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IL XVI - The Drowned


Hesh Kadesh

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The DG thread got me thinking about how awesome a huge battle scene focusing on them would be, and that gave me an idea for an exemplary battle:

 

The Cleansing of Phemus IV

 

In most other theatres, Phemus IV would have been an insignificant rock, to be catalogued, assessed for its potential to be cultivated and inhabited, and rejected on every count save for its mineral deposits. It was a world wracked by tectonic violence, it's atmosphere sulphurous and skies as inhospitable as the surface. In the event, it lay within the Qarith Empire, and those foul xenos infested it with the same tenacity that the forces of the Imperium had learned to rue.

 

The first fleet to assault the Phemus system was a mixed force of Predators and Crimson Lions, leading two million Army soldiers and a war maniple of the Legio Fortidus. They laid waste the Qarith fleet and seized the first three worlds. On Phemus IV, however, they nearly came to disaster. This was a world tortured unceasingly by tectonic instability, so much so that the Warlord Titans of Fortidus could not be deployed, while the conditions proved savagely inimical to the mortal soldiers.

 

The Qarith’s adaptability enabled them to create vast hives underground, obscured from auspex-scans and probes and from these tunnels they struck at the Imperials when they landed. They came in the hundreds of thousands, turning what was meant to be a staking out of territory into a murderous defence. The Lions attempted to land a second wave, but Qarith Banshees and aircraft filled the skies, and it was all the gunships could do to cover their comrades on the ground. The warriors who had already made planetfall could not rely on any protection from the skies, and were forced to weather the full fury of the alien defenders. The two Legions scrambled fighters and Fire Raptors and, at a steep cost, extracted their surviving ground forces.

 

The Lions were incensed, but cool heads prevailed; the danger existed of the Qarith reinforcing the system, and it would be foolhardy to embark on a second invasion when the planet had already proven such a fearsome target. While the Army regiments attached to the fleet had served commendably across the system, Phemus IV’s climate made their deployment impossible. The fleet blockaded the planet, set guards on potential points of translation, and called for reinforcements. When these arrived, their ships were clad in the blue-green of ocean water, chased with copper. From the flagship, Sorrowsworn Morro gazed down upon the planet that defied them.

 

Morro’s strategy was devoid of sentimental bravado. He pronounced Phemus IV a Death World. As such, and with the world plainly infested with hardy and virulent xenos life, full licence was given for phosphex and all bio-weapons short of virus-bombs. With such weapons and cold ruthlessness, the Drowned laid waste four areas across the world, each covering some thousand square kilometres.

 

The flames had scarcely begun to dissipate when the first drop-pods descended into the atmosphere. Morro would not hear out any request from the Lions and Wardens for a place in the vanguard. Instead, Terminator companies and Dreadnoughts spearheaded forces of heavy assault units, digging in and bracing themselves for the inevitable counter-attack. When this came, Morro’s response was already well on its way: squadrons of interceptors, bombers and Fire Raptor gunships. Phosphex and Vasgotox were used against the densest formations, and the drop sites were rapidly secured. Armour and artillery were landed next, accompanied by veteran companies. Then the Drowned brought their own auxiliaries to the surface. Being combat servitors, Cybernetica robots and Ordo Reductor thralls, these were not impeded as mortal troops would be.

 

The fighting was incessant, and the III and V Legion detachments returned to the fray with naked zeal. Destroyers were unleashed with a freedom rarely afforded to them. Slowly, inexorably, the Astartes advanced, air strikes and bombardments driving the Qarith back underground or into the jaws of Imperial formations. Within three Terran weeks, the xenos had effectively ceded control of the surface.

 

Morro well understood the devious ways in which the Qarith would defend their hives, and matched their guile and ruthlessness. Lava flows were diverted to scour warrens. Cataphract robots were equipped with mining tools to break them open, allowing tanks to saturate them with fire. Poison gas flooded them. Vorax were often deployed first, hunting as they had been made to. With flamers, volkites and rad-cleansers, the Legionaries cleansed the veins of the world. Morro led many attacks himself, though he always deployed servitors to probe rather than lose more valuable troops to Qarith traps.

