“A Spartan names the hour; the Myrmidon makes that hour survivable, lawful, and final.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

I. Hierarchical Framework

Blackguard Primarch: E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon (Spartan V).
Supreme authority over all Blackguard elements within TFE. Achilles sets Doctrine, approves cross-Regiment tasking, and holds a judicial Veto on any operation that risks the Codex Juris Bellum. Her Command intent is the standard: only Spartan-level performance earns proximity to the blade.

Primus Myrmidon: Lysandra "Palladion" Voris.
Achilles's executor and daily steward of the Blackguard machine. Palladion chairs the Blackguard General Staff, arbitrates inter-Regiment demand, signs phase-gate "bracelets" with the seated Strategos, and enforces the cultural inoculation against "fast, dirty fixes." In the field, she is the cold hand on the metronome: when Spartans accelerate, Myrmidon mass keeps pace without shedding Law.

Blackguard General Staff (BGS): Directors who fight forward, not from desks:

• Executive Command (BECO): live ops floor, rotations, relief, and bracelet handoffs.
• Strategic Coordination (BSCO): multi-theater lay-down; keeps six Regiments on one tempo.
• Tactical Engineering (BTEO): breach scaffolds, armor lanes, re-role bays; speed that doesn't wreck cities.
• Doctrine & Tribunal (DDT): field auditors, body-cam cryptography, chain-of-custody; the Ledger outlives the smoke.
• Selection & Indoctrination (DSI): Feathers→Stone→Iron pipeline; refusal drills; myth-proofing.
• Intelligence & Counter-Intelligence (DMI): rumor hygiene, HUMINT/SIGINT fusion, counter-AI scrub.
• Signals/Cyber/C3I (DSC): spectrum custody, deception nets, lantern grids.
• Warworks & Sustainment (DWS): ammo ladders, med veins, Titan organs, convoy deception.
• Medical & Augmentation (DMA): triage in motion; neural discipline; dignified recovery.
• Armory & Warform (DAW): pattern-clean loadouts; Titans issued for use, never for theater.

Command Rhythm: Orders flow Achilles → Palladion → BGS, then to Regimental Strategos-Primus. In theater, Spartan Regimental Command names timing; Strategos-Primus guarantees that Myrmidon mass, Law, and sustainment keep that timing unbroken. Phase gates require dual co-sign (Spartan + Strategos-Primus).

II. High Command Integration

All six Regimental attachments are led at a unified rank:

Rank: Strategos-Primus (Blackguard): Seated within each Regiment and reporting to Palladion/Achilles.

• 1st Zeus’ Thunderclads: Strategos-Primus Adrastos Veyrion. Rapid Convergent Assault companion mass; the Thirty-Minute War's pressure behind the point.
• 2nd Hera's Sentinels: Strategos-Primus Helena Vornas. Wallmaking, civil corridors, utility sovereignty under siege.
• 3rd Hades' Hellraisers: Strategos-Primus Orsian Drelk. Void penetration; fear as a strictly lawful instrument; martyr-denial.
• 4th Poseidon's Tempests: Strategos-Primus Thassara Vel Dren. Hydro-aerospheric integration; terrain made complicit.
• 5th Ares' Warbringers: Strategos-Primus Varek Druas. Breach mass; micro-fort seeding; counter-siege breakout.
• 6th Athena's Wardens: Strategos-Primus Tyrena Kael. C3/I guardianship; timing supremacy; narrative integrity.

Practical effect: Thunderclads receive lawful speed; Sentinels receive breathing walls; Hellraisers receive clean terror without legend; Tempests receive environmental obedience; Warbringers receive mass that leaves cities standing; Wardens receive truth that survives tomorrow.

III. Unified Combat Command Integration

Socket: Blackguard Convergent Companion Command (BCCC).
Mandate: Keep Spartan decisions fed, lawful, survivable, and irreversible across domains.

BCCC Lines of Effort

• Companion Mass: Bodies and machines that make the first blow stay the last.
• Law & Ledger: Tribunal discipline that passes hostile audits and denies future myths.
• Environment & Sustainment: Space/sea/stone converted into cover, corridors, and supply without civilian spillover.
• Counter-Cognition: Starve Enemy C2 and rumor; preserve civilian normalcy.

IV. Division Structure

Blackguard Divisional Warform (TFE): One overarching Division commanded by Palladion that fields eight specialized Legions. Each Legion carries Doctrine cards for all six Regiments, allowing instant overlay without retraining.

Legion I - EIDOLA (Elite Infantry Legion)

• Role: Door-one partners for Spartans; keystone seizures; last-door fights; capture/kill with evidence intact.
• Sub-Formations: Vanguard Maniples (stack teams), Pallid Blades (silent capture squads).

Legion II - UMBRAE (Line Infantry Legion)

• Role: Corridor discipline; crowd-flow control; perimeter knitting; evacuation and utility lanes held under fire.
• Sub-Formations: Aegis Phalanxes (shield lines), Lantern Wards (civil passage teams).

Legion III - BASILISKS (Armor/Titan Legion)

• Role: Titan-forward breach anchors; mobile domes; single-stroke armor that doesn't turn cities into rubble.
• Sub-Formations: Crown Lances (breach walkers), Domus Engines (shield generators).

Legion IV - MYRMEX (Mechanized Legion)

• Role: Re-role logistics (APC→med sled→signal wagon convoy deception; momentum without hemorrhage.
• Sub-Formations: Vein Columns (sustainment lanes), Mask Caravans (false convoys).

Legion V - CORVUS (Aerial Legion)

• Role: Roofline seizures; storm-seam insertions; antenna excision; one-minute windows for Drop/exfil.
• Sub-Formations: Hush Flights (silent carriers), Pylon Cutters (antenna/relay excision).

Legion VI - NYX (Recon/Counter-SIG Legion)

• Role: Early presence; rumor hygiene; power/door mapping; counter-AI scrub; deception nets.
• Sub-Formations: Shade Packs (deep recon), Echo Wardens (counter-information).

Legion VII - NEMESIS (QRF Legion)

• Role: Problems end in the next minute, breach rescues, Ledger defense, compromise isolation, and catastrophe reversal.
• Sub-Formations: Redress Talons (counter-stroke), Gravepins (containment bubbles).

Divisional Sustainment Directorates (organic to the Division): DDT, DSI, DMI, DSC, DWS, DMA, DAW, forward-pushed and paired to each Legion, ensuring every strike remains lawful, supplied, and deniable where Doctrine demands.

V. Command Philosophy & Deployment Doctrine

Operating Truths

• Co-Authored Victory: Spartans name the hour; Myrmidons make that hour habitable and final.
• Precision Is Mercy: The most minor lawful cut ends the most wars, and breeds the fewest legends.
• The Ledger Survives the Smoke: If we cannot prove it, we did not win it.
• Only the Impossible Is Worthy: Achilles keeps standards at Spartan height; anything less endangers the shield we claim to be.

Deployment Phases (Division→Legion)

1. Veil: NYX seeds rumor hygiene, door/power maps; DSC secures quiet spectrum.
2. Latch: CORVUS opens roof/air corridors; MYRMEX stages re-role bays.
3. Break: EIDOLA with Spartans take the keystone; BASILISKS create the single lawful avenue.
4. Flood: UMBRAE knit corridors and civilian lanes; DWS/DMA push ammo/med veins.
5. Seal: NEMESIS ends the unforeseen; DDT runs the field Tribunal; DAW resets clean patterns.

Regimental Overlays: Each Legion swaps Doctrine cards to mirror local rhythm (Thunderclads' 30-minute tempo, Sentinel wall-breath, Hellraiser ash-clock, Tempest wave-clock, Warbringer forge-clock, Warden truth-clock) in under sixty seconds.

VI. Key Personnel Table

VII. Rank, Roles & Field Titles

The Blackguard Primarch - E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon

High Command Title within the Division of the Silent Storm

Definition and Role

The Blackguard Primarch is the supreme commander and living embodiment of the Division of the Silent Storm, the highest authority within the Blackguard Myrmidons, and the sole arbiter of the Codex Myrmidonis. To hold this title is not merely to Command legions, but to personify Law itself in motion.

Within the UCG Regime military theology, the Primarch stands as the first and last judge of the Myrmidon Order. She oversees Doctrine, Codex integrity, Tribunal verdicts, operational alignment with Task Force Eclipse (TFE), and the lawful execution of warfare under the Flame Doctrine. No Order, military, political, or civilian, supersedes the Primarch's authority within the jurisdiction of the Division.

The title is held by Spartan V E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon, the first of her kind, an ascendant creation of the Regime most advanced augmentation project. To the Myrmidons, Achilles is not a superior officer; she is the Law made flesh. Her presence is both a symbol and a sentence: when she speaks, her words are entered directly into the Lex Obsidiana as living Law.

Every Legion within the Division serves under her doctrinal Command. Every Strategos-Primus, every Custodian, every Lawbearer owes their oath not to her person, but to the lawful ideal she represents. In Regime scripture, her name and title are often followed by the phrase:

"She does not reign. She sustains."

Composition

The office of the Blackguard Primarch is supported by an exclusive Command echelon known as the Obsidian Conclave, a triune structure consisting of:

• The Primus Myrmidon (Lysandra "Palladion" Voris): Executive hand of the Primarch; operationalizes her orders and ensures doctrinal compliance across all Legions.
• The Tribunal Circle: A rotating council of senior Strategoi, Custodian representatives, and Codex archivists. They interpret and archive her decrees into the Regime military Law.
• The Flame Choir: A cadre of twelve silent attendants drawn from the Custodes Legion who accompany Achilles at all official ceremonies and tribunals. They serve as witnesses, guards, and ceremonial executors of her word.

Physically, the Primarch's personal Command suite, The Obsidian Throne Hall, is located deep within the Vault of Obsidian Flame on New Harmony (Sparta). It functions as both a war council chamber and a Tribunal sanctum. Here, decisions of extinction, ascension, or doctrinal amendment are recorded in living script into the Codex itself.

The Primarch's Command presence extends through holo-spatial relays across the Division's Fleet and ground forces. Even her silence on a transmission carries weight; her mere connection to a battlefield channel is treated as a sign that the Law is watching.

Training and Doctrine

No individual can be trained to become the Blackguard Primarch. The position is not earned through seniority or appointment; it is ascension through perfection.

Achilles was chosen because she embodies what the Regime defines as the pinnacle of lawful warfare: intelligence, restraint, lethality, and incorruptible loyalty. As a Spartan V, her body and mind operate beyond human thresholds; her intellect and moral reasoning are regulated by a neural Codex-core integrated directly into her augmentation suite. This symbiosis allows her to interpret Law and combat simultaneously, every tactical decision filtered through ethical legality at the speed of thought.

She personally designs the Doctrine of Convergent Flame, the operational philosophy binding Spartan and Myrmidon action into lawful unity. All Division training programs, from recruit indoctrination to Custodian specialization, descend from her initial Codex frameworks.

Under her Command, Myrmidon academies adopted the Dual Ascension Doctrine:

• To master destruction without passion.
• To enforce the Law without hesitation.

Her presence in training facilities is rare but seismic; a single observation from Achilles is treated as scripture by instructors. When she visits the Flame Vaults, Acolytes fall silent; the Law itself has come to watch.

Deployment Purpose

The Blackguard Primarch is not a field commander in the traditional sense. Her deployment marks the arrival of finality. When Achilles enters a campaign theater, it signals that the Regime has deemed the conflict existential, beyond Diplomacy, beyond containment, beyond forgiveness.

Her arrival is recorded in the Codex as an Eclipse Moment: a stage of warfare where the moral boundary between destruction and preservation becomes indistinguishable, and only the Law itself can decide which will remain.

In the field, she functions as:

• Supreme Arbiter of Flame: Empowered to authorize or deny the use of apocalyptic weaponry, orbital bombardments, and strategic annihilations.
• Judicial Commander: Oversees in-theater tribunals, ensuring all acts of war remain compliant with the Codex Juris Bellum.
• Symbolic Presence: Her arrival alone is known to trigger surrenders. For many enemies, Achilles is not a name; it is an omen.

Despite her godlike lethality, Achilles rarely fights. When she does, the battlefield becomes silent. Her engagement is not for victory, but for demonstration: that Law itself can be stronger than chaos, faster than rage, and cleaner than vengeance.

