sun, if it ever had one, burnt out millions of years ago, casting the orphaned planet into the very depths of space until it eventually came into orbit around one of the greatest celestial bodies in the Lycan system, the black star.
The black star is a huge, pulsating mass of psychic energy, about the size of a red giant, which drags all light and psychic energy into itself, emitting heat and the occasional mind splitting psychic scream. With all the surface of Lyceria being in perpetual darkness, an immense dome of plasteel and ferrocrete was erected on the surface by specialist Adeptus mechanicus servitors guided by pyskers. Since the building of the great dome in M37 the people of Lyceria have come up from their subterranean dwellings onto the now artificially lit surface of the planet, great manufactorums and hives were erected and the people rejoiced.
With the ancient enviro-filters of the dome constantly malfunctioning, snow and hail are common, the population adapting their ways of life to live in a permanent winter environment, even though the temperature is quite amiable outside.
Population
The people of Lyceria are a hard working folk, their lives long in comparison to most parts of the galaxy with 72 being the average age of death for males and 75 for females. They are mostly given over to producing las weaponry, munitions, armour, uniforms, storage containers and generic webbing kit for export all over the Imperium. The population averages out at about 12 billion, never going above 15 billion due to the nature of their habitation within the dome, with a slightly higher percentage of "blanks" or "psychic nulls" than usual (between 0.00002 and 0.00005% of the population) though of course the strength of the blanks varies as with all others.
Leaving Lyceria
With the Lyceria system's main constituent being the black star, the Astronomican's signal is usually devoured before any navigators can take hold of their bearings in and around the system. To counter this, several long range buoys have been deployed as a reference to follow when entering or leaving the system by starship. By boosting the effect of the black star in equal steps, the buoys allow the navigator to follow the darkness instead of the light, for this reason many Imperial navigators refer to entering the Lyceria system as "Going into the darkness".
The Lycerian Regiments
The Lycerian regiments are capable and faithful as any of the regiments under the Emperor's Throne. With the compact and cramped streets of their home world and the dimly lit hives in which they dwell, the Lycerian regiments make excellent night time city fighters and as such the majority of Lycerian regiments are light infantry regiments or partially mechanized "lighter" regiments combining their light infantry with the fire spewing Hell hounds and heavy flamer equipped Chimeras.
Fighting all over the galaxy, the Lycerians have fought in several notable campaigns and won honors in some of the bloodiest wars in the Imperiums already blood soaked history, most recently in the defence of Cadia where 13 Lycerian regiments were wiped out to a man defending the approaches to Kasr Sonnen from the forces of the despoiler, buying enough time for Lord Castellan Creed to marshal his forces in preparation for the battle to come.
The Lycerian 133rd
The Lycerian 133rd started life on the brink of disaster, under a different name, the Lycerian 5th. The Lycerian 5th had long been one of the most famous of Lyceria's regiments, their battle honours hung in the great manufactorum halls as a reminder of the Emperor's might. At the close of the 41st millennium, the 5th were newly re-founded by their long time commander, General Cormack. Having fought in dozens and dozens of wars in his life time, the aging General was something of a hero on his homeworld, and from the handful of veterans he brought with him to the newest recruit, all his men were in awe of him.
Taking his men out towards the Cadian war zone, they had been traveling in the warp for less than two weeks when they received an urgent call for aid from the edge of the Lycerian system, just beyond the range of the black stars' Psyker nulling capabilities. Pleading with the admiral of the ships to allow his regiment to respond to their homeworlds' request, admiral Greyson eventually agreed and sent out the order to the transports and the escorts of his fleet; "About turn, into the darkness".
Upon arriving in the Lyceria system, having reported their movements and the request for aid to the nearest Segmentum communique post, the fleet found itself fired upon by the ancient ground defences built into and around Lyceria's dome. After a short but bloody duel in which two escorts were torn apart, the fleet managed to gain air superiority and dropped the Lyceria 5th into the tunnels below the surface, guided by the psyker buoys. Storming through the tunnels, the 5th ran into the remnants of the Lycerian PDF, taking shelter in one of the ancient caverns.
General Cormack discovered that the planets' aloof and stern governor a man called Crabbe, had announced the system free of the Imperium and released his private army into the dome, letting them slaughter and pillage as they went. Supported by his nobles and his significant wealth, Crabbe's secession was in full swing. Taking command of the PDF and Cormack led his regiment through the streets of the dome, clearing out the Governors' fanatical army with flame and las fire, rallying the citizenry to take up arms and fight. After two weeks the loyalists were in complete control of the space docks and ground defences, allowing support from the Cadian 376th and the Furmacki 965th to land and deploy within the city-dome.
