Lightning Sons

**This article, Lightning Sons, was written by Hrusch. It may be linked to any page without asking for the author's permission.**

## Lightning Sons

Lightning Sons armourial.

Brother Caelic of the Chapter's 4th Cohort, 6th Battleline Maniple.

## Space Marine Chapter

### **Allegiance**

Imperium of Man
(*Fedelitas Constantus*)

### **Founding**

13th "Dark" Founding or 23rd "Sentinel" Founding (Disputed; Unconfirmed)

### **Successor of**

Unknown, possibly Chimeric
(Disputed; Unsubstantiated)

### **Colours**

Bone and red, accented with bronze

The **Lightning Sons** (High Gothic: *Filiatus Ignis*) are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and lineage, known to be composed of staunch and aloof Imperial traditionalists. It is widely agreed upon that the Chapter was formed as part of the 23rd Founding in the late 37th Millennium, however the lack of any verifiable record makes confirmation next to impossible.

With their history nebulous and origins otherwise occluded, the Lightning Sons possess a fanatical drive to record, retain and preserve historical information, most importantly information pertaining to themselves and their Chapter. Each Battle-Brother is required to carry a *Liber Invigilata* (Low Gothic: *Guarded Book*) upon his person, and seldom leaves his side. It acts as a testament to his life, his victories and glories throughout centuries of service; a carefully woven tapestry, to be added to the *Chronicon Magna* upon his eventual demise.

With tactical precision and a fearless resolve do the Lightning Sons wage war on the enemies of the Imperium. They wholeheartedly strive to embody the vision birthed during the Imperium's long-dead age of golden glories, for they believe that only through the enlightenment of the Emperor's Imperial Truth, and the ultimate denial of divinity, can Mankind finally make manifest His ancient dream.

The Lightning Sons have since the 38th Millennium been the guardians of the Eagle's Gate, egress point of the single stable warp corridor that connects the Uridian Isola to the greater Imperium. Upon their homeworld of Navaern the Chapter wards the *Pharus Astropathica*, the ancient psychic beacon that maintains the vital bridge across the dark miasma of the Whispering Deeps, said to be powered by techno-arcana birthed during the Dark Age of Technology.

With the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum in 999.M41, and the launch of the Lord Regent's Indomitus Crusade, the Lightning Sons have continued the bitter fight for humanity's survival across a hundred worlds, having recently and successfully defended their home Sub-sector from the encroaching tendrils of the Ruinous Powers.

## **Chapter History**

"*Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.*"
—Unknown Terran Philosophant

A prideful and bullish Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, the Lightning Sons have, over their four millennia of confirmed history, always been ready to defend the Imperium. To push back the wicked tendrils of the ever-dark, and to cement and preserve Imperial dominion wherever it may be challenged.

Though the Lightning Sons have a long and glorious history of service in the Emperor's name, their exact origins and earliest days are obscured and uncertain. Suspected to have been established as part of the 23rd Founding, vague references of their service in the litanies and chronicles of other Chapters and Imperial Adepta prove that they have existed and fought the enemies of Mankind since before even then.

The gaps in Imperial records concerning the Chapter's origins are so extensive that the Lightning Sons don't even know the origins of their own gene-seed, with the line between myth and fact becoming terribly blurred. Chapters such as the Tome Keepers, Knights of Eternity and even the Rampagers have been put forward as possible progenitors, with some going to far as to suggest the long dead Praetoria Penitent, a Blackshield warband active in the Uridian Isola during the Horus Heresy.

However it is more than likely that these speculations have simply been based on some observed similarities in livery, iconography, trappings, cultural quirks or character between these Chapters and the Lightning Sons, which has given birth to likely unfounded assumptions by certain scholars of the Adeptus Terra and Deparmento Stratagos.

Ongoing attempts have been made by elements of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Magos Biologis, to at least identify the origin of the Chapter's gene-seed, but even these have met with universal failure, with more than one attempt ending abruptly under mysterious circumstances, or a complete and utter loss of recovered data.

Most troubling of all, is that it is unclear whether the mysteries concerning the Lightning Sons' origins are due to deliberate tempering by an Imperial Adepta, or whether simply lost due to clerical error. The fact that no existent Imperial record contains any verifiable evidence of the Chapter prior to the 37th Millennium, and the absence of any and all record from the Chapter's own extensive archive, points to a number of disturbing possibilities.

The first verifiable appearance of the Chapter within Imperial records was during the First Aephidic War of the late-37th Millennium, where in tandem with elements of the Royal Herculeans Chapter, the Lightning Sons brought the recalcitrant Aephidian Sector back under Imperial control. For their part in the conflict, the Chapter was awarded the world of Navaern as fife-in-perpetuity by the High Twelve, and given the recruitment rights of it and the Inaeon System.

They are stalwart traditionalists among the Space Marines, and staunch protectors of the Imperium's order and authority. This steadfast traditionalism has often found the Lightning Sons labeled as 'purists' by their brethren. Adhering not only to the precepts of the Civitas Imperialis, the Lightning Sons are said to still follow ancient doctrina taken from the Principia Belicosa, and other texts and treaties dated to the lost golden days of the Great Crusade.

Following and propagating the dictates of the Civitas Imperialis to an almost fanatical degree, the Lightning Sons have found few allies among those Chapters with a more bellicose or barbaric constitution, whose forms of warfare and cultural practices are either deemed unnecessarily destructive, or outright savage by the Chapter, such as the Subjugators or the Carcharodons Chapters respectively.

Relations between the Lightning Sons and other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes declined further following the 'Kindeath'. Suggested to have occurred during the 40th Millennium, the event has been surprisingly ill recorded, given the zeal of the Chapter's archival doctrine. The event caused not only internal strife within the Chapter, but saw it become estranged from its allies, both abroad and at home.

Relic patterns of Power Armour and ancient weapons of war once abundant, were suddenly spread thin, reserved for the veteran fraternities of the Chapter's elite 1st Cohort. Ancient doctrina, followed since the Chapter's earliest record, were suddenly altered or utterly abandoned.

Darker still, were the rumours of 'moral and spiritual degradation' endemic within the Chapter. Though perhaps exaggerated by begrudged adepts of the Adeptus Ministorum, there existed grains of truth beneath the rumour mongering. Hidden behind closed doors, and occluded to the rest of the Imperium, the Chapter suffered from sudden and rampant genetic degradation. Suspected to be the result of high yield Warp exposure, mutations in the Chapter's genetic stock spread like wildfire in the Kindeath's aftermath.

Caused by an aberrant mutation in the Omophagea, the Chapter was slowly being consumed. Its warriors were increasingly given to bouts of suicidal frenzy, driven by deep set feelings of unexplainable remorse and rage. As such, Chapter Medicae termed the mutation the 'Moritat's Malady', for so alike were they to the Moritats of the old Legions. In an attempt to combat the rampant genetic degradation of the Chapter's gene-stock, desperate and bloody measures were implemented.

Mentioned sparsely and vaguely within the Chapter's archival records, the *Act of Decimation* was the Chapter's answer to their rampant genetic degradation. Afflicted Battle-Brothers who were not slain in combat outright, or taken by their mutations wholesale, were returned to the Chapter's Fortress-Monastery and sequestered deep within its labyrinthine catacombs of ancient munitions stores and forgotten armourium cathedra, to await their execution.

The lack, and possible censure, of any record pertaining to such a hallowed event as the Kindeath, or the subsequent genetic mutations in its aftermath, have given rise, and then credence to other, fouler rumours abound the Adeptus Astartes and other Imperial Adepta. Rumours of sedition, of dark pacts and bloody betrayal. For a Chapter that covets the recording of its own history, the glaring holes in its archived chronology have beggared questions from external observers for over a millennia.

### **Era Indomitus**

"*And lo, as the veil is drawn on the last age of Man, the Despoiler shall gather his hosts once more. Where twelve times before the Faithful have cast him out, now shall he prove their undoing. For Man has grown weak, despairing at the woes of the galaxy. Where are the Faithful now? Where are the men that stood beside our Lord the Immortal Emperor and at His side conquered all? Gone. They are less than ashes in the cold, cold earth. At the Thirteenth hour shall the Despoiler return. All Humanity shall tremble, for lo, his doom is upon him.*"
—The last Oration of the Heretic Archivist of the Gethsemene Reclusium
So ticked the final minute of the thirteenth hour. Returned to the materium for a thirteenth time, Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster of Chaos and heir to the Archtraitor Horus Lupercal, let slip his Legions. In a fury of war hitherto seen since the dark days of the Horus Heresy, the Despoiler unmade the Cadian Gate, and ravaged the ancient stellar-realm of Ultramar. In so doing, the psychic backlash of such indiscriminate death and destruction rent the Galaxy in twain. Like a jagged scar the Great Rift tore across the Galaxy, from the Hadex Anomaly in the far flung Eastern Fringe, to the Eye of Terror itself, transforming everything its wake into a hell-scape of madness.

