Humanity's Shield
The Aegis Imperialis Adeptus Astartes Chapter
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Homeworld The fortress-monastery of the Aegis Imperialis is located on the civilised world of Kahrstein, the fourth planet in the system of Hurai located on the edges of the Ultima Segmentum. The planet's surface is dominated by an immense super-continent, surrounded by numerous scattered islands. The terrain ranges from lush, tropical forests, to sandswept relic-cities of bygone eras, to the permanently ice-bound poles. There is an extremely significant level of industrialisation with enormous, fortified city-states dotting the central landmass, wherein resides the bulk of the planet's population; each city-state is connected to the wider Imperium by its own space port. The planet's ecosystems and consequently its food supplies are slowly regaining equilibrium after an immense planetwide climactic cataclysm caused by the raging machine spirits of numerous manufactoria rendered 14% of the planet's landmass uninhabitable for the next fifty millennia and caused the surface temperature to drop twelve degrees over the last century. As a result a heavy Adeptus Mechanicus presence has been formally drafted to the planet, and ensures increasingly innovative solutions to energy supply, pollution and waste. Abhumans were eradicated from the planet in the late 40th millennium, and mandatory genetic screening proscribed by the Aegis Imperialis has ensured genetic deviancy is low in spite of the taint of radiation. A number of programmes are in place to exterminate the more dangerous flora and Xenos that inhabit the planet, particularly the Orks and Gnarled Ones that inhabit a series of tunnels beyond the city-states. The Aegis Imperialis take no part in such pogroms, leaving such dangers to harden and strengthen the populations from which they draw recruits. The planet has two moons; Mond and Hafentor. Mond's settlements consist of multiple domes housing rich, verdant gardens and even simulated woods comprised of flora and fauna native to exotic paradise worlds from all over the galaxy. Hafentor is the site of the region's main spaceyard and drydocks, utilised by the Aegis Imperialis fleet and on occasion the Imperial Navy. The Chapter maintains close links to the human population of Kahrstein, keeping a high but strict hand on its administration, security, policing and military tithing, which it enforces despite the planet technically being exempt. Neophytes are chosen almost exclusively from the planet's population and the Marines have been known to work closely with the Planetary Defense Force in defense of their homeworld and with the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy in defense of others. The Chapter has been surprisingly co-operative with Inquisitorial investigation, and despite a questionable alliance with the Radical Inquisitor Hazelhough [cf/ Inquisitorial Executions; Hazelhough; Classified], this and their subsequent penitent crusade has done much to allay suspicion. | |
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Origins The Aegis Imperialis Chapter was formed in M36 as a 22nd Founding Chapter from Imperial Fists geneseed. Originally the Chapter strayed some distance from the Codex Astartes, being a crusading Chapter that sustained the bulk of its fighting forces within its formidable fleet; the running of their homeworld left in the hands of the aristocratic classes, their battles won independently from other Imperial forces with fanaticism, bolt pistol and chainsword. Subsequent to the Sacking of Kahrstein the tactics and mindset have more closely adopted the loyal, dependable stoicism of their Brother Chapters. The Sacking of Kahrstein led to a tumultuous upheaval in the dogma and training methods of the Aegis Imperialis, and as a result is an event known as The Syphrelaton to the Chapter itself; the event which pounded the Chapter into the fighting formation it is today. While most of the Chapter pursued a crusade of honour against the Tau, Kahrstein's people had seen increasingly tumultuous crises. Due to a lack of maintenance of the machine spirits inhabiting the varied mechanisms of industry, Kahrstein was still reeling from a series of apocalyptic industrial disasters across the South of its landmass, which sparked largescale anti-Imperial uprisings. The resulting anarchy on an Astartes homeworld was a lesion the few Aegis Imperialis units remaining on the planet refused to have on their honour. They responded swiftly, the numbers of the rebels dwindling as strike after strike washed streaming mobs from the cities with no losses to the Marines. The cults were ill-equipped and disorganised, but with time the megatonnes of chemicals released into the atmosphere were writhing increasingly throughout the entire planet's atmosphere and leeching into its foodstuffs, causing widespread illness. It was in this context that the real threat was spat from the Warp: a small coalition of World Eater and Death Guard Traitor Marines emerged