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I'm somewhat nervously posting this WIP background for my custom Space Marines chapter. Any input would be good, I'm trying to keep things sensible and plausible, so here goes. To start with I'm writing things down in a "bare bones" format to get the basic chapter set out then I'll go through things and flesh it out (a lot). Okay maybe not, I'm writing stuff down as it comes to me. If you have any questions feel free to ask them but hopefully they'll be answered at some point in this.
Definitely not completed yet, I've started getting onto info about the chapter at current. Possible things left to do: organisation on the battlefield/combat doctrine, chapter beliefs, recruitment methods, more detail about the actual marines (i.e. nature, chapter quirks, daily routine and rituals etc), design/decide upon a chapter badge. Perhaps a short section detailing their relationship with the locals and interaction with the system, timeline listing events and perhaps a quick summary of major events and campaigns. (may be out of date...)
I've tried to "streamline" the post by moving the homeworld background full and chapter composition into separate posts and then linked them.
Name: Knights Revenant.
Founding Chapter: Novamarines.
Founding: 24th.
Chapter Master: Lauther.
Homeworld: Miranda IV (Sabinus System, Erinyes Subsector, Eumenides Sector. Ultima Segmentum).
Fortress-Monastery: Dauðrbeorg.
Main colours: Quartered Blue and Grey.
Founding.
During the latter years of M38 the entire Sabinus system became the target of sporadic pirate raids, hundreds of small scale freighter craft were destroyed and in one incidence several thousand hostages were taken from a transport ship. Assuming piracy in it's most innocent form, simply disillusioned men who'd left their worlds, a small naval detatchment (comprising of a few cruisers and associated escorts) was sent to patrol the spacelanes, act as a picket fleet, and hopefully scare the pirates into leaving. After several years the piracy died down and the system was returned to relative peace until a distress from a large, civilian class transport was recieved. Despite immediately deploying in their full force, the Imperial picket fleet was rapidly destroyed but not before sending out several minutes of captured footage and a distress signal. The footage showed several classes of Imperial vessel, all deformed and marked with cursed symbols. Within a day Miranda II was under attack, chaos forces had begun to land en masse. The PDF, thirty thousand strong, had attempted to intercept the chaos troops as they disembarked onto the planets surface but where overwhelmed and forced back into the mountains surrounding the vast plateau which now served as a chaos landing pad. More disturbingly, it was reported that in among the cultists were a number of traitor marines.
Since Arachne's Uprising of M35 the Sabinus system had being fervently loyal to the Imperium and had suffered no major incursions beyond a small Ork warband which was swiftly dealt with by the planetary defences of Miranda III. As such, any stationed naval fleets were minimal at best and the PDF regiments had grown complacent. The attack garnered a response from several regiments of Imperial Guard but it would be a number of months before they arrived, a more rapid response came in the form of a fighting company of Black Templars and, coincidentally, a battle group of Novamarines.
During the opening stages of the attack on Miranda II, the renegade fleet managed offline many of the orbital defenses and with the majority of the enemy fleet drifting listlessly in orbit or attempting to land on the surface a successful attempt was made by the defenders to reactivate the defenses. After initially losing ground to the chaos warped traitors, after withdrawing into more mountainous and difficult terrain the defending PDF was able to divide and slaughter the pursuing attackers. After a particularly severe defeat, the cultists were finally broken and scattered, it was after this that the enemy were identified as being comprised of a number of Imperial Guard regiments (it would later be confirmed that these regiments were all involved in the apparent reclaiming a the chaos held system of Apate several years earlier). After thirteen days of conflict the Astartes arrived, one hundred and fifty of the Black Templars and fourty from the Novamarines. The traitor guard and their traitor marine commanders fled south into the lowland areas of Miranda II's largest continent, attempting to return to their landing craft only to find them destroyed by the Black Templars. Although greatly outnumbered the Black Templars were eager to engage the traitors, drawing the heretics in amongst the wreckage of their landing craft in an effort to divide and negate their sheer numbers. The Templars killed the enemy in droves but their numbers begun to take a toll. Three hours into the fighting, which had become a running battle across miles of wreckage, the drop pods of the Novamarines begun to touch down. Landing at the rear of the heretic force, the Novamarines quickly found traitor marines driving forward their cultists and gladly cut them down. With their leadership (and motivation) gone the heretic army began to crumble and rout.
In the aftermath, fifty seven Templars, twelve Novamarines, an estimated four thousand heretics and ten traitor marines were declared casualties. Naturally, any surviving heretics were put to death and the three surviving traitor marines were interrogated briefly before being executed. While the Templars had little interest in the ramblings of the insane traitor marines, the Novamarines were disturbed to find three former Space Wolves, two Flesh Tearers and an Angels Porphyr marine alongside four Alpha Legion traitors.