 

The campaign was laborious, and dragged on for two months until the Copper Prince deemed the world no longer worthy of his attention. The bulk of the XVI Legion moved on towards Qarith Prime, leaving an extermination task force to ensure no life remained on Phemus IV.

Edited by bluntblade
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Absorbing a lot of info right now as I prep to work on the Drowned. 

 

It occurs to me that Hennasohn rivals Irvin in being the oldest Legionnaire. Both are original Terran veterans who have managed to survive all the way into the Insurrection. More importantly, Hennasohn remains Loyalist, along with a significant Drowned force under him. I think we have another Insurgo here.

 

Reading info about the early Legion, I'm concerned that there might be some overlap between the Drowned and the Predators. The early Drowned were divided into companies and assigned to other Legions to act as pathfinders. Does this conflict with the Predators?

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Absorbing a lot of info right now as I prep to work on the Drowned. 

 

It occurs to me that Hennasohn rivals Irvin in being the oldest Legionnaire. Both are original Terran veterans who have managed to survive all the way into the Insurrection. More importantly, Hennasohn remains Loyalist, along with a significant Drowned force under him. I think we have another Insurgo here.

 

Reading info about the early Legion, I'm concerned that there might be some overlap between the Drowned and the Predators. The early Drowned were divided into companies and assigned to other Legions to act as pathfinders. Does this conflict with the Predators?

 

Nope, it doesn't.

Though the Arcane Blades (first name of the XXth) was nearly disbanded for being inefficent, bloodthirsty, without discipline and so on, they were still assigned as a whole with a certain task in order to minimize collateral damage.

Rather having them at one place than spread across the frontline and screwing up. That's why their progress was strictly observed. That all changed when Cassus rose to power.

 

You can compare the Predators stages of development like this:

 

earliest XXth Legion = a bit like the pre Russ Wolves but even closer towards extinction

Arcane Blades under Cassus = Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders under Mandalore the Ultimate

Predators = as you know them

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Does Hennasohn remain Loyal loyal or merely rebel against Chaotic corruption?

 

For the remaining exemplary battles I suggest a Lanterns action be included, along with or comprising an underwater battle.

Edited by bluntblade
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Does Hennasohn remain Loyal loyal or merely rebel against Chaotic corruption?

 

For the remaining exemplary battles I suggest a Lanterns action be included, along with or comprising an underwater battle.

 

It says early in the thread that Hennasohn is a Loyalist character. So, full on Loyalist.

 

Hesh has outlined a specific battle for a dam that would reduce the new legion down to 24 survivors. I'm not sure if that should be an Exemplary battle or if that should be part of the General History since it's a key moment in the Legion's history, leading to the creation of the Monarchs.

 

EDIT: Alright, I've completely read through the entire thread. And, I'm happy to see that Hesh has left plenty of principles, details, and thoughts that it'll be fairly easy to construct the Legion without him but following his general guidance. He even has an entire post about what Morro looks like, which I will grab for our group pic. 

 

The biggest issue I see is Morro's fall to Chaos. I'm not familiar with Bela'kor, and we switched out Nikaea for Baal. The most critical issues are the daemon larvae embedded into him well before the Emperor retires from the Great Crusade. The Molech use will also need a rewrite. 

 

Overall, everything in the late Great Crusade era will need to be tweak to fit our most recent fluff, but it should be easy to do so.

Edited by simison
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It is said, that in the earliest days of Mankind before the erasure of its waters, that Man feared not the beasts of the sky but the monsters of the depths. To this day, humanity has long understood that we are creatures of the land. Beneath the waters, we are strangers, ungainly in our efforts of motion and sense. Easy prey for the true denizens of the deep. Yet, the Great Crusade would not be denied. Not by witch, xeno, or beast. All planets were to be placed under the dominion of Man, be it prosperous agri world or aquatic death world. 

 

It was into these pitiless environments the Emperor sent the Drowned as they would come to be known. Although the XVIth specialized in fighting in a variety of battlefields, as their name implies, it would be the wars beneath the waves that would come to define them. Against enemies that cared little for honour or glory, the Drowned became ruthless and practical as they scoured foes from entire worlds to open them to colonists, miners, and the rest of humanity. 

