Imperius Ravagers (Legion)

## Imperius Ravagers

Imperius Ravagers armorial with Legion iconography.

Imperius Ravagers Legionary.

### **Observed Strategic Tendencies**

Shock Assault, Punitive and Excoriation Campaigns, Planet-Kill and Exterminatus Operations, Close-Quarters Actions (Space Hulk Purgations, Boarding Operations, Line-breaker Attacks, 'Forlorn Hope' Objective Assaults)

### **Battle cry**

"We are wrath! We are retribution! WE ARE DEATH!"

### Successor Legion(s)

Executioners

The **Imperius Ravagers**, known also as the 'Headsmen of Charopós', are a 3rd Founding Successor Legion of the stalwart Ultramarines Legion, created in the wake of the dark times of the Nova Terra Interregnum, sometime during the early 33rd Millennium. This was a period of extreme unrest and civil strife, when the Imperium of Man had been split in twain. The Ur-Council of Nova Terra no longer recognised the rule of the High Lords of Terra and had seceded from the Imperium of Man, forming their own empire in the Segmentum Pacificus. This period of divided rule would last for nine standard centuries.

The Imperius Ravagers were Founded as a replacement for the traitorous XII Legion (World Eaters), created to help bring a bloody and swift conclusion to the rebellious Nova Terrans. The Imperius Ravagers quickly garnered a reputation as a highly aggressive force, its warriors hot-blooded and savage. They served as a spearhead of shock troops, mounting direct annihilation assaults on enemy forces, both in open battle and fortified positions, and able to carry the attack despite their then relatively small numbers by sheer courage and the fury of the violence they could unleash.

Since that bygone era, the Imperius Ravagers have often been compared to little better than a force of ill-disciplined primitives and gore-splattered headhunters, little better than the renegades they enjoy slaughtering. Yet, the 'Headsmen of Charopós' have a high degree of blood-bought wisdom and possess a certain deliberate cunning that has enabled them to attain a record of unwavering success in their service to the Imperium during some of the darkest periods in its history.

## Legion History

The Imperius Ravagers are an ancient and proud Space Marine Legion whose origins are found in the chaotic centuries following the Horus Heresy during the tumultuous 33rd Millennium, and the era of the 'twin-empires' of the Nova Terra Interregnum, when the Ur-Council of Nova Terra seceded from the Imperium of Man and declared the whole Segmentum Pacificus independent of Imperial rule. To compound the secession of the Segmentum Pacificus, two Space Marine Legions, the feral Space Wolves and the stoic Iron Hands joined the rebellious Ur-Council of Nova Terra. The two Primarchs are later followed by a number of Legion Masters as well, who also join the Secessionist's cause. In response, the High Lords of Terra call for a new Founding to take place. The 3rd Founding, known also as the 'Numroi Founding', takes place in 098.M33.

Utilising accelerated gene-culturing techniques not used since the First Great Crusade, four Space Marine Legions were created in record time - the Nova Blades, (To be added), Impalers and the Imperius Ravagers. The latter Legion were proud scions of the Ultramarines Legion. The initial intake of Imperius Ravagers were taken from the civilised world of Charon, located at the southern edge of the Segmentum Tempestus.

### Bloody Legacy

The newly designated XII Legion's patriarch and first Legion Master was one of Primarch Guilliman's most ruthless commanders - Chapter Master Bruticus Kratos - XIII Legion's commander of the 4th Chapter's Assault Companies and Lord Executioner of the Ultramarines. Kratos was known to be a ruthless warrior who held a sinister reputation within his Chapter, having developed a reputation both as a superlative strategist and malevolent soul. He was ancient, even by Legionary standards, having served during the earliest years of the Great Crusade and during the entirety of the Horus Heresy. He was a veteran of the Siege of Armatura, when the combined Traitor forces of both the Word Bearers and World Eaters assaulted the fortress world during the beginning of the Shadow Crusade. Though wounded unto death, the stalwart Chapter Master's rage and bitter anima kept him alive. For the rest of the Horus Heresy, he sought out the Traitors, seeking to take the fight to them whenever the opportunity arose.

