Editing Setting:Cloudburst/Blue Daggers (section)

==Chapter Makeup==

The Chapter Composition listed here reflects both the pre- and post-13th Black Crusade formation of the Chapter.  The 11th through 13th Companies were created only after the conclusion of the Seventh Glasian Migration.

Council of Masters: 18 Masters, 91 Honor Guards<br>
1st Company – Company Captain, First Lieutenant, 50 Elites (Standard Bearer), 50 Terminators (Champion, Lieutenant), 1 Venerable Ironclad Dreadnought, 4 Stormravens, 4 Bikes, 2 Attack Bikes, 4 Land Speeders, 1 Land Raider Crusader, 6 Predators, 1 Predator Annihilator, 1 Whirlwind, 6 Rhinos, 2 Razorbacks<br>

2nd – 5th (each) 60 Tactical brothers (Captain, Lieutenant), 20 Assault brothers (Standard Bearer, Champion), 20 Devastators (Lieutenant), 2 Dreadnoughts (various), 6 Bikes, 1 Attack Bike, 2 Stormravens, 4 Land Speeders, 1 Land Raider (various), 1 Land Raider Terminus Ultra<br>
6th – 8th (each) 60 Tactical brothers (Captain, Lieutenant), 20 Assault brothers (Standard Bearer, Champion, Lieutenant), 20 Devastators, 2 Dreadnoughts (various), 6 Bikes, 1 Attack Bike, 2 Stormravens, 4 Land Speeders, 1 Land Raider (various), 6 Whirlwinds, 6 Razorbacks<br>
9th – 125 Devastators (Standard Bearer, Champion, Captain, 2 Lieutenants), 2 Devastator Centurions (optional), 1 Assault Centurion (optional)<br>
10th – 175 Scouts (Captain, 2 Lieutenants)<br>
11th – 40 Inceptors (Captain, Lieutenant), 20 Intercessors, 20 Hellblasters (Lieutenant, Champion), 20 Aggressors<br>
12th – 40 Intercessors (Captain), 10 Inceptors, 30 Reivers (Lieutenant), 10 Hellblasters (Lieutenant, Champion), 10 Aggressors<br>
13th – 100 Vanguard Scouts (Captain, 2 Lieutenants), 10 Incursors<br>

''Aerospace Force'' – 5 Marines, 109 Thunderhawks (various), 1 Stormbird (5 twin-linked lascannons, 3 twin-linked heavy bolters, 6 Dreadstrike missiles), 12 Stormravens, 12 Fire Raptors, 12 Storm Eagles, 18 Stormtalons, 12 Overlords<br>
''Motor Pool'' – 97 Space Marines, 8 Primaris Marines, 40 Predators (various), 7 Land Raiders (various), 45 Land Speeders (various), 60 Rhinos (various), 4 Hunters, 8 Stalkers, 3 Repulsors, 2 Astraeuses, 20 Whirlwinds, 2 Centurions, 15 Vindicators, 3 Vindicator Laser Destroyers, 1 Centaur, 2 Attack Bikes, 6 Bikes, 12 Rapiers, 187 Tarantulas; all 9th through 13th Company units draw their vehicles from the pool, with no assigned units<br>
''Chapter Specialists (not counting Council of Masters)'' – 30 Techmarines, 4 Primaris Tech-brothers, 14 Apothecaries, 4 Primaris Apothecaries, 3 Helix Adepts, 11 Librarians, 1 Primaris Epistolary, Reclusiarch, 12 Chaplains, 4 Primaris Chaplains

Sum Marines – 1386 Space Marines in the Chapter, and thirteen on deployment in the Deathwatch, for a total of 1399, prior to the creation of the Primaris Marines.  After their creation, the total Blue Daggers came to 1725 Brothers.

