Kill Team: Into the DarK

-Every spacefaring race has encountered Space Hulks. Even the Necrons millions of years ago have had encounters with the Space Hulks. In their language, loosely translated by the Imperials, they call them "Sky chariots tortured" or "vengeance of the long dead".

-The Aeldari call the Space Hulks klais'am, haihsa'al, or "abominations birthed from the pits of terror, nightmare, and misery".

-There is no concrete Imperial definition for Space Hulks. Each space hulk is unique, formed from space debris fused in ways that are impossible in Real Space. Some Space Hulks are as large as a few spaceships, while others are as large as planets. The sudden manifestations of the latter into reality can cause planets to quake, rip space stations from their orbits, or tear apart fleets of ships.

-The Space Hulk called the Gallowdark is an ancient Space Hulk the size of a moon. Its history goes back millions of years, to a time even before the Aeldari were a flash of inspiration in the minds of their creators. The first ship that made up the Gallowdark was a funeral vessel of a race called the S'koran'igsthi. If it were possible for the Imperium ever to translate the ship's name, it would be called "She who mourns great loss in the eternal darkness bleak". The ship and all its crew were lost during a funerary journey in the Warp.

-When the Gallowdark first appeared in Real Space it was made up of three dozen ships from races forgotten by the time of 41M. It was inhabited by an alien race that would much later be known by the Imperium as the Breg-shei

-The fifth time the Gallowdark appeared in Real Space it was made up of several hundred ships, and it was inhabited by scores of races. Some of these races would much later be known to the Imperium as the Fra'al, Khrave, and artificial races granted sentience by their long-extinct creators, the Larve of Silica and the Eclosions of the Metal.

-By the time of the Era indomitus, the Gallowdark had morphed, twisted, and mutated so much that no atom of the "She who mourns great loss in the eternal darkness bleak" was attached to its fellows, rather they were scattered across the countless ships that make up the Space Hulk. The Imperium identified Aeldari, Ork, human (traitor and loyalist) vessels among the mangled mass. Even the biomass of Tyranid ships has been detected within.

-Daemon vessels have also fused with the Gallowdark. Only the most insane and desperate of the Space Hulk's inhabitants dares to venture to those parts.

-The Gallowdark is home to a diverse assortment of creatures. From mutated fauna and flora to strange sentiences like tortured machine spirits. Yet, for all this, the followers of Chaos exceed all other inhabitants in number and power.

-Among the first vessels to reach the Gallowdark was the Kroot Warsphere Rok Varoyaw. The battle-hardened Kroot had fought in many battles including saving the technologically gifted Londaxi from patrols of Admech ships and defending a Craftworld from a Dvorgite blood party. For the T'au and the Demiurg, the Kroot of Rok Varoyaw fought Necrons, Orks, Tyranids, and more. They took the flesh of their fallen foes and the spoils of battle as their payment. The Kroot had feasted and plundered well.

-The Kroot saw the Gallowdark as another opportunity to increase their material wealth and feast on new exotic species. The spoils of the Gallowdark would add to the great bounty of genetic material and weapons aboard their Warsphere. It would be their final mission before returning to their homeworld Pech.

-The Kroot of Rok Varoyaw. were granted technology by the Demiurg that enabled them to detect Warp ruptures and hack into Imperium's augur buoys placed on its borders. Using this technology, the Kroot found the Gallowdark.

-The Kroot hoped to plunder the Gallowdark before others arrived and before the inhabitants of the Space Hulk could respond in numbers too great for the Kroot to handle. Unfortunately for the Kroot, they were not quick enough.

-The Imperial War Group Alpha VII of battlefleet Nemesys sailed to investigate the presence of a Warp rupture in the space near their sector. They were shocked to find a Space Hulk of staggering size. The group's mission was updated to determine the heading of the Space Hulk and which worlds it might threaten. Also, to claim any archeotech that the battlefleet might find useful, before heretics, xenos, and other Imperial factions placed their hands on it. The group has no chance to stop or claim such a large Space Hulk but they could do all they could to plunder the Space Hulk and mark salvage claims for the Battle Fleet before the Space Hulk plunged again into the Warp.

-The fact that the group's navigators and astropaths were struck with nightmarish visions and terrible sickness in proximity to the Space Hulk did not dissuade the Imperials from their course of action.

