Aeris

"Fascinating, isn't it ? Who would have suspected that the Orkoïd and T'au DNA could deteriorate so quickly with such a minuscule variable in the virus genome. Truly, it is a blessing from the Omnissiah!"

- Fabricatrix General Aelia Ferro Frigus overseeing one of the many experiments in Forge Zero

Colonized during the waning days of the Great Crusade to insure that the forces of the Imperium would never lack resources, the Forge World of Aeris has been one of the main power in the Ougrean Rift, specializing in the study of the many natives primitive xenos forms and bacteria of its system and the others in this dangerous region of space. The ability of its techno-priests to turn even the most minute of their discovery into a formidable weapon has made them famous in the whole Ultima Segmentum and beyond.

History
The world now named Aeris was for the longest period of its life a savage planet, left alone to its own devices. The colonists who would settle the worlds of Suami and Torndheim refused to risk their life on a world so torrid and covered at 80% with tumultuous oceans while vast jungles sprawled over the three small continents which dotted its surface. It was not before a vast Explorator fleet came from Mars as a prelude to a proper exploration of the Rift that the world became populated by humans. At the time, this fleet was seeking to avoid the consequences of a failed bid to reinforce the biologist factions of the Red Planet over the supporters of macanichal augmentation. Having failed to convince the lords of Mars, Archmagos Ignatius Mons gathered his loyal servants and departed as far and as quickly as possible, avoiding the wrath of those he had wronged but barely. Even his unilateral declaration of his colony as a full-fledged and independent Forge-World angered many in the Mechanicum. The onset of the Horus Heresy and the Martian Civil War allowed him a reprieve however, and when the madness which had engulfed the galaxy finally was contained, none came to dispute his claims, as tenuous as they were.

As the easiets system of the Ougrean Rift to access at the time, and with abundant ore deposits detected deep in the crust and mantle of the planet, the Ocean World was deemed a perfect location by the Mechanicum. In mere months, the first complexes of Forge Prima were erected, and the newly dubbed Fabricator General Mons issued a series of decree, named the Bio-xenological Imperative, which pushed the research in the vast domains of xenobiology, bio-engeneering and viral researches as the most important axis of development for the budding Forge-World, a decree which is still active to this day and explains both why the pure manufacturing capabilities of Aeris are far less developed than most other Forge Worlds of his age, but the abilities of its denizens when it comes to the creation of viral weapons, genetic aberrations to unleash on the enemies of Mankind or even deep knowledge of most of the Xeno races discovered in the galaxy, are unmatched.

Over the ten thousands years of its existence, Aeris saw its industry grow ever more massive, with no less than a dozen complexes carved into the bedrock of the world. To an unsuspecting eye, beyond the rows after rows of shipyards and defensive platforms which extend around the entirety of the world, often just outside its atmosphere, the planet seems almost untamed, with but the spires of Forge Prima piercing the sky. However, each of the complexes which have been built over time have been linked to it, save the lone Forge Zero, a massive station, situated on the largest barren satellite of Aeris, where the deadliest and most dangerous genetic alterations are tested on viruses, xeno priosoners. Many rumors abond about the research of this Forge complexe, but none outside the leaders of the Forge World truly know what happens there.

Because of its origins, the fleet sent by Forge-World Aeris have often been met with resentment, if not outright hostility by the other forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It has never prevented the Fabricatrix General Aelia Ferro Frigus, who succeeded -some says usurped- Mons when the later misteriously succumbed to a particularly voracious flesh-eating virus in M.36- from expanding her reach to the whole galaxy, lending her techno-priests to many a Rogue Trader, in exchange of exotic remains, live xenos and other, more esoteric relics and informations to use against her rivals. As the centuries passed, many were forced to begrudgingly admit that Aeris' values was too great to be ignored, which helped bolster the influence of this Forge-World, both in the Ougrean Rift and the larger Imperium.

Geography, Habitability, & Infrastructure
Mostly comprised of water, the surface of Aeris is dotted with three small continents, all comprised between the tropics of the world, where what appears to be the main settlements are situated, due to a greater accessibility and easy expansion. Lacking great bodies of ice, save two small rings on its Western and Eastern hemispheres, while the magnetic field surrounding the planet indeed rest on its North and South poles, this world is rather hot, humid and prone to terrible storms during the rainy season, lasting roughly two third of the fifteen months Aeris takes to make a full rotation around its sun.

