Welcome Brother Marine to the Fandex: Book of the
Unforgiven, a book dedicated to the most secretive of
all Space Marine Chapters. Fandex: Book of the
Unforgiven is the definitive guide to collecting, painting
and playing with a Dark Angels army in the
Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame.
THE WARHAMMER 40,000 GAME
The Warhammer 40,000 rulebook contains the rules
you need to fight battles with your Citadel miniatures in
the war-torn universe of the 41st Millennium. Every
army has its own Codex book that works with these
rules and allows you to turn your collection of
miniatures into an organised force, ready for battle.
This particular fandex, although self created and not
completely official, details everything you need to know
about the Dark Angels, and allows you to use them in
your games of Warhammer 40,000.
WHY COLLECT A DARK ANGELS ARMY
Space Marines are amongst the most powerful warriors
of the 41st Millennium. They are not Human, but gene-
enhanced superhumans, armed with the mighty bolter
and protected by suits of power armour. Though few in
number compared to the innumerable ranks of the
Imperial Guard, each is a formidable warrior the equal
of a score of mortal Men. They are able to call on a
fearsome array of weapons, equipment and vehicles.
The Dark Angels Space Marines are all of this and
more. Their story is one of bitter betrayal and a secret
mission they have pursued for ten thousand years –
the truth of this quest for redemption known only by a
select few. The Dark Angels appeal to players who like
their Space Marines dark, gothic and sinister!
HOW THIS FANDEX WORKS
This Fandex is split into four main sections that deal with
different aspects of the army.
• The Dark Angels: The first section introduces the
Dark Angels Chapter of Space Marines and their part
in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It includes
details of their origins, the terrible events of the Fall
of Caliban, and the Dark Angels’ organisation. Also
included are details of famous battles in which the
Chapter has fought.
• Forces of the Dark Angels: Within the Forces of the
Dark Angels section you will find special rules
relating to the Dark Angels and Special Character
profiles with a brief history on each.
• The Dark Angels Army: This section contains
photographs of the range of Citadel Miniatures
available for your Dark Angels army, gloriously
painted by members of the Dark Angels community.
Markings for the various squad types and vehicles
are included, as well as the history and colour
schemes supported by some of the successor
chapters.
• Dark Angels Army List: The army list takes all of the
units presented in the Forces of the Dark Angels
section and arranges them so you can choose a force
for your games. A force organisation chart
categorises the units you can pick into HQ, Elites,
Troops, Fast Attack and Heavy Support choices. Each
unit type also has a points value attached to help you
pit a force against an opponent’s in a fair match.
• The Fallen Angels: The Dark Angels Fallen Brethren
are mentioned within this section of the fandex
including character profiles and special rules needed
to use them within your own games of Warhammer
40,000.
FIND OUT MORE
While Fandex: Book of the Unforgiven contains everything
you need to play a game with your army, there are always
more tactics to use, different battles to fight and painting
ideas to try out. The monthly magazine White Dwarf
contains articles about all aspects of the Warhammer
40,000 game and hobby, and you can find articles
specific to the Dark Angels at:
www.games-workshop.co.uk
Deep within the core of the Asteroid that was once
Caliban lie a myriad of dungeons and passageways.
Ancient caverns that predated the heresy lie side by
side with those cored out by modern science. Some
such chambers are so secret that very few within the
entire chapter know even of their existence. Within one
such chamber called the Liber Mortis Angelus lie great
tomes and data crystals bristling with a vast array of
information. Secreted within the depths of the Liber
Mortis Angelus lies a single massive tome with
embedded data crystals that chronicle the entire
history of the Dark Angels Legion and their Unforgiven
chapters, from their inception by the most benevolent
emperor to their current activities. This is the
Apocrypha of Caliban. Only the Grandmasters of the
Inner Circle even know of it's existence, let alone it’s
content. It is the most complete accumulation of the
events comprising the history of the Dark Angels.
To understand fully, the origin of the Unforgiven
chapters and their antecedent legion, one must delve
far in to the early history of humanity. One must go far
back in time to the period preceding the birth of the
emperor, his subsequent birth on Terra and hence on
to the golden era when the holy emperor walked
amongst his warriors. One must then study the events
in that era of magnificent achievements and
horrendous deeds! Of brilliant conquests and
cataclysmic wars!
Much has been lost in the mists of time, yet much is
remembered! Time moves inexorable forward, washing
the events of history in to insignificant dust. Time is the
mortal enemy of man as it disposes his achievements
and buries his memories without second thought.
History becomes legend....Legends become
myths....Myths turns in to fables...and fables slowly
fade away.
Yet the immortal emperor endures for the sake of
humanity and as do the emperor's first legion!
The Universe, Warp and the Early man.
The universe in the Warhammer 40K system, as we
know it is made up of two parallel realms. The physical
realm is the one we know of, consisting of galaxies,
star systems and worlds with physical space in
between. This realm is influenced by the conventional
science of physics. The alternate reality is called by
many names, such as "the warp", "warp space", "sea of
souls" or "the realm of chaos" It is composed entirely of
psychic energy, which whirl and eddy constantly. Every
living creature contributes its psychic energy to this
alternate realm. Our thoughts and emotions are
mirrored there. It is the spiritual reflection of the life of
the entire universe. The laws of physics do not apply in
this realm, which is inhabited by creatures of the warp,
that you will later learn to be called demons and
demon gods.
Originally the natural psychic forces of all animals and
plants flowed harmoniously creating a unifying force
flowing through all living beings. Their relatively simple
thoughts and emotions maintained smooth psychic flow
within the warp. As intelligent races developed, their
extremely potent minds filled the warp with very powerful
energies, which were not harmonious. These negative
energies, in time coalesced in to troublesome spots,
which then grew in size, developing a consciousness of
their own, resulting in the chaos powers that we know
now as chaos gods.
The primitive man, the hunters and harvesters of ancient
times had a special relationship with the warp. The
natural energies of the warp flowed harmoniously
through them too. Some humans were more sensitive to
these energies, and being able to discern subtle
variations, were able to predict future occurrences and
therefore benefit their communities. These were the
witch doctors; the shamans; the psychics. However as
humans and their civilisations developed, their myriad
feelings such as power ambition and greed began to
disturb the natural flow of the warp. This inevitably made
the warp less accessible to the shamans and also
detached the human race from their natural connection
to the warp. These new forces became localised forming
new focuses in the warp resulting in the formation of the
chaos powers.
Long before the human race developed their appreciation
of this realm of chaos, many other races had flourished
in the universe. As old as the stars themselves, sentient
beings were born within the roiling energy of massive
stars. These would in later millennia be known and
feared as the C'tan gods. These beings lived off the
energy of newly born stars, completely ignorant of the
cooler planetary systems forming around them and the
sentient beings beginning to flourish. The earliest of the
sentient beings that mastered star travel were the Slaan.
Highly intelligent, the Slaan or the Old Ones, defined the
science of astronomy and the art of astrology to a finite
level. Their mastery of the warp was paramount and they
understood the importance that each sentient life played
in the universe. They nourished and nurtured new life and
newer races wherever they went.
In there wake younger more vibrant races also thrived.
One such race of beings, called the Necrontyr was born in
a terrible star system. Constantly bombarded by their
ultra radiant star, they had but a very short life and all
their energy was focused in to scientific achievements
aimed at survival. As they came in to contact with the Old
Ones, the longevity nearing on near immortality and
mastery of the universe the latter displayed resulted in
terrible and vengeful conflict. Despite the scientifically
advanced nature of the Necrontyr, they were consistently
outmanoeuvred by the old ones who used their warp
portals and understanding of the universe to dramatic
effect. The Necrontyr were pushed back to their
system. It was then that the Necrontyr somehow
tapped the potential of the sentient beings within the
stars, awakening what would eventually be the truly
awesome might of the C'tan Gods. These beings
provided the Necrontyr with terrible weapons of war
and as a final gift harvested the entire population in to
automatons, giving them the immortality they had so
dearly sought. The entire Necrontyr civilization then
became Necrons, the mechanical slaves of the C'tan
gods.
Armed with terrible weapons of war and supported by
their inhumane gods, the Necrons now took the battle
back to the Old Ones. Hundreds upon hundreds of
civilizations nurtured by the Old Ones became fodder
for the C'tan gods as billions were culled without
mercy. The essence of life becoming a much sought
after morsel amongst those terrible gods. It was
around this time that the C'tan Gods turned amongst
each other, consuming one another with hated passion
until only four were left. As the Old Ones were pushed
back, their legendary patience running short, they
contemplated their options. This respite had allowed
them to develop the newer, psychically more powerful
races able to tap the energy of the empyrean. These
launched a counter attack against the relentless
assault of the mechanoid Necrons sending them
reeling back. The warp was anathema to the C'tan, who
once and for all devised a great plan to completely
separate the warp from the material universe thus
depriving the Old Ones of their source of power.
However, before that could happen, the psychic
emotions, which were mirrored in the warp, resulted in
unforeseen creations. These warp entities became
terrible predators, invading the material realm through
the warp portals and the minds of Psychers. As the Old
Ones turned to face this unforeseen threat, other races
took advantage, especially the enslavers. As the Old
Ones' warp portals were lost to them, their civilization
collapsed. As the live population of the galaxy was
culled, the C'tan gods were running out of sustenance
so went in to hibernation in a vast number of dead
worlds. They would re-emerge when a race suitable to
be their slaves disturbed their tombs once again. Thus
the galaxy suffered the most terrible of wars and in its
aftermath returned to a peaceful quiet as the new life
began anew. The Eldar race, created by the Old Ones,
reached an unimaginable level of psychic
development. Having discovered their warp portal
technology, they held sway over the universe even as
the human society slowly developed in to a space-
faring race.
Birth of the New Man
When shamans, those humans with the gift of tapping
in to the warp died, their souls entered the warp
bathing and flowing with the natural energies until
reborn in another body. However, with the disturbances
in the natural rhythm of the warp that humanity
created, this was becoming more difficult. Souls were
being lost to the malign predatory chaos powers that
now emerged in the warp. As their ability to lead and
protect their communities receded, the worried shamans
began a long debate and research lasting hundreds of
years. At its conclusion they realised that they were
doomed, as they would gradually be consumed by the
warp entities, and that without them, all of mankind was
doomed to the predations of the chaos powers.
They finally concluded that the only hope for mankind
was to pool all their energies in to the creation of a single
immortal being who would guide humankind to their
destiny. Being immortal, he would not need to be
reincarnated and thus not be at the mercy of the chaos
powers in the warp. Shamans in the thousands
committed suicide and their kind was gone forever from
the earth. Their energies coalesced together in the warp
and within a year was born as a single entity of immense
power. The new man. The emperor of mankind!
For thirty eight thousand years the immortal New man
wandered the earth, first observing but then taking on
various personae to guide and advance humanity. As the
human race prospered the warp became disturbed by
their myriad thoughts and emotions and its natural flow
could no longer sustain the planet. Despite the New
mans' best efforts, the intrinsic traits of martial honour,
self -satisfaction and ambition resulted in persecution
and war. These emotions also fed the newly developing
powers in the warp.
Even before the coalesced emotions and psychic forces
in the warp developed their own consciousness, they
sensed the presence of the new man and that this future
Emperor was their greatest enemy. Khorne, the blood
god, was the first of these chaos powers to fully awaken,
as massive wars swept throughout the earth. This was
followed by Tzeentch, the Changer of ways as nations
developed political intrigue and diplomatic
manipulations. Finally Nurgle, the god of plague awoke,
sweeping the earth with famine and disease. By the
middle ages, all three had fully awakened.
Humanity reaches for the stars
The New Man realized the latent psychic potential of the
human race and the threat posed to them by the warp
entities. He also came to realize that it was near
impossible to prevent the highly attuned human psyche
from conflict. As nations and races grew and warred for
supremacy, the malign chaos powers in the warp became
stronger, fed constantly by the psychic turmoil of conflict,
deceit and disease.
The New Man thus took on many roles and identities to
minimize these effects and to direct humanity's
technological advancements. As a consequence of the
scientific advancements under the unseen direction of
the New Man humanity began to head out in to space in
the 15th millennium. Using early sub-light engines, travel
was painstakingly slow, taking up to ten generations to
reach and colonise other systems.
With the constant direction and advice by the New Man
behind the scenes, human scientists discovered warp
engine technology in the 20th millennium. In parallel to
this, massive computerised databases called Standard
Template Constructs were also developed. These STCs
could be the basis to produce everything a colony
needed from food to weapons using locally available
raw materials. Both these developments, pioneered
subtly by the new man, revolutionised space
expeditions resulting in an enormous expansion of
space farers.
It is around this same time a new "Navigator" gene
developed in human society. This gene resulted in their
owners being blind but being able to see and feel the
tides and flow of the warp. The navigator gene allowed
them to steer space vessels within the warp very
accurately enabling longer and more accurate warp
jumps. As a consequence Navigator families and
cartels become very powerful, controlling trade and
communications between systems.
The New Man had thus directed the human society's
scientific development in readiness for the coming of
the Navigator gene. This was one of the early great
steps towards the creation of the Imperium of Man and
an excellent example of the long-term designs of the
New Man. Thus followed a golden age of scientific
exploration and expansion. A massive explosion of
human colonization of the known space occurs as
humanity pushes back the frontiers of space.
The Age of Strife (25th millennium)
In the early period of the 25th millennium, termed the
age of strife by contemporary scholars, the emperor
remained in the background, gently guiding humanity
as they reach the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Alien
races were encountered; especially the ubiquitous
Orks, and localised conflicts break out. Order is
maintained by commerce and communication through
the warp. Commerce and trade from the colonies
sustains the civilization on earth.
Then two events of enormous significance occurred
concurrently. First, humans with psychic ability begin to
appear on many worlds across the galaxy. The human
race was not yet aware of nor were they ready to tap
the potential of the warp. With no training and
experience, the minds of these latent Psykers were an
open gateway to the warp leading to daemonic
possession and insanity. Civilizations across the human
empire began to fall because of such rogue Psykers.
It is in this period that the Eldar race had reached its
full psychic potential. Having achieved the ultimate in
scientific, cultural and psychic development, the
majority of the race looked elsewhere for fulfilment.
Apart from a few far-sighted individuals, the bulk of
Eldar society descended in to debased cults and
activities, unknowingly feeding their own doom. Their
lust for pleasure was amplified by their strong psychic
presence in the warp and these currents began to
coalesce in to another focus. The Eldar race was
unwittingly creating another chaos entity. The tremors
of its slow growth began to result in colossal
disturbances in the warp, producing massive warp
storms, which erupted across the galaxy. This turmoil
cut of and prevented most systems from each other.
No communication was possible as warp travel first
became perilous and then altogether impossible. This
age of strife lasted from the 26th millennium to the 31st.
During these five thousand years the ancient pan-galactic
human civilisation of the past broke down and was
replaced by many thousands of local civilisations based
around either a single solar system or, occasionally, a
small cluster of nearby stars.
During the Age of Strife Earth and the other planets of
the Terran solar system were unable to communicate
with other human worlds, but maintained contact with
each other. For much of this period the government of
Earth held sway over the entire system, at other times
Mars and the Moon were dominant. For much of the time
the different worlds found themselves at war. During the
28th millennium Earth government broke down
completely and the planet divided into dozens of inter-
warring nations. After two and a half thousand years of
continuous warfare little remained of the once
sophisticated civilisation of the past. The planet had
become a battleground fought over by techno-barbarian
warlords and their warrior hordes. This was a dark time
for the people of Earth. A time dominated by brutal rulers
like Kalagann of Ursh, Cardinal Tang, and the most
infamous of all, the half-mad half-genius Narthan Dume
Tyrant of the Pan pacific Empire. It was against this
background of techno-barbaric warfare that the New Man
finally shed his cover and began to lead his people
openly.
Conquest of the Solar System
With the mighty psychic powers, immortal physique and
the combined intelligence provided by the thousands of
Shamans who pooled their psychic powers to create him,
the New Man now stepped in to his role as a warlord
intent on conquering earth and then the solar system.
When the Emperor began his conquest of the planet his
retinue was equipped and armed in the same way as the
troops of other warlords. The first Space Marines formed
part of that retinue and were equipped with the same
sort of armour as other warriors of the time.
The techno-barbaric state of science lent itself to the
creation of early genetically modified warriors and the
first prototypes of powered personal armour. Thus the
first Space Marines were created and the first Space
Marine Armour type developed during the conquest of
earth. Personally leading these genetically enhanced
warriors, who would subsequently form the first Space
Marine legion, the New Man conquers all who opposed
him on earth and then on all the planets of the Solar
system. The tech-priests of Mars subjugate themselves to
his will, awed by his intricate knowledge of the arts of the
machine god.
After bringing the Solar system under his control the New
Man ascends the throne and has since been known only
as the Emperor of Man. With the Solar system well and
truly under his control, and still cut off from the rest of
the galaxy by warp storms, the process of rebuilding the
civilization is put in to motion. The tech adepts of Mars
begin the process of rearming humanity. Their forges and
armouries work constantly to produce every weapon
conceivable to support the emperor's plans. Genetic
engineering is further developed to enhance the
emperor's warriors. New, space capable armour is
created in preparation for subsequent space
conquests.
The Adeptus Astra Telepathica was established to
train and sanction Psykers in the ways of the warp. A
massive underground base was built in the
Himalayas range, containing the psychic conduit
necessary to project the Astronomicon. This was a
psychic beacon, maintained by a choir of a thousand
Psykers, which would emit a psychic beacon in to the
warp, to allow navigators a site of reference for safe
and accurate warp travel.
Primarch Project
In a secret laboratory on Earth's Luna colony, the
emperor begins his most wondrous and potent
creations after a lengthy research and development
program in the utmost secrecy. It was the Primarch
project. Based on his own genetic code, he directs his
scientists in the creation of 20 superhuman and
highly potent beings, termed the Primarchs. Each
one was superhuman in physique and psyche but
also had individual traits. These were to be the
leaders of the human recon quest of the galaxy. The
threat posed to the chaos powers by these Primarchs
was immense. The painstaking creation of each
Primarch was a very long and arduous process. The
first Primarch created was tailored to be a grand
tactician.
Extra-ordinary precautions were taken. Massive
psychic shields and wards were placed by the
emperor on Luna to protect the whole project and to
keep it a secret from chaos powers. But the
depredations of chaos are everywhere, and through
the weak willed and self-aggrandised minds of one of
the scientists on Luna, the chaos powers learned of
the project. Using the mind of the weakling as a
gateway the combined chaos powers made a
concerted effort to infiltrate and destroy the Luna
scientific facility. Warp entities cannot enter the
physical realm directly. They may take over the
physical body of a mortal being by entering his minds
(daemonic possession) or in the presence of a
concentrated psychic energy, materialize for short
periods of time. The latter needs to be maintained by
