Angels of Perdition

[Nine_Breaker]

So it's 2015 now, probably about 4 years since I used to frequent the Liber, and I finally got the inspiration to return. Unfortunately all records of my trademark DIY, the Angels of Perdition, have been lost to the warp. Rather than cry about it though, I see this as a chance to start anew and come up with an even better product. I'm very rusty, but I believe I have all the inspiration and drive I need to accomplish my goal and return the Angels to the mighty ranks of the Liber Astartes.

 

I'll be progressing gradually. I have an outline which I will post and replace with the fleshed out sections as I go. As always, all comments, feedback, and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. 

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Angels of Perdition

“We are the slayers of kings, the destroyers of worlds, bringers of ruination and death in all its forms.”

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/Vocates/angelsofperditionpy6.jpg

 

The Golden Founding

In the final days of the forty-first millennium, grim are all tidings. The armies of Man fall, the light of the Astronomicon has grown weak, and the well of Hope that the galaxy draws upon in dark times has all but dried.

 

However, the Imperium of Man has occasionally been spared of its despair and known times of triumph. Ancient Imperial records show that the 14^th Founding of the Adeptus Asartes was one such time of hope. It was to be a Golden Founding, and the High Lords spared no resource in raising the new champions of Humanity and arming them with the most mighty arms and armor with which to bring death to the foes of the Emperor. Even the careful selection of gene-seed during the Founding was meticulous almost to a fault, as the Adeptus Mechanicus insured that the vast majority of the fledgling Astartes Chapters were created from only the purest genetic stock of Roboute Guilliman and Rogal Dorn.

 

Rumors abound as to why so much care was afforded to the 14^th Founding in particular. The real reason has long been lost to time and the abyss of bureaucracy, but many Imperial Scholars and experts on the subject believe the momentous effort put into the 14^th Founding in fact stem from the previous Astartes Founding: the 13^th “Dark” Founding. That being said this is only conjecture, as all records regarding the subject have been replaced en masse by speculation, hypothesis, and superstition.

 

Chapter 639, who would later be known and feared as the Angels of Perdition, were given life during the 14^th Founding. They are scions of the Ultramarines through way of the Nemesis whom also also provided the nascent chapter with its initial training cadre. The honor of leading the chapter as its first chapter master was given to Lither Brahka, Veteran Captain of the Nemesis 3^rd Company. Though described as an extremely humorless and dour individual, Brahka's service record was extensive as it was unquestionable. He was a commander known among the Nemesis as having an absolute intolerance for any breach in disciple, and that when it came to carrying out the Emperor's Will the ends always justified the means.

 

Given command of 1,000 of the Emperor's Chosen and their mighty fleet, Chapter Master Brahka struck out into the Segmentum Pacificus without celebration. Bringing ruin to the mutant, xenos, and traitor at the alter of war would be their founding ceremony. For 14 years, Chapter 639 battled the enemies of Man without pause, exterminating heretical cult after traitor warband in the name of the Emperor. [add color battles and accolades here]

 

The Forge of War

• Kharth Primus (Hive World)

• Rebellion

• Perdition (Penal Colony; moon of Kharth) and the descent on Kharth Primus

• Purge of Hive Dominus. 9 weeks of incessant close-quarters fighting/slaughter

• Commander Brahka claims Perdition as homeworld

 

Homeworld

• Homeworld is the penal colony moon of Perdition

• Scyllian Rift, Segmentum Pacificus

• Billions of prisoners who spend a lifetime in work camps and mines

• Many are born on Perdition

• Life devoid of happiness or luxury. Crime, gangs, vice, toil

• Fortress Monastery humbly named the House of Angels

• Recruitment (mass recruiting drives on Perdition; Angels round up thousands of young males and take them to the House of Angels)

 

The Shielding

• Final test to become Astartes

• Librarians erect psychic barriers in the minds of recruits. Like nailing plates of armor onto the mind

• Most recruits come out of ordeal little more than vegetables. Made into servitors. Only those with a mind of steel will pass and receive the geneseed