It was in the dread time immediately preceding the birth of the Great Rift, that the Lightning Sons faced their darkest hour. Beaten and battered by the exigencies of war, the Chapter had largely withdrawn from wider combat operations, gathering upon Navaern to mend their wounds; to recruit, rearm, and give rites to their dead. To this end, the Chapter was ill-placed to halt the sudden and rapid erosion of Imperial control over the Uridian Sector, and stop the bloodshed that quickly followed, as the Night of a Thousand Rebellions descended upon the Segmentum Pacificus.

Chaos reigned as the Civitas Imperialis so hard fought for by the Lightning Sons crumbled to ash. Brushfire revolts swept the sector from end to end. No world was spared the fires of rebellion, not even the Chapter's own homeworld of Navaern. Death cults and renegade warbands, cultivated in the Chapter's blind ignorance put to paid the once inviolate peace of Navaern, in a single night of blood and death. The unthinkable had become a stark and terrifying reality, even for the post-human Astartes of the Lightning Sons.

Plans laid decades prior finally came to fruition, as the Lightning Sons found themselves completely tied up; duty bound to contest their homeworld and the Eagle's Gate, whilst the rest of the Uridian Isola burnt. From the Sepulchine Stars, warfleets of the Apostarch Azreth Krul's slipped their moorings and bursting from the tumultuous tides of the Immaterium in a three-pronged formation. It was a barbed trident aimed at the heart of the Uridian Isola, and it drove home with speed and ferocity.

*Desolator* and *Repulsive*-class capital ships thundered through scattered Imperial defence pickets with all guns blazing. Wave upon wave of Heretic fighter craft, and flocks of Heldrakes, spiraled through the void, while Space Hulks bore down upon defence platforms like malevolent moons. World after world fell to the invading Chaos forces, their defenders butchered in bloody campaigns and their frantic refugees streaming through the void towards Navaern. Precious few ships made it to the light of twin suns of the Eagle's Gate, for the Warp roiled and churned. The fickle tides of the empyrean pitched Imperial voidcraft into fanged whirlpools of madness, even as they hastened the Traitor warships on their way.

Backed against the crumbling parapets of the Eagle's Gate, the once inviolate peace of the Inaeon System had become a maelstrom of chaotic warfare, as Imperial holdouts fought bitter, bloody struggles against the ever increasing tide of Chaos. Remembered latterly as the War of Sighs, the undermanned and ill-equipped Lightning Sons found themselves pushed back against the walls of their own fortress-monastery, by the tides of the Apostarch Azreth Krul, bringing forth ancient and terrible weapons of war from the depths of the Labyrinth.

## **Notable Campaigns**

* **Aephidic War (961-995.M37)** - Largely left to neglect and degradation during the Age of Apostasy, the Lords Mercantile of the Aephidian Sector had steadily become disillusioned with the Pax Imperialis proffered and promised by Holy Terra. Beset by Xenos raiders and heretical reavers, the lords of Aephidia readily and eagerly listened to the offers of friendship and mutual cooperation given out by the Votaanite UrHypek Mercantile Conglomerate. Following initial failures and setbacks by Imperial forces at securing a firm foothold in the region, the Lightning Sons, a hitherto unknown Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, claimed the first major victory at the Second Battle of Laeran. Conducting a concentrated orbital assaults' via Drop Pod, and supported by Thunderhawks and Storm Eagle Gunships, the Lightning Sons made landfall, fording a beachhead upon the heavily defended world. Outnumbered and dogged by their enemy, the Chapter held their landing zones for twenty seven straight hours, until Imperial forces were able to clear a path planet-side, and seize the breach created by the Chapter's assault. By the time the war had reached its zenith, countless Astra Militarum Regimentum had been redirected and funneled into the warzone, complimented by elements of the Royal Herculeans Chapter, and a demi-legio of the *Legio Nurex*. After thirty four years of intense fighting, victory was finally achieved with the bloody excoriation of the UrHypek Hold World of Marzur. Displaying their apt ability at conducting combat operations under the duress of *Zone Mortalis* warfare, the Lightning Sons spearheaded the breaking of UrHypek's defences, fighting bloody, prolonged subterranean street-by-street combat actions against UrHypek warrior-kin and battle constructs. In the wake of Marzur's breaking, the remnants of the UrHypek Ancestor Core became a much sought after prize for the members of the Martian Mechanicus attached to the Imperial warhost. So much so, that a brief schism erupted in the rad-wastes of UrHypek's annihilated homeworld, over ownership of this coveted piece of technology. In the end, and only by the intervention of the Lightning Sons themselves, the schism came to a close, and ownership of the core ultimately fell to them. Debate raged between the Lightning Sons, Royal Herculeans and the warhosts General Staff, who met in conclave to decide the devices fate. Ultimately, the council ended with the near unanimous decision to eradicate the Ancestor Core. Few knew in truth what ill turns tampering with such a device might bring, much to the chagrin of the Magi-Adepts of Carthagus Minoris. For their part in the First Aephidic War, the Lightning Sons were granted the world of Navaern in the neighbouring Uridian Isola as fife-in-perpetuity by the High Twelve, and tasked with safeguarding the Eagle's Gate warp-nexus.

* **Hurean Depths Crusade (448-504.M39)** - Launched into the failing Norma Pacificus region in the northern Segmentum, the unofficial crusade struggled to find its identity either as an Imperial Crusade or a War of Faith, despite the overwhelming number of supporters, including an astounding more-than-ten Astartes Chapters, including the Lighting Sons, Royal Herculeans, Warstalkers, and others. The powerful momentum seen leading up to the crusade, and in its earliest phases, began to falter after several decades of hard fighting, in part due to how Crusade command continued to clash with the Ecclesiarchal leadership of Cardinal Abelard Serpilon al-Badadid, leading to ever increasing supply shortages, reroutes of Imperial war material and general chaotic confusion come about through petty bickering and personal politicking. Morale continued to plummet until even Astartes Chapters involved began to bicker over supply chains and supposed slights against personal and Chapter honour. Ultimately, 75 years of war collapsed under its own requirements, leading directly into the Heterdoxy Crisis.

* **Heterodoxy Crisis (504–525.M39)** - The Heterodoxy Crisis was an extended schism between the Astartes Chapters operating within the Norma Pacificus Region as part of the larger Hurean Depths Crusade, that ignited following a period of increased tension brought about by a multitude of varying factors. The Lightning Sons under the command of their Praetor Ianius Janarex found themselves drawn away from the battlefronts of the crusade, by honour-bound oath sworn to the Royal Herculeans. Intending only to douse the flames of internal schism, Janarex and the Lightning Sons ultimately failed, with three cohorts and numerous Chapter naval assets being drawn into the extended conflict.

* '**Kindeath' (Unknown Date.M40)** - **<NO INFORMATION AVALIABLE>**

* **Gothic War (12th Black Crusade) (151-160.M41)** - Directed by the prophetic visions of its Consulate, the Lightning Sons amassed a strike force of roughly two hundred warrior Astartes, command of which was appointed to Centurion Harrac Lysad of the Chapter's 3rd Cohort. Arriving in the Gothic Sector in 151.M41, amid a fresh wave of Imperial reinforcements, the Lightning Sons took to the protection of the Sector's exposed shipping corridors and badly mauled naval supply lines, operating from the Battle-Barge *Sacrum Purgatio*. Whilst conducting a patrol of the Manachean Commonwealth, the *Sacrum Purgatio* and its escorts engaged a unknown renegade flotilla in the shadow of the Dead World Lethe. During the confrontation, Centurion Lysad personally led a successful boarding action of the flotilla's flagship, the *Repulsive*-class Grand Cruiser *Oculus of Ugiir*, aboard which they found and recovered esoteric artefacts and Chapter relics lost during the Kindeath. The Chapter continued to serve during the final years of the conflict, most notably earning glories at the climactic Battle of Schindelgheist.

* **Kalfenax Pacification (491.M41)** - Stirred into a religious fervor following a series of events that crowned a young child as the 'Second Coming of the Emperor of Mankind', the masses of Kalfenax's hive-cities rose up on open revolt against their Imperial oligarchs. Deploying in conjunction with other elements of the Imperial Armed Forces, including regiments of the Sorean Lasguard, the Lightning Sons 4th Cohort engaged in a year long pacification operation through the recesses of Kalfenax's underhive. It was later discovered that the revolt had been orchastrated by elements of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, who sought to undermine Imperial authority on Kalfenax, and eventually transform it into a potential beachhead for a larger push onto the surrounding sector.