-The War Group ordered the attack the moment they spotted the Kroot Warsphere. The Kroot had no interest in risking their home, especially while it was laden with great wealth that they gathered over the course of years. The Kroot Warsphere moved to retreat while firing at the Imperial ships to slow them down and widen their formation. The Imperial escorts used their void shields to block the Warsphere fire acting as a shield for the cruisers following close behind them. The Kroot knew they could not allow the full power of the Imperial Cruisers to be unleashed on their Warsphere. They hastened their retreat and successfully transitioned into the Warp, but by doing so, they could not complete their evacuation of the Space Hulk. Several kindreds were left stranded aboard the Space Hulks.

-The Imperials used the Kroots' insertion points as their entry points. Navy breaches stormed inside the Space Hulk. As man and Xenos braved the nightmarish confines of the Gallowdark, strange eldritch portals appeared within the Space Hulk.

Some lore bits:

-The Imperial Navy fields a huge number of non-warp capable vessels. They are called system ships. Their task is to patrol and guard system space.

-The Imperial Navy replenish its number from various sources. The majority of Navy ships are built in their own factories. Occasionally the Admech give some of the ships produced on their forgeworlds to the Navy. These ships are marvels of engineering outfitted with rare technology. Another method of replenishing Navy numbers is the salvaging of wrecks. It uses fewer resources, but it carries great risk. Wrecks tend to be hotspots for danger.

-The rarest and most dangerous method of acquiring new ships is extracting new vessels from Space Hulks. The extreme dangers and the horrific melding of ships within the Space Hulks make the process of finding and extracting void-worthy vessels very rare. Despite all of this, some admirals see it as worth the risks and effort. Some of the ships within the Space Hulk might be marks that the Imperium no longer has the technology to produce. Moreover, the chance of finding valuable archeotech and treasures is very high.

-Imperial Armsmen have it better than many others serving in the Navy and others in the Imperium as well. They are well-trained, well-armed, and well-fed. As such, there is plenty of volunteers. Once sworn into the Navy and their ship, the vessel becomes their home for the rest of their lives.

-Armsmen barracks are placed between the officer quarters and the crew dwellings. They serve as a line of defense in the event of a mutiny.

-Armsmen have no dedicated officers. They are all subordinates to Navy officers. This is the case to prevent the creation of a parallel officer class that commands thousands of elite troops and might contest command of Imperial ships from the Navy officers. Despite that, armsmen have non-commissioned officers that act as advisors for Navy officers and will take temporary command should a Navy officer is incapacitated.

-Armsmen Breacher void-jammer operatives operate gheistskulls. They are fitted with explosives and electronic disruption tech. They are called by the Armsmen "The last laugh" or "The dead man's revenge". The reason behind this is that the skulls used to make them come from fallen Armsmen Breachers.

-The Kroot secrete bodily waste in the form of oily sweat. The properties of the sweat depend on what the Kroot has eaten. It can serve as a fire retardant and antibiotic. It can protect the Kroot from poorly aimed melee attacks causing them to slide off their bodies. There is a possibility that the Kroot can use the sweat to mark territory and leave pheromone trails, and communicate with their fellows. There is evidence that the oily sweat can be used by the Kroot to control lesser life forms via empathetic pheromones.

-The Kroot extract insights from whatever they devour. These include memories and language skills. Kroot that have devoured Drukhari are known to inherit some of the race's sadism and cruelty.

-The Shaper councils oversee the kindreds of the Kroot and ensure there is a level of homogeneity across the species. Master shapers sit at the head of these councils, and they direct the distribution of the acquired genetic traits. It's common for Master Shapers to become the focus of ancestor worship and develop shamanistic powers.

-Kroot are very keen on ancestor worship, and social ties are vital for them. Older Kroot are respected for their wisdom and the genetics they have found. Kindreds are often made up of a number of extended families.

-The survival of the family is of paramount importance to the Kroot. A dead Kroot is consumed by his family so that the vital genetic material is preserved. While other races would look down on this as cannibalism, to the Kroot this is their way to preserve the heritage of their ancestors. Furthermore, during dire events or war, Kroot that are too weak and slow to survive or injured Kroot are devoured. These are seen as noble and pragmatic sacrifices to preserve the heritage.

-As payment for defending Craftworld Melenshai from the Dvorgite, the Kroot of Rak Voroyaw demanded to feast on specimens of the rare wildlife present on the Craftworld, creatures that have chameleonic abilities, superb night vision, and adamantine scales.