Death Spectres
| Death Spectres | ||
|---|---|---|
| Battle Cry | Fear not death, we who embody it in His name! | |
| Founding | Dark founding (13th) | |
| Successors of | Raven Guard | |
| Successor Chapters | None | |
| Chapter Master | Unknown | |
| Primarch | Corvus Corax | |
| Homeworld | Occuludus | |
| Strength | 1000 (ish) | |
| Specialty | Unknown | |
| Allegiance | Imperium | |
| Colours | Black with one white pauldron | |
An example of how when a Space Marine is told to stick to a task, they do so, the Death Spectres Space Marines Chapter have stood guard over the Ghoul Stars for roughly seven years or so (seven thousand in-universe). Hailing from the 13th 'Dark Founding', of which the only other chapter known is the Exorcists, the Death Spectres maintain this task without support from the larger Imperium. Because they're that badass.
What this means is these guys are hard enough to remain on the edge of the galaxy, kicking any random xenos ass that comes along, and they never think or need to ask for the Imperium's help. Not much is known about the creatures that inhabit the Ghoul Stars, but they are described as being 'supernatural', and were clearly a big enough threat once for a whole Chapter to be stationed in constant watch mode to make sure they never bother anyone again.
It is hinted that they are Raven Guard successors, since they share the same geneseed mutations, but because no one in this damn galaxy knows where they are from and who their daddies are, this question will probably go on unanswered... until Steve Parker got sick of GeeDubs' enforcing the "make everything unconfirmed" policy on every single damn chapter, and had a Death Spectre librarian outright say he was a successor of the Raven Guard. So yes, sons of Corax all the way.
They get their aspirants to die then resurrect themselves using only willpower, and then if they want a promotion, they do it again. Their chapter logo is a skull with double scythes behind it, and their colours are black, with one white pauldron and a bone colored helmet. They're not really that well known, but there was a Deathwatch book with them in it and it's pretty badass. They've also got this glass chair (called the Shariax) that all the Chapter Masters sit on that kills them but gives them huge psykic power, so the chief librarian commands them while their boss is busy dying. They've got all these Persian sounding titles like Mesazar and Megir and that.
Despite being on guard duty, they do get out and about and help out everyone else. They were last reported being all sneaky during the 13th Black Crusade and helping some Imperial Guard recover a planet, which sounds like very Raven Guard-ish behaviour....