1212th Piscaen Solar Auxilia Cohort ‘Double Dozen’

“If my tanks succeed, then your victory will follow.”

Vox-message from Cohort-General Pierre-Baston Strabo to Primus-Strategos Blazoor Dymov, commander of IV Corps, 1st Army at the outset of the Rout of Frezen.

Background

Piscaia was settled by veterans of the Saturnyne Rams during the early years of The Great Crusade, earned as their right of conquest. Since then, the world has prided itself on raising cohorts in the ‘Solar’ pattern to contribute in The Great Crusade and continue their legacy. One of such cohorts, the 1212^th were assigned to a secondary expediationary fleet, the 216^th, then under command of Captain Cato Valerianus of the Ultramarines’ 77^th Company.

Piscaia’s unusual climate means most of its population lives either in the orbital platofrms above the planet, or the floating part ships, part cities on the planet’s oceanic surface. Having grown up in these cramped conditions, Piscaiains are apt at fighting in the cramped warzone more commonly known as ‘Zone Mortalis’.

Equipment and fighting style

Despite this natural talent for void warfare, under their current Lord Marshall the 1212^th have developed a skill for massed armoured assaults. Relying on close connections with the forge world of Hephaistion in the Archadian System, Horatio Octavian II has outfitted the entire cohort with Dracosan armoured transports and Auroxes, and the cohort features more armoured divisions than standard under Exerctus Imperialis exemplar organisation.

During the opening stages of the Horus Heresy the 1212^th, along with the entire 216th Expeditionary Fleet, were in the midst of a compliance campaign. Caught unawares by a traitor Night Lords fleet, they suffered horrendous casualties, with barely half the cohort surviving. By chance, the accompanying Mechanicum ships had a number of thallax carapaces, and in desperation for fighting forces, Horatio agreed to the mass conversion of those auxiliaries too wounded to fight on. As such the 1212^th feature a large contingent of Mechanicum troops, who are held in admiration for their sacrifice, but also as a grim reminder of the fate that could await any auxiliary.

Following the eventual escape from the Night Lords, the 216^th fleet redeployed to the Xyphos sub-sector to re-build and re-arm. This proved a fortuitous decision when a large fleet belonging to the Emperor’s Children translated into the sub-sector intent on bringing it to heel.

Notable Conflicts

• Siege of Mot – (known colloquially by the 1212th as “Black Eagle Down”) In an impressive display of what the Imperium can achieve by combined arms, the 1212th and the 8th Talon of Raven Guard were caught by the uprising on Ched when the personal Storm Eagle of Shadow Captain Kraai was shot down deep within the capital hive. A rescue mission was dispatched, with the Raven Guard deploying into the upper hive by Darkwings and 1212th Armoured inserting along the lower hive highways. Kraai, the only survivor of the crash, was force to defend the ship from the hive’s inhabitants as the two forces inched forward, hab by hab. After a bloody three day march, the 1212th were able to rescue Kraai and extract him in time before the 216th fleet opened up on the hive city, eradicated the rebels.
• The Rout of Frezen – The humans of Frezen had been enslaved by a monstrous xenos race throughout most of the Age of Strife. When it was discovered by the 216th Expeditionary Fleet, Lord Marshall Horatio made liberating Frezen his top priority. After initial waves of Highland Plöners were massacred by the xenos’ neural-shredders, Horatio adjusted his plan and sent in an armoured wave comprising the 1212th and the Byzant Janizars. The xenos had few weapons to combat this and so they were swept away by a tsunami of firepower and armoured steel.