Konor is an Imperial Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus and is a part of the Realm of Ultramar that is ruled by the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter and lies in the Ultima Segmentum. Located at the heart of Ultramar, Konor has been one of the principal suppliers of munitions and war machines, to both the Ultramarines Chapter and the various regiments of the Imperial Guard raised within the borders of Ultramar.
History
Konor, one of the founding worlds of the realm of Ultramar, had long played host to a large population of the adepts of the Machine Cult. The pre-Compliance shipyards of both Konor and Calth manufactured, in excess, the large number of steadfast cruisers and multi-role strike craft of the Ultramarines Legion. Within the fledgling Realm of Ultramar, during the 30th Millennium there were as yet no Forge Worlds of the magnitude of ancient Accatran, with only the newly established Forges of Anuaris, still tied both in tribute and loyalty to distant Accarran as much as Macragge, and the reclusive magos of the iron-bound moon of Gantz ranked as true Forge Worlds within the boundaries of Guilliman's fiefdom. However, there did exist a large number of Mechanicum enclaves scattered throughout the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar. These enclaves ranged from tiny collectives such as the Cult Logis enclave on Sotha which numbered less than a dozen adepts, to the sprawling Mechanicum cantons of Konor, a world denied the status of a true Forge World only due to its extensive connections to the political hierarchy of Ultramar, which were considered unseemly by the envoys of Mars. Though individually there was no comparison between these separate Mechanicum enclaves of Ultramar and any of the great Forge Worlds, taken as a whole they were a mighty force of technological might, possessed of much esoteric lore and efficacious machineries of war. Where the great Forge Worlds were often dogmatically tied to a single overarching doctrine, even amongst the varied magos and cults which composed their synods, the lesser enclaves encompassed many fields of esoteric technological endeavour unknown to their brethren, some of which verged on tech-heresy. Such dangerous experimentation was common at the very fringes of the Emperor's vast domain, but was tolerated in those turbulent times where it could be turned to greater purpose.
By the early 31st Millennium, the Mechanicum cantons covered nearly three quarters of that world and its industrial output far exceeded that of the nearby moon of Gantz -- which held the title of Forge World by ancient treaty with Mars and its allies on the Forge World of Tigrus. Yet Konor was not to gain the full freedom of the status of Forge World until the Age of the Scouring for reasons of imperial politics. The Archmandriture Council of Magos on Konor had placed before the Synods of Mars a petition to grant Konor an official charter as a Forge World, with all rights and privileges attendant to that position, on several occasions in the waning years of the 30th Millennium. On each occasion the appeal was denied by the express order of the Fabricator-general Kelbor-Hal, citing the ties held by the world of Konor to the ruling hierarchy of the realm of Ultramar. That Konor played host to one of the five Tetrarchs of Ultramar, Eikos Lamiad -- the Iron Warden of Konor, as well as a sizable garrison of the XIIIth Legion, and ceded some part of its own authority to that of Primarch Roboute Guilliman on Macragge were reasons enough in the eyes of many within the byzantine and dogmatic structure of the Cult Mechanicus to disregard the request. Yet in the years which followed the great wars of the Horus Heresy and those of the Scouring, this and many other decisions made by Kelbor-Hal were re-examined and found to carry hidden within them the Warmaster's poison.
Located at the heart of Ultramar and one of the principal suppliers of munitions and war machines, to both the XIIIth Legion and the various regiments of the Imperial Army raised within the borders of Ultramar, Konor was perfectly placed to serve the Warmaster as a cancer in the breast of that realm. If it could be turned to his purpose, either knowingly or not, it could become a weapon that would cripple his brother's armies without disturbing any of the other forces that had pledged their loyalty to him. While all attempts to overtly gain the loyalty of the magos of Konor proved to be a failure, it was far easier to spread the twin curses of jealousy and mistrust amongst their ranks. With the Fabricator-General's continued denial of their petitions and Guilliman's reluctance to relinquish any authority over the world of Konor, vital to his realm as it was, the magos of Konor succumbed to the Warmaster's plans, unwittingly contributing to his cause. The paltry contributions made to the forces sent to Calth, their divisive meddling in politics beforehand and belated response to the Traitors' incursion into Ultramar were all symptoms of this infamy.
The Calth Conjunction
When the call to arms for the Ghaslakh campaign reached the Mechanicum enclaves of Ultramar, the various magos were quick to see the logical advantage of combining their forces. Alone they would be subsumed into one or other of the Imperium's other formations and likely employed with minimal efficiency; together, acting as one body, they would operate at optimum efficiency and prove a valuable military tool for the coming crusade and the advancement of their own enclaves. Amongst the ranks of the Imperial Army or certain of the Legiones Astartes, such a decision would have prompted many months of posturing and political conflict as the various leaders sought one amongst them to lead, not so among the warriors of the Mechanicum. While the various magos held on Macragge state that the resulting debate lasted for exactly fourteen seconds. Conducted entirely in the binary cant of the Machine Cult, the fraught negotiations granted primacy within the taghmata to Archmagos Cronn Barbarel, due both to his eminent seniority and fealty to the lords of Gantz who remained neutral in the ancient feud between Konor and Anuaris. Only by deft compromise were the contingents of both Konor and Anuaris kept within the ranks of the taghmata and even so, the magos of Konor were to delay their arrival at Calth by several weeks over supposed disagreements that the muster order favoured the taghma of Anuaris over their own. Indeed, the forces of the taghmata assembled from the various enclaves was amongst the last of the formations to arrive at Calth, with detachments from over a dozen individual worlds, moons and Monolith class factory hulks from across Ultramar. When arrive they did, each was assigned a muster site as space became available amongst the teeming horde of military might assembled upon the surface of Calth, with taghma from the greater taghmata scattered across the planet's surface.
The vast flesh-thrall hordes of Konor's lacyraemarta adepts were assembled on the rolling plains of Barrtor alongside the Ultramarines 2nd and 16th Chapters and the armoured autokrator squadrons of the Anuaris taghma, the magos at the head of those taghma being at pains to ensure that their old rivals would not seem more efficient than their own vassals as they stood in flawless ranks alongside the cobalt blue files of the Ultramarines. The spindle-legged walkers and ornately augmented magos of the taghma assembled in the deep space drift-refineries of Zeta-Orizus IX were deployed among the desert spires of northern Erud and a regiment of the newly raised 43rd and 44th Erud Infantry regiments.
Sources
- Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pg. 31
- The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest by Alan Bligh, pp. 20, 50, 68, 81, 133-134
- Know No Fear (Novel) by Dan Abnett