 

Although they met triumph after triumph, it was not without sacrifice. The harsh conditions of their warzone would force a price upon the Drowned and their infamous master, Sorrowsworn Morro. While the exact time can't be established, at some point in the Great Crusade, a corruption took root within the Legion. While readers may be familiar with their horrid results, this earlier form was subtle as it quietly spread through would-be defenders of humanity. For as one ancient philosopher warned, "He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

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Origins: The Pathfinders

 

Long before their dark destiny among alien waters, the XVIth Legion would be born from the sands of the Eastern Mediterranean. The once fertile sea was but a shadow of its former glory, reduced to a handful of lakes. It was from these arid lands, Rabia, Gyptos, Levant, and Galatia, that the Emperor would form the core of the XVIth. These lands in particular had suffered greatly during Old Night as the wars in these regions occurred more often and were fought with greater intensity. These conflicts forged the people into a hardy race that lived and breathed war as they navigated through the hostile environment. Given the dangers of the environment, each of these tribes had developed a tradition of highly skilled scout forces to guide their armies through harm.

 

That wealth of experience and tactical knowledge was harnessed by the Emperor. The Legion's first field test would involve the three dams of the ancient Jialter. Although a tyrant known as Klawford ruled these lands and cruelly kept his own people on the edge of dehydration, the region was deemed a low priority throughout the Unification Wars. It was during the last days of Terra's reunification that the Emperor would send envoys to Klawford with an emphasis that the Emperor ruled over most of the planet making resistance pointless. Klawford killed all but one of the envoys, sending the last back with a message. Within it, the tyrant called the Emperor a liar and declared that as long as he controlled the dams, Klawford's dominion was eternal. 

Edited by simison
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At this late stage of the Unification Wars, the Emperor could call upon a variety of weapons to eliminate this arrogant fool, including several experienced Space Marine Legions. However, the Emperor didn't simply want Klawford dead but to break his spirit. The key to do so lay in destroying the dams. A frontal assault would have been too costly, while simply reducing it to rubble through long-range bombardment risked Klawford's escape. Yet, a weakness did exist. At both ends of the dams was treacherous mountainous terrain. No paths and sheer cliffs provided a natural barrier that protected the dams from flanking assaults. The tyrant Klawford, so confident in their ability to prevent enemy movement that only a single watch post was situated to be alert for the enemy.

 

The Emperor charged the newly-formed XVIth to find a route through nightmare of landscape and enemy sentinels to set explosives deep within the dams. The XVIth Legion accepted this duty and boasted that the dams would not survive the week. After that declaration, the Legion divided into two forces to approach the strait from both flanks. Requiring radio silence, the XVIth marched into the night at the foot of the 'Pillars of Herakles'. Five days passed without contact and no change was observed within Klawford's forces. On the beginning of the sixth day, long-range observers reported frantic troop movements that nonetheless seemed confused as troop formations alternated between reinforcing one dam before redeploying to another. At the sixth hour, a simultaneous string of explosions detonated within each dam. Six minutes after the detonations were observed, the dams collapsed as structural integrity collapsed. 

 

With the dams destroyed, water flooded through as it brought new life to the suffering people on the other side. Despite urgings from his advisors. the Emperor remained at the site where the XVIth deployed from, silently waiting for their return. Twenty-four legionnaires did so, dragging the weeping Klawford with them. Instead of execution, the Emperor had the tyrant imprison, forced to endure his ongoing shame and destitution. Meanwhile, the Legion survivors received honour and reward for their faithful and excellent service. 

 

Advent of the Monarchs

 

Although the Legion's prestige gained greatly from this operation, it was necessary for the Legion to take substantial time to boost their numbers back to operational capacity. As such, the XVIth would not see deployment until the Sol System was nearly conquered. While the Ist Legion destroyed the false world of Sedna, the XVIth were to cleanse Neptune of its final rebels hiding within the gas giant. Several other Legions had made previous assaults and taken heavy casualties as they had struggled with the extremely hazardous environment. After reviewing the prior attacks, the XVIth requisitioned advanced sensory equipment for their upcoming operation from Mars, specifying that the equipment had to be able to withstand the unique atmospheric and liquid pressures of Neptune. Once prepared, the XVIth invaded the blue planet. 