sacrifice as the warp entities consume souls in order
to remain in the material realm. So powerful was the
immortal emperor and his psychic wards that the
combined powers of Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch
could not remain on Luna long enough to destroy the
nascent Primarchs in their incubation capsules. All
they managed to do was to thrust the capsules in to
the warp, with the aim of subsequently destroying
them.
The twenty incubation capsules drifted through the
warp for decades or even centuries, until finally
coming to rest on human-inhabited worlds
throughout the galaxy. The capsule of one Primarch,
he who was to become known as Lion El'Jonson,
Primarch of the Dark Angels, was dropped on an
isolated planet on the northern fringe of the Eye of
Terror - the death world of Caliban.
The Space Marine Legions
The emperor realized that time was fast running out. The
new chaos god was beginning to stir. Recreating more
Primarchs would take too much time and he had to get
the human civilization ready for their great re-conquest.
In his infinite wisdom and foresight he had foreseen the
fall of the Eldar, the rise of that Daemon God of pleasure
and the abating of the warp storms. Thus, using the
Primarchs' DNA, the emperor began a process of creating
Space Marines by a faster method of implanting the
gene-seed in to suitable human subjects. The geneseed
from the first Primarch was used to implant the warriors
who had formed his retinue during the conquest of the
Solar system. This was the first legion of the Space
marines. This first legion was named by the emperor to
be the Dark Angels Legion and was to be the Emperor's
personal guard during their future battles.
Though these Space Marines were nowhere as powerful
as the Primarchs, they were still superhumans. Twenty
legions of Space Marines were created each numbering
in the tens of thousands, each legion containing the traits
of their founding Primarch. Along with the creation of the
Space Marine legions, the ships of the Imperial Navy and
the massive numbers of the Imperial Guard were also
readied.
Death of an ancient race & the Great Crusade
At this same time the more psychically and
technologically advanced Eldar were finally hurtling
towards their ultimate doom. Having conquered all
aspects of science and technology and outgrown the
need for physical labour, as their society provided all that
was needed, most Eldar immersed themselves in
spurious acts of wanton pleasure. Many gave in to the
most hedonistic impulses and cults developed all over
their domains focused on arcane knowledge sensual
excesses. The majority of the Eldar society became
depraved and wanton, sinking deeper and deeper in to
their desires for sensual satisfaction. The mirror echoes
of their emotions coalesced in the warp, creating another
monstrous consciousness. This creature was the image
of the depraved and corrupt Eldar desires. As this
monstrous entity dreamed in its slumber in the warp, the
Eldar were riven with madness as their society crumbled
around them and their worlds went up in flames.
The fall of the Eldar is said to have happened in a single
massive orgy of destruction. Their rabid thoughts, lustful
emotions and worship of pleasure finally peaked to such
an intensity, that with a mighty roar, the slumbering
monster reached divine consciousness. Thus was born
Slaanesh, the chaos god of pleasure, drawing all Eldar
consciousness to itself and literally draining the minds of
the Eldar. The energies of the Eldar passed into the warp,
and infused the creature known as Slaanesh, the Power
of Chaos given form by the dreams of the Eldar. As
Slaanesh cried out in his birthing pain, a psychic
implosion of massive proportions tore at the universe.
Every Eldar mind within a ten thousand light year radius
was torn to shreds and their spirits sucked in to the warp
to sate the thirsting Slaanesh. The epicentre of this
implosion was at the heart of the Eldar domain.
Slaanesh's violent birth sucked the souls of virtually
all Eldar from their bodies, the warp energy ripping
through their fragile minds and spilling in to real
space. The vast majority of the Eldar race died that
day. The place where they lived and died became
known as the eye of terror. Here warp space and real-
space overlap. Many craft worlds were caught in the
implosion even as they fled. Thousands of Eldar
exodites all over the galaxy also perished that night.
A few far-sighted Eldar, who had steered their craft
worlds away from their civilizations and some
exodites in the farthest reaches of the galaxy were all
that was left of this once proud and galaxy spanning
civilization.
The positive consequence of Slaanesh's birth was the
sudden and near complete abatement of the warp
storms in the galaxy. The warp became gentle and
ready for travel just as the Emperor had foreseen. His
legions, which had been primed and readied for this
day, were then unleashed like a massive juggernaut.
The largest armada of spaceships and transports left
their orbital docks in the solar system in the greatest
conquest ever attempted by mankind. At the cutting
edge of this massive force were the warriors of the
twenty legions. The great crusade had begun with
the aim of to restoring the galaxy to human control.
World after world and system after system were
reached in all directions. Those that did not submit
were pacified, purified and brought under imperial
rule. Wherever the resistance was greatest, there the
Emperor led his warriors personally. And where the
Emperor went, there stood by his side, his first legion,
his Praetorian Guard, the warriors of the Dark Angels
legion.
Caliban
The world of Caliban was part of a single star system,
just at the outer edge of a region of space, which
subsequently became the Eye of terror. The planet
was the only inhabitable one in their system, which
was also known by the same name.
It was an extremely beautiful planet with lush green
forests leading to moderate sized mountain ranges.
Swirling rivers and gushing waterfalls criss-crossed
the landscape. The blue oceans provided some
mixture of contrast with the green and brown
mountainous forests, which covered the majority of
the world. Off-worlders marvelled at this single planet
of beauty in an otherwise barren system. During the
Dark Age of Technology, human exploration reached
out and discovered Caliban. Many of the explorers
had been riveted by its beauty and made it their
home. There were few humanoid inhabitants in that
planet. Those that were present were in very small
numbers and rapidly assimilated or eliminated.
The society in Caliban had initially developed along
feudal lines, with regional leaders dominating their
mainly agricultural and forestry based society. Trade
and commerce links were established with nearby
systems and earth itself. The fine variety of agri-
foods was it's main commercial output. However it
was also made famous for the delicate
craftsmanship from the forestry where unique trees and
elements lent themselves to the creation of highly sought
after artefacts. The individual regions generally were at
peace with each other and the planet and society of
Caliban thrived. Then came the warp storms during the
Age of Strife. Off-world communication and trade
became more and more dangerous until finally all warp
travel and communications became impossible. Cut off
from earth and its trade, and having no other hospitable
planet in their system, the society of Caliban became
isolated. The once self sufficient society of Caliban had
grown to be dependent on off-world imports and as such,
social order slowly began to degenerate. Regional
leaders had to resort to military measures and harsh
laws to maintain order. Their society transformed from
an agri-industrial-craftman society to one of martial
society lead by semi-feudal warlords. Aggression between
the warlords resulted in the building of massive citadels
built in clearings hacked out of the lush forests. Over the
millennia of the age of strife, the society of Caliban finally
changed to one of a military society with a strong martial
code and sense of honour. Then, as the Eldar race
decimated themselves and Slaanesh was born,
everything changed.
The gargantuan tear in the reality of space that marked
the passing of the Eldar race also decimated every world
and system in a 10,000 light year radius. At the northern
most edge of this massive rend in the fabric of reality lay
the system of Caliban. The absence of any psychically
attuned human in the planet of Caliban meant that the
majority of the populace noticed nothing was amiss.
However the rapidly abating warp storms were noticed,
although the feudal warlord-led societies had long given
up the maintenance or knowledge of space travel. Over
the next decades, the population of Caliban saw their
once beautiful world slowly transform in to a blighted
death world. Deadly warp spawned creatures began to
roam the jungles. Trees and vegetation mutated in some
areas becoming more deadly than the jungle's predators.
Surprisingly the lushness of the forests remained, hiding
the gruesome transformation. Human settlements
gradually gravitated towards the citadels of their
warlords. These citadels were carved in to the bedrock of
the planet and maintained within massive clearings of
the jungles. The society became more warrior-orientated,
with knightly orders forming to become the ruling elite.
Many millennia of feudal warfare were replaced by
decades of battle for survival against the warped beasts.
As a consequence the populace of Caliban had become
accustomed to many an unnatural phenomena. So it was
that, when a fiery comet streaked through the bright
starlit night and crashed in the jungle within earshot of
one of the largest citadels of Caliban, no one took notice.
The Nobility of Caliban
The nobility of Caliban were a pugnacious race. Each
group of settlements had a protector or warlord and his
retinue of knightly warriors. Each such knightly order was
based around a massive citadel as their base, which
provided much needed security in the face of evil.
Extremely brave and well versed in martial honour, they
were raised from childhood to live and die by the sword.
They were clad in a form of power armour similar to the
early power armour used by the Emperor's retinue on
earth. They were armed with the boltpistol and a
chainsword as their personal armament. Mounted on
huge warhorses called "Destrieres" these noble
knights were a fearsome sight and one welcomed by
the besieged populace of Caliban. The life of the
nobles was a constant struggle as they fought
repeatedly to vanquish the multitude of chaotic
beasts that appeared in their jungles. Occasionally a
particularly terrifying creature may cause prolonged
terror and require the declaration of a quest. Noble
from many separate feudal societies would then
congregate to attempt to kill the creature. To the
slayer went great honour and fortune but more often
than not only a horrific death awaited them. As the
nobles rose in their achievements they were
honoured with the title of "Master" and given a
retinue of warrior knights to lead. The leader of each
order was referred to as the Grandmaster of the
Order.
One such knightly order was always known simply as
"The Order" and the brave warrior knights known as
the "Knights of the Order" They were one of the
largest such orders in Caliban and had a reputation
across all of Caliban for the honesty, nobility and
fearless skills of its brother-knights in battle. Unlike
other such orders in Caliban, where admission was a
birthright, members of The Order were chosen on
their military prowess and martial honour. Anyone,
from a lowly farm boy to a rich merchant could join
the order based entirely on their merit. Contingents
of brother-knights would travel across Caliban, giving
their aid to whoever required it.
Life and times of the young lion
The fiery comet streaked through Caliban's blighted
atmosphere, completely ignored by the populace in
the scattered settlements. By providence, it came to
rest within earshot of Caliban's greatest citadel, the
fortress monastery of "The Order". The comet, which
was in fact the Primarch capsule containing the
nascent infant Primarch, who was the emperor's first
born. As to what happened thereafter is lost in the
mists of time and mythology. Suffice to say that for
then next ten years no one in Caliban paid much
attention to the crashing of the comet. However,
whispers of old sooth-sayers were heard that there
was a change in the jungles surrounding the Fortress
of the citadel. Groups of knight warriors of the order
began to tell eerie tales of being watched but yet not
feeling endangered. The attacks by chaotic beasts
around the Order's monastery began to abate. Most
attributed these events to the martial prowess of the
Order's knights. For ten years, spurred by their
apparent success, the knightly order repeatedly and
frequently began to foray deeper in to the jungles in
search of such horrendous beasts. Hope began to
swell, that perhaps finally there might be an end to
the depredations of the mystical terror.
It is undoubtedly true that the nascent Primarch
survived the crash of the capsule. The emperor
himself, in his infinite foresight, designed the
Primarch’s capsule to cater for all eventualities.
What the infant Primarch felt or thought as he lay
within the capsule, sustained by its perpetual energy
sources and nutri-supplements one would never know.
But as the infant grew up rapidly in a matter of weeks
within the capsule he would have imbibed the knowledge
reposited within the capsules memory banks. Finally
leaving the capsule, the child Primarch began to wander
the forests of Caliban. How he survived or what ordeals
he endured remain a mystery to this day. The only person
to whom he had spoken of this was his future friend and
brother in arms Luther. Imperial scholars attribute the
reduction in chaos predations near the Order's monastery
and settlements to the arrival of the child-Primarch
though this can never be verified in any manner. However
surviving in the death-world jungles of Caliban for ten
years without any armour or man made weapons does
indeed speak volumes as to the capabilities of this god-
like superhuman son of the Emperor. It is likely that the
battle-honed senses of the warriors of the Order were
true and the Primarch was perhaps observing them for a
considerable time. Their sense of the absence of danger
was perhaps the Primarchs psyche permeating the
warriors mind, setting them at ease.
Discovery!
A large expedition of the knightly order had set off on a
deep expedition in to the jungle. This one was a specific
mission intended to penetrate deeper in to the jungle
wasteland than ever before. Danger lurked everywhere
but the knights felt the feeling of safety around them as
well. Occasionally chaotic beasts were sighted, but
surprisingly no ambushes were encountered. At each
step, where previously an ambush by such terrifying
creatures would cost the expedition dearly in lives, now
they were forewarned by natural phenomena. Sometimes
the ambushing creatures gave themselves away by
sudden movement, sometimes they were found dead. It
was as if though there was a force protecting the
expedition. In the end they had penetrated deeper than
ever before, not losing a single knight and collecting the
carcasses of many horrendous creatures. The fact that
some of those creatures had been found dead puzzled
the knights, but their minds were squarely on the task
ahead.
Just as they were about to make camp for the night,
before turning back, they heard the sounds of a scuffle
ahead. They charged their steeds ahead, thinking that
perhaps two chaos beasts were fighting each other,
which may give them the opportunity to kill both in one
battle. As they neared the area of the scuffle, an
unearthly scream was heard and the sounds of battle
died down. The knights thundered on and were startled to
hear an almighty bestial roar! It was a cry of victory but
what stunned them was that it had a human quality to it.
The massive warhorses, battle-hardened by many
campaigns thundered on, fully trusting their riders’
instincts. They suddenly burst out in to a clearing and saw
the carnage of a massive battle between two powerful
beings. One was dead. It was definitely a chaos beast,
with warped heads and taloned limbs. It's broken wings
lay at an odd angle, almost comical in death. Its head
had been smashed on the rock on which it lay dead. The
warriors reared their horses as they assimilated the
scene. Standing on the head of the beast was another
bipedal beast. Blood and gore spattered its body. It's
head covered in long blonde hair. As one, the knights
raised their bolt pistol to rid this abomination from
their beloved planet. Twenty bolt shells clicked in
their chambers. The leader of the expedition, a
master of the order and a veteran of many
campaigns, was faster than the others. His bolt shell
left the barrel at an unwitting speed. It should have
removed the beast's head cleanly, but for the
lightning reflexes it demonstrated. Certainly a hell-
spawned creation the other knights contended and
let loose a volley from their boltpistols. The beast
twisted and turned, dived and rolled and evaded all
the shots. All but one! A single bolt shell hit the beast
in the shoulder and spun it around, throwing it to the
ground. The knights stared in amazement as it slowly
raised itself to its feet. Realising that this was no
ordinary chaos beast, they chambered their pistols as
one and raised their weapons.
A single knight suddenly rode across their line of
sight. Holstering his pistol he called out to his
brothers to stay their hands. He had observed the
creature keenly and realized that it was not attacking
them and that there was something human in this
creature. The knight then dismounted from his steed,
sheathed his sword and slowly and courageously
walked up to the creature, which stood still and met
his gaze. Slowly sweeping the golden flock of hair
that covered its face, they were shocked to see the
noble and handsome features of a human being.
They were yet more amazed to find that the wound
caused by the bolt pistol had begun to heal. Realising
that this was indeed a human in some form or the
other and that he had in fact saved their lives by
killing another warp creature, which was preparing to
attack them in their camp they tended to its wounds
and made their way back to their fortress monastery.
Significantly, there was not a single encounter with
the chaos beasts on their return voyage. Luther
would reminisce years later, that the sense of
protection that they felt on their return journey was
almost measurable. From that time onwards, the
legend of the "Watchers in the Dark" found
substance in Caliban society. They were said to be
mystical beings that protected the weary traveller
from harm. No proof was ever afforded to confirm
such legend but for the personal experiences of
many a battle weary knight. Perhaps the watchers
had indeed watched over the young Primarch.
Word of the successful quest preceded the arrival of
the warrior knights. A victorious quest was not an
unusual occurrence within the ranks of the Order. But
returning with nary an injury let alone a single
casualty was extremely unusual. Tales of their
successful quest, along with trophies of the heads of
the felled beasts spread like wild fire. Most intriguing
of all was the rumour that the group had captured a
beast alive. The inquisitiveness and excitement of
the crowds that thronged the settlements turned to
amazement when they saw the so-called beast riding
with Luther on his warhorse. The knights passed
through settlement after settlement, being feted as
heroes until finally they reached the imposing
fortress monastery of the Order.
The band was greeted by the supreme grandmaster of
the order himself, who met them at the entrance with his
retinue. Although amazed by the exploits of the knights,
their attention slowly turned to the issue of the
handsome but wild figure riding with Luther. The
Primarch looked like a fully-grown man, though the
warrior knights had no inclination that he was but ten
years old. There was a majesty about him that appealed
to all who saw him. Even though he was technically a
captive, Luther presented him to the supreme
grandmaster, offering to take on the role of friend and
guide. A great feast was declared to celebrate the
victorious knights and it was deemed that the newcomer
would be given a name and ordained in to the order. To
have single handedly, and unarmed, killed a chaos beast
was a martial achievement never before heard of on
Caliban.
At the grand feast the young Primarch, now clad in the
exquisite clothing of the nobility and flanked by Luther,
made a grand entrance. As the festivities began the
supreme grandmaster of the order turned to Luther and
offered him the honour of giving their new brother-in-arm
his warrior name. Thinking for a moment, with a grand
gesture so characteristic of him, Luther named the
Primarch Lion El' Jonson. In the tongue of Caliban it
meant son of the forest. Incidentally, in the language of
ancient terra it also referred to a majestic warrior beast.
An apt description of the young lion! In response this tall,
handsome and majestic figure slowly rose and raised his
arms asking for quiet. To the astonishment of all who
had gathered there he then spoke his thanks fluently in
their own tongue. The celebrations went on unabated for
days after which the Lion and Luther both returned to
Luther’s home.
The Lion Ascendant.
The young Primarch was still growing and Luther was
more than happy to be a guide as well as be guided. Their
friendship was cemented as they grew, learning the skills
and knowledge required of a warrior knight. The two men
complimented each other perfectly. Where Jonson was
temperamental and taciturn, Luther was charming and
charismatic. Where Luther was rash and emotional,
Jonson was a brilliant strategist and unstoppable once
decided upon a course of action. Together they made
some initial forays in to the surrounding jungles. In this
time of familiarization the Lion realized that a greater
effort was needed to rid the planet of chaos. Together
with a band of knights they first toured the entire
landmass of Caliban, personally reconnoitring and
assessing the extent of the challenge while achieving
many victorious exploits. Men from all over Caliban
flocked to join the ranks of the Order. During this time,
both him and Luther rapidly rose through the ranks of the
Caliban nobility, reaching the ranks of grandmaster. It
was in this position the Lion had set in motion a long-
term strategic plan. Old technology that had been
abandoned was sought after and re-established. Simple
space-faring craft were constructed to re-establish
contact with closer systems. Many new fortress
monasteries were built to accommodate the burgeoning
ranks of the Order. The forges of the fortress monasteries
rang with the sound of armament production. New
warriors were inducted in to the ranks of the knights.
Grandmasters of all the orders in Caliban were
invited to join in the ultimate crusade and they
flocked under the banner of the Lion. The massive
crusade was finally put in to motion with the Lion
and Luther leading from the vanguard. Under his
brilliant strategic foresight and tactical leadership, it
took just over a decade to rid the jungles of Caliban
of all chaos-infested life forms. Finally the blighted