Cultural and Symbolic Role

To the Myrmidons, Achilles is not just a leader; she is the spiritual anchor of the entire Division. Her title of Primarch carries divine weight within the Regime military theology, paralleling the mythic hierarchy of the ancient Spartan heroes from whom her name descends.

In the UCG Regime, her image adorns no banners, her name is spoken only in full ceremonial address, and her likeness is forbidden from reproduction outside official seals. She represents the ideal fusion of Spartan perfection and Myrmidon restraint, the living proof that even power can be made lawful.

Among Spartans of TFE, she is revered as the Last Paragon, the one who proved that the next evolution of Spartan-kind could exist without corruption or madness. Among Myrmidons, she is the first and final oath.

Her authority transcends politics; even the UCG Senate cannot override her rulings within Codex jurisdiction. In many colonies, children recite her name in morning pledges alongside the Flame Doctrine. To the populace, she is not a commander but a promise: that justice can have a face.

Her black mirrorsteel armor is never adorned, save for one mark: the silver emblem of the Sigil of the Obsidian Requiem upon her chestplate. Its skull is said to be modeled after her own scan imprint, symbolizing the death of individuality in the service of eternal Order.

Legacy of the Blackguard Primarch

E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon has transcended mortality in the collective memory of the Regime. To historians, she is the architect of lawful warfare; to soldiers, the mother of discipline; to enemies, the final proof that humanity perfected obedience before peace.

Her legacy lies not in victories won, but in the moral architecture she built to hold them upright. The Codex Myrmidonis is as much her scripture as her creation. Every Myrmidon oath, Tribunal, and Mission briefing echoes fragments of her original design philosophy.

In the Vault of Obsidian Flame, a Wall of Names lists every Myrmidon who has fallen in lawful service. Above it, a single inscription glows:

"Their Law endures because I endure for them.", Achilles

It is said that the Custodes of New Harmony, the oldest of the Myrmidons, will never choose another Primarch while she lives. To replace Achilles would be to admit that perfection can be surpassed. And within the Regime theology, perfection is immortal.

“The Primarch is not a woman. She is not even a warrior. She is the axis upon which the Regime turns, the breath between silence and annihilation. When Achilles stands, the galaxy remembers that even gods must obey the law.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

The Primus Myrmidon - Lysandra "Palladion" Voris

Second Command Authority of the Division of the Silent Storm

Definition and Role

The Primus Myrmidon is the executive hand of the Blackguard Primarch, the living mechanism through which the will of E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon becomes motion. Within the hierarchy of the Division of the Silent Storm, the Primus Myrmidon is absolute in all matters of operational Law, Codex enforcement, and military execution.

While the Primarch defines why a war must be fought, the Primus defines how it will be won. She oversees the synchronization of the eight Myrmidon Legions, ensuring every action, from orbital descent to ground deployment, adheres to the Codex Juris Bellum and the Doctrine of Convergent Flame.

Known formally as Lysandra "Palladion" Voris, she is both shield and sword of the Primarch's Law, a figure of terrifying efficiency who translates the divine into the practical. Her title, Palladion, is drawn from the Regime Latin term for a sacred relic that guarantees protection, symbolizing her role as both guardian of the Codex and executor of the Regime wrath.

She commands all Strategoi, coordinates the Tribunal Circle, and oversees all inter-Legion operations. In her absence, every Myrmidon pauses, awaiting their next lawful breath.

In the Regime records, her authority is summarized in a single phrase:

"Where Achilles speaks, Palladion acts."

Composition

The Office of the Primus Myrmidon is a vast and layered institution, functioning as the operational and doctrinal core of the Blackguard Division. It is structured into four principal arms:

1. The Codex Directorate – A body of scholars, logisticians, and law-officers responsible for the continuous auditing of Legion combat reports and Tribunal records. They ensure every Myrmidon operation remains compliant with the Codex Juris Bellum.
2. The Strategos Conclave – Composed of the seven Strategos-Primus commanders of the Myrmidon Legions (EIDOLA through NEMESIS), this council coordinates tactical directives across sectors. The Primus Myrmidon chairs this Conclave personally, issuing unified operational mandates.
3. The Custodian Vanguard – A handpicked cadre of Custodes veterans from New Harmony, sworn directly to Palladion as her personal guard and enforcement unit. They act as both ceremonial protectors and clandestine agents for Codex integrity.
4. The Tribunal Wardenate – A specialized judicial Corps trained in the Codex of the Black Sun. They travel with Palladion to oversee battlefield tribunals, ensuring lawful verdicts are executed immediately.

Through these arms, Lysandra's Command extends to every element of the Division, legal, martial, spiritual, and psychological. Nothing within the Blackguard occurs without her shadow crossing it first.

Her war-room aboard the Flagship Oblivion March, a Titan-class Command dreadnought, serves as the Division's nerve center. From this black mirrorsteel citadel, Palladion monitors hundreds of simultaneous Myrmidon deployments across the stars. Her presence is a metronome of war, steady, precise, and mercilessly efficient.

Training and Doctrine

Lysandra Voris's own rise to the title of Primus Myrmidon is legendary. Once a Strategos of the NEMESIS Legion, she was forged in the fires of the Xi Boötis Campaign, where she personally enacted the "Severe Flame Protocols" to restore lawful control to a fractured DMDF Command structure. Her decision to sacrifice an entire orbital Fleet to preserve Codex purity earned her the personal recognition of Achilles herself.

The training of a Primus Myrmidon follows no written path; it is an inheritance of action. Only one individual in a generation may ascend to the role, chosen directly by the Primarch through the ceremony of Lex Transferum, where a fragment of the Primarch's Codex memory core is imprinted into the successor's neural Codex. This process binds the two forever; Palladion carries a piece of Achilles's mind within her own.

Her Doctrine is known as the Principia Palladionis, a codified supplement to the Codex Myrmidonis that defines the laws of operational clarity:

• "Every battle is a Ledger; every death must be justified."
• "Law without rhythm is tyranny; war without rhythm is chaos."
• "The commander who hesitates once may still be forgiven. The commander who hesitates twice has already disobeyed."

Through her leadership, Myrmidons are trained not merely to fight efficiently, but to think legally in motion. Her soldiers are expected to calculate the lawful consequence of every round fired, every strike delivered. In her presence, war becomes mathematics, cold, clean, and absolute.

Deployment Purpose

The Primus Myrmidon serves as the Supreme Field Commander of the Blackguard Division in all theaters of war. When Achilles remains within the Vault of Obsidian Flame, Palladion is the face of the Law in motion.

Her deployment signals that a campaign has entered the Phase of Codified Totality, a state where all conventional Diplomacy and tactical independence are suspended. Under this Protocol, every Myrmidon, Spartan, and Regime officer answers directly to her Command, bypassing even sector generals.

In combat, Palladion operates from the front, not for spectacle, but for enforcement. Her arrival on the field ensures absolute compliance; her voice across the comms is both Command and Law. When she declares a Tribunal Flame, entire Enemy divisions cease fire in fearful silence, awaiting their sentence.

She is both a tactician and a judge, conducting in-theater tribunals even as combat rages. Her staff carry portable Codex terminals, allowing her to issue lawful verdicts mid-engagement. To those under her Command, this is normal. To her enemies, it is divine terror.

Every campaign under her leadership concludes the same way: clean, surgical, and absolute, no waste, no mercy, no rebellion.

Cultural and Symbolic Role

Within the culture of the Blackguard Myrmidons, Palladion is more than the Primarch's lieutenant; she is the embodied conscience of obedience. If Achilles is Law incarnate, Palladion is its enforcement in flesh.

Among the Myrmidons, her presence commands awe and fear in equal measure. She speaks rarely, but when she does, her words are etched into the Codex archives. To address her casually is considered a crime of conduct; even Strategoi bow their heads when she enters a chamber.

Culturally, she represents measured wrath, the perfect execution of the Flame Doctrine's core tenet: Destruction without chaos. Her soldiers believe that she carries the silent fire of Achilles within her, an invisible aura that steadies those who fight in her name.

She is often depicted in murals and holo-statues standing behind the Primarch, silent, armored in black mirrorsteel trimmed in white and silver, her visor a smooth, faceless sheet of glass. This anonymity reinforces her image as the universal executor of Law: faceless, tireless, unerring.

In the eyes of the Regime citizenry, Palladion is the unseen protector, the saint of lawful endings. Mothers tell their children: "Behave, or the Silver Hand will find you."

Legacy of the Primus Myrmidon

The legacy of Lysandra "Palladion" Voris is already immortalized in the Division's living scripture. Her name is synonymous with flawless execution. Her campaigns are studied not only by the DMDF but by Regime academies and ministerial strategists as models of lawful precision.

Her legacy is defined by three eternal principles recorded in the Codex Obsidiana Addendum 77A:

1. Law Must Move Faster Than Violence.
   Speed is moral, for hesitation births chaos.
2. The Hand Must Be Empty of Emotion.
   To act in anger is to fail the Codex.
3. Order Is Its Own Reward.
   Victory is temporary; stability is forever.

It is said that in the Flame Vault of New Harmony, her armor stands beside the Primarch's throne, a constant reminder that even perfection requires a weapon to wield it.

Her leadership has created an era where disobedience within the Blackguard is unthinkable, where entire Legions function like living instruments tuned to a single will. Her shadow stretches across every battlefield, every Tribunal, every oath recited by a Myrmidon recruit.

“If Achilles is the Flame, Palladion is its hand. She carries no crown, no banner, no mercy. When the world loses faith, she reminds it why law was made.”

— Excerpt from the Codex Myrmidonis, Article XXVIII

The Strategos-Primus

Legion Commander of the Division of the Silent Storm

Definition and Role

The Strategos-Primus is the Legionary Commander, the living nexus between Doctrine and battlefield. Within the Blackguard Myrmidons, each of the eight Legions, EIDOLA through CUSTODES, is led by a Strategos-Primus who acts as the Primus Myrmidon's direct instrument of enforcement.

To Command as a Strategos-Primus is to carry the burden of both Law and annihilation. They are not generals in the traditional sense; they are Codex Executors: officers entrusted to translate the words of the Blackguard Primarch and the Primus Myrmidon into precise motion. Their every Order must align with the Codex Juris Bellum, the Codex Myrmidonis, and the Doctrine of Convergent Flame.

Each Strategos-Primus governs one Legion's complete operational, judicial, and moral ecosystem, serving simultaneously as tactician, judge, and shepherd. They are expected to embody their Legion's identity so thoroughly that their very demeanor becomes its Doctrine: the speed of EIDOLA, the endurance of UMBRAE, the silence of NYX, the finality of NEMESIS.

In Regime classification, the Strategos-Primus is referred to as a Tri-Command Officer, holding equal authority over military, legal, and moral domains within their assigned Legion.

Their Creed is simple:

“The Primarch gives law. I make it move.”

Composition

The rank of Strategos-Primus is singular per Legion; there are eight in total, one for each arm of the Division. Each Strategos commands through a tri-layered structure of sub-command:

1. Centurion Councils: The operational body of senior Myrmidon captains and Tribunal officers who coordinate battalion-level Command and ensure lawful alignment of all field actions.
2. Lex Custodians: Legal aides and doctrinal auditors who monitor compliance with the Codex Myrmidonis. A Lex Custodian must countersign every major strike or execution before it is carried out.
3. Tribunal Auxilia: A rotating cadre of combat-clerks, field archivists, and forensic specialists who record and transmit live Codex data to the Division archives on New Harmony.

Strategoi are stationed aboard Legion Command Vessels, vast airborne sanctuaries known as Flame Bastions, each named for a virtue of the Codex: Rectitude, Diligence, Silence, and Finality.

Collectively, the eight Strategoi form the Conclave of Iron, a war council presided over by Primus Myrmidon Lysandra "Palladion" Voris. This Conclave meets within the Vault of Obsidian Flame or via encrypted subspace Tribunal to review and ratify strategic doctrines across the galaxy. Their deliberations are recorded directly into the Lex Obsidiana by voice-seal; to hear a Strategos speak within that hall is to inscribe eternity.

Each Strategos commands anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000 Myrmidons, supported by mechanized assets, Titan divisions, and orbital strike wings, collectively called a Codex Host.

Training and Doctrine

The path to Strategos-Primus is one of decades, not years. Every candidate must serve as a Centurion of the Flame for at least fifteen lawful campaigns, achieve perfect Codex compliance across all recorded operations, and pass Tribunal review under both the Primus Myrmidon and the Custodes' evaluation.

