#brightest stars burnt out // stars repentant legion.

[forgottnseccnd]

// OK BUT REAL TALK... being hardcore inspired by Fear & Hunger and its concepts of divinity (watching an animation with a baller song, ITS GOT FLASHING LIGHTS AND BODY HORROR AND GORE THOUGH SO BE WARNED), esp with how aurelius's legion worshipped him like a god for how he saved them by... literally just being kind to them and bringing them comfort after what they had to do in service of the Imperium, bc their legion was originally a penal legion

where sons of families would be taken to forcibly be made into space marines, usually hypnodoctrinated to not remember who their families were to 'bring penance' in the name of the Emperor for assisting or even speaking of an enemy of Mankind, technically being considered something similar to the Thunder Warriors but a bit more 'upgraded', made to be brutal... until one space marine didnt get a proper hypnodoctrination process, leading to them realizing WHAT actually happened and what they've been doing to their families, so they began to preach that if their genefather had found them, surely he would despise them for being kinslayers, so they all chose to 'pay penance' instead. the guy that had the realization wouldve been Reclusiarch Columba, the legion's senior chaplain/ religious leader

but then. they actually FIND their genefather aurelius. they actually get to fucking see him, and instead of him treating them with disgust or hatred, he... cried for them. he kneeled to them and cried and held them in his arms, and taught them about the stars to bring them comfort

so they start to worship him as a god, because they deadass cant comprehend someone being so kind to them like aurelius was, because they were designated as a penal legion by the Emperor himself, so how can their genefather see the good inside of them when they were made to be prisoners?

aurelius's legion is like, a whole package of whatd be considered the anathema of what the imperium wants. aurelius wants to trade with xenos, he wants to actually have artificial intelligence return to treat said AI and men of iron like comrades instead of lesser beings, he wants to foster faith (in a healthy way) and encourage it if it brings them comfort and does his best to be a benevolent being... and with how the warp is, and aurelius as a powerful divination psyker, he probably knew about the warp, as well, EVERYTHING that emps didnt exactly want

so ive just been thinking on how, with the imperium worshipping emps to the point it really HAS made emps into a full-on god (he was already powerful as fuck but u get me), how aurelius probably had gained some sort of power from his legion (and planets he may've conquered) worshipping him and believing in him, with their beliefs possibly strengthening him and shit

... possible eldritch horror aurelius? POSSIBLE ABSTRACT-LOOKIN GOD AURELIUS? HOOOHOHO

[forgottnseccnd]

@warpcursed continued from here.

" I am RECLUSIARCH COLUMBA of the Stars Repentant! " The mysterious Marine spoke with quite a bit of pride to his voice.

He couldn't remember how long it'd been! Oh, how long it had been since he last got fresh air in his lungs!-- Well, he couldn't call it fresh air, since what lingered was the scent of death with Nurgle's horrors-- How long it had been since he had finally seen another human being, a citizen of Mankind! What stood before Ozura was a relic of an old age, with purity seals plastered over olden Heresy-era armor.

The armor was painted with old midnight blues, vertically halved with a more pearlescent lighter blue paint. Gold gilded the armor, fabrics with High Gothic in all sorts of writing draped from near his shoulder plating to the floor like olden stoles, and all sorts of scratches and cuts and damage was all over the armor. Though, the deepest looked to be some markings that were made deliberately upon the chestplate-- in the shape of the Terran dove constellation, Columba.

The Reclusiarch's eyes barely blinked. They stayed locked on Ozura in a constant thousand-yard stare, some warp frost slowly melting and dissipating as the Astarte now got used to being in realspace once again.

" A PLEASURE, Ozura! " The Space Marine now grinned to him-- but quickly, as a gurgling croak was heard from another poxwalker that DARED to enter his presence, Columba had suddenly spun around and grabbed at the giant, heavily-tattered standard and drove the tip of it into the infected creature, killing it instantly with a rather loud, " SAINT OF SAINTS SMITE YOU, CREATURE! "

Then, as if he hadn't just killed the thing, he turned to Ozura right after shoving the corpse of it off his standard with his boot. " Now-- where was I? Ah... Right! My friend, which planet is this? And why are you here? Surely a battle-psyker like yourself wouldn't be sent here on your own. Right?... er, right? "

His big ol' grin had tinges of worry to it now that he was thinking on it all. He remembered traversing through the realms of the Warp, through the blood swamps of Khorne, the horrid gardens of Nurgle, the endless labyrinths of Tzeentch and the circles of Slaanesh-- but then, a rift in the Warp had appeared!... and he took that chance the moment he could, and found himself here. Surely, it had been due to this fellow here!... but where were his comrades? By Lord Aurelius, if this poor man had been left to his own devices-- with daemons of NURGLE, no less...!

[forgottnseccnd]

"This is the Saint's Garden?" Ozura asked, looking up at Columba. He had no idea. The psyker had come here because it was peaceful and quiet, away from all the enthusiasm and noise of the other members of the second legion. But knowing now that it was the garden of the Primarch, he wasn't sure he should be in here.

