The Chaos Sorcerer Nemeroth holding the experimental Warp-based power source for the Psychic Scourge originally developed on Graia by Inquisitor Drogan.
The Psychic Scourge, also later resurrected as "Project Aurora," was a powerful Warp-based device originally created by the Necrons that was rediscovered and further developed by Inquisitor Drogan on the Forge World of Graia. Intended to be used as a powerful weapon against the Orks assaulting the Forge World and potentially other xenos enemies of the Imperium, in fact it was a ruse created by the machinations of the Chaos Sorcerer Nemeroth so that he could bring his Heretic Astartes warband, the Chosen of Nemeroth, to Graia and claim the Psychic Scourge's Warp-based power source, which would allow him to channel enough Warp energy into his sorcerous rituals to ascend to become a Daemon Prince.
This power source would prove to be a Chaos artefact of continuing potency and trouble for the Imperium, leading to a second Chaos invasion of Graia by the Black Legion only a few standard years after the first, and over a standard century later to a third attempt by the forces of Chaos, this time a thrall-band of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion, to claim its power during the Fourth Tyrannic War of the Era Indomitus in the Defence of Recidious campaign.
As originally a form of Necron technology intended to harness the power of the Warp, it is likely that noctilith was incorporated in some way into both the Psychic Scourge and Project Aurora, though this is never explicitly stated. Noctilith can be charged in such a way that it actually enhances Warp energies, and likely was used in some way in the construction of both weapons' power source.
History[]
The Aurora Device later created for Project Aurora in the Recidious System using the same technology as the Psychic Scourge originally developed on Graia.
The Psychic Scourge supposedly functioned by utilising the energies of the Warp provided by its core's power source to target specific xenos species through the signature their minds generated within the Immaterium. As a result, Inquisitor Drogan of the Ordo Xenos claimed that the Psychic Scourge would be capable of eliminating an entire invading force of Greenskins or other alien enemies of the Imperium.
Unknown to anyone but himself, Drogan was aware of the artefact's innate connection to Chaos and the destruction it was potentially capable of unleashing, but ultimately felt it was worth the risk if it could potentially ensure total victory for the Imperium. Believing that his abilities as a psyker would shield him from being corrupted by the Warp, Drogan secretly traveled into the Immaterium to gather greater amounts if psychic energy and conduct research.
Drogan claimed that the research and development of the weapon had been sanctioned by the Inquisition. It was for this reason that Drogan established his base on the Forge World of Graia where he continued his study of the weapon's technologies in secret. The project included the study of various xenos specimens that were subjected to the effects of the Psychic Scourge. This included successful tests conducted on an Ork, T'au and Tyranid Lictor specimens that proved the weapon could be of immense value to the Imperium.
Before the Liberation of Graia campaign, Inquisitor Drogan's ventures into the Warp had secretly drawn the attention of the Heretic Astartes Sorcerer Lord Nemeroth who subtly began influencing Drogan to continue his research along certain lines of inquiry. Although Drogan eventually suspected a potential outside force was responsible for his successes, he ultimately completed his work on the weapon before Nemeroth killed and transformed him through his sorcery into an undead puppet.
Nemeroth intended to use the Psychic Scourge he had tricked the Inquisitor into building for him to break through the walls of reality and create a localised Warp rift that would allow his Chaos Space Marine warband to bypass the Imperial defences and launch a direct invasion of Graia's surface. Nemeroth intended to claim the power source for the Psychic Scourge that Drogan had so nicely created for him and use its nearly unlimited draw of Warp energy to ascend to become a Daemon Prince.
When Graia came under attack from an Ork WAAAGH! led by Warlord Grimskull, a xenos assault of such a strategically important Forge World attracted the rapid deployment of the Ultramarines Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes who arrived to repel the Orks. Their arrival led the possessed Drogan to enlist Captain Demetrian Titus' aid in securing his "weapon".