world of Caliban was free once again. A golden age
dawned for the inhabitants of the once troubled
planet.
On his return the Lion was elevated to the position of
Supreme Grandmaster of the Order and ruler of all
Caliban. The society of Caliban began to prosper
once again. Craftsmanship and agriculture thrived.
Science and technology were rejuvenated. Contact
was established with the nearby star systems
although warp travel was still beyond their grasp.
While Jonson was conquering and clearing Caliban of
evil the Emperor was waging his Great Crusade
across the galaxy, reuniting humanity and purging
entire star systems of their alien oppressors. As the
Imperium's wave of conquest advanced across the
galaxy, Imperial Scouts rediscovered the isolated
world of Caliban. The emperor heard of the changes
that had occurred in Caliban and sensing that his
first born was the Lion decided to move directly to
meet him in person.
Father and Son
Finally, one day a massive armada of spaceships was
seen entering their atmosphere. While most
remained in orbit a single ship descended to land in
a clearing near the Order's fortress. Realising that
the warp storms that had cut off Caliban from the
rest of the universe was finally at an end, the Lion
and his retinue personally arrived to greet the new
comers. Those who witnessed the subsequent events
were in awestruck at the majesty of the newcomer,
who descended from the star ship. Wearing a
magnificently crafted suit of personal armour and
radiating a glow of authority and compassion he
opened his arms, and embraced his long lost son, his
first born! There was no hesitation or lack of
recognition between the two of them. While the
Apocrypha of Skaros describes a number of
Primarchs fighting or challenging the emperor,
Jonson simply embraced him. A close bond that
could only occur between father and son was formed.
The arrival of the emperor changed the society of
Caliban even more. Jonson learned that the legion
that had accompanied his father from the conquest
of terra to the farthest reaches of the great crusade
was none other than the Dark Angels Legion. A
legion created in his own image, from his own
genetic code. He accepted command of the ten
thousand Dark Angels of his legion. The warrior elite
of Caliban clamoured for the honour of becoming
Space Marines. Those knights who were still young
enough had the Legion's gene seed implanted within
them, while those too old for this process underwent
surgery to transform them into elite warriors of the
Imperium. The first to be brought into the Legion in
this way was Luther, who became Jonson's second-
in-command, just as he always had been within the
Order. The emperor dictated that Caliban would be the
home world of the Dark Angels. The entire strength of the
Order and a vast number of warriors from other orders
were rapidly incorporated in to the Dark Angels legion.
Caliban's nomenclature and command structure
permeated the legion. Their leaders were henceforth
called masters and grandmasters while the Lion
remained supreme grandmaster.
The next few years were spent restructuring the Caliban
society, making them self sufficient and proficient in the
science of interplanetary travel and space warfare. The
Dark Angle legion was rested and invigorated with the
almost never-ending infusion of the warrior elite. These
were ideal subjects for the transformation to Space
Marines. The fortress monasteries of the Order became
the bastions of the Dark Angels Legion. Space defence
grids were deployed and the legion as a whole
restructured. To manage the thousands of Space Marines
in to flexible formations they were divided in to regiments
or chapters depending on the local nomenclature. Each
of these regiments contained approximately one
thousand fighting men, divided in to ten companies of
one hundred men each. In addition command and
support staff accompanied these troops in to battle.
Always thinking in strategic and tactical sense Jonson
departed from the standard structure of the legions and
not only concentrated his veterans in to the first company
of each regiment. Where these deferred from other
legions was they were entirely and always equipped with
the formidable tactical dreadnought armour. This
concentration of force and rigorous exercise resulted in
the formidable 1st companies becoming renown for their
fearlessness in battle. Following a number of boarding
missions they were honoured with the term "Deathwing"
which subsequently became infamous across the
universe striking fear in to the hearts of the enemy.
A further departure from the norm was the creation of an
entirely mounted company for each regiment. Keeping
their knightly inheritance, the seventh company in each
regiment was armed entirely of bikes and jet bikes,
resulting in a rapid reaction force paralleled only by the
brother marines of the White Scars Legion. Taking their
name from a mythological bird from old terra, the
"Ravenwing" became as well known as their Deathwing
brethren. As time went by and their exploits became
legendary, the company number was changed to second
place.
During this period of rest and refit for the legion the Lion
achieved a number of personal glories, which included
the first sublight circum-navigation of the outer
Dolomons and also personally effected the incineration
of the Goyas asteroid that was approaching Caliban
dangerously closely. Then came the request from the
emperor for his son and his legion to join him once more
to continue on humanity's great crusade. After much
deliberation Jonson embarked upon this journey, leaving
behind a small force of Dark Angels to guard his home
planet. He left his best friend and most trusted brother-in-
arms, Luther, in charge of the planet and its surrounding
system. The strategically thinking Jonson did this with the
future of his chapter in mind. In the event of his own
demise during the great crusade, his brother would be
the most suited to continue his legacy. However the
embers jealousy were being stoked within Luther’s
heart as he realized he would not be able to bask in
the glory of the great victories that the Lion would
surely achieve. Despite the importance of Luther's
position, it was not one that suited his ambitious
personality. Thus began the seeds of envy that would
subsequently tear the chapter apart.
Great Crusade
Jonson led the Dark Angels from victory to brilliant
victory. His battle plans were always detailed and
thorough. Every possible eventuality was discerned
rapidly and acted upon. His subordinates were
trained to think along the same lines. He would
personally reconnoitre the battlefields where
possible. The creation of the dedicated Ravenwing
units paid off handsome dividends as the intelligence
gathered by these units reaped a deadly harvest of
the enemy. The use of large units of Deathwing
terminators in spearheading their assaults began to
tell on enemy defences. The Dark Angels campaigns
were always short and sharp, the enemy nearly
always being completely outmanoeuvred in the
strategic sense. Only Horus had greater number of
victories than Jonson, although Jonson never looked
at his achievement in competition with his other
erstwhile brothers. His relationship with Leman Russ
of the Space Wolves was, however different. Johnson
thought Russ to be boastful and vain, though such
was the true nature of the Fenrisian warriors, whose
noble deeds are immortalised in ballads. Russ on the
other hand, mistaking Jonson's quiet demeanour for
arrogance hardly spoke to him while they were on
terra.
Russ was a hot headed and passionate leader of
men. A true Space Wolf, his fury in battle was
matched only by his true heart and loyalty to the
Emperor. He was always vying for the Emperor's
praise and constantly sought to prove himself in his
father's eyes. Although all the Primarchs accepted
Horus as a supreme strategist and tactician, thereby
accepting his status as Warmaster, Russ' psyche was
such that he found it somewhat difficult to accept
that Jonson had far more victories than himself.
Horus had a great capacity to assess and understand
the psyche of those under his command and obtain
the maximum effort out of them. Realising the
competitive spirit of Russ, he teamed the Space
Wolves and the Dark Angels in their campaigns. Both
chapters constantly sought to out do each other,
Jonson's tactical brilliance matching Russ' battlefield
fury. Both legions fought along different principles.
While the Space Wolves would manoeuvre to get in
to close combat and once combat is joined their
howling fury became all but unstoppable. On the
other hand, the Dark Angels were methodical and
planned their attacks carefully. Using combined arms
techniques they would usually overcome the enemy
defences by manoeuvre and firepower, but they were
no less terrifying in the assault. When all elements of
Jonson's legion functioned well the enemy usually
was sent reeling to their destruction. Under cover of
their devastators and heavy weapons the tactical
squads would manoeuvre to obtain better fire positions.
The assault squads and bike mounted Ravenwing would
rapidly close the range with the enemy. Landspeeders
would strike from behind their lines disrupting
communications and artillery positions while large
groups of Deathwing terminators would teleport directly
in to the command centres striking fear and swiftly
bringing the emperor's justice to his enemies. The
casualties suffered by the Dark Angels legion were
always minimal unlike those of the Space Wolves who
seemed to eschew high casualty rates as a mark of
honour.
Lion and Wolf
The rivalry came to a head when both legions were taking
part in the pacification of the Planet of Dulan. The
governor of Dulan had swayed to the side of heresy, and
sacrificed thousands of loyal imperial subjects to his
chaos gods. He had proclaimed the emperor to be false
and that he worshipped the true gods. He then ritually
sacrificed a million imperial loyalists to his blood god.
Utterly incensed at this affront to their father, Horus
directed both the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels to
pacify the planet and all contained within. As news of the
loyalist fleet reached Dulan, the Tyrant Durath, now
completely under the sway of the chaos gods, proclaimed
that they were not worthy of a battle, especially since he
believed Russ to be the emperor's lap dog. The fury of the
Fenrisian Primarch knew no bounds. He swore a mighty
oath to kill the tyrant in single combat. Jonson
meanwhile prepared his forces with his usual
thoroughness. As the loyalist fleets reached the planet of
Dulan, they were surprised to find no orbital defences
waiting for them. What they had not known was that
Durath had not only fallen to the chaos gods, but had
completely embraced the blood god Khorne. As such, he
relished the thought of facing the Space Marines in close
combat. To kill the emperor's finest in close battle and let
their blood soak his beloved Dulan was his dream.
Durath had known of the Space Wolves tactics and
studied them well. As a khornate warrior he embraced
the art of personal combat. His daemon enhanced
physique longed for mortal combat with the best the
Imperium could throw at him. His plans were cunningly
laid to lure the coming Space Marines towards his citadel
and there face them in combat. He had prepared
extensive and layered fortifications, camouflaged and all
but invisible to the naked eye. Batteries of heavy
weapons commanded the killing fields outside the gates
of his massive fortress. He knew that the space wolves
would be eager to avenge their honour and could be
counted on to come directly to battle. There he would kill
them like dogs, with his superior firepower and then
vanquish them with an almighty charge. Durath however
hadn't counted on Horus' capacity to complement his
forces. Namely Jonson and his Dark Angels who
accompanied Russ were an unknown quantity to Durath.
Upon meeting no orbital resistance, both legions made
planet fall as prepared and rapidly closed around the
crimson fortress, brushing aside the meagre resistance
offered by the planetary defence forces. Advancing with
the lead scouts, Jonson was eager to reconnoitre the
defences before Russ could do anything rash. The Space
Wolves were intent entirely in reaching the main gates of
the crimson fortress and bringing up their heavy
weapons to bear. In the days that took the Space
Wolves to deploy their forces around the main
gatehouse Jonson had personally scouted the entire
circumference of the citadel with his scouts. His
astute eyes spied the few weaknesses of the citadel
and plans were made to exploit them.
Fall of the Tyrant
It was then that Russ stormed in to Jonson's
command quarters and gesturing majestically
demanded that the Dark Angels stand down, as it
was Russ' honour that was at stake. The Space
Wolves would take the crimson fortress and expunge
the stain on their honour, Quietly pointing out that
the legions fought for one reason and one reason
only, and that was for the emperor, their father, the
taciturn Jonson explained that it would be better to
launch a night assault to minimize casualties and
gain the upper hand. Arguing that his meticulously
planning would allow them to breach the fortress
with few casualties, he wanted the Space Wolves to
stage a feint assault on the main gatehouse. After a
long argument late in to the bitter Dulan night, Russ
stormed out of Jonson's quarters, intent on launching
an assault at first light that would overcome the
defences with the sheer ferocity of their combat
skills. Jonson moved even faster, not wishing the
hotheaded Fenrisian spoil his carefully laid plans. In
the predawn darkness Dark Angel scouts infiltrated
forward at a point to the south of the main
gatehouse. Within a few hours they had cleared the
minefields and booby traps allowing their assault
squads to silently move forward to the base of the
citadel. As dawn arose, with a mighty roar the Space
Wolf assault began. Veteran long fangs rapidly
silenced any enemy heavy weapon that dared fire.
Grey hunters and blood claws charged forward with a
fury that amazed even the Tyrant Durath. The sheer
ferocity of the Space Wolf assault smashed asunder
the gatehouse and penetrated to the inner walls of
the fortress. The Space Wolf assault had been
magnificent but the cost high. The hidden traps and
weapon batteries had taken a heavy toll in the
attackers, only the tough constitution of the Space
Marines and their blessed armour preventing
crippling losses. Using the Space Wolf assault as a
distraction, the Dark Angel assault squads swept up
the citadel walls on their jump packs and within the
hour had breached the Southern gate. Scouts
provided covering fire with their deadly silenced
sniper rifles and heavy weapons which they had
infiltrated close to the enemy positions. In a display
of sheer daring and practiced accuracy, Deathwing
terminators teleported directly on to the ramparts of
the inner wall. Landspeeders of the Ravenwing flitted
along the ramparts harrying the defenders as Jonson
led his men along the ramparts like an avenging
angel. Slow to anger but unstoppable once aroused,
Jonson's fury knew no bounds as he spotted the
Crimson Tyrant. Daemonic possession and heretic
will did not stand in the way of the emperor's justice
and true honour. Jonson swung his finely crafted
power sword with deadly elegance as he cleaved his
way towards the tyrant. With a look of horror
appearing on his face for the first time, Durath struck
back. Daemon weapon struck sanctified sword with an
unearthly clang of such magnitude that men on both
sides ceased their fighting to look up at this mammoth
clash of arms. All except one man! Russ, furious at
Jonson for reaching the Tyrant before him, could only
charge helplessly through the gatehouse towards the
battlements when a deft stroke by the golden haired
Primarch separated the heretic's head from his
blasphemed body. The victorious cry of the Dark Angels
and the moan of despair from the tyrant's followers
nearly drowned out the anguished howl of the Fenrisian
Primarch. The battle that continued was a simple blood
bath as the disheartened followers of chaos were set
upon by the battle lusting Space Wolves. The Dark Angels
meticulously cleared the rest of the fortress and cut off
any retreat for the heretics. Within hours the rest of the
planet was in imperial hands.
Clash of Titans
As the dust of the battle died down around him an
infuriated Russ searched out for Jonson. He charged
through the surrounding Dark Angels, who recognizing a
Primarch in anger wisely let him pass. Jonson was seated
with his close advisers and captains, already planning the
total pacification and maintenance of the planet and
discussing their next campaign in the Allisores. Russ
stormed in, livid with fury and incensed at Jonson sitting
so casually after having cheated him of his honour.
Unable to control his fury, Russ swung his mighty fist as
Jonson turned to look up at him. The blow caught Jonson
squarely on his jaw and sent him sprawling over the
table, maps, data slates and other paraphernalia flying in
all directions. The Dark Angel commanders, taken aback
at first instantly recognized the feud between the
brothers and stepped back. Jonson slowly rose to his feet.
He looked up at Russ as anger and frustration built up
slowly. In his eyes, Russ and his Space Wolves owed his
legion their lives. He had overcome Durath in single
combat and proven his martial skill. He had taken the
fortress with precious few casualties as Russ needlessly
rushed headlong in to the enemy's fire-lanes. Finally, he
had been indignantly struck without a challenge being
called. The lion of Caliban took up the challenge and
charged Russ. The two mighty mortals began a personal
combat that lasted throughout the night and the next
day. Walls were torn down and structures demolished as
the two superhumans fought each other to a stand still.
Horus himself had expertly tutored both Primarchs in the
art of combat. Russ was stronger than Jonson but Jonson
faster and more nimble. Equally matched, each sought
out the others weakness while protecting their own. They
fought not only for their own pride but for the legion's
honour too. After the long night and day of combat, with
both men close to exhaustion, Russ realized the folly of
their deeds, and seeing the humour of their actions stood
up and began to laugh. For him, honour was satisfied!
They had been equally matched. But to the taciturn
Jonson, it was not to be. His anger at Russ' actions only
worsened as he considered the initial blow to be a
treacherous one. He lashed out at the laughing Russ with
a mighty double handed blow that threw the Fenrisian
Primarch off his feet and in to unconsciousness. As the
surrounding Dark Angels burst in to a victory chant the
shocked Space Wolves quietly carried their prostrate
Primarch away. By the time Russ awoke, the Dark
Angels had departed to take part in the Allisore
campaign and the feud between the Angels and the
Wolves had been firmly established. The grudge has
survived ten thousand years and although it is carried
out in a spirit of kinship and brotherly
competitiveness, it is carried out ritually to this day.
Every time a Dark Angel and Space Wolf force is
deployed together a champion chosen from each
chapter would challenge each other to imitate the
combat between the Primarchs.
Brotherhood Betrayed
As the great crusade continued like an unstoppable
juggernaut, expanding the boundaries of the
Imperium and reclaiming systems for humanity,
each legion had its own share of victories and
honours. The fame of the Dark Angels and their
Primarch grew rapidly as Jonson's tally of victories
was second only to Horus. This was no mean feat
considering that Horus had been elevated to
Warmaster and given overall command of fully half
the legions. Jonson led his beloved Dark Angels with
a tactical cunning and strategic genius that was
second to only the emperor. The legion suffered
relatively small numbers of casualties, while causing
such single-minded destruction of the emperor's foes
that their persistence and stubborn execution
became legendary. Where possible the Primarch was
always there to lead or direct his brethren personally
to victory. As the emperor's sons pushed on with their
holy crusade, the powers in the dark contemplated
the threat they faced. Subtle manipulations had
already begun to take effect as the convoluted
machinations of the dark powers sought to
undermine humanity's advance.
Jonson had come to trust Luther implicitly. The latter
had saved his life in the jungles of Caliban where he
had been discovered and had fought at his side ever
since. They had been brothers-is-arms and had faced
many dangers together. The taciturn and
contemplative Jonson complimented the outgoing
and flamboyant Luther. What Jonson accomplished
in deeds Luther would match with his oratory. They
matched and complimented each other perfectly and
commanded the elite warriors of Caliban together.
But when Jonson left on the great crusade with the
vast majority of the Dark Angel legion after their refit
on Caliban, he left Luther behind to guard his home
planet and lines of communications. To Jonson this
was an extremely important mission that he could
not entrust to any one else. He needed a dependable
and trustworthy friend to be in charge. However,
Luther’s pride and martial honour were to undo
everything friendship had built. The one constant fact
in mankind's existence was the capacity of the dark
powers to find each mans weakness in order to
manipulate it. The warrior's pride was set upon with
constant and unremitting whispers from the warp. As
Jonson's success grew, so did Luther’s jealousy. He
felt that Jonson and therefore by extension the
emperor had foresworn them by ignoring him and his
brethren on Caliban. Luther’s oratory was dynamic
and flamboyant. Gradually, day-by-day and month-by-
month he slowly bent and twisted the Dark Angels left
behind to his way of thinking. Instead of celebrating their
brethrens every accomplishment they detested them.
Anyone not so turned was quietly murdered. The few
chaplains of the legion were the first to die, as even
Luther knew they would resist his influence upon the
legion.
As the ruinous powers quietly exerted their grip over
Luther, so they manipulated the emperor's greatest
champion, Horus. On the feral planet of Davin, he was
taken ill by a virulent illness. For a Primarch’s
superhuman constitution to suffer an illness was unheard
of and could only have been due to a direct manifestation
of the chaos god of decay, Nurgle. As he recuperated he
joined the local warrior lodge, as was his custom, to
encourage the imperial edict to be passed on. That the
warrior coven was but a front for a chaos cult and that he
was utterly possessed by a daemon has gone in to the
history of mankind as one of its greatest tragedies.
Possession by a daemon did nothing to blunt Horus'
forward planning and cunning stratagems. He was a
great judge of character and was able to size up anyone
in a moment. Having carefully gleaned the weaknesses
and strengths of each brother Primarch he set about
slowly distancing the staunchly loyal ones away from the
emperor. In the meantime the emperor was conducting
the great debate on the use of sorcery and study of the
arcane arts on the planet of Nikea. The proponents of the
use of sorcerous ways, namely the cyclopean Magnus,
