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AtomaPrimeHiveTertium

Hive Tertium as seen from low orbit by the Inquisition's requisitioned Rogue Trader Firestorm-class Frigate Mourningstar above Atoma Prime.

Hive Tertium is the prime hive city of the Hive World of Atoma Prime in the Moebian Domain of the Segmentum Solar. It is the setting for the PC game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. It was created through the fusion of what were once three large but entirely separate Atoman hive cities, hence the High Gothic name "Tertium." Tertium was then extended upwards by millennia of new additions until it became the massive, continent-straddling arcology that now dominates its world and contains almost the entirety of its Human population, upwards of 90 billion people before the advent of the recent conflict.

Within the hive's depths in the Era Indomitus, a Chaos Cult called the Admonition dedicated to the worship of Nurgle, the Chaos God of disease and despair, began to rapidly spread among the hive's population. The dangers of Chaos corruption of the hive city's population only worsened once the Moebian 6th Regiment, one of the Moebian Regiments of the Astra Militarum used to fight the Moebian Domain's Fringe War with the xenos and Chaos forces of the Darktide, was returned from frontline duty to put down the growing rebellion.

The Moebian 6th, its men and women already traumatised by their experiences on the frontlines of the never-ending conflict and primed for betrayal, fell to the Admonition's corruption themselves. The highly-trained Traitoris Militarum regiment then dedicated all of their skills and resources to bringing down Imperial rule over Hive Tertium and Atoma Prime itself to spread the truth of Grandfather Nurgle to all who would accept his putrescent blessings.

To stop this growing corruption, the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition under the command of Inquisitor Grendyl, recently deployed its Acolytes and other operatives into Hive Tertium in a race against time to save the hive city before it can grow into a cancer that could consume the entire world, or even eventually threaten the rest of the Moebian Domain.

History[]

Origins[]

AtomaPrimeOrbit

The Hive World of Atoma Prime as seen from high orbit. Hive Tertium spreads across a significant amount of the surface.

Atoma Prime is an important Imperial Hive World that has long been the centre and capital world of a vast, semi-autonomous region of Imperial space comprising many different Human worlds known as the Moebian Domain that is located in the northwestern Segmentum Solar. The bearer of the office of sector lord in the Moebian Domain is known by the title of "Lord Moebian" and they rule from the domain's planetary capital of Atoma Prime. The current ruler, Lord Constant Margrave, is the 13th successive member of House Margrave to hold this office. As the political and economic centre of the Moebian Domain, Atoma Prime is of great importance to the regional Imperial presence. Its industrial output of Leman Russ Tanks and other armoured vehicles is paramount to the continued security of the domain.

The world that would be known as Atoma was first colonised by Humans at some point in the Dark Age of Technology, when Mankind had achieved its technological golden age. What would later be known as the Moebian Domain was likely colonised during the "Stellar Exodus" from Old Earth after ca. M15, as the region was relatively close to the Human homeworld.

In the the subsequent Age of Strife after the collapse of the first Human interstellar civilisation, Atoma managed to survive by becoming economically self-sufficient largely due to its advanced industry, ultimately weathering the isolation of Old Night relatively well when compared with what befell so many other Human colonies.

Great Crusade and Horus Heresy[]

During the Great Crusade of the late 30th Millennium, the expeditionary fleets of the Emperor of Mankind rediscovered Atoma Prime and immediately saw its strategic value to the newborn Imperium. No harsh re-education and violent subjugation was needed to incorporate Atoma into the fledgling Imperium and impose Imperial Compliance. The rulers of Atoma were quite willing to join their fates to this powerful new interstellar Human empire. The highly productive manufactoria of Atoma were immediately set to produce materiel needed to support the Great Crusade's fleet supply lines.

Soon after, Atoma was designated the capital world of its star system, thus becoming becoming "Atoma Prime," after the forces of the Great Crusade had brought its neighbouring planet, the future Shrine World of Crucis, to Compliance. The rulers of Crucis ceded their own authority to Atoma Prime, whose planetary governor was recognised by the Administratum as the overall governor of every world in the system. The fleets of the Great Crusade would ultimately bring all the worlds of the Moebian Domain into the Imperium, liberating many of the worlds they discovered from Human tyrants, while hostile xenos species were either completely exterminated or defeated to the point of military insignificance.

The worlds of the Moebian Domain remained profoundly Loyalist from the outset of the Horus Heresy. The Domain continued to supply and support Loyalist military efforts throughout the time of the Heresy and into the post-Heresy Great Scouring period. Like so many worlds of the Imperium, however, Atoma Prime did not escape the terrible fighting entirely unscathed and consequently an interim government was established on the neighbouring world of Crucis to allow Atoma Prime to be restored to a position of stability and productivity. At this time a major Navis Imperialis sector battlefleet depot was established at Crucis.

Time of Rebirth and the Darktide[]

In the early 32nd Millennium, Atoma Prime was still recovering from the aftermath of the Horus Heresy and its productive output remained below its pre-war levels. The conflicts that had begun on the Fringe of the Moebian Domain as a result of the instability unleashed by the Heresy did not abate and became a persistent annoyance that soon required a permanent deployment of military assets to keep the threat contained. Periodically the situation flared in intensity and could be classified as an outright war. The world of Komaris remained the primary Imperial bastion in the Fringe region of the Moebian Domain during these conflicts.

Finally, in the late 32nd Millennium, Crucis returned the domain's administrative powers to Atoma Prime peacefully and Atoma Prime was restored to its position as the sector capital world. Additionally, the Navis Imperialis depot in orbit of Crucis was moved into the orbit of Atoma Prime.

For centuries, Atoma Prime and the peoples of the Moebian Domain have been under assault by Chaos and xenos forces from the fringe of its territory that the Adeptus Administratum has chosen to simply classify as the "Darktide." The people of Atoma Prime know little about the nature of these shadowy foes, other than what they hear in Imperial propaganda broadcasts, but are certain that they must be defeated if Atoma Prime is to remain within the light of the God-Emperor.

To deal with the Darktide, Atoma Prime has for centuries raised hundreds of regiments for the Astra Militarum from among its teeming masses, known as the Moebian Regiments. These heroic men and women have kept the Darktide at bay for many standard centuries, fighting in what is known as the "Fringe War."

The Middle Millennia[]

Historical details concerning the Moebian Domain from the 33rd Millennium to the 35th Millennium have been, for reasons unknown, heavily redacted by Imperial censors. Early in this period, there were minor disturbances as there might be upon many worlds of the Imperium. Additionally some small dynastic civil wars raged among the nobility, between various hive cities and the economic guilds of the world. Occasionally, beings referred to generically only as "xenos" sparked conflicts on the region's Fringe that required a concerted effort to pacify the area.

At some time in the 34th Millennium, the world of Rocyria was reclaimed as part of the Moebian Domain. It is unspecified how the world had originally been lost and what specifically occurred to return it to Imperial control. At this same time, a major xenos war is believed to have been fought in the Fringe and a period of extensive warfare was required to keep the threat from spreading.