* **Battle of New Hope (997.M41)** - Elements of the Lightning Sons 5th Cohort respond to urgent Astropathic distress calls from the nearby world of New Hope, following an incursion by Hive Fleet Leviathan. Placed dangerously close to the Uridian Isola, concerns of an impending Tyranid incursion circulated the Lightning Sons War Council. In response, the Chapter's 7th Cohorts was redirected from combat operations in the Lesser Huran Belt. By the time Chapter reinforcements arrived, the 5th Cohort had engaged the Tyranid threat in the New Hope System, and established a beachhead planet-side, tying up the Great Devourer before it could turn its eyes upon nearby Navaern. Whatever the outcome of Imperial operations at New Hope, in its surrounding star-space, and the Lightning Sons' involvement therein, record of the campaign remains sealed and redacted by Inquisitorial writ.

* **War of Sighs (Noctis Aeterna) (999.M41-006.M42)** - As the final minute of the final hour set upon the horizons of the Imperium, and reality splintered in two at the psychic death knell of the Cadian Gate, the Lightning Sons found themselves besieged on all sides. In a night of bloodshed and carnal chaos, the once thought inviolate peace of Navaern was shattered, as death cults and renegade warbands, cultivated in the Chapter's blind ignorance, rose up against the worlds Imperial rulers, in tandem with outbreaks of mutation, and other psychic phenomena, endemic across the Inaean System. Thunderhawks and Storm Eagle gunships took to the skies of Navaern as the Chapter tried to arrest the situation from the jaws of damnation, deploying to key locations across the planets northern and southern polar regions, giving aid to flagging units of the Navaernite PDF. Though the unthinkable had become a stark reality for the transhuman warriors of the Lightning Sons, things had yet to escalate further. Like a herald, garbled, frantic astropathic distress calls filled the psychic relays of the Fortis Luminus, sweeping to a grand crescendo as the bow wave of the Great Rift tore across the Uridian Isola. Naught but eerie silence followed the resulting psychic frenzy, as the Lightning Sons railed against the dying of the light, continuing the desperate, vain defence of their homeworld, and the Pharus Astropathica. Preceded by the seemingly disorganized and erratic translation of warp-tossed voidships, replete with compliments of the mutant, the mad, and the traitor, the battle for Inaeon would only escalate further, as the vanguard of the Ruinhost arrived to take the Eagle's Gate in the name of their Master, and the name of the Dark Gods. Fighting erupted from the atmospheric hives of Tyrus, to the outer belts of Solus. Thousands paid with their blood and lives, in the vain attempt at stemming the encroaching tide of the Archenemy. The conflict came to a grand crescendo at the Battle of the Fortis Luminus; the siege of the Lightning Sons Fortress Monastery. Every member of the Chapter, from veteran battle-brother to barely inducted neophyte took up arms in the defence of the Fortis Luminus, fighting tooth and nail. Ultimately, relief for the beleaguered Lightning Sons came, as Battlegroup Saint Mallaeus of Battlefleet Tertius translated into the Inaeon system, bringing the war for Inaeon to a swift close after six years of fighting. By the conflicts end, the Lightning Sons had lost some 80% of their Chapter, including Valerius Scaevola, their previous Praetor.

* **Uridian Crusade (Unknown Date.M42)** - Following the relief of Inaeon and the denial of the Archenemy the Eagle's Gate, Imperial forces of Battlegroup Saint Mallaeus begin pushing further rimward through the Uridian Isola, with the objective of liberating the Sector from the Apostarch Azreth Krul. Praetor Calgane commits' the Lightning Sons to the offensive, whilst trying to not overstretch his badly mauled Chapter.
	+ **Orelian Offensive (Unknown Date.M42)** - Considered the opening stages of the Imperium's larger Uridian Crusade, the Lightning Sons dedicated what remained of their Chapter in the aftermath of the War of Sighs to the Imperium's opening offensive, dubbed the Orelian Offensive. Under the fresh command of Praetor Vitus Calgane, the Lightning Sons took great care to minimize their own potential casualties, acting as surgically inserted storm-troopers, applied to locations or targets of key strategical value.
	+ **Siege of Murdax (Unknown Date.M42)** - Struggling to dislodge traitor forces from the fortress-world of Murdax, the Lightning Sons 2nd Cohort deploy to aid and augment bogged down Imperial Forces, in the hopes of bringing the extended siege to a quick and conclusive end.
* **Fourth Tyrannic War (Unknown Date.M42)** -

* **Metzovon Campaigns (Unknown Date** -

## **Homeworld**

The world of Navaern, homeworld of the Lightning Sons Chapter, stands on the very threshold of the Uridian Isola, Sector Imperialis and tithe-realm of the Imperium of Man. Third world of the Inaeon System, Navaern straddles the systems 'green belt', however it's surface is covered largely in arid deserts, with temperatures ranging near boiling point (100 °C / 212 °F) along its equatorial band. Hollow wrecks and corpses of void craft litter the sands of Navaern, many dating back millennia to the age of Old Night. These vessels, though long stripped bare of anything of use, exist as a constant mystery to plague both the Adeptus Mechanicus and Navaern's own scholastic circles.

Most of the planets population have gathered at its northern and southern polar regions around the seas of Mithonbaal and Bisha, in large, urbanised city states, protected from the encroaching sands by series of mountain ranges, and ancient sand buffers. The Twelve Leagues of Navaern represent a mono-culture of interacting polities who loosely share certain touchstones, including beliefs, cultural practices, language and religion.

Each city-state of Navaern is ruled over by a prominent household, who under them control a varying number of clans, which occupy the households given territory. The number of clans within one household can vary depending on the size of the households given territory, its political influence or economic power. As of the 42nd Millennium, these numerous city-states can be grouped into one of twelve Leagues. Conflict between the different urban polities was common place prior to Navaern's Compliance in the 10th century of the 31st Millennium, ranging from territorial conquests, resource wars and dogmatic conflicts.

Imperial governance over Navaern is traditionally conducted via the Council of Sovereigns, the hereditary peerage of Navaren's nobility. Made up of the Twelve Leagues of Navaern, and their scores of major and minor clan-houses, they are in theory the planet's ruling hands. However in truth, they are subservient to the planets Zilarch, the appointed chapter-serf of the Lightning Sons who acts as the planets de facto ruler in the stead of the Chapter's Praetor, speaking with his voice in all matters.

### **Fortress-Monastery**

In the foothills of the Aqhat Mountains, close to the shores of the Sea of Mithonbaal, stands the Fortis Luminus, ancient and indomitable fortress-monastery of the Lightning Sons. Alleged to have once been a vast fortification constructed during the golden days of the Great Crusade, the ancient stone of the bygone fortress has long since been mixed with newer brickwork; expanded and reworked over the prevailing millennia to best suit the predilections of its stewards.

Since their arrival, the Fortis Luminus has grown beyond its original size. Split into two tiers, the Fortis Luminus consists of the 'Lower' and 'Upper' wards. The former houses the vast 'Serf-Clans' of the Chapter, who toil and work in the name of the Lightning Sons, and by their beneficence, live in their protective shadow. The latter consists of the ancient Legiones Astartes fortifications erected over ten millennia prior, said by some to be akin to the Eternity Wall far on distant Terra. Designed by ancient hands, much of the once abandoned fortress-monastery remains unused or undiscovered, buried deep beneath the planets surface in the 'Labyrinth', the vast nexus of catacombs, munition stores and armouriums long gone unused since the Great Scouring.

## **Chapter Organisation**

"*Superiority of force is key and the key to superiority is above all structure. With structure comes order, with order the ability to carry out purpose, and only through clear purpose can victory be perceived.*"
—*Principia Belicosa*, Ch. XXXIV, Vs. I-IV
Like many Chapters, the Lightning Sons adhere to the Lord Regent's tactical treaties of the Codex Astartes, if only to avoid the ire of their brother Chapters and evade undue scrutiny by the Inquisition. However the Chapter does not limit itself to the strictures of Ultramar. The Chapters internal structure bears considerable similarities to the military doctrina of the ancient Principia Belicosa. Accordingly however, the Chapter possesses a standing strength no greater than the designated one thousand battle-brothers under arms, split into equal company sized formations recognized as 'Cohorts' within the Lightning Sons' combat doctrine.

Unlike many Codex Compliant Chapters, the Lightning Sons are assigned to their Cohorts straight from the 10th Auxilia Cohort, remaining there until their death, unless chosen to fill the ranks of the venerable 1st Cohort, or reassigned to another Cohort by the Chapter's command cadre. These Cohorts can be split into two unofficial forms, as tradition dictates; the Battleline Cohorts, known as the *Cohorts Majoris*, and the Reserve Cohorts, the *Cohorts Minoris*. Where the Cohorts Majoris are armed to deal with a myriad of possible threats, the Cohorts Minoris are the specialised formations of the Lightning Sons, deployed in tandem with one or more Cohort Majoris formations, or deployed wholesale to counter a specific threat; be it siege warfare, void-combat or an armoured spearhead.

