Karstian Stormbulls Regiments

A Brief History of the Karstian “Stormbulls” Regiments

746.M41

At the conclusion of the Damocles Gulf Crusade in 745.M41, Imperial strategists looked to strengthen the Imperial presence to the galactic west of Damocles Gulf to counter the Tau influence in a previously tranquil, sparsely-populated, and neglected region. As the military operation ended in a stalemate, the Imperium and its Inquisition purged many traitorous Imperial worlds in this area of the xenos heresy and resolved to prevent the insidious aliens from having such influence in the area in the future, particularly as new threats emerged on multiple fronts in the greater galactic east.

A small uninhabited star system, one previously passed-over in colonial evaluations, was selected for colonization due to its now eminently strategic position in the corridor approximately midway between the Realm of Ultramar to the south and the Knight-world of Voltoris to the north. The system is located closest the hive world of Ichar IV, to which the fate of this small system would be inexorably tied several centuries later.

Custodianship of the system’s only habitable planet was awarded to the Tallarn 154th Armored Regiment, which had fought with distinction for over thirty years in the eastern reaches of galaxy. The 154th Armored was commanded by Colonel Sasan Karst, Hero of the Imperium, and thus the planet was named Karst in his honor. His Tallarn name was rendered in High Gothic as Carsus, which became the name of the system. Karst was promoted to the rank of General in order to be the supreme commander of the Carsus System Colonial Task Force while his former executive officer, Major Armin Arya, was promoted to Colonel to lead the 154th.

The Tallarn 154th Armored was selected for this honor not just for its distinction in battle, but for its intrinsic compatibility with the planet and colonial mission as well. Karst is a planet characterized by a surface of dramatic, high-drainage badlands regions covering the entirety of the planet as well as a particularly active and perhaps even violent hydrology. While any particular one of the planet’s many arid basin regions may go without rainfall for weeks, months, or even years, an incredible storm may arrive to flood the lowlands of the basin in days and then disappear as quickly as it had arrived. The aftermath would create temporary rivers, lakes, and swamps that could remain for several months or more before subsuming into the planet and leaving the surface dry once again. Beneath the surface lies the spectacular subterranean cavern geology that would remind the Tallarn of their native planet and also reveal to be the source of the planet’s great contribution to the Imperial war effort.

The rainwater empties into a vast subterranean network of aquifers, rivers, and even seas that extend far below the depths capable of human exploration. Surveyors of the Adeptus Mechanicus first reported the discovery of large deposits of promethium in the depths of several cavern systems within a few weeks after first arriving on Karst. It was determined by the representatives of the Adeptus Administratum in the colonial task force that the primary direction of the development of Karst should be to harvest, refine, and export promethium. Future surveying expeditions would reveal that most of the promethium was concentrated in only a few of the basins of the planet, and to this day, most of the planet remains unindustrialized outside of these mining regions. Other notable export industries include a variety of metals, minerals, and foodstuffs made from subterranean mycoproteins in large cavern farms for consumption in military rations.

As the older ranks of the Tallarn 154th retired to colonial civilian life and PDF reservist billets in the newly-founded Karstian Planetary Defense Force (PDF), the duties of the remaining companies would be to escort civilian settlers (mostly from the near-worlds of Ultramar as well as some adventurous hivers from Ichar IV) and Mechanicus surveyors across the planet. After approximately two years had passed since the colonists first arrived, the Tallarn 154th was formally decommissioned in its entirety and the now Lord Sasan Karst was appointed the planetary governor of the planet that bore his name. Twenty years later, as the first generation of humans born to settlers and soldiers reached adulthood, the first regiments to bear the name of Karst were raised for the Astra Militarum.

Echoing the environmental curse of Tallarn itself, it would turn out for the settlers that life on the surface of Karst would have to be a very limited endeavor in its early years. While the Tallarn soldiers were overjoyed at sight of rolling badlands and warm temperatures, the gentle desert breezes would give way to rare storms so ferocious that they could carry a human off their feet if they didn’t drown in the lowlands in a flash flood. There were significant casualties in one such incident only days after the first soldiers and surveyors arrived. While at the present there are several cities of a particularly rigorous, fortified construction on the surface, all permanent habitation in the first century of the planet’s colonial history was subterranean.

A clue the early settlers may have noticed, if they were more observant, was that all of the animals on the surface except for one were burrowing animals or made their homes in the caverns. Shortly before the first encounter with the storm near their temporary landing zone, the Tallarn reported the sighting of a vast herd of extremely large animals, numbering in the tens of thousands. The soldiers called them “Russbulls” at first, estimating the size of the average individual to be similar to that of one of the regiment’s Leman Russ tanks.

After more studies into the planet’s flora, fauna, weather, and geology, a pattern of behavior was noticed with the large creatures. They traveled in herds for days, weeks, and even months before stopping at a location shortly before the arrival of a storm. It seemed they had a special sense for where and when the storms would form, and the presence of a stationary herd in a dry region would become a warning of a storm within a matter of days. Thus the animals became known as “Stormbulls”. Their large size, weight, and thick fur made them immune to the chaos of nature, and in the aftermath of the storm they would feed on the bloom of life the waters would bring. Closer encounters with the Stormbulls revealed them to be entirely peaceful creatures, having no predators of any kind on the planet, and the early settlers revered them for their role as an early-warning system for weather as well as the primary aerators and fertilizers of the limited agricultural areas on the planet’s surface. Attempts to tame or domesticate them have yielded mixed results, the most challenging aspect being the creatures’ instinct to follow the rain and difficulty in preventing them from doing so. Even so, the hunting of wild Stormbulls forms the majority of the nutrition of the average Karstian and the hunting ritual is a central part of the developed Karstian culture and right of passage for men and women alike, developing a deep sense of stewardship among the population. In a short time, the Stormbull became the main symbol of the planet and its cycle of life as well as the nickname of the future Astra Militarum regiments raised on Karst.

