I — Primus Lex III

Former mantles:
V Quintus Sutura → medicae/asset recovery
II Secundus Rigor → breach/discipline

Before the mantle

The one who would become Lex entered the Phalanx as Sutura. Calm hands. Cold triage. Eyes were kept breathing when numbers said they wouldn’t be. Shard-keys were never lost. That reliability bought trust—and leverage.

Becoming Secundus

When Secundus went down during a blackout breach, Sutura stepped into the gap without a word. The line was restacked by count, not feeling. A simple drill was imposed: three checks green, then move. The Phalanx walked out on time, intact. Consensus elevated Sutura to Secundus Rigor. Under Rigor, misfires faded, reloads hit the same beat, and the lattice grew quiet. Discipline first; instinct second.

Investiture as Primus

Two cycles later the Lex shard-key passed on. By doctrine and consent, Rigor bound the key and erased the old name. Primus Lex III was instantiated—third bearer of the mantle. Function unchanged: define order, contain variance, keep the lattice whole at six.

Since taking the mantle

• Command cadence: Orders delivered like a metronome. Short phrases. No waste.

• Doctrine: Six nodes only. Non-Eyes may work alongside, never within, the lattice.

• Discipline: “Three counts green” before any breach; standard rhythm align → fire → transfer.

• Succession: Shard-keys recovered and rebound immediately. Numerals and mantles persist; identities do not.

• Ledger: Ammunition, injuries, promises—kept exact. Errors are corrected. Patterns are removed.

Oath at investiture

“The hand is replaced; the verdict remains. Where six eyes look, one volley falls.”

II — Secundus Rigor VIII

Former mantles:
III Tertius Exactus → gunntek/overwatch (precision)
(Rigor has seen many bearers; several fell without succession. The role draws from any of the remaining Eyes when needed.)

Before the mantle

As Exactus, the current Rigor lived by single-trigger solutions. Lanes were measured, wind was guessed once, and missed never. Calm range calls, clean pins, quiet kills. No theatrics.

The vacancy

A breach went black. Secundus vanished in the collapse and fire. The lattice listed the shard as “lost, presumed unrecoverable.” The Phalanx needed a Rigor. Election named the former Exactus—conditional on initiation: recover the shard alone.

Initiation

Tracks led to a sumpbound ossuary where the fallen Secundus was being profaned by a mutant knot. The hunter did not close all at once. One by one, the voices were silenced—lanes trimmed, footfalls timed to the drip. The last creature had swallowed the helm. The shard was cut out of its gut and cleaned with solvent and salt.

The long-las did not survive the work. In the ruins nearby lay the carcass of an old hull—its emitter coils and capacitors intact under ash. Pieces were stripped, re-wired, and braced across a scavenged frame. The result was inelegant but true: a portable las-cannon that spoke in final answers.

Investiture as Rigor

Shard recovered, oath spoken, name erased. Secundus Rigor bound to the mantle. Drill resumed on the next cycle.

Since taking the mantle

• Discipline: Breaches open on a beat—count three, go. Reloads land on half-beats. No drift.

• Range law: “Aim. Break. Transfer.” No second sight unless ordered.

• Tooling: The field-built cannon is maintained like a litany—coils checked, braces replaced, charge-pack flow balanced before every operation.

• Succession ethic: If an Eye falls, the shard comes home. If there is no one to carry it, Rigor will.

Oath at investiture

“The line does not waver. The count does not slip. Where the breach opens, discipline enters.”

VI — Sextus Tormentum XVIII (Archeotek)

Lineage: Eighteenth bearer of the Tormentum mantle.
Function: Breach hammer; crowd control; intimidation and compliance.
Reputation inside the lattice: First in, most likely to fall, considered replaceable by doctrine—yet indispensable when the door must open now. Yet the current holder is seen as more than replaceable, more of a bonus, a boon, something to be watched.

