"So," Lucian said, leaning back against his headboard as he stared at the crimson holographic model. "The real reason I finally decided to choose you goes a bit deeper."
He swiped the screen, pulling up the detailed file for the [Exclusive Astartes Legion: Crimson Drake Starflame].
[Legion Core Creed]
Let the wildfire of the Crimson Drake illuminate the dawn of humanity.
Lucian looked at those words, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Because of that line right there, the flaws don't matter anymore. Crimson Dawn has never been looking for perfection. We're just looking for a way to carve out a path to the dawn for humanity."
The Astartes warriors of the Crimson Drake Starflame inherited the exclusive traits of their Primarch perfectly.
[Gene-Seed Core Abilities]
In addition to the standard 19 Astartes implant organs, 3 exclusive genetic organs have been modified, granting 4 core abilities.
[Flame-Breathing Lungs]
An exclusive organ implanted into the respiratory system. Allows the warrior to function normally in environments flooded with sulfurous toxic gas, superheated steam, or total vacuums. Additionally, it allows the warrior to spew high-temperature plasma fire from their mouth, powerful enough to melt standard power armor. This is the signature combat trait of the Crimson Drake Starflame Legion.
[Dragon-Scale Dermal Alteration]
The gene-seed radically alters the skin structure, covering the warrior's entire body in microscopic, dragon-scale keratin plating. This renders them completely immune to fire, heat, and plasma attacks, while granting resistance to solid ballistics and las-weapons far beyond that of a standard Astartes. A Crimson Drake Starflame Astartes can casually wade through molten magma without wearing power armor.
[Flame Psionic Affinity]
Every single warrior possesses a baseline affinity for fire-based psychic powers. Even non-Librarians can sense and manipulate minor flames. The Legion's Librarians are exclusively Evocation specialists focusing on fire, and their raw destructive output far exceeds Librarians of equivalent rank in other Legions. A Crimson Drake Starflame Librarian can unleash a battlefield-wide firestorm to incinerate the enemy, while their fellow Crimson Drake Starflame brothers remain entirely unaffected by the blaze.
[Genetic Flame Resonance]
Warriors can channel and share fire-based energy with one another through genetic resonance. In mass-formation combat, the larger the group, the exponentially stronger their collective flame output and resistance becomes. Crimson Drake Starflame Astartes can even synchronize to unleash massive, sweeping shockwaves of fire. When mortally wounded, a warrior can voluntarily detonate their gene-seed, triggering a fiery explosion comparable to a tactical nuke, dragging their enemies to hell with them.
Lucian nodded slowly as he reviewed the four traits. "The raw power of these Crimson Drake Starflame Astartes is another reason I finally locked in this choice. Because holy hell, they are incredibly busted."
[Crimson Drake Starflame Astartes Legion Physical Alterations]
Upon successful implantation of the gene-seed, all warriors will see their skin tone shift to a warm copper. Draconic scale patterns will manifest across their shoulders, necks, arms, and jawlines. The older and more veteran the warrior, the more pronounced the scale patterns become. Their irises will uniformly mutate into a molten gold hue, which will physically leak sparks during states of high agitation. Their canines will sharpen, and their breath will carry a faint scent of sulfur. Their hair will turn a deep crimson, the tips perpetually sparking.
Veterans and high-ranking officers within the Legion will grow small, draconic bone horns from the tops of their heads. The longer the horns, the greater the warrior's seniority and combat prowess. Legion Captains and Chapter Masters can grow horns up to an inch long.
Every warrior will brand the Legion insignia—a Crimson Dragon coiled around the Rising Sun of the Dawn—onto their chests as a permanent symbol of their absolute loyalty to their Primarch and to Crimson Dawn.
[Crimson Drake Starflame Legion Exclusive Standard Issue Wargear]
Crimson Drake Mark V Power Armor: The standard power armor was crimson red, its surface etched with golden dragon-scale patterns. It featured an integrated thermal absorption system capable of converting ambient heat into motive power. Fixed flamers were built directly into the wrists and chest plate, eliminating the need to carry external flame weaponry.