By mid-M39 the High Lords of Terra had begun considering the option of a 24th Founding. Black Crusades, led by Warmaster Abaddon himself, had occured once in late M38 and twice so far in M39. In the case of the Sabinus system, the neighbouring system of Apate was once again in the grip of chaos and Eldar activity had been reported in the Lethe system. Combined with the position of the sector this meant that any sizable response to attacks would likely take several months, if not years, to arrive and by that point entire subsectors could be firmly in enemy hands. Although certainly not the most important Shrine world in the Imperium, to jeopardize such a world was totally unthinkable. By 500.M39 the decision was finalised and Miranda IV was chosen to host the new chapter born from the Guilliman geneseed. The Novamarines were approached to found the chapter and at first were reluctant, while not particularly low on numbers, the Novamarines chapter was spread across a vast area of space and hadn't met in their entirety since M37. It's rumoured that the Chapter Master went as far as considering to decline to request until discussing the matter with Brother Athamas. Now interred in a venerable suit of Dreadnought armour, Athamas had witnessed Saint Miranda himself four millenia earlier. Still reluctant to give up valuable veterans and equipment but assured by Athamas, he agreed to the request. In a final act of respect and honour on the Novamarines' behalf, it was agreed upon that Miranda's Blade would be returned to the Saint's homeworld.
In the mean time the Sabinus system saw a drastic increase in Imperial presence, Miranda II became host to several orbital stations to enable larger fleets to be stationed for longer periods in the system. Weeks before the completion of a final set of orbital platforms surrounding Miranda III a new enemy made their first known appearance within the Sabinus system. Believed to have carried out earlier raids on their cousins in the Lethe system, a Dark Eldar raiding party struck at Miranda III and IV. Seemingly able to circumnavigate all Imperial defences, poorly equipped and undermanned PDF regiments were unable to respond in time to repel the invaders. An estimated thirteen thousand were claimed from Miranda III and a further twenty thousand from Miranda IV. More devastating was that among the casualties and missing were the former Governor (by this point the position of planetary govenor of Miranda IV had been extended to governor of all the Sabinus planets due their diminishing populations) and his entire staff. During the time Admiral Ferendatis, a native of a nearby subsector, had been touring the area with his fleet. At the time of the attack Ferendatis' fleet had been stationed over Miranda II, claiming to be overseeing the final construction work, and upon hearing of the death of the former governor was quick to seize the title. Using his rank, insisting upon cultural links to the system and showing considerable amounts of force or personal wealth he secured the position. After his death in 691.M39 the position was passed among or fought over by various leading families of the sector.
By 696.M39, after nearly two centuries of planning, geneseed growth and gathering assets and resources a founding cadre was dispatched by the Novamarines. Led by Veteran Sergeant Iapetus, four veterans, ten tactical marines, six assault specialists, two apothecaries, one librarian, one chaplain and a techmarine arrived on Miranda IV to find a fully stocked and prepared fortress-monastery. Dauðrbeorg, the fortress' name in some ancient language that only a few secluded populations in the system still spoke, was a great bastion carved into mountain side. Perhaps most importantly, contained within the mountain was the Emperor's Hourglass which would be Iapetus and his successors' duty to guard. The fortifications were intimidating, cut into dark rock and the Dauðrbeorg's true extent stretched for miles underground and throughout the mountain range. Several miles south were the ruins that once acted as the capital of not only Miranda IV but the entire Sabinus system. The system had reached it's zenith in the days prior the heresy and while it's population hit a peak just before the ascension of Saint Miranda the system had long been stagnating. The ancient architecture of the planet had never been designed to withstand the tens of millions attempting to live in a single city so strict government limitations rapidly brought about a population crash that it never recovered from. Families moved off world (ironically, the once miniscule populations of the other Sabinus planets grew as Miranda IV's plumetted) or simply died out. Now many of the cities across the planet had fallen into misuse and grown dilapidated and in a strange twist only recently had people begun to reinhabit the ruins, clearing them away for farm land. Iapetus voiced his surprise at being stationed on a what was essentially an idyllic, if somewhat empty, shrine world but determined to carry out his duty ordered his newly appointed human assistants to begin preparations for the screening of local populations across the system (particularly that of Miranda V and VI) for suitable marine aspirants. Iapetus was further surprised to learn that due to Miranda IV being declared a joint Adeptus Astartes homeworld (which made him now the defacto ruler of Miranda IV), and Miranda IV formerly being the seat of Government for the entire system, he would be justified in making a claim for governance of the system.
Iapetus at first decided against challenging the current Governor Theuderich, a native of the feudal planet Miranda III who'd personally murdered the former. By 729.M39 Theuderich had killed or beaten any opponents into submission, using his personal wealth to pay offworld mercenaries or hiring the necessary equipment to control the entire Sabinus system. During a routine screening of Miranda III for recruits, Theuderich declared that the still forming chapter should be driven not only from his planet but the entire system and that they sought to usurp him and desecrate the system. A mob of Theuderich supporters quickly formed around the camp, a fight quickly broke out and although no marines were injured several aspirants were beaten near to death. Furious, Iapetus demanded to meet with Theuderich, hoping to come to some sort of agreement that allowed atleast a modicum of peaceful coexistance he was invited to the Dauðrbeorg. During the meeting Theuderich foolishly attempted to threaten and bribe Iapetus for over an hour, with great regret Iapetus calmly informed Theuderich that if he would not cooperate he would be replaced. Two months later Iapetus assumed role of Governor and a person resembling Theuderich was found wandering a settlement on Miranda V with no knowledge of who he was.