• Shielding provides another line of defense against psychic assault

• “Vessius's Shield” (named after the Chief Librarian who first started the Shielding) is maintained by members of Librarium throughout an Astartes's lifetime

 

Combat Doctrine

• Relentless even for Astartes. Push their enhanced physiology to its limits in decisive bursts of violence. Completely implacable. Will not sleep or rest until the battle is won

• Like their Primogenitor (reputation after Kharth), Angels often called upon to break/defend fortresses, urban warfare, and boarding actions

• Ends justify the means; unshaken by collateral damage; Exterminatus

• Obedience to Chapter officers

• Strong use of librarians. Chapter fields exceptionally strong psykers. Crush the minds of enemies and create nightmare illusions

• Flood enemy comms with prophesies of death. Librarians attack moral of enemy before Angels of Perdition hammer them aside. Shock and awe!

 

Organization

• Codex compliant; Treatises of Danaar

• Chapter Master known as Commander

• Librarians held in high regard; known for mental resilience and ability to crush weaker minds; Exemplars of the chapter

• Rumored that no librarian of the Angels of Perdition has ever been consumed by the Empyrean

• 5 suits of Terminator armor; heavy use of centurions and Sternguard Veterans in 1^st Company

• Chaplains enforce strict discipline within the Chapter. Not completely unknown for a Chaplain to summarily execute a Marine who is found wanting or disobeys orders

 

Chapter Cult and Beliefs

• Prize mental endurance and strength over all things

• Will of the Emperor is everything

• Emperor was the pinnacle of Mankind. Dorn his greatest and most trusted servant

• Astartes are the sword and shield of Mankind

• Obedience to orders is paramount. To stray is to invite heresy. Officers embody the Will of the Emperor

• Angels of Perdition rank and file forbidden to read, write, pursue arts. All free time is spent training, prayer, or psycho-indoctrination. An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.

• Chapter believes that Astartes do not have the luxury of letting petty emotions, sentiment, or fears cloud the mind. Believe in cold logic and efficiency. The mind must remain pure of all weakness or doubts.

• Abhors the rogue psyker and witch. Sees their weak minds as greatest threat to Imperium. Often conducts witch hunts and pogroms throughout Scyllian Rift

• The Chapter's cult would revere the Emperor - he has the strongest mind. He powers the astronomicon, after all. He fights Chaos Gods in planes of existence unimaginable to he rest of the Imperium

 

 

Chapter Motto

“His Will, our hands.”

 

EDIT:: Updated the outline. See below

Edited September 7, 2015 by Nine_Breaker

[Olis]

Nine_Breaker... that's a name I haven't seen for a while. Welcome back, brother. Indeed there has been changes over the last four years - it would seem your Angels of Perdition were unfortunately caught in events and lost to history. It's a pity but it does offer the chance to revamp an old idea.

 

So far, you seem to have a solid start. Do you have an underlying theme to tie it together or are you just playing it by ear?

[Nine_Breaker]

 

 

So far, you seem to have a solid start. Do you have an underlying theme to tie it together or are you just playing it by ear?

Well nothing as solid as "Vikings/Crusaders/Vampires/etc in Space", no. The entire idea behind the Angels of Perdition is what comes to mind when you think Purity of Mind. This is the chapter that smothers individuality and personal initiative, censors information, burns books, kills witches, and will carry out any lawful order without silly things like morals getting in the way. 

 

At least that's what I've been going for.

[Commissar Molotov]

Well, I had a lengthy post typed up, and then it disappeared. Vexing! 

 

 

I thought it was an interesting idea to start your article with the darkness of the 41st millennium - refreshing in a hobby community which seems to go further and further towards the Horus Heresy. I would actually like to see a little more of exposition here before you delve into the founding. Something about how the AoP stand foremost amongst the defenders of the Imperium, etc, etc. 