Space Fleet – 1 Battle Barge: Age of Apostasy Era battleship-hull (''Sharp Edge''), 2 Luna Cruisers, 11 Strike Cruisers, 49 Frigates, destroyers, and escort carriers, 2 Viper Scouts, ''Gargantuan'', 1 courier cutter, various local space stations and orbitals

The Daggers are expanding their fleet as quickly as their shipyards will allow them, and recruiting heavily from the populations of worlds they protect.  Their fleet is the proportionally fastest-expanding part of their force strength, and this has saved them in the past.  Had their fleet consisted of the single Battle Barge and trio of frigates with which they had started their defense of Septiim, they would have been destroyed four times over.  The Chapter also controls a small number of orbital platforms and one lunar base around Septiim Primus to undertake repairs of their ship or cache documents before taking them to the ''Gargantuan''.  They are lightly defended, and are for logistical purposes, not combative.

===Chapter Nomenclature and Leadership===

The Daggers have largely retained the leadership and structural positions of the two Ultramarine Successors that Founded them, those being the Angels of Fury and the Novamarines.  The Chapter does have a few unique titles for their leaders, but those are mostly cosmetic alterations of pre-existing posts within the general guidance of the Codex Astartes, as laid down by their gene-sire Lord Guilliman.

Iron Hail: This technique was pioneered by the Ultramarines during the final few decades of the Scouring.  Using a combination of retro-rockets, Drop Pods, unmanned gun turrets, Assault Marines with jump packs, and Assault Teleporting Terminators, the Daggers launch an entire Company’s worth or more of Marines from an orbiting ship, usually one of their Strike Cruisers or the ''Sharp Edge''.  Before the inhabited Pods strike the ground, uninhabited Pods use the rockets to lurch ahead of the others, and arrive at the ground first.  These serve as decoys, drawing enemy fire away from the occupied Pods, but are not empty.  Instead, their interiors are laced with heatsinks, shock absorbers, targeting cogitators, and magazines.  Their exteriors are slightly different as well, as they contain heat-shielded Rapier Quad Bolters, which draw on the shock absorber and magazine equipment inside to send sheets of high-explosive bolts out at whatever AA batteries may be firing at the Pods.  When these dummy Pods land, their side hatches blow open as all Pods’ do, but instead of disgorging Marines, they instead activate Fragstorm packages and smoke dischargers located inside, identical to those on a Furioso or Ironclad Dreadnought.  While frags and smoke are still filling the air, the occupied pods land, and the hatches blow open.  Assault Marines and Terminators with Teleport Homers emerge.  The Assault Marines use their Jump Packs to rocket clear of the impact site and engage defenders in close quarters, while the Terminators use their Lightning Claws and Chainfists to clear away obstructions and call in backup.  Other variants of the technique use the Deathstorm variant of Drop Pods with in-built Assault Cannons.

The Blue Gunline: Another technique inherited from the Ultramarines of the Scouring, this technique involves using sensor suites and LADAR packages on Command Rhinos and Land Raiders Excelsior to map out a battlefield at long range, then using smoke dischargers and covering fire from vehicle-mounted bolters to provide cover for snipers to enter preferred shooting vantages, all at the speeds that only transhumans can attain.  A classic variant of the same ground control technique practiced by infantry since the Phoenician Empire, updated for modern capabilities.

Needle Formation: A Blue Dagger technique developed by the boarders of the great Glasian Cylinders.  This technique refers to the practice of using modified Assault Rams, Thunderhawks, and Teleporters to move vast numbers of boarders onto the Cylinders at once.  Thanks perhaps to their avian heritage, the Glasians prefer wide spaces on their starships.  Corridors and chambers that are far larger than a Mechanicus-designed ship would contain are very common.  On the one hand, this makes boarding and teleporting into the interior of the ships far safer.  On the other, it means that boarders must sometimes contest vehicles inside the enemy ships, which a boarder might not be equipped for by default.  To compensate, the Daggers have developed methods of allowing tracked Rapier platforms, Terminators, and even Dreadnoughts onto their Rams and shuttles and gunships, even when their normal layouts would forbid this.  However, it is a very tight fit for Dreadnoughts on anything smaller than Thunderhawks.

The Emperor’s March: A belief structure for the Chapter.  While older members of the Chapter are more likely to believe the same things about the Emperor and the history of Mankind as the Novamarines and Angels of Fury, the younger members of the Chapter have taken to this belief.  They believe that the souls of those who die in the honorable service of the Emperor’s armies will join together in an endless procession of glorious souls to the side of the Emperor Himself in the Warp to aid him in battle against the Gods of every other starfaring race.