The Ultramarines captain of the 2nd Company was reluctantly convinced by the Inquisitor to use the weapon to defeat the Orks and the Psychic Scourge was activated. However, the ruse was revealed when this simply splintered the walls of reality and allowed the Chosen of Nemeroth warband and their Daemonic allies to initiate their invasion of the Forge World, an ivasion that Titus and the Ultramarines were successfully able to defeat.
However, the power source for the Psychic Scourge was later used in experimentation by a rogue group of Heretek Tech-priests of Graia which led to the opening of another Warp rift and an invasion of the Forge World by the Heretic Astartes of the Black Legion and the Daemonic legions of Tzeentch and Nurgle. This invasion was defeated through the heroic efforts of the Ultramarines Sternguard Veteran Malum Caedo.
Finally, during the Fourth Tyrannic War in the Recidious System, Archmagos Nozick Beta-12 of the Adeptus Mechanicus attempted to reconstitute the same power source used for the Psychic Scourge on Graia over a standard century before using the remains of the original artefact recovered from Graia. This new attempt was known as "Project Aurora" and its research and development was pursued on the Recidian worlds of Kadaku and Demerium. The archmagos hoped to use the weapon in a similar manner to the Psychic Scourge, only this time to banish all those who had been touched by the taint of the Warp from realspace into the Immaterium.
Unfortunately, this proved to be just another ruse by the forces of Chaos, this time led by the Thousand Sons Sorcerer Lord Imurah, who had tricked the Mechanicus into recreating the power source so that he might seize it for himself like his predecessors. Thanks to the efforts of Lieutenant Demetrian Titus, now a Primaris Space Marine, Imurah was defeated during the Defence of Recidious campaign and Titus detroyed the power source once and for all.
Power Source[]
The central power core of the Psychic Scourge was a hand-held, cylindrical device that constantly emitted radiant blue energy known only as the "power source" that was capable of drawing upon the unlimited psychic energy of the Warp. Inquisitor Drogan believed direct handling of and exposure to the power source could lead to Warp corruption. The power source provided the critical energy requirements of the Psychic Scourge weapon and needed to be activated within a large structure where it powered a lens that fired into an orbital spire of Graia to distribute its effects around the world, supposedly then killing simulataneously all the Orks attacking the Forge World.
According to the Inquisitor, improper handling of the Psychic Scourge was capable of cracking a world in half and devastating its surface. The audio logs made by Drogan indicated that the Psychic Scourge functioned by focusing excessive amounts of Warp energy drawn by the power source at its core into a selected xenos species' specific identified mental signature in the Immaterium. This, in theory, should lead to the destruction of the targeted beings' central nervous systems in realspace. The effect was intended to cause the chosen species' heads to explode in a violent manner as a side effect of the process rather than the intended result of the weapon's usage.
After the Liberation of Graia, a rogue group of Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-priests plumbing the depths of tech-heresy began to experiment with the power source in secret, which led to a second invasion of the Forge World by the forces of Chaos through a Warp rift opened by the power source that was led by the Black Legion, assisted by Daemons of Nurgle and Tzeentch. This invasion was defeated only by the singularly heroic efforts of the Ultramarines Chapter's Firstborn Sternguard Veteran Malum Caedo.
Over a standard century later, in the Era Indomitus, the Adeptus Mechanicus under the direction of Archmagos Nozick Beta-12 would begin work on what was called "Project Aurora" in the Recidious System in an attempt to reconstitute the power source from fragments recovered from Graia so that it could power a variant of the original Psychic Scourge weapon. This variant was intended to seek out any being corrupted by Warp energy and banish them to the Immaterium, providing the Imperium with a weapon that could finally win the war against Chaos and eliminate the assaults on Imperial space from the Great Rift.
Unfortunately, the entire project was once again the result of the machinations of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion, whose Sorcerer Lord Imurah sought to claim the power source for himself once it was rebuilt. His plan was thwarted by Lieutenant Demetrian Titus and the Ultramarines during the Recidious Campaign of the Fourth Tyrannic War and the power source was destroyed by Titus once and for all.
Sources[]
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (Video Game)
- Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Video Game)
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II (Video Game)