Selection culminates in the Trial of Seven Voices, a silent Tribunal held within the Flame Vault where the candidate stands before the holographic memories of the seven previous Strategoi of their Legion. They are asked a single question, posed differently to each:

“What is law when victory is lost?”

The answer is never recorded, only judged. Those who answer truthfully ascend; those who hesitate are dismissed from history.

Once ascended, the new Strategos undergoes Codex Transfusion, an infusion of encrypted doctrinal memory from their Legion's archive, grafting centuries of tactical data and legal precedent directly into their neural patterns.

Each Strategos then defines and refines their Legion's Doctrine Codex Subset, a unique interpretation of the Law of Flame designed to suit their operational identity.

Their Doctrine training emphasizes the following:

• Law as velocity. Every Order must move faster than chaos.
• Discipline as contagion. Stability spreads from the example, not the Command.
• Mercy as indulgence. The Law is cleanest when untouched by pity.

This education ensures that no Strategos ever confuses Command with power; for the Myrmidons, Command is a burden of flawless consistency.

Deployment Purpose

The Strategos-Primus is both commander and codifier, the voice that directs a Legion and the lens that ensures its every act remains lawful. Their deployment signals the activation of the Legion in Full Flame, a state of total operational readiness.

When war begins, the Strategos leads from the front, not for spectacle, but for precision. They are trained to orchestrate battles as juridical symphonies, coordinating fleets, infantry, and tribunals in perfect harmony.

They issue Judicial Directives, battlefield decrees that function simultaneously as strategic orders and lawful verdicts. A Directive once spoken is transmitted to the Division archives, making it binding Codex Law in perpetuity.

A Strategos may also invoke Flame Protocols, the highest level of operational sanction. Once enacted, these protocols empower the Legion to bypass conventional Regime hierarchy and act autonomously under the authority of the Flame Doctrine.

To serve under a Strategos is to fight within a living Tribunal. Each Myrmidon knows that every movement, every strike, every hesitation is recorded and judged, not by an unseen bureaucracy, but by the iron presence watching them from the front line.

Where the Primarch is divine Law and the Primus is divine will, the Strategos-Primus is divine execution.

Cultural and Symbolic Role

Culturally, the Strategos-Primus is a symbol of Law made human, a being that marries intellect, devotion, and lethality into perfect equilibrium. Within their Legions, they are treated not as officers but as parental anchors, guiding their soldiers with unwavering purpose.

Every Legion honors its Strategos as the embodiment of its essence.

• EIDOLA's Ironwing is mythologized as the fastest mind alive, the "Winged Law."
• UMBRAE's Pillar is called "The Wall that Thinks."
• NYX's Wraith is whispered as "The Shadow that Sees."
• NEMESIS's Palladion, acting Strategos of Finality, is "The Hand that Ends."

Rituals vary by Legion, but all share one tradition: at the start of a major campaign, the Strategos dons a White Mantle of Judgment, a short ceremonial cloak brushed with powdered ash from the previous battlefield. It signifies that each war builds upon the ruins of the last, that the Law does not forget.

To the Regime populace, the Strategoi are avatars of lawful certainty. Statues of their faceless visors stand in UCG academies and Senate halls, representing the unity of destruction and discipline. To see a Strategos walking among civilians is considered an omen of protection, for their presence means the Codex has chosen to watch.

Legacy of the Strategos-Primus

The Strategoi of the Blackguard are immortalized not in song or monument, but in Law. Every significant precedent within the Lex Obsidiana carries its sigils beside its article number. Their decisions outlast planets.

Collectively, they form a lineage of lawful perfection stretching back to the Division's founding. Each Strategos leaves behind not only victories but also amendments, living additions to the Codex that refine and expand the philosophy of lawful warfare.

Within the Vault of Obsidian Flame, a chamber known as the Hall of Eight Echoes holds holographic effigies of every Strategos to have served the Division. When the living Strategoi enter the hall, their visors ignite in spectral silver, acknowledging the presence of their predecessors. It is said that when all eight lights burn as one, the Division moves with the precision of the gods.

Their collective legacy is summarized in the closing verse of their shared oath:

"I am not a commander. I am consequence."

“The Strategos is the bridge between chaos and command, a single thought given form in fire. They do not lead for glory; they lead so the law may walk.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

The Prefect-Custos - Arel Valen "Archivist"

Supreme Commander of the Custodes Legion, Division of the Silent Storm

Definition and Role

The Prefect-Custos is the highest authority of the Custodes Legion, the eighth and final arm of the Division of the Silent Storm. Within the Blackguard hierarchy, the title represents more than Command; it signifies custodianship of all Law, memory, and Doctrine that define the Myrmidon Order.

If the Blackguard Primarch is the Flame incarnate, and the Primus Myrmidon its unerring Hand, then the Prefect-Custos is the Keeper of the Ash, the one who preserves what remains after Judgment has passed. The office exists to guard the living legacy of the Codex Juris Bellum, to train new generations of Myrmidons, and to defend New Harmony, the spiritual and operational heart of Task Force Eclipse (TFE), to the last.

The Prefect-Custos commands all Custodes stationed within the Vault of Obsidian Flame on New Harmony (Sparta). These veterans are the Regime's most lethal and disciplined warriors, lawbearers who have transcended mortal Command. To hold the title of Prefect is to stand at the threshold of the divine, a living relic whose duty is not conquest, but preservation through perfection.

Officially, the Prefect-Custos carries the title Arel Valen "Archivist", a name whispered in reverence across the Division. To the Myrmidons, "Archivist" is more than a callsign; it is an archetype: the one who remembers so others may fight without doubt.

The Prefect's motto, engraved above the inner gate of the Vault, reads:

“Custos Memoriae, Custos Flammae - Keeper of Memory, Keeper of Flame.”

Composition

The Prefect-Custos presides over the Custodian Hierarchy, a closed structure within the Custodes Legion that operates independently of conventional DMDF military ranks. It is divided into four concentric circles, each closer to the core of the Law:

1. The Custodian Guard: The outer ring, composed of battle-seasoned veterans and former Strategoi who now serve as the Prefect's standing army. They guard the Flame Vault, the Spartan capital of Sparta, and the Codex Archives across New Harmony.
2. The Luminarii Order: Scholars, judges, and Tribunal officers who maintain the Codex archives. They transcribe every verdict, Command, and Doctrine issued by the Primarch or Primus into the Lex Obsidiana, the living Law of the Regime.
3. The Choir of Obsidian Flame: A sanctified unit of Custodian champions and executors who function as both spiritual guides and last-resort enforcers. They are the Prefect's blades in matters of high treason, heresy, or doctrinal collapse.
4. The Chamber Eternal: The Prefect's personal council, composed of the eight eldest Custodes, each over a century in service. They act as witnesses of history and advisers to the Primarch herself.

The Prefect's Command is absolute within the boundaries of New Harmony. Even the Senate's authority ceases at the gates of the Vault. His orders are not questioned; they are entered into record as decrees of Continuity.

When the Custodes mobilize, the Prefect speaks the invocation "Lex Immortalem," activating the Eternal Mandate Protocol, an Order that binds every Custodes to fight until Law itself no longer requires defense.

Training and Doctrine

The training of a Custodes begins only after a Myrmidon has served at least twenty lawful campaigns, survived six Codex audits, and demonstrated unwavering psychological discipline under Tribunal review. The process of becoming Custodes is not a promotion; it is an ascension known as The Quieting.

The Prefect personally oversees this transformation. Each candidate enters the Vault of Still Flame, where they undergo ritual severance from their former Legion and renounce their personal identity. The Prefect inscribes their new name, a single word, chosen by the Codex itself, onto a slab of blacksteel that will serve as both grave and oath.

Training under the Prefect's Doctrine emphasizes patience, memory, and finality. Custodes learn to act as arbiters of history, mastering ancient warfare, archival science, judicial analysis, and post-conflict governance. Every Custodes carries a Codex Core, a micro-archive implanted beneath the sternum that records every operation, Tribunal, and lawful verdict they witness.

The Prefect teaches a singular Doctrine to all who stand before him:

"To fight is to preserve. To remember is to endure."

The Custodes' martial regimen includes zero-latency reaction conditioning, silent combat instruction, and the preservation of martial scripture dating back to the earliest Flame Wars. They are trained not for speed, but for inevitability. When they move, the outcome is already sealed.

Deployment Purpose

The Prefect-Custos and the Custodes Legion are rarely deployed beyond New Harmony. Their role is to defend the Flame, train the next generation of Myrmidons, and act as the Regime final sanction when all else fails.

However, when the Prefect mobilizes the Custodes, the galaxy trembles; such deployments are known as "Requiems." A Requiem occurs only when the Codex itself is at risk, when corruption, treason, or existential threat endangers the very Doctrine of the Flame. In such moments, the Prefect leads personally, wearing his ceremonial mirrorsteel armor trimmed in silver and bearing the relic halberd Judicant's End.

In combat, the Prefect commands the Obsidian Phalanx, a thousand-strong Custodes detachment that operates in perfect silence. They do not communicate, do not retreat, and do not record their actions until the battle is done. Their presence in the world signifies a divine audit of the living.

When the Prefect declares the Final Vigil, the Custodes establish a lawful perimeter around the engagement zone. Within this boundary, every combatant, friend or foe, is judged by Codex Law. When the Vigil concludes, silence remains, and Law endures.

Cultural and Symbolic Role

To the Myrmidons, the Prefect-Custos is the Keeper of Immortality, the voice that ensures their deeds and sacrifices are never forgotten. Within the Regime cultural consciousness, he represents the bridge between myth and memory, a figure who safeguards the truth of what the Regime has endured.

In Spartan and Myrmidon culture alike, the Prefect is depicted as a monolithic Sentinel standing between the living and the past. Statues of Arel Valen "Archivist" rise from the plazas of Sparta and the judicial spires of New Harmony. Civilians place offerings of data-slates, worn weapons, and fragments of scorched armor at the feet of these monuments, symbols of the memory entrusted to his care.

During ceremonies, the Prefect appears in the Mantle of Pale Fire, a white-silver cloak said to have been woven from the ashes of fallen Legions. When he walks among new initiates, they bow not in obedience, but in gratitude, each recognizing him as the guardian of their history and the proof that failure can still serve eternity.

He rarely speaks, but his silence commands reverence. To hear his voice is considered a sacred omen, for the Prefect speaks only when the Law itself requires memory to act.

Among the Custodes, he is called The Last Witness.

Legacy of the Prefect-Custos

Arel Valen "Archivist" has become a myth as much as a leader, a living relic whose tenure has outlasted three Senate generations and six Grand Generals. His leadership transformed the Custodes Legion from a ceremonial Order into a doctrinal bastion of lawful preservation.

His most incredible legacy is the Sanctum of Eternal Flame, an underground databastion beneath New Harmony that houses the entire Codex Myrmidonis and every Tribunal verdict in Regime history. It is said that within the Sanctum, time itself is measured by the hum of the Flame Core's energy lattice, a rhythm known as "the heartbeat of the Law."

Under his guardianship, no Custodes has ever defected, and no archive has ever fallen. Even Spartans bow before the Prefect's mandate. To question his verdict is to question history itself.

He has become the embodiment of the Regime unbroken memory, the living anchor that ensures all that is lawful, sacred, and terrible endures beyond war, beyond death, beyond the stars.

“The Prefect does not lead. He remembers. When all banners have burned and all voices have faded, his silence is the proof that the Flame still lives.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

The Epilektoi - The Chosen of the Silent Storm

Elite Vanguard Cohort of the Blackguard Myrmidons

Definition and Role

The Epilektoi, from ancient Regime High Latin meaning "The Chosen", are the elite vanguard of the Blackguard Myrmidons, a cadre of hyper-lethal operatives drawn from every Legion who serve as the Division's most adaptable, precise, and spiritually pure warriors.

Where the Custodes guard the memory of the Law, the Epilektoi enact its immediacy. They are the unquestioned executors of the Primus Myrmidon's will, the scalpel to the Legions' sword, and the quiet strike that resolves crises before they become wars. To wear the black mirrorsteel of the Epilektoi is to stand among the most dangerous entities the Regime has ever produced.

They are deployed only when a situation demands perfection, when politics, chaos, or moral ambiguity threaten to fracture the Flame Doctrine itself. In those moments, the Epilektoi emerge from shadow, execute the Codex's will, and vanish before the galaxy remembers their names.

Their Creed, carved into the interior of every Epilektoi helm, reads:

“We are the silence that precedes judgment.”