Primarch of the thousand sons faced their detractors,
amongst whom stood Leman Russ, Primarch of the
Space Wolves. At the end of the debate, on the advice of
the greatest Space Marine librarian, the emperor decreed
that human Psykers be trained and sanctioned
scholastica psykana under supervision and that all other
by the imperial conduct of sorcery be outlawed. The
outraged and disappointed Magnus returned home
looking for vindication. His ability to look directly in to the
depths of the warp allowed his to see the terrible evil
being spawned on Davin. He saw the horrible virus
bombing of the entire populace of Istvaan IV by Horus as
a sacrifice to his dark masters. He clearly saw the vanity
of his brother Primarchs being manipulated by Horus;
The changing loyalties of Mortarion of the Death Guard,
Angron of the World Eaters and the seduction of Fulgrim
of the Emperor's children; The treacherous trap being laid
for Corax of the Ravenguard, Vulcan of the Salamanders
and Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands as they arrived on
Davin to bring Horus to justice; The treachery of
Perturabo of the Iron Warriors, along with Night Haunter's
Night Lords, Logar's Word Bearers and Alpharius' Alpha
Legion as they planned to strike the unsuspecting loyalist
legions in their rear; The decoying away of the stalwart
Guilliman of the ultramarines to the eastern fringes, and
the misdirection of the loyalist Space Wolves and Dark
Angels to the Segmentum Tempestus. Magnus' attempt
to vindicate himself in the eyes of the emperor by
sending a psychic message backfired as the emperor
perceived Magnus to have broken his word in dabbling
with the sorcerous ways. Convinced that Magnus had
indeed gone over to the dark powers, Leman Russ and
his Space Wolves were sent to destroy Prospero. It was
likely that the dark powers hid their arrival from Magnus
in order to manipulate the cyclopean in to their clutches.
The violent sacking of Prospero and the defeat of the
Thousand Sons by the Space Wolves finally sent
another brother Primarch in to the hands of Horus.
Quietly manipulating the emperor's trust in him,
Horus' last grand move was to direct the Space
Wolves and Dark Angels down to the Southern
fringes. As he had tended to deploy the two legions
to foster their competitive spirit no suspicion was
roused. The three loyalist legions on terra,
Sanguinius' Blood Angels, Rogal Dorn's Imperial Fists
and Jaghatai Khan's White Scars were physically too
close to the emperor for Horus to redeploy. Unaware
of the impending cataclysm that was about to
envelope the Imperium the massive combined fleet
of the Space Wolves and Dark Angels continued on
their conquests as directed by Horus. By this time a
few loyalist Space Marines belonging to the
Deathguard, World Eaters, Emperor's Children and
the Sons of Horus gathered secretly and took over
five frigates in orbit around Istvaan. While four
frigates sacrificed themselves in a rearguard action
to buy time for the fifth, those in the cruiser
Eisenstein fled in to the warp and brought word of
Horus' treachery to the Emperor. Too late to prevent
the near annihilation of the three loyalist legions on
Istvaan V they allowed the Emperor to mobilize his
loyalists across the Segmentum. Horus realised that
the bulk of the Imperial forces still remained loyal to
the emperor and that the three Primarchs on terra
were incorruptible. Combined with the steady
Guilliman, the tactical genius of Jonson and the
sheer ferocity of Russ, the emperor would be
unassailable. The escape of the loyalists on the
Eisenstein had prematurely exposed his plans. His
only chance would be to destroy the emperor by
direct assault on terra, quickly and before the
ultramarines, Dark Angels or Space Wolves could
intervene. The dark powers that aided him continued
to interrupt warp transmissions so the eruption of
civil war in the Segmentum solar and obscurus went
unnoticed by Russ and Jonson until they were near
the southern fringes of Segmentum Tempestus.
Disturbed by the sparsity of communications coming
from terra and rumours of civil war as well as the
relatively easy accomplishment of their crusade
goals alerted the two Primarchs that something
might be amiss. Conferring with their closest
counsels they considered the fact that the two
legions may have been decoyed to the southern
fringes. Rampant rumours of an inter-legionary war
and civil unrest further strengthened their suspicions
and a decision was made to end their crusade and
return directly to earth.
The Longest Journey
The return journey of the two legions is an epic tale
of great deeds and terrible tragedy for both. There
are many tales of valorous deeds and devastating
battles with great implications for the both legions in
the future. At times both fleets diverged from each
other, but continued their arduous journey as they
had planned. Travel through the warp is perilous at
best, even with the Astronomicon shining as a
beacon from terra. Time flows differently in the warp
travellers may spend months to years in real-time
while travelling what appeared to be only hours within
the warp. Jonson and Russ had conferred prior to their
return journey and extensive plans had been made for
relatively short warp jumps to maintain accuracy as well
as contingencies if the fleets were separated. Everywhere
they made landfall, rumours and signs of a galaxy in
flames were evident. A million worlds swayed to the
Warmaster and fought under his banner. Russ intervened
in Tallarn to relieve the factory world of Roxburg, where
his single-handed destruction of a warlord titan went in to
the legends of the Space Wolves. Jonson fretted that
every battle they intervened in, delayed them further.
Russ countered that their need to refuel and restock their
fleets meant that the time spent was indeed essential,
and the relief of important loyalist strong holds were a
strategic necessity. Both knew that the other was right
yet the tension remained. Their thoughts were with their
father and their worst fears were being realised as they
raced closer to Segmentum Solar. Their next rendezvous
was Kallidus, an imperial staging planet with a massive
orbital fortress that acted as both a defence station and a
re-supply dock. As the combined fleet tore out of the
warp near the planet of Kallidus, their scout ships
reported a massive bombardment of the planet being
undertaken by the space fortress. A small escape pod
drifting in open space was retrieved by the captain of the
leading scout ship, and the single occupant, a man called
Tarus brought before the Primarchs. Tarus related his
experience aboard the space-fortress, where he worked
as a weapons maintenance officer. The entire crew of the
fortress had apparently been possessed by daemons and
he was the only survivor of those who had ejected in
escape pods during the take over. The daemon-
possessed crew was now slowly destroying the planet of
Kallidus, city by city, by orbital bombardment. The planet
was an important one with massive factories and
armamentorium, which were important for re-supplying
imperial fleets. The loss of such a focal logistics base
would be catastrophic for imperial control of the sector
and Segmentum. Though the impact was not lost on
Jonson he wanted to make haste towards terra. Russ on
the other wanted to destroy the fortress and relieve the
populace of Kallidus. His honour as a Space Wolf
demanded action. Both Primarchs again found
themselves at odds. The stress of their responsibilities
and the tension of prolonged travel in the warp was
telling on them. Suddenly both brothers were on their
feet and exchanging blows. This time both were ready,
and faced each other with their combat knives. The on
looking angels and wolves could not intervene. Russ
slashed across Jonson's cheek and return had his arm
ripped by the lion’s knife. The combat continued for just
under an hour, when the suddenly both Primarchs stood
still, staring unbelievingly in to each other’s faces. A veil
had lifted from their minds and looking around they saw
chaplain Uzziel of the Dark Angels standing over what
was previously a man called Tarus. The smoking plasma
pistol in his hands was proof of the demise of the
escapee, who turned out to be a mind-warping daemon.
The chaplain had observed the Tarus' reaction to the
Primarchs' fight and had surmised correctly that chaos
was at work. Both Primarchs agreed that to leave such a
dangerously powerful entity aboard the space-fortress
was not acceptable. Rapidly a combined force of Space
Wolves and Dark Angels assaulted the space fortress. In
the airless corridors of the massive structure Space
Marine fought gibbering daemons. Primarchs fought
greater daemons. Inch by bloody inch they smashed
their way in to the reactor core, with Jonson
personally placing the melta charges before the
assault teams departed. The massive mushroom
that followed signified the banishment of the
daemons back to the warp and relief for the
embattled citizens of Kallidus.
Near the world of Lemora the loyalist fleet was
assaulted by a mighty armada of corsair, pirates who
were making the most of the confusion caused by
the civil war. Jonson's astute conduct of the battle
virtually annihilated the corsair fleet and captured
their leader, "Ghoran the Navigator". Jonson spared
his life and made him swear fealty to the emperor,
after which Ghorana and the surviving corsairs
accompanied the loyalist fleet.
"Seeing Crystal"
The combined fleet made planet fall at the Shield
worlds as their last major refuelling stop. As they
approached the Shield worlds they once again
realized that the imperial governor was no longer in
power. Tyrant Mashashi pronounced an ultimatum to
the Primarchs. As a sorcerer of the dark powers he
had foreseen the arrival of the loyalist fleet and had
prepared to meet them with the intention of denying
them the supplies needed for their onward journey to
terra. The galaxy wide conspiracy of the dark powers
was becoming more evident by the day. Horus was
on his way to terra and the loyalist fleets had to be
delayed at all costs. Mashashi had reckoned without
the tactical genius of Jonson and the unbridled fury
of Russ. A single thunderhawk gunship loaded with
plasma warheads penetrated the defence grids as
the fleet began bombarding defence laser sites. The
thunderhawk gunship penetrated the air defences at
ultra low level and successfully deployed the entire
payload on to the reactors supplying the massive
defence shields. As the gargantuan mushroom
explosion consumed the generators and the brave
pilot of the gunship, a massive strike force of
Deathwing terminators teleported directly to the only
spaceport on the mainland. The timing was so
accurate the spaceport was within loyalist hands in a
matter of minutes. Within the hour drop ships were
deploying Space Wolves in large numbers. The entire
pacification of the Shield World took no longer than a
few hours. The tyrant Mashashi lay gurgling in his
command centre, his windpipe destroyed by Russ'
claws.
As the tyrants cursed life passed away his "Seeing
Crystal" began to glow. Curiously both Primarchs
looked in to it and saw their worst fears. They saw
their brother Horus swaying others with his oratory to
fight against their father. They saw the terrible virus
bombing of Istvaan IV. They saw with tears in their
eyes the fall of the Salamanders, the destruction of
the Ravenguard and the demise of the Iron hands as
they were caught in Horus' trap. Russ trembled with
rage at the treachery perpetrated by the four
accompanying legion. They saw honourable
Guilliman decoyed to the eastern fringes. They saw
Horus embark his armada for the invasion of Terra. Then
they saw the fallen emperor and the crystal dimmed and
darkened. Russ was beside himself with anger. Jonson
questioned the validity of such a blasphemed object.
However they could not ignore what they had seen, in the
light of their current experiences. Ghoran the Navigator,
who was accompanying them, described the powers of
the "Seeing crystal". For decades he had sought it as it
was said to possess unique powers that allowed rapid
travel in the warp. He offered to use himself as a vassal
to utilize the crystal which may well allow them to reach
terra faster than by any other means. They convened the
greatest of the legions' librarians and after deep
discussion decided to travel on to terra. They would
attempt the longest uninterrupted warp jump in the
history of mankind, using the "Seeing Crystal" to predict
their way. Without another word both Primarchs
assembled their legions and grimly set upon the epic
voyage, praying to their father, that they arrive on terra in
time. The voyage was one that could not be described in
detail, for the events would drive most men in to insanity.
Assaulted by daemons in the warp, thrown off course by
the tides of the immaterium, the combined fleet took a
battering. The psychic shields that protect each ship by
keeping them invisible to the warp entities were
constantly attacked by all manner of warp creatures.
Whirlpools of warp tides, psychic assaults directed at the
navigators and complete disintegration of physical
barriers caused constant casualties. Men driven mad had
to be killed to maintain order. It is said that only the
indomitable will of both Primarchs kept the fleet on
course.
The battle is joined
On terra the assault by Horus had begun in earnest.
Treachery amongst the Imperial Guard defenders had
allowed the traitors to gain possession of both
spaceports, allowing rapid deployment of the invading
forces. Horus rapidly struck towards the imperial palace
with the sole intention of killing his father, the emperor of
man, and assuming the throne of the Imperium.
Sanguinius' Blood Angels were the only Space Marine
legion protecting the Imperial palace against the
combined might of nine traitor legions. The brilliant
counter strike by Jaghatai Khan and his White Scars
supported by the 1st Armoured Division recaptured the
Lions Gate spaceport, halving the flow of enemy
reinforcements. Rogal Dorn led his entire legion of yellow
armoured warriors in his sky-fortress in a daringly
successful attempt at reinforcing the imperial palace.
Despite the slow grinding advance of the heretical
legions and their supporting minions, time ground on. On
the fifty-fifth day of the assault, Horus heard the dreaded
whispers from the warp. A daemon cackled in his ears.
Jonson and Russ were merely hours away with their
entire legions. Horus was taken aback. The rapid
approach of both legions was a complete and strategic
surprise to him. He realized that Jonson’s strategic and
tactical genius, combined with Russ sheer ferocity, would
completely turn the tables on the invading fleet. He had
no choice but to induce the emperor to come to him.
Using his entire daemon given powers he blanketed terra
with a mighty psychic ward. No communication was
possible from within and dropped his shields. Unaware of
the approach of the loyalist legions, the Emperor
teleported directly to Horus' barge with Sanguinius
and Dorn at his side and the rest is history. The death
of Horus while ending the immediate danger was
compounded by the death of Sanguinius and the
near fatal injury to the emperor. As the last of the
traitor Primarchs retreated from earth in shocked
disbelief, leaving millions of heretics behind, reality
tore itself apart to disgorge the returning loyalist
fleet.
Like avenging angels the Dark Angels and Space
Wolves tore in to the heretics. Blinded by rage they
fought enrage gods. Jonson, clear minded as ever,
once again deployed the Deathwing en masse to
recapture the Eternity Wall Spaceport. As the rest of
the dark Angels deployed directly on to the
spaceport, the Space Wolves were assaulting on to
the imperial palace from drop pods. Sending the
Ravenwing units to harass the enemy, now confused
without their commander, Jonson led the bulk of the
Dark Angels like an avenging angel. Swinging his
Lion sword, given to him by his father, his anger
knew no bounds as they sliced through the invading
hordes. Images of happier times flashed through the
Primarchs' mind as he charged through the familiar
buildings and terraces. Memories of more peaceful
times, laughter amongst the brother Primarchs,
competitions and conversations, discussions and
arguments, all flashed by. The closer he got to the
inner palace, the more desperate his efforts were as
he sought out to feel the presence of his father and
his brother Primarchs. Seeing daemons and heretics
stalking in the inner sanctums of the imperial palace
caused anger to boil over in to a physical
manifestation and the Primarch of the Dark Angel
became a whirlwind of destruction. His retinue was
unable to keep up with him. Alone, like a cyclone of
destruction, he continued his orgy of death, sending
daemons and warp creatures screaming back in to
the nether-world they had come from.
Suddenly he was in the throne room. Bodies lay three
deep, heretic and custodian’s lay grotesquely
intertwined in death, a testament to the ferocity of
the battles that had raged there. The throne was
empty. Of the emperor or his brother Primarchs there
was no sign. Suddenly overcome by the reality of the
situation and emotionally overcome, the Lion fell to
his knees at the foot of the Imperial throne. Slowly
he looked around, his hand still tight around the hilt
of the blessed Lion sword. On the far corner a
shimmering of the air caught his attention. Rapidly
followed by the sudden release of pressure as the
shimmering became eldritch blue light and figure
appeared. His stalwart brother Rogal Dorn stood
there in bloodied yellow terminator armour. He
carried in his arms the limp figure of the Emperor.
Jonson slowly rose and dreading the worst, locked
eyes with Dorn. In a moment there was
understanding between the two brothers. The limp
figure of his brother Sanguinius, with a spirit purer
than most, lifeless wings drooping, was born by
mournful Blood Angels. Sadness overcame the Lion
like a tidal wave. The dreamer was dead! Their hopes
and dreams lay in ruin. Everything they fought for
had been demolished due to the human foibles of
some of his brothers. How could they have foresworn his
father, he asked himself. He wandered aimlessly, sword
in hand and anger in his heart. He came across Russ,
who was slumped under the monument to the victory on
Dulan. In their grief, harsh words were spoken, bitter
accusations exchanged. Jonson blamed Russ for his
insistence on assaulting the fortress on Kallidus. Had
they travelled directly to terra they would in all likelihood
have arrived five days earlier and their father would be
alive. Russ knew this to be true and said nothing. Despite
the devastation, in their hearts they realized that they
had done right on Kallidus. They were the shields for
humanity and to leave their subjects at the mercy of
daemons would be against everything they had fought
for. Russ was too exhausted to argue and too drained to
confront Jonson. He simply dismissed him with a derisive
gesture and went to sleep. The long battles of the great
crusade and the longing for his home Caliban, their delay
in arriving to render assistance to their Emperor all boiled
down in to one single point of irreconcilable fury. At the
epicentre of that fury, Jonson saw Russ, the man whom
he called brother, but whose headstrong battle rage had
disrupted so many carefully laid battle plans and
ultimately cost them their father. In a storm of anger,
rage blinding reason, Jonson drew his Lion sword and
screamed at Russ to arm himself. The Space Wolf
Primarch too had been stunned by the events leading to
their father's fatal injuries, and had no fight left in him.
He simply presented his chest to Jonson, willing him to
strike as penance for the delay at Kallidus. As Jonson's
sword arm swung down, and the chaos gods chuckled in
the warp, an inner voice of reason called out to him.
Suddenly the clouds dropped away, and horrified at what
he was doing, the golden haired Primarch deftly shifted
his aim just moments before the blade struck Russ'
chest. The small shift spared the giant Fenrisian's
secondary heart. As Russ collapsed, bleeding from his
wound, Jonson dropped his sword and swooped down to
aid his brother. Calling the apothecaries to tend to his
brothers wounds, he then stormed off disgusted with
himself, appalled at his own lack of self-control and the
ease with which he had caused another near-calamity for
the Imperium. In a state of depression and anger, with
the mental and physical exhaustion of the preceding
events overwhelming him, he wandered aimlessly, and
found himself at the foot of the golden throne. There, in
the company of his ever-watchful father he fell asleep.
As he fell in to an exhausted sleep he dreamed. In his
dreams he saw his father. The Emperor spoke to the lion.
He explained Horus' treachery, the events of Istvaan and
the battle on the barge. That the emperor would no
longer walk amongst his warriors but be confined to
physical imprisonment on the Golden Throne so that he
may watch over humanity became clear. The necessity
for the surviving brother Primarchs to unify and hold the
Imperium together was imperative. In his dreams Jonson
resolved to put aside his differences with Russ and stand
with his brothers as one to regain humanity's hold on the
galaxy. Slowly the Primarch of the first legion awoke from
his deep slumber. A new purpose washed over him.
Newfound resolve strengthened his steady will. He
searched out the Apothecarium within the great palace
and sat don by his wounded wolf-brother. Days went by
as the Fenrisian Primarchs super-human metabolism
repaired the near fatal blow, aided by the constant
attention of the emperor's own apothecaries. Jonson
stood vigil day and night, praying to their father, for
Russ' recovery. When Russ finally awoke, he found
Jonson and Dorn standing by his bed. Brother
Primarchs fixed gazes and they all understood. Their
beloved father would no longer walk amongst his
warriors. Half their brothers had turned traitors to
humanity. Of the nine remaining loyalist legions
three had been sundered in Istvaan, another three
had suffered greatly on the battle for terra. Their dear
brother Sanguinius, pure of heart, had died fighting
for his father. They resolved that they would standby
each other no matter what the outcome, and never
again would brother Primarch raise arms against one
another.
Aftermath
The months following their return to Terra wore on
slowly. The three brother Primarchs of the Imperial
Fists, Space Wolves and Dark Angels continued their
Herculean task of cleansing the centre of human
civilization. Gradually order was restored on Terra
and its facilities rebuilt. The Solar system was finally
purified once the heretical elements within the
Adeptus Mechanicus were purged and loyal Imperial
Guard and Navy formations re-assembled. Then word
came from the Primarch of the Ultramarines, whose
legion alone had survived the heresy with minimal
casualties and had maintained a tight grip on
Imperial rule in the vast Ultima Segmentum. His
strategic mind had designed the restructuring of the
legions in to smaller independent formations called
chapters. Once this was accomplished they were
then to re-embark on the holiest of their tasks, that
of re-conquering the galaxy for humanity in the name
of the Emperor.
Having elected to leave noble Dorn and his Imperial
Fists to yet again guard Terra, the Space Wolves and
Dark Angels first honoured their fallen Brother