 

The campaign was brief yet furious. With better detection wargear, the XVIth Legion were able to quickly locate and destroy the last holdouts. Unfortunately, casualties were high as the Legion struggled with 3-dimensional warfare. There is an apocryphal story of Malcador, upon reviewing the losses suffered by the XVIth, declared how Neptune had claimed its share of 'Drowned Men', much alike how the ancient, vengeful false god had done so. Regardless of the source, it is generally recognized that it was during this time that the XVIth Legion earned the cognomen 'the Drowned Men'.  

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Updating the exemplary gradually. How does it currently look, Sim?

 

It looks good, but I'm not sure what you added. 

 

I also have a late concern. The canon legions alternate between the three mini campaigns and one large campaign set up for exemplary battles. I don't know if we have anyone in Book 1 that features the one massive campaign set up.

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I can see if I can get something done for the Drowned. What needs doing?

 

Since Blunt is taking care of the exemplary battles, could you knock out the Organization chapter?

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I can see if I can get something done for the Drowned. What needs doing?

Since Blunt is taking care of the exemplary battles, could you knock out the Organization chapter?

Sure, can the outline be found further back in this thread?

 

 

Yeah, Hesh left plenty of notes on how the Drowned Organization works, and we have an old legion size number to work with on the front page of Secundus. Where there are gaps, try to fill them in or ask for help.

Edited by simison
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The bare bones idea I had for how the Drowned are organized. It's inspired by the Red Army's reforms following Op.Barbarossa once they figured out that in close range environements(e.g cities) where the front was more fluid by far than in, say, the grand scale trench warfare of the first world war, smaller units were better and eliminated whole swathes of unnecessary command such as corps.

 

By the late Great Crusade, the XVIth legion numbered some 140,000 legionaries across all the expeditionary fleets to which they are known to have been attached. Many legions organizations stemmed from changes wrought by their primarch to bring his legion more in line with the armies of his homeworld or, in some cases, closer to the tenets of the Principia Bellicosa. The Drowned's stemmed from neither. Instead, the Drowned's organization, as with so much else about the legion, was a product of utilitarianism, having evolved over the years to form a sleek, hard-muscled fighting force with little ornamentation or ceremony to get in the way of the actual fighting which it was designed for.

 

As with every legion, the smallest unit within this organization was the squad, or Shoal as the Drowned called it, twenty strong. However, unlike in other legions the squad sergeant, known as a  shoalmaster, did not have one single subordinate: he instead had three sub-shoal. This was a result of the Drowned discovering that in void and underwater environements, units of twenty were clumsy and cumbersome, easily fragmented. Therefore, it was standard procedure for the Drowned to break apart into "combat squads" of five, with the shoalmaster co-ordinating the different sub-units actions while the sub-shoal oversaw the execution of his orders on a local level, leading to a wider degree of tactical and strategic flexibility than seen in the larger squads of other legions.

 

The next level of command was the (?), a forty strong unit, like the Drowned's squads a smaller and less cumbersome units than the full companies of other legions. Within these (?), one of the two shoal was the superior and therefore in command while the other was his second command. Four of these (?) were organized together into a (?), the equivilent of a company, if slightly larger than ordinary.

 

These were then organized into the largest unit of the Drowned legion, the Psalida, a mere 1,200 strong. While small, the Drowned had discovered that in normal operations, 10,000 strong chapters were too large to be commanded effectively and so they cut down the size of their chapters to a mere 1,200, the largest unit capabale of being commanded effectively by one legionary. There were 116 Psalida in the legion as a whole.

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I really like that thought, Sig. This might also work to the Scions' advantage on the Day of Revelation. The Drowned may struggle to operate as a legion and that inexperience slows their command and control to enough a degree that it helps the Scions make their escape.

