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Emerald Tigers Origin "We will never know how much was lost. So much of what we have done and once were, as important a part of ourselves as what we are now, is now gone. All that's left for us is to exact equal vengeance upon those who took this from us. We shall destroy them. And then we shall forget them." Librarian Myrddin Wyllt, overseeing the reconstruction of the Chapter's Librarium The Emerald Tigers were formed during the 7th Founding from the legacy of Guilliman, around a cadre of an older Chapter, the War Consuls. Their first action once combat ready was to participate in a crusade to reclaim the worlds lost to the Imperium by the ferocity of the Emperor's Ire, a sector-wide warpstorm that had been raging for nearly a century. The Emerald Tigers found themselves facing a Sector at the very verge of being overrun. Creatures of the Warp and Traitor Marines wearing the panoply of the Emperor's Children cavorted and rampaged across the worlds and in the depths of space, playing with what was left of the weak and desperate mortal populations. Though a true enemy now stood before them, their joy over the bloodshed only seemed to grow to a higher pitch when the Crusade met the Chaos incursion head on. Though an arduous struggle, the Imperium was ultimately successful when the final dissipation of the warpstorm cut off reinforcements to the traitors. The Emerald Tigers re-tasked themselves with the defense of the Erinn Sector, deep in Segmentum Pacificus. With the approval of the High Lords, they took for themselves a homeworld within it that had particularly impressed the young Chapter on its continued resistance to the corruption of Chaos. The Emerald Tigers have remained in the area for millennia, on constant patrol for the ever-constant resurgence of Traitor Marine activity and the presence of insidious xenos. It took nearly three thousand years before the Emerald Tigers were able to finally cast out the Emperor's Children Warband, who called themselves the High-Born, led by the Chaos Lord Mogh Nuadat. Three thousand years of war, of hunting them down from world to world. It was Chapter Master Conn Eremon, their most revered hero, who finally hammered them down. The headstrong Chapter Master never gave them respite, even when his own Chapter needed it more. Whenever the High-Born went to ground, he would tear the world apart until there was nowhere left for them to hide. His crusade of extermination lasted three centuries. It began at the Brosnachian Fields, where the Chapter destroyed the fleets of the Rogue Trader Sampate and burned the extensive roots the High-Born cults had taken. It continued on the worlds of Mewsauc, Govran, S'wama and Lewein, as well as battles fought in scores of other places. Everywhere the High-Born would be found, uprooted and yet, disappear. This over-extended game of cat and mouse finally met its conclusion upon the moons of the gas giant Maglena. There they found not only the Warband but their ever elusive Chaos Lord. In a duel worthy of song and saga, Conn slew Mogh Nuadat. The High-Born, for the first time since they had arrived, were finally beaten and driven from the Sector. Suffering from great wounds, Conn was interred in a Contemptor-class Dreadnought, within which he would continue to serve the Chapter as a beacon of glory and honor, a veteran of every war the Chapter had waged. Since then, the Emerald Tigers have ever stayed loyal to their Emperor and fought countless wars in this remote and otherwise relatively unprotected zone of space. From their earliest victory upon the bloody hills of Khavidan to their most recent defense of their homeworld, Tara, the Emerald Tigers have won great glories and suffered many losses with trademark adaptability, overcoming all obstacles by virtue of their fluidity. Defense of Tara "A hundred times I have been awoken. A hundred times I have been unleashed. A hundred times I have faced your kind. I will do so a hundred more, but for you this is the end." Conn the War Ender meets Tyreke, Chaos Lord of the Eyes of Tivan, in battle Late in the 41st Millennium, the High-Born returned to Erinn, alongside a Warband of the World Eaters, the Eyes of Tivan. Together, the two Warbands cut a swathe across the Sector. Before the Chapter could even react, entire sub-sectors went dark. The Emerald Tigers were not slow in reaction. Such was the speed and ferocity of the attacks. Chapter Master Cormac Airt immediately mobilized the Chapter to stem the oncoming tide of heretics, daemons and Traitor Marines. Recruitment rates were