Primarch Sanguinius. After the Blood Angels
departed for Baal, the Space Wolves and the Dark
Angels also embarked on to their own fleets. Jonson
felt the weight of his father's death and the betrayal
of his brothers deeply. His heart longed to return to
the green jungles of Caliban. As the legions'
command shuttle departed the Lion's Gate
Spaceport looked back at Old Terra with sadness in
his eyes. He would never again return there. The Dark
Angel command Ship was a magnificent Imperial
Battleship. It was the second gift given him by the
Emperor, the first being the Dark Angel legion. The
"Angelus Lionus" was a magnificent battleship born
of the space docks of Mars itself. It had accompanied
the Emperor's command fleet and had been
renamed to its current status by the Emperor
himself. Gifted by the emperor himself, as Jonson
prepared to leave on the great crusade it had been
extensively modified in its journeys on that great
Crusade. It was twice as large as any Space Marine
battle barge and five times as powerful, and had
been the flagship of the Lion on each of his
magnificent victories. But now that battle hardened
hero balked at the sight of this ship. He felt unworthy
of such a gift from the man he was unable to protect.
His father was dead. He could not bear to even enter the
ship, which was so full of his memories. Memories of
happier times, glorious conquests and magnificent feats
flashed within his minds eye. All those dreams lay
shattered amidst the ruin of treachery. Jonson signalled
his second in command to lead take command of the
"Angelus Lionus" and directed his shuttle to the battle
Barge "Pride of Caliban". He prepared to contemplate the
future of his legion in the privacy of his personal battle
barge while his subordinates made preparations for their
departure.
The Dark Angel fleet was a magnificent site to behold.
Despite the grievous losses experienced on their heroic
warp jump to arrive at Terra, the majority of the fleet
remained battle worthy. As the behemoths slowly fell in
to their allotted position around the "Pride of Caliban" the
"Angelus Lionus" took the position of the spearhead.
Jonson had always led from the front whether on land or
in space. Even though he now remained within the centre
of the fleet, his flagship retained the lead. As the massive
cluster of space vessels departed the confines of the
Solar system the entire surviving legion wondered why
their mighty Primarch had not issued his usual address.
They all knew that they had emerged victorious but at a
huge cost. The iron discipline of the Space Marines was
tested sorely at this time as emotions roiled, the elation
of victory combining with the bitterness of treachery and
the longing for returning home. The fleet entered the
warp with the utter silence of the Lion.
The new order
Jonson brooded within his quarters for days as the fleet
travelled slowly though the empyrean. There was no need
for dangerous short cuts now. They were returning home.
As he slept in a stupor, wallowing in anguish at being too
late to be at his father's side in his hour of need, he is
said to have again experienced an awe inspiring dream.
His father, he who endured eternal suffering for
humanity, spoke to Jonson. What passed to him on that
night no one knows. But the entire battle barge filled with
a brightness that was unnatural yet soothing, while the
lion slept. When Jonson awoke he was a changed man.
Determination burned in his eyes. There was new
purpose in his eyes. He had a duty and would carry it out
for his father and for humanity.
Like a man possessed Jonson threw himself to the task.
Plans were drawn, strategies worked out, tactics outlined.
The composition of the new structure for the
Adeptus Astartes that Brother Guilliman was creating
were modified to suit the Dark Angels legion. For fifty-
seven days Jonson worked without respite, alone in his
command cubit, until he re-emerged and signalled for an
fleet wide broadcast. The fleet broke out of the empyrean
for the momentous occasion of their Primarch's address.
It is said that one could have heard a pin drop in any one
vessel as the entire legion stood at attention to hear their
beloved Primarch break his silence. Jonson appeared on
the bridge of the "Pride of Caliban" in his full battle
armour. View screens flickered across the fleet, as power
was re-routed in all vessels to maintain clear signals. As
the Primarch strode in to view an inaudible gasp seemed
to quietly wash over the gathered angels.
Jonson surveyed his children. His Dark Angels who had
conquered in the name of the emperor and had
travelled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. He
stood there for a few minutes, unmoving, steady as a
rock, allowing the gathered legion to imbibe the full
implication of the sight of their Primarch. In his left
hand he carried the Lion helm, gifted by the emperor
and the seal of the commander of the legion. At his
side hung the beautifully crafted power sword with a
lion's head at its pommel, the Lion Sword. Strapped
to his back stood the majestic shield, the Lion Shield.
Behind him stood three honoured standard bearers,
each carrying the battle-worn sacred standards of the
Dark Angels. He stood resplendent in his brilliantly
crafted artificer suit of power armour. To his left
stood and a step behind him stood Grandmaster
Lamoroch, grand tactician, close friend and
commander of Jonson's bodyguard. To his right, in a
similar position stood Leudegran, Grandmaster,
friend, warrior par excellence and Jonson's second-in-
command. The visual impact of the lion in this
setting was awe-inspiring. But when the reality of this
display hit the gathered legion it was like a
sledgehammer. Gone was the revered black colour of
the power armour. A deep turquoise green reflected
off the Primarch. His Lion Helm was the same colour
as were his entourage. Minutes passed as the
Primarch of the first legion slowly inspected his
gathered legion. Time passed as they felt the
implications of the tremendous change about to take
place. Then, in a resolute voice he spoke to his
children.
Codex Astartes
Jonson spoke of the great dream of the Emperor,
that of humanity achieving the psychic strength to
withstand and survive against the threat of Chaos. He
spoke of the destiny the father of humanity had
toiled to create for them. He described the deepest
treachery of his brother Primarchs and warned them
of the coming perils. He shared his grief and shame
at being a hands breath away from standing by the
emperor at the hour of his greatest need. Them
Jonson slowly let his words sink in. The colour black
that they had worn as the legion was created, and as
they had fought by the emperor as his personal
guard would be removed. They were no longer the
guardians of the all-father. They will relinquish their
colours in favour of the green of Caliban. They will
fight in the colours of their homeworld, the beautiful
but blighted Caliban that they had cleansed of all
evil. His reasoning touched the hearts of the
gathered warriors of humanity. They felt the same
calling. They longed to return home, and what better
way than to return wearing the colours of their home
world. Jonson then spoke at great length of the
Codex Astartes brother Guilliman was creating, of the
restructuring of the legions in to chapters and his
own designs for the future of the legion, the Codex
Astartes Angelus Mortis. The legion would be divided
in to four chapters of a thousand men each. One
would carry the name of the Dark Angels and remain
based on Caliban. The other three would be named
"Angels of Vengeance" "Angels of Absolution" and
"Angels of Redemption" with there own unique
colour schemes. They would each be assigned a
specific planetary system within close proximity of
Caliban for mutual support. Each chapter would conform
to Guilliman design in the Codex Astartes with a few
exceptions. The first company would be equipped entirely
in suits of tactical dreadnought armour and the second
company be mobile on bikes and speeders. Within the
Dark Angel chapter these would retain the honoured
names of Deathwing and Ravenwing. They would both
retain the original colour of the legion, the former as
remembrance of their role of the emperor's bodyguard
and the latter simply to denote the ancient bird from
which they acquired their name. Finally Jonson named
the chapter master of each of the four chapters,
personally honouring the three who would lead the latter
chapters from within the ranks of his personal command.
The command of the Dark Angels chapter he would pass
on to his erstwhile brother, Luther when they returned to
Caliban.
It is said that Jonson spoke eloquently and resolutely for
five hours to the entire legion. He explained that he
wished to hand over the reigns of the four chapters to his
most trusted lieutenants and lead a small crusading
force in to the eye of terror. His was a crusade of
vengeance, to bring back his brothers to the side of the
light or destroy them utterly. At the end of his address as
he stepped down a single cheer that rang across the
entire fleet!
"For the emperor! For the Lion! For Caliban!"
Then the entire fleet re-entered the empyrean to continue
their journey. The legion was re-juvenated with new
purpose. Frantic activity took place within each and every
vessel as the Primarchs plans were put in motion.
Home coming
Caliban was a magnificent sight when seen from outer
space. A large green and blue planet eight times the size
of Old terra it was the only planet capable of supporting
life in its system. When Jonson left Caliban on the Great
Crusade great defensive works had already been
commenced. As the populace of Caliban had yet to
venture in to space, imperial technology and Adeptus
Astartes innovation intervened to create and establish
planetary defences.
Home coming
Caliban was a magnificent sight when seen from
outer space. A large green and blue planet eight
times the size of Old terra it was the only planet
capable of supporting life in its system. When Jonson
left Caliban on the Great Crusade great defensive
works had already been commenced. As the
populace of Caliban had yet to venture in to space,
imperial technology and Adeptus Astartes innovation
intervened to create and establish planetary
defences.
Eighteen orbital defence stations surrounded the
planet in three separate altitudes, allowing mutual
support and cross fire against any intruders. Armed
with a vast array of missile launchers, bombardment
cannons and laser mega cannons these automated
stations were veritable fortresses in their own right.
Two orbital docking stations were positioned at
opposite poles beneath the second layer of defence
stations, named after their two greatest heroes,
Jonson and Luther. How appropriate that these two
had been placed at opposite poles. The true nature
of the heroes would be revealed all too soon. All
incoming ships would normally dock here and their
content transported planet-side in shuttles. The
Caliban being a self-sufficient planet most main
material that was transported was of war like nature
or people from imperial planets. A single spaceport
resided close to the largest fortress monastery of the
order from where Jonson had set out to cleanse
Caliban of its blight. The jungles of Caliban gleamed
green with beauty as ever. Gone was the threat of the
chaos creatures which had terrorized the populace
until their demise. The rivers ran freely and the
oceans blue. The teutonic might of Caliban's knightly
order provided the new recruiting ground for the
future Space Marines of the Dark Angel legion. But
unknown, jealousy, envy and personal ambition
clouded the judgment of some. The threat of betrayal
ran under a thin skin of normalcy.
Without warning the space near Caliban rippled with
the tide of the empyrean. Within moments monitors
on the orbital stations had isolated the exact position
of the riptide and aimed scanning and targeting
matrices towards that region. Data from their ancient
receivers was instantaneously transmitted to the
command cubicle deep within the command fortress
of the Order. Messages were relayed. Communiqué's
flashed. Klaxons sounded. Something stirred
menacingly in the warp. The ripple in space
expanded in to large whirlpool and like a monster
regurgitating its latest meal three strike cruisers
leapt out of the opening in the warp. Gliding
majestically behind them, with an aristocratic
arrogance acquired from many centuries of conflict,
came the behemoth "Angelus Lionus" A single signal
was constantly repeated in all frequencies. "Behold!
The Lion!" The battleship glided with practiced ease,
firing retro thrusters and linking in with the telemetry
of the automated docking system of the Orbital
Docking Station. It took nearly an hour four the
mammoth ship to position itself in the correct
approach angle due to unexplained interference in
telemetry. The three escort strike cruisers had
positioned to the rear of the battleship as an honour
guard. The first inclination of something amiss was
when an alert operator on the command deck of the
"Angelus Lionus" detected energy spikes in a number
of the orbital defence stations.
Suddenly there was a flurry of reports of sensor sweeps
emanating from the defence stations followed by
multiple energy spikes. Klaxons blared on the
battleship as the Admiral of the Fleet demanded
explanation from the ground control. A single
statement was beamed from the ground stations to the
four ships now plodding slowly towards the docking
station
"Death to the betrayer!"
Frantic alerts sounded over the communications
channels within the four ships. Grandmaster Lamoroch
looked on impassively. As the commander of the Lion's
bodyguard, it was his duty to anticipate treachery. He
had prepared for this moment countless times, and
until this day, those preparations had not been needed.
Even as the Lord Admiral Llacheu ordered the void
shields raised Lamoroch knew that his own Space
Marines would have activated them instantaneously.
The Space Marine and servitor crews responded rapidly
and one by one the shields started powering up. The
strike cruisers, being somewhat smaller and faster
were already manoeuvring backwards as the danger
became apparent. The eighteen orbital defence
stations were layered in at three altitudes, allowing six
stations to cover the planet at each level. Such was
their disposition that any given point around the planet
would be visible from twelve of the eighteen stations.
Ripples of long-range missiles and torpedoes fired in
volleys from the twelve orbital stations with line-of-sight
to the "Angelus Lionus" and its escorts. Macro cannon
and bombardment projectiles flew thick towards the
helplessly slow spacecraft. The crew of the "Angelus
Lionus" had reacted with remarkable speed, due to
Lamorochs foresight, and three void shields had
already encompassed the ship, providing some
measure of protection. Weapons batteries on the ships
began to track the orbital stations while close in
systems targeted oncoming ordnance.
Initial impact by the missiles and torpedoes was
against the void shields! Systems overloaded within the
battleship. One of the void shields flickered and died,
but yet another one powered up in time to cover its
place. A huge barrage of missiles overloaded the
shields of the closest strike cruiser and a massive
broadside of macro cannon ripped through the heart of
the unfortunate cruiser. As the plasma core over-
heated and all steering was lost the crippled vessel
spun out of control, a deadly fireball, and smashed in
to the rear of the "Angelus Lionus". The exemplary
courage and proficiency of the gunners of the Angelus
Lionus had already destroyed three of the orbital
stations, but the battle was one sided. Unable to
manoeuvre, boxed in on three sides by the enemy and
surprise adding to the carnage, the battleship wallowed
in space. Its rear had been caved in by the collision of
the escort cruiser. Lord Admiral Llendau could just see
the other two escorts rapidly disappear in a
mushroom cloud of exploding munitions. The effect
of the constant barrage of eight surviving stations,
which were firing at point blank range, was
devastating on the battleship. The decks were awash
with blood and oil. Whole sections caved in and
entire subsections vented in to the vacuum of space.
Casualties were horrendous, yet the crew fought on.
Llendau looked around his highly protected
command centre. Communications were completely
jammed. Astropathic transmission were attempted
only to have the astropaths die screaming as warp
spawned demons assaulted their minds. He looked
at around and assessed the situation quickly. He
made eye contact with Lamoroch. In an instant they
realized the gravity of the situation. Lamoroch's
specialized assault parties had been unable to
depart the hangar bays as the exit doors had been
caved in by the massive close range bombardment.
With all options running out fast, and their
destruction all but assured, a rapid order was issued
to jettison a message buoy. A second command
ordered the plasma cores to be vented and
demolition charges fired. They had survived the
betrayal at terra only to suffer treason at home. He
will not allow this treason to escape unpunished. He
punched to runes of self-destruction even as a hard-
tipped penetrator torpedo exploded outside the
command room. A finite second later the entire
"Angelus Lionus" blossomed in to a gigantic
explosion. To the people of Caliban on the planet
below, unaware of the treachery afoot, it was as if a
new star had been born in the sky. As the vented
plasma superheated to critical levels by the self-
destruct explosion, a massive shockwave rippled
through the surrounding space, engulfing the eight
orbital defence stations and the docking station in
single gargantuan fiery grave.
A millisecond before the last defence station
disintegrated a thin beam of laser energy stabbed
out in to the darkness, vaporising the message buoy
ejected so desperately from the "Angelus Lionus".
Then there was silence!
The Lion Roars
Out in the warp the main body of the Dark Angel fleet
neared its destination. Telepathic signals passed
within the command ships of the fleet. Tactical
doctrine taught by Jonson, insisted on being prepared
for all eventualities, especially during the highly
dangerous time of exiting the warp space. The
prearranged telepathic signals had not been received
from the "Angelus Lionus". Following long
established protocols, the fleet diverted their exit
vector away from that of the "Angelus Lionus" and its
screen. Arriving at the periphery of the Caliban
system the massive fleet exited the warp amidst a
panoply of swirling energy. Void shields activated
immediately in all ships. Sensor augers started
automatic sweeps. Gun batteries and missile bays
activated to acquire potential threats. Thunderhawk
gunships readied in their hangar bays.
A single merchant cruiser lumbering along the edge of
Caliban space was immediately identified, tagged and
intercepted by Thunderhawks. As the captain of that
freight cruiser was brought aboard the "Pride of
Caliban" for questioning, a massive cloud of space
debris was detected around Caliban. Shortly thereafter
the destruction of the lead ships and their sacrifice in
destroying the orbital defence stations became known.
Individual items of debris were identified from their
radiometric signatures allowing accurate assessment
of the preceding events. These were confirmed by the
captain of the freightliner, who further described tales
of rebellion. Tales of betrayal and treachery. Once
again the Dark Angels were facing treason perpetrated
by the most trusted of their brethren. But this was
different. This was within their own ranks.
Luther had betrayed them! His ambitious mind had
been an easy pray for the powers in the warp. They had
slowly imbued him with the craving for ambition and
achievement. His vanity had been his down fall. He had
come to believe that Jonson had left him behind in
order to belittle him while the Primarch covered
himself with glory. He hadn't realized the great
importance of maintaining a secure home base, and he
had been left in command simply because he was the
most trusted and capable lieutenant Jonson ever had.
Little had he known that Jonson planned to hand over
command of the Dark Angel chapter to him after the
restructuring process. Luther had used his capacity for
eloquent speech to slowly drive the dark Angels on
Caliban and most of the population away from belief in
the emperor and the lion. He had convinced them that
they had been forsaken and betrayed by the emperor
and their Primarch. Knowing that the few system
defence ships would be no match for the Dark Angel
fleet, he had banked on destroying the lion in a sneaky,
treacherous and surprise attack. Fortunately for the
dark Angels, belief in the emperor and the decision to
send the "Angelus Lionus" ahead saved the legion of
another grievous loss.
Jonson's rage was unparalleled. He did not care that
the attempt was on his life. He was aghast at the depth
of treachery within his own home. Reacting with the
speed of a man possessed he rapidly gathered his
command group and set about in motion a plan of
attack. None of the traitors would be spared. He would
personally lead the assault on his own home fortress
monastery. As he grimly spoke to the gathered
members of his command staff, his face was grim with
determination. His eyes shone with fury. Clad
majestically in his deep green armour Jonson was a
sight to behold, his flowing golden hair contrasting with
the deep colours of his armour. His personal weapons
hung at the ready, the lion sword at his waist and a
master crafted bolt pistol on his right. The lion shield
lay loosely strapped to his back.
The Dark Angel fleet separated in to three contingents
with practiced ease. Two swung to straddle the green
globe that was Caliban. Within an instant a deadly
barrage of missile, torpedoes and ordnance was flying
towards the surviving few orbital stations and docking
station. They then took orbital positions over the planet
and began the systematic bombardment of every
known and identified fortress monastery and military
installations. Anything that was of remote military
significance was culled with massive volleys of
bombardment cannon. As the defenders of Caliban
vainly tried to retaliate with defence laser fire, the
traitorous Angels were busy consolidating their
fortresses. They had expected a planetary assault on
all their fortified bases as they had thought the
Primarch would not dare inflict terrible injury on his
own home planet. The fury with which Jonson
launched his massive bombardment took them
completely by surprise. Unable to comprehend the
vicious tactics of their erstwhile Primarch many
perished within the rubble of their fortress
monasteries, buried alive by the edifices of their
treachery.
As the two prongs of the fleet distracted and
pummelled the defenders in to submission, the third
flew directly towards the planet. As the ships entered
the stratosphere of the planet hundreds of drop ships
were discharged. Some were dummies and decoys
while a few carried an elite group of fighting force.
The drop ships carrying the ground assault force
thudded on the rock ground of their home planet
with little return fire to oppose them. The orbital
bombardments had been utterly effective. Without
another word the Primarch of the Dark Angels leaped