A HEARTY laugh was what met Ozura-- the Reclusiarch was practically beaming at the sights of such blessings of life in the ship! It had been FAR too long since he had seen the beauty of old Iskaarre-- and even longer since he'd ever seen his Lord genuinely enjoy Himself with His little hobbies! Columba lifted a hand and SMACKED Ozura on the back-- but his other hand was quick to move to 'catch' Ozura to make sure he didn't fall over from the strike.

" INDEED! Or the Celestial Garden, if you want some more whimsy! HAH! It has been YEAAARS since I was able to see everything brim with such life! "

With what little of what Columba could recall, the garden had become shockingly overgrown during the ten thousand years when he first finally met with his beloved Lord once again, nearly overtaking the whole residential district and some of the market district, still supplied with the ship's old water supply. But, it seemed to be Aurelius kept that detail around as His legion-- well, CHAPTER was being rebuilt. It added a sense of beauty instead of desolation now that repairs were being done by both Stars Repentant marines and Ultramarines.

Columba seemed to recognize Ozura's tentativeness in being what could be considered such a sacred and personal place for the Primarch, so the Reclusiarch just wrapped his arm around his shoulders and cackled, " You shall be FIIIINE, OZURA! You needed a place of relaxation, and I have found it! If it is any comfort, I even asked the Penitent One Himself if you were allowed, and He said yes! If you were not allowed, I would not even suggesting such a place! " A beat. " Well, maybe I would be sneaking in once in a while. It is what I did when Aurelius first designated this ship as a fortress-monastery. " He snickered to himself at that.

A mighty skylight from the residential and marketing districts had allowed for ample light to nourish the flora, unending running water and irrigation systems helped to give them moisture and other systems giving them nutrients... but, notably, it was quite cold in the garden, so Columba had made sure Ozura bundled up.

There were towering trees with white blossoms that looked like snowflakes, with little petals that fell down onto actual snow that withstood the tests of time. There were ever-swirling blue vines that crept along the darkened bark of such trees with blooms that vaguely glowed in the shadows of the trees that had much lighter-blue bioluminescent insides that faded out into their many other little petals, in which Columba fearlessly plucked one and pushed up his helmet, sticking the bloom in his mouth with a little snort,

" If you eat one of those, it makes your tongue glow blue! "

It almost sounded like a little old wives' tale. However, Columba grinned like a madman and, after a little gulp, he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, revealing the blue nectar that had gone along his tongue, making it glow. " Sthhee? "

The very garden was like its own forest of wonders with such alien life that wouldn't have been seen on other planets-- some insects that were rather similar to bees had buzzed past them, landing on the flowers to collect and pollinate, covered in little buggy fur, while some others scurried along in the snow, see-through frog-like creatures that buried themselves into the snow and odd worms that were equally as furry as the other bugs... The snow actually looked to have been made by the prior-mentioned falling petals, simulating the snowy landscape of Iskaarre III.

There also looked to be tall bushes that mimicked Macraggean grapes, though the very vines were hidden away by the abundance of leaves, showing ice-like grapes covered in frost. Just as excitedly, Columba plucked a branch without much care, holding it out for Ozura, " And this is one of old Iskaarre's snowberries. They were a gift from Lord Guilliman, genetically modified to crossbreed Macragge's wine grapes and Iskaarre's cold-resistant blueberries... they taste like those snow-cone delicacies! Try it, my boy! "

[forgottnseccnd]

The Legion's recruits are motivated by gold star stickers that they then use to decorate their armor until they complete their training. Some full-fledged Space Marines will put a single gold star sticker in a hidden place on their armor in honor of how far they've come.

// i unironically love that AND IT DOESNT HELP THAT ITS KINDA CANON...!!!!

they're motivated not by gold star stickers (but they'd ABSOLUTELY LOVE IF YOU GAVE THEM ONE), but instead making specific, carefully-done chips on their armor to contrast with the deep pearlescent blues to make almost white chips that look like stars. this is to help them not only show their accomplishments and that they're battle-hardened, but also to differentiate themselves from one another!

so, say that you're talking to a neophyte or an aspirant-- they don't have any stars on them just yet. but a full-fledged space marine? they'll definitely have a few, either purposefully done by themselves or from battle.

higher-ranked space marines will have the beginnings of creating constellations on their armor, and those in First Company or the veterans of their respective companies will have whole constellations and be named AFTER constellations. of course, the highest honor is to be named after a constellation in the sol system! even MORE of an honor if it's a very well-known one, like Orion's Belt or Ursa Minor!

... but, they do also enjoy gold star stickers... aurelius purposefully hides some for his legion all around his ship, it's also very much loved by the kids that had looked up to them! sometimes, you might be able to see scratched and ruined but still-intact gold star stickers around the remains of aurelius's ship, especially around the residential district <3

[forgottnseccnd]

Is there any specific faction of Chaos that the Stars Repentant encountered or fought more often than others?

