The Terrorguard

[Arioch]

What I have so far :)

 

 

IA: Terrorguard

 

Origins:

The most ancient of the chapter records mentions how the chapter was founded shortly after the Scoring, when the Imperium was in need of astartes to keep a vigilant watch around the eye of terror. The sources speaks of a Grandmaster named Beleth who was put in charge of the newly formed chapter, and who swore an oath before the Supreme Grandmaster of the Unforgiven, of eternal watch and vigilance upon a sacred sword of heavensteel. Thus the Terrorguard chapter was born and their tale have been one of constant warfare ever since.

The ancient sources seem to suggest that the chapter patrolled a narrow part of space to begin with around what is today known as the sentinel worlds. Eventually they discovered a world who had so far remained untouched by the Horus Heresy; even the Great Crusade had not found them in their desolate part of space. As a result, the human inhabitants where of a primitive nature, having only a few cities scattered around the globe. The rest of the waste plains and forests belonged to fierce tribes. They where warrior societies, the strong ruled and the weak perished as the days went by. The cities consisted of petty noble families who struggled for both resources and power, but none strong enough to gain the upper hand. Technology was scarce, although it seemed clear that the world had once possessed technology to rival that of the Imperium, and the world held many old ruins of cities either swallowed by forests, deserts or oceans. Most common weapons where pistols and guns using black powder as well as swords, maces and all various forms of close combat weapons. The Terrorguard considered the planet an ideal place for recruitment and decided to build up their chapter monastery at the nearby moon, which they dubbed Aldakan (calibanite word for Black stone). The planet they dubbed Astygranax (calibanite word for White sword ). The spacemarines constructed their fortress out of dark marble and blackened steel, adorned it with many fine statues and flashing banners, heavy weapons and mighty bastions. The power of Angelwatch would hold of the invasion of traitors and aliens for thousands of years to come. Of course, fighting against the enemies of the Emperor was only half of their original purpose, although it was all that was known to the normal battle brothers of the chapter.

 

The Inner Circle and the hunt for the fallen

The safety of a few imperial worlds was of course not amongst the greatest concerns of the Unforgiven. The main reason for the Terrorguards creation was to maintain a permanent watch around the Eye of Terror. If any fallen would find their way out of the Eye, the task of the Terrorguard would be to locate and capture these individuals. This is also the reason for the chapter having permanent patrols close to the Eye and maintaining many small bases to the galactic southwest of it. They fight chaos, wherever they find it and always seek to capture as many traitors as possible for later interrogation. Only members of the chapters so called “Inner Circle” know of the chapters’ true purpose. This Circle consists of the entire 1. Company, the Interrogator chaplains, the librarians, the masters of the chapter, The Grand master of the chapter and his command staff, the master of the Forge, the master apothecary as well as several veteran sergeants scattered around the chapter. The reason for the Inner Circle being as big as this is because the chapter is normally spread thin across the garrisons, and the Inner Circle needs to have Illuminated officers at every station.

 

Other duties

During their millennia old stay in the sector, the Terrorguard has become deeply involved in the regions politics. Having formed numerous alliances between military governors and other important figureheads, the chapter have formed the so called “protectorate” which is a made up of several systems who have pledged themselves under the protection of the Terrorguard chapter. This protectorate makes it easier for the Terrorguard to defend worlds and makes the coordination between these much easier. Their protégés furthermore provides them with raw materials, weapons and perhaps most importantly, knowledge of the movements of the enemy. Despite their hunt for the Fallen, the Inner Circle takes the defence of “their” worlds very seriously. Some members of the Inner Circle in other Unforgiven chapters even claim that the Terrorguard has become “too obsessed” with defending their worlds rather than hunt the fallen, but the effectiveness of the Terrorguard cannot be denied. Defending the worlds in this part of space is a duty of constant battles. It is not just the constant attacks and rebellions lead by traitors and heretics that saps away the strength of the chapter, but all kind of vile aliens seems to defect the area. Namely orcs have become a permanent pestilence that needs to be dealt with regularly.

 

Organisation

The chapter is organised in much the same way as the Dark Angels chapter, with a few exceptions though. The 1. Company consists of 100 terminator armed brothers. The company consists of some of the eldest brothers in the chapter and is as a result often nicknamed “The Old Guard” by the younger marines. Indeed the company does not have any members younger than 150 years; the reason for this seems to be that since they form the main part of the Inner Circle, they need to be prepared for the secrets of it. Where many of the marines in the regular companies fight with honour and pride, the mind of a Terrorguard terminator is forever tainted by shame. But his determination to cleanse the sin of the chapter will drive him on to ever greater deeds in battle. His heart swells with barely contained hate as he seeks to confront the heretic and the traitor. The brothers of the first company are therefore normally kept busy in rotting out heretics and traitors around the eye, or spending time in solemn prayers of forgiveness to the Emperor. When pitted against members of the Fallen they are capable at showing a fury to rival that of any other of the Emperors chapters, and they will stop at nothing to obtain the redemption of their chapter.

