Order of Shadows, Ordo Umbra

[Master of Asgard]

Ok this is my first post on here so be gentle. I scanned the guide to creating your own chapter and I'm aware that I may have broken a few of their guidelines, but I think this is fairly believable.

 

So, without further ado, my home made chapter, The Order of Shadows:

 

Back story

 

Upon the fall of Caliban, as the traitorous Fallen Dark Angels were scattered to the winds of time and space by the Chaos gods, a small band of Loyalist marines set off in immediate pursuit of the Fallen, only taking with them the equipment that they could readily lay their hands on, regardless of their greater duty to defend Terra and the Emperor. After many years spent in and out of warp space, hunting and executing the Fallen and any other Traitor marines who crossed their path, the Astartes began to think about reuniting with their brother Dark Angels. On the eve before setting course, their commander was visited by a mysterious messenger- a Watcher in the Dark.

 

The tidings were grim: the Dark Angels had perceived the marines' pursuit of the Fallen as an act of treachery- they had deserted their Legion, Terra, and the Emperor in their time of greatest need. The small band of marines had been dubbed traitors; excommunicate, and were considered no better than the Fallen who they were hunting.

 

The next day the commander assembled his men, and revealed to them their new mission and their new name- The Order of Shadows. Considering the intervention of the Watchers to be a sign that they acted in the Emperor's Will, The Order took upon themselves the greatest sacrifice. To destroy the shadow of their Legion's secret, they would become one with that shadow, and destroy it from within, even if that meant exile and the enmity of the Imperium and their Brother Astartes.

 

Organisational Structure

 

The original band of marines who set out in pursuit of the Fallen was around 2000 strong. A small company in comparison to a Legion, but a force to be reckoned with nonetheless. Over the centuries, their war of attrition against the forces of Chaos and their abandonment by the Imperium has not been kind to them, and their numbers have dwindled, despite recruiting from their new homeworld. However, because they started out as such a large force, they have had access to specialists such as Librarians, crucial for Warp travel, Apothecaries and Techmarines, who have all passed on their knowledge as best the could down the ages, in order to keep their force functioning.

 

Because of this, complete understanding of these arcane arts is limited. The Order departed the ruins of Caliban in a hurry, stopping only to take with them the equipment they could easily lay their hands on. Every weapon they carry is a relic. They have no access to more advanced forms of technology such as Jump Packs, Terminator Armour and Dreadnoughts, and only limited access to vehicles. They have managed to maintain a small fleet of the reliable Rhinos, but beyond that, their vehicles are very sparse.

 

Homeworld

 

The Ordo Umbra has set up their base of operations on the third moon of a huge gas giant planet, far on the western fringes of the Cygnus Arm of the Galaxy. So remote is this system that the light of the Astronomican is but a faint flicker in the darkness. The nameless moon is constantly on the dark side of the gas giant, and is nestled amongst a huge asteroid field, only navigable by expert pilots. They Astartes have fortified the moon and the surrounding asteroids to a formidable degree, a sign of their paranoia of discovery. Thus hidden and protected, The Order of Shadows has so far escaped the wholesale wrath of the Imperium and their Brother Dark Angels. Those of the Ordo unfortunate enough to be captured by an Interrogator Chaplain have never revealed the location of their home.

 

Despite all odds, the Astartes found a colony of Humans living on this moon, never discovered by the Great Crusade of the Emperor. Eking out a miserable existence, these wretched beings had learnt all they could about the technology left behind on their world, for without the light of their system's Sun, in constant darkness, the failure of their technology meant death. Over the millennia, although not often succeeding in creating new technology, they had gained a certain level of expertise in repairing and maintaining archaic technology, and using their moon's rich mineral wealth, had managed to survive.

 

The arrival of the space marines was a mutually beneficient relationship for the both the native population and the marines. The technology that the Astartes brought with them was a boon for the natives, and they saw this as the tipping point to bring them from obscurity to prosperity. For the Asartes, the natives' ability to decipher technology and the mineral wealth of the moon and the surrounding asteroids was a greatly needed resource for logistical purposes.

 

Geneseed and recruitment

 

The Ordo Umbra shares it's Geneseed with the Dark Angels, from the line of Lion El'Johnson. Therefore it is very pure and stable. The Ordo Umra has managed to keep alive the process of creating new Space Marines, and has a successful recruitment programme from the now growing population of humans living on their homeworld. The human's ability to maintain technology has been a boon for the Marines, without which their weapons, armour and supply lines would soon fall into disrepair. The Order grows slowly, and their existence is precarious. Should the Imperium discover their base of operations, they would quickly be destroyed.

 

Battle Operations and War Cry

 

Periodically, the Order of Shadows will send a strike force from their hidden stronghold, in order to wage war against the forces of Chaos. This will only be done upon consideration, as they must have enough resources to supply each force. Like their Primarch they are not rash, but measured in their approach. They too fight the Long War.

 

In battle they have no War Cry. Each marine knows the gravity of his cause, and needs no reminding about the seriousness of their Order's fragile existence. They fight in silence with the burning knowledge that each enemy death brings them closer to the completion of their overall mission, and that each casualty they suffer is a grave loss.