Composition

The Epilektoi Corps operates outside the regular Command lattice of the eight Myrmidon Legions. While drawn from their ranks, they report directly to the Primus Myrmidon Lysandra "Palladion" Voris, functioning as her personal strike echelon and doctrinal enforcers.

The unit is organized into three distinct sub-orders, each reflecting a different dimension of lawful warfare:

1. The Somnus Veil: Reconnaissance and infiltration operatives drawn primarily from the NYX and CORVUS Legions. Experts in psychological subversion, shadow insertion, and Enemy leadership termination. Their emblem is a white Flame guttering in darkness, symbolizing truth hidden until required.
2. The Threnos Cohort: The direct-action companies, composed mainly of veterans from EIDOLA, NEMESIS, and BASILISKS. They perform surgical annihilation strikes, rapid planetary decapitations, and tTribunalextractions under full Flame sanction.
3. The Eirenaios Circle: The philosophical and judicial branch of the Epilektoi, formed from UMBRAE and MYRMEX officers. They act as mobile tribunals, moral auditors, and lawful advisers during major campaigns, ensuring Myrmidon actions remain pure of corruption or passion.

Each sub-order operates semi-independently, yet all convene under the Council of Silence, led personally by the Primus Myrmidon. Their headquarters, known as the Sanctum Caligo, lies buried beneath the Obsidian Vault on New Harmony, a labyrinth of mirrored halls, sound-null chambers, and flame-lit archives accessible only by Codex blood signature.

No member's whole identity is ever recorded; the Epilektoi are issued ciphers instead of names. Their existence is acknowledged but never documented. To the outside world, they are ghosts of lawful purpose.

Training and Doctrine

The path to becoming one of the Epilektoi begins only after decades of perfect service within a Myrmidon Legion. Candidates must possess an unbroken record of Codex compliance, multiple lawful commendations, and confirmation from their Strategos-Primus.

Training takes place within the Vault of Quiet Law, a sealed substructure beneath New Harmony. For six hundred days, candidates undergo the Rite of Reduction, the gradual stripping away of ego, identity, and attachment. They learn to kill without hatred, to obey without dependency, and to speak only when Law requires voice.

Their regimen is divided into three disciplines:

• Doctrine of Motion: Hyper-kinetic combat, stealth infiltration, and adaptive lethality under fluctuating gravity and sensory suppression.
• Doctrine of Cognition: Philosophical debate, linguistic decryption, Tribunal simulation, and Codex recitation under psychological pressure.
• Doctrine of Null Flame: The spiritual Trial. Candidates must stand before a flickering white fire, the symbolic Flame of Silence, and meditate for nine days without movement or sustenance. Those who waver are released. Those who endure emerge transformed: thoughtless in rage, flawless in intent.

Graduates are inducted in a ceremony known as the Vigil of Reflection, in which they kneel before their own mirrorsteel masks as the Primus Myrmidon recites their new designation. From that moment, they no longer exist as individuals but as extensions of lawful design.

Deployment Purpose

The Epilektoi are deployed in circumstances that defy ordinary warfare, situations of doctrinal crisis, moral collapse, or threats to Regime Law too sensitive for open intervention. Their operations are recorded under sealed categories within the Lex Obsidiana, known only as "Article Black."

Their deployment purposes include:

• Elimination of Doctrinal Corruption within the Regime, including rogue commanders, heretical tribunals, or politically compromised units.
• Pre-emptive Neutralization of Enemy leadership, infrastructure, or intelligence systems that threaten lawful balance.
• Codex Stabilization Missions, ensuring the Continuity of Regime Order on worlds affected by insurrection, betrayal, or catastrophic loss of governance.

When operating with Spartan forces, the Epilektoi function as unseen arbiters, assessing compliance and readiness. When operating alone, they are the Regime black Flame, untraceable, absolute, and terminal.

An Epilektoi detachment can shift an entire planetary campaign in hours. Their presence is never announced; their aftermath is marked only by restored Order and silence.

Cultural and Symbolic Role

Among the Myrmidons, the Epilektoi are legends bordering on myth, figures invoked to teach discipline and restraint. To whisper that "the Chosen walk" is to remind all that the Law is watching.

Culturally, they embody the Regime vision of perfect obedience made moral. Where others seek redemption or purpose, the Epilektoi seek only alignment. Their faceless armor, unadorned and lightless save for faint silver filigree, reflects nothing, a visual metaphor for their self-erasure in service to Law.

They are both feared and venerated. In Myrmidon academies, cadets are taught to strive toward their example but never to desire their fate. "To wish for selection," says the Codex, "is to wish to vanish."

Among civilians, the Epilektoi are seen as celestial judges, manifestations of divine correction. Stories across Regime colonies tell of black-armored figures appearing in times of chaos, uttering a single lawful phrase before restoring peace. Children call them "the Whispering Masks."

The Custodes regard them as necessary instruments, those who enforce the Codex externally, while the Custodes preserve it internally. Between the two orders exists mutual respect, though the Custodes say of them: "They burn too bright to last."

Legacy of the Epilektoi

Throughout the history of the Blackguard Myrmidons, the Epilektoi have altered the course of the Regime more than any Senate or Fleet. Their interventions are classified, but their effects are visible: wars that ended overnight, coups dissolved before beginning, planets pacified without a single public battle.

Their legacy is twofold:

1. The Law in Shadow: They proved that lawful warfare does not require spectacle, only precision. Their operations gave rise to the Doctrine of Quiet Ends, a foundational concept within modern DMDF special operations.
2. The Moral Cipher: Their anonymity created a cultural constant within the Regime: "It does not matter who enforces the Law, only that it is enforced." This principle reshaped the moral architecture of every Legion.

Legends speak of one Epilektoi unit, "The Pale Nine," who descended upon the ONI citadel during the Spartan Purge, eradicating every operative within three hours. No visual records remain. Only one line exists in the archives:

"Judgment complete. Law restored."

To this day, the identity of the Nine is unknown, even to the Primus Myrmidon. Such is their devotion: to serve the Law even from beyond remembrance.

“They are the unseen Flame, pure, cold, merciful in their precision. The Epilektoi do not serve the Regime. They serve the idea that order itself must survive humanity.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

“Do not mistake our silence for softness. We are the weight that makes the blade honest. When the Spartans end a thing, it stays ended because we refuse every shortcut that would poison the morning after. That is the oath. That is why the Blackguard walks beside them.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

“When the storm breaks, it is the Spartans who decide where the lightning falls. It is we who stand in the thunder, unbroken, until silence returns.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

I. Cultural Ethos

The Blackguard Myrmidons are the embodiment of Loyalty, Law, and Flame, the triad of virtues that define their existence within the Dawns March Defense Force. They are forged not to mirror the Spartans, but to complement them; where Spartans are myth made flesh, the Myrmidons are the living Law that keeps the myth clean. They are bound to each other through vows of permanence, brother to sister, fire to shadow, oaths that never die even in death.

To the Myrmidon, loyalty is not sentiment but structure. It is a discipline of endurance, an unyielding promise to stand beside one's brothers and sisters until there is nothing left to give but breath. They are fearless not by nature, but by ritual, having burned away hesitation through repetition, pain, and the precise internalization of the Codex Myrmidonis. Where lesser soldiers speak of courage, the Myrmidons speak of function. Their fearlessness is not wild; it is engineered.

They perceive themselves as the shield edge of the Flame Doctrine, living extensions of the Regime moral will. To falter is not personal failure; it is the moment where civilization cracks. Thus, they do not break. They cannot. The Codex will not permit it.

Even among the DMDF, they are seen as a force apart, brutal yet disciplined, silent yet absolute. They are soldiers who do not revel in conquest but in completion: an operation finished, a corridor restored, a child walking home through smoke.

II. Symbolism and Mythic Identity

The Blackguard draw their identity from ancient Terran myth, particularly from the tale of Achilles and the Myrmidons, whose loyalty and unity defied death and doubt. To them, this myth is not a story; it is scripture. Their Primarch, E501 "Achilles" Varkon, is the living echo of that myth reborn through science and war.

Their symbols reflect this duality of divine lethality and disciplined restraint:

• The Obsidian Flame: A black fire enclosed in silver, symbolizing Law within destruction. It burns cold, the fire that illuminates but does not consume.
• The Iron Oathmark: A geometric sigil of interlocking octagons, representing the infinite oath, once taken, never broken.
• The Broken Spear: Etched into armor upon initiation, symbolizing the weapon that never forgets its wielder; each fracture signifies rebirth through loyalty.
• The White Mask: Optional during funerary rites and storm deployments, representing anonymity before the Law, no glory, no legend, only duty.

Their colors, black, silver, and crimson, mirror the moral trinity of the Codex: black for silence, silver for Law, crimson for sacrifice.

Within Task Force Eclipse, the Blackguard are often called The Silent Storm, their sigil displayed beneath the banners of every Regiment they serve. To wear it is not to be seen; it is to be known.

III. Behavioral Customs

Myrmidons live under the principle of Functional Brotherhood: emotion disciplined into ritual, companionship hardened into absolute interdependence. Each warrior knows the pulse of their squadmates' biometrics better than their own heartbeat.

Their daily customs are a blend of religious austerity and military precision:

• The Silence Before Dawn: Each day begins with 300 seconds of silence, regardless of the theater. In that time, Myrmidons mentally recite their last Mission's mistakes and vow their correction.
• Gauntlet Touch: When greeting a comrade, they strike gauntlet to gauntlet, not a handshake, not a salute. It signifies equality under Flame and that each would bleed for the other.
• The Oath of Air: After combat, no Myrmidon speaks for one minute following helmet removal. This silence honors the air reclaimed from those who no longer breathe.
• Chain of Vigil: The lowest-ranking trooper always eats last, ensuring no one starves, symbolizing the Codex's Creed: "The Flame protects those who protect."
• Refusal Drill: A Myrmidon must know when to say no, when an unlawful Order tempts a lawful hand. Each week, they rehearse refusal to keep moral reflex faster than fear.

These customs create soldiers who operate not as individuals, but as a living mechanism of restraint and precision.

IV. Ceremonial Rites and Traditions

The Blackguard are warrior-monks in every sense. Their ceremonies are brutal, cold, and consistently earned.

• The Iron Baptism: The initiation of a Myrmidon. Recruits submerge into glacial coolant baths while reciting the Codex Myrmidonis under hypoxic strain. They emerge marked with the Iron Oath sigil burned into their armor.
• Rite of the Unbroken Line: Performed after every Mission where no comrade was lost. Each member presses their gauntlet to the next's chestplate, forming a chain that symbolizes survival through unity.
• The Obsidian Vigil: Once a year, Myrmidons stand watch over the Lex Obsidiana for one whole night in silence, guarding the Codex itself. No words, no movement, no deviation, only the hum of systems and the sound of breath.
• Echo of the Fallen: After losing a squadmate, the survivors recite the lost warrior's designation into their armor's comm-log. That name becomes a passive signal carried by every subsequent squad the survivor joins, immortalizing the dead through constant presence.
• Rite of the Ledger: The most sacred of all. After a significant campaign, every Myrmidon signs their name into the Codex under oath that their victory obeyed the Law. To falsify this entry is unthinkable; such dishonor leads to Excision.

Every rite reinforces the idea that the Myrmidon is both human and institution, vessel and vow. They are not a people, they are a Continuity.

V. Worldview and Enemy Perception

The Myrmidons see the galaxy as a field of collapsing systems, where chaos is the natural state and Law the act of defiance. To them, the Regime is not tyranny but maintenance. Civilization does not endure by chance; it endures because someone is willing to stand in the breach forever.

They view enemies not with hatred, but with cold recognition: those who abandon Order invite ruin. However, they respect courage in opposition. A worthy foe earns a name in the Codex; a coward earns nothing but silence.

They hold to the Doctrine of Moral Distance, never hating, never enjoying violence. Killing is not a privilege; it is the maintenance of civilization's perimeter. The Myrmidon's most incredible pride is to end a conflict without collapsing the structure of the world around it.

Within TFE, this worldview sets them apart. Spartans are worshiped; Myrmidons are feared. Yet even Spartans know that without the Myrmidon's lawful hand, their thunder would consume the stars they were meant to protect.

VI. Legion Mantras & Cultural Lexicon

Language is sacred within the Blackguard. Every word is a tool, every phrase a vow. Their lexicon functions as both code and scripture.