With one hundred inducted marines and over one hundred more initiates looking to become fully fledged battle brothers in under a decade, in 731.M39 the chapter was seen to be stable and thus the founding was a success. Deciding it was time to finally give his Chapter a name, Iapetus spoke with the Chapter's founding cadre before consulting the Emperor's Tarot. Meditating upon the matter for four days, Iapetus declared that the chapter would be now known as the Knights Revenant.
Combat Doctine
The Knights Revenant have often accused of being overly defensive by other Chapters, with their overall approach to warfare perhaps best described as a "slow inexorable advance". With the location of their home system being relatively far from any major forgeworlds heavy armour is viewed as somewhat of a rarity and often reserved for the direst of circumstances. Tactical flexibility and adaptability on the battlefield is heavy preached and as such the Chapter suffers from no major weaknesses in terms of equipment use, with marines in most cases being equally adept at marksmanship as with applying the Emperor's will with a chainsword. The Chapter contains a notably higher proportion of Sternguard veterans than their Vanguard counterparts.
In contrast to some of their Astartes brethren the marines of the Knights Revenant are usually open to working with other Imperial organisations and on several occassions have managed to utilised Imperial armour aswell as infantry to compliment their tactics.
Organisation.
Structurally the Knights Revenant adhere to the Codex Astartes, being comprised of ten companies each with roughly one hundred members. Each company has a Captain, Apothecary, Chaplain and Company Standard. The Armoury, Librarium and Apothecarion exist outside of the company structure. An additional body of headquarter staff (including additional Chaplains and a number of non Space Marine staff) exists to serve the Chapter Master who also serves as the Captain of the First Company. The Knights Revenant also possess a Chapter Fleet. Each company follows laid out Codex structure (for a more detailed list see below).
The Strategic Disposition of the Knights Revenant Chapter.
Heraldry
Brother Sergeant Eupator, sergeant of the second squad of the Fourth Company.
As with the Chapter's composition, their heraldry also adheres to the Codex Astartes. However the manner in which Company colours or honours are displayed is often left for the bearer to decide upon. Some squads will display colours through the rims of their shoulder plates whereas some squads, or indeed companies, encourage their members to display them on their helmet or solely through the colour of their helmet lenses. Such matters are usually left to be decided by the current Company Captain (or at the Captain's discretion, squad sergeants) but it should be noted that usually veterans of a Company will paint their helmets in that company's respective colour. Despite this unusual lenience for a Codex chapter members (especially those of lower rank) seldom choose elaborate markings although it isn't uncommon for various companies' insignia to clash.
Brother Osric whilst serving as a Tactical Marine in the Fourth Company.
Brother Veteran Aethelric serving in the Fourth Company (Now acting Captain of the Fifth Company).
Vid captures of Knights Revenant members during the Seventh Lethe Campaign 859.M41-903.M41. (Note the green eye lenses and elaborate golden trimming of Brother Veteran Aethelric's armour in comparison to Brother Osric's)
Geneseed
Members of the Knights Revenant are not ashamed to admit that their founders are the Novamarines rather than the Ultramarines, believing that the Guilliman geneseed is of equally high value regardless of it's Chapter origin. As of current the geneseed has no confirmed flaws, with the Adeptus Mechanicus declaring the geneseed pure. However Apothecaries of the chapter note a strange defect or illness with a small number of marines, at current there have been 39 confirmed cases. Records state that, seemingly at random, afflicted marines suddenly experience a sense of despair which can persist for several days before falling into a comatose state. Some marines never recover (16 out of 39), some regain consciousness but are sufficiently impaired that they can not perform their duties (12 out of 39) and the remainder make a full recovery and return to service. The marines that recover, or atleast regain the ability to speak, describe feelings of immense sorrow focussed on the Emperor's current plight and state that throughout their comatose period they conversed directly with or in some cases were even trained by the Emperor himself. 8 of the marines that recovered described events from the Heresy in great detail, claiming to have watched the Emperor in his final days from his side, and being able to recall names and events that aren't privy even to lower ranking Librarians.
Despite the Apothecarion's best attempts the source of the symptoms has not been pin pointed although a defective Sus-an Membrane has been suggested. Opinion among Chapter leadership is torn over whether this truly is a Geneseed mutation or simply a blessing. Although ultimately fatal in the majority of those afflicted, those that recover often go on to resume duties with a new found insight and determination. Among those who recovered include Chapter Master Lauther and Captain Endymion, current Captain of the Fourth Company.
Beliefs
As with many of the Astartes the Knights Revenant's beliefs do not agree completely with the majority of the Ecclesiarchy's. While the Emperor is viewed with the utmost reverence and the entire Chapter would gladly die to protect His honour and the Imperium, He isn't seen as the sole deity of the Imperium but rather the founder of the Imperium who assumed a divine position following the Heresy. The Knights Revenant also pay considerable respect to the deified Roboute Guilliman, and to a lesser extent the remainder of the loyalist Primarchs. Whilst the Emperor and his Primarchs could be seen to make up the main "pantheon" of the Knights Revenant's beliefs, tribute is also paid to the heroes of the Chapter and Saint Miranda. Several annual religious events are held within the Chapter which include feasts, tournaments and the presentation of promotions and awards. It's not uncommon for the Chapter to also celebrate local festivals and on more than one occasion the grounds of the Dauðrbeorg has been opened to the locals of the system.
