Editing Nobledark Imperium Notes (section)

= Space Marine Chapters of M41 =

Note: Several chapters, including all of the Alpha Legion, Raven Guard, Void Wolves, and Death Guard descendants include unaugmented humans as support combatants in addition to actual Astartes. All chapters are written as Modern Chapter (Parent Legion).

'''Black Legion''' (Void Wolves) - see [[Nobledark_Imperium_Imperial_Forces#The_Black_Legion|The Black Legion]]

'''Blood Ravens''' (Thousand Sons) - Thousand Sons descendants, although they're not officially acknowledged as such and they probably aren't allowed to tell anyone. Possible joint training with the Raven Guard. Originally formed to counter-troll Trazyn the Infinite. Imperium couldn't officially do anything about Trazyn because they were trying to get on Trazyn's good side and Trazyn had so much arcane shit in his basement a war with Solemnace could go bad real fast. However, this doesn't stop the Imperium from sending the Blood Ravens from stealing back whatever Trazyn's taken or just be an overall thorn in his side. Trazyn can't lodge a formal complaint with the Imperium because doing so would require him admitting that he was stealing from them in the first place. At some time somebody noticed that the Blood Ravens were really good at these kinds of things, and started giving them assignments beyond screwing with Trazyn. Because of their tendency to be sent into situations where they have no idea what they'll need and no official Imperial support, they've developed a bad habit of "requisitioning" any surplus materiel that isn't nailed down or on fire for later use. Like a chapter of Solid Snakes.

'''Carcharodons''' (Night Lords?) - Fleet-based Night Lord successors. Like many of the "Munitorum doesn't like you" chapters, were at the back of the line when it came to being issued new ships and supplies. Found the carcass of the ''Nicor'' floating out in space and claimed it as salvage. The rest of the Imperium was in an uproar over this, the ''Nicor'' was considered a historical relic of great importance, and the Carcharodons of all people were the last people to have a valid claim to it. Numerous parties, including several more reputable Astartes chapters, registered protests with the Administratum. This only ended when Grand Empress Isha approached the Carcharodons in secret and offered them a deal: recognition of their rights to the ''Nicor'' if they would hunt down and kill Fyodor Karamazov and his entourage. Use the ''Nicor'' as a central base as they prowl around the Segmentum Tempestus like reef sharks. When a patrol party finds something interesting they descend en masse like sharks on a feeding frenzy. Pretty effective at keeping any ork in their area of the Segmentum Tempestus from forming a decent WAAAGH! Probably above Chapter strength, though their numbers fluctuate so wildly due to their tactics it is hard to tell.

'''Dark Angels''' (Dark Angels) - Loyalists changed their colors from black to dark green after the War of the Beast, because after the War of the Beast the majority of black-wearing Dark Angels were Fallen traitors, and the Dark Angels didn't want to get team-killed by allies whose first instinct was to shoot Astartes dressed in those colors. There’s also a bit of symbolism in there. Lion gave the Dark Angels their color after a national hero of Franj. After the War of the Beast, he probably didn’t think he and his legion deserved to wear those colors anymore.

Ironically, the fact that the Lion was so quick to respond to the reports of Luther’s treason won him the gratitude of several Craftworlds, even though the Lion himself wasn’t fond of eldar. The modern Dark Angels maintain discrete relationships with several Craftworlds, who provide them with information, resources, and occasionally unauthorized use of the Webway which the Dark Angels use to hunt down their mutual enemy: the original Fallen. Small parties of Dark Angels have been known to go AWOL for periods at a time behind the Imperium's back if they think they can get a shot at one of the original Fallen, acting kind of like post-World War II Nazi hunters; the Dark Angels want to hunt down the original Fallen who besmirched their honor, Eldar want to hunt down the bastards who burned their worlds.

'''Daemon Breakers''' (Thousand Sons) - See Ahzek Ahriman

'''Death Guard/Black Templars''' (Death Guard) - The Always Crusading! All The Time! chapter. Indeed, the Black Templars in this timeline came from the Death Guard, led by Typhus the Pilgrim (hence the name), and it seems like the Death Guard at some point adopted many of the tactics of their descendant chapter. Use Mark I geneseed as opposed to other chapters because of the greater compatibility, wider optimal age range, and faster turnaround time from the normal Mark III MP geneseed.

