Paladins Repentant

Paladins Repentant
Battle Cry	"Cleanse the sins!"
Founding	21st Founding
Successors of	Officially: Blood Angels. Classified: Hybrid geneseed, Blood Angels, World Eaters
Successor Chapters	None
Chapter Master	Tyrus Umbralbane
Primarch	Sanguinius, Angron
Homeworld	Shrine World Enoch, but mostly Fleet Based
Strength	700 Marines
Allegiance	Imperium
Colours	Silver, Red

The Paladins Repentant are a Chapter of zealous Space Marines dedicated to extermination of heresy wherever it can be found. They are on a permanent crusade in order to atone for their past sins and as such are mostly Fleet Based, although they hold a Fortress-Monastery called Nivellensem on Shrine World Enoch which primarily serves as their recruiting grounds, their gene-seed vault and burial grounds. As successors of the fabled Blood Angels, Paladins Repentant are prone to Red Thirst and Black Rage. Although the gene-seed flaws can occur much more quickly and powerfully than in other Chapters that share the legacy of Sanguinius, Paladins have learned to somewhat channel their berserking nature through use of deep, trance-like zen meditation.

Fluffy bits

32nd Millennium

During 32nd Millennium, Enoch was a thriving Hive World situated in Ullanor Sector that due to its tactical position was decided it would slowly be transformed into a Forge World under Adeptus Mechanicus. Soon after, during the War of the Beast, the planet found itself a target of major Ork offensive. Even though the combined Imperial and Mechanicus forces were heavily armed, the forces of Orks were seemingly endless. The Battle for Enoch lasted for months. Eventually massive Imperial fleet led by Maximus Thane and headed to Ullanor itself arrived and provided reinforcements. Remaining Orks were routed and the brave Enochians were named heroes of the Imperium for managing to stall Orks long enough for Terra to reorganize and launch counter-offensive.

In the aftermath of the War, both Adeptus Mechanicus and Ecclesiarchy claimed the world: Mechanicus in order to continue its development as Forge Word, and Ecclesiarchy wanted to turn it into Shrine World dedicated to the Imperial victory. After years of negotiations during which neither side relented and rebuilding efforts of the planet stalled, a rather unusual decision was made: Enoch will be both a Forge World and a Shrine World and will be ruled by Mechanicus-Ecclesiarchy duovirate.

36th Millenium - The Cursed Founding

Not all of gene-seed tampering leading to 21st "Cursed" Founding occurred on Mars and Terra. Some of the experiments took place on other Mechanicus holds, such as Enoch. At the time, Mechanicus ruler of Enoch and lead scientist on this particular gene-seed project was a Magos called Johann Watcharius. The experiments on Enoch focused on Blood Angels gene-seed and attempts to cure it of its flaws. Due to incredibly sensitive and personal nature of the experiments, a squad of Blood Angels veterans were stationed at Enoch as well, both to oversee the project and to eventually provide training and leadership to newly formed Chapter, should the experiments prove successful. Over time, tests yielded positive results and founding of a new chapter called Wings of War was approved.

Little did Blood Angels and High Lords of Terra know of the corruption brewing deep within Enoch.

Magos Johann Watcharius, hidden from the prying gaze of the Blood Angels and with help of the Black Legion, secretly hybridized Blood Angel gene-seed with that of World Eaters. Their goal was to fuse the fury of World Eaters with the effects of Black Rage, creating the perfect berserkers in service of Khorne. But they couldn't know whether their attempts would prove successful until they saw the gene-seed in action. So they faked the results in order to get the approval for the founding, heavily implying in their reports that they managed to cure the Red Thirst.

An initial batch of 300 Marines was created and geared, its recruits chosen from the denizens of Enoch.

As part of their training, they were deployed en masse to deal with a particularly bothersome tribe of feral Orks living in the jungles of Enoch. The operation was being overseen by both Magos and Blood Angels, carefully judging the fledgling Chapter.

At one point, the Marines fell into an ambush, thousands of Orks charging at them from every corner of the jungle. Even though the Orks were mostly armed with nothing but makeshift clubs and axes and occasionally gear looted from their raids on imperial settlements, their numeric advantage and knowledge of terrain proved enough to push back the Marines. As their comrades fell, their blood awakened something deep with the Wings of War. Almost the entirety of 300-strong company immediately fell to Black Rage and went on a frenzied counter-assault against the Orks, slaughtering them in droves.