The Knights Revenant, in contrast to many of their Astartes brothers, are often somewhat subdued in their worship of the Emperor and notably less extreme in their beliefs, a fact that has drawn the attention of more than one Inquisitor.
This "calmer" approach has been met with a mixed reception among allies. On one hand the Chapter has been refered to as surprisingly humble and thoughtful, particularly by Imperial Guard leaders who note the Chapter's willingness to utilise even abhuman allies. On the other hand some have accused the Chapter of being too lenient or even of not taking their duties seriously.
An incident occured with the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Jacus Tellgen who accused the Chapter of conspiring with the xenos Tau after a battlegroup of the Fifth Company allowed a Tau colony to escape along with a planet's loyal Imperial inhabitants as they fought off a Chaos incursion. However, the accusations were debuffed by the Chapter aswell as three Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors that had remained on friendly terms with the Chapter after the prolonged Lamian Purges and another Ordo Xenos Inquisitor who'd fought alongside the Chapter during the sixth and seventh Lethe Campaigns.
Notable Engagements
Apate Campaign: The Chapter's first full scale deployment, in 953.M39 the Knights Revenant deployed six companies to aid Imperial Guard forces in reclaiming the system of Apate from Chaos.
Lethe Campaigns: After increasing Eldar activity across the subsector a small contingent of Knights Revenant were deployed to patrol the system's major spacelanes. In 104.M41 a string of raids across six of the system's agri worlds, occuring in the same time frame, saw hundreds of thousands dead planetwide. Contact with the enemy was made several days later when the Knights Revenant patrol managed to prevent another raid, this time on one of the system's two Hiveworlds. The patrol was reinforced by marines from the Third Company and was able to repel many of the Eldar raids but never found their staging point or base. By 106.M41 Eldar activity diminished until 198.M41 when a similar incursions took place. This pattern continued seven times in total between 104.M41 and 903.M41, each time the Eldar resurfacing with greater strength.
During the Seventh Campaign members of the Third Company destroyed a total of eight ruined monuments, identified as gates to the Eldar webway by Chapter Librarians.
Damocles Crusade: The Knights Revenant aided in the reclaiming of several Imperial worlds from the Tau.
Nimbosa Crusade: The Chapter was involved in the succesful repulsion of Tau from several of the lower priority planets.
Badab War: Called upon, along with the Novamarines, to reinforce and replace the other already committed loyalist forces in 910.M41. Enroute the Knights Revenant contingent was redirected to deal with a rebelling Governor in a nearby system before being recalled to the Sabinus system, never reaching Badab.
Lamian Purges: In the closing years of M41 Inquisitors declared the Apate system corrupt once again, this time a powerful cartel had seized control of the system. Led by the Countess of Lamia, the cartel declared their independence before murdering or ejecting Imperial garrisons within the system. The war was initially fought only by several Imperial Guard regiments, with their leadership electing to ignore what they saw as the "peripheral" planets of "minimal resistance" the force immediately set about taking Lamia's own stronghold planet. Grossly underestimating the defence force mustered but finding themselves fully commited, the Imperial forces were unable to break the siege of Lamia and were drawn to a meat grinder.
Squads of the Countess' elite troops (nicknamed the Vampires by the rank and file Guardsmen) would carry out lightning raids on the besieging Imperial forces, reducing entire companies to mutilated and blood drained corpses while enemy reinforcements trickled through the Imperial blockade from the remaining planets in the system. Fearing that morale was on the verge of breaking and with no clear path for withdrawl the Knights Revenant were called upon. While not involved in the main siege warfare occurring, marines from the Second Company fought in a number of skirmishes with "The Vampires" before finding their hidden base of operations. Easily destroying the Countess' elite within the confines of their own bunker, some pressure was relieved from the besieging forces and days later Imperial forces broke the enemy resistance. The following two years saw Second Company members hunt down the remainders of the cartel across the system, culminating with the capture and execution of the Countess herself.
The Ophelia: Shortly after the siege of Lamia had ended a space hulk appeared within the Sabinus system. Two squads of the Knights Revenant's First Company clad in Terminator armour were rapidly deployed with the intention of either salvaging the hulk or destroying any enemies of the Imperium lingering within it. The detatchment reported a large force of renegade guardsmen along with a number of traitor marines. Requesting reinforcements from their brothers stationed on Miranda IV to help cleanse the hulk, the Fifth company responded, led by Captain Larein himself. Believing that their presence was widely unknown, the primary objective was to plant explosives at several positions, ideally collapsing the sections of the hulk occupied by the heretics or venting them into space the next time the hulk made a warp jump. Initially, as believed, there was little in the way of conflict as only straggling groups of traitor guardsmen stumbled across the marines and were quickly silenced but fighting intensified on the third day as the enemy began to notice their losses. Brutal, close range fights broke out as over a hundred traitor marines revealed themselves from the depths of the hulk, several clad in terminator armour. During the fifth day scans suggested that many of the hulk's warp cores were powering up, forcing the marines to quickly debark before they'd had chance to place the final charge.