'''Exorcists''' (Thousand Sons)

'''Grey Knights''' (Thousand Sons) - Technically Thousand Son descendants, although in reality a lot of different groups had a hand in their creation. Grey Knights were originally envisioned as merely being Warp resistant; help from the Eldar turned them into daemon shredding machines. Magnus spent most of his time post-War of the Beast training the Grey Knights and after he and Russ reconciled Russ also helped. This joint project was one of the last things Russ did before he disappeared. Grey Knights are well known and seen as awe-inspiring figures. Their image is plastered all over recruitment posters. Nevertheless, people know that you do not want to be around when the Grey Knights are on the job and you do not want to know the specifics of what they are doing. Numbers once peaked at 7500 thousand. Currently due to all the craziness it's well under 3000 due to attrition. Some question if the order can survive much more at current levels of activity.

'''Iron Hands''' (Iron Hands) - The Iron Hands and their descendants are not Astartes, but [[Skitarii]] with access to augmentations that even most Skitarii don't have access to. The Iron Hands are kind of weird in this respect. What differentiates them from [[Thallax|Thallaxi]] is they are given a much higher degree of independence and potential for unorthodoxy, for the reason that they are extremely devoted to the ideals of the cult Mechanicus and trusted to not be unorthodox in the first place. Much like how in canon Arch-Magi are the only ones allowed to tamper with technology because they are trusted due to their long years of service to the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Iron Hands and their descendants are allowed to disbelieve because the AdMech know they are so zealous they will never do so of their own free will anyway, and are responsible enough to come up with their own battle strategies because they will only deviate if necessary.

'''Lamenters''' (Blood Angels) - Guilty Marines. The Lamenters were formed from those Blood Angels who felt that maybe Sanguinius wouldn't have died if only they had done more, and have tried to atone for this perceived failure ever since. In a meta-sense, each of the Blood Angel successors represents an aspect of Sanguinius, the Lamenters representing Sanguinius' recognition of his own powerlessness and maybe a bit of his self-doubt. [[grimdark|That for all his talents and power his ability to affect the universe is ultimately very limited]]. That's what they lament, their own powerlessness. while another chapter might celebrate a successful crusade or the defeat of a WAAAGH!, the Lamenters would say, "we could have done more." They're like normal Blood Angels on Sanguinala 24/7. However, despite this, they aren't so melancholy that it affects their performance, and they are known for always going the extra mile to do the job and protect civilians. As a result, while the Lamenters are well-respected, they aren’t much fun to be around. On the other hand, they managed to avoid getting assigned to the Maelstrom in this timeline, so that’s a plus.

'''Legion of the Damned''' (It's Complicated) - The Legion of the Damned were the result of the Rubric of Ahriman, created when all of the Space Marines (of a several chapters) and Imperial Guard on the surface of Prospero were trapped between dimensions as quantum flaming space ghosts. Neither living nor dead, they are ''pissed'' at being stuck between worlds and hunt Chaos with a vengeance. Their presence is one of the few things daemons fear as the Legion of the Damned are able to chase them back into the Warp where they can be harmed rather than simply banish them.

'''Luna Wolves''' (Void Wolves) - The Luna Wolves were mostly the old Sol Void Born families and their traditional ancestral home ships. They congregate naturally around Luna and make up most of the interstellar traders and ferrymen going to and from Sol and around Sol. Horus was one of them. More Merchant Navy than military Navy. They are very well trained captains and crews, legacy of the migrant fleets of Old Sol in ancient days.

'''Marines Malevolent''' (Iron Warriors?) - The Marines Malevolent are extreme pragmatists. They feel like being a super soldier is a fundamentally dirty job that requires people to do horrible things and make hard decisions for the greater good, and thinking otherwise (or, [[Blood Angels|heaven forbid]], [[Salamanders|treating it]] [[Space Wolves|like you're]] [[Ultramarines|a hero]]) means you're lying to yourself or you're too cowardly to do what is necessary to keep the Imperium safe. This doesn't go over well with the other chapters, who even though they've had their fair share of doing something distateful to stop something worse generally try to find another solution first. The Marines Malevolent would rather amputate a limb rather than try to cure the infection first, simply because it leaves no room for failure. As a result, the Marines Malevolent don't get along with anyone. They don't like other Astartes chapters, who they see as as deluded or cowards. Heck, they don't even like themselves, who they see as having too much blood on their hands from all the "horrible yet necessary" (though many would debate that) things that they have had to do.