The 2. company is the most divergent, as the brothers of this company uses mainly land speeders and aircrafts in place of their bikes. Giving the marines a bigger advantage in the air, the black armoured astartes of the 2. company are excellent pilots, and can also be used as a rapid airborne strikeforce, usually supported by deepstriking terminators. This is an easy way for the commanders of the chapter to move their elite troops around on the battlefield, as every member of the Ravenwing carries a teleport homer. The 2. company do have bikes so that every member can fight from his bike if required, but they are seldom used, except for in some scouting missions. The company is often “on the hunt” and usually calls upon help from other companies when their prey has been sighted. They have been told to look for “particularly dangerous traitor marines”, but are not aware of their origin.

The rest of the chapters companies follow that of the Dark Angels- 3. to 5. Company are battlecompanies, 6. To 9. Are reservecompanies and the 10. company is a scout company.

The battlecompanies are normally stationed close or directly on a planet that is part of the Terrorguards “Protectorate”. As casualties rise, men from the reservecompanies are shipped off to where they are needed most. In dire situations the chapter will go to war as one, withdrawing most marines back to Angelwatch to deliver one, decisive punch at the enemy.

 

The Keepers

The perhaps strangest formation in the chapter is that of the Keepers. This 5 man team is formed up by librarians from other Unforgiven chapters. Why this is the case has been purged from chapter records. These librarians are also known as “The keepers of the Sword” which seems to hint at their original purpose, that of guarding the Grandmasters sword in times of vacancy and, when a new bearer has been chosen, to guard the wielder with their lives. Their role seems to have shifted at some point, because today they no longer act as a bodyguard unit, (although they have chosen to do so on rare occasions) but are spread out in different places of the chapter. There is always one keeper at Angelwatch, and others are normally attached to other battlecompanies. They see to that the traditions and customs of the Unforgiven are upheld, and that the commanders act in the right and appropriate way. If this is not the case they do indeed have the mandate to remove any dysfunctional element they see. It is normal custom for the keepers to have strong bonds with the chaplains of the chapter as to better being able to monitor their charges. A keeper normally fights alongside his attached unit and provides counsel for the Forcecommander. His authority is absolute and well respected if he should wish to enact his will, but he does normally not interfere with the commanders leadership. It is custom for a keeper to have a honourguard of terminators, provided by the Grandmaster. They are the watchdogs of the Terrorguard, and whatever caused such a unit to be formed within the chapter is perhaps better left forgotten.

The unit wears ancient black terminatorarmour and their weapon of office is a fearsome forcehalberd, except for the High Keeper, their leader, who wields a mighty forcehammer.

 

Customs and tradition

The Terrorguard chapter is an ancient order, made up of millennia old traditions and customs. It is a proud chapter that takes honour in their achievements, their origin and their duties. Martial prowess is a thing of great importance in the chapter, and whenever possible the marines will seek to test themselves on one another, striving ever onward towards greater skill and determination. As sons of the Lion, the chapter has a history in being stubborn, and will never admit defeat, even when it seems imminent. This has normally resulted in the chapter taking greater casualties than most other chapters, but in other cases it has lead them to a glorious, yet costly victories. This form of behaviour has seen their numbers quite reduced lately, due to the seemingly endless hordes spawning from the eye.

 

Librarians are held in high regard throughout the chapter, as these brothers provide an invaluable protection against chaos. The brothers have from the early times of the chapters founding formed their own cabal, a cabal that is heavily stepped in mysticism and with many mysteries surrounding them. This cabal have often predicted the attacks of the chapters’ enemies or foreseen other important events. Sometimes their connection with the warp even bring forth a prophesy and it is not always easy to understand its meaning. The cabal has no chief-librarian, but is lead by the High Keeper himself

 

Chaplains works in much the same way as in other Unforgiven chapters and acts both as inspiring figureheads and spiritual advisors. They are ever watchful for signs of corruption. The Interrogator-chaplains of the chapter are often quite busy when not on the battlefield, as they are responsible for torturing the chapters’ prisoners- often just regular human traitor with little to no information at all, maybe a chaos spacemarine if lucky. The interrogations that do not involve their fallen brethren are made solely with the intention of collecting useful information and the chaplain doesn’t grant repentance to the victim if he is not of the genetic heritage of the Lion. The dungeons below Angelwatch are filled with the bones of dead traitors, and many of their skulls now decorate the chapter monastery as a warning to all servants of chaos. The bones of dead traitors have also seen use as decoration on marines as well as some of their vehicles, which sometimes gives the Terrorguard a very terrifying visage.