===Chapter Relics and Fleet===

Astartes Chapters that serve long and courageously in the military of the Emperor often accumulate Relics.  These Relics may be tokens of particularly one-sided or heavily contested victories, or they may be noteworthy gifts from other persons in the Emperor’s service.  Others yet may be battle trophies, technological artifacts, recordings of speeches, or wargear.  The youth of the Blue Daggers is such that they have accumulated little of a relic collection, but they do have a few items of note.
* 	Reach of Terra)  This mighty Power Glaive is among the largest Powered weapons in the Chapter Arsenal.  A token of appreciation from former [[Setting:Cloudburst/Cognomen|Cognomen]] Fabricator General En’Kal for destroying and aiding in the disposal of the Glasian Cylinder that attacked Cognomen, this Power Glaive has an edge even outside of its power field.  Its head leaves a distinct contrail of ionizing gasses in its wake, giving the illusion that it is wreathed in living light.  It has cleaved through all materials on which it has been tested, and is traditionally carried by the Chapter Champion, presently Cesper Clerc.
* 	Chain of Albrinter)  An unusual force field generator.  This relic is a piece of the Chapter’s history.  It originally belonged to the Novamarines, who imparted it to the nascent Blue Daggers when the Chapter formally contributed officers to the new Founding.  Its force field is actually substantially less durable than that of even an Astra Militarum Chaplain’s Rosarius Field, but the chain is feather-light and draws the barest amount of power from the wearer’s backpack generator, and its operation is silent.  Therefore, since there is no drawback to wearing it and it can easily turn aside shrapnel or a brush from a flamer, it is often carried directly into battle by a member of the Council of Masters during Glasian Migrations.  It is presently carried by Chapter third-in-command and Master of the Ships, Gwinnet Eiger.
* 	Tome of the Borderlands)  The Blue Dagger Librarius is small, but orderly and close-knit.  In the large Chapter, the low psyker birthrate makes the recruitment of new Librarians all-important, especially given the Warp-tainted nature of the threat the Chapter was specifically Founded to stave off.  Thus, the Tome of the Borderlands is a crucial part of the Librarius’s efforts.  Within its psycrystal pages is a full listing of the entire library of psykana possessed by the Chapter, including all of its Emperor-blessed psychic warfare techniques, a rough map of the Septiim system’s Warp Currents (which are vigorous with so many inhabited bodies), the psyker birthrates of every planet from which the Daggers recruit, and every single member the Librarius has ever had.  This is in addition to all of the wards, totemic scribings, and litanies of focus, power, and loyalty that every Librarian’s focus book contains.  It is never carried by any member of the Chapter, but is instead left in Master Covum’s secret sanctum, to be studied by any Librarian deemed to have sufficient need by the Council.  Theoretically, it could serve as a very valuable field aid for the Librarius in battle, but it has few combat functions any other psychic focus tome would lack, and so it is left behind to minimize risk.
* 	Starburn)  This relic Plasma Cannon is a huge weapon, the largest plasma weapon any one Marine in the Chapter can carry even with Terminator armor.  Looking more like the cannon of a Macharius Omega than a normal plasma weapon, it burns hot enough in each shot to melt right through Ceramite and Adamantium, and its shots are long-ranged enough and fast-moving enough that they can down a Glasian hovertank with one good hit.  Because of its weight, its bulk, and its enormous power requirements, it is only deployed in the grip of a Terminator even if it could theoretically be used by a strong Marine in good conventional Power Armor.  It is stored in Master Carache’s armory, but it is not his – any Terminator with need of it can make use of it in an emergency.  It is especially often used by the Daggers who work alongside the Deathwatch to constrain alien and piratical threats that fly to Cloudburst from Drumnos in search of easy pickings.
* 	Glint of Knowledge)  This is hardly a relic at all, the Chapter Tech-brotherhood scoffs.  The Glint of Knowledge is only fifteen years old by the Terran calendar according to the serial stamp, hardly an artifact of an ancient master.  However, despite its youth, it stands apart from all other auspexes in the Chapter armory for good reason.  Its power feeds, its multispectral receivers, and its extensive cybernetic connection capability allow any variant, any model, any make of Power Armor to interface with it, and enjoy a vast array of autosenses.  It is somewhat larger than a typical auspex, but that is no obstruction to its use.  It can sit in the equipment slot of a Techmarine’s upper arm segment, it can be strapped to a forearm to keep hands free, it can be carried by its grip, or it could be fastened to the inside of a shield, and it would still work perfectly.  The Glint of Knowledge has the usual array of auspex sensors built into its casing, but also includes a helm-interface flex-cable allowing it to display its findings through the machine spirits of the user’s helm display, overlaying them in Imperial gold.  It also contains a vibration scanner, a metal detector, a composite radiation scanner, and a wind speed analyzer, in addition to its normal functions, making it incredibly useful for hunting Genestealers in the dark.  It was taken as a prize from the pirate ship ''Just Your Luck'', boarded and scuttled by a team of Terminators after it assaulted the Septiim Economic Zone world of ANKH 909.  Its actual origins are a mystery, but it has Forge World serial stamps on it, so it was clearly made on a Martian world and then promptly stolen.