out of the leading drop ship closely followed by his
bodyguard. They had landed with pinpoint accuracy
within striking distance of Luther's command post.
The assault force deployed in to tactical formation
and rapidly advanced towards their home base, the
largest citadel on Caliban. As the defenders of
Luther’s command recovered from their initial shock,
vicious firefights broke out. But despite the defensive
battlements and emplacements, the Lion was all but
unstoppable. His fury lent him strength as he
became an avatar of death, the lion sword coming
alive in his hand as he carved a bloody path to the
citadel. The weapons of the "Pride of Caliban" were
firing directly at the citadel, destroying huge areas of
the outer walls and causing massive breaches. The
green armoured Dark Angels poured through the
breaches, their banners unfurled and death spitting
from their weapons. No quarter was asked and none
given. In the shadows of the massive battlements,
brother fought brother. Blood mixed with sand and
kindred spirits assaulted each other with
uncontrolled rage.
Down familiar walkways and doors they fought.
Chambers that brought fond memories were
deranged beyond recognition. Statues and imagery
of the emperor had been battered down. The
honoured dark Angel emblems effaced. The
assaulting Dark Angels redoubled their efforts as
they stormed like an unstoppable juggernaut
towards the central chapel, the Tower of Angels. As
they blasted the outer doors, the Lion signalled his
men to form a perimeter outside. He would face his
brother alone. The concern on the faces of his honour
guard was clear as daylight, but they obeyed as a
Space Marine would. And then the Lion, Primarch of
the dark Angel Legion, First born to the emperor of
mankind, stepped through the hallowed doorway in
to legend.
Brother! Friend! Betrayer!
In the command room two men faced each other. Each
stood still taking stock of the other. The handsome
Primarch of the Dark Angels stood majestically, his
flowing golden hair discoloured with battle dust. The
ornate sword in his right hand held lightly. The winged
helm that he had worn had been removed and was
cradled in his left arm, as he locked eyes with the man
who stood before him. What he faced was far different
from the warm, and good-hearted brother-marine he
had left behind to guard his home world. As he looked
at Luther he realized that this was not the honourable
man he had called brother. Clad in black power armour
and wielding the sword that the Primarch himself had
gifted to him, Luther stood with an arrogance born of
treachery. Unnatural energy oozed within him,
distorting his noble features. His eyes were dark
soulless pits. His voice was a revolting hiss of
venomous words. The venerated symbols and
iconography of the legion had been crudely removed
from his ornate armour.
The Primarch realized that he had lost his friend and
brother and spoke for the last time!
"Brother! Friend! Betrayer!"
Both realized what that meant and without further
delay moved in to combat stance. The purity of the Lion
Sword weighing against the Dark might of the Black
Blade. Not a single word was uttered as blood brothers
lunged at each other. The Primarch was a demi-god
amongst men and dwarfed even the superhuman
Space Marines, but Luther had been infused with the
unnatural energies of the dark powers. They struck at
each other in the material world as well as in the
psychic realm. It was a battle of physical strength as
well as their indomitable will. Energy crackled as the
pure white energy of the Lion sword clashed with the
dark power suffusing the Dark blade. Thrust and parry!
Sweep and block! The battle raged for hours and as
they fought their physical and psychic shock waves tore
at the edifice around them. Massive plascrete columns
swayed like weed in a storm. Huge chunks
of adamantite came tumbling down rocks in a
landslide. Yet the brothers fought on. The Lion fought
with the fury of a man betrayed. Surprised at first by
the strength and power of his erstwhile brother he
fought like a man possessed. He fought for his legion
and his world. He fought for the soul of his brethren.
Luther may have been equally matched in strength and
skill and even more by the deeds of the dark powers,
but did not have the righteous resolve of the Primarch.
The Dark Angel honour guard stoically held their
ground outside the citadel, cutting down counter attack
after desperate counter attack by their fallen brethren.
Calling down direct fire support within meters of their
position, they reaped a bloody harvest of their heretical
brothers with little regard to their own safety. The
"Pride of Caliban" continued it's constant pounding of
anything that even remotely reeked of chaos. The
sounds of the gigantic clash of arms occurring within
the command chambers was audible to all those
who defended the perimeter against the fallen. Only
their iron disciple and utter and complete faith in
their Primarch born of his service for a century kept
them from attempting to intervene inside.
Inside, the scene was of utter devastation. The
command room, which was once the throne room of
the Lion, from which many a noble deed had been
initiated, resembled a charnel house. The
devastation was absolute with massive hunks of
plasteel and plascrete strewn about like petty rubble.
The dead bodies of the minions of Luther lay crushed
amongst the broken content of that once noble
chamber. The titanic clash between the two brothers
continued unabated. Lightning flashed within the
chambers as their swords struck once again in
unison. Luther was tiring as the Lion bombarded him
with a constant flurry of assault. The lion sword
swung as if it had a life of its own. The Black Blade
countered, the energy of the demon bound within
allowing Luther to match the Lion stroke for stroke.
They fought wearing no helms. They locked their eyes
to each other’s and held their gaze. None blinked.
Hatred burned in one set of eyes while revenge
thirsted in the other! They circled for the hundredth
time, re-assessing their opponent. The Lion was tired
of betrayal. He had seen his father betrayed and now
not only himself but also his legion and his world
betrayed, all because of one man's vanity. "Never
again!" screamed Jonson in an anguished cry that
cut through the fabric of reality. The scream of pure
anger echoed both in the material world and the
empyrean. It struck Luther without warning,
something touching him deep within his
subconscious. The Lion charged like an avenging fury
and Luther stumbled backwards. His foot stepped on
the Lion Helm, which his brother had discarded at
the beginning of their duel, and tripped. As he fell,
the charging Jonson stood above him, his Lion sword
raised high, his left hand accusingly pointing at his
brother on the ground. Even as he weakly raised his
black sword on his left hand to try and parry the
killing blow, Luther knew that his neck was exposed
and Jonson had him. Hatred swelled in him. Pure
malice danced in his eyes. Then he saw Jonson
hesitate.
Jonson looked at the creature lying on the ground,
pathetically trying to bring the Black Sword up to
ward off the killing blow. He saw the malice in the
eyes. He winced at the horrifying changes that had
occurred to his brother-in-arms. Gone was the noble
Luther, kind of heart but a true warrior at heart. In his
place lay this hideous creature of chaos. Animosity
oozed from every aspect of the black armoured
warrior. Jonson's arm stayed the killing blow. His fury
gave way to pity as he remembered yet again that it
was Luther who had stayed his execution in the
jungles of Caliban so many years ago. If not for that
man, Jonson would have been dead or still roaming
the jungles of Caliban. He owed this man everything
he had gained even though he had betrayed his
home, his legion and his emperor.
In an instant realization flickered in Luther's eyes. A
soft voice hissed from the warp. Here was his opening.
His enemy was hesitating, if only momentarily. The
foolish weakling was exposing himself to attack at the
moment of triumph. He knew why he hated Jonson and
the Imperium so much. They were weak fools. He,
Luther, will lead the Dark Angels to victory. He will re-
conquer the galaxy in the name of Caliban and
establish humanity as the dominant species. No longer
will they follow the weak rituals and morals of the now
dead emperor! He will reap vengeance for all the time
he languished on the backwater planet while, glory that
was truly his was robbed by his brother. For that, he
must die! With a vengeful scream fortified by the
hatred he had developed over the years and
strengthened by the rage within him, Luther lashed out
with his mind. A massive blast of pure psychic energy
flickered at first and then beamed across from the
Black Sword to hit the Primarch squarely in his chest.
Unnatural flames of warp fire danced across the
defender of humanity. Wreathed in the burning
essence of the warp that was spilling out from the
Black Sword, the Primarch collapsed to his knees. His
noble features wracked in agony, his gargantuan
constitution tearing itself apart by this black magic, his
eyes burning with terrible pain yet dancing with
determination, he thrust the Lion Sword in to the path
of the warp fire. Luther stared wide-eyed as his warp
spawned magic cut off abruptly, broken by the purity of
the blessed sword of the Primarch. As Jonson rose
once more, struggling to focus on his enemy, Luther
screamed in frustration. He creamed to the dark gods
and focused every ounce of his will, every morsel of his
hatred and every drop of his malice in to a psychic
attack and directed it at the Lion's heart. Jonson felt
more than saw the coming assault, and with tears of
agony in his eyes and grief in his heart he thrust the
sword his father had given him in to the path of the
maelstrom. With a thunderclap the darkness met the
light. Irresistible force met with an immovable object.
Fear and hatred were countered by purity and loyalty. A
massive psychic shock wave filled the chamber and
blew the walls of the citadel outwards. The honour
guard who were fighting outside the citadel was buried
under the massive landslide of rubble along with their
fallen brethren. The devastation settled and the smoke
cleared to reveal two figures in the epicentre of the
blast. Jonson lay on the ground. His armour splayed, his
face covered in blood, his limbs broken. Yet he
struggled to stand yet once more. Next to him lay the
noble weapon of the lion, its blade broken by the force
of the blast. It had absorbed the worst of the attack to
allow its master to survive. A few paces ahead of him
stood Luther. Standing tall and covered in the
blasphemed black armour. A malicious smile of victory
danced on his face as he surveyed the scene around
him. Looking at Jonson struggling to stand, he opened
his mouth to gloat, his black sword whispering words of
vengeance to him.
Realization
In that moment a single thought flashed through his
mind. Perhaps Jonson had connected psychically with
Luther, or perhaps it was the emperor himself
protecting his first-born. Whatever the reason, Luther
had depleted his psychic potential temporarily with the
terrible attack and was momentarily weak from the
influence of the dark powers. In that moment a veil
lifted from his mind. The enormity of his actions
suddenly dawning on him as the last vestiges of his
humanity battled to the surface. Reality struck as he
remembered his treachery to his brother, his legion
and his emperor. He opened his mouth to ask
forgiveness from the noble man who had remained
loyal to him despite his heresy. But all that would
come out was an anguished cry of pain and shame.
The Black Sword screamed at him to strike the final
blow and claim his heirdom. Jonson saw the
repentant Luther and collapsed to the ground. He
flung the sword aside and fell to his knees besides
the collapsed form of his brother, sobbing like a
newborn child. In the warp malicious gods saw their
plans thwarted. Anger and frustration of the warp
entities swirled in to maelstrom in the warp. The
ripple in the fabric of reality created by the black
sword now acted as a channel and pure warp energy
spilt in to the material world. Smashing through the
underground chambers of the Citadel the stream of
the empyrean struck through the core pf the planet
to emerge on the opposite side, coalescing in to a
massive warp storm. An implosion of gargantuan
proportions shook the depths of Caliban. The outer
crust of the planet had been so weakened by the
vengeful Dark Angel fleet it could no longer contain
the warp storm created within its depths. As the fleet
commanders watched incredulously the entire planet
folded on itself. Urgent orders flashed between the
blockading fleet as they desperately tried to back out
of the developing riptide. Then suddenly, in panoply
of whirling lights, the awesome might of the warp
energy was demonstrated as the entire planet
crumbled in to debris and was sucked in to the
whirlpool of the empyrean. Almost a quarter of the
blockading fleet on the far side of the planet
perished in that whirlwind of destruction. The rest of
the fleet looked on incredulously the whirlwind of
destruction slowly died down to a ripple and then
nothingness. Where previously a planet had stood
majestically there remained a thin cloud of dust. As
the fleets' sensor's flickered back on line, stunned
disbelief turned to amazed excitement. Floating in
the centre of the dust cloud was a giant asteroid.
Atop the asteroid stood the Tower of Angels, the
magnificent bastion of the order and the command
fortress of the dark Angels legion.
Tower of Angels
The calamitous events at Caliban dumb founded
even the battle-hardened veterans of the Dark Angels
legion. The deathly silence that descended in the
Caliban system was thunderous in their ears. No one
moved for moments that seemed an eternity. Their
thoughts were all focused on one question. What of
their Primarch?
Grandmaster Leudegran broke from his reverie. His
stunned disbelief turned to determined anger. He
looked around his command chamber on the Pride
of Caliban.
"Brother Dark Angels!" his voice boomed over every
chamber and vault in each and every ship of the fleet.
"You have seen a second tragedy come to pass. We
have been betrayed by our own brethren! We shall not
stray from the path of our father, for we are the true
sons of the lion!"
"Activate contingency plan "Divine Relief Sextus Two!"
Klaxons blared and purgatory bells rang across the
fleet. With grim determination the Dark Angels allowed
their relentless training to overcome their initial shock
and grief over their loss. The Dark Angel fleet rapidly
deployed in to system wide blockade positions. No one
would be allowed in to the system to see what had
transpired until they had determined the outcome on
the floating asteroid. Leudegran himself embarked on
a thunderhawk gunship as a secondary assault force
deployed from the battle barges and headed towards
the floating asteroid. As they approached the asteroid
they were amazed to find that it was in fact a large
chunk of their own home planet. In fact the main
citadel and Fortress monastery of the Dark Angels,
where the Primarch had landed to lead the assault,
could be seen nearly intact. The asteroid was
essentially a floating bedrock of Caliban, protected by
the massive force fields and void shields which
protected the Fortress it had alone withstood the
maelstrom of the empyrean. Hope rose within the
assault group as the Thunderhawks made an assault
landing. Out poured the might of the Dark Angels,
ready for combat and eager for news of their Primarch.
Instead all they found was death and destruction.
Throwing caution to the wind Leudegran charged up to
the main citadel, his honour guard following closely.
Combat teams spread out to secure the perimeter as
more Dark Angels landed. After hours of searching they
finally broke through the rubble to the command
chamber. There they found, babbling like a child, the
arch heretic Luther. He was overcome by grief and
close to madness. Incoherently he repeated half
sentences. Leudegran ordered his honour guard to
secure him and amidst great secrecy transported him
to the "Pride of Caliban". Only a few would know of
Luther's survival until they gleaned the whereabouts of
the Primarch.
From the ramblings of Luther it had become evident
that the Primarch had been struck down by sorcerous
chaos fuelled energy and that the Lion Sword had
indeed been broken as it absorbed the main impact. In
addition, the Primarch seems to have been carried
away by the enigmatic incumbents of the deep caverns
of Caliban, the Watchers. The watchers were rarely
seen above ground and almost exclusive within the
deep caverns beneath the main fortress monastery of
Caliban. They had posed no threat and had previously
only communicated with the Primarch. No one could
glean the significance of their actions. What was clear
was that the Lion Sword and the Lion himself had
vanished. The Lion Helm had been reverently recovered
and preserved aboard the "Pride of Caliban".
Foresight
For thirty days and thirty nights the Dark Angels
scoured the surface and the under ground labyrinths
of the ruins of their Fortress Monastery. The large
landmass of the remains of Caliban was of sufficient
mass to have some semblance of gravity. At the end
of that period the search was officially called off.
Augustinian called a council of war. More than a
hundred grandmasters of the legion along with every
ranking librarian and chaplain gathered in a secret
conclave within the ruins of the Fortress. For seven
days and seven nights they counselled together, as
Augustinian slowly explained to them the strategic
plan the Lion had devised for the future of the legion.
The strategic wisdom of Jonson became widely
apparent as the gathered leaders of the legion
listened in awe. Jonson had accepted the need for re-
structuring of the legions on to chapters of one
thousand men and had accordingly devised his
strategy. Although the original Dark Angel legion had
easily numbered more than ten thousand warriors,
the great crusade and the heresy had taken their toll.
The return to terra had been costly within the warp
and the subsequent fighting and cleansing of
Segmentum solar added to the carnage. All in all, the
Primarch had expected to around five thousand
warriors including those left behind in Caliban. He
had planned on the creation of four chapters, one
with the name of the legion and three more taking
their names as the Angels of Vengeance, Angels of
Absolution and the Angels of Redemption. The
remaining forces would be used to create a
crusading force that the Lion himself planned to lead
deep in to the eye of terror to seek out his traitorous
brothers. His planning had been performed in
exquisite detail, right down to the structure of each
chapter, their colours and their new home worlds.
Subsidiary home worlds had been chosen in the
event of the primary world being tainted y the lure of
the heresy.
The chapters themselves would retain Guilliman's
ten-company structure but incorporate Jonson's
innovations. The first company would fight in tactical
dreadnought armour, especially after their effective
use en masse during the heresy. The second
company would be the fast mounted Ravenwing and
their equivalents. There would be three battle
companies, four reserve companies and a scout
company as dictated by the Codex Astartes.
Agreement was unanimous amongst the greatest
and noblest warriors of the Dark Angels. The Lion
himself had also chosen the chapter masters of the
four chapters.
To this melding pot Augustinian added a few
ingredients himself. The crusade in to the eye of
terror would be put on hold, due to the loss of men in
the battle of Caliban as well as the total loss of
Caliban's garrison and populace. In its place they
would begin a secret crusade to avenge their own
shame. They will seek out each and every one of the
fallen heretical brothers who had been sucked in to
the maelstrom. Until they were all captured and
made to repent, the chapter would hide its shame
from all outsiders. Thus was created the inner circle,
containing the most trusted and worthy warriors of
the legion. Every member of the command staff would
be a proven member of the inner circle, and it is only
they who would know the whole truth. Members of the
first company would be tasked with this holy task. The
four named chapter masters resolved to work together
and pool their resource constantly and agreed that they
would forever be called the Unforgiven chapters until
their shame was erased and the emperor forgave
them.
With the finalization of their great agenda, the question
of home world remained. Unanimously they had
decided that the Dark Angels chapter would rebuild the
Fortress monastery and make it in to a floating base.
However with no populace to recruit, they had to
designate a separate planet within intra-planetary craft
range for initial recruitment. Such a world was selected
from those designated by Jonson as secondary home
worlds. It was a primitive tribal planet with a hardy
warrior like populace. It was known simply as "The
Plains World!"
The last item on the agenda was the public
announcement of the final order written personally in
the handwriting of their Primarch. As the entire legion
listened his words were read out by the grandmaster.
"We will take the names of the ancient angels of terra!
We shall steel our hearts with courage and shield
ourselves with faith! In the emperor we shall trust! Like
Angels of Death we shall smite his foes!"
Fortress afloat!
It took almost a hundred years of constant struggle and
toil before Grandmaster Leudegran could reflect with
ease on their accomplishments. The three successor
chapters had established on their own home worlds
and were now operating independently. The Dark
Angels had initiated recruitment from the Plains World
successfully and the hardy tribal warriors had proved to
be excellent candidates. The initial recruitment force
had been made up of squads of Deathwing, as the
state of the world was unknown. Having found it to be
free of the taint of chaos, they were surprised to find
the local folklore describe a mythical bird called the
"Wings of Death" or "Deathwing" Thus was born the
tradition that Deathwing would visit the planet every
hundred years for fresh recruits.
In the meantime the fortress monastery had been
transformed in to a veritable star fortress. Bristling with
defensive and offensive weapons and massive hangar
bays it could easily accommodate the entire chapter
with room to spare. The greatest accomplishments of
the techmarines and adepts was the fitting of massive
warp drives and void and psychic shields which would
enable a ponderous but definite travel through warp
space. This gargantuan achievement was sadly only
achieved nearly a thousand years after the heroic
death of the first grandmaster of the Dark Angels
Chapter, Leudegran who had hence been known as
Galadriel. As to how this massive warp technology
came in to the hands of the dark Angels is still debated
within the deepest sanctums of the Adeptus
Mechanicus. Some ascribe this achievement to the
involvement of the alien elder race. Others note
whispered rumours of mystical beings resident within
the deepest caverns of the rock fortress. Yet more
tell of Dark Angel expeditions to apparently lifeless
worlds. Whatever the source of such technology, the
Dark Angels share it with none.