However, with the exception of Forge Prima, where the ruler and upper echelon of the Adeptus Mechanicum lives, the other two continents are not settlements in the usual sens, instead having been turned into Biodomes I and II, where most of the natives creatures were tinkered with by the technopriests, becoming highly unhospitable for human life, beyond the walled laboratories and structures lining the borders of the continents to prevent the twisted creatures from entering the seas and polluting the experiments underway beneath the waves. Many of those monsters are captured and turned into support for the Skitariis of Aeris.

The millions of inhabitants of Aeris toil thanklessly in subterranean cities and industry complexes, where they'll never see the light of die, suffering from lack of clean air and lack of foods and water. In most complexes, the conditions are so bad that slavery had to be put in place to try and keep the workforce in line, a practice which only works so long as no charismatic leader appear. Therefore, slave revolts are quite common on the Forge-World. However, such apparent disorder is actually encouraged by the technopriests, for those among the rabble who rise aboce their station that way makes for wonderful experiment subjects.

The rule of the Martian Priesthood has extended far deeper than the bedrock of the world, however. Gleaming cities and biodomes illuminate the depth of the oceans of Aeris, where important genetic research take place, away from the Forges and factories were more base goods, from bolts to Primaris wargears, are produced to meet the demands of the whole Ougrean Rift. Each and every biome of the world was colonized to create new controlled environment, where new creatures, viruses and technologies can be field-tested. Such drive is what allowed Aeris to rise above its original station to become a true Gorge-World and a great power in its Sector.

Politics, Culture, & Dogma
Ever since its settlement, Aeris has been more a dictatorship than any form of even the smallest oligarchy. Fabricator General Mons and his successor Fabricatrix General Frigus have held absolute dominion over not only Forge Prima and Zero, but also oversight over all the complexes and Forges of their world. Under the rule of Frigus, the power she held were even consolidated with the creation of a special rank of Priest, the Geno-Priests Primus, her envoys -some would say lackeys- who report everything they see and know to the Fabricatrix, weither they want it or not. Their constant surveillance was resented by some but all grew to accept them, for the tasks that the Priesthood of the God-Machine have to complete on this world are of utmost importance.

The core of their faith remains the Cult Mechanicus; however, special emphasis has been given to the research and productions partaining into genetic research and xenobiology, in accordance with the Bio-xenological Imperative which has given rise to a specific sect, the Transcendance of Flesh, which pervades all the echelons of the Aerian society. All, from the lowest worker to the Fabricatrix General herself, adhere to its tenets, which proclaims that the human form is the perfect template, laid out by the God-Machine, but that it has to be perfected not only through the use of crude mechanical assemblages but by discovering all the secrets of the genomes. Only when Mankind will be able to remake itself at a whim through his knowledge of genetics will it have truly achieved greatness, or so believe the Adepts of the Transcendance of Flesh.

At a Sector level, Aeris always was one of the most important planet, only eclipsed by the Hive World of Torndheim IV. It led to a bitter rivalry between the two to achieve dominance over the Ougrean Rift, with the Hive World dominant for ten thousand years. However, the last quarter of M.41 saw the rise of Suami thanks to the Founding of the Sons of Iron on this toxic Death World, almost able to compete with the more ancient sieges of powers in the Rift. After the Temporal Wars, Torndheim was left a desolate planet, unable to recoup its losses and reclaims its ancient glory, only to see the fanatics of the Ecclesiarchy from the world of Uolo, also affected by the temporal anomalies, to rise to such prominence that only an alliance of convenience between Aeris, Suami and the Sons of Iron, insured that a trimvir would be put in place to preserve the Sector from the blind faith of the Uolons.

Having received the STC to create weapons, armors and vehicules for the newly bred Primaris from the returning Kardan Rauth, the late first Inflexible of the Sons of Iron, and other secrets from Archmagos Belisarius Cawl, whom they have supported since at least the rise of Fabricatrix General Frigus, Aeris has enjoyed a new resurgence of influence, and has cemented its relations with the Astartes from Suami, offering to train their Iron Remembrancers and even Apothecaries since the travel to Mars has became almost impossible because of the Cicatrix Maledicutum. Coupled with their output of Primaris equipment, many suspect that Aelia seeks to achieve greater influence over not only the Space Marines but also the world of Suami.

Production Output and Capabilities
With a Production grade considered a high III-Secundus, Aeris is able to support almost all the demands for weapons, infrastructure and other goods required for the Ougrean Rift to survive, mainly because of the poorly populated nature of this sector. A good half of the Forges and complexes are devoted to such mundane but fundamental tasks as the production of military weapons, ammunitions and vehicules, both for the Planetary Defense Forces and the Astartes of the Sons of Iron. However, like almost all Forge-World, it lacks the ability to grow its own food and is thus dependants on the agri-worlds of the Kaajani Nebula.