* 	Dead World’s Vengeance)  No relic is viewed with more superstitious dread by the Space Marines of the Cloudburst Sector than this Storm Bolter.  This was the only weapon recovered intact from the planet Chlorit.  After the destruction of the world by the Glasians in the Second Migration, Ordo Xenos inspection ships examined the ruin of the world, its crust turned to molten rock and powdered stone from the blast emanating from the engines of the Cylinder.  There they found world-crushing destruction not far less than that of a full World-scale Exterminatus.  However, there were a few spots on the far side of the planet where the devastation, while more than enough to kill every living thing present, had not destroyed all of the artificial structures.  Perhaps the blast from the Glasians had been too far away, or perhaps the dense metal core of the planet had bent the shockwave aside like a tectonic event.  Regardless, a few buildings were still partially intact.  Inside one of them, a Deathwatch Marine found a Chimaera lodged in a wall, its pintle-mounted Storm Bolter still perfectly preserved by the vacuum.  It was salvaged, and presented by the Ordo Xenos to the Exigent Task Unit Cloudburst.  Since then, there are whispers among the Initiates that the gun is haunted, and the screams of millions of Imperial farmers and soldiers can be heard in the crack of its shells.  Certainly, the gun seems extremely accurate for a Storm Bolter, and when loaded with Kraken rounds, it can punch through armor like a chainsword through glass.  Maybe its Machine Spirits seek vengeance still, or perhaps the Inquisition upgraded it somehow.  Regardless, it is usually carried by the Terminator boarders who teleport onto the Glasian Control Cylinders that invariably assault Septiim in each Migration, so the xeno scum can hear their Vengeance coming.
* 	Final Argument)  This is a celebrated relic of the Scout Company of the Blue Daggers.  This weapon was acquired by Scout Sergeant Frieg on his seven-year stint in the Deathwatch.  An Ultima-series Sniper Rifle, this massive bolt weapon has a range of well over two miles, and its integrated multi-view scope allows for real-time gravity, wind, Coriolis Effect, and bolt movement delay compensation.  No one Scout claims it now, so it is held on the ''Gargantuan'' in the armory of Master Doreth until it is needed.
* 	Faith’s Colors)  The oldest relic of the Chapter is not a weapon at all.  This is a tabard, hood, and robe worn by a Chaplain of the Ultramarines during the assault against the Fortress of Hera by Konrad Curze during the Ruinstorm.  The clothing was preserved in a stasis field by the Novamarines after they inherited it, and was given to the new Chapter as a reminder from the Novamarines to Augustus Alderoster to always be vigilant against those enemies that know the Imperium best: its own Traitors.  Now it sits in the Vault of Aitrandus for all the Chapter to see, a reminder of that most important lesson.
* 	''Unending Shield'')  A Land Raider Crusader and the unofficial command vehicle of the armor fleet of the Blue Daggers.  Manufactured in the great subterranean cities of Calth, this vehicle served the Angels of Fury as a typical Land Raider for most of its life.  However, it was modified into the Crusader pattern after the Black Templars first proved the viability of the design, and was never changed back.  This was the only Land Raider given to the Blue Daggers by the Angels of Fury, alongside its Centurions.  It is outfitted with a Machine Spirit of ferocious violence, two Hurricane Bolters, twin-linked Assault Cannons, a pintle-mounted multi-melta, a Hunter-Killer missile tube, searchlights, smoke dischargers, two Fragstorm packages, extra armor, and a mounted auspex, which sets it apart from most Crusaders.  It is the personal transport of the Captain of the First Company, and is invariably crewed by a Space Marine crew to maximize the capability of the vehicle.  Of course, the Captain of the First may also choose to use the Chapter’s only Land Raider Excelsior or a Damocles Command Rhino instead, and coordinate the troops instead of leading them directly, in which case this Land Raider is simply fielded by the First or Second Lieutenant of the Company.
* 	Spiritual Cast)  This incense container is a small cup and chain, in which ritual blessing incense can be burned and waved over firearms in preparation for use.  The blessing of the machine spirits of the firearms of the Space Marines is always important, and this incense burner was the personal favorite of the founding Master of the Armory of the Blue Daggers.  It is said that the beneficence of the Machine Spirits that he coaxed into the first generation of arms for the Chapter still lingers in this burner, which is kept in a place of honor in Master Alling-Durant’s armory, where the Tech-Brothers anoint their guns before Cylinder boardings.