Common Mantras:

• "Law is the Flame; We are the Smoke.": Spoken before deployment.
• "No Shadow Without Shield.": Used between paired Myrmidon-Spartan teams.
• "The Ledger Remembers.": Whispered when witnessing an atrocity.
• "We Are the Silence That Ends the Storm.": Motto of the Division.
• "Only the Law Outlives Us.": Spoken before death, inscribed on tombs and armor plates.

Cultural Terms:

• "Chainborn": A Myrmidon raised from birth within the Regime orphan trials; viewed as purest stock.
• "Ledgerkeeper": Term of honor for one who ensures lawful closure of operations.
• "Iron Brother / Iron Sister": Fellow Myrmidon bonded through survival of the Iron Baptism.
• "Obsidian Moment": The instant when moral choice defines victory; referenced in Tribunal reports.
• "Echoborn": A recruit trained by a unit that lost its original leader; considered spiritually bound to the fallen.
• "To Break the Flame": A phrase meaning moral collapse; the ultimate disgrace.

Their speech is clipped, ritualized, and devoid of flourish. Even humor is dry and situational, used not to entertain, but to regulate stress.

VII. Legacy and Cultural Influence

Across the UCG and DMDF, the Blackguard Myrmidons are both legend and warning. To civilians, they are incorruptible sentinels, grim figures who arrive when hope has already fled. To soldiers, they are the embodiment of the Codex made flesh.

Children on bastion worlds learn to whisper, "The Myrmidon watches." Criminals use their name as shorthand for inevitability. Even Spartans admit that while they break wars, it is the Myrmidons who make the peace endure.

Culturally, their methods have bled into broader DMDF Doctrine, tribunal logs, precision engagements, post-war reconstruction protocols, and even the psychological conditioning programs of the Regime academies.

Their influence extends into art and philosophy as well. Sculptors depict them as faceless warriors holding cradled flames; poets refer to them as the Law in black. They are symbols of fear made ethical, violence made lawful, and loyalty made permanent.

Yet, within their ranks, there is no pride, only purpose. Each Myrmidon believes they are a temporary custodian of an eternal task: to hold back chaos long enough for others to build.

“We are not heroes. Heroes die for applause. We die for silence, for the breath of a world that wakes unburned. Remember us not in legend, but in the laws that still hold.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

“We are not the blade that wins wars. We are the law that keeps victory from rotting.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

I. Purpose in Flame

The Blackguard Myrmidons exist to safeguard the soul of the Regime wars. Their Purpose in Flame is not conquest, nor glory, but the preservation of lawful victory and the endurance of civilization's Order after the battle ends. They are the lawful shadow beneath the Flame Doctrine: enforcing restraint where rage would burn too far, ensuring that Spartan brilliance does not collapse into chaos once the Enemy breaks.

To the Regime, they are the living custodians of discipline, the proof that war can be fought without surrendering to barbarity. Every Myrmidon understands that the power they wield, the ability to fight beside Spartans, to strike with absolute precision, must be tempered by Law. The Flame Doctrine grants them the right to act, but the Codex Juris Bellum defines how they behave, and the Codex Myrmidonis reminds them why they act.

They are the conscience of Task Force Eclipse, the bridge between myth and Law. Their purpose is to ensure that every Spartan's victory is sustainable, that the restoration of Order follows every act of destruction, and that no victory ever becomes a seed for rebellion.

They are not the fire. They are the Crucible that holds it.

II. Publicly Declared Objectives

The Myrmidons are unflinchingly transparent in their goals because secrecy breeds fear, and fear without context breeds rebellion. Every objective they declare is lawful, measured, and tied directly to the survival of the Regime moral legitimacy.

Declared Objectives:

1. Preserve Lawful Victory
   Ensure every Task Force Eclipse operation adheres to the Codex Juris Bellum and Codex Myrmidonis. No breach, no legend, no martyrdom.
2. Maintain the Spartan Bond
   Operate in total synchronization with Spartan Regimental Commanders, ensuring their tactical decisions remain lawfully executed and strategically reinforced.
3. Enforce Codified Order in War
   Deploy Field Tribunal Teams to prevent unlawful escalation, rumor proliferation, and civilian devastation. The Ledger must outlive the smoke.
4. Project the Image of the Flame Doctrine
   Serve as visible proof of Regime morality in warfare, transforming terror into reverence and destruction into security.
5. Protect Civilian Continuity
   Secure infrastructure, preserve utilities, and maintain Order in all post-battle zones to guarantee the Flame's protection extends beyond the battlefield.
6. Sustain the Doctrine of Loyalty and Obedience
   Guard the internal unity of Task Force Eclipse; loyalty to comrades is absolute, obedience to Law is unbreakable.

Unlike other branches of the DMDF, the Blackguard's goals are not temporary; they are eternal. Their Mission does not end when the guns fall silent; it begins there.

III. Messaging, Propaganda & Symbolic Presence

The public face of the Blackguard is paradoxical: they are omnipresent yet nearly invisible. Where Spartans are celebrated as heroes, Myrmidons are feared as inevitability, the silent silhouettes who ensure that the heroes never become tyrants, and that chaos never masquerades as freedom.

Regime Messaging Platforms:

• "The Law After Fire" Holo-Broadcasts
  Short visual transmissions showing Myrmidons securing cities after battle, repairing walls, restoring power, and tending to civilians. Each ends with the Regime axiom: "The Flame protects because the Law endures."
• "Silent Storm Processions"
  Public marches of fully-armored Myrmidons through newly pacified zones. No words, no music, only their rhythmic step. Civilians describe it as both terrifying and comforting; the return of Order made flesh.
• The Obsidian Banner
  A black field with a white Flame and eight interlocking octagons, each representing the eight Legions of the Division. It is flown not during battle, but after victory, to signify lawful closure.
• The Oath Transmissions
  Once per cycle, the Myrmidons broadcast their Divisional Oath across all Regime channels:
  "We hold the line of Law, not for power, but for permanence. We are the silence that ends the storm."

Their imagery, faceless warriors, white masks, and obsidian armor, has become a moral deterrent across UCG space. Where their sigil appears, panic subsides. The people know that the Regime is not simply fighting; it is containing.

IV. Political Alignment and Ideological Role

The Blackguard Myrmidons serve as the Regime moral enforcers and ideological stabilizers. Their alignment is Ultra-Stabilitarian Regime Loyalist, loyal not to individuals or factions, but to the Law of Flame itself. They are neither politicians nor executioners; they are custodians of civilization's immune system.

Ideological Roles within the Regime:

• Custodians of Flame Doctrine: They preserve the integrity of the Regime martial ethics, ensuring that strength never consumes the civilization it was meant to protect.
• Bridges Between Civilian and Military Worlds: Trusted to speak in both halls, the Senate and the battlefield. They translate Spartan victory into Regime permanence.
• Judges of the Battlefield: Their tribunals serve as the Regime conscience; their verdicts are feared more than the Enemy's guns.
• Suppressors of Chaos: Through Law, they neutralize rebellion before it blooms. To break the Codex is to break the Flame; both are unthinkable.

Internally, the Myrmidons operate with a Doctrine of lawful isolation; they do not influence politics directly but ensure that politics never influences them. Their obedience is to structure, not charisma; to permanence, not persuasion.

They exist so that the Regime may remain both feared and righteous.

V. Promises to Regime & Civilian Populace

The Blackguard Myrmidons are the Regime most solemn promise made flesh. Their oaths are public, ritualized, and legally binding. Each vow is transmitted and recorded into the Lex Obsidiana, ensuring accountability that spans systems.

Core Promises:

1. We Will Not Break the Law to Win the War
   No victory is worth the death of justice. The Flame must burn within bounds, or the galaxy burns with it.
2. We Will Stand with the Spartans Until the End
   The bond between Myrmidon and Spartan is sacred. One names the hour, the other keeps it lawful.
3. We Will Shield the Innocent Even in Silence
   No voice shall cry unheard. Civilian lives are not statistics; they are the measure of success.
4. We Will Make Fear Honest
   The Enemy will fear us because they must, but that fear will never be born of cruelty.
5. We Will Die Before We Betray Our Oath
   Loyalty to the Regime, to the Law, and to one another is absolute. Betrayal is not survivable, by Law or by conscience.

These promises are not propaganda; they are Doctrine. The Blackguard are judged as harshly as they judge others. The people trust them not because they are merciful, but because they are inevitable.

VI. Legacy and Influence Across Systems

The Blackguard Myrmidons have become one of the most recognizable and paradoxical icons of the UCG Regime. Across the stars, their reputation precedes them, not as conquerors, but as the enforcers of peace through Order.

Legacy Highlights:

• The Xi Boötis Cleansing (2562): Myrmidon-led tribunals restored civilian infrastructure within 48 hours of orbital descent. Their refusal to raze the city earned respect even from the Enemy observers.
• Operation Ashfall: Myrmidon Command isolated a Regime general for unlawful civilian executions, publicly demonstrating that the Law outweighs even senior rank.
• The Leonis Minoris Accord: Myrmidons negotiated the ceasefire's terms by enforcing the Flame Doctrine's humanitarian articles, allowing the Regime to exit the war with its moral authority intact.
• The Obsidian Memorial of New Harmony: A towering statue of an armored Myrmidon standing before the Flame, inscription beneath: "Justice is not an emotion. It is maintenance."

In civil society, their influence extends beyond the battlefield. Universities study their Tribunal doctrines as models of military jurisprudence. Civilians model their civic oaths after the Iron Oath. Even the Ministry of War Doctrine cites their conduct as the correct application of lawful dominance.

They are feared by the Enemy, respected by the Spartans, and revered by the people.

Where they walk, chaos remembers its boundaries.

“We are the shadow of the Flame, and the keepers of its truth. We are loyalty given law, courage given shape, and fear given purpose. When the thunder fades and the stars go quiet, it is not peace that remains, it is us.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

“We are not the thunder. We are the silence that follows it, and the law that keeps it from returning.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

I. Role Within the DMDF

Within the Dawns March Defense Force (DMDF), the Blackguard Myrmidons serve as the lawful fist of the Flame Doctrine, the disciplined mass that transforms Spartan victories into enduring Order. They are the living architecture of the Regime military ethos: hyper-lethal precision bounded by Law, loyalty beyond reason, and bravery without spectacle.

The Myrmidons function as the Divisional counterpart to the Spartans of Task Force Eclipse (TFE), embedding within every Regiment as their ethical backbone and logistical mirror. They make possible what Spartans design, coordinating shock, containment, and moral survivability in the aftermath of absolute warfare. Where a Spartan strike breaks the world open, the Myrmidons ensure it does not shatter completely.

They are often described as Tier-1 Compliance Shock Troops: specialists who can breach a fortress, evacuate a civilian sector, and conduct a Tribunal, all in a single operation cycle. Their formations combine the flexibility of special forces with the resilience of standing armies, wrapped in a judicial authority sanctioned by the Codex Juris Bellum.

To the DMDF, they are the safeguard against corruption of power. To the Regime, they are the steel bridge between victory and civilization. To the Enemy, they are inevitably given armor.

II. The Legions of the Blackguard Division

Each Legion of the Blackguard embodies a specific aspect of lawful warfare and disciplined lethality. Together, they form the Division of the Silent Storm, a warform designed to complement and reinforce every element of Task Force Eclipse operations.

Each Legion's motto is spoken in High Regime Latin, the sacred tongue of UCG military Doctrine.

Legion I – EIDOLA

Category: Elite Infantry / Special Forces
Motto: "Celeritas Legalis" - "Speed Made Law"

The EIDOLA Legion serves as the cutting edge of the Division's assault element, directly paired with Spartan formations during offensive operations. They embody lawful aggression, fast, decisive, and surgically lethal. To the Myrmidons, "speed" is not haste, but discipline moving at its highest form of precision.

They are the Division's shock Doctrine enforcers, trained in micro-environmental warfare and keystone strikes. EIDOLA Myrmidons are often the first Regime soldiers civilians encounter after bombardment: black armor, silver insignia, silent, efficient, carrying the Codex like a weapon. They are not conquerors; they are the Law's opening argument.

Culturally, they operate as the Hands of Achilles, unflinching extensions of the Primarch's will. Their silence before battle is ritual, their executions surgical, and their victories bloodless whenever possible. They are both feared and respected, warriors who strike before hesitation becomes cruelty.