in-system. Whether the Death Guard had engineered the meltdowns and pollution that had sparked the revolt was unclear, but in the aftermath of the conflict it became obvious that the pandemic had carefully selected PDF and other security units and members of Kahrstein's ruling classes, and almost certainly was the result of the Plague Marines' machinations. The Traitor Marines immediately crippled one of the pair of Strike Cruisers left in defense of Kahrstein and forced the other to retreat, gaining orbital superiority at a stroke. Corrupted Thunderhawks dotted the skies of the planet's scattered space ports as the Traitor Marines moved to close Chaos' fist on those cities blighted by plague, intending to use them as staging posts for their main offensives. With their arrival, the entire underclass of abhumans rose as one against their rulers, threatening to tear the belly of the world open and expose its innards to the invaders. As the battles raged within the blighted streets the Imperial presence was forced to abandon its offensive suppression of uprisings in favour of defending those cities which remained largely uncontaminated. The righteous zeal of the Aegis Imperialis demonstrated an unmatched bravery, but time and again led to disorganised lines of defense as squads scored heroic breakthroughs and endured in glorious stands only to find themselves isolated after pushing on, alone and outnumbered, amongst the twisted, hate-filled hordes and insane, murderous Traitors. The few remaining loyalist PDF units, halved in number by conflict and contagion, were placed under the direct command of the Captain leading the defense: Baron Sturvolk, Master of the Arsenal. Sturvolk was as well noted for his tactical innovativeness as his personal skill-at-arms, and his men were trained in retaining the tactical versatility for which the Space Marines are renowned. Recognising the futility of maintaining a dogma and seeking glories that together brought annihilation and failure, and knowing that time would bring with it the return of the retreated Strike Cruiser at the head of the rest of the Aegis Imperialis, Sturvolk organised and armed his Marines as a Codex formation and liaised with PDF and Naval officers. The invaders soon found they faced a force dedicated to combined warfare; Sturvolk thwarting his enemies with a preternatural ability to judge when to hold, when to fall back and when to inflict a bold incursion. Enemy formations who believed themselves on the brink of victory found themselves stymied by cunningly crafted defenses, their communications and supplies severed by unseen infiltrators, the surprise total when devastating counterattacks were unleashed from unpredictable fronts by armour, Assault Squad or aerial bombardment; the enemy's muster and the weaknesses in their formation always perfectly estimated, each strike reaping a horrendous toll. Soon it became clear that even these measures were not enough to halt the tide of Chaos, detachments gradually becoming ground down by the attrition inflicted by gibbering mutants and their power-armoured masters. Plague Marines, Khorne Berzerkers and - it was rumoured - even Daemons, were at a significant advantage, repeatedly breaking the frontlines of Imperial defense but being denied the ability to pursue individual units as they were pushed back by the steady fire from lascarbine and boltgun unleashed along meticulously selected firing lanes. And so it was with serendipitous timing that Sturvolk's reconnaisance element, drawn from his own Scouts and the light companies of Kahrstinean regiments, located Essidius the Everlasting, leader of the Khornate warband, exposed along with his highest lieutenants as they indulged in the worst kinds of barbarism against a defenceless hab-zone's terrified population. Sturvolk drew about himself a small veteran strike force, intending to eliminate the command structure of the warband in a single near-suicidal action. The Land Raider Stormhammer led the offense. Many wounds would score her hide, but she would endure and bring her Captain to face his adversary on the battlefield. Many brave men and Marines would meet the Emperor that day, but at the end of it The Everlasting lay dead, his skull shattered by Sturvolk's own thunderhammer. Sturvolk too would breathe his last before nightfall, silent, standing and immobile in his Tactical Dreadnought Armour. Whether he was witness to that immense drop pod assault, to the return of the Chapter's main strength and the saviour of Kahrstein, to the very vindication of his actions, none could say. The returning Marines pierced the contagion of cultists and shattered the Chaos Marines' small supporting fleet, harrying those that attempted to leave the planet. Many of the Death Guard attempted to escape, their treacherous Khornate allies falling upon them in their now uncontained lust for skulls, but few survived the batteries of the Aegis' Strike Cruisers. Of the fate or intentions of whichever dark champion led the Nurgle faction, nought was heard.