The flotilla of the Blue Daggers fleet contains but one Battle Barge, the ''Sharp Edge''.  Its eleven Strike Cruisers are the ''Azure Death'', the ''Clashing Stars'', the ''Memories of Honorium'', the ''Name of Wrath'', the ''Scouring Action'', the ''Punishing Gesture'', the ''Blue Flames'', the ''Blackwell'', the ''Valorous Conflict'', and the newest of the lot – the ''Fury’s Sons''.  The fleet also flies two Luna cruisers, the ''Wrath of the Stars'' and the ''Lofty Rage''.

===Chapter Organization===

[[Image:Organization.png|thumb|left|The Blue Daggers' organizational structure, post-Great Rift]]


Thanks to the relentless but scheduled behavior of the Glasians, the Chapter has largely homogenized their Reserve Companies.  The formations still exist, but the ability of the Seventh Company, for example, to mobilize entirely on Land Speeders is gone.  In its place, the Reserve Companies train heavily in defensive infantry combat, formation-breaking, and urban combat, to ensure that they can be dispatched without assistance to secure systems from the depredations of the Glasians.  However, that does not extend to the Devastator Company, the 9th, which is the closest in composition to the Codex Astartes and its templates.

When the Chapter does mobilize for missions outside the Cloudburst Sector – increasingly common in the anarchy of the 42nd Millennium – the Chapter rarely sends an entire Company to deal with whatever problem they face.  They greatly prefer to send a single Strike Cruiser with at most a Company Captain and five squads, supported by an [[Apothecary]] or two and a bevy of Techmarines.  When the Chapter does dispatch larger forces, they send a member of the Council of Masters to lead them.  Coincidentally, this has been Lord Eiger on every occasion thus far.

Had all gone to plan, the Chapter had intended to change this protocol anyway.  Now that the Chapter has attained its fullest strength and integrated itself into the supply chain of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and proven itself in lengthy battle against many alien and Chaotic foes, it had intended to fan out its forces more, and participate in more military activities against foes outside Cloudburst proper.  That change has been forced upon them.