Legion II – UMBRAE

Category: Infantry / Defense Force
Motto: "Murum Fidei" - "The Wall of Faith"

The UMBRAE Legion is the shield that endures when the thunder passes. Tasked with fortification, population protection, and post-conflict stabilization, UMBRAE represents the moral endurance of the Flame Doctrine.

They are the living walls of the Regime, slow-moving, implacable, and utterly unyielding. Their gauntleted lines hold the corridors between Spartan shock zones and civilian districts, maintaining the fragile membrane between survival and collapse.

Each UMBRAE trooper carries a fragment of the Codex etched within their armor's inner plate, a constant reminder that faith is not in victory, but in endurance. They are revered as protectors even among civilians who fear the Myrmidon name. In every operation, the moment UMBRAE establishes the "Wall of Faith," the Regime's hold on the planet becomes permanent.

Legion III – BASILISKS

Category: Armor / Defense Force
Motto: "Lex Est Ferrum" - "The Law Is Iron"

The BASILISKS Legion are the armored sentinels of lawful destruction, Titan pilots and armored crews who wield mass and pressure as moral instruments. They are the anvil upon which Spartans and EIDOLA strike, the immovable bastion that stabilizes Regime frontlines.

Each Titan within BASILISKS carries not only its callsign and war record, but a recorded Article of Law, a ruling from a prior Tribunal engraved onto its inner hull. To pilot a Titan is to carry history, and to stand within one is to embody Judgment.

BASILISKS units are often deployed to long-term sieges or planetary reclamation campaigns, transforming urban centers into lawful citadels. Their crews regard combat as Trial, not spectacle, and every victory as a verdict rendered by Flame.

Legion IV – MYRMEX

Category: Mechanized / Logistics Corps
Motto: "Motus In Ordine" - "Motion Within Order"

The MYRMEX Legion is the circulatory system of the Division, the living supply lines that keep both Spartan and Myrmidon momentum alive. To them, logistics is not support; it is war conducted in slow motion.

Their convoys are called Vein Lines, adaptive re-role chains capable of transforming from armored carriers to mobile hospitals or signal nodes mid-campaign. In Blackguard Doctrine, every road is both artery and weapon, every supply train an extension of control.

The MYRMEX are the most mathematically disciplined Legion. Their movements are timed to the beat of Regime chronometers, ensuring no unit goes unsupplied, no operation drifts into chaos. They believe that motion without Law is collapse, and thus they build the rhythm of lawful war.

Legion V – CORVUS

Category: Aerial / Special Forces
Motto: "Super Omnia Silentium" - "Above All, Silence"

The CORVUS Legion rules the void and the skies. They are the aerospace wing of the Division, responsible for graviton insertions, orbital interception, and atmosphere dominance. They clear the path for Spartans to fall like lightning and ensure no Enemy rises again to strike.

CORVUS pilots are mystics of silence, treating flight as communion, not combat. Their cockpits are sanctums; their wings, sermons. Every Mission begins with a ritual phrase transmitted over encrypted channels: "The sky obeys."

Their insignia, a white wing bisecting a black Flame, is seen across hundreds of Regime worlds. Civilians know that when the CORVUS descends, the storm is already lawful.

Legion VI – NYX

Category: Recon / Exploration / Intelligence**
Motto: "In Tenebris Lux" - "In Darkness, Light"

The NYX Legion is the unseen lattice upon which the entire Division depends. They move where no light reaches, collecting, interpreting, and erasing information with surgical restraint.

NYX operates at the intersection of truth and deception. They are the internal auditors, counter-AI infiltrators, and myth hunters of the Blackguard. Their task is not only to find enemies but to prevent false legends from forming, ensuring the Regime's truth remains singular, inviolable, and pure.

They are the whispering historians of lawful war, preserving what must endure and erasing what must never be known. Among other Myrmidons, they are treated with reverent distance, for even a single word from a NYX officer can rewrite the truth of a battlefield.

Legion VII – NEMESIS

Category: Quick Reaction Force / Elite Infantry
Motto: "Finis Per Legem" - "The End Through Law"

The NEMESIS Legion is the Division's instrument of finality. When operations falter, Law fractures, or commanders lose control, NEMESIS is deployed. Their arrival signifies that mercy has expired, and Judgment is imminent.

They are the Law's exorcists, reestablishing control through absolute precision and overwhelming discipline. NEMESIS deployments are always logged within the Lex Obsidiana under "Severe Flame Protocols." Their interventions end both wars and careers, for no corruption or chaos survives their scrutiny.

They are not seen until it is too late. And once they are caught, the battle is already over.

Legion VIII – Custodes

Category: Core Force (Veteran Special Forces / Last Line Defense)
Motto: "Custodes Flammae, Custodes Omnia" - "Guardians of the Flame, Guardians of All"

The CUSTODES Legion stands apart as the oldest, rarest, and most mythic of all Myrmidon formations. Stationed upon New Harmony, in the Spartan refuge city now serving as the Task Force Eclipse capital, Sparta, they are the living synthesis of Spartan and Myrmidon legacy.

Unlike the other Legions, the Custodes do not March often. They are the Division's final Wall, the last to be deployed and the last to fall. Every member is a veteran of the Codex, a Myrmidon who has survived at least two decades of continuous combat under the Lex Obsidiana and earned the right to wear its seal within their armor core. Their presence is not a sign of reinforcement; it is a proclamation that the Regime will not yield.

Operational Mandate:
The Custodes serve three sacred functions:

1. Guardians of the Flame Doctrine: They preserve the living Doctrine of lawful warfare across generations. Within the Vault of Obsidian Flame, a massive subterranean citadel built upon the original Spartan refuge, they maintain the Codex archives, Tribunal records, and the living oaths of every Myrmidon who has ever fallen in service.
2. Trainers of the Next Generation: All Myrmidons, regardless of Legion, trace their rebirth through Custodian hands. Recruits undergo the final Trial beneath the Flame Vault, where they learn the Oath of Endurance, the ritual that severs fear and binds the self to the Codex. The Custodes teach not how to fight, but how to endure without compromise.
3. The Final Sanction: When the impossible must be done, when the Codex is threatened, when Law falters, or when an Enemy cannot be allowed to exist, the Custodes deploy. They are the last Order of Achilles' Command chain, released only by her direct authorization or by a unanimous decree of the Strategoi. In these moments, the Custodes do not act as soldiers; they act as Judgment.

Composition and Identity:
Each Custodian bears no visible insignia, no personal callsign, and no record outside the Lex Obsidiana. Their armor is black mirrorsteel trimmed in deep white and silver, with a single crimson Flame etched across the chestplate, the Flame Doctrine itself rendered in sacred geometry. The silence of their approach is said to feel like gravity shifting.

They move as one organism, a synchronized phalanx of pure lethality, every action measured and final. To fight beside them is to stand next to inevitability; to face them is to see one's rebellion weighed and found wanting.

Cultural Role and Symbolism:
On New Harmony, the Custodes are revered as demigods of restraint, warrior-monks who guard not only the world but the soul of the Regime itself. They attend every Tribunal in Sparta, standing in silent witness as the Flame burns before the assembly. Civilians leave offerings of iron and ash outside the Vault gates, believing that the Custodes carry not only weapons, but the memory of every soldier who ever fell lawfully.

Their motto, "Custodes Flammae, Custodes Omnia," is carved into the stone archway of the Flame Vault and the hulls of Task Force Eclipse capital ships. It is a reminder that the Law must be guarded as fiercely as the world it protects.

Doctrine:
When deployed, the Custodes operate under the Protocol of Last Light, an operational Doctrine that supersedes all lesser authority. Their objectives are singular and absolute: restore Law, protect the Flame, and eliminate all variables that threaten the Regime's permanence.

Their strikes are not swift; they are precise, inevitable, and permanent. When they arrive, the universe pauses.

III. Strategic Role in Galactic Campaigns

Across the breadth of the Genesis Galaxy, the Blackguard Myrmidons function as the judicial core of Task Force Eclipse, bridging the Law of civilization with the fury of Spartan warfare. Their campaigns are not defined by conquest alone, but by completion, worlds made lawful, populations restored to Order, and chaos folded back into structure. Where Spartans burn through the storm, the Myrmidons are the calm that follows, binding victory in the language of permanence.

Every galactic campaign waged by Task Force Eclipse follows a triadic operational rhythm, built upon the synchronization of Spartan precision and Myrmidon discipline. This system, formalized under Primus Myrmidon Lysandra "Palladion" Voris, is known as the Doctrine of Convergent Flame, and it governs the Division's strategic use across systems:

1. Convergence of Law and War:
   Task Force Eclipse initiates orbital dominance under Spartan Command, while CORVUS secures aerospace corridors and NYX silences the spectrum. As the Spartans carve the initial strike, EIDOLA Legions descend beside them, not as reinforcements, but as legal binders of chaos. Their arrival marks the transition from unrestrained conflict to lawful warfare.
2. Codified Occupation:
   Once planetary penetration begins, UMBRAE and BASILISKS establish defensive latticework and fortify civilian sectors. MYRMEX ensures supply arteries flow continuously, reshaping logistics in real time. Field tribunals convene even as shots still echo, establishing legality amid fire. The Regime does not pause to declare an Order; it builds it while fighting.
3. Custodian Finality:
   When the Codex falters, or when the stakes Eclipse mortal will, CUSTODES deploy. Their appearance signals a final act, one of inevitability and Judgment. The Custodes are sent only under Protocol of Last Light, authorized solely by E501 "Achilles" Varkon. Whether reclaiming cities from Spartan civil riots, eliminating uncontainable insurrections, or executing apocalyptic countermeasures, their function is absolute closure. No wars continue beyond their step.

In campaigns such as the Fall of Xi Boötis, the Leonis Minoris Reclamation, and the Xunkonus System War, the Myrmidons' precision became synonymous with the UCG's new era of lawful warfare. Spartan-led annihilation paired with Myrmidon stabilization redefined what victory meant for the Regime, not merely survival, but Continuity through Law.

When the world sees the black armor of the Myrmidon descend, it does not wonder who won. It wonders if the Flame will allow the morning to rise.

IV. Reputation and Legacy

Across the stars, the Blackguard Myrmidons are more than soldiers; they are a culture of inevitability. To the Regime, they represent incorruptible Law in motion; to the DMDF, unmatched precision; and to their enemies, the sound of Judgment approaching.

Their legacy is one of paradox, a perfect synthesis of Spartan ferocity and monastic restraint. Even the most hardened divisions of the DMDF regard them with awe: disciplined to the molecular level, fearless to the point of serenity, bound by an unbreakable fraternal code.

Within the Regime, the Myrmidons are regarded as the living Covenant between the military and the moral Order. Their laws are studied at the Academy of Juris Flame, and their tribunals are broadcast across core worlds as demonstrations of justice done without cruelty. Myrmidons have become the public conscience of the DMDF, terrifying in power, yet revered for restraint.

Among Spartans, they are kin in spirit. The bond between TFE's Spartan Regiments and the Myrmidon Legions is legendary, forged through shared blood and tempered by mutual respect. Spartans name them the Iron Faithful, while Myrmidons call their Spartan allies the Flame's Shadow. In battle, their unity is seamless, a conversation between gods and the laws that follow them.

In the Eyes of the Enemy, they are the Regime ghostly executioners, faceless, efficient, impossible to corrupt. Resistance commanders across the Orion Spur recount the same tale: once the Myrmidons arrive, the outcome is not war, but audit. The NEMESIS and CUSTODES Legions, in particular, have become legends whispered with dread. Their intervention marks an end so absolute that entire insurgent movements dissolve at their name alone.

The Custodes have elevated this legacy to near-religious reverence. Stationed on New Harmony, they are the apex of the Myrmidon ideal, soldiers who have transcended individuality, becoming the guardians of both Flame and Law. Their myth stretches beyond the DMDF, whispered even among the civilian populace:

“When the world trembles, the Custodes awaken.”

Their fortress, The Vault of Obsidian Flame, has become a pilgrimage site for Regime soldiers seeking moral clarity. Inside, holographic flames illuminate stone tablets inscribed with every confirmed Myrmidon name across the centuries. Beneath them rest the ashes of the first Myrmidons, the progenitors of lawful warfare.

Their Reputation and Legacy can be distilled into four immutable truths:

1. Law Made Flesh: They are the physical manifestation of the Codex Juris Bellum. The Law does not speak; it marches.
2. Fear Made Order: Their very presence halts riots, pacifies resistance, and enforces silence where chaos once ruled.
3. Loyalty Made Immortal: Their oaths outlive their bodies; no Myrmidon has ever defected in Regime history.
4. The Flame Eternal: Through the Custodes, the spirit of both Spartan and Myrmidon endures, a single lineage of lawful immortality.