As a result, things tend to ends badly when the Marines Malevolent try to play with anyone else. One suggestion of what generally ends up happening is the MM do something horrible, they get put on penitent crusade, everyone forgets about what they did after a few centuries (no one really notices what they do on penitent crusade unless they really screw up, since they are generally off on the fringes), and the Marines Malevolent are given a second chance or called in because shit has officially hit the fan and the Imperium needs all hands on deck. Only for the Marines Malevolent to do it all again. Either that, or they were booted on permanent Penitant Crusade duty after they blew their first second chance and have only been called in during the most dire situation since.

Currently, the most recent event that the Marines Malevolent have gotten shit over happened during the Fourth War for Armageddon, when the MM steered part of an Ork WAAAGH! into a refugee camp. The Marines Malevolent expected the Orks to be slowed down as they stopped to loot and massacre the defenseless refugees, and then while the Orks were pinned simply bombarded the whole place with artillery. This uber-pragmatic attitude horrified most of the other chapters present, especially the Salamanders. The Marines Malevolent saw themselves as doing what needed to be done to win, and what the other chapters were too cowardly to do themselves, and said as much to Tu'Shan's face. Helbrecht ([[Nobledark_Imperium_Notable_People#Commissar_Yarrick|who was on Armageddon at the time but otherwise occupied]]) might have even wanted a piece of that action if he was around.

It's not entirely agreed upon where the Marines Malevolent come from. The best candidates would be the Iron Warriors, with the pragmatism and disregard for life turned up to eleven. However, arguments could be made for Night Lords, War Hounds, Ultramarines (simply because they are so diverse), or even Imperial Fists (given the canon!Fists focus on duty and stoicism, and they wear yellow). The Marines Malevolent obviously know who their progenitors are, but all First Founding chapters refuse to recognize them as their descendants. Yes, even the Night Lords and Iron Warriors. They have standards.

It should be noted that despite all this, [[Grimdark|this is still a more positive portrayal of them than in canon.]]

'''Night Lords''' (Night Lords) - Spend most of their time on what is effectively permanent Penitent Crusade on the edges of the Imperium, far from where they can do a lot of harm. Fluff beyond this is still a little up in the air and not entirely set in stone. Recruit from a variety of sources, including untainted orphans of Chaos and xenos attacks and mind-wiped criminals. Still seem to consider Nostramo a place of importance, even though they aren't very sedentary. Have close relationships with [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notable_Planets#Iybraesil|Craftworld Iybraesil]], of all people, who provide the Night Lords with spirit stones that they use to torture Crone Eldar. Spirit stones can easily work like a sensory deprivation tank, which is hell for the sensation-happy Crone Eldar.

'''Omega Marines''' (Alpha Legion) - Not an actual chapter, the Omega Marines are the Alpha Legion's off-the-books, black-ops deniable assets. The Omega Marines do all sorts of monstrous things even the Alpha Legion wouldn't be allowed to do. False-flag operations, infiltration of Fallen warbands up to and including going into the Eye of Terror, etc. Things that have to be done even if they're not "good" or "nice". It's not a safe job. Because of their nature as spies, the Alpha Legion tends to have more operatives turn traitor than other legions, and Omegas have a tendency to "go native" more often than the regular Alpha Legion. Those that do come back typically have their experiences psychically suppressed. The Omegas justify their existence to themselves by saying judgment for their actions has not been annulled, merely postponed. Possibly at some point they will be hauled up called to make an account of themselves, their sins will be measured and they will be judged and dealt with accordingly. Who is doing the judging? Nobody knows the whole group, the people in the group don't and can't know each other. It's shady as all fuck, but it has worked for 10,000 years with very few serious fuck ups. The Omega Legion and associated secret handshake jockies distinguish themselves from the other more self serving secret societies in that they dream of the day that they become unneeded and can safely disband. The day will come when all beings will have to be divided into men and monsters, and they know they will have to stand on the monster side of things. However, they will take some glimmer of pride that because of them there will be a lot more people on the "men" side than would otherwise be. 

