Angels of Desecration

[Leonis]

The Angels of Desolation were founded in 738.M41 to combat xeno threats beyond the light of the Astronomicon in the far reaches of the Halo Stars in the Segmentum Obscurus and to bring back under Imperial control those worlds lost since the Macharian Crusade.

 

To this end they were equipped with the fastest strike cruisers the Adeptus Mechanicus had available to enable them to traverse the vast distances between the far flung worlds at the edge of the galaxy.

 

When the chapter reached three companies in strength they began their voyage towards the Halo. They quickly forged a reputation for lightning fast orbital strikes. Liberating many worlds before the enemy even detected ships entering the system.

 

They began to specialize in fast insertion combat drops, ship to ship and zero g combat. In 790.M41 they encountered the Dark Eldar Torture class ship entering orbit around Aryns World and during the boarding action made excellent use of caestus assault rams, their power armour and flamer weaponry in the close confines and crawl ways of the ship.

 

Their focus on fast assault and rapid insertion tactics developed into the Cult of the Fall. A variation on the standard chapter cult that glorified the descent of the space borne marine. Some veteran marines even began dropping from orbit using just their jump packs and power armour.

 

As the light of the Astronomicon fell behind them and the stars in the sky thinned out to nothingness they started to grow restless. Populated worlds were now few and far between and they lost contact with the rest of the Imperium. The only transmissions they received were garbled and echoing and never meant for them.

 

They had reached the Halo Stars and now stood and the brink of the abyss.

 

For two hundred years they patrolled the far reaches of the Segmentum Obscurus but found that their skills were worthless. Most star systems were dead and barren and the few distant distress calls they answered took them years to reach. Time and time again they arrived to find the battle already lost, the world scoured of life, and the enemy long departed.

 

Their numbers dwindled as they had no real way of recruiting new brothers and losses to warp accidents and the occaisional conflict with the Umbra started to take their toll. They were forced to abandon two strike cruisers to the cold of space when they simply no longer had the men to man them.

 

It was then that they found Icarius Prime. A long lost hive world on the edge of space. It had once been a centre of production but isolated and forgotten it was now a dying, twisted shell of rusting machinery and ruined manufactorums. The surface of the world a vast red desert scoured by sandstorms that raged for decades at a time.

 

Only the main hive still functioned. It's people dying of starvation and disease within the echoing tunnels and crawlways of the underhive. The main spire however was sealed and isolated. It housed the former planetary governors household and reached far above the atmosphere of Icarius Prime. Guarded by automated defenses and gun drones the noble family watched their world burn beneath them as they devoted their lives to ever more depraved pastimes. They openly worshipped chaos but they were so inbred and deluded they welcomed the arriving marines with open arms.

 

The Angels fell from the heavens onto the spire and tore their way through the hives upper defences. Where the spires outer walls were ruptured cultists were blasted out into the vacuum of space and they fell burning through the upper atmosphere of the stricken world.

 

The Angels slaughtered the cult, the family, their guards, their servants and their slaves and they found they could not stop. They craved more and as they fell through the spire into ever more dangerous territory they found themselves murdering men women and children and slaking their darkest lusts on the terrified populace of the hive.

 

It wasn't until they discovered a long forgotten cathedral deep within the hive, tended to by a few remaining members of the Ministorum, that they paused. The priests called out for the Marines to regain their senses and stop the madness. The marines however had already been touched by the influence of the slaaneshi daemon summoned by the noble house.

They burned the cathedral to the ground and murdered any member of the ecclesiarchy who tried to flee the flames.

 

They installed themselves as Lords of the Spire and renamed themselves the Angels of Desecration. They enslaved the people of the world and used them as playthings to their darker desires. The Cult of the Fall became the worlds primary religion and slaaneshi cultists were soon pledging their fealty to the Angels on high.

 

Any cultist may also try to ascend. If he can make it past the horrors, traps, mazes, defense systems and utter depravity the climb to the spire now holds he may petition for entrance to the chapter. It has become a rite of passage for young underhivers to attempt it. Most return broken, violated and brutalized. Many simply do not return. Most are killed in the attempt but a few who show the tenacity, depravity and courage needed to reach the top become Angels.

 

The chapter now uses it's fleet and expertise to raid pilgrim ships headed towards shrine worlds or Holy Terra for slaves. Ever hungry for new toys to play with.

[Lord Scytha]

First kudos on making a traitor IA. Far to few of those.

 

On to some criticism.

 

The Macharian crusade took place in the segmentum Pacificus. No biggie really since it doesn't affect the rest of the content.