These cohorts can be broken down into squad formations, referred to by the Chapter as Maniple formations, comprised of 5-10 warriors. Ten Maniples form a Cohort of roughly 100 battle-brothers, led by one of the Chapter Ceturions, and ten Cohorts form 1,000 battle-brothers, under the direct command of the Praetor himself; the largest singular tactical unit able to be fielded by the Lightning Sons. Usually, Lightning Sons will operate in formations no smaller than a Cohort when engaged in a theatre of war, however depending on the strategical demand of the day, Lightning Sons Cohorts are capable of being split into demi-Cohorts and further, giving the Chapter the necessary flexibility to operate in a varying of different and constantly changing warzones across the Imperium.

The greater mechanism that commands the Lightning Sons can be likewise split into a number of component parts. At the pyramid's head sits the Praetor, Lord and master of the Chapter, yet beneath him is the Centurionate, the cadre of seasoned Cohort commanders, the Consulate, the convent of schooled and learned Battle-Psykers, the Prelatus who maintain the Chapter's purity of faith, the Medicae who ensure the physical health of the Chapter and the purity of its gene-stock, and the forge-wrights of the Armourium. The masters and members of each of these component parts maintains a permanent seat upon the War Council of their Praetor, whose conclaves can set the direction of the Chapter for decades, if not centuries to come.

### **Reformations Indomitus**

Known under the unofficial pseudonym of the '*Reformations Indomitus*', post Inaeon Wars Chapter organization changed to meet the requirements of both the Indomitus Crusade, and the rigors of the 42nd Millennium. Devastated to near extinction in the Inaeon Wars, the introduction of the Lord Regent's Primaris Marines curtailed the inevitable decline of the Chapter, despite its own reservations.

Enacted during the Conclave of Navaern in 006.M42, the Reformations Indomitus saw a reshuffle of the Chapter's Cohorts, with the bulk of the Chapter's Decurion and Centurion positions being taken up by many of the Chapter's surviving Firstborn, as a means of training its new Primaris warriors, and preserving their culture and ways of war.

Many of the Chapter's Firstborn warriors, those not assigned to specialist roles under the Reformations Indomitus, were reassigned to the Chapter's 1st Cohort, doubling the size of the original formation to just over two hundred Astartes. Though a breach of Codex formation, necessity called for the action. As the Chapter stepped up its intake and training of Neophytes destined for Primaris augmentation, the 1st Cohort acted as the vanguard of the Lightning Sons. Though many have since crossed the Rubicon Primaris, there are few among the 1st Cohort who were not present during the calamitous final confrontation of the Inaeon Wars, upon the walls of the Fortis Luminus.

Under the precepts of the Reformations Indomitus, the new additions to the updated Codex Astartes largely went ignored; Vitus Calgane and his War Council instead opting to maintain the old maniple designations and composition, adapted to make use of the Primaris Marines. Thus, the Chapter continued to use Tactical, Devastator and Assault Maniples well into the 42nd Millennia, arming, equipping and deploying them in much the same manor as they had for the last four thousand years.

### **Specialist Units & Formations**

* **Blades Paraclitian** - The Blades Paraclitian are an elite warrior fraternity within the Lightning Sons' Chapter, that act as the personal honour guard for the Chapter's Praetor and select members of the Chapter's inner circle. The members of the Blades Paraclitian form the 1st and 2nd Maniples of the Chapter's 1st Cohort, and are equipped with some of the greatest armour and weaponry at the Chapter's disposal; some so ancient that it is said names as old as the Imperium itself are etched upon their power-swords and breacher shields. The commander of the Blades Paraclitian bears the honourary rank of *Lepidus Ignis* - the Lightning Blade, or the Blade of Lightning, and is held as one of the greatest living blade masters among the Chapter's ranks. The Blades Paraclitian often deploy into battle alongside the Chapter's Praetor, whether deployment to an embattled warfront, or as part of a diplomatic delegation.

* **Cohors Lucernus** - The Cohors Lucernus are a sub-detachment of the Lightning Sons' 1st Cohort charged with the protection of the Pharus Astropathica, made up of the Cohort's 3rd and 4th Maniples. Stationed alongside several of the Chapter's Consuls, the Cohors Lucernus patrol the halls of the great beacon, protecting it from daemonic incursion from within, or foreign infiltration from without. Historical composed of twenty marines and traditionally clad in Indomitus-pattern Tactical Dreadnaught Armour. However, as of 012.M42 the members of the Cohors Lucernus are now outfitted with the Chapter's Soline-pattern Tactical Dreadnaught Armour. The acting Precept of the Cohors Lucernus is given the honourary rank of *Centuriatus Elucidus* - Centurion of the Light. Though composed of twenty marines, only five are ever present within the Pharus Astropathica at any point, with the rest of their brotherhood cycling in and out of the Chapter's myriad combat zones.

* **Fraternus Eradica** - The Fraternus Eradica is a twenty man fraternity within the greater 1st Cohort, made up of the Cohort's 5th, 6th and 7th Maniples. The Fraternus Eradica are permitted special access to the arcane and ancient weaponry sealed beneath the Fortis Luminus in the ancient depot silos, stasis seals lest they deteriorate and fall to ruin. Since the Kindeath of the late 40th Millennium, the full deployment of the Fraternus Eradica is a thing seldom seen, given the significant loss of much of the Chapter's once abundant Crusade era arsenal in the fires of that calamity. The Fraternus Eradica have been likened to an echo of older, halcyon formations such as the Legion Destroyers or Devastators from the golden days of the Great Crusade by Imperial scholars and observers.

* **Forine Shields** - The last of the warrior fraternities that make up the Chapter's 1st Cohort, the Forine Shields make up the 8th, 9th, and 10th Maniples of the 1st Cohort, and are comprised of those Lightning Sons newly raised to a position within the Chapter's 1st Cohort. The Forine Shields are among the most common of the 1st Cohort's component units deployed to warfronts the Chapter finds itself engaged in, and acts as a reserve pool from which the three 'Fraternus Prima' are able to replace losses sustained in combat.

### **Order of Battle, Era Indomitus**

#### **Headquarters**

**Praetor Vitus Calgane**
**Chapter Master of the Lightning Sons**
**5 Honour Guard**
**Command Squad:**
 **Chapter Champion**
***Lysidamus Elvorix***
**Chapter Vexilarius**
***Sparax Ianon***
**Medicae**
**Prelate**
**Techmarine**
**Chapter Judicier**
**Chapter Equerries**
**Tullian Petronax, *Lord Steward***
**Hesiod Messar, *High Prelate***
**Veraf Eradaen, *Lord Consul* and *Chief Librarian***
**Casimo Sydor, *Lord Praevian***
**Proxenus Thassar, *Medicae Primus***
**Antenor Kallon, *Fleet Master***
**Lucan Sybilla, *Watchmaster***
**Varae Janisaris, *Watcher of the Deeps***
**Casimo Sydor**
***Master Praevian***
**15 Techmarines**
**Veraf Eradaen**
***Lord Consul and Chief Librarian of the Lightning Sons***
**Epistolaries**
**Codiciers**
**Lexicaniums**
**Hesiod Messar**
***High Prelate of the Lightning Sons***
**Alecthus Gron**
***Prelatus-Prefect of the Lightning Sons***
**Proxenus Thassar**
***Medicae Priumus of the Lightning Sons***
**Medicae** | **Antenor Kallon**
***Fleetmaster***
**4 Battle Barge's**
**(*Spear of Providence*, *Lux Aeterna*, *Return to Slumber* and *Noctus Ilumita*)**
**6 Strike Cruisers**
**(*Vinco Epsilon*, *Mare Incarnatus*, *Spear of Orsidon*, *Herald of Retribution*, *Vow of Glory*, *Fidelitas Iaculum, Vinco Aeternus*)**
**4+ Escort Craft**

## **Chapter Recruitment**

The Lightning Sons draw their fresh recruits from across their homeworld of Navaern; from the martial house-clans of the Twelve Leagues, to the fierce warriors of the desert tribes, all are drawn together in the drill yards of the Fortis Luminus, each one an equal no matter their birth. From here they are forged and tempered into righteous instruments. Into tools to be used to protect His thousand realms, and to propagate His will across the stars.

Once brought before the High-Prelate for a secondary inspection, these aspirants spend the rest of their waking lives undergoing numerous, grueling trials, geno-treatments and hypno-therapy, to forge them into the living image of the son of the Emperor of Mankind. Though the number of trials an Aspirant is expected to complete before being chosen to become a Neophyte is many, there are two particular trials an adolescent aspirants of the Lightning Sons must complete before they might ascend.

First among these grueling trials is the so called Trial of the Dunes, an exposure trial crafted by the Lightning Sons to weed out the weak - not only of body, but of mind and spirit also. The trial has its roots in the ancient martial culture of the Navaernite city-state of Corcaea, whom according to legend discarded weak or sickly children into the wilds, and if they returned, were ordained to live by the powers that be; and if not, such was their fate.

