MAJOR SYSTEMS OF THE IPSOS SECTOR
THE VENETO SYSTEM
Situated at the centre of the Veneto system is Marconis Prime, the homeworld to the Knights of Marconia chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. A successor chapter of the Ultramarines, the Knights of Marconia seek to surpass the shining example of Ultramar and have brought the entire Veneto system into self-sufficiency and unity with the beautiful Marconis Prime as the jewel in the centre. The planets in the Veneto system are a mixture of verdant agri-worlds, high-tech industrial worlds with little pollution, and densely populated civilised worlds.
THE DANTUS SYSTEM
If the Veneto system is paradise, the the Dantus system is hell. A chain of pollution wreathed industrial planets orbit a great red sun. Of these worlds, over half are hive worlds, the atmosphere being too harmful even for those equipped with respirators. Dantusian societies are harsh and segmented with an aristocratic ruling class governing massed throngs of squabbling industrial houses, akin to those of Necromunda. Gang violence and minor uprisings are common and the Cult of the Redemption has many followers in this system. Having little in the way of a standing military force, the Dantus system relies greatly on the protection of the nearby Knights of Marconia, and the Imperial Guard levies and Battle Sisters of the Gloriana system.
THE GLORIANA SYSTEM
The largest of the systems of the Ipsos sector, the Gloriana system is home to fully fifteen inhabited planets. The capital of these planets, and seat of power is Samarobriva, a world almost entirely blocked from sunlight by the orbit of other planets for six months of each year. During this time Samarobriva is plunged into near 24 hour darkness and the land becomes a frozen wilderness. The great cities of Samarobriva stand out as little points of light in a cold and dark landscape. As well as the seat of government, Samarobriva is the training ground for the only Imperial Guard regiment in the sector, taking recruits from the surrounding planets in the Gloriana system and the site of an Inquisition fortress. The second major planet in the Gloriana is Gehenna, a cardinal world home to a Preceptory of Battle Sisters of the Order of the Ebon Chalice. Smaller Commanderies of the order are posted throughout the Ipsos sector and the sisters are key to the defence of the sector.
HISTORY OF THE IPSOS SECTOR
REDISCOVERY
Located in the galactic north west of the Segmentum Pacificus, bordering the cold unknown of the Halo Stars, the Ipsos sector was isolated from the Imperium for many years. Memory of the Emperor and Imperium survived as myth and legend. It was not until the incursion of the vile forces of the Chaos Lord Raimis in 836.M38 that the hand of the Imperium was felt by the sector again. A force of Space Marines of the Black Consuls chapter had been despatched as part of the forces sent to crush the Chaos Lord's armies. Following a pitched naval battle where heavy losses were incurred on both sides a contingent of the Chaos fleet broke off from the main fleet and headed for the then unknown Ipsos sector. Thinking them to be in retreat and keen to capture and kill Lord Raimis himself, the contingent was ignored for the time until the battle proper was won.
But the small fleet had not been in retreat. Lord Raimis had become aware of the Ipsos sector and the human presence there by the whisperings of daemons in his dreams. His plan was to conquer the sector and use it as a power base for a renewed attack on Imperial space. However, Raimis was killed and his forces routed back to the Eye of Terror. The war won, the Black Consuls set about searching for the remnants of the fleet, including those that had broken from combat in the great naval battle. Their search took them into the Ipsos sector where they received a distress signal from a nearby planet. The signal mentioned warriors in crimson and black armour laying waste to all around them.
The Black Consuls were quick to react and sent the fleet towards the signal. It was a trap, however, and on arriving at the source of the distress signal the Astartes' ships were shot from the sky by powerful planetary lasers. In the ensuing evacuations many Space Marines died but the Black Consuls were able to launch drop pods and Thunderhawk drop ships in time to save a small force of Marines. The leader of this force was Marius Constantine, then Captain of the 5th Company. Constantine and his forces found themselves on a planet at war.