At the turn of the 35th Millennium, the Fringe War flared once more. This time the xenos forces were noted as having made a considerable offensive push into the core space of the Moebian Domain. Consequently, an Imperial force was sent as reinforcements to bolster the Moebian troops on the front lines of the Fringe War, but the nature of this force, including its origin, is unspecified, including as to who ordered it. As a result of these reinforcements, however, the xenos threat on the Fringe was fragmented and driven back once again.

This period appears to also have been marked by some political destabilisation in the Moebian Domain itself. Records indicate a civil war was fought on Atoma Prime at this time. The fact that this conflict is not clearly explicated suggests it could have been a mere civilian revolt or something more significant. However, an alliance of noble houses proved victorious in ending this civil conflict, whatever its nature and origins, and an Atoman noble named Yannis Barquette is selected as the new sector lord with the title of "Lord Moebian."

In the latter years of the 35th Millennium, the world of Infidus Brim was noted as having been reclaimed as a vassal world of the Moebian Domain. The apparently "victorious alliance" of noble houses under the leadership of House Barquette began constructing a cluster of three hive cities that eventually merged to become the vast, sprawling hive city of Tertium.

It is at this time that Atoma Prime entered a complete environmental collapse caused by the sheer amounts of industrial pollution emitted by the growing hive cities. The world's remaining ecosystems collapsed, leading to the extinction of much of the former native flora and fauna. This left the surface of the world marked only by the orange streaks caused by the constant wind-blown grit of the industrial wastes later called by the people of Atoma Prime the "Witherlands."

Reign of House Margrave to the 41st Millennium[]

In the 36th Millennium the expansion of the cluster of three hive cities led by House Barquette and its alliance of noble houses continued. Over the Terran centuries, the population of the hive cluster of three cities under House Barquette's control grew exponentially and the arcologies' vital systems soon become interlinked, leading to the emergence of a single, massive hive city that now covers an extensive portion of Atoma Prime's surface. The unified arcology is named "Hive Tertium."

Consequently, any remaining populations outside of the hive city now merge and Hive Tertium becomes the primary and perhaps only population centre on the planet. The rivalry between House Barquette and other Highborn houses continues and intensifies within the higest spires of Tertium.

At some point in the 36th Millennium the upstart House Margrave launches a coup with allies of its own and replaces House Barquette as the ruling house of Atoma Prime and the Moebian Domain following yet another period of instability. Anselm Margrave is declared the new Lord Moebian in the wake of the coup. It is also at this time that the world known as Mornax is recorded as having been brought into the Moebian Domain as a vassal world.

Over the next few thousand years the Moebian Domain enjoyed a period of stability and calm. There are no extant records of any major incidents or conflicts, nor does the xenos Fringe War appear to have flared up once more.

In the 38th Millennium, the worlds of Mornax and Branx Magna were officially granted membership within the Moebian Domain. In the late 39th Millennium, the Ocean World of Incron was reclaimed and also became part of the domain. The Navis Imperialis sector battlefleet depot above Atoma Prime was relocated to Incron for unknown reasons at this time. In the early 41st Millennium, the world of Pavane was charted and claimed as part of the domain.

By the 41st Millennium the Moebian Domain and Atoma Prime seemed a stable and well-managed region of the Imperium. There had been steady economic and population growth over the preceding six millennia and the Moebian Domain now comprised seven main worlds, the capital Atoma Prime with its massive hive city of Tertium, Crucis which had been designated as a Shrine World of the Ecclesiarchy, and then five other worlds including Incron, Rocyria, Branx Magna, Pavane, and Mournax. The domain also maintained several vassal worlds, the most notable being Infidus Brim. Branx Magna had expanded its industrial output and population to a level that it now rivalled even Atoma Prime in terms of its gross planetary product and industrial importance within the star system. Its planetary governors belonged to a noble dynasty known as House van Spasie.

On Atoma Prime itself, Constant Margrave was the Lord Moebian, the 13th head of House Margrave to hold the office and rule the Moebian Domain. Lady Margrave, his sister, while officially subservient to her brother, also held some measure of power within the domain. Unfortunately, the Fringe Wars against the Darktide had flared up once more with increasing regularity.

A specific world was noted to be the site of one of the on-going conflicts in the Fringe War at this time. This was the planet of Nox Alpha, a world that was not part of the Moebian Domain as either a member or a vassal world, but possessed an inherent strategic value for the Imperial forces fighting on the Fringe.

Era Indomitus[]

In the Era Indomitus, the Chaos Cult called the Admonition infested the hive city of Hive Tertium on Atoma Prime. When they unleashed a Zombie Plague and a swarm of Poxwalkers began to assault the lower reaches of Hive Tertium, the Moebian 6th Regiment was redirected from frontline deployment to assist in combating the Nurglish corruption. Instead, the corrupted regiment turned on the people it had sworn to protect and began to support the uprising.

To stop this growing corruption, the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition under the direction of the Inquisitor Grendyl recently deployed its forces, including Acolytes and other agents, into Hive Tertium in a race against time to save the hive city before it can grow into a cancer that could consume the entire world, or even eventually threaten the entire Moebius Domain. The Ordo Hereticus based its operations in orbit of Atoma Prime, aboard the requisitioned Rogue Trader Firestorm-class Frigate Mourningstar under the command of Shipmistress Emora Brahms.

Layout[]

HiveTertium2

The expanse of Hive Tertium as seen from the upper atmosphere of Atoma Prime.

In general, the great Atoman hive city of Tertium is far more "open" in its geographic layout than most hive cities of the Imperium and thus its conurbation is generally less dense than most Imperial arcologies. Yet, it is still an amalgamation of the ramshackle steel layers characteristic of most Imperial hive cities. It is defined by massive, open cavities within the hive city so large that they allow even voidships and skyfighters to readily pass through and yet remain entirely within the confines of the arcology.

These open cavities are so expansive that inhabitants of Hive Tertium can be fooled at times that they are living under under open skies until one looks up to see a distant dome of steel boxes marked with massive stalactite-like towers and other artificial structures, all peppered by the pin-points of artificial lights stretching as far as the eye can see. The massive hive city's foundations seem to have been sunk into unsteady ground and are supported by massive pole-like infrastructure in the lower hive levels.

The capital city of Atoma Prime, Hive Tertium is the jewel of the Moebian Domain. Hive Tertium was constructed in the 35th Millennium at the behest of Yannice Barquette, the newly-appointed and first known Lord Moebian not descended from the original ruling Moebian dynasty. The industrial boom that saw Hive Tertium and House Barquette's rise to wealth and power on Atoma occurred after the devastating Fringe Wars began in the 35th Millennium.

HiveTertium3

The vast expanse of Hive Tertium as seen from closer to the surface of Atoma Prime.