Formed into squad sized formations, these aspirants are dropped into the deep-desert via Thunderhawk Gunship and expected to navigate their way back to the Chapter's Fortress-Monastery alive. If they perish, they are left where they die, to be feast upon by carrion, until the sands strip their bones and carry them into the depths of the dune seas. Aspirants must work together, making the most of their combined experiences, expertise and knowledge to survive the harsh desert environments and traverse the great dune seas of Navaern's equator.

A byproduct of their gene-seed, every Lightning Sons is tested by the primacy - to excel and out achieve. Yet hubris, even to the augmented minds of the Astartes, can be a mans greatest downfall. Thus it is to the Prelates of the Chapter to hone and humble the burning spirits of these neophytes, lest they be consumed like so many before them, and suffer the damnable affliction of their gene-line.

The second and near to last of these trials if the Trial of the Daedalon. From whence the Trial of the Daedalon originates has been lost to time, even to the Lightning Sons with their meticulously ordered archives, yet it stands as a brother besides that of the Trial of the Dunes in terms of its casualty rate. Like the Trial of the Dunes, the Trial of the Daedalon sees the surviving Aspirants mustered into squad formations once more, albeit armed and armoured from the armouries of the Fortis Luminus.

Under the auspice of a veteran Neophyte of the 10th Cohort, these squads of Aspirants are taken into the Labyrinth; the wide spanning network of tunnels wrought under the surface of the Fortis Luminus, and pass beyond the Gate of Enyar into territory unmapped by Imperial or Chapter savants. What events transpire beyond those gates remains a mystery to those outside of the Chapter. Those Aspirants that survive return on the cusp of becoming a true Astartes, and those Neophytes that lead them, find their place among the collective Cohorts of the Lightning Sons; given their Liber Invigilata and rank of full Battle-Brother.

Following the completion of the trials, and the necessary geno-treatments, the aspirants are assigned to the Chapters 10th Cohort; it's auxiliary cohort. It is here, donning Mark X Phobos armour, that these aspiring Astartes have their first taste of blood. Under the command of whichever Centurion they have been attached to, they act as a light and fast auxiliary unit; securing ground quickly or plugging holes in already existing defensive lines.

## **Chapter Combat Doctrine**

"*The wise commander utilises his enemy's weakness even more than he utilises his own strength.*"
—Introit to the *Principia Belicosa*
Where other Chapters might rely on aggression or overwhelming and indiscriminate firepower to secure victory, the Lightning Sons place a heavy emphasis on clinical battlefield discipline, accurate precision fire, and adaptable planning. Fluidity, timing and technique are the mainstay for the Chapter's methods of warfare, and thus never truly stick to one standard tactical doctrine.

A highly popular doctrine cultivated by the Chapter however, is the so termed 'Hard Drop'. The Chapter's arrival within a battle space is immediately precipitate by a mass-deployment via Drop Pods, Thunderhawks and Storm Eagle gunships. Tactical/Intercessor Maniples are dispensed and deployed to secure and establish a firm bridgehead for planetside operations, which is followed by the deployment of the Cohorts heavy armour and ancillary supplies.

If the enemy still put significant resistance following the initial Hard Drop, the Lightning Sons will usually employ an extensive network of 10th Cohort Auxiliaries, to poke and prod at the enemy's defensive line, or gauge the number and nature of their foe. Depending on the information gathered by the Chapter's Auxiliaries, the Lightning Sons will alter their deployment and formation, to best counter their opponent.

Another expertise under the Chapter's belt, is their sub-specialty at *Zone Mortalis* operations. Largely due to their protective charge of the Inaeon System, the Lightning Sons have become adept at void-ship boarding operations and vessel seizure, using a combination of close quarters acumen with their dizzying array of heavy weaponry. Tactical and Intercessor Maniples are consistently drilled, in order to stop high-threat rogue vessels and other voidborn threats from breaching the sanctity of their stellar fastness.

The Chapter askew the use of weaponry they consider to be 'detrimental' to combat operations and 'uncivilized'; weapons such as heavy Plasma weaponry, Meltaguns and Flamers, which have a tendency to incur larger amounts of collateral damage than necessary. As a result, the Chapter keeps larger stockpiles of more precision firepower, like the Heavy Bolter, Lascannon, Missile Launcher and a sparse few Volkite weapons. Through means otherwise unknown, the Lightning Sons have long had access to a number of venerable weapons of war, dating to the dark days of the Horus Heresy, secured deep within the bowls of their fortress-monastery.

Although fully capable of employing such tactics, the Lightning Sons shun covert operations in favour of meeting their opponents on the open battlefield. They consider this type of warfare, as well as its trappings, fundamentally dishonourable, preferring to proudly display their Chapter livery upon the field of battle. While neophytes are trained as standard Astartes scout marines, even they are seldom assigned to protracted reconnaissance operations, instead more often used as an auxiliary force to secure ground before the main body of an advancing force, or to plug holes in battle line combat operations.

## **Lightning Sons Librarians**

    Like their fellow Astartes Chapters, the Lightning Sons keep a Librarius of potent Psykers who are highly talented and trained to master the power of the Warp at the highest levels, colloquially referred to as "Consuls", according to ancient and dogmatic traditions of Navaern. As their name suggests, Consuls not only act as fearsome warriors on the battlefield, but also as advisors for the Centurion cohort commanders and the Praetor of the Lightning Sons himself.

Each Chapter selects its Librarians in its own way, either from seed worlds or the Chapter homeworld, as it does with the bulk of its Initiates, or from the ranks of gifted psykers brought to the Chapter by the Scholastica Psykana. Most Chapters train and test chosen psykers following the ancient ways laid out in the *Codex Astartes*. Consuls are chosen from among those initiate that display a particular affinity for, and aptitude in, the preternatural arts of the Immaterium.

### **Consulate Discipline**

In tandem with their more traditional duties, as per codex tradition, the Consuls of the Lightning Sons have also bent their preternatural talents to the research and furtherment into the nebulous past of their Chapter, and as such, have become greatly proficient in manipulating the sidereal flow of the materium via their connection with the Warp. Known as the 'Consulate Discipline', some of these unique abilities include:

* ***Sidereal Echo*** - Tapping into the winding time-ways of the Immaterium, a Consul of the Lightning Sons can retrace and recall the empyric echo of a given object, reliving vague recasts of the events it has witnessed, the wielders it has had and the locations it has been over its lifespan.
* ***Stilled Tide*** - Used by the skilled Codiciers and Epistolaries of the Consulate, the *Stilled Tide* is the ability to hold the flow of time at a stand-still for a limited time, though the duration of which greatly depends on the number of Codiciers and Epistolaries participating in the given ritual.
* ***Sidereal Erosion*** - A rare but highly potent ability utalised mostly by the Chapter's Epistolaries, Sidereal Erosion is a fearsome power when levied upon mortal flesh. Using their connection to the Immaterium, the given Epistolary is able to rapidly age the given target until they're physical form shrivels to dust, eroded away by the rapid passing of time.

## **Chapter Gene-Seed**

The gene-seed of the Lightning Sons can be counted as one of the most stable strains among the Adeptus Astartes, never having exhibited signs of rampant mutation. However, over time they have lost the use of two of the specialised organs produced by the basic Astartes genetic template: the Betcher's Gland, which allows a Space Marine to produce poisonous/acidic spittle, and the Omophagea. Whilst the former is of little lose to the Astartes of the Lightning Sons, the latter could have, were it to work efficiently, provided much needed insight into their nebulous origins.

Over the prevailing millennia there have been some among the Magos Biologis that believe the Omophagea's absence is the result of purposeful tempering with the Chapter's gene-stock, giving rise to claims of chimeric in origin. However any kind of investigation conducted by the Magos Biologus have been mysteriously stymied before they're able to make any kind of headway.

Despite the inherent mysteries and theories surrounding their gene-seed, it is clear that the Lightning Sons' conditioning produces warriors with finely sculpted physiques, a noble bearing, with finely-controlled thought processes, a level if not oft times arrogant temperament, and a drive towards achievement and competition. The only physical abnormality registered is a shift in iris colour to violet in some recruits, however this has been attributed to a latent mutation within the Navaernine genestock, caused by its proximity to the stellar anomalies of the Whispering Deeps.

### **Moritat's Malady**

Affected still by wounds taken during the ill-known Kindeath, the Lightning Sons suffer from a condition that has been termed the Moritat's Malady; a genetic defect born of warp-touched sorcery. This condition, when it arises, causes the afflicted to enter into an almost berserker like state during battle, one filled not with rage or hate, but a remorse so deep that it drives the inflicted insane.

A condition that, once inflicted, is largely irrecoverable, more often than not those that suffer from the affliction perish upon the field of battle, having thrown themselves into a suicidal melee, where after their corpse is left for the carrion, and their Prognoid Glands left to rot. Their Liber Invigilata is taken still, and safeguarded by the Chapter's Medicae, to be amended and eventually added to the *Chronicon Magna*, but the Battle-Brother's true fate remains obscured and censured in the Chapter's historical records.

