Index Astartes: Red Scythes

[FrostedZipper]

INDEX ASTARTES: RED SCYTHES

“Brothers. We have lost many in our flight from Redeka. Our Chapter is but a husk, and though this was instigated through the vile acts of Chief Librarian Malk, through their insidious acts the corruption permeating the heart of the Imperium has finally been unveiled. No longer will we swear our blades to those who grow fat off the suffering of billions of His citizens. No longer will we suffer the yoke of the High Lords as they twist His divine commands to suit their own agendas.

Mark my words brothers the treachery of those He believed could be trusted will be accounted for in due time, but first we must turn our attentions to those who initiated the first betrayal. The Arch-Traitor Malk and his coven of fiends and degenerates must be brought to the Emperor’s justice, and we will bring them into the withering gaze of His sight. Their few ships were damaged by our former brethren as they fled like the rats they are, and while what remains of our fleet bears scars of its own, my soul will be cast to the Warp before I allow the insult of their survival to stand. Red Scythes – warriors of the Emperor – we are the instrument of Him on Terra and I swear to you now that we will reap a fine tally of the corrupt and the damned before our lives are spent!” - Captain Khoro Octavis of the Second Company, issuing a fleet-wide declaration to the surviving unconverted Red Scythes.

ORIGINS.

RED SCYTHES MARINE OF THE SECOND COMPANY.

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The Chapter of the Red Scythes were born from no less than three severely depleted chapters – the Eagle Lords, Heralds of Praethos, and the Mourners – who were simply unable to recover following the war against the Ork expansion in the Ultima Segmentum in 925.M41. After some deliberation the Chapter claimed the world of Redeka as their homeworld and built their fortress-monastary deep underground within the largest and thickest of Redeka’s equatorial forests.

The Leadership of the three Chapters that had combined to form the Red Scythes debated long and hard over the leadership of the Chapter, until eventually the Reclusiarchs and senior Librarians of each chapter met in secret and announced the very first ‘Wyrm Trials’, so named for the vicious beasts that inhabited the forests of Redeka. Those who wished to claim leadership would participate in a contest of will, faith and survival. The three Chapter Masters would be released into the wilderness of the forests without armour, clothing or weaponry, and would be required to fetch the skins of a specific wyrm within the span of six local months.

The Master of the Eagle Lords fell in the first month, running afoul of an entire brood of Rock Wyrms, though he slew fully half of the creatures before finally succumbing to death. The Master of the Heralds returned with the scales of dozens of Wyrms, but not the skin of the Burrowing Wyrm he was tasked with finding. In the end it was the Master of the Mourners who returned on the very last day of the trails, dragging behind him the skinned carcass of the fabled Great White Wyrm to the roaring approval of all.

Despite this, Chapter Master Isaak Rhoul declined leadership, instead passing it on to the Lieutenant of the Eagle Lords Chapter Master; Captain Fiaghan Solas. Records provide no indication as to what prompted this declaration. Some eyewitness accounts say on the eve of the declaration of leadership, Isaak was supposedly struck by an epiphany or a vision from the Emperor. Regardless, he disappeared from Redeka shortly after Solas was pronounced Chapter Master of the Red Scythes.
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HOMEWORLD.

The world of Redeka (ri-di-kuh) sits on the edge of the Segmentum Pacificus, and – up until the Excommunication of the Red Scythes – was one of the few worlds not up in open revolt against the Imperium. Even before this however, the general sentiment of the populace of Redeka was one of cold indifference. The authority was hopelessly corrupt, with even personnel from the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy waist-deep in backroom deals such as bribery and assassination.

The geography of Redeka would best be described as ‘temperate’ with generally flat ground and a single large ocean that extends to roughly a quarter of the planet’s surface. The planet is neither too hot, nor particularly cold, orbiting a comfortable distance from its star, with a day on the planet equating to just under 1.3 standard Terran days and a solar year stretching more than 402 Terran days. Large cities and towns dot the surface, with its primary export being agricultural goods or Wyrm-skin which can be molded into fine material for the textile industry.

At first glance, Redeka is not much different to thousands of other worlds existing within the Imperium; however at its equator lie the forests of Redeka. Pitch black once you step too deep and home to dozens of large, vicious Wyrms, the forests are a place of hardship and constant threat. In spite of this, humans manage to eke out a living within these forests. Descendants of the original colonists who crashed in the forests, these men and women are hardy, nomadic folk with a strong sense of community, and it is from these people whom the Red Scythes recruit. In spite of their general isolation from the world outside, the general attitude towards the Imperium persists in many Red Scythes recruits, leading one to wonder if their dissent is perhaps inbred.

