I have little doubt that to an Astartes, internment in a Dreadnaught is a singular honour. One that allows him to continue to fight despite injuries so grievous they would overwhelm even transhuman physiology. An honour that ensures his hard won skill and knowledge are not lost to history.

But does such an honour transmute more than just the body? What must such isolation from the senses and the physical world we so take for granted do to a mind?

I wrestled with these questions often but could not bring myself to ask them of [REDACTED]. Instead, during the times we conversed I focused upon subjects I felt would be more palatable.

His elevation from neophyte to Astartes, his first combat deployment. His promotion in the field when he slew four of the monstrous Euyclalid. The battles he fought and foes he killed. Even the manner of his death and implantation into the sarcophagus of a Furibundus Dreadnaught, the design of which I am given to understand was old almost to the point of obscurity when the Astartes were young and the wars of Unity were yet to be concluded.

Old though the design might have been, it was no less fearsome or effective than a Contemptus Dreadnaught and on more than one occasion I found myself almost pitying those who did not call him an ally...

Illiatariu. C., Rememberancier Documantist Minoris. To Walk Among Demigods. A Treatise Upon The Nature of The Argyntum Stellae., Published 863.M33, Sector Heliopolis, Segmentum Pacificus.

 

...I recall reading about the Void Hoplites of the Saturnyne Ordos in an account of the early years of the Great Crusade and how they kept the predations of Old Night at bay for centuries before the armies of Unification reached the Polities of Saturn.

With the formation of the Legiones Astartes, one might well question the purpose of continuing to train and equip men and women for the Solar pattern Auxilia but as I have seen, there are roles to which shock troops like the Astartes are ill-suited such as pathfinders and peacekeepers and it was in these arenas and more that former Void Hoplites excelled to such a degree that the Solar Auxilia became a template utilised throughout the galaxy.

I am uncertain whether the Argyntum Stellæ set forth from Sol in the company of cohorts of the newly minted Solar Auxilia or whether they became allied with them later, though of course even allowing for the time dilatory effects of travel through the Immaterium or repeated juvenat treatments, any who might have traveled with them into the darkness beyond the stars would be long dead.

Regardless of how long they had been in his service, it was clear that Volnoscere recognised and appreciated the capabilities of the Void Hoplites, even going so far as to afford them the honour of wearing the heraldry of the Legion including the Stellæ Argentae...

Illiatariu. C., Rememberancier Documantist Minoris. To Walk Among Demigods. A Treatise Upon The Nature of The Argyntum Stellae., Published 863.M33, Sector Heliopolis, Segmentum Pacificus.

 

Starfall. The name seems innocuous enough, yet with hindsight the symbolism within it is as evident as it was no doubt deliberate. Ever has it been that man has sought to hide truths in plain sight though, the better to preserve the lie I suppose.

The events at Ul-Hiyar would would come to have a profound effect upon the Argyntum Stellæ and would play a significant role in the formation of what would become known as the Marines Mendicant but the consequences of the strike against Volnoscere would bear more unexpected fruit in the revival of the Oki-hāmau by the Legion.

Deployed throughout multiple theatres during the Sorrowful Years the Oki-hāmau was less of a formal assembly of dedicated units and more a loose band of ad-hoc formations assembled for specific "hunt/kill" undertakings, with each being led by an Astartes of the Legion. On occasion, this might be a member of the Kapihe though it seems that more frequently, command would fall to less senior officers or line Astartes.

As the parameters of such operations were so varied, it became common for mission leaders to be given significant discretion in their selection of materiel and personnel and as the Sorrowful Years ground on many such individuals came to recognise the benefits of a combined arms approach when assembling their team.

[REDACTED] can be considered broadly representative of an Oki-hāmau formation, and I believe them to have been present at [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], though I have been unable to confirm their presence in this theatre with any veracity and thus the latter of these undertakings should perhaps be attributed to Marines Mendicant operatives instead...

Illiatariu. C., Rememberancier Documantist Minoris. To Walk Among Demigods. A Treatise Upon The Nature of The Argyntum Stellae., Published 863.M33, Sector Heliopolis, Segmentum Pacificus.

 

 

There were times when I wondered if following my curiosity had been folly.

Admittedly these were mostly when I found my person endangered but there were others too. In fact, many was the night cycle I found myself doubting the decisions I made along the path that led to The Primarch.

Now it seems clear that doubt was one of the prices of Enlightenment, for what are any of us if not the sum of our choices? But at the time, I felt as though everything I understood must be a lie which is a difficult place to be for one indoctrinated in the Imperial Creed.

As fate would have it, I was only to meet with Volnoscere once, but once was enough to convince me of what my purpose in this must be. The Argyntum Stellæ had departed Terra before the foundation of the Rememberancier order and thus the counting of their past was lost, but as they forged the future I would do what I could to ensure their deeds were witnessed. I am not naive enough to believe he counted me a friend after our meeting, but I'd like to think that my choices from then on pleased him.

Illiatariu. C., Rememberancier Documantist Minoris. To Walk Among Demigods. A Treatise Upon The Nature of The Argyntum Stellae., Published 863.M33, Sector Heliopolis, Segmentum Pacificus.