doubled and then tripled as the Chapter met the foe and the attrition rates rose. Though Cormac's inspired leadership saw the traitorous advance falter, the Chapter's counter-offensive stumbled upon Buoyan. There Eoghain Mor, master of the High-Born and former Champion of Mogh Nuadat, laid a trap for the lord of the Emerald Tigers upon Buoyan treacherous glacier-continents. Utilizing powerful Warp sorceries, the traitors succeeded in isolating the Chapter Master and laying him low. The whiplash of the magic devastated the icy waste, making the land of solid ice too dangerous to fight upon and the Emerald Tigers were forced to retreat. Though Cormac survived, his body and mind were ravaged. He was transported back to their fortress-monastery, where the Apothecarion and Librarium collaborated on his treatment. In the interim, First Captain Cairbre took upon himself Acting Chapter Master. Though an accomplished leader of men, outshining all other living Captains in feats of glory, Cairbre did not have Cormac's resourcefulness or charisma. He held the line, preventing the oncoming enemy forces from breaching their defenses and spilling out onto the Imperium's unprotected worlds for a couple of years. Though Cairbre's response was laudable, it did not protect the true target of their enemy's wrath. Sub-sector Leathcuinn was, relatively, unprotected. With the bulk of their armies diverting the Chapter's defenses elsewhere, the two Warbands sent their veteran elite to lay siege upon the Sub-sector's crown jewel and homeworld of the Emerald Tigers, Tara. With the great majority of the Chapter's Fleet scattered throughout the Sector, the heavy bruisers and small destroyers that burst from the Warp met only a token resistance in orbit around Tara. With the target of all the High-Borns' rage buried deep under Taran ground and the Eyes of Tivan aching to meet their foe face to face, the traitors foresook orbital bombardments and instead released their warriors upon the surface of the world. Aside from the host of combat-ready Chapter serfs, wholly unprepared to face such a foe, and the nearly inconsequential mortal armies of Tara's clans and tribes, the traitors were met by the two hundred Scouts and Marines raised in addition to the Codex norm in response to the Traitor threat, as yet unassigned to their own places among the stars. Though the traitors outnumbered the Emerald Tigers nearly three to one, the Chapter had two advantages in its favor. First was that among the Dreadnoughts that had remained on Tara was Conn Eremon, ancient High-King and the Chapter's greatest martial hero. Once awoken, his presence upon the battlefield inspired the young Marines to equal exploits as he reaped enemy lives with every strike. Their second advantage, wielding the Chapter's most ancient relic weapons, the Fire's Claw and the Hound's Blade, took the form of yet another returned hero. Though weakened still by the venomous magicks wreaked upon him, nonetheless it was Cormac Airt who led the defenses. The battles that waged upon Taran soil lasted many months. Many of the world's island-continents were razed, its people gone forever. For a time, it seemed that no matter the awe-inspiring feats of the defenders, such as when Eoghain Mor fell with Cormac's claw buried within him, Tara would be doomed to fall. The defenders knew that their death knell had been sounded when Conn the War Ender, master of countless battles and warrior supreme, was cast broken from the Bones, a mountain range named for the ancient belief that it is the remains of an ancient race of giants, by the Chaos Lord of the Eyes of Tivan Warband. However, as the Emerald Tigers fought tooth and nail, viciously, within the hallowed halls of their own Fortress-Monastery, salvation finally arrived. Cairbre, finally freed from the wars that had laid siege to a Mechanicum Knight world, had struck an alliance with the Knight House Mobius and turned his forces back to Tara. In a replay of when the traitors appeared over Taran skies, Cairbre was able to force his ships past the traitor cordon and release his men and a host of Knights upon Tara. While four Companies, accompanied by a host of walker-machines, turned the tide on Tara, Cairbre and his veteran 1st Company committed boarding actions on the greater ships of the traitor fleet. Though the Defense of Tara took nearly a year, the Emerald Tigers were eventually able to push the Traitors back off their world. It cost the Chapter much. Nearly a third of the world's population remained and the war marked the death of the Chapter's most revered ancestor. With