IA: The Viators

[StGene]

The Crusade of the Ophidium Gulf*

Black Templar crusades are not always large undertakings involving multiple companies of Space Marines. One of such crusades was the Crusade of the Ophidium Gulf. This crusade was led by Castellan Raimer, survivor of the ill-fated Garon Crusade and commander of the Strike Cruiser Ophidium Gulf.
Raimer led the 90 marines aboard in a crusade in to a treacherous part of space in the Galactic South, known as the Veiled Region. Here they discovered some inhabited worlds. The primitive aliens living there worshipped a god they called the "Voice of the Emperor".
While trying to find out what the nature of this god was, Raimer destroyed the alien temples and moved on to the core planets of the system. While doing so, they discovered that most of the worlds had already met a destructive power greater than Raimer and his men. During their trek to the core planets the sensorium of the Ophidium Gulf detected a small fleet of vessels breaking orbit of one of the devastated worlds. Augers determined that these ships were of the Dark Angels Chapter.
After making contact with the fleet, Raimer offered the Dark Angels commander to fight alongside them to capture the alien's leader, the "Voice of the Emperor".
The Dark Angels commander was reluctant to accept the help of the Black Templars but did so anyway. During the last battle for the stronghold of the "Voice of the Emperor", Raimer's marines broke through the alien defences and captured the alien leader. This so called god was clad in ancient black Power Armour without any livery or panoply. Raimer now suspected why the Dark Angels were reluctant in accepting their help and fell back to his strike cruiser and chained the prisoner in the most secluded vault aboard. Almost immediately the Dark Angels demaned that the prisoner was to be delivered to them. Raimer first refused this but when the ordnance sensoria warned him that the Dark Angels fleet was bringing its weapons in readiness, he had to comply for his lone strike cruiser was no match for the fleet before it.
When the Dark Angels received the prisoner they broke orbit and left the system without a word.
The fate of the Ophidium Gulf remains a mystery. The last that was heard of it was a single communication when enroute to the system jump-point. There has been no contact with Castellan Raimer since.

When the High Lords commissioned a new Founding, High Marshal Kordhel of the Black Templars quickly ordered Marshal Lothair to form a training cadre and establish his new Chapter within the Veiled Region. The Region was infested by xenos, and many valuable planets were under the blasphemous heel of these alien tyrants. However, there was a second reason for the High Marshal’s eagerness.

The events of the Ophidium Gulf Crusade deeply troubled the newly elected High Marshal Kordhel. Castellan Raimer and the 90 marines under his command had seemingly disappeared without a trace. Kordhel assumed that the Ophidium Gulf had been destroyed with all hands, and ordered 800 Black Templars under the command of Marshal Lothair to avenge them.

Lothair was an excellent warrior and commander, even by Space Marine standards. His keen was matched only by his incredible stubbornness, which lead to his command of the training cadre. His determination to succeed at all cost made him the ideal choice to investigate into the disappearance of the Ophidium Gulf and to found a new Chapter.

Lothair took the Battle Barge Garon’s Revenge and five Strike Cruisers deep into the heart of the Veiled Region. Two weeks into the campaign, an Orkish armada under the command of one Kaptin Redbeard contacted the fleet. The Kaptin issued a challenge to the Black Templars, daring them to meet him in battle. Lothair agreed, believing that the lack of the typical Ork-infested planets meant that Redbeard’s fleet was a small one. Unfortunatly, that belief was false.

The Black Templars won the battle, but their victory had come at a high price. A trio of Ork Ram Ships had propelled the Garon’s Revenge into the dwarf star, taking Marshal Lothair and three hundred of the finest marines in the fleet with them. The new leader of the training cadre was Marshal Augustus. Augustus swore that he would avenge Marshal Lothair and the Revenge, or he would die trying. He named his new Chapter the Viators (High Gothic for “wanderers”), and declared that the Chapter would have no world for their own until Lothair was avenged.

The Viators have sworn to take no homeworld until the accursed Redbeard is dead. Nonetheless, several worlds have been found to have primitive human civilization, and have been earmarked as recruiting centers. The individual Companies decide when they need reinforcements, and when they do, they simply swing by the recruiting worlds and test all aspirants available. They are given a medical exam, tested for psychic and physical potential, then examined by the Chaplains for psychological stability. If they pass all of these tests, then they begin the implantation process. There is no great ordeal required, no need to prove oneself beyond eligibility. The Viators do not have time for elaborate rituals.

Their command centers reside within the five Strike Cruisers that make up the Viators’s fleet. These battered vessels are the nerve center of any operation undertaken by the Chapter. The Strike Cruisers have been customized by the Techmarines to hold all the necessary facilities to support a Chapter. If there is one advantage of the Viator’s lack of manpower, it’s that the Techmarines have more than enough space.

Marshal Augustus

The first, and quite possibly the last Chapter Master of the Viators, Marshal Augustus's unwavering determination and burning hatred of Orks are legendary. It is he who has the unenviable task of ensuring the survival of a Chapter that teeters so precariously on the brink of destruction. Between scrounging for supplies, destroying xenos, and hunting for the thrice-accursed Redbeard, it's a wonder that the Marshal has not succumbed to the pressure and admitted defeat. But in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is no place for such weakness. Clad in ancient Artificer armor and wielding the mighty power hammer Cryptmaker, Augustus desperately fights to save his Chapter. If the Viators fall, they will fall with a roar, and with Augustus fighting to the last.