A typical dispatch of Blue Daggers previously consisted of the following forces, prior to the Great Rift opening:

[[Image:Dispatch.png|thumb|left|A typical combat deployment of the Daggers before the Great Rift opened]]

===Captains and Lieutenants===

After the great battles that composed the Seventh Glasian Migration and the concurrent Chaotic and Orkish incursions, the remaining Company officers of the Chapter were as follows:

[[Image:Officers.png|thumb|right|The post-Great Rift Company leaders of the Blue Daggers]]
<br>

===Noteworthy Brothers and Allies===

Chapter Flag Ensign – Tomas Coleville<br>
As the Flag Ensign of the Chapter, Brother Coleville is the senior NCO of the Blue Daggers, and speaks on behalf of the squad leaders for the Council of Masters.  He is a member of the Command Squad of the First Company Veterans, and prefers the use of a plasma pistol to all other weapons, for its versatility and one-handed use.  Coleville is one of seven surviving members of the third induction class of boys into the Blue Daggers, along with Master Doreth and Captain Savoir.  He is a calm and respectful man, and has undertaken extensive studies into languages to better communicate with whatever local forces his Masters assign him to liaise with on missions.

Reclusiarch – Brother-Chaplain Logan Luostre<br>
As the keeper of the relics and the recruiter of the Chaplaincy, Reclusiarch Luostre is a common sight in the Headquarters briefings and functions of the Chapter.  His role includes the typical responsibilities of the second in command of the Chaplaincy of a Codex Chapter, and his vigil towards Brothers who may have been tainted by the Chaotic elements of the Glasian equipment that surrounds them on their centennial Migrations never wavers.  He prefers the use of a Crozius Arcanum and Plasma Pistol for his battlefield role.

Chief Navigatrix – Amandaer MacCraccen<br>
MacCraccen is the only Navigator presently rated to fly the huge Battle Barge ''Sharp Edge'' through the Warp under normal circumstances, and also serves as an advisor to Lord Eiger.  She is a stuffy and classist lout who barely tolerates the semi-humans who surround her, and is apparently oblivious to the irony of that attitude, given her own non-human status.  For all her Navigator snobbishness, however, she is a truly skilled Navigator, and fearless in the face of battle.

Chief of Astropathy – Lincoln al Ross<br>
Lincoln al Ross is more than a mere Astropath, he is also the Chief of Ciphers for the Chapter, and interprets encrypted orders and instructions from the Inquisition for the Chapter when they arrive.  His choir includes over twenty other Astropaths and lesser psykers, and a staff of one hundred eight mundane servants, who see to their needs and pass along their messages to the right ears.  Technically, this and the Septiim system Astropathic Choir on the ''Choral Reef'' station are independent bodies, but given their physical proximity, one choir picking up messages intended for the other is quite common, and discreet mechanisms are in place to ensure privacy.

Captain of Serfs – Prestor Waulke<br>
The serfs, bondsmen, and sailors of the Blue Daggers crew their ships, man their vehicles, staff their bases, and operate most of the ''Gargantuan''.  Therefore, they are entrusted with huge responsibilities, including defending the Chapter’s holdings from Glasian boarders.  Waulke is a staff crewer and officer of the ''Gargantuan'', and liaises with Master Haskell on daily tasks.  Most of the serfs of the Chapter are either retired PDF or washouts from the Dagger training programs.

Officio Munitorum Liaison – Commissar Danielle Anand<br>
As a byproduct of their remit to defend an entire Sector that takes weeks to cross, the Blue Daggers liaise intensely and frequently with the other branches under arms of the Adeptus Terra.  As a result, a mechanism of interaction with mortal soldiery is needed, and that is a spot the Commissariat is perfect to fill, given their lack of traditional ranks and their extra-jurisdictional authority.  Commissar Danielle Anand began her career as a junior Commissar in the Imperial Navy, but rose steadily through their largely reputation-based ranking system until she caught the eye of the Commodore assigned to the Waterscale, who recommended her to her current job as the official Liaison Officer of the Blue Daggers.  As the only woman on the ''Gargantuan'', the serfs tend to avoid her, which is annoying to her since they need clear lines of communication in crisis.  She is a member of the Chapter Core.  Her task is a somewhat boring one outside of Crusades and Migrations, but during those times, she is a whirlwind of activity, coordinating messages from hundreds of participants in the joint military efforts and passing them along to the Council of Masters.