For nearly four thousand years following the heresy

the Dark Angels continues their duty to the emperor
and the Lion from the stationary rock fortress,
hanging in space where their home planet had been.
The fine dust cloud still hung undisturbed as a
testament to its passing. The chapter had deployed
using their battle barges and strike cruisers wherever
an imperial request was made. Their combat
achievement reflected the tactical genius of their
Primarch. The stubbornness in adversity became
legendary.

It was in the thirty-sixth millennium that an incident

occurred which would transform the chapter once
again. A group of thirty Deathwing terminators
embarked on their ritual, once in a hundred year
journey to their home planet. As these descendants
of the plains world arrived they found death and
devastation. The planet had been overrun by a
Genestealer cult. Outnumbered, but loath to loose
another home planet, the commander of the
detachment Master Ezekiel led the Deathwing
towards the cult city. Brother Lucian, formerly known
as Two-Heads-Talking, shaman of the plains world
and honoured Dark Angel Librarian, had already
entered the city in disguise. There, having slain the
Genestealer magus he was captured by the cult.
Although mortally wounded, the librarian managed
to lock psyche with the patriarch and kill him in his
own death throes. The actions of the Deathwing
detachment rescued the people of the plains world
and retained the world as a continued source of
recruits for the chapter. The great battle in the city of
iron passed in to Dark Angel history and legend. The
five surviving terminators took on roles as chieftains
for their tribes and led the people back to their old
way of life.

The strategic weakness of not garrisoning their only

recruitment base became apparent. A second
conclave of the inner circle was gathered nearly five
thousand years after the first one and the
momentous decision taken to become a mobile
chapter. Recruitment would be from many potential
worlds that the Dark Angels would station
recruitment chapels. The Fortress Monastery itself
would begin to flex its awesome muscle and
commence its first warp journey. They would remain
in a particular system for a few hundred years until
recruitment was complete and then journey on to the
next. Thus the fortress monastery now became a
mobile gargantuan battle barge, taking the chapter
where they were most needed.
When the Space Marine Legions were broken down into
smaller Chapters at the end of the Horus Heresy, the
Dark Angels were one of the few Chapters that did not
use the strict Codex organisation laid down by Roboute
Guilliman in the Codex Astartes. This being said, an
outside observer would find it difficult to spot any
differences between the Dark Angels and a Chapter
rigidly organised according to the Codex, such as the
Ultramarines.
It is in the organisation of the higher levels that
deviations from the Codex Astartes can first be seen. All
Chapters include a number of officers and specialists
who stand aside from the Company organisation. In the
Dark Angels these individuals are known as the Inner
Circle. Members of the Inner Circle may be assigned to
fight with a company in battle, and include the Chapter’s
Librarians and Interrogator-Chaplains.
The Chapter relies on a large support staff, and highly
ranked members include the Victuallers and the Grand
Master of the Fleet, the Arsenal, Recruits and the Watch.
Although each Grand Master is a Space Marine, there are
actually relatively few Brethren in the Chapter’s support
staff, and the Chapter’s Human serfs perform most non-
combatant roles. The Chapter includes a large number of
support staff that do not know the full history of the Dark
Angels, but hold great responsibility nonetheless. Many
are non-combatants of advanced years tasked with the
day-to-day administration of the Chapter. The largest
group of Dark Angels Space Marines in the support staff
are the Chapter’s Armourers and Techmarines, who are
aided in their tasks by hundreds of mono-task Servitors.
A Master of the Dark Angels, who has progressed through
the ranks of the Deathwing and is a member of the Inner
Circle, leads each of the ten Companies that comprise
the Chapter. He is attended by a Command Squad,
consisting of the Company’s Standard Bearer, Apothecary
and Company Champion, as well as other Brethren
assigned to aid the Master in his duties. Each Company
apart from the Deathwing also includes a Chaplain, who
presides over the brother’s spiritual well being and stirs
their fury upon the field of battle.
Of the ten Companies comprising the Dark Angels
Chapter, the first two are unique and do not follow
standard Codex organisation. The 1st Company is called
the Deathwing and consists of veteran troops. Members
of the Deathwing always fight in Terminator armour, and
are never fielded in power armour, as is the case with
most other Chapters.
The Ravenwing is the name of the 2nd Company of the
Dark Angels. It is a highly specialised formation used for
scouting and assault missions where speed is more
important than heavy firepower. To this end all of the
Space Marines in the Company ride bikes or Land
Speeders, which are organised into special units called
attack or support squadrons.
The remainder of the Chapter is organised along Codex
lines. The 3rd, 4th and 5th are battle companies, each
consisting of up to six squads or Tactical Space
Marines, two of Assault, and two of Devastators. These
three Battle Companies form the main battle lines and
generally bear the brunt of the fighting.
Companies 6 and 7 are Tactical Companies, each
consisting of ten Tactical squads. These act as a
reserve which may be used to bolster the front line,
launch diversionary attacks or stem enemy flanking
moves.
The 8th Company contains ten Assault squads. This
highly mobile company is often equipped with jump
packs, and is fielded in the assault role wherever a
hand-to-hand fighting force is needed to storm an
enemy strongpoint.
The 9th Company consists of ten Devastator squads. It
is the most powerfully equipped Company in the
Chapter and is used to bolster defence points and
provide long-range support.
The 3rd to 7th Companies are able to field squads of
Company Veterans in the place of Tactical squads, and
these Brethren are essentially armed in a similar
manner to a Tactical squad.
The 10th Company consists of a number of Scout
squads; youths who have been recruited and partially
transformed into Space Marines. There is no formal
size for this company, as the rate of recruitment is not
fixed.
All of the Companies, with the exception of the
Deathwing, the Ravenwing and the Scout Company
maintain Rhino transports for each of their squads and
officers. The command squad of each Company has its
own Razorback, and more are held centrally by the
Armoury, each being allocated to individual squads as
dictated by the needs of their mission. Drop pods are
held by the fleet. The Deathwing has a permanent
establishment of Land Raiders for carrying Terminator
squads, and more are held in the Armoury for use as
requested by the Company Master on the spot.
Many of the Battle Companies and Reserve Companies
include a number of Dreadnoughts. It is customary for
Dreadnoughts to remain a part of the Company in
which the Warrior served before being interred within
the metal sarcophagus in which he fights, and his
presence bolsters the Company’s fighting strength
considerably. Dreadnoughts assigned to the
Deathwing are particularly revered Warriors, and their
experience combating the Fallen is much valued by the
Chapter’s Masters.
Every combat organization, from the lowliest rebel army
to the most complex Imperial Guard formations, requires
a distinct order of battle and a clear chain of command.
The Adeptus Astartes is no exception to this requirement.
However, unlike the extremely complex and multi-tiered
command structure of the Imperial Guard, the Chapters
of the Adeptus Astartes, by virtue of their small size have
a much more concise and clear chain of command. The
Chapter command hierarchy of the Dark Angels Chapter
follows the outline of the Codex Astartes but differs in a
number of key features.
The nomenclature of the command structure of the Dark
Angel Chapter is a source of much confusion to the
outsider, particularly those adepts in the Administratum
who struggle to keep the various Chapters under
observation. The command nomenclature is two fold.
One is the specific rank given to individual members of
the Chapter as recognition of their services and abilities.
The second is the name of the command positions to
which these individuals are assigned.
Brother-Captain
This is the first step for a promising Dark Angel battle
brother. The majority of brother-captains are promoted
from their previous rank of veteran sergeant or even
sergeant. A disciplined and honourable service within the
company organization over a period of fifty to one
hundred, and a rise through the ranks from veteran
space marine to veteran sergeant years usually precedes
this accomplishment. These Dark Angels have proven
themselves in the field of battle as worthy warriors and
capable commanders with very potent leadership
abilities. Brother-Captains usually belong to one of the
outer rings of the Deathwing.
They are commonly assigned command of small
detachments of a company and small strike forces. They
remain within the company structure and usually remain
in the position of command of the first squad of that
company, where they had previously held command as
its sergeant. This allows a degree of redundancy of
command should the company commander be
unavailable or become a casualty in the field of battle. It
is in such rare occasions that such an individual with the
rank of captain would command an entire company.
Master
This is the earliest command rank that is allowed
official command of a company. Those being promoted
to this level would have completed approximately fifty
to seventy five years of distinguished service as a
captain. Promotion to the rank of Master is preceded
by the ritual ceremony in which the officer is admitted
to the Inner Circle of the Deathwing. Few secrets are
with held from these individuals.
Grandmaster
These are unique and highly motivated individuals with
more than two to three centuries of dedicated service
in the command ranks of the Chapter. They have
proven their battle field abilities many times over and
their unquestioning loyalty has allowed them access in
to the inner most secrets of the Chapter. Grandmasters
command companies, lead strike forces and form the
nerve centre of the Chapter's headquarters where they
remain loosely attached. They provide the command
staff required to plan the strategy and manage the
logistics of carrying them out. Members of
Grandmaster rank also command the various other
segments of the Chapter, including the Armorium,
Librarium, chaplainry and Apothecarium.
Supreme Grandmaster
A unique and utterly dedicated individual, who has
proven to be the master strategist and tactician, deft
diplomat and cunning planner, a man with foresight
and vision, is chosen after many hundred years of
flawless service, to lead the Chapter as its supreme
grandmaster. It is the highest honour the Chapter may
bestow upon any one of its battle brothers. With the
terrible power of the Chapter at his grasp comes the
great responsibility of steering the Chapter in to a
balanced future and that of seeking redemption.
He is usually chosen by the preceding supreme
grandmaster prior to, and appointed upon his
retirement or death. The honorific title of Keeper of the
Truth is given to him along with the Sword of Secrets
and the Lion Helm, artefacts of extreme relevance and
reverence to the Chapter and symbols of office of the
Chapter master.
The headquarters of the chapter is also the personal
office of the Supreme Grandmaster. This organization is
somewhat very similar to the ministries and departments
of the Adeptus Ministorum in their function. The entire
staff of the headquarters comes under the purview of the
Grandmaster of the Household. His is the responsibility of
the smooth function of the nerve centre of the chapter.
The command staff of the headquarters comprises of a
loose group of individual masters and grandmaster that
stand apart from the line battle units. Amongst these are
many officers who have had many centuries of battlefield
experience but have been pulled out of active service due
to battlefield wounds or other reasons. Mixed amongst
them are many young and promising commanders. This
highly varied mix serves to maintain an extremely
dynamic status within the headquarters as the future
operations of the chapter are planned and executed.
Furthermore the presence of independent commanders
allows the rapid creation of independent strike forces
made up from elements of various companies and
dispatched under the command of these individuals on
specific missions without disrupting the command
organization of each company.
In addition to the space marines attached to the
headquarters there are hundreds of human chapter serfs,
scribes and servitors who perform the mundane tasks of
administration, housekeeping and maintenance.
Chain of Command
Each company reports to its own headquarters,
commanded by the Master of that company, usually with
a personal rank of grandmaster. All ten companies of the
battle line report back directly to the chapter
headquarters. The sub-organizations such as the
Librarius, Chaplaincy, Armorium, and fleet command are
all commanded by Grandmasters, all of who not only
report to the chapter headquarters but also have direct
access to the supreme grandmaster.
Standing apart from the specific ranks of command
given to individual commanders, there are a number of
command positions within the chapter that carry with
them a positional title. Some of these are also
attached to an honorific title.
Masters of the Companies
Each of the ten companies that make up the battle line
up of the chapter has a commander who is given the
positional title of Master of that Company. The
command titles of the commanders of the first and
second companies are appropriately altered to read
Master of the Deathwing and Master of the Ravenwing
respectively. These individuals have a highly honoured
task and are responsible for everything concerning
their company. The nomenclature of their personal
ranks may be further modified by their command
position. Thus a commander with the personal rank of
Grandmaster who is placed in command of the
Deathwing company will retain the positional title of
Master of Deathwing and his personal rank may be
modified from Grandmaster to Grandmaster of
Deathwing to honour his command.
Grandmasters of Specific organizations
There are highly specialized sections within the chapter
organization that stand apart from the battle line up.
These sub-organizations carry a positional title of
Grandmaster with their command positions due to
their extremely important roles within the chapter.
Some of these positions also carry with them honorific
titles. Only experienced members with a personal rank
of Grandmaster can be appointed to these positions.
Origins of the Deathwing Organization:
The origin of the Deathwing is clouded in the mists of
time. The Apocrypha of Caliban describes the presence of
Deathwing units within the old legion. However there is
much debate and controversy as to when the name
Deathwing was actually attributed to these elite units.
\The truth remains buried in the sands of time. What is
known is that, clad in the venerable tactical dreadnought
armour, the units of the Deathwing were used with
increasing effectiveness in the role of shock attack by
Lion El Jonson. This tactics was profoundly effective with
the increasing size of mass teleportation assault that
these units developed to a fine art.
Following the heretical betrayals of Horus and Luther, the
disappearance of their Primarch and the destruction of
their home world, the highest surviving commanders of
the legion created a secret conclave. There, amidst total
secrecy, many critical decisions were taken. The splitting
of the legions in to chapters as defined by the Lion was
initiated. Along with this they created a secretive order to
safeguard the horrendous acts of betrayal by their
brethren and all present swore an oath to dedicate their
lives to returning those fallen back to the emperor's light.
This organization was also very appropriately named
Deathwing. They were the bringers of death to the
emperor's enemies and the betrayers of the Primarch.
The fact that the same name was also applied to their
first company served only to confuse outsiders, and
further preserve the secrecy of the organization.
Organization of the Deathwing:
The organization that is the Deathwing is vast and all
encompassing. The ultimate authority within the
Deathwing is the Supreme Grandmaster himself. All
ranking officers of the Dark Angels are members of the
Deathwing. The organization is divided in to various levels
and circles. The levels are officially called Arcanum and
there are seven such arcane within the chapter. In
addition there are also concentric circles within the
Deathwing, which overlap these Arcana. The more central
the circle one belongs to, the higher is their rank within
the Deathwing. This secretive ranking order runs parallel
to that of the chapters command ranks and seniority
within the Deathwing automatically outranks command
ranks. Not all members of the Deathwing are known as
belonging to the organization by the rank and file of the
chapter. To those not inducted in to the Deathwing, this
organization is merely the elite of the elite, and
acceptance in to it brings with it the opportunity for
command as well as entry to the first company.
Entry of a battle brother in the seventh level of the
Arcana Fidelis is celebrated publicly within the chapter.
He is honoured by others as they recognize their
comrade's accomplishment and the inherent honour
and opportunity that accompany this event.
Arcana Surreptius
The various levels of the Deathwing form a parallel
command structure to the standard chapter command
that is visible to all. However, the highly secretive and
compartmentalized nature of the Deathwing is best
reflected by the levels named Arcana Surreptius. These
again form a parallel ladder within the Deathwing
organization, from level seven to level four. Entry
criteria, knowledge imparted, responsibilities and
command authority are exactly the same as their
parallel levels in the Arcana Fidelis. The one major
difference is that recruitment and induction in to the
Arcana Surreptius is accomplished in high secrecy.
Members inducted in to the Arcana Surreptius segment
of the Deathwing keep their induction a secret from all
others except the highest order of the inner circle and
their own mentor Interrogator-chaplains. They are
chosen for specific duties and do not function as a unit.
They usually do not enter the first company, and even
in the rare occasions that they do, their membership
within the Arcana Surreptius remains hidden.
Ascendancy within the Arcana Surreptius is limited to
the fourth level, at which point these members are
given guardianship of some unique and sole
responsibility. The inductees may include apothecaries
tasked with the guardianship of the chapter's geneseed
at secret locations, techmarines who maintain the
landraiders of the first company and even veteran
sergeants within the scout squads who may be tasked
with unique reconnaissance missions.