 

Why did they leave while only three companies strong? Normally a chapter isn't deemed founded (or combat ready) until their numbers are a thousand strong. The reason it take almost 60 years to found a chapter is because it takes the Ad Mech that long to grow the giblets a 1000 marines need inside them. Also a chapter with only three companies is starting to reach the point of Holy Moley territory were a chapter might have to start considering if they will survive at all. The Crimson Fists is just 200+ after all.

 

When the chapter reached three companies in strength they began their voyage towards the Halo. They quickly forged a reputation for lightning fast orbital strikes. Liberating many worlds before the enemy even detected ships entering the system.

 

Seems kind of odd that they would start fighting on their way to the combat area they had been assigned too. There is probably a reasonable explanation for it but it would need an explanation.

 

They began to specialize in fast insertion combat drops, ship to ship and zero g combat. In 790.M41 they encountered the Dark Eldar Torture class ship entering orbit around Aryns World and during the boarding action made excellent use of caestus assault rams, their power armour and flamer weaponry in the close confines and crawl ways of the ship.

 

This belongs in a combat doctrine section and not in an origin section.

 

Their focus on fast assault and rapid insertion tactics developed into the Cult of the Fall. A variation on the standard chapter cult that glorified the descent of the space borne marine. Some veteran marines even began dropping from orbit using just their jump packs and power armour.

 

This is best put in a belief section. Also SMs isn't usually into suicide cults which would be the result if you tried to re-enter an atmosphere like that. Still who wouldn't want to go out like a shooting star. :)

 

 

As the light of the Astronomicon fell behind them and the stars in the sky thinned out to nothingness they started to grow restless. Populated worlds were now few and far between and they lost contact with the rest of the Imperium. The only transmissions they received were garbled and echoing and never meant for them.

 

They had reached the Halo Stars and now stood and the brink of the abyss.

 

For two hundred years they patrolled the far reaches of the Segmentum Obscurus but found that their skills were worthless. Most star systems were dead and barren and the few distant distress calls they answered took them years to reach. Time and time again they arrived to find the battle already lost, the world scoured of life, and the enemy long departed.

 

Their numbers dwindled as they had no real way of recruiting new brothers and losses to warp accidents and the occaisional conflict with the Umbra started to take their toll. They were forced to abandon two strike cruisers to the cold of space when they simply no longer had the men to man them.

 

Right, this is the part I struggle with.

 

Why would the Imperium, rife with enemies and suffering countless of wars within their own borders send a chapter to a part of space, far outside its territory, that's deserted?

And why was their skill worthless? Astartes are supreme warriors so granted if they don't have anyone to fight their skills might be wasted but then if it's such a waste to send them there in the first place why sending them there at all?

Also why would they become restless? They are warrior monks. Fear is unknown to them but boredom should also be a feeling rather alien to them. That they might be unhappy with their situation might be but not restless....

What's Umbra?

 

It was then that they found Icarius Prime. A long lost hive world on the edge of space. It had once been a centre of production but isolated and forgotten it was now a dying, twisted shell of rusting machinery and ruined manufactorums. The surface of the world a vast red desert scoured by sandstorms that raged for decades at a time.

 

Only the main hive still functioned. It's people dying of starvation and disease within the echoing tunnels and crawlways of the underhive. The main spire however was sealed and isolated. It housed the former planetary governors household and reached far above the atmosphere of Icarius Prime. Guarded by automated defenses and gun drones the noble family watched their world burn beneath them as they devoted their lives to ever more depraved pastimes. They openly worshipped chaos but they were so inbred and deluded they welcomed the arriving marines with open arms.

 

The Angels fell from the heavens onto the spire and tore their way through the hives upper defences. Where the spires outer walls were ruptured cultists were blasted out into the vacuum of space and they fell burning through the upper atmosphere of the stricken world.

 

The Angels slaughtered the cult, the family, their guards, their servants and their slaves and they found they could not stop. They craved more and as they fell through the spire into ever more dangerous territory they found themselves murdering men women and children and slaking their darkest lusts on the terrified populace of the hive.

 

It wasn't until they discovered a long forgotten cathedral deep within the hive, tended to by a few remaining members of the Ministorum, that they paused. The priests called out for the Marines to regain their senses and stop the madness. The marines however had already been touched by the influence of the slaaneshi daemon summoned by the noble house.

They burned the cathedral to the ground and murdered any member of the ecclesiarchy who tried to flee the flames.