The creation of the Omega Marines themselves was a well-intentioned, but massively arrogant act by Alpharius and Omegon. Not even the Emperor or Empress were told about their existence in order to protect them with deniability. Plus false flag operations generally work better if the target doesn't know they're being scammed. The Omega Marines were also the Alpha Legion's ace in the hole in case Oscar or Isha got corrupted by Chaos or went off the deep end. The two of them seemed trustworthy, but Alpharius and Omegon were always the type to have a backup plan to kill anyone they ever met just in case. Additionally, being some of the oldest primarchs they weren't as wowed by Oscar's charisma as younger individuals. Unfortunately now you have left hand versus right hand shenanigans, and because Omega Marines are picked from within Alpha Legion cells, the Emperor can't censure them as if it were a normal chapter doing it (e.g., Marines Malevolent).

Officially and unofficially, the Emperor does not tolerate their existence. Officially, neither does the Alpha Legion, who calls them renegade Alpha Legion operatives. Unofficially, they recognize that there are always ugly things that have to be done. The AL won't go out of their way to the point that it jeopardizes the Alpha Legion to protect the Omegas, but they will look the other way most of the time because someone's got to do it so long as the Omega Marine really hasn't gone off the deep end. The nomination of Omega Marines is also fairly rare, in the interest of avoiding the Emperor declaring the Alpha Legion a failed institution and trying to clean house like he did with the Assassins.

'''Raptors''' (Raven Guard) - Raven Guard descendants who still specialize in guerilla and stealth tactics but are also known for their scholarship and knowledge of military tactics (in order to emphasize their flavor as [[Reasonable Marines]] when a lot more chapters aren’t as unreasonable). Their focus on stealth and being extremely adaptable to unpredictable circumstances would mean they are very effective at the role of "decapitate a planet's leadership". Due to their location get along quite well with the Tau Empire, much like Ultramar (but on the southwestern side of the Tau Empire rather than the southeast) and have even offered assistance in bringing down Farsight. The Tau have respectfully refused, saying the Farsight enclaves are an intra-Tau affair and their honor would not rest well if they resolved the dispute by involving outsiders. That, and the Ethereals were afraid that inviting the Raptors to help them wouldn’t be as hard as getting them to leave.

'''Silver Skulls''' (Iron Warriors) - Chapter whose job it is to protect the Webway and its entrances. Because the Webway is so large, and they are so few, this means that the chapter is spread really thin and rarely has time to submit requests for resupply, because a person going for supplies is one less person on patrol. This puts them in the odd position of actually having a better relationship with the Eldar than with humans or other Astartes chapters.

'''Sons of Antaeus''' (Thousand Sons...kind of) - The only other force in the Imperium that uses the Mark III S geneseed, though they do so unofficially. Son of Antaeus are nomadic and have a prodigious turnover rate. More of a warband than a true chapter then, roaming the galaxy going where they're needed most and picking up the rare recruit along the way. Max out at like 200 during peacetime. On the plus side they leave behind shit loads of hard as fuck regular human drop outs that make HOLY SHIT tier PDF soldiers. Antaeus was a retired Grey Knight who was frustrated by the specialized use of the Mark III S geneseed and wanted to bring it to the greater galaxy (cannot find the post, it went into more detail why). He cultivates it from progenoids rather than getting it through official channels, since Mark III S geneseed doesn't grow on trees. Respect for his service record is the only reason why Grey Knights let him do what he does.

'''Sons of Horus''' (Void Wolves) - The secretive Void Born brotherhood/priesthood and Space Marine guards that guard the Tomb of Horus and the Corona Nox that rest upon his sarcophagus. They originally only had one ship and were more of a sort of traveling court and final authority in Void Born legal arguments and internal disputes. At some point they found and laid claim to a Blackstone Fortress and incorporated their ship into it. Couldn't get the damn thing to work and had to call in Eldar assistance and finally own up to holding one of their historical and cultural relics. Tomb of Horus is now a strange amalgamation of Eldar and human starfort wrapped around a fragment of Old One greatness.