Since Tertium's founding, manufacturing and mining output has been greatly expanded on Atoma Prime. The growth of these industrial actitivites has greatly increased the wealth of the planet but at the cost of the total collapse of its former biosphere and ecosystems, as is so often the result of the establishment of an Imperial hive city. Being a conglomeration of what were once three large but entirely separate Atoman cities, hence the name "Tertium" once they were combined into a single hive, Tertium has been extended upwards by millennia of construction until it has become the massive, continent-straddling arcology it is at present.

The opulent and overly indulgent House Barquette was ultimately overthrown by House Margrave in the 36th Millennium after only a single Terran millennium of rule over the hive city and its planet. House Margrave's leader, Anselm Margrave, claimed the office and title of the Lord Moebian and was the first of his house to take upon themselves the office of Lord Moebian.

House Barquette would later become infamous in Atoman culture for their overt greed and self-indulgent nature (habits certainly enhanced in House Margrave propaganda after their coup), which could be seen in the attire of the members of their house and those who served them. Barquette Highborn preferred to wear clothing in rich reds and blues covered in elaborate golden patterns and complemented by gold-plated personal armour.

Hive Tertium and the husk of a biosphere left on Atoma Prime were monuments to the unchecked greed of the opportunistic noble houses lead by House Barquette who overthrew the original Moebian Dynasty in the 35th Millennium. The Margraves would mark themselves apart from the rival noble house of the Barquettes with a more dull and somber attire, adopting dull red, blue, or black colours into their attire and those who support them. This would mark the beginning of the political rivalry between the two most powerful noble houses of Tertium. One that would continue in current day 41, influencing the divisiveness of Moebian Administratum, Ecclesiarchy, and commoners alike to choose a side.

Hive Districts[]

Habzone HL-19-24 "Throneside"[]

ThronesideConceptArt

Concept art of the Throneside habzone of Hive Tertium as created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

"Throneside" is the colloquial name given to one of the hab blocks found in the lower reaches of Hive Tertium. It is one of the districts of the hive city that has been infiltrated by the Heretics of the Cult of Admonition and the Moebian 6th Regiment.

Archivum Sycorax[]

ArchivumSycorax

The entry to the Archivum Sycorax in Throneside.

The Archivum Sycorax in Throneside is one of the primary Adeptus Administratum data storage centres of the hive city. It has been a primary source of data for the Heretics as they seek to disrupt Imperial operations across the hive city and claim more of its people for the worship of Nurgle.

Yet, the Heretics could not have accessed the Deep Archive within the Archivum Sycorax without insider help from either a highly-placed Administratum adept or a member of the nobility of Atoma Prime.

Ordo Hereticus Acolytes were tasked with accessing the Deep Archive and determining if their was any intelligence within its vast data stores that could be used to damage the Heretics operations and plans.

BarossStatue

One of the many statues of Ennic Baross in the Enclavum Baross of Throneside.

Comms-Plex 154/2F[]

Comms-Plex 154/2F is a down-hive vox transceiver communications centre located in Throneside that had fallen into the hands of the Heretics. The agents of the Ordo Hereticus were tasked with reclaiming it so that they might send a classified vox message to the outer edge of the system which could not be sent through the usual channels aboard the frigate Mourningstar. The recipient of the message was also highly classified.

ChasmTerminal

Concept art of the Chasm Terminus created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Enclavum Baross[]

Enclavum Baross is an enclave in Throneside that was named after Lord Militant Ennic Baross, the so-called "Hero of Atoma." Great statues of Baross were raised throughout the area. The operatives of the Inquisition were ordered to retake control of the Aegis Station which was located in this enclave but first had to restore power to a skylink (bridge) so that they could reach the railway station.

ChasmmTerminusRailway

A Tertium train heading into the Chasm Terminus. Railways were one of the primary means of transportation for goods and people across the immense hive city.

Transit Hub HL-16-11, "Chasm Terminus"[]

Transit Hub HL-16-11, better known as the "Chasm Terminus," is a major terminus of the extensive network of railways that transport people and goods across the hive city. It has become a major point of contention for control between the Heretics and the forces of the Inquisition.

ChasmStattion

The entrance to Chasm Station HL-16-11. The heretical banners raised at the entrance show that the station is now under the control of the "Dregs" of the Cult of Admonition.

Ascension Riser 31[]

Ascension Riser 31 was a transit hub of the Chasm Terminus located on the terminus' upper levels. The Moebian 6th Regiment sought to pay off some of their allies within the hive city with a shipment of prismata crystals, which were useful in the manufacture of heavy weapons.

The Inquisition's agents sought to interdict the shipment and weaken the Heretics alliances with their co-conspirators within the hive.

Chasm Station Logistratum[]

The Chasm Station Logistratum was the area of the Chasm Terminus that provided access to the subrails that could move people and goods to ten other districts of the hive in any direction. As such, the Logistratum was a smuggler's dream. These smugglers were known as "Railers" in hive slang since they moved all their illegal goods by the railways. They remained active even in the midst of the Chaos uprising in the hive city.

The Inquisition's agents were dispatched to the Logistratum in the face of heavy resistance from the Railers and the Heretics to seize reserves of their special ammunition -- and keep it out of the hands of the Traitors.

Chasm Station HL-16-11[]

Chasm Station HL-16-11 served as a station platform of the Chasm Terminus and was a crossroads where a number of different railway lines met.

The agents of the Ordo Hereticus were tasked with meeting a Heretic warlord who was arriving at this station by train and executing him.

Hab Dreyko[]

HabDreykoPhage Tree

The Phage Tree which was the source of the supernatural diseases spreading through Hab Laranax, Hab Dreyko and the Chasm Terminus.

Hab Dreyko was a hab district located adjacent to Chasm Terminus. It had been designated a quarantine zone by the hive authorities as its inhabitants had been hit hard by the Walking Pox and several of Nurgle's other supernatural diseases. However, a new form of the plague called the Blight spread from Hab Dreyko into Chasm Station Hl-16-11. The agents of the Ordo Hereticus were tasked by Magos Biologis Kharib aboard the Mourningstar with gaining samples of the new disease so that he might find a way to destroy the Phage Tree located in Hab Dreyko's Hab Block Laranax that was the source of the supernatural diseases in that region of the hive.

Between Hab Dreyko and Hab Block Laranax is the Burnout Bazaar, above which were various catwalks and maintenance pathways that threaded through its superstructure. Biotic Probes were then used by the Acolytes to inject the corrupted Daemonic Phage Tree with a shriving unguent that destroyed it which had been created by Kharib based on the samples they had originally returned to him.

At the entrance to Hab Block Laranax the Acolytes discovered the corpses of the reconnaissance team sent by the Astra Militarum's Moebian 21st Regiment into Hab Dreyko early in the crisis, before the hive's authorities were fully aware of the Nurglish infestation which was being spread there by the Admonition.

Habzone HL-18-66, "The Torrent"[]

RaggedKingsCourt

The Ragged King's Court in the Torrent's Silo Cluster 18-66/a, once the heart of the district and the headquarters of the Water Cartel criminal syndicate that had long ruled the district before the Cult of Admonition came and overthrew them. Note the banners of the Water Cartel still flying before the edifice.

