Daughters of Athena

"You have gained great renown noble Shaka, to be risen to the ranks of the Emperor's finest is a feat mere mortals can merely dream of... What of us? Are we to just stay behind and hear tales of glory denied us? We cannot become Lions so let us become Lionesses, let us loose to hunt the Xenos and Heretics which plague our beloved Imperium, restore the Tithe so we may forge legends anew."

- Excerpt from Queen Astraea of the Salt Grass Tribe's speech to Regulus Shaka of the Nemean Lions Chapter.

The Daughters of Athena are a collection of Astra Millitarum Regiments raised on Caelus Prime since the 38th Millenium.

Overview
Raised on the planet of Caelus Prime, home of the Nemean Lions Astartes Chapter, the Daughters of Athena are an all-female force of soldiers raised to fight for the Imperium. The Daughters have fought on countless battlefields, often alongside their augmented brothers who have come to regard the Daughters with tremendous respect. As a result they have fought in most of the major conflicts of the Imperium since the 38th Millenium, from Cadia to Armaggeddon, more recently in the Bellrath Crusade, the Gothic War, the Macharian Crusade and the Indomitus Crusade.

Origins
In the 38th Millennium Caelus Prime was chosen as the homeworld of a new Chapter. As a result the planet was no longer required to provide the Tithe of regiments it had previously faithfully raised and dispatched to fight for the Emperor. It soon became clear however that there was a strong demand from the inhabitants to reinstate the creation of regiments as a way of dealing with a large population surplus. Nemean culture revolves around hunting the dangerous prey of the planet, which leads to a large percentage of the male population being killed off in these hunts and a gender imbalance in the global population as a result. Previously the tribal leaders had corrected this imbalance by ensuring that the Tithe regiments were mostly female, which went a long way towards solving the issue. It had also built up a strong martial tradition amongst the women of a number of tribes.

Several decades after the Founding began, a young Nemean Tribal Queen called Astraea sought an audience with Regulus Shaka, Chapter Master of the Nemean Lions Chapter and the former King of the combined tribes. She laid out a plan to create a series of regiments, raised from the martial females of the various tribes, to be offered up to Imperium as a voluntary contribution to the Astra Millitarum. Shaka was impressed with these arguments and in turn spoke to the Imperial Governor to make sure that this was implemented. Astraea later became the Promachos (Colonel) of the first Kori (Regiment) raised and sent off world. Since then the Nemeans have ensured a steady output of soldiers for the Astra Militarum, raising and then supporting multiple Kori over the four millennia that have passed since.

Organisation
The various Kori that make up the Daughters of Athena are almost exclusively light infantry regiments with an emphasis on high mobility strikes using Imperial Navy craft. They specialise in air assaults and commando strikes, using their mobility to multiply their force impact in combat. Each Kori is made up of a number of Taxis (Companies) which are designed to be self contained units capable of independent action if required. This means that the Daughters can respond rapidly to changes in the combat situation and respond accordingly, catching the enemy off balance.

Equipment
The Daughters of Athena benefit greatly from their proximity to the Forgeworld of Tvastar which also supplies the Astartes of the Nemean Lions. They are well equipped with full plate Carapace armour and high quality Autoguns/Lasguns as well as a wide range of light and heavy weapons. The various Kori typically have specialised Navy aircraft assigned to them on a semi-permanent basis to ensure they can maintain their high mobility tempo of combat and counteract their relative lack of standard vehicles.

Combat Doctrine
Lacking heavy armour and artillery, the Daughters focus on rapid, surgical strikes to shatter and overwhelm the enemy before they can respond and bog down these light infantry in a war of attrition. Typically they soften the enemy with air strikes before landing support weapons to cover the deployment of the line infantry. Grenadier squads will pierce soft points in the enemy defences while the rest batter the foe with disciplined volleys of las-fire.

Homeworld
The Daughters’ homeworld is Caelus Prime, a world home to huge, sprawling savanna plains that have a wide variety of animal species which either closely resemble Terran specimens or were deliberately seeded long ago for reason unknown. The Nemeans are a nomadic people with a strong warrior culture. From a young age males participate in ritualistic hunts to gain pelts. While this is not typically a tradition embraced by the females, some also participate and adorn their armour with furs to show prowess.

Notable Animals
The Nemean Leonis, while extremely similar to its historical ancestor the Terran Lion, has some key differences, for one its far greater size. It has diamond edged claws that are known to be able to pierce adamantium armour. However particularly notable is its infamous hide. Made from a collagen material the hide is highly resistant to damage, and it only gets stronger with age. Indeed this hide is what ancient Leonis, known as Apex are famous for as it makes them nearly invulnerable. Upon reaching a certain age and size the collagen undergoes molecular conversion into a bone skin hybrid. This skin is many magnifications more resistant to damage, to extent that conventional weapons, even bolters, cannot break it. This fact, coupled with the size and prime nature required before this mutation, makes the Apex Leonis exceptionally dangerous to hunt. Something that even experienced marines will think twice on.

Notable Conflicts

 * The Cleansing of Zintanica V.


 * The Trojan War.


 * The Third war for Armageddon. Two Kori participated in the defence of Hive Hartivus against multiple Ork assaults before the beginning of the season of fire.


 * The Battle of Vorlese.
 * The War of Beasts on Vigilus.

Notable Daughters

 * Queen Astraea of the Salt Grass Tribe - The creator of the Daughters of Athena and the Promachos of the first Kori raised. Astraea would lead this unit through several decades of conflicts before her death in the last stand of Lectraeus VI, leading a small rearguard so that the bulk of her soldiers could be evacuated.

Regimental Uniform
The Daughters wear plain black combat fatigues under full body Carapace armour which has been designed to resemble the medieval plate armour of ancient Terran legend. The armour is enameled with a cobalt blue layer and gold trim. Full face helmets are common, even amongst officers. Unlike their Astartes brethren it is uncommon for the Daughters to display pelts and other symbols of prowess on their armour, Nemean females rarely participate in hunts and prefer to keep their equipment as practicable as possible. A super human Astartes can afford to hang heavy, cumbersome pelts and skulls on his power armour, a mere mortal human cannot afford to risk such things.