'''Terra’s Children''' (Terra's Children) - Fulgrim, ever the perfectionist, expected his Astartes to be Renaissance Men, to be cultured and witty and erudite in addition to being great warriors. Planetary Governors loved having them as bodyguards, as it not only was a status symbol but it meant having someone around who appreciated high culture. Terra's Sons were some of the most dangerous fighters in the Legio Astartes on an individual basis, but this was offset by their low numbers, haughty attitude, and the fact they were better duelists than soldiers. Terra’s Children were one of the most well-regarded legions during the Great Crusade, with people flocking to Fulgrim’s banner due to their existing reputation and Fulgrim’s propaganda. However, a great deal of aspirants couldn’t handle the pressure of living up to Fulgrim’s incredibly high standards and ended up transferring to the Ultramarines, which meant the Legion was rather small even before the Wyrd War. This led to Fulgrim’s somewhat one-sided rivalry with Guilliman, as he saw the Ultramarines as encouraging mediocrity rather than allowing each individual to play to their strengths within a cohesive whole (which was Guilliman’s intent). Of course, this was Fulgrim, he saw everybody as a rival in some sense. Exactly how the Legion changed post-Wyrd War after Fulgrim retires and passes command to Lucius has not yet been addressed, but they accepted the parts of the codex instead of Fulgrim's superhuman ethos.

'''Ultramarines''' (Ultramarines) - Going through a bit of a succession crisis. Marneus Calgar was beaten into a coma by the Swarmlord during the Battle of Ultramar, and at the time Tribune (then Captain) Titus was unilaterally nominated by the remaining captains of the Ultramarines to lead the chapter in his stead until Calgar could return to duty. However, since then Titus has been getting some flack from the heads of other chapters for being "just" a Captain as opposed to a Chapter Master, and the other captains are starting to chafe at Titus telling them what to do (as in "we're both captains you can't tell me what to do"). They also accidentally let the Nightbringer's husk out of his prison. Thanks a lot, Ultrasmurfs.

'''Unnamed Armageddon Chapters''' (Imperial Fists, Iron Warriors, and three others) - Like most Hive Worlds, the population of Armageddon's hives is so huge it can support multiple Astartes Chapters, each recruiting from one of the major hives as well as the Ashlands surrounding it. Like most world with multiple Astartes chapters, the hives tend to have "hometown pride" in their chapters resembling the devotion one has to their local scrumball team. Due to the nature of Armageddon, the Imperium has posted as many chapters as possible there, two of which are Imperial Fist/Iron Warrior descendants who keep the Dorn/Perturabo rivalry going strong.

'''Unnamed Tallarn Chapter''' (White Scars) - Medjay or Dervish-like monastic warriors who spend most of their time philosophizing or meditating in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_island| sky islands] of Tallarn ([[Dune|which are still desert, but are the only spots on the planet where things can still grow normally and produce most of the planet's atmosphere courtesy of the AdBio]]). On their homeworld, often act as mediators in disputes between the different settlements. Are one of the "name only" chapters in canon.

'''Void Wolves''' (Void Wolves) - Overwhelmingly Void Born stock and therefore not any sort of super soldier. It's more a sort of escort fleet that protects the Merchant Navy from space bandits. When the Void Wolves legion split, the Void Wolves chapter got a shit load of newly commissioned ships and primarily void born crew mostly officers. Mostly non-Sol old families that swore allegiance to Horus as King of the Void Born during the great Crusade.

'''War Hounds''' (War Hounds) - Remained the War Hounds, never became the World Eaters or had a loyalist descendant chapter called that per request of Kharn. Changed their color scheme early on from white and blue to red and gold ([[Khorne|NOT BRASS]]) when they realized that having a legion that prefers close combat dress primarily in white made them look stupid, as their armor inevitably got blood-spattered and it made them look like bloodthirsty maniacs instead of the professional soldiers they were.

'''White Scars''' (White Scars) - Many White Scars claim to be genetic descendants of Jaghatai Khan (either directly or through Jaghatai's extended family) Join the White Scars in an attempt to recapitulate their ancestor's glory. Have a reputation for being rather boastful and arrogant.

'''Word Bearers''' (Word Bearers) - See [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notes#Monarchia and the Word Bearers|Monarchia and the Word Bearers]]