The Sentinels

The Sentinels
Battle Cry	"For the Watchman!" or "For the Warmaster!"
Number	IX
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	N/A
Successor Chapters	WIP
Chapter Master	N/A
Primarch	Je'She of The Watch
Homeworld	Harrdid
Strength	105,000
Specialty	Defensive operations. Civilian protection. Siege warfare. Prolonged campaigns.
Allegiance	Loyalist
Colours	Coal grey with white text overlay

This page is part of the Warmasters Triumvirate, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the Warmasters Triumvirate page for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Sentinels were the IXth Legiones Astartes, led by the Primarch and Warmaster Je'She of the Watch

History

Created by the Emperor of Mankind himself beneath the mountains of the Himalayas, the geneseed of the IXth made just like any other Legion. Due to it’s maturity before other geneseed variants, such as the XIXth and XXth legions, the IXth were employed during the last months of the Unification Wars. Used as reinforcements among the already battle-hardened companies from older genestock, the IXth quickly gained a reputation for almost fanatical determination to the cause.

So eager were they to prove themselves not only to their older brothers and the Emperor, but to the younger legions as well; often volunteering for impossible campaigns, and achieving victory at all cost. They were not as effective as the vanguard, unlike those of the Ist or XVth, but rather their true skill was that of shieldbearers, guarding flanks and resisting enemy counterattacks. Due to the nature of such tactics, the IXth lost men as quickly as they could make them. The lack of veterans compared to other legions gave the IXth an air of idealistic fanaticism. The young recruits just as willing to die for their cause as much as their deceased predecessors. These nigh-suicidal tendencies gained them the moniker, ‘The Shields of Death’.

This fearsome reputation gained admiration and derision from their brothers in equal measure. For the Solar Auxilia assigned alongside the IXth, only the most fanatical or stoic regiments welcomed their placement. For others, fighting alongside the ‘Shields of Death’ meant making the ultimate sacrifice for victory. The IXth demanded it.

“Me and my squad were pinned down while trying to take a ridge. Fire was coming in from nearly all sides. Transmissions were down, and I had lost half of my men. Out of the smoke came a single legionnaire. He took cover beside us, asked me the situation, looked up at the ridge, and said, ‘If your squad shall die like mine did, then it shall be a glorious day indeed. Follow my advance.’. He got up, in full fire, and ran straight up that ridge. We won that day and took that damn ridge, but I will never forget those words of glorious despair.”

-Anonymous Solar Auxilia Sergeant. 795.M30, during the battle of Luna.

By the time the Shields were reunited with Je’She, they were only roughly a score or so of bone-ragged companies. They made planetfall alongside the emperor to save their Primarch from being overwhelmed by orks. What they saw was awe-inspiring. Their genefather, in nought but iron plate and a primitive glaive, holding back tides of greenskins with his back against a mighty gate. With only a handful of human soldiers left at his side, him and his men held back thousands upon thousands of wrathful xenos. Their genefather was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for his people: death. For the IXth, that was all they asked.

Upon reunification, Je’She looked upon his legion, bloodied and determined to prove themselves above and beyond, and vowed to instill a new fanaticism in them. One not of mindless self-destruction, but the creed of protecting those that relied on them, both humanity and their brothers. Self sacrifice was noble, but foolish in the long run. For the IXth were shieldbearers, and shieldbearers they would continue to be, but now their creed was that of humanity, not of fanatical validation. They would be humanity's shields, their protectors, their Sentinels.