While such an ancient world of the Adeptus Mechanicus should have been able to produce far more than Aeris does, the Forge World restrained its production of normal weaponry because of its enormous production of viral and biological weaponry. Viral bombs, viruses and other deadly weapons come out of its Forges and laboratories. However, it is far from the sole use of the bacterias discovered or created on the oceanic world. One of the most renown in a specific variety thriving in the conditions of plasma weapons and generators, but unable to survive outside of such environments.

This bacteria decrease considerably the temperature of the plasma generators, allowing for a 17% percent increase in output, which is considered particularly useful in the case of the Titans and starships, which are thus able to produce incredible outburst, surprising their foes. It also allows for a longer period of use before overheating, usually up to 20%, which explains why the secrets surrounding this bacteria, which cannot be extracted from the generators and weapons it has been implanted into, are considered of utmost secrecy. Any leak is punishable by the Servitude Punishment, and many an over-ambitious techno-priest was turned into a mindless Servitor for a loose tongue.

Legio Skitarii
The main armed forces of Aeris is the vast Legio Clipeum, a 20 millions strong army whose main purpose is to protect the Forge World and any and all Exploration Fleet or diplomatic mission the Fabricatrix General and the upper echelon of the Priesthood deem fit to send beyond the confine of their vast and secured sector. The Skitarii forces have been divived in four distinct macroclades with distinct roles and duties. One never move between the macroclades, to cement powerful esprit de corps and allow the Adeptus Mechanicus to study the lineage of each Skitarii, to ensure that each new generation will be ever more suited to its task.

In spite of this, each and every member of the Legio Clipeum wear the same indigo robes covering the black armor and garments underneath, and display the symbol of Aeris, most often in embroilled with golden threads on the back, shoulders or torso. Armed with the deadliest and most potent weapons born in the forges of Aeris, those men and women have all undergone drastic churgical procedures and selective breeding to be stronger than all but the Astartes of the Emperor, all in the name of the Omnissiah.

Macroclade Progressus
The 2 millions strong Macroclade Progressus is the smallest of the four, whose sole prupose is to protect the Explorator Fleet of Aeris. Its members are easily recognized by the lightning bolt added underneath Aeris' iconography. Bred and trained to endure the rigor of space travel and years, if not decades without setting feet on a planet, Macroclade Progressus' soldiers are considered the quickest and perhaps deadliest of the Macroclades, for while the ressources of an Arch-magos or even a simple Magos granted the honor to helm an Explorator Fleet are vast, they are but a pale reflection of a Forge World's potency, and yet those Skitarii have proven their worth time and time again, against all foes and odds.

Of all the members of the Legio Clipeum, the Progressus have been the most heavily augmented with machinery, to be able to whistand the emptiness of space, endure the greatest punishment and still be able to return fire with such an overwhelming rate that not even the toughest Ork will survive. Still, Macroclade Progressus is often stretched thin and its ability to replenish is harder than most, for the Fleets are often away for such a long time than the losses are hardly compensated by new birth or inductment into the Macroclade of valuable and compatible natives. Still, it hasn't prevented this Macroclade from being recognized as one of the deadliest fighting force of the galaxy.

Macroclade Custos
Mobilizing 9 millions Skitarii, this Macroclade is the largest of the Legio Clipeum divisions. Created to protect the Aeris system, from the Forge-World itself to its many outpost, its members have been bred over generations to be particularly stoic and determinated. Should they face an enemy able to make their moral waver, the members of Macroclade Custos are all implanted two implants in their brain. One release a chimical cocktail reducing the amount of cortico-releasing hormone (CHR) produced by the Skitarii, which makes them more resolute. The second implant, used only under the direst circumstances, allow the technopriests to override the subject and turn him into little more than a Servitor.

Such a last resort has only been used twice in Aeris history, during the calamitous WHAAAGH !!! Ironeater, in 215-235 M.34 and the Assault of the Kraken at the end of M.41. In both cases, hundred of thousands of Skitarii had their brain reduced to mush and had to be reconditioned into Servitors, once their reproducting organs had been acquired to be used in the birth of new recruits. Thanks to the size of Macroclade Custos, even such terrible losses were easily replenished, several breeding grounds having been affected to produce a constant flow of Skitarii. Specifically designed low-level Magos-Biologis are also tasked with the scouring of Aeris' population to find new potential recruits for this Macroclade.