RECONQUEST
The commander of the Chaos sub-fleet, Rakaus Tarrn, had landed on the planet and declared himself dictator. Though many of weak mind fell in line with Tarrn's regime, likewise many of the planet's natives fought back, levying armies against the Chaos threat. It was five miles from one of these armies that the Black Consuls made their landing and the commander of the army led his men to investigate these further falling stars that may yet bring more enemies to their land. The Black Consuls were surprised by these fierce men dressed in a dark regal blue and plate metal armour. They fought with solid slug weapons vaguely recognisable as Imperial patterns autoguns. The commander of this force, though, was a pious man and he quickly realised that the warriors standing before him were the legendary Star Giants that fought in the service of the Golden Emperor. He pledged his forces to Marius Constantine and begged him help them in their fight against the dark armies of Rakaus Tarrn.
And so it was that the Black Consuls led the assault on the false dictator's palace. After a long and bloody battle the allied forces gained the upper hand and Constantine found himself face to face with Tarrn in the throne room of Tarrn's palace. Tarrn and Constantine fought in a battle that was likened unto the Emperor's battle with Horus himself, and that lasted several hours. In the end, Constantine slew Tarrn and cast his body down but not without cost. Constantine was mortally wounded and his body was reverentially interred in one of the Chapter's mighty dreadnoughts. But the planet was saved, and in honour of Marius Constantine's noble sacrifice, it was renamed Marconis.
RESTORATION
Following the deposition of Tarrn, the Black Consuls found themselves stranded on Marconis. With their ships destroyed, they had no means of returning to Macragge. Consequently, they lent themselves to the restoration and re-establishment of Marconis into an Imperial world. Short range space-worthy ships were built and planets in the regions surrounding Marconis were discovered and reconquered. The space protected by the Marines based in Marconis began to be known as Marconia. In time, the technology of Marconis improved sufficiently that the Black Consuls were able to construct long-range psychic beacons that allowed them contact with neighbouring Imperial sectors. When word of the stranded Consuls - long considered dead - reached the Chapter, their homeworld was overjoyed. However, the Marines had been assumed lost to the Chapter and had been replaced. Ever watchful of the teachings of Roboute Gulliman, the Black Consuls could not have their Chapter number over one thousand. The problem was brought before Holy Terra and a solution was reached. The Marines stranded on Marconis would become the first company of a new successor Chapter of the Black Consuls. In honour of their great deeds and service to the Imperium in the space surrounding Marconis they were named the Knights of Marconia.
EXPANSION AND INQUISITION
With more planets being discovered with every passing decade, the Inquisition decided that their presence needed to be felt in the sector. With the utmost diplomacy, a conclave of Inquisitor Lords approached the Chapter Master Maximus Septimus of the Knights of Marconia and informed them of their will to monitor the progress of the sector to safeguard against any threat of taint. The Chapter Master agreed to allow them full Inquisitorial access to the planets outside of Marconis' direct system and freedom of passage within. With this accord reached, the conclave set up an Inquisition fortress on the recently discovered world of Samarobriva. The Inquisition's access to all Imperial archives proved beneficial, as the name of the sector was discovered, along with all of its subsidiary solar systems' in an ancient datafile, the origins of which were lost in time. The Inquisition also helped set up governing bodies and ordered the creation of the Samarobrivan Imperial Guard regiments, the founding of several Schola Progenia, and the foundation of the cardinal world of Gehenna.
THE IPSOS SECTOR UP TO THE PRESENT
In time the Ipsos sector began to flourish. The Knights of Marconia began to win recognition as worthy successors to the Black Consuls, the Samarobrivan regiments swelled into a formidable fighting force, and the Dantus system became a mighty factory of the Imperium, providing tools and weapons that were sent throughout the Imperium. However, peace was short lived. Being close to the Eye of Terror, several Chaos incursions have ravaged the sector, one of which led to the death of Chapter Master Maximus Septimus. Ork waaghs have come down on the sector several times, threatening especially the industrial worlds of the Dantus system. But despite all this the sector has survived time and again. However, a new dark cloud threatens. Eldar activity in the area has increased and has shown itself to be hostile. Rival Inquisitorial factions have been creating tension that has, on several occasions, led to all out violence. Skirmishes with Ork raiders have increased of late, and small incidents of Tyranid activity have been speculated to be merely the forward reaches of a new Hive Fleet. At the close of the 41st millennium the Ipsos sector is facing more and more threats from within and without and the Imperium's grip on this far flung part of the galaxy may be threatened once more.
-- from the Administratum Archive of Records, Marconis Prime --
-- FILE 938.A RESTRICTED: ACCESS ONLY LEVEL 3 INDIVIDUALS --
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