// most definitely Khorne-- while it's true that the legion has psykers and often Aurelius's divination and the stars themed would lead to them encountering Tzeentch far more, the Stars Repentant have a lot of emotion to them. a part of their geneseed flaw is that they are loyal to one another to a FAULT, and cherish the concept of honor and chivalry and see themselves as sort of servants of god that must protect the weak

even if Stars Repentant marines are corrupted, which absolutely can happen, they act more in line of like... Artorias from Dark Souls-- they may be corrupted, but they still have their original goals in mind even if they've been warped. they'll continue to fight chaos, even other Khornate daemons, and will sometimes still try to protect survivors of their legion if they're around. of course, it's best to strike them down than allow them to suffer further. while they plan ahead for many things, their emotions, loyalty and concepts of honor really bring them into the positive sides of Khorne's realm

a khornate bloodthirster was actually what ripped off some of aurelius's limbs!

[forgottnseccnd]

Are there any psykers in your legion?

// aurelius absolutely DOES have psykers in the Stars Repentant legion-- though, power varies. there are those with VAGUE psychic connections but not full-blown psykers which make up most of the legion! of course, though, there's also the Diviners, pretty much the Librarians of the legions that really help out in the long run-- this is due to Aurelius himself being a powerful divination psyker.

the vibe of the legion is something sort of like showing the ""positive"" sides of faith (i put it in quotes since i got my own struggles with faith AWKLEHWAUEA), delving into how there's the whole thing of "if you believe really hard it'll actually fucking work" with the immaterium's wild shit

most marines at most will just have presences that are a tiny bit more pronounced than others in the warp, but for ways they all fight against Chaos influence is through SHEER FAITH... not in the emperor, but in aurelius himself-- this is because of how aurelius met them!

[forgottnseccnd]

Atoma?... Atomaaaa... why, he'd never been in this part of the universe...! Columba had a hand to his helmet-wearing chin, the skull-like helm seeming to bore its very gaze into every enemy that tried to approach. So easily, he just cut things down like every enemy before him was butter. Any poxwalker that roamed nearby with nary a thought in their decrepit skull was met with the tip of a standard in the shape of a swordspear blade to the face, or jugular, or chest... but every time, Columba would switch so quickly from battling creatures of the depths of the Warp to just... normally talking to Ozura.

Columba didn't seem to realize this was what startled him. In fact, he seemed to think it was due to the daemons about. After all, being around such horrors couldn't be helping Ozura at all! Especially when Columba learned another little fact about the psyker's situation.

His upper lip curled in utter disgust at such a thing. Abandoning him? Just because he was 'cursed' with such 'mutations'? Well, by the damn stars, he was blessed by the Saint of Saints, it sounded like!

The Reclusiarch moved a hand up to push his helmet up after there had been a depressurizing hiss at his neck and bolts looked to have loosened from his neck, revealing a... somewhat young-ish face, covered in scars. His eyes were still uncanny with how they stared on, but maybe that was expected of a Space Marine. He had a completely buzzed head, with bright blue eyes that shimmered like stars, and a bit of a five-o'clock shadow.

Thin lips curled into an excited, cheery smile. " Well, I believe your squad has lost the right of having a blessing like yourself on their team! The AUDACITY they have-- you aren't cursed, you've been blessed with a GIFT, Young Ozura! "

Stabbing his banner into the ground, Columba held his hand out to the psyker, laughing heartily all the while.

" I have no plans on returning you to that accursed squadron that would so willingly throw a battle-brother of theirs away! Instead-- well... as you had saved me from the depths of the Warp, my friend, I offer that we could travel together! I am on a search for my Genefather! And I am sure that he will allow you into our fold, my friend. I refuse to have you deal with these... daemon SCUM-- alone! "

Of course he was a Reclusiarch, of all things. He might have been able to guess from the zealous howling. But it wasn't bothered him about this man. It was the sudden flipping of a switch between the calm demeanor and the uproarious fanaticism as he tore his enemies apart. He'd seen people flip that switch before and he had become the target of their aggression. Without really thinking he steps back from the space marine when his back is turned, gently pressing himself against the nearby wall.

"Oh, uh, you're on Atoma in the hive city of Tertium," the psyker explained. At the mention of being left on his own, there was a very bitter look that crossed Ozura's face. "No. I wasn't sent here alone. But some members of the Inquisition's Warband believe I'm cursed, so they would rather leave me behind to die than allow me to continue on with them. They're vainly hoping that I'll perish. Turns out it's just pissing off the officers since they have to deal with a second extraction because I survived."

It was spat out with venom, but in a very matter-of-fact tone. He wasn't exaggerating by any means. This wasn't the first team to do it, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "If you were hoping of some inane hope that you could reunite me with my strike team, you'd be sorely mistaken. They'd be more upset by seeing me returned to them than anything else."