===Command and Deployment Structure===

The Daggers generally do not actually place members of their Council of Masters in Company Captaincies, allowing each Company to have its own Captain, with the Master serving above him.  Though this lengthens the chain of command, it serves the widely-dispersed Chapter well, since the odds of an entire company being assembled in one place are quite low.  Further, the Master can always have a competent and loyal Captain assume command of the company in battle if it is divided across multiple battlefields, alleviating the difficulties through distributed command.  Thus, the Master of Scouts is not the 10th company Captain, nor is the Chapter Master the Captain of the 1st.  Other Ultramarine Primogenitors have been heard to mutter that this is a way the Chapter seeks to defy the Codex, though in reality, it is simply an unfortunate side-effect of the Chapter’s unique and unpleasant role in the galaxy.<br>

In terms of behavior and conduct, the Daggers are very much the scions of the Novamarines from which their officers’ Gene-seed came originally.  They conduct themselves amongst the commoners with distant politeness and are permissive of the Imperial Cult, but ultimately do not seek human company or interaction beyond what is needed.<br>

The Chapter theoretically allows its Vehicle Crewer Marines to not count towards the allotment of Battle Brothers in a Company, but the leadership of the Chapter knows full well that if that were allowed in any significant number, they would be well over the traditionally permissible maximum size of a Codex Chapter.  Thus, this privilege is extended solely to the crews of the Stormbird and the Land Raiders of the Chapter, as those are considered the most sanctified armaments of the Chapter.  The dedicated Motor Pool of the Chapter is also crewed exclusively by Serfs, save when they are substituted out by a Marine temporarily, for the purpose of improving performance.<br>

The Chapter interacts well with the Deathwatch, and contributes Marines when asked.  The Daggers do have one notable oddity in their interactions with the Chamber Militant, however.  When a line battle company member of the Chapter joins the Deathwatch to take their Long Vigil, they are replaced in their home unit.  Vehicle Crewers are sometimes also subject to this.  On rare occasions, Chaplains and Apothecaries are also subject to this.  If a Marine returns alive, they reintegrate into their old post alongside its new incumbent.  If said post is a command position, and therefore cannot be shared, the returning individual and the incumbent decide who shall hold the position, with the other joining one of the Honor Guards of the Council.  Chapter tradition dictates this procedure be carried out, not only because Deathwatch service is often fatal, but also because the Daggers simply cannot afford to be understrength when the Glasians arrive.  Given that those who serve the Vigil are not informed how long their service will last, it has become a necessary precaution.<br>

The Daggers also serve alongside Rogue Traders when asked to do so by a higher authority, such as the Lord Sector Cloudburst, though only as advisors, thus far.  Blue Dagger squads or demi-companies often accompany Traders and Explorators into the Cloudburst Circuit to put down alien pocket kingdoms.  No Rogue Trader has yet had the nerve to ask for a full combat deployment from the Daggers.

The Blue Daggers are generalists in training, and the relatively new armor and ships at their disposal somewhat limit their overall potency.  As the Imperium decays, the technological abilities of the Forge Worlds that equip the Space Marines decay as well.  Most Blue Dagger equipment is designed for maximum durability rather than raw power, and this affects their combat style.  Individual Daggers are just as tough and capable as any other Astartes, of course.<br>
In combat, Daggers tend not to operate in groups smaller than three at the fewest, whenever possible.  Rarely, Marines will serve singly for reconnoitering or spotting, but the Daggers avoid sending their Marines off by themselves.  Some of the Septiimi love for rapid-fire weapons has made its way into the Daggers’ preferences, which lends itself to Blue Dagger vehicles mounting as many extra weapons on their hardpoints as possible.  Relatively few Space Marine vehicles have this option, however, compared to those of the Guard.<br>
The Blue Daggers have few Librarians among them, and an abundance of Techmarines.  This can manifest in a preference for artillery and combined-forces attacks over reliance on psychic power, but the Daggers are not averse to Librarian support for their Battle Brothers.  Likewise, the large number of Chaplains and Techmarines means that the Chapter can usually rely on spiritual or technological support against its Warp-infused foes.