Arcana Fidelis
The Deathwing organization is divided in to various levels,
known as Arcana. Seven such levels exist. Level seven
being the first one in to which new members are
inducted, and level one the highest, most secretive one.
Entry in to each Arcanum is dependent on the
accomplishments of the battle brothers, and requires
various stringent standards. Entry in to each level is also
accompanied by greater access and knowledge of the
chapter's past and even greater responsibilities.
Annulum Externa, Medianus and Intimus
The stepwise structure of the Arcana, both Fidelis and Surreptius, further falls in to the embrace of annulae. These
are simply referred to as circles and are a practical way of separating the members of the Deathwing depending on
their general role.

Annulum Externa comprises all members of levels five, six and seven of both Arcana. There is a definitive limit to the
knowledge imparted to these members. These are the battle brothers who carry the fight to the enemy, in search of
the fallen and also perform the myriad other tasks that cannot be entrusted to the common battle brother.

Annulum Medianus marks a milestone in each member of the Deathwing. As they enter this level they come to meet
the faces of the fallen. The names of each and every fallen, from the Book of Salvation is made privy to them. Every
fallen who has been captured, killed, repented or still hunted, is memorized by these battle brothers. In the Arcana
Surreptius, this marks the zenith of their rise. It is at this level, that specific missions and tasks are entrusted to the
battle brother. In the Arcana Fidelis, it marks their eligibility for consideration for inclusion in the inner circle.

Arcanum Intimus is the highest circle within the Deathwing. All members of the command staff from the level of
master through to the Supreme Grandmaster are members of this inner circle. Once admitted to this circle, the
members are honoured by a gift of the coveted robes of the Unforgiven. All librarians and chaplains are also
members of the inner circle.

Arcanum Primus is the pinnacle of achievement for a Dark Angel. It is made up of the highest-ranking members
of the Deathwing who decide the direction of the chapter's future.
Admission criteria and process
A minimum of one hundred years of service at the rank of Grandmaster must be achieved before a member of the
Deathwing will be considered for advancement in to the level one, or the inner most of the inner circles. A
significant event took place in the aftermath of the heresy when the Deathwing organization was created. This
was the debate that raged within the inner circle as to the creation of yet another level, the Arcanum Suprema,
consisting only of the Supreme Grandmaster, and the Grandmasters of the Librarium and chaplains. However, in
the end judgment weighed against such a level, as the terrible burden of secrets was deemed too heavy even for
the superhuman constitution of the three individuals. It was also recognized that the concentration of undue
power within a few individuals may affect the chapter in a manner similar to that of the heresy. Thus within each
of the circles all are equal and may speak, challenge or support each other freely.

Knowledge
There is nothing about the chapter that these individuals do not know. It is on their admission that they come to
know the true facts about the outcome of the battle on Caliban ten thousand years ago. Almost all are over awed
by their realization that the arch heretic Luther, brother and betrayer of the lion does indeed live to this date, and
within the confines of the deepest dungeons of the Tower of Angels.

Eligibility
Only a select few within the hierarchy of the Dark Angels chapter are allowed in to this level, all of whom have
reached the level of Grandmaster and have lead a distinguished and unblemished record of service. The venerable
members of the innermost circle are as follows:

Supreme Grandmaster of the Dark Angels Chapter, Supreme Grandmaster Azrael

Grandmaster of Librarians, Grandmaster Ezekiel

Grandmaster of Chaplains, Grandmaster Sapphon

Master of the Deathwing Company, Grandmaster Belial

Master of the Ravenwing Company, Grandmaster Sammael

Grandmaster of the Forge, Grandmaster Fortius

Grandmaster Helix Primus, Grandmaster Nathaniel
Grandmaster of the Household, Grandmaster Turael
Grandmaster of the Tower, Grandmaster Aradiel
Grandmaster of Victuals, Grandmaster Mephistophel
Grandmaster of the Fleet, Grandmaster Apollyon

Training and Deployment

At this heightened level of command, little training is required, as the entire lives of these individuals have been
dedicated towards their goal of serving the chapter in general and commanding their various organizations in
specific. These men singularly share the ultimate secrets and the unrelenting burden of deciding the future of their
chapter. They have no individual mentors, but always have the council of their fellow Grandmasters of the first
level. Theirs is a lonely task, made easier only by the knowledge that they share it with ten other super humans
who walk their paths simultaneously. These Dark Angels, rejoice in their chapter's victories, anguish in their
defeats, pray for every redeemed soul and till their death stand together in brotherhood, yet walk their path in
solitude.
Commander of the Librarius: Ezekiel
Command Title: Grandmaster of Librarians
Honorific Title: Keeper of the Book of
Salvation
Overview
The Librarius is the organization that commands the
chapter's librarians and associated individuals. The
Librarius has its own hierarchical order and its own
quarters, command centres and storage facilities.
Included within their purview is the chapter's main
library, which contains not only the ancient texts of the
chapter but also all manner of arcane artefacts of value
to the librarians. Another facility under their exclusive
jurisdiction is the chapter's main and secondary
astropathic chambers from which telepathic
communications flow.
Complement
The total strength of the Librarius varies from time to
time, but uniquely for the Dark Angels chapter, they
maintain a rather higher number of librarians than most
codex chapters. The main reason for this being the
additional burden relating to their past, as described
below. The secrecy surrounding the Dark Angels chapter
limits the identification of such individuals except for
those who have gained fame in the field of battle.
Communications:
The Astropaths who maintains the astropathic
chambers on the Tower of Angels come under the
direct command of the Librarius. Furthermore, the
librarians act as critical conduits in long-range
battlefield communications and within their fleets. The
lower ranking librarians are mostly used for such
communications tasks.
Battlefield Psychic Assault
All librarians are trained to varying degrees in the use
of their psychic power in the field of battle. Their
effectiveness depends on their experience and psychic
potential, but needless to say Dark Angel librarians are
awesome adversaries in battle. They may use their
powers in a simple force attack to smite their enemies
or in a more devious way to undermine and weaken
the resolution of their enemies. They also may take to
the battle with potent force, weapons which can be
used to channel their psychic force in close combat
with devastating consequences to the enemy.

The full complement is as follows:

Grandmaster of Librarians: Ezekiel

Epistolary: 7
Codicier: 9
Lexicanium: 16

Duties
The functions of the librarians of the Dark Angels chapter
are numerous. The more important ones are listed below:

Training and recruitment:

Psychic assessment and mind scanning is an essential
part of assessment of new recruits. Not only do recruits
need to have purity of mind and clarity of thought but
also the ability to undergo the rigors of space marine
training. The librarians' assessment becomes crucial in
the selection process. Furthermore, senior librarians also
partake in the training of younger librarians and
Astropaths.

Interrogation:
The librarians play an essential part in the interrogation
of suspects, aliens and heretics. In most cases, they are
able to simply read their quarry's thoughts and thereby
provide intelligence rapidly to the commanders in the
field. Other, more adept adversaries need the combined
strengths of the Interrogator-Chaplain's blades and the
soul weakening efforts of the librarians. Only the higher-
ranking librarians, particularly the Epistolaries perform
these functions.
Commander of the Chaplaincy: Sapphon
Command Title: Grandmaster of
Chaplains
Honorific Title: Finder of Secrets
Overview
The Chaplaincy is the spiritual centre of every space
marine chapter. Tasked with maintaining the spiritual
purity and faith in the emperor and their Primarch these
fiercely dedicated warriors lead from the fore of their
brothers in battle. Armed with their badge of office, the
Crozius Arcanum and protective Rosarius, they don their
characteristic black power armour for battle and covered
by bone white robes. The chaplains of the Dark Angels
have a further dark duty, one that relates to the treachery
of their brothers ten thousand years ago.
Interrogation:
They guard the dungeons and the secrets hidden within
the Tower of Angels. They practice their duty with
dedication and armed with the tools of their trade, the
Blades of Reason they perform their rites of salvation
on any of their captured brethren who fell from the
grace of the emperor and the lion ten thousand years
ago.
Battlefield Combat:
Interrogator-Chaplains are fiercely dedicated warriors
and are all but unstoppable in the assault. Their
rousing speeches and pious dedication tends to
stimulate their battle brothers to greater deeds. Every
Dark Angel commander appreciates their presence on
the battlefield.

Complement
The full strength of the Chaplaincy is in a constant state
of flux. Young space marine warriors who show promise
and fierce dedication to the Lion and the Emperor are
picked out as potential future chaplains and undergo
further training as chaplain-adepts under their more
accomplished brethren. All the chaplains come under the
overall command of the grandmaster of chaplains and
are one is seconded to each line company. Once
assigned to a particular company, they usually remain
there for the rest of their combat lives. Others form a
pool from which they may be detached to lead strike
forces on highly confidential missions, or rotated through
various duties in the tower of angels including
guardianship of the dungeons and secret chambers and
interrogation of the enemy and redemption of their fallen
brethren.

The full complement is as follows:

Grandmaster of Chaplains: Sapphon

Interrogator-Chaplains: 20
(including those assigned to the line companies)
Chaplain-Adepts 9

Duties
The functions of the chaplains of the Dark Angels chapter
are numerous. The more important ones are listed below:

Spiritual purity and Morale conditioning:

The chaplains play a leading role in the maintenance of
morale and spiritual integrity of their combat brethren.
Each interrogator-chaplain assigned to their respective
company takes as his duty the maintenance of mental
discipline, faith in the emperor and the spiritual purity of
his battle brothers.

Training and recruitment:

The chaplains play an integral part in the spiritual
training as well as combat training of new recruits and
weeding out those whose mental stamina is weak and
may be a potential source of threat to the chapter.
This section of the Fandex details the forces used by the
Dark Angels – their weapons, the units, and some
famous special characters that you can choose, such as
Supreme Grand Master Azrael. Each entry describes the
unit and gives the rules to use them in your games of
Warhammer 40,000.
This section is sub-divided into two parts. The first part
describes all of the troops and vehicles fielded by the
Dark Angels Chapter, as well as the special characters,
while the second part details the Dark Angels armoury of
weapons and equipment.
Stubborn
Stubborn resistance against impossible odds by
members of the Dark Angels is legendary. All Dark
Angels automatically pass any Morale checks they
have to take, even if faced by a situation or opponent
that would normally cause them to fail. However, such
as their stubbornness that they will keep on fighting
even when discretion may prove the better of valour
and so they may not voluntarily fall back from close
combat. Note that this does not include tests for
pinning.
The Ravenwing
Dark Angels of the Ravenwing practise and train
continuously in the use of the vehicles they ride. They
may re-roll the dice if they fail a Difficult Terrain test. In
addition, they are trained to ‘jink’ their vehicles from
side to side. This allows them a 6+ invulnerable save
against any enemy shooting attacks as long as they
moved in their previous movement phase. This save
may be taken instead of their normal armour save, not
in addition to it. Land Speeders and attack bikes are
allowed to take this special saving throw, even though
Land Speeders are vehicles and therefore do not
normally get a save.
Hunting the Fallen
In the eyes of the Dark Angels, the only way they can
rid themselves totally of their secret shame and restore
their honour and trust within the Emperor’s eyes is if all
the Fallen Dark Angels are found and made to repent
or are slain. However, since the Fallen were cast
through the warp to all corners of space and time, this
in no mean task for the Dark Angels. Unlike the
Inquisitors and Grey Knights of the Imperium, whose
rule is to root out the agents of Chaos at work within
the galaxy, the Dark Angels are only concerned with
finding the Fallen of their Chapter. Although the
Chapter will be called upon for many different missions
for the Imperium, the search for their Fallen comrades
is a constant quest that they could never relinquish.
UNIQUE EQUIPMENT
You will find that some items of equipment are unique
to particular characters or units, while others are used
by more than one unit. When an item is unique, it is
detailed in the entry for its owner, and where an item is
not unique it is detailed in the wargear section. A good
example is the Sword of Secrets, which is a potent
weapon born by Azrael, Supreme Grand Master of the
Dark Angels. As such, its rules are detailed in Azrael’s
entry. Azrael also carries a bolt pistol, but as other
Space Marines do too, the rules for this weapon are to
be found in the wargear section.
Cypher, one of the Fallen, continually draws the
attention of the Dark Angels. He is believed responsible
for many acts of instability across the Imperium, and is
hunted by the Dark Angels with zeal even greater than
that reserved for 'normal' Fallen.
Knights of the Order
If the opposing army includes Cypher and his Fallen
Angels unit then a secretive organisation within the
Inner Circle known as the Knights of the order
mysteriously arrive with complete autonomy and drive
to capture the traitorous band of renegades. To
represent this the squad can enter the battle at any
given time within 12” of Cypher and his squad of Fallen
Angels. In order to capture Cypher he must be slain in
close combat and fail his special ‘final saving throw’. If
Cypher is captured then the Knights of the Order vanish
as miraculously as they appeared.
The Knights of the Order will attempt to follow up every
rumour and clue concerning the Fallen and will appear
and disappear in the same manner to retrieve this
information.
Allies
The Dark Angels refuse to fight alongside non-humans
except under the most dire of circumstances. Because
of this, unless you are playing a special scenario or
game that is part of a campaign, then the Dark Angels
will not fight as part of any army containing
detachments that include any of the following troops:
Ogryns, Ratlings, any non-human race. In addition, the
Dark Angels army may not include any allies from the
Heroes of the Imperium list unless you are playing a
special scenario, though in this case it is because they
don’t want the outsiders ‘sticking their noses’ into the
Dark Angels’ private business.