Habzone HL-18-66, better known by its inhabitants as "The Torrent," is a rundown habitation district of Hive Tertium that the local adepts of the Administratum gave up on long ago, even before the district's Enforcer cadre was effectively suborned by the local criminal syndicate known as the Water Cartel.

RagtownBazaarConceptArt

Concept art of the Habzone HL-18-66 Commercia Ragtown Bazaar for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Yet the Torrent remained an important district of the lower hive because it was the site of many large-scale water purifiers that were responsible for recycling the water and runoff of the hive and exporting it to other districts of the massive city.

The Torrent was the district where the Chaos infestation of Hive Tertium began when the leadership of the Water Cartel was decapitated by the Cult of Admonition, which had slowly allied itself with the syndicate before launching its coup. The Nurglites used the Torrent's extensive water purification systems as the vector by which they began to spread the Walking Pox and Nurgle's other "blessings" throughout the hive city.

The citizens of the Torrent maintain a small, rundown shrine to Saint Messelina, the patron saint of the Moebian Domain, in the district. Despite the sheer filth of the lower hive, the shabby shrine is always immaculately white and clean, as the veneration of the saint is one of the few rays of light the people of the Torrent have in their difficult and dangerous lives.

Water Cartel[]

"Factions of the cartel were always fighting over Trader's Row. The Heretics sided with one and took the others out."

—Explicator Orgustine Zola

"Enforcers. Cartel. Heretics. The boot may change, but not the stomping."

—Psyker Acolyte
WaterCartelIcon

Icon of the Water Cartel that once ruled over the Torrent district.

The Water Cartel was the corrupt and oppressive criminal syndicate that had long been the true power in the Torrent before the Heretics came. The Water Cartel was so-called because its original purpose had been to manage Hive Tertium's water recycling and purification facilities which were largely located within Habzone HL-18-66. The cartel's membership eventually became fractious and divided against each other due to the usual greed and grudges which defined such groups. Sub-factions of the Water Cartel would violently vie against each other in constant gang wars for total control of the cartel and thus Tertium's crucial clean water supply.

One of these Water Cartel sub-factions, controlled by a gang member called the "Ragged King," was approached by the early members of the Nurglite Cult of Admonition. The cultists posed as another underhive gang willing to offer unusually potent military support to the Ragged King's faction, which allowed the gang leader to defeat his rivals and claim complete control over the Water Cartel.

TorrentSumptownWaterway

A waterway in the Torrent's Sumptown; a good indicator of the general conditions in Tertium's lower hive districts.

Yet the Admonition quickly betrayed the Ragged King and launched a coup once his forces were in total control of the cartel and the district's facilities. The Chaos Cult took over control of the Water Cartel and the Torrent as a whole, determined to begin spreading Nurgle's "blessings" throughout the hive city through its water recycling system. Initially the citizens of the Torrent were relieved that their criminal oppressors in the Water Cult were gone, but they soon realised something much worse had taken their place.

The Admonition began to taint Tertium's water supply with the Walking Pox and other Warp-derived pathogens. As the plague spread and bands of Poxwalkers began to roam the Torrent and spread into the lower hive's other districts, the hive authorities thought what they faced was simply another mundane lower hive insurrection. When the elite Moebian 6th Regiment arrived on Atoma Prime under orders to put down the rebellion, but instead joined with the Heretics and vastly increased the strength of their uprising, Tertium's rulers knew it was time to call for the aid of the Inquisition.

Magistrati Oubliette TM8-707[]

MagistratiOubliette

Magistrati Oubliette TM8-707 in the Torrent, former jail of the district's Enforcers.

Magistrati Oubliette TM8-707 was the jail attached to the HL-18-66 Magistratum complex, which was the headquarters for the Enforcers who once served as the local law enforcement in the Torrent. In reality, the Torrent's Enforcers worked for the Water Cartel and not for the planetary Administratum. The Magistratum was used as a courthouse and jail, but after the Admonition took over the district it was transformed into a fortified base of operations for the Heretics.

The Acolytes of Inquisitor Grendyl's warband were tasked with infiltrating the Magistratum headquarters through the district's sewers, making their way up onto the streets of the district and into the Oubliette where they were ordered to assassinate one of the cult's most important leaders.

Silo Cluster 18-66/a[]

SiloCluster

Silo Cluster 18-66/a in the Torrent, heart of the Water Cartel's stockpile of purified water and the Admonition's tainting of the hive's water supplies with Nurglish diseases.

Their is a stockpile of blue, purified water containers located on trains and in storage across the Silo Cluster region of the Torrent district. Once past gate 573 in Silo Cluster 18-66, and in the neighboring Silo Cluster 19-66, a massive stockpile of water containers is readily seen. The Water Cartel originally kept this hoard of purified water for itself as such a precious commodity provided them with the necessary leverage to carry out extortion operations and enforce its will across the hive city.

Across an iconic chain bridge in this area was located the fortified headquarters of the Water Cartel that was known as the "Ragged King's Court." The Water Cartel led by the Ragged King had governed the district from here before the Cult of Admonition betrayed them.

The Acolytes of the Inquisition were tasked with infiltrating the Silo Cluster and putting an end to the cultists' use of the district to contaminate the hive's water supply with Nurgle's supernatural diseases.

Vigil Station Oblivium[]

VigilStationOblivium

Vigil Station Oblivium, a former Water Cartel Enforcer security post, now outpost of the Admonition, the true rulers of the Torrent.

Vigil Station Oblivium was originally a security monitoring post where the district's Enforcers could maintain watch over the people of the Torrent. It later was controlled by the Water Cartel's thugs who served as Enforcers and now is controlled by the Heretics of the Admonition.

The Ordo Hereticus Acolytes were ordered to infiltrate the station and upload inaccurate intelligence to the Heretics' cogitator system to make their opposition to future Inquisition operations less effective.

Manufactory HL-17-36, "Metalfab 36"[]

Metalfab36Entrance

The entrance to the Metalfab 36 district of Hive Tertium.

Manufactory HL-17-36, known colloquially in Tertium as "Metalfab 36," is a manufactorum district of the hive dedicated to producing the raw materials that are then assembled into one of Atoma Prime's most important export products, Leman Russ Battle Tanks for the Astra Militarum. Metalfab 36 has been overrun by the Heretics, and the Walking Pox has spread throughout the district.

Metalfab36LemanRussManufactoria

Concept art of the Leman Russ Tank manufactorum at the heart of Metalfab 36, created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Many of the Nurglish Admonition mutants and Poxwalkers now spreading through the district are former Adeptus Mechanicus menials tied to the various tech-priests who oversee the production in Tertium's industrial districts. These tech-adepts come from many Forge Worlds across the Imperium, including Metalica and Graia as well as others, as the Mechanicus is very interested in learning more about Atoma Prime's unusually advanced manufacturing processes.