Elite units were equipped with Dragon-Scale Terminator Armor. This heavily plated, crimson-gold draconic shell was durable enough to shrug off a direct hit from a starship's lance battery. It housed multiple banks of plasma flamers, capable of unleashing a firestorm that could engulf an entire room in seconds.
Standard Issue Primary Weapon - Dragonfire Bolter: An exclusive firearm hybridizing bolter and plasma technology. It could seamlessly cycle between conventional mass-reactive bolts and plasma-flame rounds. By leveraging the genetic capabilities of the wielder, the risk of overheating was completely eliminated, resulting in a weapon with a destructive yield far surpassing the standard-issue bolters of regular Space Marines.
Standard Issue Melee Weapons: This category included the Crimson Drake Power Sword, Power Hammer, Chainsword, and Power Halberd. Forged from hyper-heat-resistant dragon-scale steel, each weapon contained a miniaturized plasma core capable of projecting a superheated flame blade that sliced through power armor like butter. The combat blades wielded by elite warriors could even discharge sweeping shockwaves of fire to strike distant targets.
Vehicles and Fleets: All ground transports—from Rhinos to Land Raiders—were retrofitted with modular flamers and plasma weapon banks, allowing them to incinerate targets while simultaneously charging enemy lines. Aircraft like Stormhawks were equipped to carpet-bomb the battlefield with incendiary munitions, transforming warzones into oceans of fire. The Legion's capital ships all bore names referencing dragons and flames. The vessels were practically stuffed to the bursting point with plasma macro-cannons and incendiary torpedoes, giving them the capability to drown entire sub-sectors in a tidal wave of fire.
Lucian stared at the dense, sprawling equipment lists, a pang of sympathy hitting him for Crimson Dawn's collective wallet. "When are you guys ever going to scrape together enough gear to fully equip a Crimson Drake Starflame Legion? This fresh batch of Axiomite isn't going to be enough to sustain this kind of massive drain. The Imperium of Man has countless worlds backing it up, so you all better start working harder!"
Chuckling to himself, Lucian continued reading.
[Lethal Gene-Seed Flaws]
[Heart-Pyre Fury] This was the Legion's most fundamental genetic flaw, directly mirroring their Primarch's Dragonfire Fury. When a warrior suffered severe trauma, experienced extreme emotional distress, or expelled too much flame energy, they would completely lose their minds. They would devolve into rabid beasts, incinerating friend and foe alike in a crazed frenzy. Only the Primarch or a high-ranking Librarian could snap them out of it via genetic resonance. If the fury lasted too long, the warrior's gene-seed would catastrophically collapse, and their body would spontaneously combust from the inside out, reducing them to a pile of ash.
[Pyromaniacal Dependency] The warrior's gene-seed required continuous, extreme heat to function normally. Prolonged exposure to low temperatures or fireless environments would cause a severe drop in physical stamina and combat effectiveness, eventually leading to gene-seed degradation and death. Consequently, their power armor featured internal thermal regulation systems, and their barracks and starships were perpetually kept at stifling temperatures, continuously lit by holy fires. Ice worlds and the freezing voids of deep space were their absolute kryptonite.
[High Gene-Seed Instability] The overwhelming stellar power and draconic divinity contained within the Primarch's DNA rendered the gene-seed highly volatile. The implantation failure rate for new recruits was a staggering seventy percent. Only thirty percent of aspirants would survive the surgical procedures and the subsequent "Rite of Ignition"—which required them to wade into active magma and survive for a full hour—to become fully fledged Astartes. This brutal attrition rate severely bottlenecked the success rate for non-player augmentations.
[Combustion Addiction] The warriors would develop a pathological addiction to unleashing flames and incinerating their enemies, becoming completely intoxicated by the destructive thrill of the fire.