Conqueror

The Conqueror was a Space Marine Battle-Barge that served as the flagship of Angron, the Primarch of the World Eaters Legion during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. This flagship rode at the head of a flotilla warships which comprised the XII Legion's 203rd Expeditionary Fleet. Before the Primarch’s ascension as lord of the XII Legion, the ship had carried a different name. In those more innocent days it sailed as the Adamant Resolve, flagship of the Warhounds Legion. But time changes all things. The XII Legion eventually became known as the “Eaters of Worlds,” and their flagship bore the new name Conqueror. It barely resembled the ship it had once been – ridged by brutal armour plating, spiked by countless weapon batteries, the Conqueror had become a crude bastion, beyond any other warship in Imperial space.

The Conqueror is known to have transported the World Eaters contingent to the Triumph of Ullanor, where Horus was elevated to the esteemed rank of Warmaster by the Emperor himself, in recognition of his numerous great deeds and outstanding leadership throughout the Great Crusade. The Conqueror was also present during many of the notorious events that occurred during the Horus Heresy which included the Istvaan Campaign. The Conqueror was one of the many ships that comprised the Traitor flotilla that willfully turned upon their former brethren and virus-bombed the planet of Istvaan III on orders from the Warmaster, in order to wipe out Loyalist elements of the various Legions under Horus’s command. The Conqueror was also present during the infamous Drop Site Massacre at Istvaan V that saw the Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders Legions nearly wiped out, and rendered ineffective as fighting forces during the rest of the Horus Heresy.

When the Horus Heresy erupted, Angron’s Legion was at the very forefront of the bloodshed. It could be assumed that the Conqueror was at the vanguard of the Red Angels' warfleet. Most notably, the World Eaters led the assault upon the walls of the Emperor’s Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra, taking the breach with no regards to their own losses. By this point, the World Eaters had given full vent to their most destructive urges. While Angron had once been a great man possessed of a fearsome sense of martial pride and honour, now he was a frothing, blood-soaked berserker, as were his warriors. Any reason that had survived the implant process was driven from their minds, replaced with the will of Khorne, the Blood God. It is said that when the Emperor defeated Horus and the hordes of Chaos assaulting Terra were finally routed, the World Eaters were the last of their number to quit the field of battle. None can say how close the World Eaters came to destroying the palace, or whether they would have come face to face with the Emperor himself had not Horus lowered the shields of his battle barge, precipitating the final confrontation in orbit.

In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, the World Eaters descended to new depths of bloodlust and destruction, reaving across the already shattered Imperium before plunging into the twisted depths of the Eye of Terror. None can say exactly what happened within the Eye, but it is apparent that the Legion all but consumed itself in a bitter internecine conflict that saw it fractured into countless smaller warbands. None can say what the ultimate fate of the Conqueror is - whether it was destroyed or still endures to the present day, nearly ten millennia later.

Ursus Claws
In battle, the Conqueror often employed a crude, but unique weapon known as Ursus Claws which enabled their vessel to get within close proximity of an enemy ship in order to board it. From ridged battlements and armoured ports along the warship’s hull, a tide of what looked like spears burst out into the void. Each of these lances were the size of a smaller escort ship in its own right. Up to a dozen could be fired, either separately at multiple targets, or all at once, at much larger vessels. These massive lances would then puncture home into the hulls of enemy vessels. Once impaled, the immense spears became active, locking to their prey’s ravaged insides with magnetic fusion. But while they were effective against regular foes, alien vessels like those employed by the Eldar were forged from synthetics beyond mere metal. Sometimes these vessels would manage to slide free, dragging their impaled carcasses away from the Imperial warship, but their cores would be holed right through and opened to space. They would be the lucky ones. The other enemy vessels that were still impaled would shake, as they were dragged off course, stalling in the void. Their engines would burn in silent heat, but each of them would remain anchored in place.

The spears driven through their bodies were more than mere projectiles they were lances launched to cripple. They were harpoons fired to claim prey. With malicious slowness, the Conqueror would then recall its spears. The lances would begin to ratchet back towards the vessel that fired them, dragged home on massive chains. Only the World Eaters had the audacity to deploy something so barbarous, so primitive on such a scale. And only the World Eaters were able to make such crude weaponry into something so efficient. Link by link, the Conqueror would drag the impaled enemy vessels closer, its massive engines straining against their stagnant thrust. Other enemy ships would often break away, finding it increasingly difficult to fire upon the Imperial warship, now using their own allied ships as barriers to protect itself. Angron would then give the order to release the hounds, the elite assault companies known as the Devourers. Boarding parties would be spat from the Conqueror’s hull, crossing the short distance in a blink of an eye and disgorging World Eaters warriors into the bowels of the impaled enemy ships. The Conqueror would then fully retract the Ursus Claws that failed to strike.

Fighting Pits
Within the bowels of the Conqueror were the infamous fighting pits of the XII Legion, where both World Eaters and invited Legionnaires from the various Space Marine Legions would be invited to engage one another in vicious duels. Two combatants would enter the sand-filled fighting pit in their full battleplate, both helmetless. The World Eaters warriors would often bind their weapon (usually a Chain-Axe to their arms so that they wouldn't lose it during the vicious bouts that would ensue. The chains were a personal tradition of the World Eaters. Spread, even amongst the other Legions after their popularity had escaped beyond the fighting pits of the World Eaters. Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists had taken to the custom with his usual zeal, binding his knightly weapons to his wrists on dense black chains. He’d made an impressive name for himself, here in the bowels of the Conqueror dueling with the XII Legion’s finest warriors late in the Great Crusade. The "Black Knight" they called him, in honour of his prowess, his nobility and his personal heraldry. The "Flesh Tearer" was another to earn great glory in the World Eaters’ pits. Ammit, Captain of the Blood Angels 5th Company, fought with the same savagery and brutality as his hosts.

Notable Personnel

 * Captain Lotara Sarrin - Captain Sarrin served as the Shipmistress of the Conqueror. Lotarro often had to ignore the warriors around her, the very avatars of cold indifference. She always had other matters to deal with, such as the 300 bridge crew caught between avoiding Angron’s uncontrollable fury and the performance of their duties. An intelligent and calculating officer, Captain Sarrin always measured her words when conversing with the rage-fuelled Primarch. Lotara knew the World Eaters well, for she had served aboard the flagship as a Helm officer for years before her promotion. Captain Sarrin enjoyed taking risks as much as any warrior in the Legion she served.