The importance of the district could not be underestimated, as Metalfab 36's output helped provide the weapons manufactured for half the sub-sector containing Atoma Prime. Considering the elite status of Atoman manufactoria, in which each were considered worth three of any other world's lesser manufactoria in terms of the quantity and quality of their output, this meant Metalfab 36 could not be lost to the Heretics without severely hurting the Hive World's crucial military production.

Consignment Yard HL-17-36[]

ConsignmentYardHL-17-36

A view of Consignment Yard HL-17-36

Consignment Yard HL-17-36 was the region of the manufactory district where trains carrying various supplies to the Metalfab's smelters arrived to off-load their cargoes. The Heretics were using the yard to move a supply train out of Consignment Yard Sigma-57 in Metalfab 36. The Acolytes of the Ordo Hereticus were assigned to raid the yard and seize those supplies for the Inquisition forces.

After securing Consignment Yard Sigma-57 at the end of the mission, the Inquisition support team that arrived after the Acolyte team was extracted to garrison the Consignment Yard was Reclamation Strike Force Beta-5, a squad made up of Astra Militarum soldiers of the Moebian 21st Regiment, considered one of the best of the Moebian regiments.

Power Matrix HL-17-36[]

PowerMatrix1

The heart of Power Matrix HL-17-36

Power Matrix HL-17-36 is the centre of power generation for the smelters of Metalfab 36, making use of a standard Imperial Plasma Reactor.

The spread of the Walking Pox in the area had led to the loss of many of the Adeptus Mechanicus menials who had previously provided maintenance on the Power Matrix. As such, the matrix's Plasma Reactor began to overheat, threatening to cause a catastrophic power failure cascading across the Metalfab 36 district. To prevent this, Inquisitor Grendyl's Acolytes were deployed from the Mourningstar to infiltrate the Power Matrix, access the reactor's operations array and use cryonic rods they found at the site to flush the heat from the system and restore its thermal stability.

Smelter Complex HL-17-36[]

SmelterComplexConceptArt

Concept art of Smelter Complex HL-17-36 created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Smelter Complex HL-17-36 was the real heart of the Metalfab 36 district, where Moebian Iron was transformed into Moebian Steel to be used in the construction of Leman Russ Battle Tanks. Though of immense importance to the Moebian war effort against the Darktide, Technoarchaeologist Hadron Omega-7-7, the senior tech-priest on Inquisitor Grendyl's retinue, noted that the Heretics of the Admonition and the Moebian 6th Regiment had not destroyed the smelter as they were prepared to eventually shift its operations over to the production of the tanks for Traitor forces.

The Acolytes of the Ordo Hereticus were deployed to the Smelter Complex when the Inquisition learned from its agents that the primary smelter at Metalfab 36 had been disabled by the "Dregs" of the Admonition and the "Scabs" of the Moebian 6th Regiment. They were ordered to get it up and operating again to restore the district's crucial industrial production for the Moebian Domain, no matter the cost.

Freight Port HL-32-2, "The Hourglass"[]

HourglassServitorColony

Concept art for the servitor colony used as a cogitator server farm in the Hourglass' Excise Vault Spireside-13 created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

The Hourglass is a now-abandoned naval depot spire of the hive city originally used by the Navis Imperialis for the transshipment of freight off-and-on-planet and the refueling of the transports that carried it. This spire of the hive city may have been abandoned by the hive's Administratum after the main Moebian naval depot was moved to the world of Incron in the 39th Millennium from Atoma Prime, though it had been abandoned for at least a few standard centuries by the time of the conflict between the Imperium and the Cult of Admonition. The Hourglass became a major hub for cult activity, largely because it was abandoned and the hive government either allowed the cult to establish itself there or sought to cover up its presence once the "Dregs" had already claimed it.

The origin of the local colloquial term "The Hourglass" for this abandoned spire is unknown, but could refer to the sheer amount of orange dust from the external Witherlands that now blows through the damaged spire, like sand through an hourglass.

Excise Vault Spireside-13[]

ExciseVault

The interior of Excise Vault Spireside-13, displaying the great colony of 3,426 servitor heads which comprised its cogitator server farm.

The colony of servitors found in the Hourglass is the only one of its kind on Atoma Prime and is comprised of 3,426 individual servitor skulls that are linked togther into a wet-wear cogitator server farm. An "atmospheric shield" surrounds the spire and is maintained by the servitor colony, which may be a reference to a hive-city-wide void shield that maintains Tertium's breathable atmosphere from the raging dust storms of the Witherlands outside the hive. This atmospheric shield in the Hourglass is near to failure as it is already in a state of advanced disrepair.

The Acolytes of the Ordo Hereticus were ordered to infiltrate the Excise Vault where the Heretics were keeping a sample of their latest Nurglish plague and return a sample to the Mourningstar for analysis.

Refinery Delta-17[]

HourglassRefineryDelta17

Concept art for the entrance to the Hourglass's Refinery Delta-17 created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

Refinery Delta-17 was one of the promethium refineries that once provided fuel for all the naval voidcraft maintained in The Hourglass and those that entered low orbit of Atoma Prime in search of resupply. Some of the fuel storage silos in the refinery were taken over by the Admonition to incubate the Nurglish pathogens that they were spreading throughout Tertium's population. The pathogens were incubated on Human bodies mutated by their exposure into putrid masses of flesh that possessed vaguely humanoid forms.

Inquisitor Grendyl's Acolytes were tasked with penetrating the Heretics' defences in Refinery Delta-17 through the refinery's flow control mechanism and destroying the pathogens being incubated in the abandoned fuel silos there. This was made possible by the over-pressurisation of the fuel silos, which resulted in their detonation and the destruction of the newborn plagues within.

Inter-Orbit Data Relay Station TRS-150[]

RelayStationTRS-150

The entrance to Inter-Orbit Data Relay Station TRS-150 in the abandoned Hourglass spire, fully exposed to the Witherlands.

This old data relay vox station high up in the abandoned Hourglass district, exposed to the grit-carrying winds of the Witherlands, was used by the Admonition to broadcast a mind-altering carrier wave throughout Hive Tertium that implanted an unconscious desire to join the cult into the hive city's denizens.

The relay station's tower was covered in blasphemous Dark Tongue runes drawn by the Heretics. The Dark Tongue is more than simply a written language, as its runes and symbols can serve as an anchor in realspace for the power of the Warp to penetrate the veil between dimensions, however diluted. These runes may have been the source of the mind-altering characteristics of the carrier wave being broadcast by the Chaos Cultists from the relay station.

The Ordo Hereticus Acolytes of Inquisitor Grendyl were tasked with penetrating the Heretics' defences through a neighbouring district and then the Hourglass' hangar ventilation system. Once they reached the Comms-Plex of the relay station transmitting the tainted carrier wave, they were ordered to clear it all enemies and shut down the rogue transmission for good.

Habzone HL-70-04, "The Carnival"[]

"The tawdry surface is garish and enticing, promising entertainments and illicit diversions, but underneath the lurid surface, it's actually as vile and pitiful as the rumours suggest...perhaps even worse."

