Fire Watchers

Lieutenant Kial Ja'Stan of the Night Watch's 2nd Company.

The **Night Watch** is one of the Loyalist Space Marine Chapters created during the Ultima Founding of 999.M41. The chapter is one of the few to be created from the geneseed of a shattered legion; in this case they are of Salamanders heritage.

The Night Watch were formed from a combination of Salamander Greyshields of the Unnumbered Sons and from a small selection of Firstborn marines from their parent chapter; the original Salamanders would end up being part of the 1st Company and part of the chapter's core command.

Their name can be misleading. The Night Watch aren't specifically proficient in low-light operations although they are certainly capable of pulling off such operations. They are better known for dealing with enemies of the Imperium on frozen, often lifeless, death worlds. Each marine of the Night Watch can sneak around in the ice and snow, looking for any chance to punish tired, cold and unsuspecting enemies.

The chapter is stuck in a defensive position, unlike many other Ultima Founding chapters following the Indomitus Crusade. Duty-bound to protect Imperial citizens across the Imperium Nihilus, the Night Watch has spread its forces across a wide space to protect as many people as they can.

## Chapter Organisation

The Night Watch follows a modified version of the Codex Astartes. Instead of ten companies of 100 marines each, the Night Watch has nine companies with 120 marines each: a heritage call to the original Salamanders. The doctorine of the chapter is influenced by the Night Watch Oath, which dictates a high level of loyalty to each other and to the Emperor. Stealth and ice form a good portion of the oath, reflecting into the heavy usage of Phobos-equipped units and long-range weaponry. Preference for these sorts of weapons and tactics plays into the low attrition rate of the Night Watch and for the people they try to protect. Another part of the Oath is the indoctrinated blacksmith training (again another tradition inherited from the Salamanders) which frees the chapter's Artificers and Techmarines to focus on high-quality tools and weapons. Artificer armour and master-crafted weapons are common in the chapter's armoury as a result.

The geneseed defect that causes the jet-black skin of Salamanders is present in the Night Watch although to a much lesser degree with the much lower levels of ionizing radiation on Triton II and Falmoria. Those that are not of Nocturne usually possess brown-toned skin. The lack of radiation tampering with their geneseed also means that those not of Nocturne also have the usual Space Marine reaction time and not the slightly slower ones of the Salamanders.

### Specialist Formations

* **Rangers** - The Rangers are the elite members of the Night Watch's 1st Company, chosen for their battle skills and their ability to work as a team to prevail in any situation. Each Ranger is an individual beast, but when combined in the ten-man teams that they are usually deployed as, they truly become a force to be reckoned with. The equipment they bring to the field varies as each member has personalised equipment, but Terminator Armour, jump packs and melee weapons are the most commonly fielded.
* **Black Squadron** - The Black Squadron are a squad-sized unit usually attached to the 1st Company that is formed entirely from psykers. They were formed in the aftermath of an engagement with a Thousand Sons warband where it was found that having a single Librarian per company was not sufficient for battleground needs. Whenever not led by the Chief Librarian, they go under the command of Psyker-Sergeant Mubasa.

#### Chapter Command

The Chapter Command is formed by the most senior members of the Night Watch. The Chapter Master, Captains, Chief Librarian, Reclusiarch, Chief Apothecary and Master of the Forge are part of the chapter command. The command formally takes place on the chapter's homeworld of Triton, but a full command meeting is rare because of how the forces of the chapter and their commanders are spread out. Important decisions are discussed by the command, but ultimately the final verdict falls to the chapter master.