Those that survive however, engulfed by the bleak darkness of their condition, are apprehended and brought back to the Fortis Luminus to await judgement by the Chapter's inner-circle. This process acts as a formality for the sake of the afflicted Battle-Brother's honour, as the fates of those afflicted are already sealed when they succumb to the Malady; death, whether by the enemy's hands, or by their brothers. Under the auspice of the Chapter's Chaplaincy, the afflicted brother is taken to the depths of their Fortress-Monastery and imprisoner, awaiting the arrival of his 'Honour Party', the band of Battle-Brothers selected at random to mete out his decimation.

It has been observed by the Chapter's Medicae in post-mortem autopsies of the afflicted that their once dormant Omophagea are aberrant; mutated in some way, shape or form. Though a cause for the mutation yet alludes the Chapters Apothecarion, it is generally believed that the aberrant mutation harks to the Kindeath, and the empyreaic turmoil believed to have occurred there. The malady has since been kept a closely guarded secret, lest the Chapter face censure or far worse. It has been noted that the Moritat's Malady forms most notably in the younger Battle-Brothers - those still serving their first century of active service. Yet even then, those of older stock, veterans of hundreds of campaigns, have been known to fall prey to it at random.

## **Chapter Culture**

"*Though he is gone, he will not be forgotten,"
"For the Historiator shall remember him,"
"Though his body is broken, he will remain whole,"
"For the Archivist shall mend him.
"Though he is lost, he will always be near,
"For the Annals shall keep him.*"
— Funerary Chant of the Lightning Sons Chapter
The Lightning Sons' Chapter cult places a strong emphasis on tradition, and upholding the teachings that science and reason should prevail over superstition and blind faith. Though many elements of Navaernine culture have found their way within the Chapter's cult, the Chapter upholds a strictly conservative doctrina. Stubborn and unyielding, the Lightning Sons maintain the same traditional dogma practiced by their earliest forebears, that took Navaern as their fife in the late 37th Millennium.

As a whole, the Chapter's warriors are scholars almost as much as soldiers. They are considered to be thoughtful, measured, and somewhat humanitarian by Imperial standards and will often put civilian lives before their own, in keeping with the Civitas Imperialis.

With a shroud cast over their past, the Lightning Sons are a Chapter fixated on history. They are comprised of warriors who are also archivists, scribes and librarians, charged with maintaining repositories of books and information. Each Battle-Brother is charged with keeping a concise record of their actions throughout their years of service, to be compiled upon their death in the *Rite of Sealing* ceremony and added to the extensive collection of historical texts known as the *Chronicon Magna*.

### **Imperial Truth**

One of the corner stone of the Chapter's cultural identity is its strict adherence to the strictures and tenants of the Imperial Truth, as laid down by the Master of Mankind during the burgeoning days of the Imperium. It is the belief of the Lightning Sons that these tenants are the purest available description of the Emperor's great plan for Mankind.

Such a dogmatic adherence to the ancient, atheistic tenants of the early Imperium has seen the Lightning Sons at odds with some of its more august bodies, such as the Adeptus Ministorum and its multitude of branches. To them, the trappings of idolatry were burnt in the fires of the Great Crusade, and left as an ashen memory of Old Night. Though the Chapter will not openly denounce the idols and fanes erected by the Imperial Cult, neither will it go to any great lengths to defend them, lest they risk breaching the Civitas Imperialis. As a result, relations between the Lightning Sons and the Adepts of the Ecclesiarch are strained at best.

Though it is true that they follow the ancient credo of the Imperial Truth, to say that it is the Imperial Truth of old, of the founding of the Imperium, would be a falsehood. Changes and addendums have been made to its scripture over the long millennia, though not without long and arduous debate amongst the Chapter's scholastic Consuls. One cannot deny the existence of the Neverborne, nor can they hide behind archaic terminology such as 'Warp-Xenos'. So it is, that the treaties of the ancient scholar Alasteir Gundi, and his compatriots, are disregarded.

Within the greater set of edicts and tenants set down by the Imperial Truth, none resonate more with the Chapter's ethos than the Civitas Imperialis. Laid down at the foundation of the Imperium of Man in the late 30th Millennium, the Civitas Imperialis was ratified by the Emperor of Mankind Himself to ".*..guarantee the safety and assurance of any citizen of the Imperium of Man, wherever he or she travels or sets foot within the length and breadth of the Imperium.*" As such, the Civitas was therefore meant to be the hallmark of refined Imperial culture; the measure of its power and security. It has been the eternal mission of the Lightning Sons to establish and maintain the Civitas Imperialis across the Imperium, if not within its local star-space of the Uridian Sector.

### **Liber Invigilata**

The Liber Invigilata is the personal tome each the Chapter's Battle-Brothers carries with them at all times, into which is vested the full account of their service history. Each Battle-brother is expected to continually add to their Liber Invigilata.

Upon the completion of the Trial of the Daedalon, and their ascension to full Battle-Brother, every Astartes aspirant is given a simple, plain leather back tome, stark in comparison to those carried by the Chapter's officers and veterans. A great honour, but meant to humble the spirits of newly ascended initiates - to reaffirm that though they have passed their trials, they have yet to make any kind of mark for themselves upon the pages of history, or within the grand Librarius of the Fortis Luminus.

These tomes, these Liber Invigilata, are the product of the Lightning Sons' nebulas past. With no official record of their founding, or their progenitor, or any confirmed historical record prior to the late 37th Millennium, the proud Astartes of the Lightning Sons have taken to recording each of their deeds throughout their lifetime. As such, the protection, and retrieval of the Liber Invigilata of fallen brothers are of the highest priority, secondary to the retrieval of their Prognoid Glands. Thus, Chapter Medicae of the Lightning Sons are often issued the task of collecting and safeguarding the Liber Invigilata of fallen brothers on the battlefield, and prepare them for their Rite of Sealing.

### **Decimation**

A tradition formed during some of the darkest days in the Chapter's history, the Act of Decimation is alleged to have been created as a response to the rampant genetic degradation the Lightning Sons suffered, during the closing centuries of the 40th Millennium. It is designed to weed out genetic impurity after it has made itself evident, and if the afflicted in question does not perish in battle from their own subsequent battle-rage. If by some chance the afflicted survive the initial dark descent, they are thusly apprehended and delivered into the custody of the given Cohort's Chaplaincy, and transported back to their Fortress-Monastery, wherein they are imprisoned and sequestered away to in labyrinthine tunnels beneath the Fortis Luminus to await their execution.

By dictate, the Act of Decimation is carried out by a cadre of nine Astartes, traditionally the squad of the inflicted, led by one of the Chapter's Prelates. Deep beneath the Fortress-Monastery, the assigned Prelate leads their chosen squad of Astartes in the execution of their former battle-brother. Their Liber Invigilata is sized, censured and edited by the hands of the Chapter's Consulate, declaring the afflicted Astartes to have perished on the field of battle, forever keeping the Moritats Malady and the number of afflicted Astartes an occluded secret known only to the Chapter's Primus-Medicae, Lord-Consul, High-Prelate and Praetor.

There are other rumours however, abound within the Chapter, that not every afflicted brother meets their end in a Decimation. There are some that whisper that, somewhere deep bellow the Fortis Luminus, afflicted battle-brothers are taken and experimented on by teams of Consuls, Medicae and mortal Orderlies, in their quest to find a cure to the mysterious malady that plagues their Chapter.

## **Notable Members**

* **Praetor Vitus Calgane** - Vitus Calgane has acted as Praetor (Chapter Master of the Lightning Sons since the conclusion of the War of Sighs in 006.M42. An unlikely candidate for the position, Calgane found himself thrust the mantle of leadership over his bloodied and beaten Chapter in the aftermath of near total annihilation. A far cry from his predecessor, Calgane notably lacks the arrogant hubris and bitterness that came to characterise the Lightning Sons for the past millennia; instead the new Lord of the Lightning Sons is a man of soft spoken authority and calm resolve. Since taking command of his Chapter, Calgane has led his warriors through the fires of the Orelian Offensive. The first member of the Lightning Sons command cadre to cross the Rubicon Primaris, Calgane felt it was his duty to endure the agonising procedure to become a Primaris Marine before asking his fellows to do the same. Clad in Mark X Tacticus Power Armour, and armed with the Thunder Hammer *Nabelesar*, the reborn Lord of the Lightning Sons has taken to the stars once more, to bring retribution to the enemies of Mankind.