—Description of the Carnival district of Hive Tertium
TheCarnivalDarktide

A typical street in the Carnival.

Tertium's Habzone HL-70-04, colloquially called by its residents "The Carnival," and "The Pit" by the hive city's Enforcers during those rare times they make an appearance there, is effectively a massive lower hive slum. The district is over-populated, close-packed and riven with poverty and grim conditions, with little Enforcer presence. As a result, it is semi-lawless. The disreputable nature of the place means it is a notorious area for red-light entertainments -- and that's its appeal. The Carnival is the place where Tertium residents go to find a brief respite from the hardships of their lives and to engage in certain vices like drugs, gambling and prostitution. The Carnival is attractive in a very degenerate way, vivid and dirty, always promising transgressive thrills to the hive city's downtrodden citizens.

TheCarnival2

The streets of the Carnival

For instance, a skilled brawler may find their ticket out of the lower hive's grinding poverty by participating (willingly or not) in fighting pits. The glory is short-lived, however, as such constant blood lust soon corrupts and marks the path to damnation. Another may strike gold with a lucky roll of the dice -- though the chances of making it out alive with the winnings are slim, as The Carnival houses its own bogeymen and usually Human monsters stalking the backstreets.

Bars are particularly dangerous places in the district, as those who pass out in a drunken stupor may soon find themselves in the hands of a devoted murdercult. Then there are the criminal gangs who truly control the district and are always looking to expand their influence over The Carnival's various rackets and establishments. Any visitors who clearly do not belong or do not look like they can protect themselves should expect to get mugged, or like much worse.

Because of the district's reputation as a centre of vice and sin, over the solar decades many zealots of the Imperial Creed have been known to unleash bloody personal crusades through the den of depravity that is the Carnival District. From the self-righteous murderer known only as the "White Shadow" stalking the alleyways to the renegade noblewoman Amelia Barquette's assault on the district's illegal stimm factories, even those who supposedly seek to spread the Emperor's light only add to the violence, exploitation and inhumanity that already consumes the Carnival.

Once the Admonition and later, the Moebian 6th Regiment, began to spread their influence in Tertium's lower levels, the Carnival district became a hotbed for a highly lucrative illicit stimm trade where the Traitoris Militarum regiment's corrupted guardsmen, the "Scabs," served as the new suppliers from a recently established Heretic stronghold within the district. And of course, each dose of the illegally-distributed stimms was tainted with Nurgle's various infectious "gifts" such as the Walking Pox, serving as yet another vestor for the spread of the Plaguelord's influence through the hive.

The district's citizens are suspected of being supporters or at best neutral parties to the Traitors' cause prior to the start of the Admonition's rebellion and so are considered fair game for liquidation by the operatives of the Inquisition.

Mercantile HL-70-04[]

CarnivalIllegalStimms

A box of the tainted illegal stimms being sold by the Scabs of the Moebian 6th Regiment from the amphitheatre known as The Gutbucket in the Carnival.

Mercantile HL-70-04 was a commercial zone of the Carnival district that was home to an amphitheatre known as "The Gutbucket" that was a centre of the illegal stimm trade largely dominated by the Traitor guardsmen of the Moebian 6th Regiment once they returned to Tertium.

The Acolytes of the Ordo Hereticus were ordered to penetrate the district in force through as stealthily as possible through the cellars of a brewery called Gastov's Place. The Heretics now controlled the amphitheatre and Inquisitor Grendyl's tech-priest Hadron Omega-7-7 wanted to analyse captured samples of the Moebian 6th's stimms to determine if they were being used as a vestor for the spread of Nurglish diseases through the hive.

Warrens 6-19[]

Warren6-19

The Genesis Chamber of Alchem Refinery 61 in the Warrens 6-19 where the Scabs of the Moebian 6th Regiment were manufacturing the corrupted stimms they were selling from the Carnival district to spread Nurgle's plagues across Hive Tertium.

The Carnival's Warrens 6-19 were identified by Inquisitor Grendyl's undercover Wyrmwood agents as the approximate location of an Obscura Den linked to the production of the Moebian 6th Regiment's blighted illegal stimms being distributed from the Gutbucket amphitheatre. Teams of Ordo Hereticus Acolytes were tasked with heading into the very heart of the Heretics' stronghold in the Carnival district to gain more intelligence about the production of the blighted stimms and to destroy any manufacturing facilities they discovered. The Acolytes began their investigation by searching for clues in the alleyways of the district's Crimson Plaza. Other leads included the large fusion reactor power grid anomalies in Warrens 6-19 that were suspected to be linked to the blighted stimms production facility which was illegally drawing down more of the hive's power for an unknown reason.

The Acolytes discovered the Obscura Den hidden within Sanctioned Reflectory Alpha 12 -- "The Emperor's Head" -- a Carnival saloon. This drug den and stimm-manufacturing centre in the district had been in operation long before the Heretics appeared to claim and repurpose its facilities. Within the saloon, the Acolytes learned the location within the district of the Moebian 6th's stimm manufacturing plant.

The team eventually infiltrated the stimm production facility, Alchem Refinery 61, and began gathering the required intelligence on the Heretics' operations. As ordered, the Inquisition operatives proceeded to disrupt the Scabs' manufacturing by destroying the refinery's filtration tanks and the Genesis Chamber where the blighted stimms were actually infected with Nurgle's Warp-based pathogens. A refractor field protected the Genesis Chamber, which was determined to be the source of the anomaly in the local power grid. The Acolytes used miniature cogitators known as data interrogators to hack into and disable the refractor field and allow a follow-on Ordo Hereticus strike team deployed from the warband's Rogue Trader frigate Mourningstar to destroy the Genesis Chamber.

Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12, "Clandestium Gloriana"[]

ClandestiumGlorianaFoundryplexPavilion1

The entry pavilion to the Clandestine Gloriana foundryplex in Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12, one of the Machinaria Gloriana capable of producing the original version of Moebian Steel.

Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12, better known as the "Clandestium Gloriana," is one of the fabled "Machinaria Gloriana." This facility was built in the void between Hive Tertium's settled zones many standard millennia ago to aid in Saint Messelina's crusade through the Moebian Domain through the production of Moebian Steel. This is the legendary alloy created on Atoma Prime that has not been produced by the Hive World's manufactoria in ages, contrary to what the propaganda on Atoma would lead one to believe. In fact, the Moebian Steel of recent centuries has actually been a substandard variant. The true secrets of its production had actually been lost for many Terran centuries, until now.

ClandestiumGlorianaInterior

The interior of the Clandestine Gloriana foundryplex.

These fabled production facilities or "foundryplexes," the Machinaria Gloriana, are long-forgotten wonders constructed deep within the hive complex. Each is rumoured to house some technological marvel that significantly aided Saint Messelina's ancient war effort. Unfortunately these facilities have fallen out of service and become lost through the centuries, which was not helped by the fact that accurate record-keeping was never a strong point for the Adeptus Administratum present on Atoma.

