Warhammer 40K: The Palace Coup
At the dawn of the Imperium the Imperial Palace was almost overthrown by the Emperor’s own discarded servants.
The Palace Coup was an attempted coup by dissatisfied members of the Imperium towards the end of the Unification Wars. The conspirators intended to remove Constantin Valdor from power. They wished to put him on trial for the massacre of the Thunder Warriors at Mt. Ararat without the consent of the High Lords of Terra. The conspiracy was led by Grand Provost Marshal Uwoma Kandawire, Thunder Warriors, Primarch Ushotan, and Biotechnical Division head Amar Astarte.
Primarch Ushotan
Ushotan was the Primarch of the 4th Legion of Thunder Warriors, known as the Iron Lords. Like the rest of the Thunder Warriors Primarchs (and unlike the later Astartes Primarchs), Ushotan was not physically different from any of his warriors. Instead he was promoted by the Emperor for his battlefield performance. He was considered a superlative warrior and general. Ushotan gained the respect of even the likes of Captain-General Constantin Valdor. He displayed the savagery and dark humor typical of the Thunder Warriors. This was most noted during the Battle of Maulland Sen. Following the massacre of the Thunder Warriors at Mt. Ararat, Ushotan and his surviving brothers went into hiding.
Ushotan wore MkI Power Armour, standard issue to the Thunder Warriors. Byy the time of his death his armor was in a poor state of repair. He wielded a powered broadsword that used blood-red plasma, as opposed to the more standard blue-colored disruptor fields.
Amar Astarte
Astarte was a Terran scientist during the Unification Era instrumental in the creation of the Adeptus Astartes. She was born on Terra during the Age of Strife. For a time Astarte served the brutal warlords of the planet, surviving by offering them her intellect. She attempted to fashion for them genetically modified super soldiers. In all cases these attempts all ended in horrific failure. Eventually Amar met the Emperor and became convinced he was a truly great leader. Amar became the first director of the Emperor’s Biotechnical Division and worked on the creation of the Space Marines. She was known as one of the greatest geneticists of her era. Amar outshone even the Selenar, and was known to be personally liked by the Emperor himself. She attempted to develop the Black Carapace. However, her design was flawed and had to later be perfected by Ezekiel Sedayne.
Uwoma Kandawire
Kandawire was an early Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites.
Uwoma was born in the Banda Confederacy of Southeastern Africa to a modestly wealthy family during the Age of Strife. Her experiences with brutal warlords and rule by the strong led her to develop a strong desire for justice and reform. She eventually got this opportunity when the Emperor’s forces appeared. Astarte joined his ranks and eventually rose to command the early Arbites. She believed strongly in the concepts of rule of law and executive oversight.
She discovered the massacre of the Thunder Warriors at Mt. Ararat had taken place without informing the Senatorum Imperialis. Kandawire became determined to arrest Captain-General Constantin Valdor and put him on trial.
The Palace Coup Plot
The plotters did not intend to oust the Emperor, but intended him to have final judgment on Valdor’s fate. However, this was only the true goal of Kandawire. Amar Astarte had grown to believe the Primarch Project and raising of the Legiones Astartes doomed without the Primarch’s available. Ushotan simply sought revenge for the Thunder Warrior cull. The conspirators drew upon a variety of forces, from mercenaries to soldiers of fortune to Imperial Army units loyal to Kandwaire. At their core were Thunder Warriors under Ushotan and Amar Astarte’s Castellan Exemplars, genetically engineered to be loyal only to her.
The Imperial Palace was still under construction, sparsely populated and the Emperor busy with other projects. The conspirators expected they would be able to topple the regime inside the complex and arrest Valdor.
The Palace Attack
Initially, they met with great success and swept aside minimal loyalist Army units with little effort. However, inside the incomplete Great Chamber of the Senatorum Imperialis Ushotan, Kandawire, and his Thunder Warriors were confronted by a lone Custodian in the form of Constantin Valdor. Valdor urged them to surrender, and when the conspirators refused the Captain-General unleashed the Angels of Death in what would be their very first live combat engagement. 10,000 warriors of the I Legion, only recently out of training, emerged and used their superior teamwork and discipline to mow down the savage Thunder Warriors and Army units with their new Boltgun weapons. Amid the carnage, Valdor and Ushotan dueled, with the Captain-General eventually slaying the Thunder Warriors Primarch. Before Ushotan died, he expressed his regret that Valdor was numb to all emotion and humanity.
Meanwhile, Amar Astarte journeyed into the Imperial Dungeon to destroy her lab and end the Legiones Astartes project forever. She was confronted by the Custodian Samonas, but the warrior was unable to prevent her from causing a catastrophic explosion that engulfed both the lab and herself. Samonas survived, but all of the genetic lore on the Primarchs was apparently lost. In truth, the Emperor had foreseen Astarte’s treachery and had made backup copies of her data and samples and hidden them away elsewhere.
Palace Coup Failure & Aftermath
Ultimately, the coup was doomed from the very start and the Custodes were well aware of its planning even before it began. Surprisingly, Kandawire was granted amnesty and allowed to retire peacefully on Terra outside the walls of the Palace. The destroyed Imperial Dungeon meanwhile was cleared for use as the nexus of the Webway Project. Malcador returned to Terra shortly after the conspiracy had been put down, apparently having been on Luna preparing for the imminent assault there with the Emperor.
Praise Be The Master of Mankind for Only He Foresees The Way