#### Order of Battle (Current Day)

##### Chapter Command

* Chapter Master Atreus Kadachi
* Chief Librarian Quintin Taladis
* Reclusiarch Cikar Byrell
* Chief Apothecary Hyen Jakal
* Master of the Forge Adatis Sol
* Chapter Champion Raven Halmer
* Land Raider Helios *Skyshatterer*
* Ancient Gin Aven (Venerable Dreadnought)
* Black Squadron
	+ Psyker-Sergeant Mulfur Mubasa

##### 1st Company

* Captain Bastille Longwood
* Brother-Chaplain Marius Green
* Librarian Gabriel Qruze
* Librarian Cantor Poe
* Company Champion Yuri Doleski
* Twenty-four Ranger Squadrons (fourteen Terminator, four Vanguard, five Sternguard for a total of 120 marines)
* Chaplain-Ancient Jericho
* Three Venerable Dreadnoughts
* Seven Land Raiders (three Redeemer, one Helios, three regulars)
* Two Storm Ravens

##### 2nd Company

* Captain Ranks Pirret
* Lieutenant Kial Ja'Stan
* Lieutenant Nilhar Karradas
* Brother-Chaplain Lekk Ra-Dasa
* Librarian Gregor Taladis
* Company Champion Wess Garrix
* Apothecary Brad Shen
* Fourteen Intercessor Squads
* Four Infiltrator Squads
* Two Incursor Squad
* Four Hellblaster Squads
* One Redemptor Dreadnought
* Ten Impulsors
* Two Repulsors
* Two Repulsor Executioners

##### 3rd Company

* Captain Aramat Nixson
* Lieutenant Kalipso Felix
* Lieutenant Renshaw Farkos
* Brother-Chaplain Rash'al Aus'Raven
* Librarian Axel Taladis
* Company Champion Ashal To'stan
* Apothecary Nathan Wilde

##### 4th Company

* Captain Sebastian *Fang* Darach
* Lieutenant Dux-Esparo Textra
* Lieutenant Luis Tuxbard
* Brother-Chaplain Leopardo Meii
* Librarian Ikaris Hunter
* Company Champion Michael Webber
* Apothecary Alex Felas

## Notable Chapter Members

* **Chapter Master Atreus Kadachi -** Atreus is the current leader and chapter master of the Night Watch, having replaced the previous chapter master, Gin Aven, in the year 015.M42 following the latter's grevious injuries dished out by the hands of a renegade Space Marine captain. Prior to his promotion Atreus was the captain of the 1st Company, promoted instead of Captain Pirret who claimed he was not ready for the position. Atreus has since then led the chapter through all of its recent history. He is a man of great martial skill and marksmanship, able to nail targets with his master-crafted plasma pistol from a long distance. This tradition of marksmanship finds itself well placed in the Night Watch and Atreus makes sure to remind his chapter of that tradition.
* **Ancient Gin Aven** - Gin Aven was the predecessor chapter master to Atreus Kadachi and the founding leader of the chapter. Originally raised as a Greyshield with Space Wolf geneseed in Guilliman's Primaris legions, Aven was unable to fit in with his fellow Wolves and so chose to remain with the Salamanders that he had fought with. During the Battle of the Iron Cross in 015.M42, Aven was greviously wounded by a traitor Marine Malevolent and left to die. It was only though the direct intervention of Chief Apothecary Jakal and Captain Kadachi that he survived at all. Aven, his body shattered, was interred in a dreadnought chassis. He relinquished command of the chapter to Atreus, but still continues to serve as a Venerable Dreadnought; one of the few chapter masters who have retired their role without dying.
* **Captain Bastille Longwood** - Bastille Longwood is the current Captain of the 1st Company, leader of the Rangers and intended successor to Atreus Kadachi should he fall. A great swordsman, Longwood crossed the Rubicon Primaris to experience first-hand the advantages given by the extra geneseed of Guilliman's new toys shortly after being promoted from lieutenant to captain. He possesses a power sword called The Burning Blade, a blade that he took off the dead corpse of a Thousand Sons Exalted Sorcerer. This combined with his Mark X Gravis Armour makes him a beast of a Space Marine.
* **Lieutenant Kial Ja'Stan** - Ja'Stan is a lieutenant of the 2nd Company and one of the Salamanders who joined forces with the Night Watch after its creation. Originally a Tactical Sergeant in the Salamander's 4th Company, Ja'Stan crossed the Rubicon and donned a set of Mark X Phobos armour. Ja'Stan gained his nickname, 'Phantom', for wiping out an entire battle force of Alpha Legion Chaos Marines and protecting villages around the northern continent of the planet of Mercia, all while isolated and on his own.