 

Recruitment:

The chapter usually prefers to recruit from Astygranax, where the civilisation is stagnant and constantly under threat from a harsh environment. The astartes maintain one secret base in one of the vast forests of the planet. It is normal custom for the master of the 10. company to seek out promising individuals, which are found and brought to the secret training facility. This is usually done by scout sergeants. At the facility the recruits are tested in many different ways before being shipped off to Angelwatch and many die in the process.

 

Combat doctrine:

The Terrorguard believes in a “flexible” form of warfare, in a sense that they do not favour on particular style of approach, but uses whatever force is necessary. If they have an advantage in staying in a ranged fire fight they will do so, or if they can gain the upper hand in close combat they will do that. Even though the chapters approach to warfare is highly pragmatic, they have developed certain traits that can be called both be a strength and a weakness. The marines of the Terrorguard have an ingrown stubbornness that often will see them hold their ground, even if it means death. But the Masters of the chapter will normally make this their strength, capturing and destroying their enemies with solid walls of unyielding ceramite, and deploy new forces with such haste that the enemy is completely overwhelmed. Another trait of the chapter, is the intense hate they have for traitors of their own kind. This will sometimes see them act in rather rash and potentially dangerous ways, the destruction of their chosen enemy being their only thought and purpose. The chapter has developed many tactics over the years, both useful in offence and defence. Particular famous is the chapters combined arms armoured assault. This is a formation of as many tanks and vehicles the chapter can put together at one spot in the enemies defences. The astartes will simply drive straight into the heart of the enemy lines, overwhelming them with the the power of their guns and their armoured protection. The attack usually starts with a heavy bombardment, then an airborne attack from the second company, causing fear and confusion among the defenders. Deepstriking terminators will start to ripe the enemies’ defences down, leaving them vulnerable to an all out assault by the rest of their brethren. Assaultmarines will bite at the enemies rear and flanks, disabling any form of artillery the enemy may have. This formation has been nicknamed the “shockwing” and is as terrifying as it is deathly.

Like many other Unforgiven chapters, the Terrorguard favours the sword mostly and it is with this weapon that duels will normally be fought. Nonetheless, the chapter finds it very important to master any kind of weapon, both ranged and hand to hand. Plasma weapons are also used in wide extent, mostly because the weapon is perfect for killing traitormarines. The marines are proud of their weapons and their armour and do a great effort to maintain them, as they believe a warrior must reflect his own equipment.

 

Armourcolor:

Bronze with shoulderpads, boots and kneecaps painted black. The robes are dark red.

 

Genseed:

The Terrorguards geneseed is that of Lion El Johnson and has no known defects, though it hasn’t been used to make any subsequent foundings.

 

Battlecry:

War is eternal, but we shall endure!

Also “The Guard may die, but it will not surrender” is a popular saying within the chapter.

[Spaced Hulk]

Cool chapter! :jaw:

 

I particularly like the idea of the 'protectorate'. In a way they're like the mirror image of mine: they're both similar in role (eg: guarding the Eye of Terror, searching for the Fallen) but completely different in their outlook (my chapter retreated into isolation, while yours carved out their own little empire). The Keepers are also an interesting concept, I like the idea of the Unforgiven effectively keeping watch on the Chapter (because of their proximity to the Eye of Terror perhaps?).

 

The name Terrorguard is really evocative as well.

 

Good work mate! :D

[Master Barachiel]

I am collecting thoughts for my project: THE UNFORGIVEN - The full guide to the First Legion and its successors. Well, I wondered if you'd give me the permission to integrate your chapter as well. I want to give some kind of brief introduction to the Unforgiven in general and to their mission and also to the status of their secret missions.

 

Then I'll go on by showing the different chapters and briefly summarize them as a chapter and their role in the Unforgiven Legion. And this is why I ask you for permission. I really, really like the work you show and I think, it deserves more attention and most important a better context. My fan-work is meant to connect the different chapters, the work of dozens of Fluff-writers and combine it into one great thing.

 

However, if you agree, you'll still have the right to check my final text for mistakes/misinterpretation and demand change. I'm truly looking foreward to mostly "put together" the great ideas of people like you and other Fluff-writers

[Arioch]

Spaced Hulk:

Thanks, good to see my effort was not in vain ;)

I have drawn inspiration from various places, and am actually quite pleased with the result so far. I am painting up a veteran at the moment in the Terrorguards colours and soon a terminator. The good thing about having your own chapter is that you can always expand upon it :)

 

Barachiel:

I would consider that an honour, thank you very much :)