The Fortress-Monastery of the Red Scythes is aptly named ‘the Pit’ as it extends for more than two miles underground in the blackest and deepest of Redeka’s equatorial forests. Defences include power shields, laser and missile batteries to fight off and defend from an orbital assault, and dozens of trap-doors and false-panelling layers the Monastery interior, allowing the Scythes to ambush an enemy who does somehow gain entry to the Pit.

BELIEFS.

The Red Scythes venerate the Emperor as many Space Marine Chapters do, unlike those however, who hold him more as an ideal, the Red Scythes are slightly more fanatical in their devotion to Him on Terra, though placement on faith over common tactical sense is frowned upon.

The Red Scythes feel that the Imperium has lost its way since the Emperor’s ascendance following the Horus Heresy, feeling that the High Lords and the Imperial Bureaucracy is mired in corruption. This view mostly stems from the corruption that is rife on Redeka, though the Scythes take great pains not to meddle in the affairs of Redeka, thus leading to the argument that the Scythes should take a more active role in the running of their homeworld, which the leadership of the Scythes rebuffs with scorn, insisting that ‘Astartes do not govern.’

Their view of the Imperium has led to clashes with more devoted Chapters such as the Minotaurs Chapter, which has (allegedly) strong ties with the High Lords of Terra. The Minotaurs believe the Scythes to be disloyal and on the brink of heresy. The Scythes believe the Minotaurs to be sycophants and the boot-lickers of mortals who knowingly interpret the Emperor’s Great Plan incorrectly.

Captain Gribbas Mylot snarled as he beheaded another Ork with a sweep of a clawed gauntlet. The alien’s foul blood spattered against his dark armour and Mylot felt his mood darken even as he revelled at the death of the disgusting xenos. The Ork warlord stood barely a metre away from him, but the press of Orks made such a distance seem like miles.

The large Ork, a brutal, barbaric totem nailed into its back, possessing the dangling limbs of the enemies it had slain, caught sight of the Astartes Captain and bellowed a challenge even as it held onto his Company Champion by the throat. The Ork sneered at Mylot as it took hold of Reeias’ left arm and wrenched, tearing the limb from its socket in a spray of arterial gore. Mylot bellowed his fury, cutting through a bodyguard clad in impossibly bulky armour before barrelling into the next, toppling the creature before stabbing a claw through its throat as it struggled to rise.

The Ork tossed Reeis’ corpse aside with a casual disdain that boiled Mylot’s blood as he slaughtered a path to the Warboss. The Assault Squads behind him hacked and shot at the Orks pressing in on them but there were always more. If Mylot didn’t take the head from this leader soon, they would be in danger of being overrun and the retreating Guard would face a similar fate as the Orks surged through the mountain pass.

Mylot beheaded another of the Warbosses bodyguards and decapitated another with contemptuous ease. Finally he stood alone before the Warboss, his claws wet with blood but still far from satiated. Mylot doubted his wrath would even be soothed if he slaughtered the entire horde by himself as he took in the desecrated bodies of his Command Squad, each of them missing a limb.

‘You’z looks like you gots gud arms humie,’ the Ork chuckled as it hefted a ridiculously large chainaxe in its meaty, green paws, ‘I’z going ta enjoy takin’ ‘em from ya.’

With a war cry that seemed to shake the earth, the beast charged, and Man and Ork clashed in the mountain range of Hux Primus.

COMBAT DOCTRINE.

The Red Scythes believe that to strike best at the Emperor’s foes, you must first observe them. While the thought of understanding the mutant, the xenos and the traitor disgusts them, reconnaissance plays a vital part in a Red Scythes operation. Once a weakness has been gleamed, the Scythes will strike at it with all their available strength until their objectives are met, when they retreat to Rhino and Razorback transports waiting on the edge of the battlefield and spirit away before heavy reprisal can be mounted. Ambushes are also favoured tactics of Red Scythes Commanders and they may spend several days crafting the perfect set-up to maximise shock value and casualties.

The Red Scythes have little patience for defensive operations, much preferring to fight on their own terms, and there are several instances of Imperial Defenders having been abandoned by their Red Scythes allies for the Scythes to prosecute their own brand of warfare. The Red Scythes prefer working alone, often shunning large campaigns unless necessity dictates they must lend support, and even then they generally try to stay away from their allies.

ORGANISATION.

The Red Scythes are organised much in the same way as many Chapters; with their Venerable First Company consisting of veterans of hundreds of battlezones (fifty of whom are donned in the Chapter’s entire stock of Tactical Dreadnought Armour), many of whom are outfitted with personal equipment handed to them from the Relic Armoury located deep within the Pit.