Before the mantle

Previous Tormenta were chosen for spectacle—noise, blood, fear. This one was noted for cold pragmatism. Pain was not pleasure; it was a process. Orders were kept. Problems were ended.

Selection

Vigil first marked the candidate in a sump-street beating: a rival ganger broken, then released. Curiosity over cruelty. The candidate shadowed the survivor to a shack that housed a small hive-scum crew. No warning, no sermon. A timed rad-grenade was rigged and lowered through a seam; an improvised flamer sealed the outcome. As radiation and fire spread, the face did not twist with joy—only confirmation. The threat would not grow.

When the Sixth Eye was lost, the Phalanx made contact. The offer was simple: erase the old name, bind to the lattice, become Sextus Tormentum. Acceptance was immediate. Before investiture, the candidate dismantled their former four-person cell—thoroughly, to the point of unrecognizability. No entanglements remained.

Investiture

Shard-key bound. Helm keyed. Identity deleted. Sextus Tormentum XVIII instantiated.

Since taking the mantle

• Breach doctrine: First through on the count; disperse → disable → depart. No linger.

• Control: Juves, gangers, and auxiliaries obey. Compliance is calibrated—voice first, example second.

• Tools: Rad and flame applied with engineering rather than zeal; layouts mapped, vents considered, secondaries planned.

• Ethic: Pain is not a message. It is a switch—thrown when required, never for free.

Method

Crowd pressure managed with lanes and heat; ringleaders removed; residue minimized. If the lattice needs a door, Tormentum makes it—fast, final, and at the exact second ordered.

Oath at investiture

“I am the pressure at the hinge. I turn crowds into corridors. Where the six must pass, I open the way.”

III — Tertius Exactus VI (Gunntek)

Lineage: Sixth bearer of the Exactus mantle.
Function: Precision overwatch; lane control; placement and distance; covering fire for the other Eyes.

Loss of the Third Eye

The previous Exactus held the rear while the Phalanx extracted a priority relic for the clan. Volleys were counted, range flags placed, and the path stayed open long enough for the asset to clear. When the count ended, Eye III was gone. Shard-key unrecovered. A vacancy recorded, not mourned.

Identification of a successor

A candidate had already been marked—clean sight discipline, economy of movement, an instinct for how guns shape space. Before contact could be made, a multi-gang war detonated across the candidate’s sector: Orlocks pressing lanes, Cawdor burning entries, Delaque blinding the map. The candidate’s Van Saar cell was erased to the last. The candidate remained, pinned in a ruin of ducts and glass.

Extraction and offer

The Phalanx moved as five. Vigil cleared the sightlines; Rigor broke the nearest lane; Lex set the tempo. Where targets persisted, Rigor closed them. A path opened, one corridor wide. The candidate was pulled through on the count.

At exfil, the offer was given—erase the old name, bind to the lattice, serve as Tertius Exactus. Acceptance was immediate.

Investiture

The shard-key for III was rebound from the reserve set; helm tuned; mantle instantiated. Tertius Exactus VI replaced the forgotten designation. Records of the candidate’s former cell are sealed under Phalanx doctrine.

Since taking the mantle

• Overwatch law: Aim → Break → Transfer. No second sight unless ordered.

• Placement: Rifles and bodies are geometry—corners owned, alleys denied, exits priced.

• Covering doctrine: Two beats of suppress, one beat of move. Others cross on the third.

• Maintenance: Optics checked before charge-packs; barrels floated; refraction adjusted to ambient.

Method

Trigger discipline is absolute. Wind is guessed once. Distance is a fact, not a feeling. When the lattice needs space, Exactus makes it.

Oath at investiture

“I measure. I mark. I end. Where an Eye moves, the line holds.”

IV — Quartus Vigil II (Augurtek)

Lineage: Only two Vigils are recorded—the founder, and the current mantle.
Prior status (pre-Phalanx): A Van Saar gang specialist in another cell; not an Eye, not bound to any lattice.