Despite being descended from the Black Templars, the Viators have incorporated elements of the Coex Astartes. With the number of available marines slowly shrinking with each engagement and morale at an all-time low, a strict command structure was needed to instill a sense of unity and professionalism in the Chapter. The Chapter Master, also serving as the Captain of First Company, is known as the Grand Master. The Captains of the other four companies are simply known as Masters.

Unlike other Chapters, the Viators only have five companies. The veterans, scouts, Librarians, and Chaplains are spread out evenly amongst all companies to ensure that a company will be able to survive long periods of time without resupply. Each company is assigned permanently to a Strike Cruiser, and emphasis is placed on self-sufficiency for each company. Until Redbeard is dead, the Strike Cruisers will serve as the Chapter’s Fortress-Monastery.

The Viators believe that everything happens through the Emperor’s will. The number of aspirants who become marines, the death of Marshal Lothair, and even the continued survival of the infamous Redbeard have happened because the Emperor willed it to be so. The Viators march into battle devoid of fear, for the Emperor holds them in his hand.

The Viators are descendants of Rogal Dorn through the Black Templars. Thus they have inherited a portion of his most famous traits, such as his indomitable will and tendency towards self-sacrifice. From the Imperial Fists they have inherited the loss of the Betcher’s Gland and the Sus-an Membrane, rendering them incapable of spitting acid or going into a state of suspended animation.

There are many phrases used by the Viators to terrify their foes. Aside from the ubiquitous, “For the Emperor!” there are many Black Templar chants and hymns that have been adapted by the Viators to suit their tastes. But their favored chant is one that was composed by the indomitable Chaplain Kage, reminding the Battle-Brothers that everything happens by the Emperor’s will.

When shall our souls be like thrice-forged steel?

Within the heat of battle!
When does your duty to the Emperor end?
In the cold embrace of death!
In that cold embrace what shall be your reward?
The knowledge that I have done my duty!
And what shall be your battle cry?
Vult! Imperator Vult!

-Litany of Battle, written by Chaplain Kage

*White Dwarf 312 UK Edition
Author's Notes:
As you can see, this is still a work in progress. The BB Code seems to be glitchy, and (for some reason) all the unmodified text is justified to the right. Grrr.
The author of the original Litany of Battle is N. Kage, an author on fanfiction.net who has written a number of excellent works about the Space Marines.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Whats a 'Viator' when it's at home, or anywhere else for that matter?

 

Also, I'm not sure you'll get away with an Inquisition-favoured Chapter.. There is no Inquisition.

[Ace Debonair]

No image, and the BBcode still exists. I'm too tired to go looking right now, but I'll find a link to the coding article tomorrow for you.

 

I'm puzzled. You talk about ties to inquisitors in the opening and make almost no mention of any in the main body of the text. Although, in fairness, I have to say I think this chapter doesn't need the Inquisition to be good.

 

Good start, all in all.

[StGene]

@Cpt. Juan Juarez-

Whats a 'Viator' when it's at home, or anywhere else for that matter?

A Viator is a Space Marine who belongs to the Viators Chapter, but I doubt that was what you were asking...

Also, I'm not sure you'll get away with an Inquisition-favoured Chapter.. There is no Inquisition.

WHAT?!

[Brother Argent]

What he means is there is no Inquisition as a signle minded entity. There is Inquisitors. As aptly demonstrated in the Grey Knight Codex Inquisitors are just as likely to declare each other traitor etc. Have a single Inquisitor or, if your Chapter is aving close ties to them, a conclave or group of Inquisitors. Inquisitors dont tend to play nice, even with each other.

[StGene]

Aha. I'm trying to decide whether to cut the Inquisition completely, but I want to keep the feel of being alone and set apart from the Astartes, being the last bastion of civilization (in the Veiled Region, anyhow). Kind of a "Gondor has no king, Gondor needs no king" mentality.

[Grand Master Tyrak]

What he means is there is no Inquisition as a signle minded entity. There is Inquisitors.

 

Precisely. I carry it in my sig for a reason. :D It's like the Space Marines themselves - there is no "Astartes", there are only Chapters. Both the Astartes and the Inquisition are deliberately built to be disunited to preserve the separation of powers and to prevent coups or internal strife.

 

Aha. I'm trying to decide whether to cut the Inquisition completely, but I want to keep the feel of being alone and set apart from the Astartes, being the last bastion of civilization (in the Veiled Region, anyhow). Kind of a "Gondor has no king, Gondor needs no king" mentality.

 

Then why not just do that? Cut your Chapter off from the Imperium completely - no contact, no supplies, no allies, no tithes, offically considered a lost Chapter (along with the region they're in).

[Ace Debonair]

BBCodes, as promised.

 

I knew they were around here somewhere. :D

[StGene]

@Ace Debonair: Thank you :lol:

@Grand Master Tyrak:You're a genius. Revisions incoming!

[Heru]

Whats a 'Viator' when it's at home, or anywhere else for that matter?

Viator means "a wayfarer; traveler".

 

OR

 

"A person with terminal or a life-threatening illness who sells their life insurance policy at a steep discount to an insurance firm to pay for their health-care costs or improve their quality of life."

 

 

So yeah they must be a Chapter of Marines selling their life insurance policies. :D

[StGene]

The first one actually. I was looking for a cool Latin phrase.

 

Edit: Basic rewrite is finished! Now I have to flesh out all the sections.

[StGene]

*Bump* Whoops, sorry.