The success of the mission is debatable and it's unknown whether the explosives detonated or had the desired effect. The Knights Revenant force sustained heavy losses but are estimated to have achieved a 63:1 kill ratio. The bodies of every casualty were recovered during the extraction.
To be continued, dun dun duuun!
Definitely not completed yet, I've started getting onto info about the chapter at current. Possible things left to do: organisation on the battlefield/combat doctrine, chapter beliefs, recruitment methods, more detail about the actual marines (i.e. nature, chapter quirks, daily routine and rituals etc), design/decide upon a chapter badge. Perhaps a short section detailing their relationship with the locals and interaction with the system, timeline listing events and perhaps a quick summary of major events and campaigns. (may be out of date...)
I've tried to "streamline" the post by moving the homeworld background full and chapter composition into separate posts and then linked them.
Name: Knights Revenant.
Founding Chapter: Novamarines.
Founding: 24th.
Chapter Master: Lauther.
Homeworld: Miranda IV (Sabinus System, Erinyes Subsector, Eumenides Sector. Ultima Segmentum).
Fortress-Monastery: Dauðrbeorg.
Main colours: Quartered Blue and Grey.
Founding.
During the latter years of M38 the entire Sabinus system became the target of sporadic pirate raids, hundreds of small scale freighter craft were destroyed and in one incidence several thousand hostages were taken from a transport ship. Assuming piracy in it's most innocent form, simply disillusioned men who'd left their worlds, a small naval detatchment (comprising of a few cruisers and associated escorts) was sent to patrol the spacelanes, act as a picket fleet, and hopefully scare the pirates into leaving. After several years the piracy died down and the system was returned to relative peace until a distress from a large, civilian class transport was recieved. Despite immediately deploying in their full force, the Imperial picket fleet was rapidly destroyed but not before sending out several minutes of captured footage and a distress signal. The footage showed several classes of Imperial vessel, all deformed and marked with cursed symbols. Within a day Miranda II was under attack, chaos forces had begun to land en masse. The PDF, thirty thousand strong, had attempted to intercept the chaos troops as they disembarked onto the planets surface but where overwhelmed and forced back into the mountains surrounding the vast plateau which now served as a chaos landing pad. More disturbingly, it was reported that in among the cultists were a number of traitor marines.
Since Arachne's Uprising of M35 the Sabinus system had being fervently loyal to the Imperium and had suffered no major incursions beyond a small Ork warband which was swiftly dealt with by the planetary defences of Miranda III. As such, any stationed naval fleets were minimal at best and the PDF regiments had grown complacent. The attack garnered a response from several regiments of Imperial Guard but it would be a number of months before they arrived, a more rapid response came in the form of a fighting company of Black Templars and, coincidentally, a battle group of Novamarines.
During the opening stages of the attack on Miranda II, the renegade fleet managed offline many of the orbital defenses and with the majority of the enemy fleet drifting listlessly in orbit or attempting to land on the surface a successful attempt was made by the defenders to reactivate the defenses. After initially losing ground to the chaos warped traitors, after withdrawing into more mountainous and difficult terrain the defending PDF was able to divide and slaughter the pursuing attackers. After a particularly severe defeat, the cultists were finally broken and scattered, it was after this that the enemy were identified as being comprised of a number of Imperial Guard regiments (it would later be confirmed that these regiments were all involved in the apparent reclaiming a the chaos held system of Apate several years earlier). After thirteen days of conflict the Astartes arrived, one hundred and fifty of the Black Templars and fourty from the Novamarines. The traitor guard and their traitor marine commanders fled south into the lowland areas of Miranda II's largest continent, attempting to return to their landing craft only to find them destroyed by the Black Templars. Although greatly outnumbered the Black Templars were eager to engage the traitors, drawing the heretics in amongst the wreckage of their landing craft in an effort to divide and negate their sheer numbers. The Templars killed the enemy in droves but their numbers begun to take a toll. Three hours into the fighting, which had become a running battle across miles of wreckage, the drop pods of the Novamarines begun to touch down. Landing at the rear of the heretic force, the Novamarines quickly found traitor marines driving forward their cultists and gladly cut them down. With their leadership (and motivation) gone the heretic army began to crumble and rout.
In the aftermath, fifty seven Templars, twelve Novamarines, an estimated four thousand heretics and ten traitor marines were declared casualties. Naturally, any surviving heretics were put to death and the three surviving traitor marines were interrogated briefly before being executed. While the Templars had little interest in the ramblings of the insane traitor marines, the Novamarines were disturbed to find three former Space Wolves, two Flesh Tearers and an Angels Porphyr marine alongside four Alpha Legion traitors.