The alloy production machinery in this particular foundryplex was centuries old, and it generated a lot of heat when it was running. This required massive cooling systems. And while the forges have been quiet for thousands of standard years...no one seemed to remember to turn off the coolant system.

The Acolytes of Inquisitor Grendyl's warband were tasked with making contact with the Inquisition's informant, named "Swagger," in the zone and reactivating production at the Clandestium Gloriana, so that the Imperial forces on Atoma might once more produce the Moebian Steel of old, rather than the substandard modern formulation. Such a find would allow the Imperials to at last produce the Moebian Steel recorded in the annals of Saint Messelina, rather than what the Adeptus Mechanicus considered the current modern dross.

Operations[]

Rolling Steel[]

The Acolytes of Inquisitor Grendyl were tasked with regaining control of Freight Train RTX-590 within Tertium which had been hijacked by agents of the Admonition. Grendyl's Wyrmwood agents reported that the Traitors had loaded it with explosives to destroy the local transit station, thus badly damaging the Imperial forces' ability to move defenders around the hive city in response to the forces of Chaos' actions. The Acolytes were ordered to stop the train by any means necessary before it could deliver its explosive payload.

Witherlands[]

DunesWitherlands

Concept art for wasteland dunes in the Witherlands of Atoma Prime outside Hive Tertium as created for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

All of the desolate, polluted regions of the planet of Atoma Prime outside of Hive Tertium are called the "Witherlands," or sometimes simply "the Outside" by the inhabitants of the hive city. The Witherlands are defined by the acrid, orange dust that covers the barren expanse of polluted desert lands that are all that remain of Atoma Prime's once-thriving biosphere.

There are roaming nomads, mutants and other individuals living in these wastelands, though almost all are required to make use of rebreathers and goggles to allow them to filter the toxic elements out of the air and see through the haze of industrial pollutants. The omnipresent orange dust has a particular odour that can't be easily removed from clothing.

Society[]

Hive Tertium, as well as the worlds of the wider Moebian Domain, are known for the thriving liturgical practices that surround the veneration of Saint Messelina by its people, which is a central part of the faith of the Imperial Cult in the sector. Messelina was known for being unusually compassionate towards psykers, and so psykers often comprise an unsually large percentage of her devotees and other Ecclaiarchy personnel in the region.

The hive city is also known for its riveting camelid races.

All aspects of Atoman society are currently shaped by the political polarisation between the supporters of the two strongest noble houses that either currently rule or formerly ruled the world and the Moebian Domain, House Margrave or House Barquette, respectively. This societal divide can most easily be seen in the dress and uniforms present throughout all facets of Atoman life.

The Barquettes are represented by opulent and lavish attire in bright reds and blues, elaborate clothing patterning, and golden armour plating. The Margraves have sought to distance themselves from the former ruling house by adopting a far more sedate customary garb, defined by drab reds and browns and generally plain in comparison.

This political polarisation also affected the Ecclesiarchy of the Moebian Domain, or at least the powerful institutions of the Adeptus Ministorum in the star systems that were home to Atoma Prime and the heart of the Ecclesiarchy in the sector, the Shrine World of Crucis.

Noble Houses[]

Historically, the upper classes of Hive Tertium have been locked in a struggle for influence between House Barquette and House Margrave that has raged for thousands of standard years. House Margrave led an uprising in the 36th Millennium to wrest control of Atoma Prime and the Moebian Domain from the then-ruling House Barquette and a Lord Margrave is currently in control of the planet and the entire domain as both planetary governor and sector lord with the title of the "Lord Moebian." The effects of that civil war and still-vicious rivalry are still felt across Tertium in the Era Indomitus.

House Barquette's patriarch or matriarch held the office of Lord Moebian for much of the 35th Millennium and a portion of the 36th Millennium, during the period when the planet shifted its economic focus to the pursuit of heavy industry, particularly the mining and refining of raw materials like Moebian Steel for the assembly of Leman Russ Tanks. It was this transition which led to the final ecological collapse of Atoma Prime into the wastelands now known as the "Witherlands."

Ornate, gold-plated armour is said to be a marker of the era when House Barquette was still in control of Tertium. The Barquettes and their vassals and servants can be recognised by their often-garish clothing (gold plate decoration and clothes in vibrant blues and reds) while House Margrave and its supporters prefer more dour clothing in red, brown, and black.

House Margrave seems to maintain the Moebian 33rd Regiment, the "Blackguard," as a personal honour guard regiment loyal to their house, or at least to Lord Margrave. The Blackguard has served House Margrave since the time of the civil war when they rested the world away from House Barquette in the 36th Millennium. They were once only recruited from those servants and vassals who were most loyal to House Margrave, but those high standards have since fallen and regiment now seems to recruit from a hive gang that sports red bandanas.

Notable Tertium Noble Houses[]

  • House Margrave - House Margarve is the current holder of the position of planetary governor of Atoma Prime and the sector lord of the Moebian Domain. House Margrave has ruled Atoma Prime and the wider Moebian Domain since the 36th Millennium, when they led an uprising of other noble houses and their servants against their predecessor House Barquette and overthrew them to claim the governorship. House Margrave's honour guard is the Moebian 33rd Regiment, the "Blackguard". House Margrave and its supporters prefer dour clothing in red, brown, and black.
  • House Barquette - House Barquette once ruled Atoma Prime and the Moebian Domain, having first been granted the office of Lord Moebian in the 35th Millennium. The Barquettes obtained the highest office in the domain through perfidious means, using their allies among Atoma's other noble houses to overthrow House Moebian, the original ruler of the Domain. House Barquette led the economic boom of Atoma Prime, ordering its workers to dig deep for Moebian Iron and other strategic resources, activities which ultimately destroyed Atoma Prime's biosphere though it generated massive wealth for House Barquette and the other Atoman noble houses. The ecological collapse of the world initiated by these activities resulted in the construction of Hive Tertium's as the vast sprawls and archologies that had marked Human settlement on the world before merged into a single, continent-sized arcology that became the new hive city. The Barquettes and their vassals and servants can be recognised by their often-garish clothing (gold plate decoration and clothes in vibrant blues and reds) while House Margrave and its supporters prefer more dour clothing in red, brown, and black.
  • House Consora - A noble house of Hive Tertium, one of whose members is mentioned by the Ecclesiarchy priestess Sister Hestia Prine as one of the "minority of good souls attempting to steer the fate of Atoma."
  • House van Sparzi - House van Sparzi is not located on Atoma Prime, but is another powerful noble house that rules the world of Branx Magna within the Moebian Domain. Branx Manga's industrial output has actually begun to rival that of Atoma Prime's in the 41st Millennium.
  • Carmine Fellowship - The Carmine Fellowship is a secretive Moebian sect that has ties to Atoma Prime's ruling classes that spans thousands of standard years. Based in their bastion-observatory on Atrox, the largest of Atoma's two moons, their mission is to watch over the Atoman nobility in times of trouble as well as to protect some of their most valued heirlooms deep within their heavily-guarded vault.