The Legacy of the Division of the Silent Storm is not measured in victories or systems pacified. It is measured in what remains intact after the storm passes. Cities that function. Civilians who sleep without fear. Stars that still bear light.

They are not heroes. They are not myths. They are the custodians of the line between chaos and civilization, and their greatest triumph is that no one ever sees them fail.

“We are the flame’s shadow, the order within the storm. We are not remembered for what we destroyed, but for what still stands when the fires die. Wherever we march, law follows. Wherever we fall, order is born anew.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

“Mercy is not the absence of punishment. Mercy is the absence of chaos. Those who abandoned the Flame chose the dark. We are the law that burns it away.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

I. Diplomatic Stance and Strategic Posture

The Blackguard Myrmidons of Task Force Eclipse (TFE) do not practice Diplomacy in the conventional sense; they practice juridical warfare, the extension of Law through dominance and consequence. Their stance is a paradoxical fusion of restraint and annihilation: they are as capable of rebuilding a city within forty-eight hours as they are of reducing it to ash in four minutes.

The Myrmidons' strategic posture is one of Lawful Absolutism, a Doctrine enshrined in the Codex Juris Bellum and weaponized through the Codex of the Black Sun. Diplomacy, for the Myrmidons, is not negotiation; it is assessment. Every faction encountered is measured against a single immutable standard: Does it obey the Flame?

If a world honors Order, it is protected.
If people obey the law, they are uplifted.
If an Enemy defies either, they are erased.

Their communication with foreign powers is deliberately minimal, spoken only through action, Tribunal decrees, or the thunderous arrival of their fleets. In every system they enter, they carry the same unspoken message: "We are not here to speak. We are here to end the argument."

II. Relations with the UNSC / UEG Remnants

Status: Hostile - Codified as Extinct or Forcibly Dissolved Entities
Diplomatic Standing: None - Classified under Article VII: Enemies of Lawful Continuity

The Myrmidons hold no mercy and no memory for the fallen remains of the United Nations Space Command or its UEG predecessors. To them, the UNSC represents the ancient tyranny of hypocrisy, the empire that cloaked its brutality in the illusion of peace. Its wars shattered civilizations, erased colonies, and orphaned billions.

In the eyes of the Blackguard, the UNSC's collapse was not a tragedy but justice fulfilled. Those who cling to its ghost are heretics against the Flame itself.

Any surviving UNSC-aligned forces or successor polities are to be purged without hesitation under Judicial Directive 9A, "No remnants of the broken Law may stand." Captured officers are granted a Tribunal before execution, not for mercy. Still, so their guilt is recorded in the Lex Obsidiana, ensuring no fragment of their deceit ever resurfaces in history.

To the Myrmidons, the UNSC's annihilation was not vengeance. It was maintenance, the cleansing of the old Order to ensure the Flame's purity.

III. Relations with the Enemy Spartans

Status: Hostile - Declared Apostate by Codex Myrmidonis, Article III
Diplomatic Standing: None - Engage and Eliminate

The Enemy Spartans, those who still bear UNSC markings or reject the Regime sovereignty, are considered traitors of the highest Order. The Blackguard's hatred for them is personal, profound, and sacred. They are seen as fallen kin, brothers and sisters who turned their blades against the very legacy they were forged to protect.

During the ONI Spartan Purge, countless Spartans were slaughtered, betrayed, or abandoned by their human creators. Those who found refuge in the UCG became the founders of Task Force Eclipse, the lawful continuation of the Spartan dream. Those who did not… became monsters in the eyes of the Myrmidons.

The Codex dictates Absolute No Mercy toward these renegades. They are to be hunted, not for bloodlust, but for correction of the moral record. Myrmidons view the extermination of rogue Spartans as an act of loyalty to their fallen brethren, a purge of dishonor to preserve the purity of the lineage.

In every battle where the two forces meet, there is no negotiation, no surrender, no conversation. There is only vengeance made lawful.

IV. Relations with the Office of Naval Intelligence

Status: Hostile - Permanent and Irredeemable
Diplomatic Standing: None - Root and Eradicate

To the Myrmidons, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is not merely an Enemy; it is the serpent that poisoned an entire generation of warriors. ONI's historical atrocities, human experimentation, psychological conditioning, and betrayal of the Spartans during the Purge mark it as the prime heresy of mankind.

Every ONI operative, database, and lineage is subject to Flame Doctrine Article XI "The Serpent's Debt":

"All who whisper lies in the name of control shall be silenced until truth walks unafraid."

ONI remnants are hunted across the stars with surgical precision. NYX Legions infiltrate and dismantle intelligence networks; NEMESIS deploys in rapid strike patterns to execute clean eradication. The Custodes have been called upon only once, to terminate an ONI Fleet attempting to resurrect the Spartan-IV program under false Regime flags. They left nothing but signal ghosts and silence.

The Myrmidons' hatred for ONI is not emotional; it is institutional. They consider ONI the living embodiment of Law without conscience. In their Doctrine, deceit is the ultimate rebellion against Order. Thus, ONI's extinction is not an act of war, but of purification.

V. Relations with Insurgent Forces and Rebel Worlds

Status: Active Hostility - Conditional Engagement under Article IX: The Law's Perimeter
Diplomatic Standing: Variable - Conversion or Erasure

The Myrmidons view insurgent movements and rebellious colonies as diseases of entropy, not inherently evil, but left unchecked, fatal to civilization. The Regime first instinct is correction, not extermination.

Where insurgencies arise from desperation or misrule, UMBRAE and MYRMEX Legions are deployed to restore infrastructure and stability, often turning rebellion into loyalty through sheer efficiency and moral dominance. Where insurgencies arise from greed, piracy, or chaos, EIDOLA and NEMESIS answer with lawful annihilation.

The Myrmidons are not executioners by default; they are educators. Their tribunals bring rebels before the Codex, granting them the chance to stand in Order before they fall in Law. Those who refuse are purged and recorded, their names reduced to warnings etched in the Lex Obsidiana.

Rebel worlds that accept reintegration often emerge stronger; those that resist cease to exist. The choice, to the Myrmidons, is never unclear.

VI. Relations with Neutral Powers, Mercenary States & Minor Factions

Status: Monitored - Neutral Containment
Diplomatic Standing: Conditional Recognition under Codex Article XII

The Myrmidons tolerate neutrality only under lawful observation. Independent systems, mercenary guilds, and frontier coalitions are permitted to exist so long as they do not interfere with the Flame's reach or harbor enemies of the Regime.

When approached diplomatically, the Myrmidons respond with cold pragmatism. Trade may occur, alliances may form, but every interaction is shadowed by evaluation. Neutral states are given contracts, the Pacts of Stability, binding them to Regime Law in exchange for protection.

However, neutrality does not grant immunity. Should any minor faction breach those contracts or harbor fugitives, the NEMESIS or CORVUS Legions will descend without warning. The Myrmidons' message is clear: neutrality is a privilege, not a right.

For this reason, most mercenary powers treat the Myrmidons with both respect and dread. They understand that to violate the Regime Law is not to invite war, it is to invite Judgment.

VII. Known Enemies of Legacy Significance

Primary Legacy Enemies (Active or Eradicated):

• ONI Directorate Remnants: Eradicated in multiple theaters; surviving elements remain highest-priority targets under Codex Black-Designation.
• UNSC Loyalist Cells: Fragmented, leaderless, hunted without mercy.
• Rogue Spartan-IV Units ("The Broken Line" ): Classified "Irredeemable"; eliminated on sight.
• The Free Orion League: Rebel federation crushed during the Leonis Minoris Campaign; notable for mass war crimes later purged under EIDOLA intervention.
• Crimson Dawn Insurgency (Orso System): Neutralized 2567 by joint Spartan-Myrmidon strike; NEMESIS oversight declared "Law Restored."
• ONI-Affiliated AI Constructs (Theta Line): Actively hunted by NYX and Custodes detachments; their code considered infectious and outlawed under Codex Article XV.

The Myrmidons maintain a living archive of these enemies within the Vault of Obsidian Flame, ensuring their crimes and annihilations are never forgotten, not as vengeance, but as history's cautionary Ledger.

VIII. Diplomatic Symbolism and Planetary Perception

The presence of the Blackguard Myrmidons on a world is not an event; it is a transformation. Civilians see them as harbingers of silence, a paradox of fear and security. Where they walk, chaos flees, but joy does not follow. The Law is absolute, and its shadow is deep.

Their symbolic Diplomacy is enacted through ritual and imagery:

• The White Mask Procession signifies that Judgment has passed and lawful peace is restored.
• The Obsidian Flame Standard raised over a city signifies its reintegration into Regime control.
• The Custodes Vigil, a silent formation of black and silver-armored veterans, marks worlds deemed permanently secured by the Flame.

To the populace, these acts transcend politics; they are sacraments of civilization. Even those who hate the Regime find comfort in the return of Order.

Across the UCG, the saying endures:

"If the Blackguard walks your streets, you have survived the storm."

“We remember every betrayal, every broken promise, every lie that made our brothers and sisters bleed. The UNSC is ash. ONI is dust. The rebels hide beneath the soil, and still we find them. For the Flame, for the Law, for the fallen, we do not forgive. We correct.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

The Codex Myrmidonis

“Steel without statute is riot. Statute without steel is theater. We are the hand that keeps both honest.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

I. Foundation of the Blackguard Myrmidons' Laws

The Codex Myrmidonis is the binding legal scripture of the Blackguard Myrmidons, derived from three pillars:

1. Codex Juris Bellum (Law of War and Flame): The DMDF's supreme Law of ethical war, delineating what may be done, when, to whom, and why.
2. Codex of the Black Sun: Doctrine of lawful control over chaos: rumor hygiene, psychological operations within moral bounds, and the suppression of legend-making that seeds future wars.
3. Writs of Task Force Eclipse: Operational directives that tailor Regime Law to the six Regiments' tempos (thunder, Wall, ash, Tide, Forge, and truth), keeping Spartan decisions lawful, survivable, and final.

Within Task Force Eclipse, the Blackguard serve as the instrument of lawful permanence: they convert decisive Spartan action into an ending that withstands audit, rumor, time, and revenge.

II. Structure and Creation of Laws

Sovereign Authority:

• Blackguard Primarch - E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon: supreme interpreter of the Codex Myrmidonis in war.
• Primus Myrmidon - Lysandra "Palladion" Voris: Divisional commander and daily steward; issues Implementation Circulars that make the Codex operable at speed.

Legislative Instruments:

• Articles (A-series): Core, near-immutable statutes (aligned to Codex Juris Bellum).
• Doctrinal Directives (D-series): Operational Law, how Articles apply under each Regiment's clock.
• Black Writs (W-series, sealed): Emergency authorities (strictly time-boxed, post-facto audited).
• Tribunal Precedents (T-series): Case Law created by field tribunals; codifies what survived scrutiny.

Origination & Ratification:

• Drafted by Doctrine & Tribunal Prefect (DDT) with the BGS (General Staff).
• Reviewed by Strategos-Primus seats (one per Regiment) for tempo fit.
• Ratified by Palladion; Achilles holds Veto or elevation to Regime jurists if the scope exceeds TFE.

Storage & Access:

• Lex Obsidiana: Tamper-evident Ledger replicated across Divisional nodes and Regimental vaults.
• Field Compendium: Encrypted "bracelet cards" carried by officers: Articles, Directives, and the last 12 Precedents.
• Body-cam, sensor, and chain-of-custody hashes are auto-bound to the Ledger at phase gates.

III. Core Blackguard Myrmidon Laws

Article I - The Primacy of the Flame.
All action must remain within Codex Juris Bellum. Violent shortcuts that poison tomorrow are treason to the Flame.

Article II - The Ledger Survives the Smoke.
If a decision cannot endure a hostile audit, it cannot be taken. Evidence capture is a tactical task, not an afterthought.

Article III - Precision Is Mercy.
Apply the least lawful force that ends the war. Avoid signatures, spectacles, and legend-minting optics.

Article IV - Civilian Sovereignty.
Utilities, corridors, clinics, and water are protected zones. Disruption requires a W-series authority and a restitution plan on file.