Macroclade Ira
The 6 millions Skitarri of Macroclade Ira are the closed fist of Aeris, the unseathed blade which slays all its foes. Unlike the Progressus, who venture far and wide into the Galaxy, or the Custos, who remain in the Aeris system, the soldiers of Macroclade Ira are deployed during massive campaigns, such as Imperial Crusades, where the possibility to discover archeotech, lost STC or even new technologies which has to be studied and catalogued, so see if it is fitting in the holy work of the Machine God. This is this Macroclade which, most often than not, walk alongside the Titans of the Legio Tonitrua, and they too deploy colossal tanks and other engines of war able to annihilate all opposition. Unlike the members of Custos, they add to the Aderis iconography a knife, symbol of their fury.

The Skitarii of this Macroclade are augmented in subtle but important ways, such as additional organs, augmetic limbs, reinforced muscles and auspex-like transplants. More importantly for the Techno-Priests of Aeris, they have been selected over the millenia to be born stronger and more ferocious than any of their peers in the Legio Clipeum. As all the members of the warrior-caste on the Forge World, they have had their genome tampered with to ensure that the correct genetic traits have been passed down the generations. Because of the need to ensure great ferocity, the members of this Macroclade are often reinforced by natives from the deadliest environments of the Ougrean Rift, from the hardy survivors of Suami to ganger from the Underhives of Torndheim iV.

Macroclade Poena
The Skitarii of this Macroclade are perhaps the most frightening of the Legio Clipeum for the inhabitants of Aeris. Comprised of 3 millions soldiers, the Poena's sole task is to dish out punishment on the rebelling workers and slaves toiling endlessly in the subterranean industrial complexes of the Forge-World. Those are the shadowy figures patrolling the vastnesses of the caves and tunnels dotting the crust of Aeris, from the fringes of the outer mantle, where human life outside of the sealed installations is impossible, to the excavations where rebellious leaders try to carve out a way toward the surface. Because they have to be used against poorly equipped traitors and rioters, those Skitarii rarely use the heaviest weapons of the Forge World's arsenals.

However, they do possess a formidable equipment, for they are all recruited among the upper echelons of the common citizenry of aeris, those servants of the Technopriests who are quite happy to dish out punishments to the rabble who would bite the hand which feeds them. Because of this, the Skitarii of Macroclade Poena are particularly arrogant, cold and even cruel. Those traits are actively thought after by the Geno-adepts tasked with insuring the survival of this portion of the Legio Clipeum. Its members use the standard iconography of Aeris, albeit with the addition of a whip replacing the lower half of the sacred cog, a rendition displaying for all to see their brutal tendencies.

Legio Titanica
The Legio Tonitrua is the pride of Aeris' armed forces, its deadliest weapons and greatest champions. Those holy machines, all incarnations of the God-Machine's wrath, have been fitted with the mighiest weapons born in the forges of the Oceanic World, their circuitry patiently built by the greatests of its technopriests. Many an esoteric discovery, unique to Aeris, has been built into their chassis, from the plasma-thiving bacteria allowing those monsters of metal to fight longer and more ferociously, to the Viral Thunder megabolts, which unleash deadly viruses able to kill even the most robust of Orks in seconds, before succumbing to their own entropy.

Despite its power, the Legio Tonitrua is a relatively small cadre of Titans, for the world of Aeris is hardly suited to house a larger armada of the god-machines. Therefore, all of them have been put on its moon, protecting the incredibly important -some would say vital- Forge Zero. Comprised of 15 Titans, the Legio Tonitrua is nonetheless able to deliver enough fire-power that it was never bested when in conjuction with the forces of the Legio Clipeum. Many adepts on Aeris wish to expand the Tonitrua, but ressources are scarcely deployed to such end, due to the Bio-xenological Imperative which require focus elsewhere. Therefore, it is said that the Princepts are petitioning for the search, or even creation of a Knight World to supplement the Legio in time of need, to no avail so far.

The most sacred engines comprising the Legio Tonitrua are as follow :
 * 8 Warhounds Class Titans, Purpura Bellum, Ferrum Iram, Alba Ira, Bellum Canum, Clypeus Fortium, Ferrum Virtuti, Virtus Martis and Aeris Praeco.
 * 4 Nemesis Class Titans, Pura Mortem, Salus Remala, Redemptionis Proditores and Rubrum Custodes.
 * 2 Warlord Class Titans, Rex Bellum and Pax Perpetua.
 * 1 Emperor-Warmonger Class Titan, Imperatoris Bellum.