By mid-M39 the High Lords of Terra had begun considering the option of a 24th Founding. Black Crusades, led by Warmaster Abaddon himself, had occured once in late M38 and twice so far in M39. In the case of the Sabinus system, the neighbouring system of Apate was once again in the grip of chaos and Eldar activity had been reported in the Lethe system. Combined with the position of the sector this meant that any sizable response to attacks would likely take several months, if not years, to arrive and by that point entire subsectors could be firmly in enemy hands. Although certainly not the most important Shrine world in the Imperium, to jeopardize such a world was totally unthinkable. By 500.M39 the decision was finalised and Miranda IV was chosen to host the new chapter born from the Guilliman geneseed. The Novamarines were approached to found the chapter and at first were reluctant, while not particularly low on numbers, the Novamarines chapter was spread across a vast area of space and hadn't met in their entirety since M37. It's rumoured that the Chapter Master went as far as considering to decline to request until discussing the matter with Brother Athamas. Now interred in a venerable suit of Dreadnought armour, Athamas had witnessed Saint Miranda himself four millenia earlier. Still reluctant to give up valuable veterans and equipment but assured by Athamas, he agreed to the request. In a final act of respect and honour on the Novamarines' behalf, it was agreed upon that Miranda's Blade would be returned to the Saint's homeworld.
In the mean time the Sabinus system saw a drastic increase in Imperial presence, Miranda II became host to several orbital stations to enable larger fleets to be stationed for longer periods in the system. Weeks before the completion of a final set of orbital platforms surrounding Miranda III a new enemy made their first known appearance within the Sabinus system. Believed to have carried out earlier raids on their cousins in the Lethe system, a Dark Eldar raiding party struck at Miranda III and IV. Seemingly able to circumnavigate all Imperial defences, poorly equipped and undermanned PDF regiments were unable to respond in time to repel the invaders. An estimated thirteen thousand were claimed from Miranda III and a further twenty thousand from Miranda IV. More devastating was that among the casualties and missing were the former Governor (by this point the position of planetary govenor of Miranda IV had been extended to governor of all the Sabinus planets due their diminishing populations) and his entire staff. During the time Admiral Ferendatis, a native of a nearby subsector, had been touring the area with his fleet. At the time of the attack Ferendatis' fleet had been stationed over Miranda II, claiming to be overseeing the final construction work, and upon hearing of the death of the former governor was quick to seize the title. Using his rank, insisting upon cultural links to the system and showing considerable amounts of force or personal wealth he secured the position. After his death in 691.M39 the position was passed among or fought over by various leading families of the sector.
By 696.M39, after nearly two centuries of planning, geneseed growth and gathering assets and resources a founding cadre was dispatched by the Novamarines. Led by Veteran Sergeant Iapetus, four veterans, ten tactical marines, six assault specialists, two apothecaries, one librarian, one chaplain and a techmarine arrived on Miranda IV to find a fully stocked and prepared fortress-monastery. Dauðrbeorg, the fortress' name in some ancient language that only a few secluded populations in the system still spoke, was a great bastion carved into mountain side. Perhaps most importantly, contained within the mountain was the Emperor's Hourglass which would be Iapetus and his successors' duty to guard. The fortifications were intimidating, cut into dark rock and the Dauðrbeorg's true extent stretched for miles underground and throughout the mountain range. Several miles south were the ruins that once acted as the capital of not only Miranda IV but the entire Sabinus system. The system had reached it's zenith in the days prior the heresy and while it's population hit a peak just before the ascension of Saint Miranda the system had long been stagnating. The ancient architecture of the planet had never been designed to withstand the tens of millions attempting to live in a single city so strict government limitations rapidly brought about a population crash that it never recovered from. Families moved off world (ironically, the once miniscule populations of the other Sabinus planets grew as Miranda IV's plumetted) or simply died out. Now many of the cities across the planet had fallen into misuse and grown dilapidated and in a strange twist only recently had people begun to reinhabit the ruins, clearing them away for farm land. Iapetus voiced his surprise at being stationed on a what was essentially an idyllic, if somewhat empty, shrine world but determined to carry out his duty ordered his newly appointed human assistants to begin preparations for the screening of local populations across the system (particularly that of Miranda V and VI) for suitable marine aspirants. Iapetus was further surprised to learn that due to Miranda IV being declared a joint Adeptus Astartes homeworld (which made him now the defacto ruler of Miranda IV), and Miranda IV formerly being the seat of Government for the entire system, he would be justified in making a claim for governance of the system.
Iapetus at first decided against challenging the current Governor Theuderich, a native of the feudal planet Miranda III who'd personally murdered the former. By 729.M39 Theuderich had killed or beaten any opponents into submission, using his personal wealth to pay offworld mercenaries or hiring the necessary equipment to control the entire Sabinus system. During a routine screening of Miranda III for recruits, Theuderich declared that the still forming chapter should be driven not only from his planet but the entire system and that they sought to usurp him and desecrate the system. A mob of Theuderich supporters quickly formed around the camp, a fight quickly broke out and although no marines were injured several aspirants were beaten near to death. Furious, Iapetus demanded to meet with Theuderich, hoping to come to some sort of agreement that allowed atleast a modicum of peaceful coexistance he was invited to the Dauðrbeorg. During the meeting Theuderich foolishly attempted to threaten and bribe Iapetus for over an hour, with great regret Iapetus calmly informed Theuderich that if he would not cooperate he would be replaced. Two months later Iapetus assumed role of Governor and a person resembling Theuderich was found wandering a settlement on Miranda V with no knowledge of who he was.
With one hundred inducted marines and over one hundred more initiates looking to become fully fledged battle brothers in under a decade, in 731.M39 the chapter was seen to be stable and thus the founding was a success. Deciding it was time to finally give his Chapter a name, Iapetus spoke with the Chapter's founding cadre before consulting the Emperor's Tarot. Meditating upon the matter for four days, Iapetus declared that the chapter would be now known as the Knights Revenant.