The Second to Fifth Companies are arranged in the method laid out by the Codex Astartes, with the Sixth to Ninth Companies acting as reserve Companies. Unfortunately however a recent war with the Orks entirely eradicated the Eighth and Ninth Companies, while leaving the Seventh just over half-strength. The Tenth Company is split up between the existing companies. The most promising scouts are assigned to the First Company, while those whose skills are deemed inadequate or in need of refinement are assigned to the reserve companies and undergo protracted exercises, many of which are held in the forests of Redeka.

GENE-SEED.

The Red Scythes were the product of three Chapters combining. Two of which hailed from the Imperial Fists while one – the Mourners – was an offshoot of the Raven Guard. Since the Chapter’s founding their gene-seed has since been taken from Ultramarines genetic stock for its perceived ‘purity’ in comparison with stocks from other primogenitors, and careful maintenance is ensured and performed daily by the Chapter’s Apothecaries and Techmarines.

BATTLE CRY.

Pre-Excommunication: ‘Emperor guide us true!’

Post-Excommunication: ‘Vengeance is ours!’


This is an IA of a Chapter I've been working on since I read the fantastic novel 'Blood Gorgons' several months ago. I am currently in the middle of planning the story of how they came to be hunted as renegades.

Critique is welcome as I'm not quite as confident in my knowledge of 40k lore as some people here.

[Messor]

I really like the look of your Chapter, appearance and background wise, but especially their appearance. I have to say, though, I'm baffled by your gene-seed legacy, and I don't have nearly enough fluff context to comment on it. Is there a precedent for something like this, three-founding gene-seed sources, and then a change to another source?

[Stigus Adeptus]

I just have a few questions.

 

When the original three combined, was it given the okay by the High Lords of Terra or did they just do it?

 

I assume the scouts that go to the First Company are doing it to gain experience, so does that mean that it is no longer the veteran company?

 

How does the mixed geneseed effect inter-chapter moral and rivalry?

 

How did they convince the High Lords to send them Ultramarine geneseed?

 

Also, since they have been excommunicated how do they deal with lost geneseed?

 

 

I'm not trying to nitpick, but these things jumped at me. My chapter has beliefs in line with yours, and I like how your guys fight. There are just a few bits that need cleaning up or clarifying.

[FrostedZipper]

I just have a few questions.

 

When the original three combined, was it given the okay by the High Lords of Terra or did they just do it?

 

I assume the scouts that go to the First Company are doing it to gain experience, so does that mean that it is no longer the veteran company?

 

How does the mixed geneseed effect inter-chapter moral and rivalry?

 

How did they convince the High Lords to send them Ultramarine geneseed?

 

Also, since they have been excommunicated how do they deal with lost geneseed?

 

 

I'm not trying to nitpick, but these things jumped at me. My chapter has beliefs in line with yours, and I like how your guys fight. There are just a few bits that need cleaning up or clarifying.

Those are some rather excellent questions.

 

1: I'm a little torn on how to answer this, taking into account the general attitude of the Chapter towards the Imperium. That said, the Chapter was formed in M925, and for the sake of simplicity we'll say that their excommunication didn't happen until M989 following a (failed) attempt at clearing Orks from the Loki Sector, meaning they've been around for a long time. Not nearly as long as other Chapters, but long enough that attitudes have changed since their formation.

 

2: No the First Company is still the Veteran Company. The Scouts that, well, scout for the First Company are still part of the Tenth Scout Company, they've just been assigned to them. I'd thought that this was how Scout Companies worked anyway, evidently not.

 

3: The Mourners - being descendents of the Raven Guard - would have focused primarily on hit-and-run attacks, whereas the Heralds and the Eagle Lords, coming from Dorn's genestock, were a little less flexible. The Mourners were the most numerous following the Chapter's creation and the First Chapter Master integrated their focus on observation and locating weakness in an enemy formation with the Heralds, who were generally front-line fighters and struck with everything they had, while the Eagle Lords favoured aerial assaults, the Chapter Armories were unable to provide, however they utilized a tactic of setting up transports just outside a battlezone just in case things got too big for them, which was eventually incorporated into Chapter Doctrine.

 

As for inter-Chapter rivalry, the three founding Chapters were fully aware that any significant in-fighting would lead to the Chapters imminent demise (which is why the Chapter Masters of the founding three agreed to the first 'Wyrm Trials'). The warriors of each chapter were purposefully mixed in order to form new squads where new bonds of brotherhood could be forged and where each could teach and learn from his squadmates. Rivalry during training exercises was mildly encouraged in order to try and boost the marines to greater heights, however this led to some unnecessary heroics and - in hindsight - rather pointless deaths, and eventually the policy of friendly competition was abolished. Despite this, the differing genetic legacy still meant that rivalries and competition still existed, with sons of Dorn and Corax sometimes trying to one-up the other in feats of skill at arms or bravery, which leads us onto your next question...