Cairbre himself gone, unable to teleport off ship in time to avoid its sudden self-destruction, Cormac Airt had risen to reclaim the mantle of the Chapter Master. As their Fortress-Monastery was rebuilt, the enemy's leadership slain or on the run, he led the Emerald Tigers back into the war that rampages still across Sector Erinn. Home World "The lands still will not green. What have they done to our world, that its scars yet remain?" Cormac Airt, Chapter Master of the Emerald Tigers once and again During the First War, as the later Emerald Tigers refer to their earliest Crusade, the young Chapter marched in its entirety upon the world of Tara, a world wracked by battles fought between the two traitor forces. There the Emerald Tigers witnessed the weakened, distraught Imperial citizens remain ultimately unbroken by the atrocities they'd lived through, fighting back at their enemies at every moment through subterfuge and guerrilla tactics. When the Chapter succeeded in throwing the traitors offworld it had already been decided that the world of Tara would make an ideal center for recruitment. Following the close of the Crusade, the Emerald Tigers petitioned the High Lords of Terra for the right to claim Tara as their homeworld. So granted, the young Chapter set to work on the feudal world, creating their Fortress-Monastery as a vast subterranean network in the center of the Great Valley, an immense basin as large as the Imperial Palace. The only evidence that can be seen from the surface is a large mound, too uniformly rounded to be a natural hill or small plateau. The tribal Tarans refer to this landmark as the Great Mother, who gives birth to the giant sons of the Sky Father, the local term for the Emperor. Those Tarans more civilized than their tribal brethren, living in a feudal state, know more of the truth of its existence and are fully aware of the presence of the Emerald Tigers. The Chapter recruits from both peoples equally, nominally by keeping watch over the internecine wars and tournaments. For every child taken as a potential recruit a token of precious metal is left behind for the child's family. Among the feudal clans, these tokens are of paramount importance, being physical manifestations of their divine right to rule. In essence, the tokens act as evidence of nobility. The greatest clans, called the Companion Clans as they can trace their long lineages back to the heroic Tarans who had fought alongside the Emerald Tigers at the very beginning of their histories. The patriarchs of these clans are kings of their imminent domains, Tara's highest mortal authorities. The tribes of Tara react to the tokens less reverently, thinking them payment for the taking of their child and nothing more. These tokens exchange hands and ownership at a rapid pace. Many clans have had their position secured by laying claim to traded tokens. These clans were purged when such claims were declared fraudulent in the 39th Millennium. For the past couple decades, Tara has been attempting to mend the horrific damage wrought upon it during the unprecedented assault by an allied traitor force. Since the ending days of the Defense of Tara late M41, the Taran populations have drasticaly reduced. Across its island-continents, the tribal Tarans were struck the worse and are nearly extinct. The urban Tarans suffered less than their tribal brethren, seeking more to survive than to brazenly attack as the tribes did, centering their efforts over the most important, populous cities. Many of the lesser cities were overrun, their people massacred. Enough time has passed that Tarans have begun rebuilding these abandoned shells but still the landscape is dotted with blasted ruins marking the sites of mass graves. Organisation "In our darkest time, we needed them. We would have not survived without them. Now, as dark times approach once more, we argue how to dispose of them?" 3rd Captain Tighearnan, as the fate of the 11th Company hangs in the balance The organisation of the Emerald Tigers has changed in the recent centuries, as the Chapter has been forced to raise nearly two hundred additional Marines to overcome the constant onslaught of foes that had threatened to overwhelm the Chapter during the 41st Millennium. Though no longer necessary, the survivors were coalesced into a single Company and are now used to man and escort the large Starfort Exalted Wrath, a recent addition to the Chapter that had proven particularly advantageous in breaking the back of the Traitor's attack on their homeworld. The Chapter is divided on the future of the company, as the current Chapter