Chapter Master Kratos was known to have been chastised by Primarch Guilliman on several occasions for meting out harsh and draconian punishments against those who failed to live up to his militant standards. It was even darkly rumoured that during one notable incident, Guilliman imposed the Legiones Astartes' most severe punishments upon the incalcitrant commander, for causing the unnecessary deaths of several of his Chapter's warriors, in the form of a 'Death Oath'. Miraculously, Kratos successfully completed this Herculean task and fought his way across the stars and back to Macragge, where he was eventually granted the Primarch's forgiveness. Despite everything that had befallen him, he refused to change for anyone and continued to rule his Chapter with a cruel and unforgiving hand, imprinting upon his warriors his cruel mien and remorseless ways. During the Great Crusade, his Chapter became a sink for the most bloodthirsty and ruthless elements of the Ultramarines Assault Companies, who willingly fought and died under Kratos' merciless command.

When the 3rd Founding occurred, the Ultramarines saw the perfect opportunity to rid themselves of the troublesome elements within their Legion, and so, Guilliman decreed that Kratos and the veteran elements of his Chapter who had been deemed vexatious, would be granted the 'honour' of becoming a new Legion. The ruthless commander and much of his Chapter became the core founding of the newly created Imperius Ravagers Legion. Shorn at last of their last ties to the Ultramarines, the newly created Legion was free to forge their own destiny as they saw fit. Taking the title of 'Legatus Praetore', the vengeful Bruticus Kratos led his eponymous Legion on a blood-soaked crusade to seek out and annihilate any vestige of the Traitor Legions or those who defied the Emperor's will. Their actions, even in the early years of the Imperius Ravagers' existence, would lay the foundations upon which they would forever after be known, and judged, ever after.

The few Space Marine Legions that were created during the 3rd Founding were massive, hosting hundreds of thousands of Legionaries within their ranks. But the shortcuts taken in their creation would have unforeseen flaws. These particular Legions came to be characterised as being battle-hardened, and particularly bloody-handed and unforgiving. The primary purpose of their creation was to help bring the Nova Terra Interregnum to a brutal and swift conclusion. Unlike other Scions of Guilliman the Imperius Ravagers were unusual for an Ultramarines Successor Legion, as they quickly garnered a reputation for being a highly aggressive force, its warriors hot-blooded and savage.

The conflict that ensued over the next eight centuries, threatened to tear apart all that the Imperium of Man had rebuilt following the Age of Darkness of the Horus Heresy. Not since those dark days, had Legion been pitted against Legion. Several of the Legions that had gone over to the Secessionist cause were annihilated by the rampaging Loyalist Legions.

## Notable Imperius Ravagers

* **Legatus Praetore Bruticus Kratos** - The patriarch and first Legatus Praetore (Legion Master) of the Imperius Ravagers, Bruticus Kratos was a bellicose and ruthless warrior who held a sinister reputation within the XIII Legion. He was a former Chapter Master of the Ultramarines 4th Chapter's Assault companies. He had a dark reputation within the Legion for his heavy-handed style of leadership and was known for meting out draconian punishments for any perceived flaws or weakness amongst his warriors. Kratos was also known for his merciless and bloody-handed ways on the battlefield, for he was a brutal tactician who enjoyed the utter destruction of his foes. An aloof, brooding and malign warrior, Chapter Master Kratos possessed and aura of barely restrained spite and malice - a far cry from the epitome of honour and righteousness, that was typical of most Ultramarines senior officers. When the 3rd Founding of the Legiones Astartes occurred, the Ultramarines saw the chance to rid themselves of their troublesome commander, and those battle-brothers under his command, who had been imprinted with their ruthless commander's cruel and brutal mien. Unshackled from the confines of strict adherence to the *Principia Belicosa*, the newly promoted Legatus Praetore (Legion Master) of the newly created Imperius Ravagers, quickly forged their own path, whose bloody deeds and murderous legacy would be writ in the annals of Imperial history and Legion legends.
* **Legatus Praetore Thanatos Cronius** - The current Legatus Praetore of the Imperius Ravagers in the 41st Millennium. Like the Legion's ancient patriarch, he too, was the former commander of his Legion's infamous assault formations. Displaying a propensity for strategic planning and the brutal application of overwhelming force, his meteoric rise through the ranks saw him assume command of the Imperius Ravagers in only a little over a century of service following the death of his predecessor, Legatus Praetore Lucius Augur Malivos, during the First Tyrannic War against the Tyranid menace of Hive Fleet Behemoth in 745.M41. Legatus Praetore Cronius revels in his dark reputation - his name has become a byword from death and destruction carried out in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. Regarded as brutal, ruthless and indefatigable by other Legiones Astartes, Cronius leads his Legion from the front, forging new legends into the annals of his Legion's long and blood-soaked sagas. Though a diligent and disciplined logistician and strategist, as befitting a Scion of Guilliman, Cronius has little patience for war councils or strategic planning, preferring the din of battle and the chance to destroy his foes in vicious melee combat. The dichotomy of Cronius as both a champion and defender of the Imperium as well as his sinister reputation as a feared executioner of those who renege on their oaths of fealty to the Golden Throne, has earned this deadly commander a far-flung and often mythic reputation amongst the people of the Realms of Ultramar and beyond.
* **Legatus Praetore Lucius Augur Malivos** - The previous Legatus Praetore of the Imperius Ravagers and predecessor of the Thanatos Cronius.
* **Decimus Furius** - Decimus Furius serves as the current Equerry to the Legatus Praetore as well as the Merarch (Chapter Master) of the elite 1st Chapter of the Imperius Ravagers.