Notable Tertium Nobles[]

  • Constant Margrave - It is possible that Constant Margrave is the current Lord Moebian of the Moebian Domain and planetary governor of Atoma Prime. Regardless, he is important enough that the Moebian Regiments of the Astra Militarum often parade for his review wearing special dress uniforms in the red and black House Margrave colours. The Lord Margrave is considered uncaring of the plight of the common people of Hive Tertium, like most Imperial Highborn, and is solely consumed with his own intrigues and political machinations, as well as House Margrave's never-ending feud and competition with House Barquette.
  • Constance Margrave - Constance Margrave is the sister of the current Lord Margrave, the planetary governor of Atoma Prime and sector lord of the Moebian Domain. She appears to be very active in the intrigues and political machinations that define the upper spire politics of Hive Tertium.
  • Gunther Barquette - Gunther Barquette is one of the most powerful nobles of Atoma, and his heraldry can be seen worn by his personal honour guard. As the patriarch of House Barquette, Gunther seeks nothing more than the restoration of his dynasty's rule over Atoma Prime and the Moebian Domain by any means necessary.
  • Militant General Riga Consora - Riga Consora is a member of House Consora and a general of the Astra Militarum. It is Riga Consora that Ecclesiarchy priestess Sister Hestia Prine was referring to as one of the "minority of good souls attempting to steer the fate of Atoma."

Crime[]

TertiumEnforcesSigil

The emblem of the corrupt Enforcers of Hive Tertium

Enforcers in Hive Tertium, as is true on most Imperial worlds, are typically the local police forces that maintain order across the many districts of the hive city and clamp down on most mundane criminal activities like theft, property crimes, food and queue riots, murder, rape, etc. However, like most Enforcers in the authoritarian society of the Imperium, they are easily corrupted and make excessive use of brutal violence to protect the interests of those in power far more than they seek to ensure justice, fairness or maintain the rule of law.

The Enforcers of Tertium are a security force that regularly uses violence in even minor matters as the primary way to keep the peace and enforce the world's local laws through the continued fear of the populace. The wrath and retribution they dispense is readily coopted by whoever possesses the most power in the hive district that the local Enforcers patrol. Whether it be the interests of the ruling-class of the Atoman nobility or those of the various organised criminal syndicates protecting their property and rackets in the district, the Tertium Enforcers are quite willing to carry out the bidding of whoever pays the biggest bribes.

Each group of Enforcers is assigned to one district across Tertium, such as Throneside or the Torrent. They dispense their brutal retribution upon the "lawbreakers" identified by their true patrons wherever they go. The local Enforcers of the Torrent district were paid off by the local crime syndicate known as the Water Cartel and largely ignored the goings-on within the district for some time. When the Water Cartel was later taken over by the Cult of Admonition, the Enforcers' lack of attention allowed the Chaos Cult to begin spreading the Walking Pox of Nurgle through the water supply of the hive city's lower levels.

The Carnival district is a recreational district of Hive Tertium that thrives primarily on the production and trade of illegal stimms. As a result, it is a cesspit of vice and depravity and home to a myriad of drug dens, saloons, organised crime hideouts and illegal but highly popular blood sport amphitheaters.

Notable Hive Tertium Criminal Groups[]

  • Water Cartel - The Water Cartel's activities are localised within the Torrent district of Hive Tertium. The gangers of the Water Cartel control most of the water refineries of Tertium that are responsible for providing a detoxified, fresh water supply for most of the hive city's population. The Water Cartel is made up of many smaller factions that regularly war amongst themselves for more power and control. It was the Water Cartel that was originally targeted by the Cult of Admonition to serve as its primary vehicle to begin corrupting the inhabitants of Hive Tertium. The cult eventually decapitated the Water Cartel's leadership and then used its control over the water refineries of the Torrent district to begin spreading Nurgle's supernatural diseases like the Zombie Plague and the Walking Pox throughout the hive's populace.
  • Chasm Station Railers - The Chasm Station Railers are a gang of smugglers that make use of Hive Tertium's many railway sub-levels, in which they traffick both illegal goods and people, including fugitives seeking to escape the attention of the noble houses. A major hub for Railers' activities is the Chasm Station, a major Tertium subterranean railway depot and crossroads.
  • Durkham's Raiders - The Raiders are a gang associated with Tertium's lower levels. The Moebian 260th Regiment of the Astra Militarum typically recruited from the members of this gang, and their clothing has an orange-and-cream striped pattern.
  • Skyreavers - The Skyreavers are a criminal gang of airborne raiders, smugglers, and bandits. They often tail the various Valkyries flying about the hive city on Imperial business, seeking new opportunities to make a major score on a valuable airborne shipment across the hive.

Moebian Iron and Moebian Steel[]

What makes Atoma Prime so strategically valuable to the Moebian Domain and the wider Imperium is its manufactoria's prolific production of Leman Russ Battle Tanks and other armoured vehicles. The Astra Militarum armoured regiments of the Moebian Domain and other regions are fully reliant on the materiel and vehicles produced by the many manufactoria of Atoma Prime. At least half of Atoma Prime's surrounding sub-sector is supplied by its manufactoria, with one Atoman manufactorum being worth three lesser ones from worlds in the rest of the sub-sector.

However, the sheer quantity of Atoman output is also matched by the quality of its manufactoria's products. All Atoman military output is produced using "Moebian Steel," a stronger and tougher alloy of the standard metal that is smelted from a special blend of minerals found only on Atoma, known colloquially if inaccurately as "Moebian Iron." This remarkable material and Atoma's exceptional manufactoria have made it the economic centre of the Moebian Domain since its inception.

Unfortunately, the supposed high quality of Atoma Prime's Moebian Steel was a lie continuously propagated by the Hive World's propaganda. The technological capability to produce Moebian Steel had been lost many standard centuries before, forcing the manufactoria of Hive Tertium to produce what was actually a counterfeit, substandard product.

Moebian Steel had originally been manufactured in special "foundryplexes" known as "Machinaria Gloriana" that had been constructed deep within the hive complex in the void between Hive Tertium's settled zones many standard millennia ago to aid the military forces engaged in Saint Messelina's crusade through the Moebian Domain.

Over the centuries, the location of these foundryplexes had been lost by the local Adeptus Administratum until an Ordo Hereticus operative and informant known only as "Swagger" convinced the gangers of the Water Cartel to reveal to him the location of one of the Machinaria Gloriana foundryplexes called Clandestium Gloriana in Tertium's Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12.

Swagger provided this information to the Ordo Hereticus forces of Inquisitor Grendyl, who then deployed a force of Acolytes to meet Swagger and reactivate the foundryplex. For the first time in ages, the Tech-priests of Tertium would now be able to produce true Moebian Steel to aid the fight of the Inquisition against the Nurglite Heretics of the Moebian 6th Regiment and the Admonition.

Sources[]

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