 

4: Following the Chapter's creation, the massacres undertaken by The Purge became known to the Red Scythes. Half the Chapter was deployed to a sector where vessels from The Purge had been sighted last and shortly after arrival, brought them to battle. The 'war' was short-lived, lasting barely a couple of days and resulting in the loss of more than half the task force sent, with their gene-seed unrecovered owing to the gratuitous use of chemical weapons and unholy plagues employed by The Purge corrupting the bodies and organs of the fallen. Chapter records state that most of the losses stemmed from marines failing to decide upon a solid course of action owing to three differing combat philosophies, as well as many warriors from several squads and companies attempting to outdo their brothers from the other former Chapters.

 

In the face of such losses the ranking members of the Chapter appealed to the High Lords for gene-seed from the Ultramarines - known as solid, dependable warriors, as well as for their stable gene-stock - in order to both replenish their stock of gene-seed but also to bring about a greater sense of unity within the Chapter that could not come from their warriors hailing from two different primogenitors. After some deliberation their request was granted in response to increasing raids from Chaos warbands. In time, gradually more gene-seed hailing from the Ultramarines replaced that of the Imperial Fists and the Raven Guard. Naturally there was some discontent within the Chapter at the legacy of their own Primarchs being gradually erased, however Chapter Command insisted it was for the best.

 

5. Since Excommunication the Chapter numbers less than five-hundred, with a little more than a fifth of the survivors fleeing their burning homeworld being converts to Chaos under the leadership of former Chief Librarian Gethgar Malk. The Red Scythes loyalist fleet numbers the only surviving Battle Barge available to the Chapter, the Light of Terra (which has since been rechristened the Righteous Vengeance), the Strike Cruiser Rift Walker, two Nova Frigates and one Gladius Frigate. Their fortress-monastery is in ruins with the rest of Redeka and their stock of gene-seed has been either claimed or destroyed by the Imperium. As such their surviving Apothecaries are highly prized and each member of the Chapter is instructed on Progenoid removal from a dead battle brother on the orders of de-facto Chapter Master Khoro Octavis, with recruits being picked up from feral worlds out of sight of the Imperium. With no way of replenishing their stock of gene-seed save raiding their erstwhile brethren (something the Red Scythes refuse to do unless it comes to one of the Chapters who attacked their homeworld), the Chapter has resigned itself to extinction, vowing to hunt down their traitor brethren and bring down the perceived corruption festering at the heart of the Imperium before passing into the void.

 

Hope that answers those questions, I'll be adding this to the OP in due course naturally. Thanks for the comment :)

[Stigus Adeptus]

Wow, I was expecting a sentence or two per question, you've really nailed these guys down. I think I just misunderstood about the scouts, I thought they joined the First Company instead of scouting for them.

 

What kinds of actions are they taking at removing the corruption in the Imperium?

[FrostedZipper]

Wow, I was expecting a sentence or two per question, you've really nailed these guys down. I think I just misunderstood about the scouts, I thought they joined the First Company instead of scouting for them.

 

What kinds of actions are they taking at removing the corruption in the Imperium?

The Red Scythes have found themselves without allies since their excommunication. Much of their attention is spent attempting to locate and destroy their traitorous brethren who have been fleeing across the Segmentum Pacificus (mostly through those areas afflicted by the recent uprisings. The Red Scythes have taken it upon themselves to occasionally step in on some worlds in order to fight against Imperial Rule, listening in to Imperial Communications and deciding on the best action to take. They have occasionally been sighted fighting alongside Imperial forces, though this is exclusively the case on Shrine Worlds, and appears to be strictly limited to the defense of holy sites, making no move against either Rebels or Imperials unless it is clear that one or the other is compromised by Chaos, in which event they prosecute their war until the taint is utterly exterminated.

 

Scythes have also enacted limited operations against Imperial worlds, taking action against Imperial Nobility and officials believed to have shady connections, extensive back-room dealings and heretics. Action they take against such individuals is pursued almost obsessively, and perhaps stems from the feeling that they may have been able to save their homeworld and keep the Chapter alive if they had taken more direct against the corrupt planetary government instead of continuing their lasseiz-faire policy where the government of mortals was concerned. They have frequently stated that they plan to demolish the High Lords of Terra and their entire hierarchy, such threats are debased as impossible (and with good cause when considering the distance, the remaining battle strength of the Chapter and any and all Imperial forces the High Lords can potentially call upon should the Red Scythes make their intentions known). For now however, they continue to hunt the heretic Scythes through the Segmentum Pacificus, their intervention on rioting planets becoming increasingly rarer as their treacherous brothers slip away from them.

[Messor]

You have some disturbing and very cool background here. Its backwards and tragic at the same time, though I'm pretty sure I'm still rooting for the Scythes.