 

I think it would be an idea to alter slightly how you describe the founding. I would suggest it would fit better to make the details of both the thirteenth and fourteenth foundings somewhat more ambiguous. We don't really know why the Dark founding was dark, and everything we've said about the fourteenth is supposition - and we don't want to step on the toes of other hobbyists, I suppose. 

 

You seem to suggest that from the off, the Angels of Perdition seemed to focus on fighting heretics - why was this? 

 

Regarding the Penal-moon, I don't really like it sharing the name with the chapter. It comes across to me as a little cheesy and contrived; it reminds me somewhat of the Raven Guard's moon being called Deliverance, but unless Perdition is one of many names, I think you could do better to have something else. 

 

I like the idea of the shielding of the mind, as I always have, but I wonder whether it might be an idea to try to explore some of the more negative and ambiguous aspects - the Angels strike me as a Chapter that wouldn't encourage individual thinking, curiosity, doubt or imagination. (You mention about "obedience" in your notes...) That, then, makes me wonder about the typical sort of "heroic Space Marine" archetype. They seem to veer more towards grim and dour merciless executioners. How do you give them character? 

 

I think you need to rephrase somewhat the note about summary executions "not being uncommon" - that doesn't seem to jive well with the Astartes archetypes. 

 

Later on you mention about Dorn being his greatest servant - this doesn't connect with them being Ultramarine successors. 

 

EDIT:

 

I found this picture in my photobucket, thought it might be useful for your first post:

 

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/Vocates/angelsofperditionpy6.jpg

Edited August 28, 2015 by Commissar Molotov

[Ferrus Manus]

Nice to see the Angels back on the Liber Nine! I've had a quick read through and I have a few thoughts:

 

1- I agree with Mol, having the penal colony share a name with the Chapter does seem rather contrived, though, I wonder whether it would work better if it was actually some sort of ironic nickname given to the planet by the penal colonists as opposed to being the planet's actual name? 

 

2- I think what I find interesting about these guys is this idea of 'obedience.' But my question would be, if this Chapter focuses on unquestioning obedience to their officers (ironically similar to how Tyranid's act or is that too extreme a comparison?) what happens when a line marine is promoted? How do they begin to move from being an automaton to a position where, due to the reactive nature of combat, they might have to make the odd decision to allow the grand battle plan to be fulfilled?  

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Nine_Breaker]

I've had 2 posts deleted from trying to do all the coding and such so I'll keep this one simple.

 

@Molotov

 

* Thanks for the pic! That's probably the last surviving visual of the Angels.

 

* I see what you're saying about the 14th Founding. I'll definitely tone down how many liberties I've taken.

 

* Didn't really mean to make it sound like the Angels of Perdition focused on fighting heretics and traitors but see now why it came across that way. Adding that to the list of edits.

 

* I see what you mean about the moon being called Perdition and that'll be changed. Now I'm not too sure about the penal moon as a homeworld at all. I'll have to think on how much it adds to the chapter, if anything.

 

* The Dorn thing was from an old edit. The outline is an older document than the actual article text. I'm going to go back through and update some things though.

 

 

 

I think you need to rephrase somewhat the note about summary executions "not being uncommon" - that doesn't seem to jive well with the Astartes archetypes.

 

I'd rephrase it if I had actually said that, Mol.  

My idea is that the Chaplains have the authority to do this but there are maybe only a couple cases of this extreme measure being taken. After all, even one Astartes holds colossal value. 

 

 

@Ferrus Manus

 

1) After thinking about it more I'm inclined to agree with you and Molotov. If I keep the penal moon at all it will certainly get a name change.

 

2) Tyranids is a very extreme comparison. In my mind, all Angels undergo extensive hypno-therepy throughout their lives. Instead of reading and studying texts on war, they are force fed the information. When a line marine picks up rank, he will rely on his training, experience, the codex, and all the knowledge downloaded into his brain to make tactical/strategic decisions to fill in the gaps of his orders. 

 

My point is that the Angels don't need orders to do everything, but all orders they do receive must be followed instantly. If a marine thinks something can be done better, well he can bring it up afterwards or when he picks up rank. He might not like the order to fire on a crowd of Imperial citizen, but its is not his place to question that order, it is his place only to act.