 

They installed themselves as Lords of the Spire and renamed themselves the Angels of Desecration. They enslaved the people of the world and used them as playthings to their darker desires. The Cult of the Fall became the worlds primary religion and slaaneshi cultists were soon pledging their fealty to the Angels on high.

 

This is crude but it works.

 

Any cultist may also try to ascend. If he can make it past the horrors, traps, mazes, defense systems and utter depravity the climb to the spire now holds he may petition for entrance to the chapter. It has become a rite of passage for young underhivers to attempt it. Most return broken, violated and brutalized. Many simply do not return. Most are killed in the attempt but a few who show the tenacity, depravity and courage needed to reach the top become Angels.

 

This should be in a recruitment section.

 

The chapter now uses it's fleet and expertise to raid pilgrim ships headed towards shrine worlds or Holy Terra for slaves. Ever hungry for new toys to play with.

 

Halo stars to Terra is quite a trip, across almost one and half segmentum in fact. Might think to either move the chapter closer to the imperiums centre or pick targets closer to the chapter.

 

 

 

Overall; I think it's a good start. Personally I would lose the whole Halo stars bit, even though I like the isolation horror bit and just focus on the hive spire part. What I most definitively would not do was make it a whole chapter. Instead I would make it one , maybe two companies instead. Mostly because a chapter would not deploy much more to assault a single hive. Also renegade warbands tends to be really small unless they're an offspring to one of the original legions or have their own personal Eye of Terror like hide hole like Huron has.

However, if you don't want to lose the isolation horror bit in the halo stars a single company lost in the warp and ending up out there would sound more plausible.

[Leonis]

Thank you for your feedback. It's much appreciated. I'll try to respond to all of your points as I believe they are all good criticism. :woot:

 

The Macharian Crusade did start in the Segmentum Pacificus but it ended up in the Halo Stars. That's where the troops lost their nerve and turned back.

 

I will rewrite it so they leave for their crusade with a full chapter. I always imagined that the Admech would get the chapter up to a self sustaining number and release them under the tutelage of their founding chapter for training in the field and then they would bring themselves up to full fighting power and requisition the appropriate equipment as they grew into a full chapter. If you think it's a problem though it's an easy rewrite.

 

They fought on their way to their assigned combat area because it's a long voyage and they are marines. They would kick ass on route if they encountered hostiles, heretics or the like...Plus they would need the experience and want to make a mark in their chapters name.

 

I figured power armour should be able to perform a controlled re-entry using a jump pack to slow descent. Heck, if a Thunderhawk burns them in past the upper atmosphere it's no different than a high altitude skydive.

 

Them being sent to the most remote part of the galaxy is part of the isolation horror. The vast paperwork machine that is the Imperium determined that an area it should control needed a force sent to reclaim it. It probably looked like an excellent idea on paper in the halls of the Adeptus Administratum. The reality is though that it never needed to be done and was a vast waste of resources, manpower and time. After being hyped up and indoctrinated that they are the best of the best, after having stormed through the segmentum, they are forgotten at the edge of the universe. The frustration is part of the reason they fall.

 

Yeah, it's crude I know. They're Slaaneshi Marines. It's meant to be a bit of a shock at how far and fast they fall.

 

Holy Terra is a massive trek from the Halo Stars I know, but pilgrim ships head there from all parts of the galaxy. It wouldn't be too hard for them to mount raids into the Segmentum proper to pick off unguarded ships filled with the helpless and the faithful. It casts them as fully evil now, preying on the weakest of those they were meant to protect, with nothing but the worst intentions in mind for them.

 

Oh and yes when I write out the full and neatly organised IA I will make sure to put the different parts in the right sections.

 

Thank you again. Changes will be forthcoming. :woot:

[Orlunu]

I think that my raptors just converted :o

Seems good, but are you going to put this into one of the IA templates? It would make it a bit easier on the eyes.

 

PS. Aspirants are "violated" by your SMs? Ouch, I always just assumed that marines had been modified not to do... that. Although, I guess Slaanehi worshipers might have, no, we are disembarking from this train of thought right here.

[Leonis]

Yeah this was just a first run at things. I wanted some feedback before I stuck it in an IA template.

 

Oh and GW have always been a bit fuzzy on the mechanics of that so I left it intentionally fuzzy as to what I mean. I probably could detail exactly what they did to the populace when they stormed through the hive but I'm a classic horror kind of guy. It's worse if I leave it to your imaginations. :whistling:

[Gaius Atticus]

Because they are lightning attack specialists maybe you should include something like they hardly ever use tanks (like the White Scars), and try and incorporate some bikes into every Army List.