After a further 8 weeks of close quarters fighting, the loyalists were ready to march on Crabbe's seat of power, the Imperial Palace. At the head of an army 40,000 strong, General Cormack led the citizens of Lyceria and their regiments in the final assault, breaking through the governor's army's last bulwark and into the palace itself. Inside was a charnel house, the stench of bloody death filled every part of the air like some sickening miasma. Some were diven back, but Cormack and his 5th strode on, fighting ever more zealous and determined traitors, even encountering strange and deformed beast-men.
Finally, after nearly 4 days of fighting through the halls and corridors of the palace, what remained of the 5th and their allies stormed the governor's sanctum, and what they found filled them with hate and vomit. Sat amongst the corpses of countless innocents sat the planets nobles, feasting on entrails and drinking goblets of blood. In the centre of the room sat the governor on a heap of bodies, leering at them with animal eyes. Cormack bravely led the charge but the nobles and their guard fought with the savagery of beasts, cutting down swathes of men as lasfire and flame tore them apart.
It is said that Cormack's plasma pistol took the life of the governor, but non know for certain as the General took his final breath in that blood soaked room, brought low by the unholy strength of the governor's elite guard.
After the battle, the tattered remnants of the Lycerian 5th helped rebuild their planet, whilst waiting for their eventual fate from the Ministorum. The veterans who survived from the 5th bore their generals' body to his final resting place in the centre of the dome, where a statue was erected in his honour. After several weeks of waiting, the Lycerians received their orders.
The loss of General Cormack had not gone un-noted and in honour of him, no regiment from Lyceria would ever again bear the moniker "the 5th", instead, the remnants of his regiment would be re-forged into something new and mighty. They were to report immediately to the besieged planet of Grissom IV upon full conscription. So born were the Lycerian 133rd
The Night Wolves
Those veterans of the 5th who became the first members of the 133rd were spread out amongst the new regiment, either becoming officers or remaining as veteran guardsmen within the company structure. Those veterans are known as the "night wolves" after a legend of Lyceria of the dreaded night wolf, who stalks the endless pitch of the surface, seeking prey upon which to feed. The night wolf of legend is meant to have the power to transform any man it touches into one of it's own kind. During the siege of Lyceria, the 5th became known as the night wolves due to their habit of incorporating their citizenry into the regiment. The night wolf became a symbol of hope to the citizens under attack from the Governor's private army and out of an act of respect the new recruits refer to the veterans as the "night wolves"
Paradill
Lyceria is somewhat of an oddity in a galaxy of oddities, it's irregular orbit, manufactorum districts and vast, sprawling hives are all common features in the Imperium of Man but what it orbits is not. Lyceria's sun, if it ever had one, burnt out millions of years ago, casting the orphaned planet into the very depths of space until it eventually came into orbit around one of the greatest celestial bodies in the Lycan system, the black star.
The black star is a huge, pulsating mass of psychic energy, about the size of a red giant, which drags all light and psychic energy into itself, emitting heat and the occasional mind splitting psychic scream. With all the surface of Lyceria being in perpetual darkness, an immense dome of plasteel and ferrocrete was erected on the surface by specialist Adeptus mechanicus servitors guided by pyskers. Since the building of the great dome in M37 the people of Lyceria have come up from their subterranean dwellings onto the now artificially lit surface of the planet, great manufactorums and hives were erected and the people rejoiced.
With the ancient enviro-filters of the dome constantly malfunctioning, snow and hail are common, the population adapting their ways of life to live in a permanent winter environment, even though the temperature is quite amiable outside.
Population
The people of Lyceria are a hard working folk, their lives long in comparison to most parts of the galaxy with 72 being the average age of death for males and 75 for females. They are mostly given over to producing las weaponry, munitions, armour, uniforms, storage containers and generic webbing kit for export all over the Imperium. The population averages out at about 12 billion, never going above 15 billion due to the nature of their habitation within the dome, with a slightly higher percentage of "blanks" or "psychic nulls" than usual (between 0.00002 and 0.00005% of the population) though of course the strength of the blanks varies as with all others.
Leaving Lyceria
With the Lyceria system's main constituent being the black star, the Astronomican's signal is usually devoured before any navigators can take hold of their bearings in and around the system. To counter this, several long range buoys have been deployed as a reference to follow when entering or leaving the system by starship. By boosting the effect of the black star in equal steps, the buoys allow the navigator to follow the darkness instead of the light, for this reason many Imperial navigators refer to entering the Lyceria system as "Going into the darkness".
The Lycerian Regiments
The Lycerian regiments are capable and faithful as any of the regiments under the Emperor's Throne. With the compact and cramped streets of their home world and the dimly lit hives in which they dwell, the Lycerian regiments make excellent night time city fighters and as such the majority of Lycerian regiments are light infantry regiments or partially mechanized "lighter" regiments combining their light infantry with the fire spewing Hell hounds and heavy flamer equipped Chimeras.