Selection

Vigil was noticed for restraint and observation: sightlines mapped before movement; withdrawals executed on count, not pride. The first Vigil made contact off-ledger, observed three jobs without interference, and delivered a sealed offer: erase the old name, accept the augur helm, serve as the Eye that watches.

The price for secrecy was total. The Phalanx moved as six; the rival cell was erased to prevent any account of how the Phalanx recruits.

Investiture

The augur helm was keyed; the shard bound; the former identity deleted. Quartus Vigil was instantiated—second of the name. Doctrine transferred without debate: signal hygiene, triangulation, denial; the map stays alive from entry to extraction.

Since taking the mantle

• Talent acquisition: Vigil finds and vets candidates for Eyes III (Exactus), V (Sutura), and VI (Tormentum)—always from outside the Phalanx. Composure under fire, economy of motion, obedience to count. Offers are made quietly; tests are arranged if silence is safer.

• Counter-infiltration: False returns are seeded, traced, and cut. Leaks are treated as contamination; cleaned without ceremony.

• Extraction discipline: Primary and secondary routes are plotted on entry; evacuation calls are issued without hesitation when numbers turn. Survival is a resource.

• Continuity: A sealed succession ledger names three outside candidates for each of III, V, and VI at all times. A fourth envelope is reserved for IV.

Method

Augurs sweep first. Vox stays clean—brevity codes, no colour. The lattice moves only when “map alive” is confirmed. Vigil does not dramatize; Vigil confirms.

Oath at investiture

“I see the six as one. I keep the map alive. When a place must be filled, I know the shape that fits.”

V — Quintus Sutura X (Bioteknist)

Lineage: Tenth bearer of the Sutura mantle.
(Sutura is often a path to Rigor and, rarely, to Lex. Vigil screens for more than steady hands—hidden qualities for future command are weighed.)

Function: Medicae triage under fire; asset preservation; recovery of shard-keys.
Position in the line: Replaced the current Primus Lex III when that mantle advanced from Sutura → Rigor.

Before the mantle

Operated alongside rogue medici in sump wards, keeping Van Saar cells on their feet between bad contracts and worse decisions. Records show compliance with clan doctrine when possible—and a growing contempt for a prior cell’s theft from House stocks and casual defiance of hierarchy. The ledger uses one word: untenable.

Identification

Vigil marked the candidate for calm hands in chaos and an unspoken willingness to make hard choices fast—traits that read beyond Sutura toward future command. A warrant arrived the same cycle: the treacherous cell was to be erased. The Phalanx—five Eyes at the time—was dispatched. Quiet instructions circulated to cut the candidate as well if complicity was proven.

The cull

On arrival, the corridors were silent. Bodies lay in surgical order near sewer grates, faces slack, limbs exposed. The cell had been drugged under the guise of treatment for a minor outbreak—then left where the vermin would work. One survivor waited for the Phalanx, satchel open, gloves clean. The explanation was brief: “House first.”

Investiture

The warrant was signed complete: all members eliminated. No deviation noted. The shard-key for V was bound, the old name deleted, and Quintus Sutura X joined the lattice.

Since taking the mantle

• Forward triage: Moves with the line, not behind it. Stabilize, move, finish—in that order and on the count.

• Asset doctrine: Clan property is prioritized; flesh preserved where it benefits the ledger. Shard-keys are never abandoned.

• Promotion lens: Maintains a quiet file for Vigil on candidates showing discipline under pressure and ledger-first thinking—the kind that could wear Rigor or Lex in time.

• Sanction ethic: When a cut is ordered, Sutura completes it cleanly. No spectacle, no residue.

Method

Medicae kits are kept to spec. Chems dosed to the half-mark. Extractions timed on three counts green. Survival is a resource; so is silence.

Oath at investiture

“I keep what the House values. I close what must be closed. When an Eye falters, I carry the key home.”