768.M41

The new year of 768.M41 was a joyous and proud day for the citizens of Karst as it was the first year of the planet’s obligation to the Imperial Tithe for Astra Militarum regiments. In the previous decade, promising young children and teenagers were instructed at military preparatory schools and academies setup by Tallarn veterans, who also advised or held positions in the planet’s PDF. While the PDF was made up of new settlers, mostly from worlds in Ultramar, and its officer staff largely old Tallarn reservists, the new regiments of Karst would be the first made up entirely of their children born on the planet. This new generation was instructed largely in the same school of warfare as their Tallarn predecessors were famous for, and thus the founding in 768.M41 of the Karstian 1st Armored Regiment, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Infantry Regiments, and 5th Artillery Regiment resembled the Tallarn Desert Raiders in dress, spirit, and doctrine.

More than twenty years after the end of the Damocles Gulf Crusade and the destruction of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth, there is no immediate threat to the Imperium in the vicinity of the Carsus System. The Karst regiments are all dispatched together to accompany Tallarn regiments operating in the Eastern Fringe. They operate together as a rapid-response force to destroy stubborn, isolated remnants of Hive Fleet Behemoth, purge related Genestealer Cults, and occasionally deal with minor Ork incursions in Imperial systems and subduing rebellious Imperial forces, particularly those on worlds which choose to make overtures of allegiance towards the Tau. Lacking any major, prolonged conflicts and coordinated enemies, this relatively calm period between the first Tyrannic War and Damocles Gulf Crusade and their respective successor conflicts turns out to be an ideal time for the growth and development of Karstian military culture and forging their reputation for fast, maneuver warfare in the Eastern Fringe.

901.M41

The Karstian “Stormbulls” participate in their first major conflict, arriving to support Imperial forces at the beginning of the Badab War. Alongside a multitude of Astra Militarum regiments from around the galaxy and long since the days walking in the footsteps of Tallarns, this would be the defining campaign to bring fame and honor to their young home-world. Prior to their participation in the Badab War, the Karstian regiments had developed a reliable reputation and claimed several notable battle honors in the Eastern Fringe region, but they were largely unknown outside of it. While the “Stormbulls” would suffer the highest casualty rate in their history during the war that would not end for another decade, the “Emperor’s generation” as they were known on Karst would bring immense glory to the planet as the regiments received many heroic commendations for their characteristically decisive and swift attacks in battles that would generate momentum for victory. In 909.M41, Lord Sasan Karst, nearly to his third century of life in service of the Emperor, passes away. His eldest son, Karol Karst, a retired Lord-Commissar, inherits the planetary governorship. Under his leadership, Karst would enter its most rapid phase of development and prosperity ahead of the coming carnage to the Eastern Fringe.

993-999.M41

In the last decade of M41, the Karstian “Stormbulls” would fight much closer to home as multiple new enemy incursions threatened the existence of their home planet. In 993.M41, The Carsus System was a target of Hive Fleet Kraken and the first enemies of the Imperium landed on Karstian soil since its founding. The Tyranid splinter force was defeated by the PDF and reinforcing Karstian Astra Militarum regiments after a bloody five months of fighting – the coordination of the humans with the Stormbull herds to lure the Tyranids into decimating storms on several occasions proved to be decisive. Fortunately, the caverns were well-defended and only a few groups of Tyranids were known to find refuge in them towards the end of the conflict. The PDF would have their hands full exterminating the last remnants of the aliens in the more remote basins of the planet for several months after until no further alien lifeforms could be detected. After defeating the Tyranids on Karst, the “Stormbulls” were rapidly deployed to several other fronts in the Eastern Fringe to fight the new menace.

In 997.M41, while most Karstian regiments are away fighting the last splinters of Hive Fleet Kraken in the East and the tendrils of Hive Fleet Leviathan in Ultima Segmentum, the Tau launch their Third Sphere of Expansion which targets the Carsus System among the first strategic footholds to be taken once across the Damocles Gulf. Karst is caught off-guard, with only its PDF and a single Karstian Astra Militarum regiment able to respond in time to meet the Tau invaders. The much larger Tau force overwhelms the defenders in spite of their home field advantage and they quickly come to occupy the planetary capital and major promethium refineries. Fortunately, Adeptus Astartes of the Ultramarines arrive in the second week of fighting and turn the tide against the Tau and eventually purge the aliens from the planet. The citizens rejoice at the presence of the super-human warriors on their planet, honored that a distant and mighty friend of the Karstian regiments from the wars against the Tyranids would come to their aid. Karst has now been invaded twice in the same decade after more than two centuries of relative tranquility. The Imperial Navy begins construction of a massive spaceport and logistics hub on Karst to safeguard its promethium assets and fortify it against future attempts at invasion. Meanwhile, many Karstian “Stormbulls” regiments are redirected to assist the Ultramarines and other Imperial forces in the various campaigns to combat the Tau Third Sphere Expansion.

M42 And Beyond

As a part of a relatively organized area of the Imperium, on the “right” side of the Great Rift and close to Ultramar, Karst commits its most decorated regiments to the new hope of Roboute Guilliman’s Indomitus Crusade after news of the victory at Terra and the great campaigns first movements away in earnest. They are reunited with Tallarn regiments participating in the Crusade as well and utilized in a similar hit-and-run role by Guilliman. The majority of Karstian regiments remained in the Eastern Fringe, battling Tyranids, Orks, and rapidly growing Necron raiding parties. In the second century, most of these regiments would be redeployed to defend Ultramar in the Plague Wars, along with their brothers returning from the Indomitus Crusade.