Fighting all over the galaxy, the Lycerians have fought in several notable campaigns and won honors in some of the bloodiest wars in the Imperiums already blood soaked history, most recently in the defence of Cadia where 13 Lycerian regiments were wiped out to a man defending the approaches to Kasr Sonnen from the forces of the despoiler, buying enough time for Lord Castellan Creed to marshal his forces in preparation for the battle to come.
The Lycerian 133rd
The Lycerian 133rd started life on the brink of disaster, under a different name, the Lycerian 5th. The Lycerian 5th had long been one of the most famous of Lyceria's regiments, their battle honours hung in the great manufactorum halls as a reminder of the Emperor's might. At the close of the 41st millennium, the 5th were newly re-founded by their long time commander, General Cormack. Having fought in dozens and dozens of wars in his life time, the aging General was something of a hero on his homeworld, and from the handful of veterans he brought with him to the newest recruit, all his men were in awe of him.
Taking his men out towards the Cadian war zone, they had been traveling in the warp for less than two weeks when they received an urgent call for aid from the edge of the Lycerian system, just beyond the range of the black stars' Psyker nulling capabilities. Pleading with the admiral of the ships to allow his regiment to respond to their homeworlds' request, admiral Greyson eventually agreed and sent out the order to the transports and the escorts of his fleet; "About turn, into the darkness".
Upon arriving in the Lyceria system, having reported their movements and the request for aid to the nearest Segmentum communique post, the fleet found itself fired upon by the ancient ground defences built into and around Lyceria's dome. After a short but bloody duel in which two escorts were torn apart, the fleet managed to gain air superiority and dropped the Lyceria 5th into the tunnels below the surface, guided by the psyker buoys. Storming through the tunnels, the 5th ran into the remnants of the Lycerian PDF, taking shelter in one of the ancient caverns.
General Cormack discovered that the planets' aloof and stern governor a man called Crabbe, had announced the system free of the Imperium and released his private army into the dome, letting them slaughter and pillage as they went. Supported by his nobles and his significant wealth, Crabbe's secession was in full swing. Taking command of the PDF and Cormack led his regiment through the streets of the dome, clearing out the Governors' fanatical army with flame and las fire, rallying the citizenry to take up arms and fight. After two weeks the loyalists were in complete control of the space docks and ground defences, allowing support from the Cadian 376th and the Furmacki 965th to land and deploy within the city-dome.
After a further 8 weeks of close quarters fighting, the loyalists were ready to march on Crabbe's seat of power, the Imperial Palace. At the head of an army 40,000 strong, General Cormack led the citizens of Lyceria and their regiments in the final assault, breaking through the governor's army's last bulwark and into the palace itself. Inside was a charnel house, the stench of bloody death filled every part of the air like some sickening miasma. Some were diven back, but Cormack and his 5th strode on, fighting ever more zealous and determined traitors, even encountering strange and deformed beast-men.
Finally, after nearly 4 days of fighting through the halls and corridors of the palace, what remained of the 5th and their allies stormed the governor's sanctum, and what they found filled them with hate and vomit. Sat amongst the corpses of countless innocents sat the planets nobles, feasting on entrails and drinking goblets of blood. In the centre of the room sat the governor on a heap of bodies, leering at them with animal eyes. Cormack bravely led the charge but the nobles and their guard fought with the savagery of beasts, cutting down swathes of men as lasfire and flame tore them apart.
It is said that Cormack's plasma pistol took the life of the governor, but non know for certain as the General took his final breath in that blood soaked room, brought low by the unholy strength of the governor's elite guard.
After the battle, the tattered remnants of the Lycerian 5th helped rebuild their planet, whilst waiting for their eventual fate from the Ministorum. The veterans who survived from the 5th bore their generals' body to his final resting place in the centre of the dome, where a statue was erected in his honour. After several weeks of waiting, the Lycerians received their orders.
The loss of General Cormack had not gone un-noted and in honour of him, no regiment from Lyceria would ever again bear the moniker "the 5th", instead, the remnants of his regiment would be re-forged into something new and mighty. They were to report immediately to the besieged planet of Grissom IV upon full conscription. So born were the Lycerian 133rd
The Night Wolves
Those veterans of the 5th who became the first members of the 133rd were spread out amongst the new regiment, either becoming officers or remaining as veteran guardsmen within the company structure. Those veterans are known as the "night wolves" after a legend of Lyceria of the dreaded night wolf, who stalks the endless pitch of the surface, seeking prey upon which to feed. The night wolf of legend is meant to have the power to transform any man it touches into one of it's own kind. During the siege of Lyceria, the 5th became known as the night wolves due to their habit of incorporating their citizenry into the regiment. The night wolf became a symbol of hope to the citizens under attack from the Governor's private army and out of an act of respect the new recruits refer to the veterans as the "night wolves"
Paradill