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Combat Doctrine and Organisation There are now few divergences from the Codex amongst the Aegis Imperialis due to The Syphrelaton. They adhere closely in number and organisation to the Codex Astartes, their fervour hardening into an unbreakable stoicism. The Chapter has developed a greater disposition towards long and short-ranged firefights, shunning glory for glory's sake in favour of valuing the appropriate application of the correct force at the proper place, and this drive for flexibility leads to innovation being prized. The Chapter has emerged as a formation that is now not merely capable of defense as well as attack but of fluidly combining them in intricate plans that thwart and wrong-foot their foes. While most Chapters typically induct a Marine into the First Company only after he has served as a sergeant, in the Imperialis the reverse is true: each sergeant has a long and distinguished career as a scout, a brother-marine and as a veteran, having gained considerable experience in all extremes of war, and in the course of doing so displayed a tactical brilliance on the battlefield, before being allowed to lead his brothers into battle. Excepting Scout reconnaisance units, few bike squadrons are maintained throughout the Chapter; Assault Squads strongly favouring the use of jump pack or land speeder in their various roles. The reason for this is unknown, but has been the case for as long as records have existed of the Chapter. Notable for Space Marine Chapters, the Aegis Imperialis will incorporate non-Marine allies into their battleplans, and peculiarly consider themselves a particularly useful tool within the wider capacities of man's engine of war rather than seeking out personal aggrandisement at the cost of military effectiveness. This is a direct result of The Syphrelaton's influence on the beliefs of Chapter Master Pardus on how his Chapter should function. He established, against the advice of his most senior Captains, that Sturvolk's use of non-enhanced humans demonstrated their resolve and ability, and that the Chapter would benefit from better understanding with and co-operation between the myriad forces of the Imperium, so easily overlooked by the enhanced Space Marines. | |
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Beliefs There seem to be few differences between The Aegis Imperialis' beliefs and those of Codex chapters. They recognise the Emperor is a powerful man, not a God, with awe-inspiring foresight, scientific genius and an enduring passion for humanity's crafts. Although Dorn is held to be pre-eminent in his teachings each Loyalist Primarch is afforded almost equal measures of respect, the Chaplains reading selected passages from relevant works and quotations of each as part of every ritual. They believe strongly that only a united Imperium can stave off the darkness of the Xenos, the mutant and the heretic, and that there is much to be learned from all of the Imperium's warriors. The Chapter prizes the values of dependability and loyalty highly, affording respect to Astartes and non-Astartes allies alike; going so far as to stress the importance of the citizens of the Imperium in its continuing functioning. The Chapter values stern, implacable determination and independent thinking that guides sudden, shifting and shocking assaults on the field of battle, attitudes emphasised strongly by its Chaplains. The Chapter venerates genetic purity highly, acknowledging man as the perfect being and regarding any quirk or abberation as being essentially traitorous to that ideal. There is as a result a strong current of distrust for Psykers, the Chapter generally regarding them as treacherous and barely tolerable necessities, even regarding the Librarians in their own ranks with no little suspicion. As a result they maintain few Librarians, and Chapter Law decrees they may only command in their own right when battlefield casualties strips a battleforce of all other senior officers. This prejudice against genetic imperfection extends to an overwhelming hatred for abhumans, whom the Chapter persecute with righteous wrath. There have been instances where the Aegis Imperialis has refused to fight alongside forces which incorporated even mundane and stable abhumans such as Ogryns and Ratlings, stipulating their summary execution as the only reasonable grounds upon which an alliance could be built. The usefulness of such a powerful military force as a Space Marine Chapter means such demands are typically met. | |
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Geneseed The Progenitor of the Aegis Imperialis Space Marine Chapter is Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists. They therefore lack the Betcher's gland and sus-an membrane, as with all other Imperial Fist successors. Otherwise they maintain a degree of purity that is laudable for any sons of Dorn, their geneseed almost identical to the Imperial Fists and maintained with a commendable rigour by the Chapter's apothecaries and the fastidiousness of the Chapter's recruiting parties. |