Master has yet to decide whether it will be retained and replenished as needed or allowed to diminish over time by inevitable losses until the proper Chapter size is once more reached. The remaining ten companies are primarily Codex in organisation. The Battle Companies are ever at work hunting down and striking out at nearby foes while the Reserve Companies patrol the Sector in constant vigilance. Beliefs "We are light. We can blind and we can guide. How we choose to use our power defines us and, through us, our Chapter and the Imperium. To abuse it is to forsake everything we have ever stood for or ever will. Do not abuse it." Chief Librarian Coran Wyrdbreaker, to the fey Marines being initiated into the Druid Circle The Emerald Tigers have for a long time lost their Primarch as their primary focus for reverence, shifting entirely to the Emperor. Though Guilliman remains as an important aspect of the Chapter, they view him mostly as a conduit, their connection to the Emperor through their genetic inheritance and on equal terms with the Chapter's own ancient heroes. This shift in focus is one of many visible clues as to how much of the Chapter has been shaped by their homeworld. Combat Doctrine "It has ever been our way to challenge ourselves to further feats of brilliance. What worth is there in repeating the same successes over and over? Once was proof enough that it could be done; twice perhaps if to prove the first was no mishap. But to have committed countless feats, each unique and independent of the other, is something to be proud of. Versatility. Adaptability. No enemy of Man ever strikes the same and nor shall we. Stagnation in battle is death. Predictability is death." Sergeant Daithi to his scout squad The Chapter has pride most of all in its mutability and adaptability. Rather than providing the same, static face to the enemy in each encounter, the Emerald Tigers has learned the hard way that only by approaching war differently each time can they take the enemy by surprise. The hunters of the tribesmen know full well that they are not the greatest predator of the forests and change themselves constantly, sometimes through drastic measures, to disorient any would be attackers. As the Emerald Tigers are isolated from any potential aid and can be outmatched at times by their myriad foes, they have adopted this as their creed. The rich and robust tomes that is the Chapter's copy of the Codex Astartes which details multiple potential military responses for virtually any potential situation. As a general preference, the Chapter will by its own preferences choose an unused method of attack or defense before falling back upon a previously used gambit. They have been known to go against such preferences often when opportune. They do not allow themselves to get lost in the fervor and heat of battle. They remain constantly aware for the perfect moment to strike with utmost ferocity, whether when striking from unawares or already locked in combat, the Emerald Tigers strive always to end conflicts quickly and decisively. Gene-Seed "War is in our blood! Feel its rage burn within! Let it overwhelm you as it sustains you with its hate! Let it fill your soul! Let yourself go within it, as you spill it from your enemies!" Chaplain Siobhan, leading the Uineil Clansmen in defense of their land The Emerald Tigers were founded upon the gene-seed of Roboute Guilliman and they have kept their genetic legacy as pure as it began. The Chapter keeps careful watch over the Tarans for prospectful recruits, though they do make such individuals easy to find. As the taking of a family member increases a clan's social standing, many capable boys are trained from a very young age to impress the watchers with strong arms and quick minds. Great tournaments are held with regularity, as the youths show off their skills and prowess in competitions against one another. Among the Taran tribes, life is less orderly. A child that can fight in tournaments is a child that can fight for his tribe's survival and will participate in the everlasting wars between tribes and the two great cultures. Despite the Tara's brush with Chaos so long ago, the purity of faith and mind of Tara's denizens kept them pure of body as well. Though an ever-present problem for any Imperial world, Tara's mutant birth rate is very low and harshly dealt with. The Emerald Tigers have been blessed with such purity, allowing the Chapter to rapidly recuperate from the many severe losses it has taken over its lifetime. Battle-cry "We live! They die!" A chanted call and return used first at the Defense of Tara.