Combat Doctine
The Knights Revenant have often accused of being overly defensive by other Chapters, with their overall approach to warfare perhaps best described as a "slow inexorable advance". With the location of their home system being relatively far from any major forgeworlds heavy armour is viewed as somewhat of a rarity and often reserved for the direst of circumstances. Tactical flexibility and adaptability on the battlefield is heavy preached and as such the Chapter suffers from no major weaknesses in terms of equipment use, with marines in most cases being equally adept at marksmanship as with applying the Emperor's will with a chainsword. The Chapter contains a notably higher proportion of Sternguard veterans than their Vanguard counterparts.
In contrast to some of their Astartes brethren the marines of the Knights Revenant are usually open to working with other Imperial organisations and on several occassions have managed to utilised Imperial armour aswell as infantry to compliment their tactics.
Organisation.
Structurally the Knights Revenant adhere to the Codex Astartes, being comprised of ten companies each with roughly one hundred members. Each company has a Captain, Apothecary, Chaplain and Company Standard. The Armoury, Librarium and Apothecarion exist outside of the company structure. An additional body of headquarter staff (including additional Chaplains and a number of non Space Marine staff) exists to serve the Chapter Master who also serves as the Captain of the First Company. The Knights Revenant also possess a Chapter Fleet. Each company follows laid out Codex structure (for a more detailed list see below).
The Strategic Disposition of the Knights Revenant Chapter.
Heraldry
Brother Sergeant Eupator, sergeant of the second squad of the Fourth Company.
As with the Chapter's composition, their heraldry also adheres to the Codex Astartes. However the manner in which Company colours or honours are displayed is often left for the bearer to decide upon. Some squads will display colours through the rims of their shoulder plates whereas some squads, or indeed companies, encourage their members to display them on their helmet or solely through the colour of their helmet lenses. Such matters are usually left to be decided by the current Company Captain (or at the Captain's discretion, squad sergeants) but it should be noted that usually veterans of a Company will paint their helmets in that company's respective colour. Despite this unusual lenience for a Codex chapter members (especially those of lower rank) seldom choose elaborate markings although it isn't uncommon for various companies' insignia to clash.
Brother Osric whilst serving as a Tactical Marine in the Fourth Company.
Brother Veteran Aethelric serving in the Fourth Company (Now acting Captain of the Fifth Company).
Vid captures of Knights Revenant members during the Seventh Lethe Campaign 859.M41-903.M41. (Note the green eye lenses and elaborate golden trimming of Brother Veteran Aethelric's armour in comparison to Brother Osric's)
Geneseed
Members of the Knights Revenant are not ashamed to admit that their founders are the Novamarines rather than the Ultramarines, believing that the Guilliman geneseed is of equally high value regardless of it's Chapter origin. As of current the geneseed has no confirmed flaws, with the Adeptus Mechanicus declaring the geneseed pure. However Apothecaries of the chapter note a strange defect or illness with a small number of marines, at current there have been 39 confirmed cases. Records state that, seemingly at random, afflicted marines suddenly experience a sense of despair which can persist for several days before falling into a comatose state. Some marines never recover (16 out of 39), some regain consciousness but are sufficiently impaired that they can not perform their duties (12 out of 39) and the remainder make a full recovery and return to service. The marines that recover, or atleast regain the ability to speak, describe feelings of immense sorrow focussed on the Emperor's current plight and state that throughout their comatose period they conversed directly with or in some cases were even trained by the Emperor himself. 8 of the marines that recovered described events from the Heresy in great detail, claiming to have watched the Emperor in his final days from his side, and being able to recall names and events that aren't privy even to lower ranking Librarians.
Despite the Apothecarion's best attempts the source of the symptoms has not been pin pointed although a defective Sus-an Membrane has been suggested. Opinion among Chapter leadership is torn over whether this truly is a Geneseed mutation or simply a blessing. Although ultimately fatal in the majority of those afflicted, those that recover often go on to resume duties with a new found insight and determination. Among those who recovered include Chapter Master Lauther and Captain Endymion, current Captain of the Fourth Company.
Beliefs
As with many of the Astartes the Knights Revenant's beliefs do not agree completely with the majority of the Ecclesiarchy's. While the Emperor is viewed with the utmost reverence and the entire Chapter would gladly die to protect His honour and the Imperium, He isn't seen as the sole deity of the Imperium but rather the founder of the Imperium who assumed a divine position following the Heresy. The Knights Revenant also pay considerable respect to the deified Roboute Guilliman, and to a lesser extent the remainder of the loyalist Primarchs. Whilst the Emperor and his Primarchs could be seen to make up the main "pantheon" of the Knights Revenant's beliefs, tribute is also paid to the heroes of the Chapter and Saint Miranda. Several annual religious events are held within the Chapter which include feasts, tournaments and the presentation of promotions and awards. It's not uncommon for the Chapter to also celebrate local festivals and on more than one occasion the grounds of the Dauðrbeorg has been opened to the locals of the system.