 

Also, I found a paragraph that may be of use:

 

If you're going to name squads, it's usually done in the manner of a name of the squads typical Sergeant (called a Sardar, in Styxian; followed by two single digit numbers of the Hebrew language, to represent a greater level of definition.

 

if you were in another legion, you may say you're in the 10th Squad, of the 3rd Company, 5th Chapter, of the 12th Legion, 372nd Expeditionary Fleet, in the Drowned, they'd call it Psalida-[Hebrew Number], Shoal [sardar-name, Single Digit Hebrew Number, Single Digit Hebrew Number], under Shoalmaster [shoalmaster name]. So, Psalida-Aleph, Shoal Skerro-Bet-Zayin, under Shoalmaster Renno. So, 1st Tendril/Chapter, 27th Squad (Sergeant Skerro), Commanded by Captain Renno. Any names like Sorrowsworn, Redtyde, or Tidemaker are merely appropriations under Styxian nomenclature, and is as much as title as it is a first name. Surnames, or last names aren't really much of a thing among Styxians, instead they are given numbers and a first name when they are raised in the orphanages from which much of the legion drew its initial number of recruits from. Think of basically an Labour-concentration camp, but for children, where names were removed, and they were given a tattoo with which to identify themselves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_numerals For help with numbers. 

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While the newly named Legion enjoyed renown for their successes on Neptune, the fact of the matter was that the XVIth were below operational strength once again. Were it not for The First Tempest, a warp storm of considerable size, temporarily containing the Sol System, the Drowned Men may not have joined their brothers at the dawn of the Great Crusade. While others considered The First Tempest an ill omen, Lord Commander Hennasohn took the opportunity as the XVI Legion engaged in a furious recruitment and training program to bolster their numbers. 

 

Despite his efforts, The First Tempest cleared away before the Legion could reach a size optimal for independent campaigns. Days before the Great Crusade was to officially launch, Hennasohn summoned his officer corps to determine the path forward for the XVIth. The Astartes leadership reached a consensus that the Legion was to divide into nineteen separate fleets and attach themselves to their brother Legions, serving as pathfinders and elite scout forces. It was hoped that the Drowned Men would be able to continue their service in the Great Crusade while also giving the Legion additional time to build their numbers. With Hennasohn overseeing this unusual democratic decision, eighteen field commanders were chosen among the Legion's best and brightest to head these sub-fleets. Thus, the Pelagic Monarchs were formed. As to which fleets the Monarchs served with, lots were cast to determine assignment with Hennasohn beginning his service with the [REDACTED] Legion at the start of the Great Crusade.

 

While Lord Commander Hennasohn remained nominal head of the Legion, the XVIth Legion essentially transformed into nineteen separate demi-Legions for the next century of war. Throughout this early portion of the Great Crusade, the Drowned Men continued to perform with distinction as they forged ahead at the tip of the expeditionary fleets. 

 

[The Drowned Men warn 44th Expeditionary Fleet about an incoming Ork WAAAGH!]

Edited by simison
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I have internet for a few weeks as of about 3 minutes ago, and am making plans to return to the UK in June, so will be able to get back on top of things (whether I was ever on top of things in the first place is something different entirely).

 

Excited to try and catch up with everything that's gone on! Thanks for all of your patience with this extended sojourn, cheers!

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First idea - owing to the frequency with which they deploy to the most hazardous of warzones, the Drowned employ unusually large numbers of servitors both on and off the battlefield. These are frequently harvested from prisoners-of-war and, it is whispered, civilian populations of conquered planets in the rumoured "flesh harvests".

This isn't a problem at all. They're Astartes,and while they're not especially prideful, they do understand Logistics. Simply having meatshields and objective holders to assist them was going to be a big thing. I've got some written up about the Drowned's early days, essentially, the Legion being split into 20 different fleets to assist the others with their roles. This is when the Legion enables the Monarch Initative, replacing its typical Legion Command structure with that of the Monarchs, leaving only Hennasohn's command as the largest force of the Drowned - that fleet itself was considered well supported among the legions by auxilia troops; Solar Auxilia, Imperial Army, Knight Detachments and the like to rival a full sized Expedition Fleet. 