[Nine_Breaker]

Updated the outline a bit. I'm starting work on the previous section posted and the Forge of War section. 

 

The Forge of War

• Kharth Primus (Hive World)

• Rebellion

• Kharth Tertius (Penal Colony; moon of Kharth) and the descent on Kharth Primus

• Purge of Hive Dominus. 9 weeks of incessant close-quarters fighting/slaughter

• Commander Brahka claims Kharth Tertius as homeworld

 

Homeworld

• Homeworld is the penal colony moon of Kharth Tertius

• Scyllian Rift, Segmentum Pacificus

• Billions of prisoners who spend a lifetime in work camps and mines

• Many are born in prison colonies

• Life devoid of happiness or luxury. Crime, gangs, vice, toil

• Fortress Monastery humbly named the House of Angels

• Recruitment (mass recruiting drives on Kharth Tertius; Angels round up thousands of young males and take them to the House of Angels)

 

The Shielding

• Final test to become Astartes

• Librarians erect psychic barriers in the minds of recruits. Like nailing plates of armor onto the mind

• Most recruits come out of ordeal little more than vegetables. Made into servitors. Only those with a mind of steel will pass and receive the geneseed

• Shielding provides another line of defense against psychic assault

• “Vessius's Shield” (named after the Chief Librarian who first started the Shielding) is maintained by members of Librarium throughout an Astartes's lifetime

• Angels of Perdition who survive particularly long often show signs of memory loss. Rapid degradation of mental faculties in dreadnoughts

 

Combat Doctrine

• Relentless even for Astartes. Push their enhanced physiology to its limits in decisive bursts of violence. Completely implacable. Will not sleep or rest until the battle is won

• Ends justify the means; unshaken by collateral damage; Exterminatus

• Obedience to Chapter officers

• Strong use of librarians. Chapter fields exceptionally strong psykers. Crush the minds of enemies and create nightmare illusions

• Flood enemy comms with prophesies of death. Librarians attack moral of enemy before Angels of Perdition hammer them aside. Shock and awe!

 

Organization

• Codex compliant (Treatises of Danaar); one of, if not the only, text Angels of Perdition are allowed to read and study

• Librarians held in high regard; known for mental resilience and ability to crush weaker minds; Exemplars of the chapter

• Rumored that no librarian of the Angels of Perdition has ever been consumed by the Empyrean

• 5 suits of Terminator armor; heavy use of Sternguard Veterans in 1^st Company

• Chaplains enforce strict discipline within the Chapter. Not completely unknown for a Chaplain to summarily execute a Marine who is found wanting or disobeys orders

 

Chapter Cult and Beliefs

• Prize mental endurance and strength over all things

• Will of the Emperor is everything

• Emperor was the pinnacle of Mankind. Guilliman his greatest and most trusted servant

• Astartes are the sword and shield of Mankind

• Obedience to orders is paramount. To stray is to invite heresy. Officers embody the Will of the Emperor

• Angels of Perdition are forbidden to read, write, pursue arts outside of military reports and the Codex Astartes. All free time is spent training, prayer, or psycho-indoctrination. An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.

• Chapter believes that Astartes do not have the luxury of letting petty emotions, sentiment, or fears cloud the mind. Believe in cold logic and efficiency. The mind must remain pure of all weakness or doubts.

• Abhors the rogue psyker and witch. Sees their weak minds as greatest threat to Imperium. Often conducts witch hunts and pogroms throughout Scyllian Rift. Arrival of the Angels of Perdition is met with dread.

• The Chapter's cult would revere the Emperor - he has the strongest mind. He powers the astronomicon, after all. He fights Chaos Gods in planes of existence unimaginable to he rest of the Imperium

 

 

Chapter Motto

“His Will, our hands.”

[Olis]

It doesn't seem very humble to me to name your Fortress Monastery the 'House of Angels'. Surely another name would suffice?