## Legion Appearance

### Legion Colours

The Imperius Ravagers primarily wear dark grey power armour. Insets of both shoulder pauldrons are silver in colour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard is also dark grey in colour. Of further note is their distinctive helmets, which is of the distinctive 'Lorica' sub-type, an idiosyncratic variant of the widely used Mark IV and Mark V 'Maximus' and Heresy' patterns produced by the artificers of the Imperius Ravagers. The faceplates of these helmets have a very distinct appearance as they are crafted in the typical Charopósian style. These helmets are also adorned with the Imperius Ravagers' trademark red dyed horse hair longitudinal crests, which go from front-to-back. Officers can be identified by their unique horizontal crests that go from ear-to-ear and are dyed black and red. The battle-brothers of this Legion are also known for wearing their tell-tale balteus - a plate-covered belt - which has four heavy strips of leather and studs embedded along its length. These leather strips also hang from the outer edge of their shoulder pauldrons as well, in the traditional Charopósian fashion. On the right shoulder pauldron is a black, open-faced squad specialty symbol (Tactical, Assault, Devastator and Veteran) which identifies an individual's assigned role. The Power Armour worn by the Astartes of this Legion typically bears syncretic Charopósian iconography, worn on one of the shoulder pauldrons, poleyn (knee guard) or weapon, which supposedly denotes rank and battlefield record. Many of these symbols have meanings hidden from outsiders to the Legion, though it is believed that the numeration and colouration of the "lambda" Helikan-glyph markings common to the Imperius Ravagers' heraldry refer to attested "kills" against worthy opponents in single combat, likely in increasing order of magnitude.

### Legion Badge

The Imperius Ravagers Legion badge is an ebon coloured Imperialis - a skull and laurel - centred upon a field of silver, and capped with a pair of crossed executioner axes. This ancient symbol was commonly used by the ancient Space Marine Legions, especially the Imperius Ravagers' Progenitors, the Ultramarines, to denote a battle honour for triumph in Zone Mortalis operations. This is a variant icon of their first Legatus Praetore Bruticus Kratos. During the Horus Heresy, those Legionaries who served under him often utilised Kratos' personal heraldry on the boarding shields of Legion Breacher Siege Squads.

## Enemies

### Nova Terra Regency

The Imperius Ravagers have nothing but contempt and malice for what they consider to be their most bitter of enemies. They believe the upstart Nova Terra Regency should be wiped out piecemeal, as they are an affront to the will of the God-Emperor, and are no better than oath-breaking cowards who deserve no quarter for their treacherous actions. Any chance they get, the Imperius Ravagers launch deadly lightning assaults against the various Nova Terra Regency's border worlds near the Segmentum Solar to make their mark, bringing to the traitorous worlds the brutal order of the Imperium, if only for a short while.