 

The Monarchs were the commanding Legion Council, and would only go ahead with certain actions based on essentially a vote, making it difficult for the host legion to simply use the Drowned as fodder/shields. Some legions may not have done that, but Hennasohn certainly would have done in their position, hence why he attempted to stop it. It also was to stop the idea that there was one legion commander, in a manner similar to big "ball" shoal of mackerel, and that they'd be able to quickly adapt around that. That the XVIth Legion was only a small force, and only used to support others, however, it soon got on their nerve that they weren't recognised. Although they wouldn't be happy getting recognised for it, that they knew that they wouldn't be recognised for it affected them a bit more, so were already pretty sullen about things even before Morro comes along, and is a genocidal planet enslaver who trades his people to Xenos, while all other Primarchs have pretty much acted as saviours.

 

Morro uses gene enhancement and the help of rakarth to improve himself. At first he is physically underwhelming compared to other primarchs. This fact drives him If I remember correctly and relying on Rakarth is one major point to his downfall.

This is correct. He uses Rakarth to enhance his abilities with the Daemonweb Lattice, a collection of subdermal implants infested with daemon maggots draining off his repressed emotions, and when he loses control (as a result of the feeding), and attacks Russ, the humiliation in front of his brothers leads him to attack once more; hence the loss of the arm scenario - it's Rakarth who then replaces the Arm during the time the Drowned are missing.

 

The DG thread got me thinking about how awesome a huge battle scene focusing on them would be, and that gave me an idea for an exemplary battle:

 

The Cleansing of Phemus IV

Drowned. They made use of

I shall have to read through all of this later, but this sounds late perfect use of the late-crusade Drowned.

 

Absorbing a lot of info right now as I prep to work on the Drowned. 

 

It occurs to me that Hennasohn rivals Irvin in being the oldest Legionnaire. Both are original Terran veterans who have managed to survive all the way into the Insurrection. More importantly, Hennasohn remains Loyalist, along with a significant Drowned force under him. I think we have another Insurgo here.

 

Reading info about the early Legion, I'm concerned that there might be some overlap between the Drowned and the Predators. The early Drowned were divided into companies and assigned to other Legions to act as pathfinders. Does this conflict with the Predators?

Hmm, I know I've not updated this in a while, but Hennasohn is one of the traitors still. He throws in his hand with Morro. I couldn't really make it work as a plot device in the original concept of Old Man Henderson, and otherwise found very little reason for him to actually throw in his lot. Hennasohn was one of the original recruits for the first batch of Drowned recruits. It would certainly put him up there, but as one of the later born legions, before the Drowned became operational, Mars and Luna may have already been conquered using the canon-verse timeline for the Unification of the Solar System.

 

In regards to what the Predators do, that's up to them, but considering that that has been the entire thing of the Drowned since, well, their inception as an Alpha Legion company and has been a part of their entire identity with the tendril fleets, and part of why they secede.

 

How much of this "conflicts" with the Predators is up to the hands of you and Kelborn, and how you wish to adapt around it. I don't have much of a problem with it, but you can see how it might be upsetting for someone to go to another writer and say "I'm just going to write all of this and now it's canon" regardless of the toes it stepped on - especially given that I've been one person who consistently made efforts to encourage people not to step on each toes as we wrote up our own Mary-Sues.

 

I do concede that I've been absent for the most part for a while, that said, and I'm not a complete bell end when it comes to acknowledging that, but I'm not about to go changing my entire story just to suit someone elses who came in ~12 months or more after the initial project started.

 

I've not been able to make my way through the Predators information, but if I had been present during that time, then if there are as many similarities as you say, then I'd have definitely have raised that point, in the same way that any other writer may have done had there been another legion which copied them to that extent, had the Eagle Warriors suddenly been told that they now weren't the aerial assault legion, or the Iron Bears were no longer... well, Mary Sues.

 

Edit - that's as far as I've got tonight, currently got a few drinks but will be back to read the rest later this evening!

Edited by Hesh Kadesh
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