The Knights Revenant, in contrast to many of their Astartes brothers, are often somewhat subdued in their worship of the Emperor and notably less extreme in their beliefs, a fact that has drawn the attention of more than one Inquisitor.
This "calmer" approach has been met with a mixed reception among allies. On one hand the Chapter has been refered to as surprisingly humble and thoughtful, particularly by Imperial Guard leaders who note the Chapter's willingness to utilise even abhuman allies. On the other hand some have accused the Chapter of being too lenient or even of not taking their duties seriously.
An incident occured with the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Jacus Tellgen who accused the Chapter of conspiring with the xenos Tau after a battlegroup of the Fifth Company allowed a Tau colony to escape along with a planet's loyal Imperial inhabitants as they fought off a Chaos incursion. However, the accusations were debuffed by the Chapter aswell as three Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors that had remained on friendly terms with the Chapter after the prolonged Lamian Purges and another Ordo Xenos Inquisitor who'd fought alongside the Chapter during the sixth and seventh Lethe Campaigns.
Notable Engagements
Apate Campaign: The Chapter's first full scale deployment, in 953.M39 the Knights Revenant deployed six companies to aid Imperial Guard forces in reclaiming the system of Apate from Chaos.
Lethe Campaigns: After increasing Eldar activity across the subsector a small contingent of Knights Revenant were deployed to patrol the system's major spacelanes. In 104.M41 a string of raids across six of the system's agri worlds, occuring in the same time frame, saw hundreds of thousands dead planetwide. Contact with the enemy was made several days later when the Knights Revenant patrol managed to prevent another raid, this time on one of the system's two Hiveworlds. The patrol was reinforced by marines from the Third Company and was able to repel many of the Eldar raids but never found their staging point or base. By 106.M41 Eldar activity diminished until 198.M41 when a similar incursions took place. This pattern continued seven times in total between 104.M41 and 903.M41, each time the Eldar resurfacing with greater strength.
During the Seventh Campaign members of the Third Company destroyed a total of eight ruined monuments, identified as gates to the Eldar webway by Chapter Librarians.
Damocles Crusade: The Knights Revenant aided in the reclaiming of several Imperial worlds from the Tau.
Nimbosa Crusade: The Chapter was involved in the succesful repulsion of Tau from several of the lower priority planets.
Badab War: Called upon, along with the Novamarines, to reinforce and replace the other already committed loyalist forces in 910.M41. Enroute the Knights Revenant contingent was redirected to deal with a rebelling Governor in a nearby system before being recalled to the Sabinus system, never reaching Badab.
Lamian Purges: In the closing years of M41 Inquisitors declared the Apate system corrupt once again, this time a powerful cartel had seized control of the system. Led by the Countess of Lamia, the cartel declared their independence before murdering or ejecting Imperial garrisons within the system. The war was initially fought only by several Imperial Guard regiments, with their leadership electing to ignore what they saw as the "peripheral" planets of "minimal resistance" the force immediately set about taking Lamia's own stronghold planet. Grossly underestimating the defence force mustered but finding themselves fully commited, the Imperial forces were unable to break the siege of Lamia and were drawn to a meat grinder.
Squads of the Countess' elite troops (nicknamed the Vampires by the rank and file Guardsmen) would carry out lightning raids on the besieging Imperial forces, reducing entire companies to mutilated and blood drained corpses while enemy reinforcements trickled through the Imperial blockade from the remaining planets in the system. Fearing that morale was on the verge of breaking and with no clear path for withdrawl the Knights Revenant were called upon. While not involved in the main siege warfare occurring, marines from the Second Company fought in a number of skirmishes with "The Vampires" before finding their hidden base of operations. Easily destroying the Countess' elite within the confines of their own bunker, some pressure was relieved from the besieging forces and days later Imperial forces broke the enemy resistance. The following two years saw Second Company members hunt down the remainders of the cartel across the system, culminating with the capture and execution of the Countess herself.
The Ophelia: Shortly after the siege of Lamia had ended a space hulk appeared within the Sabinus system. Two squads of the Knights Revenant's First Company clad in Terminator armour were rapidly deployed with the intention of either salvaging the hulk or destroying any enemies of the Imperium lingering within it. The detatchment reported a large force of renegade guardsmen along with a number of traitor marines. Requesting reinforcements from their brothers stationed on Miranda IV to help cleanse the hulk, the Fifth company responded, led by Captain Larein himself. Believing that their presence was widely unknown, the primary objective was to plant explosives at several positions, ideally collapsing the sections of the hulk occupied by the heretics or venting them into space the next time the hulk made a warp jump. Initially, as believed, there was little in the way of conflict as only straggling groups of traitor guardsmen stumbled across the marines and were quickly silenced but fighting intensified on the third day as the enemy began to notice their losses. Brutal, close range fights broke out as over a hundred traitor marines revealed themselves from the depths of the hulk, several clad in terminator armour. During the fifth day scans suggested that many of the hulk's warp cores were powering up, forcing the marines to quickly debark before they'd had chance to place the final charge.
The success of the mission is debatable and it's unknown whether the explosives detonated or had the desired effect. The Knights Revenant force sustained heavy losses but are estimated to have achieved a 63:1 kill ratio. The bodies of every casualty were recovered during the extraction.
To be continued, dun dun duuun!