* **Praetor** **Valerius Scaevola** - At the outset of the Noctis Aeterna in 999.M41, Valerius Scaevola was Praetor of the Lightning Sons, purportedly over 700 Terran years old and in failing health due to the ardors and rigors of his long and illustrious service. While largely recorded by Imperial officials as a bitter and hubristic individual, Scaevola was undoubtable a competent and uncompromising commander in life, who's personal valor and courage was second to none. Imperial historians point to the ample evidence that during the tenure of Valerius Scaevola, wounds dealt during the reign of his predecessor were only further entrenched, and that Scaevola himself led his Chapter into several feuds with both Imperial field commanders and other Adeptus Astartes Chapter Masters. Scaevola ultimately perished during the Battle of the Fortis Luminus shortly before the arrival of Imperial reinforcements, and though considered a controversial character within his own Chapter, and without, it is undeniable that the drastic actions taken by the ailing Praetor in his last years of life ensured the longevity of his Chapter, and the continued sanctity of the Pharus Astropathica.

* **Praetor Ianius Janarex** - Praetor of the Lightning Sons during the middling centuries of the 39th Millennium, Janarex notably led the Chapter during the dreaded Heterodoxy Crisis.

* **Lord Consul Veraf Eradaen** - Veraft Eradaen is Lord Consul, or Chief Librarian, of the Lightning Sons Chapter. Known as the *Oricon* among his peers, Eradaen stands as one of the most powerful battle-psykers in his Chapter's history, both in skill-of-arms, and in an unfettered mastery of the Warp. It was Eradaen who held the Fortis Luminus' Bastion Gate against the onslaught of heretics and mutants during the final hours of the Battle of the Fortis Luminus, and who together with Lord Prelate Hesiod Messar raised the unassuming Centurion of the 2nd Cohort Vitus Calgane to the position of Praetor. Following the events of the Second Battle of Navaern, Eradaen has taken to the void in search of answers to long held questions.

* **Lord Consul Savrane Arakus** - Lord Consul of the Lightning Sons during the middling centuries of the 39th Millennium, noted to have taken part during the Heterodoxy Crisis.

* **Centurion** **Lucan Sybilla** - Centurion of the Lightning Sons' 2nd Cohort ("*Heralds of the Beacon*"), Lucan Sybilla currently leads the only active cohort of the Lightning Sons on campaign outside of the Uridian Isola, attached to Battlefleet Tertius and commanding the *Avenger*-class Grand Cruiser *Return to Slumber*. Originally the protégé of Praetor Calgane during his tenure as Centurion of the 2nd Cohort, Sybilla rose to the rank of Centurion following the Conclave of Navaern, taking command of the remaining 2nd Cohort following Calgane's ascension to Praetor. Sybilla was the highest ranking Lightning Sons present during the Triumph of Raukos, representing his Chapter in Calgane's stead.

* **Centurion Magnus Avarian** - Centurion of the 4th Cohort, Magnus Avarian is best remembered for his actions during the Metzovon Campaigns.

* **Centurion Aulon Incarnyn** - Also known as the "*Martyr of Metzovon*", Aulon Incarnyn was the Decurion of the 4th Cohort's 3rd Battleline Maniple before his death during the Metzovon Campaigns in the 42nd Millennium. Among the initial Primaris Greyshield intake taken by the Chapter following the conclusion of the War of Sighs, Incarnyn distinguished himself as a capable and adaptable squad commander during the Orelian Offensive; an example that despite being birthed and trained so far from the light of Inaeon, it was possible for the Greyshields of the Indomitus Crusade to adapt and apply the cultural and tactical hallmarks of their parent Chapter. Aulon's finest and final moments came during his mission aboard the Dark Mechanicum's Daemon Ship *Metis*, projecting a warp-based null field throughout the Metzovon System, severing all astropathic communications out-system. Volunteering for the mission, he and his squad led a daring boarding action of the *Metis*, nestled within the gravitic pull of Metzovon's three stars. Largely a success, the mission came at the cost of Incarnyn, his squad, a company of Tempestus Scions, and the *Lunar*-class Cruiser *Winds of Syncio*. Decurion Incarnyn was immortalized in the Chapters *Chronicon Magna*, utalizing armour-recordings broadcasted to Imperial command on Metzovon XIII to document his final moments. Found to have survived the destruction of the *Metis*, Incarnyn was discovered in the gladiatorial pits of Egran IV, deep behind the lines of the Ruinhost. Though returned to his Chapter, and cleared by the Ordos Inquisition to continue his service, Incarnyn returned a changed man. Burdened by survivors guilt, Incarnyn returned to his position as a Decurion of the 4th Cohort.

* **Centurion Astilac Meleagir** - Once a Centurion of the Lightning Sons Chapter, Astlac Meleagir threw asides his oaths to his Chapter and the Imperium following the betrayal at Aethax, and subsequent capture by the Serpintine Truth. Corrupted in mind, it is said that damning truths were disclosed to Meleagir concerning not only the origins of his Chapter, but of the Imperium itself - of the deeds of the Lord Regent, and his supposed 'Empire That Was'. Astilac Meleagir ultimately fought against his erstwhile brothers in the fastness of the Deminine Citadel, eventually being cut down by the vengeful hand of Magnus Avarian.

* **Medicae Idravan Procyon** - Medicae attached to the 3rd Cohort, Procyon rose to prominence in the 42nd Millennium; first full-blood Primaris initiated into the role of Medicae.

* **Decurion Tarchon Cliniar** - Decurion of the Lightning Sons' Fraternis Eradica, Tarchon Cliniar is a celebrated hero of the Chapter. Cliniar earned renown for the part he played in the Battle of the Fortis Luminus, wielding the *Teleract Invigila*, a dark weapon of ancient provenance. Cliniar rallied the defenders of the Aquila Gate, laying down a devastating array of firepower upon the heretic hordes massing at the breach. Since the Conclave of Navaern, Cliniar has led the heavy support cadre of the Chapter's 1st Cohort, known as the Fraternis Eradica, continuing to bring the heat-death of the Emperor's fury to the foes of Mankind on battlefields across the Uridian Isola and beyond.

* **Battle-Brother Loran Kaliad** - A Space Marine of the Lightning Sons Chapter, Loran Kaliad is currently under service of the Deathwatch, chamber militant of the Ordos Xenos. Formerly a shield-brother of the 1st Cohort's Forine Shields.

### **Non-Astartes Personnel**

* **Argeia Marsyas (Zilarch)** - Argeia Marsyas is a serf of the Lightning Sons Chapter and a member of Clan Marsyas, serving as Zilarch of Navaern. During the Siege of Navaern, Argeia Marsyas took up arms with the rest of her house-clan, fighting in the penultimate battle of the conflict at the Fortis Luminus. During the fighting she suffered grievous wounds to her body, which saw a good portion replaced with augmetic replacements, as well as a portion of her face. Following the end of the War of Sighs she continues to act as Navaern's Zilarch and the voice-piece of the new Praetor, Vitus Calgane.

* **Alephius Odi (Historator)** - Alephius Odi is a Historiator of the Logos Historica Vertia attached to the Lightning Sons Chapter, and a member of its Chapter Master's personal retinue. Previously attached to Battlefleet Tertius, where he documented and myriad combat actions undertaken by Fleetmaster VanLeskus and her subordinates, Alephius Odi was permanently transferred to the retinue of then Centurion Calgane shortly prior to Battlegroup Saint Mallaeus' intervention in the Inaeon System. Odi has since remained at his station, as the personal Historiator of Vitus Calgane, even after his ascension to Praetor. Odi now works towards the ultimate goal of compiling a complete account of the Lightning Sons' history from Founding to present day, amongst performing his other duties.

## **Chapter Fleet**

**Battle Barges** (including those lost, retired or destroyed):

* ***Purgatio Aeternum* (*Battleship, Unknown Classification*)** - The crowning glory of the Lightning Sons Chapter Fleet, the *Purgatio Aeternum* is an ancient vessel of unknown origins and arcane design; a revenant of humanity's last great epoch. Taken by the Lightning Sons in 382.M39, the warship once sailed as the flagship of a Heretic warband operating out of the wild and uncharted Heraglix Passage, until it encountered a Lightning Sons taskforce. The Lightning Sons overwhelmed the Traitor escort craft and boarded the vessel proper, leading to three days of prolonged ship-board fighting until the vessel was secured, and the heretics eliminated. Taking a total of seven years, the vessel was eventually cleansed, tech-exorcised and re-dedicated as the *Purgatio Aeternum*, before being presented to the Lightning Sons and incorporated into their Chapter Fleet.

* ***Return to Slumber** **(Avenger-class Grand Cruiser)** -* Vessel of the 1st Cohort, captured during a boarding operation against renegade raiders in the Hauran Depths ca.796.M41.

* ***Crown of Eternity (BattleBarge, Unknown Classification)*** - The *Crown of Eternity* was lost with all hands during the opening salvo's of the War of Sighs.

* ***Sacrum Purgatio*** ***(BattleBarge, Unknown Classification)*** - The *Sacrum Purgatio* was lost with all hands during the opening salvo's of the War of Sighs

**Cruisers** (including those lost, retired or destroyed):

* ***Vinco Epsilon (Strike Cruiser, Unknown Classification)*** - Participated in the breakthrough at Nedit Tertius.