The Blood Angel veterans accompanying the Magos were furious. The swiftness and the intensity of the Black Rage they just witnessed immediately told them that something was amiss. They immediately confronted Magos Watcharius, but as they did a previously hidden warband of Black Legion charged them, intent on killing them all to prevent the secret of their experiments from being uncovered.

But Blood Angel veterans are not a force to be trifled with. They managed to fortify their position and fight off the initial attack of the Chaos worshipers. As they did so, the Wings finished off the Orks. Magos Watcharius tried to channel them against the entrenched Angels, but to the confusion of everyone involved the Wings immediately turned against their creator. Without mercy nor hesitation, they slaughtered the entire Mechanicus entourage and proceeded to break the siege under which their Progenitors were being held.

As the dust of the battle settled, only 7 veterans and 140 Wings remained alive, their enemies defeated and survivors narrowly escaping. The Angels carefully approached the Wings, and with confusion confirmed that no trace of Black Rage remained in them. It dissipated just as easy and quickly as it came.

The Wings willingly gave up their weapons and gear and solemnly agreed to be placed under arrest until it was uncovered what just transpired.

36th Millennium - The Aftermath

By the time Blood Angel and Inquisition reinforcement arrived, the Veterans uncovered the horrible truth of the experiments. The Inquisition immediately wanted to exterminate the aberrant Chapter before the news of this heresy spread. Blood Angels on the other hand were not so quick to make such decision. They were intrigued by the means with which Wings of War overcame the Black Rage and after all they owed them a debt of honor for saving the Veterans.

A tentative accord was struck: Blood Angels would test the resolve of the Wings while Inquisition purged the planet of remaining heretics. If purity of Wings would be found lacking, they would be exterminated as well. In following months, over half of the planet population was killed. The Inquisition left nothing to chance, and even mere suspicion of heresy was enough to burn entire Hives.

Blood Angels, on the other hand, found that Wings fell into collective depression due to the truth of their origins. They themselves swore that they are loyal to the Emperor and the Imperium, but did not fight against the notion that they should be purged. Quite the contrary, they accepted it, claiming that the sin of their creation was too much to ever fully repent.

The Angels were somewhat discouraged when they found that Wings did not actually overcome the Black Rage, but rather they just channeled it. Some quirk of their gene-seed apparently allowed them to enter deep meditative state that if undertook before battle would allow them to gain certain degree of control over Black Rage, which came fast and strong when under duress.

Against their better judgement, but bound by a debt of honor, the Angels declared the Wings to be pure and asked High Lords themselves to exonerate them.

Their request was accepted, and the Wings of War were ordered on a 100 years crusade to prove their worth.

The Wings, invigorated by the renewed faith, renamed themselves Paladins Repentant and dedicated themselves wholly to proving their worth and the purity of their intent to serve the Emperor.

100 years passed, and deeds of the Paladins became legendary in the Ullanor sector. They rooted out and utterly destroyed heresy wherever they found it and not once did their actions come under question. They were finally allowed to replenish their numbers and claim Enoch as their homeworld, where they built a massive Fortress-Monastery called Nivellensem.

Paladins Repentant - Today

Following their 100 Year Crusade, Paladins spent several decades building up their strength. They started recruiting potential candidates from the surviving denizens of Enoch, and only those showing utmost faith in Emperor are admitted among their ranks.

The Paladins reorganized themselves in 7 separate, autonomous companies of 140 Marines each, in honor of the 140 Marines that survived the throes of their Chapters birth. While each company is fully able to function and crusade on its own, they are also trained at working together as single, cohesive force.

As a way to repay the kindness of the Blood Angels and to prove that they are beyond reproach, a council called the Winged Watchers consisting of 7 Blood Angels would be permanently attached to the Paladins fleet, serving as advisors and witnesses to Paladins Repentant and their Chapter Master. To this day, both Chapters honor this tradition and maintain close ties.

The years after the crusade have left the Paladins yearning for the stars and the glory their war on heretics brings. Due to this, they decided to continue crusading and started the Never-ending Crusade. Only small squad of their Marines would remain on Enoch to continue with recruitment and training process while the rest of the Chapter dedicated themselves on bringing the fury of the Emperor to rest of the galaxy, where they mercilessly hunt heretics to this day.

Organization

Chapter Master Tyrus Umbralbane

Recruitment and training

The Long Meditation