At the heart of the Chapter’s holdings is the ''Gargantuan'' space station.  Although the Blue Daggers have other outposts in the Septiim system, this is where the vast majority of their activities occur, and it is where the Chapter Core is located.  The Core is the official formation of logistics and dispatch for the Chapter.  At the moment, the incumbent leader is the Master of the ''Gargantuan'' itself, Jeremy Haskell.  His responsibilities include seeing to the hiring and retiring of serfs, the buying or building of servitors, and the purchase of supplies the Adeptus Mechanicus and Chapter cannot provide.  For instance, he often places orders for supplies and clothing from the Flaxweave Foundry on Thimble, or sends Astropathic messages to the Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos who need to be updated on the progress of the disposal of Glasian relics into Septiim.  He is also in charge of choosing which serfs have honored the Chapter enough to be transformed into Servo-skulls after death.  However, responsibility for the serfs who are assigned to specific roles on the Chapter’s ships falls instead to Lord Gwinnet Eiger.<br>

The Chapter Core also contains the Chapter accountants, who carefully tabulate the running costs of the Chapter’s operation.  They keep track of bolter shells fired and power packs spent, they keep track of the use of fuel in the vehicles of the motor pool, and they track diligently the rate of collection of boys to become Space Marines.  Unlike most of the servants of the Chapter, these are not serfs, nor bondsmen from Septiim Primus.  They are instead a small cadre of university-educated statisticians and moneykeepers of the Septiim Tertius Planetary Academy and Technical University, which has a contract to supply them to the Daggers.  They work closely with the Adepta Administratum and Mechanicus to meet the supply needs of the Chapter, since its own forges and those of Solstice are not yet fully up to their needed capacity.<br>
The final component of the Chapter Core is the ''Gargantuan''’s small population of assorted civilians and Officio Munitorum personnel.  These people are the operators of the tugs that carry salvaged ships to the ''Gargantuan'', liaise with the Commissariat and Astra Militarum on deployments, coordinate jurisdictional disputes over Naval assets during invasions, appraise pirate and alien ships that are captured in the course of Dagger missions, and sell whatever salvage the Chapter collects that they cannot themselves use.  As they are technically not members of the Chapter nor their serfs, they occupy an awkward position outside the Dagger hierarchy, but are also totally dependent on them and obey their every command.

Though the Daggers are used to working alongside other forces of the Imperium, they do not rely on that being so.  Having an unexpected flight of friendly Avengers swoop down on the ranks of advancing aliens may be a welcome tactical opportunity and a pleasant sight, but the Daggers would only have dispatched their troops to fight those alien ranks if they had had some confidence that they could have won without the airstrike.  Their relative lack of artillery and excess of Techmarines and Land Raiders means that the Daggers are well equipped to perform infantry advances, but not always under the best of cover fire.  The Forge Moon of Solstice is working hard to ensure the Daggers are properly equipped, but the Daggers also have the forges of the ''Gargantuan'' to use.  Eventually, the Daggers may tire of relying on the Martians to supply them, and take matters into their own hands.

Not all of the crews of the Blue Dagger ships and stations are serfs, of course, as that would necessitate hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of serfs, all of whom would become the responsibility of the Chapter Core.  Most of the starship crewers are bondsman ratings of the local Septiim population, trained and educated on Septiim Tertius and Secundus to serve as employees of the Chapter.  High Rates, Warrants, and other positions of great complexity are usually filled by serfs to oversee the lesser crew.  All officer positions, like Shipmasters and the entire Apothecarion apprentice staff, are serfs, as are all those authorized to crew the actual weapons of the ''Gargantuan''.  The recruitment facilities of the Blue Daggers are generally overseen by a Blue Dagger, but crewed by only a few bondsmen and serfs instead of having full Space Marine staff.

The size of the Chapter and its holdings ensures that outside of the Migrations, the Chapter’s command personnel may be spread a bit thinly.  It would be unthinkable for the fleet to be dispatched without a Marine on every ship larger than an Escort, and the many stations it holds throughout the Septiim Economic Zone usually have at least one Marine there at all times, sometimes from the Motor Pool or Fourth Company.  They are typically withdrawn during Migrations.  Those Marines that receive this task usually do so that they may train to command ships in the Fleet, or train to command small crews in defense of ground installations in the path of Glasian advances.