* ***Mare Incarnatus (Strike Cruiser, Unknown Classification)*** - Vessel of the 2nd Cohort.

* ***Spear of Orsidon (Strike Cruiser, Unknown Classification)*** - Vessel of the 3rd Cohort.

* ***Hammer of Virion (Strike Cruiser, Unknown Classification)*** - Vessel of the 4th Cohort, notably took part in the Metzovon Campaigns and the Second Battle of Navaern.

* ***Herald of Retribution (Vanguard-class Strike Cruiser)*** - Lost during the Liberation of Carthagus Minoris in 006.M42.

* ***Perl of Aeglos (Vanguard-class Strike Cruiser)*** - Lost during the Liberation of Carthagus Minoris in 006.M42.

* ***Vow of Glory* *(Lunar-*class *Cruiser)*** - Formerly a vessel of the Imperial Battlefleet Uridian, the *Vow of Glory* was given over to the temporary service of the Lightning Sons to replace naval losses incurred during the War of Sighs and subsistent Orelian Offensive thereafter. Currently operates as the designated cruiser for the Chapter's 5th Cohort.

* ***Fidelitas Iaculum* *(Lunar-class Cruiser)*** - Formerly a vessel of the Imperial Battlefleet Uridian, the *Fidelitas Iaculum* was given over to the temporary service of the Lightning Sons to replace naval losses incurred during the War of Sighs and subsistent Orelian Offensive thereafter. Currently operates as the designated cruiser for the Chapter's 6th Cohort.

* **Escort Craft** (including those lost, retired or destroyed):
	+ ***Flame of Terra***
	+ ***Adamant Faith***
	+ ***Honour's Spirit***
	+ ***Imperator Purgatio***

## **Chapter Relics**

* ***Chronicon Magna** -* The Chronicon Magna is not one single relic, but an extensive collection of the accumulated Liber Invigilata of every Battle-Brother to have served the Chapter and died on the field of battle. Stretching back almost four thousand years, from the waning years of the 37th Millennium, it is a great and extensive historical archive drawn from the detailed personnel accounts of every Space Marine to have donned the white of the Lightning Sons. It is the very nature of these detailed accounts that has made the Chronicon Magna the prime target of external forces, be they of the Inquisition, the Ecclesiarchy, or the Forces of Chaos. To this end, the vast Chronicon Magna is sealed, secure within the depths of the Fortis Luminnus, and sealed behind three great adamantine gate, guard against even the most blasphemous arcana by ancient inscription, and warded from the ravages of time by the arcane knowledge of the Chapter's Consulate.

* ***Nabelasar, the God Breaker*** - The *Nabelasar* is a relic of ancient providence, a Daemonhammer of the Lightning Sons Chapter shrouded in mystery. The *Nabelasar* has been in the Chapter's possession since before their earliest annuls, held in the stasis crypts of the Fortis Luminus. Some say that the weapon is the last remaining relic of some misbegotten hero of an age sparsely remembered as the War of the False Primarch; an event that wracked the Segmentum Pacificus some time in the 33rd Millennium. How this venerable and powerful weapon came into the hands of the Lightning Sons remains otherwise unknown. As of the 42nd Millennium, Nabelasar is w

* ***Rubric Amyntar*** - A tome of ancient and grim portents, it is said that it once belonged to the greatest of the Lightning Sons' Consulate, before driven to madness, and attempting to breach the fabled 'Black Library' in search of truth and power.

* ***Aegis Praetoria*** - The *Aegis Praetoria* is a venerable Sokar-pattern Storm Bird and the only active one of its kind in the Chapters possession, used exclusively by the Chapter's Praetor and his War Council.

* ***Teleract Invigila*** - The *Teleract Invigila* is a venerable Teleract-pattern Vokite Culverine currently in the possession of the Lightning Sons Chapter, and wielded by the Tarchon Cliniar, Decurion of the *Fraternis Eradica*.

* ***Ajax and Arix*** - The twins, *Ajax* and *Arix*, are a pair of Crusade-era Superheavy Battletanks; the former, *Ajax*, a Fellbade pattern Super Heavy Tank, and the latter *Arix* a Glave Super-heavy Special Weapons Tank.

## **Chapter Appearance**

### **Chapter Colours**

The warriors of the Lightning Sons are known to stand resplendent in suits of Power Armour painted a deep white, with the pauldrons inset with a deep red, and trimmed with bronze. Their helmets follow suit, taking a similar pattern albeit reversed; the face-pate inset with bronze, with the outer helm coloured a crimson red. Vagaries in the colouration of the Chapter's armour has occurred over the millennia on a number of specific occasions, however such vagaries are rare and seldom seen among the base-line battle-brothers of the Chapte's Cohorts.

Two notable examples of departures from Codex norms is the traditional colour of the Chapter's Medicae (Apothecary) and Consuls (Libriarian) battle-plate, in order to differentiate both departments from the fighting whole of the Chapter. The former wear power armour with an inverse colour scheme to the majority of the Chapter; their armour painted mostly a ruddy crimson, pauldrons a deep white, and around trimmed with bronze. The latter clad themselves in power armour painted a muted purple, with pauldrons of white and trimmed with bronze.

Officers among the Lightning Sons such as Decurions and Centurions are denoted by stripe across their helmet, and in the case of the latter, in addition to the coloured helmet markings, they also sport horizontal horsehair crests that go from ear-to-ear, dyed a vibrant red.

### **Chapter Heraldry**

The heraldry of the Lightning Sons is that of a white fist enclosed firmly around a golden lightning bolt upon a field of bloody crimson. By their own account, the device represents the pure determination of the Lightning Sons, firmly holding onto a piece of the Emperor's archaic Lightning and Raptor standard; the symbol of his ancient dream for Humanity, in a sea of blood. Their heraldry is emblematic of their belief that it is their duty to uphold and continue to propagate his dream via the Civitas Imperialis.

Other theories surrounding the Chapter's iconography have been proposed over the prevailing millennia. Chief among them is that the first and lightning bolt represent their ancient mission to hold and safeguard the Pharus Astropathica, which has oft been likened to the Emperor's own Astranomicon. It is believed that it represents the pure white grasp of his immortal warriors, holding tight to a fragment of Him on Terra through a miasma of blood.

## **Relations**

### **Allies**

 Carthagus Minoris |  | Principle Forge World of the Orelian Sub-sector, the Forge-Moon of Carthagus Minoris has maintained close ties with the Lightning Sons since they first took stewardship over the Eagle's Gate in 998.M37. Carthagus Minoris is the primary repository from which the Lightning Sons receives the majority of its armaments and munitions, as well as the location to which its Techmarines are sent to study and learn the ways of the Omnissiah, under the watchful eyes of Carthagus Minoris' forge-thanes.

### **Strained & Nebulous Relations**

 Leagues of Votann |  | Relations between the Astartes of the Lightning Sons, and the Squats of the Leagues of Votann have long been problematic and conflicting. Whilst retaining a cautious if not outright wary outlook on the short Abhumans, the Leagues and their Holds have posed a possibly serious threat to the sacrosanct Civitas Imperialis. Never was this more cleanly displayed than during the 1st Aephidian Crusade, where large swaths of the Greater Aephidian Belt seceded to join in alliance with the Squat League present therein, if only for said League to gain further and unfettered access to the regions bountiful mineral wealth, and Archaeotech deposits. The subsequent League and its holdfasts were among the countless casualties of the 1st Aephidian Crusade, slaughtered to a man. Yet in a strange act of good faith, the League's coveted Ancestor Core was transferred to the custody of another local Votannite League, an action that garnered little apathy from the begrudging Squats, though curtailed any possible reprisal from outraged kinsmen.

### **Enemies**

 Tyranids |  | A foe recently encountered by the Chapter, the Tyranids of Hive Fleets Leviathan and Charybdis have each earnt a special place of enmity within the hearts of the Lightning Sons. Not only are they a pervasive foe drawn to the flickering lights of Mankind, but they are the ultimate destroyer; the aptly named Great Devourer. While worlds befouled by the Archenemy or the Xenos might one day be rebuilt, nothing survives in the wake of the Great Devourer; a fact that stands in stark contrast to the beliefs of the Lightning Sons. To the Lightning Sons, they embody the loss of knowledge, and thus, must be eradicated wherever they may be found.

## **Gallery**

Nassac Praytros of the 2nd Cohort, 6th Battleline Maniple wearing relic Mk II 'Crusade' pattern power armour during the First Aephidic War, ca. late.M37.Pict-file of Loran Kaliad, former shield-brother of the 1st Cohort's Forine Shields, during his Long Vigil with the Deathwatch.Pict-file of a Lightning Sons Land Raider, attached to the 2nd Cohort "*Heralds of the Beacon*".Lightning Sons Rhino Armoured Transport, 4th Cohort, 3rd Maniple.

[Source]