Article V - Dual Command Oath.
Every phase gate requires Spartan Commander + Strategos-Primus co-sign. No unilateral acceleration that endangers the Law.

Article VI - Custody before Glory.
High-value captures outrank kills when feasible under risk. Custody chains must remain unbroken, or the victory is forfeit.

Article VII - Rumor Hygiene.
Information operations shall break the Enemy will without birthing myths. Fear may be wielded; cruelty may not.

Article VIII - No Martyrs.
Targets of symbolic value are neutralized without theater. If witnesses are unavoidable, they must witness restraint.

Article IX, Black Writ Economy.
Emergency W-series authorities are time-boxed, logged, and must self-destruct at lapse. Abuse is codified treason.

Article X, The Morning After.
If the city cannot function after we win, we did not win. Sustainment, corridors, and truth are Mission objectives.

IV. Enforcement of Laws

Enforcing Organs:

• Field Tribunal Teams (FTT): DDT-led mobile courts; convene within 90 minutes of a contested action.
• Evidence Custodians: Optios trained in legal capture; they run hashes, witness rolls, and property seals.
• Inspector-Legates: Roving auditors empowered to halt operations that drift into unlawful risk.
• Strategos-Primus (Regimental), immediate corrective authority; may suspend W-series within their theater.

Process:

1. Immediate Freeze: At allegation or anomaly, stop the bleed, secure the lLedger, isolate comms.
2. Witness Roll & Hash Bind: Every present trooper logs a synchronized micro-debrief; sensors folded into Lex Obsidiana.
3. Preliminary Finding: FTT issues are clean, corrective, or contested.
4. Remedy or Referral: Correctives applied in-theater; contested escalates to Divisional Tribunal under Palladion.
5. Precedent Issued (T-series): Binding across the Division unless superseded by Achilles or higher Regime Law.

Jurisdiction:
Myrmidons in TFE fall under Divisional jurisdiction in theater; crimes of Flame (grave breaches) escalate to DMDF High Tribunal with Achilles' brief.

V. Punishments and Penances

Disciplinary Ladder (graduated, cumulative):

• Admonition of Iron: Written censure; mandatory restraint drills; loss of acceleration privileges.
• Penance March: 24–72 hours of Echo Silence post-op service (hospitals, corridors, rebuild).
• Mask Removal: Loss of unit insignia; reassignment to sustainment until Ledger confidence is restored.
• Reduction & Forfeit: Rank reduction; combat stipend forfeiture to victim relief funds.
• Black Writ Bar: Removal of authority to request or execute W-series for a defined period.
• Interdiction of Door: Bans from last-door positions (EIDOLA) pending requalification under Tribunal.
• Iron Oath & Brand: Public oath before the Division; encoded brand in the Lex marking breach class.
• Expulsion (Excision): Removal from Blackguard; transfer to penal labor or civil reconstruction Corps.
• Final Sanction: For treason to the Flame, atrocity, or deliberate legend-minting: death or "Stone Sleep" (indefinite cryo, marked in the Lex).

Unit-Level Remedies:

• Restitution Builds: The squad that broke a Law rebuilds the thing they broke (clinics, water, corridors).
• Truth Procession: Silent March through the saved district; no banners, only work.

VI. Flexibility and Reach of the Law

Emergency Flex:

• W-Series Black Writs authorize time-boxed deviations (e.g., grid blackouts, deceptive evacuations) with a pre-filed restitution plan.
• Strategos-Primus Interdict may instantly curtail any W-series if civilian spillover exceeds plan tolerance.
• Achilles' Veto is absolute and can retroactively void a W-series, triggering automatic Tribunal.

Appeals & Mercy:

• Any trooper may file a Flame Appeal if they believe compliance would cause a greater breach of Codex Juris Bellum; Optio must log it.
• Palladion may issue Mercy Rulings when an operative chooses the lesser harm under impossible constraints, recorded as T-series guidance.

Extraterritorial Reach:

• The Codex binds Blackguard in the void, sea, stone, and foreign jurisdictions when attached to Spartan operations; coalition partners are subject to Lex Interface Compacts or are segregated from sensitive phases.

VII. Legacy of Legal Fear

The Codex Myrmidonis is feared not for cruelty but for certainty. Enemies learn that spectacle fails: there will be no martyrdom, no myth to rally around, no rumor that survives the Ledger. Civilians learn that when Blackguards arrive, the worst will not continue tomorrow. Spartans trust that their decisions will be made honestly, proven, preserved, and handed down to the morning.

• In Hades' shadows, the Codex denies atrocity its stage.
• In Hera's sieges, the Codex keeps the lights on.
• In Zeus' first hour, the Codex makes speed lawful.
• In Poseidon's storms, the Codex spares the lungs and water.
• In Ares' mass, the Codex leaves cities standing.
• In Athena's truth, the Codex survives the audit and the lie.

“You will be tempted by the fast, dirty fix, by the cut that ends the fight tonight and poisons every dawn that follows. Refuse it. Our law is not a leash; it is the bridge that carries victory into the morning. Cross it, or do not cross at all.”

— Blackguard Primarch E501 Kassian “Achilles” Varkon

“Those who fail to ascend as gods must learn to stand as pillars. The Spartans are the Flame. The Myrmidons are the forge that tempers it.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

I. Education Structure and Purpose

Education within the Blackguard Myrmidons is not a privilege; it is a transformation. The Myrmidon academies, scattered across Regime space but all bound to the Vault of Obsidian Flame on New Harmony, exist to convert failure into function, despair into discipline, and humanity into lawful purpose.

Where Spartan education seeks to create living weapons, Myrmidon education seeks to Forge living doctrines. Every student, called an Acolyte of the Flame, is taught that intellect, not muscle, preserves the Law; that obedience without understanding is servitude, not loyalty.

The structure of Myrmidon education is divided into two intersecting paths:

1. The Path of the Codex: Academic, psychological, and philosophical education under the doctrines of the Codex Juris Bellum, Codex Myrmidonis, and Codex of the Black Sun.
2. The Path of the Flame: Physical and martial training designed to instill absolute precision in warfare, control under duress, and lawful restraint under fire.

These two paths are never separate. To be a Myrmidon is to live both simultaneously, to think as a scholar and act as a weapon. By the end of their education, a Myrmidon is expected to recite Doctrine while under fire, quote Law while reloading, and maintain moral precision under pain.

Every academy and training citadel across the UCG operates under the same motto carved into its foundation stone:

“Per Scientiam Legem , Through Knowledge, Law.”

The purpose of education within the Blackguard is not enlightenment; it is alignment: the permanent unification of mind, body, and Law into one indestructible will.

II. Foundation of Blackguard Myrmidon Education

The Foundation of Myrmidon Education is built on three sacred pillars established by E501 Kassian "Achilles" Varkon at the Division's creation:

1. The Law Must Be Understood Before It Is Obeyed.
   Unquestioning loyalty breeds rebellion. Only through comprehension can discipline become virtue. Myrmidon candidates are educated not just to follow orders but to interpret lawful intent, ensuring moral clarity even when communications or hierarchy collapse.
2. Knowledge Is a Weapon Sharper Than the Blade.
   Every Myrmidon is required to hold the intellectual equivalent of a Regime doctorate in applied warfare ethics, Tribunal Law, and operational logistics upon graduation. They are expected to reason, argue, and adapt, to be soldiers capable of outthinking their Enemy as easily as outgunning them.
3. Failure Is a Rite of Rebirth, Not Shame.
   Most Myrmidon initiates are Spartan candidates who did not ascend. Instead of being discarded, they are redirected into the Myrmidon academies, where their resilience, intellect, and loyalty are reforged into the highest lawful purpose. These "fallen aspirants" are revered, not pitied. To fail the Spartan Trial but rise as a Myrmidon is to have one's humanity tempered, not erased.

Education begins within the Vault Schools of New Harmony, a network of colossal subterranean institutions built beneath Sparta, each illuminated by cold white light and the eternal blue glow of the Flame Vaults. In these halls, thousands of Acolytes are shaped simultaneously, trained in logic, linguistics, forensic analysis, psychology, war history, and the sacred languages of the Codex.

Every Myrmidon learns to read and write in Regime Latin and Flame Script, the semi-symbolic glyphic tongue of the Codex Juris Bellum. They study ancient jurisprudence, military history, exotheological ethics, and applied combat philosophy.

The first lesson taught to every recruit is simple:

“A sword may kill a man. But only law can end a war.”

— Primus Myrmidon Lysandra “Palladion” Voris

III. Stages of Education and Training

Myrmidon education follows an ordered sequence known as the Cycle of Reclamation. This seven-stage system begins with a failed Spartan and ends with a lawful warrior of the Regime. It is not a process of learning; it is a ritual of reconstruction.

Stage I – The Collection (Acolyte Induction)

Candidates who fail the Spartan Ascension Trials are transferred directly into Myrmidon custody. Rather than discard these individuals, the Regime views them as spiritually redirected, "the unchosen who remain chosen."

They are stripped of personal identity and given only a designation: Acolyte. For forty days, they undergo silence, fasting, and psychological purging. During this period, they are immersed in Codex readings and taught the history of Spartan betrayal, the Fall of ONI, and the Law of Flame. The purpose is to destroy self-pity and reforge will.

Stage II – The Reforging (Initiate Phase)

At this stage, the candidate begins physical and martial reeducation. They are trained in combat, not as heroes, but as enforcers of precision. Each mistake in form is corrected not with punishment, but with repetition until perfection is reflexive.

Simultaneously, they study battlefield Law, learning how to distinguish legal combat from unlawful slaughter. Mock tribunals, strategic debates, and tactical ethics drills form the foundation of their days. A single moral lapse results in restarting the entire stage.

Stage III – The Lex Discipline (Scholar Phase)

For two years, Acolytes become scholars of war. Under the Doctrine Masters of the Codex Juris Bellum, they learn case Law, Regime Tribunal processes, linguistics, strategic philosophy, and forensic analysis.

By the end of this stage, an Acolyte can construct and defend a lawful justification for any act of war or recognize when an action violates the Flame Doctrine. The best are selected as Archivum Scholars, trained to maintain battlefield ledgers and legal transmissions under fire.

Graduation from this phase is marked by the recitation of the Oath of Recollection, during which each candidate recites all 47 Articles of the Codex Myrmidonis from memory.

Stage IV – The Crucible (Combat Doctrine Phase)

The Crucible is the physical embodiment of the Myrmidon's Creed: lawful lethality through endurance. Candidates are placed in full combat trials across multiple environments, such as swamp, urban ruin, orbital vacuum, arctic tundra, facing both simulation and live opposition.

Unlike Spartan trials, success here is not measured in kills, but in decisions. Each scenario is designed to present moral paradoxes: when to act, when to wait, and when to disobey an unlawful Command. The Myrmidons call this "The Trial of Still Hands."

Only 42% survive this stage unbroken. Those who fail are not executed; they are recycled into administrative or educational Corps as record-keepers and logistic officers, still serving the Flame.

Stage V – The Oath of Iron (Sworn Phase)

Those who endure the Crucible ascend to the Oath of Iron Ceremony, held within the Vault of Obsidian Flame on New Harmony. Here, they carve their designations into blacksteel tablets and take their first lawful vow before the Custodes.

They are then presented with their Codex Armor Core, a data-embedded armor module that records every Law, Tribunal, and verdict they witness for the rest of their lives. It becomes both their protection and their Judgment.

Stage VI – The Cohort Assignment (Apprentice Phase)

After swearing the Oath, Myrmidons are assigned to active service under one of the Eight Legions. For a whole year, they serve as apprentices to senior Myrmidons, learning the tempo, hierarchy, and specific operational doctrines of their assigned Legion EIDOLA's precision, BASILISKS' stability, NYX's silence, etc.).

Every apprentice is monitored by Custodian Overseers, who assess loyalty, restraint, and doctrinal precision. Their first lawful kill is recorded and reviewed not as a triumph but as a matter of jurisprudence.

Stage VII – The Obsidian Ascension (Full Induction)

The final phase occurs only upon successful completion of at least three Codex-compliant operations. At this point, the candidate is inducted fully into the Division of the Silent Storm and receives their personal Codex designation, a sequence of numerals and glyphs that serve as both name and vow.

Graduates are addressed not as soldiers, but as Lawbearers. Their first act upon induction is to touch the Flame Vault and recite:

"Do not seek victory. I seek what remains lawful when victory fades."

At that moment, the Acolyte dies, and the Myrmidon is born.